BACKGROUND
Accurately diagnosing appendicitis can be difficult. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the ability of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) to predict acute appendicitis pre-operatively and to differentiate between simple and complicated appendicitis.

METHODS
A database of 1067 patients who underwent surgery was evaluated. Based on postoperative histopathological examination, the patients were divided into two groups: acute appendicitis (G1) and normal appendix (G2). Patients in the acute appendicitis group were further divided into two subgroups: simple appendicitis (G1a) and complicated (gangrenous and perforated) appendicitis (G1b).

RESULTS
G1 included 897 patients and G2 included 170 patients. Among the 897 G1 patients, there were 753 G1a patients and 144 G1b patients. A NLR of 4.68 was associated with acute appendicitis (G1 vs G2, p<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity were 65.3% and 54.7%, respectively. A NLR of 5.74 was associated with complicated appendicitis (G1a vs G1b, p<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of the two clinical features were 70.8% and 48.5%, respectively.

CONCLUSION
We suggest that preoperative NLR is a useful parameter to aid in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and differentiate between simple and complicated appendicitis, and can be used as an adjunct to the clinical examination.


OBJECTIVES
Meningoencephalitis caused by Cryptococcus gattii is associated with significant morbidity and the need for aggressive therapy, and often necessitates neurosurgical intervention. We adapted a previously described murine model of cryptococcal meningoencephalitis due to Cryptococcus neoformans to that caused by C. gattii.

METHODS
Mice were inoculated intracranially with either C. gattii (genotype VGIIa) or C. neoformans. In virulence studies, different C. gattii infecting inocula were compared with a fixed inoculum of C. neoformans, and differences were assessed by survival, brain tissue fungal burden, serum antigen titres and histopathological changes within brain tissue. For treatment, fluconazole or posaconazole (10 mg/kg orally twice daily) was initiated 24 h post-inoculation.

RESULTS
C. gattii was more virulent than C. neoformans, as evident by shorter median survival, earlier histopathological changes and higher serum antigen titres. However, no differences in fungal burden or dissemination to other organs were observed among the various groups. In treatment studies, both fluconazole and posaconazole improved the median survival of mice infected with either species. However, neither regimen improved the percentage of animals surviving to the predetermined study endpoint.

CONCLUSIONS
These results demonstrate the virulence of C. gattii meningoencephalitis and the potential of this model for the assessment of new treatment strategies.


The shear-thickening transition in dilute surfactant solutions is investigated using rheology and small-angle neutron scattering. Steady shear experiments on a new thickening system, the tosylate of cethyltrimethylammonium, revealed a continuous increase of the apparent viscosity above a critical strain rate c. Concentration and temperature variations of c are derived, and the former is found to be in contradiction with a theoretically predicted gelation. From the scattering under shear, we establish a clear correlation between flow and structure. In the thickening region, the patterns are due to the superposition of two coexisting states, one viscoelastic entangled sheared network and one still purely viscous made of short aggregates. At higher , the former state dominates and its increasing orientation results in shear-thinning.


Plant pests are a major problem in Australia causing productivity losses, incurring management costs, restricting trade and threatening biodiversity in natural ecosystems. Even with rigorous quarantine measures, new plant pests can enter Australia undetected. Surveillance programs are essential. They provide early detection of pest incursions so they can be eradicated, and they define Australia's plant health status for trade purposes.


This paper evaluates the performance of single-parity check turbo product codes (TPC/SPC) over partial response channels. A rate-0.94 and a rate-0.89 TPC/SPC code are considered for use with PR4/EPR4 channels with proper precoding and with turbo equalization. Gains of 4.5 to 5 dB are obtained at BER of 10/sup -5/, revealing performance comparable to that of low density parity check codes. Apart from its linear encoding/decoding complexity and highly parallelizable decoding algorithm, TPC/SPC codes demonstrate favorable error statistics which are in harmony with the outer Reed-Solomon error correction code (RS-ECC), indicating it to be a promising candidate for future recording systems.


The whole theory of learning and intelligence is in confusion. We know at present nothing of the organic basis of these functions and little enough of either the variety or uniformities of their expression in behavior. The concepts are so poorly defined that it has not been possible even to imagine a program of physiological research which seemed likely to reveal more than superficial relationships. 1


Taylor-Couette (TC) flow, the flow between two independently rotating and co-axial cylinders is commonly used as a canonical model for shear flows. Unlike plane Couette or channel flow, pinned secondary flows can be found in TC flow. These are known as Taylor rolls and drastically affect the flow behaviour and the resulting drag. We study the possibility of modifying these secondary structures using patterns of stress-free and no-slip boundary conditions on the inner cylinder. For this, we perform direct numerical simulations of narrow-gap TC flow with pure inner cylinder rotation at four different shear Reynolds numbers up to $Re_s=3\times 10^4$. We find that one-dimensional streamwise patterns do not have a significant effect on the flow topology, and that the resulting torque is a large fraction ($\sim80-90\%$) of torque in the fully no-slip case. One-dimensional spanwise decrease the torque more, and for certain wavelengths disrupt the rolls by interfering with the existing Reynolds stresses that generate secondary structures. For $Re\geq 10^4$, this disruption leads to a smaller torque than what would be expected from simple boundary layer effects and the resulting effective slip length and slip velocity. We find that two-dimensional checkerboard patterns do not affect the flow or the torque substantially, but two-dimensional spiral inhomogeneities can move around the pinned secondary flows as they induce persistent axial velocities. We quantify the roll's movement for various angles and the widths of the spiral pattern, and find a non-monotonic behaviour as a function of pattern angle and pattern wavelength.


Abstract Using some spectral methods and density functional theory calculations, a complete structural, vibrational, thermodynamic, electronic, nonlinear optical properties of 3-pyridyl methyl ketone have been evaluated. The Fourier transform infrared spectrum was obtained for the title molecule at room temperature. In the theoretical calculations, the Becke three Lee-Yang-Parr functional with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set was applied to carry out the quantum mechanical calculations. The infrared spectra were interpreted by using of normal coordinate analysis based on the scaled quantum mechanical force field. In addition, molecular electrostatic potential map, some thermodynamic parameters at different temperatures of compound were investigated.


This research report proposes a new model called the Weighted Penalty Model (WPM) for content balancing in computer adaptive testing. The WPM approach attempts to balance content properties across all content categories as well as other non-statistical constraints, while simultaneously considering item information at each item-selection level and the scarcity of items relative to some constraints. This is accomplished by assigning a penalty value to each eligible item in the item pool. An item will be deemed as more desirable for selection if 1) its penalty value is small and 2) it will not make any constraint violation when administered. The purpose of this study is to present the WPM approach and demonstrate its performance using simulation with real item pool data. WPM for CAT Content Balancing 3 Introduction Content balancing has been one of the biggest concerns in the implementation of computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Ideally, the selection of next items for a CAT should be based on the item information given the current estimate of proficiency, subject to the sometimes competing requirement of balancing the test content specifications. To date, some content balancing methods provide a way not only to balance content categories but also to balance other constraints, such as an overlap constraint, item set constraint, key distribution constraint, and others. The constraints mentioned above are sometimes called non-statistical constraints. In contrast with non-statistical constraints, the item information, item difficulty, and item discrimination are statistical constraints. Several methods of content balancing have been developed and studied, such as the Constrained CAT (CCAT; Kingsbury & Zara, 1989), the Weighted Deviations Model (WDM; Stocking & Swanson, 1993) and the shadow test approach (STA; van der Linden, 2005). The CCAT, a straightforward method, looks for the content category for which the cumulative percentages of administered items currently is farthest below its target percentage. The WDM method, which is much more complicated, balances the constraints by weighting each constraint and computing the deviations from the desired test properties using binary programming. (Note that constraints and properties are used interchangeably in this study.) The STA selects items from a shadow test that is a linear test assembled prior to the selection of each item. The WDM and STA methods are similar in that both are based on projections of the future consequences of selecting an item. However, they differ in that the WDM calculates a projection of a weighted sum of the properties of the eventual test and the STA calculates a projection (shadow test) of a realization of the full test. In this study, we propose a content balancing method called the Weighted Penalty Model (WPM). Based on an approach originally proposed by Segall and Davey (1995), this method attempts to balance content properties across all content categories as well as other non-statistical constraints. At the same time, it considers item information at each itemselection level and the scarcity of items relative to some constraints (that is, the degree to which items with properties associated with particular constraints are sufficiently represented in the pool). This is accomplished by assigning a penalty value to each eligible item in the item pool at each item-selection level. Items with smaller penalty values are deemed more WPM for CAT Content Balancing 4 desirable for selection. The penalty function used by WPM is an adjusted version of the original penalty function proposed by Segall and Davey (1995) and is referred to as the adjusted penalty function. The purpose of this study is to introduce the WPM approach and demonstrate its performance using simulation with real item pool data and using empirical data from largescale placement CAT. Weighted Penalty Model The WPM is implemented by forming a list of items to be candidates for the next item administered. The WPM involves three stages: 1) calculating the weighted penalty value for each eligible item in the pool; 2) assigning each eligible item into different groups (we refer to these as "color groups"); and 3) forming a list of candidate items. If an item exposure control method is used, one of the candidate items from the list is selected based on the specific item exposure control method. Otherwise, the first item in the list is selected to be administered. Calculating the Weighted Penalty Value The definitions and formulas for calculating the weighted penalty value are as follows: Definitions: For each constraint j, define Upperj as the upper bound of the proportion of items in the test that should have the property associated with constraint j; Lowerj as the lower bound of the proportion of items in the test that should have the property associated with constraint j; Midj as the midpoint between Upperj and Lowerj; and Prevalencej as the proportion of the items in the pool having the property associated with constraint j. For example, if the test length is 20 items, the upper bound is 4 items, the lower bound is 0 items, the pool is 100 items, and 30 items in the pool have the property associated with constraint j, then Upperj = 0.2 (4/20), Lowerj = 0 (0/20), Midj = 0.1, and Prevalencej = 0.3 (30/100). WPM for CAT Content Balancing 5 At any point in the test, to obtain the weighted penalty value for each item, the following steps are taken: 1. Compute Propj, which is the expected proportion of items with constraint j that will have been administered if all remaining items in the test are selected in proportion to their prevalence. That is, ( ) / j j j Prop nadm Prevalence nremaining testlength = + , (1) where nadmj is the number of items administered so far having this property, nremaining is the number of items remaining to be administered in the test (including this one), and testlength is the length of the test. 2. Compute Xj, which is the expected difference between Propj and the constraint target, j Mid , across the full length of the test. Thus, ( ) j j j X Prop Mid = . (2) 3. For each eligible item i, compute the penalty value for each constraint j using one of Equations (3) to (5) below: 2 1 j ij j ij j D P X Z kD k = + , if j j Prop Lower < , (3) where j D is j j Lower Mid , k is arbitrary but has been chosen to be 2, and ij Z is 1 if item i has property j, otherwise ij Z is 0. 2 1 j ij j ij j A P X Z kA k = + , if j j Prop Upper , (4) where j A is j j Upper Mid and, again, k is arbitrarily chosen to be 2. ij j ij P X Z = , if j j j Upper Prop Lower > . (5) 4. For each item i, compute the total content penalty value that takes into account all the content constraints of item i:


Some flames and other kinds of interface appear to have normal propagation speeds that depend non-monotonically on curvature. The gradient of this dependence determines whether disturbances about the interface grow antidiffusively or decay diffusively and, in general, windows of antidiffusive behaviour may appear over finite ranges of curvature which carry the 'wrong' gradient of propagation speed. A number of peculiarities arise. For instance an interface can, under appropriate conditions, propagate subject to an antidiffusive instability for an infinite time but remain well-posed with respect to initial conditions for all time! It is not well known, but is shown here, that the linear diffusion equation ut=Duxx, with time-dependent coefficient D(t), does not become ill-posed with respect to initial conditions when its diffusion coefficient becomes negative, but when the integral of the diffusion coefficient with respect to time becomes negative. Structural well-posedness is examined and is shown to depend on the spectrum of any 'noise' which may affect the propagation of the interface. Steadily propagating solutions are investigated; among them solutions can be identified which appear to involve a 'phase separatio' in curvature space, on arbitrarily fine scales, between different solutions of fixed form. From a broader modelling perspective, antidiffusively unstable behaviour needs to be regularized in some way. Regularization would also provide a lower limit to the appearance of fine structure. The Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation suggests a regularized model which effectively adds a normal-propagation nonlinearity to the Cahn-Hilliard equation. This reinforces the notion that non-monotonicity in a speed-curvature relationship may be associated with 'phase separatio' in curvature space. Understanding better the nature of this association in the presence of normal propagation, and any other features of the dynamics of the interface, requires further (numerical as well as analytical) investigation.


Cadmium (Cd), a widespread substance with high toxicity and persistence, is known to cause a broad range of adverse effects in all living organisms. However, many microorganisms have special detoxification mechanisms for Cd. In this study, we investigated the response to Cd in Bacillus licheniformis A at the omics level. Proteomic biomarkers were identified, including peroxiredoxin, nucleoside diphosphate kinase, trigger factor, and elongation factor Tu. These proteins suggested that Cd could induce oxidative stress, disturbance in energy metabolism, and protein synthesis in B. licheniformis A. Furthermore, metabolites (glutamate, glycine, and S-adenosylhomocysteine) involved in the glutathione synthesis pathway were also affected. In addition, some metabolic biomarkers were validated by relating to respective proteins, including 50S ribosomal protein L7/L12, trigger factor, peroxiredoxin and superoxide dismutase in B. licheniformis A. This study provides new insights into the utilization of an omics approach in bacteria to assess the effects of Cd pollution in the environment.


As the natural characteristics and economic developments, the coastal zone from MuiNe to the mouth ofTien River is very sensitive to oil pollution. For building the environmental managements and contingency planning, the map of environmental sensitivity regionalization is a required facility. Environmental sensitivity indexes (ESIS) system is the important foundations for the map of environmental sensitivity regionalization, of which the shoreline sensitivity index system is one of the essential data. Based on the shoreline sensitivity index system the studied area is ranked in five sensitive categories as following: Low sensitivity (ESIS-l): the capes of KeG a, Hotram, Kyvan, and Nghinh Phong. Moderate low Sensitivity (ESIS-2) including the areas: from Phan Thiet to northern ofPhanthiet, the shore of northern KeGa Cape and Phuochai shore Moderate sensitivity (ESIS-3): beaches from south of Kega cape to north of Hotram cape, from PhuocHai to KyVan Cape and ofVungTau City; High Sensitivity (ESIS4): some beaches ofVungTau and LongHai, and gulf of Ph ant hi et Extreme Sensitivity (ESIS-5): the shore from GanhRai gulf to the mouth ofTien River.


Isabella d'Este's (1474–1539) collection of fine art, which she kept gathering for years, and housed in her private apartments, in a premise known as Grotta, nearby her studiolo, was to a great extent focused on Classical antiquity. Thanks to the preserved documents, the collection, though dispersed as early as in late 1620s, is renowned.

 Despite the variety of items in the collection, the owner's interests were primarily aimed to replenish it with pieces connected with Classical antiquity. Isabella's special attention was paid to acquisition of Greek and Roman antiquities, and she endeavoured seriously to reach the goal. As a result the collection contained coins and medals, gems and sculptures dating back to those times. Large group of contemporary items consisted not only of pieces that were thematically based on Classical subjects, but also presented reproduced variants of well-known antique sculptures. Those were neither casts, nor copies of the originals, but they help us understand the specificity of originals' interpretation by the artists of the Renaissance, whose skills were aimed to create exhibits for collections of this kind.


The linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) method assumes that the covariance matrix of the actuator noise is given before the design of the feedback matrix. However, in practice, the actuator-noise covariance matrix may depend on the actuator signal energy, which depends on the feedback. Consequently, the feedback from LQG theory degrades the system performance. The authors investigate the steady-state optimal controller when the noise variance of an actuator is linearly related to the variance of an actuator signal. This control system could be much more precise and/or spend much less control energy than the one obtained through the use of the ordinary LQG method. >


Treatment of the human promonocytic cell line U937 with all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) commits these cells to apoptosis, which can be triggered by simply increasing intracellular calcium levels by the ionophore A23187. RA treatment of U937 cells is characterized by a decrease in Bcl-2 and marked induction of "tissue" transglutaminase (tTG) gene expression. In this study, we show that the inhibition of tTG expression in U937 cells undergoing apoptosis prevents their death. In fact, U937 cell-derived clones transfected with the human tTG gene in the antisense orientation showed a pronounced decrease in apoptosis induced by several stimuli. These findings demonstrate that the Ca2+-dependent irreversible cross-linking of intracellular proteins catalyzed by tTG represents an important biochemical event in the gene-regulated cell death in monoblasts. In addition, our data indicate that the apoptotic program in promonocytic cells is strictly regulated by RA and that a key role is played by the free intracellular calcium concentration.


High-performance computing systems are more and more often based on accelerators. Computing applications targeting those systems often follow a host-driven approach, in which hosts offload almost all compute-intensive sections of the code onto accelerators; this approach only marginally exploits the computational resources available on the host CPUs, limiting overall performances. The obvious step forward is to run compute-intensive kernels in a concurrent and balanced way on both hosts and accelerators. In this paper, we consider exactly this problem for a class of applications based on lattice Boltzmann methods, widely used in computational fluid dynamics. Our goal is to develop just one program, portable and able to run efficiently on several different combinations of hosts and accelerators. To reach this goal, we define common data layouts enabling the code to exploit the different parallel and vector options of the various accelerators efficiently, and matching the possibly different requirements of the compute-bound and memory-bound kernels of the application. We also define models and metrics that predict the best partitioning of workloads among host and accelerator, and the optimally achievable overall performance level. We test the performance of our codes and their scaling properties using, as testbeds, HPC clusters incorporating different accelerators: Intel Xeon Phi many-core processors, NVIDIA GPUs, and AMD GPUs.


The food industry is focused on creating plant-based foods that incorporate pea protein isolates. However, pea protein isolates are often described as having persistent beany, bitter, and astringent notes that can decrease the desirability of the resulting foods and make static sensory profiling difficult. To obtain more realistic descriptions of the sensory experiences associated with this category of products, researchers should consider using temporal methods and multi-intake methods, which allow consumers to evaluate whole food portions. This study aimed to understand better how product composition affected the sensory perception of pea protein-based beverages using three different sensory profiling methods. Particular focus was placed on beany, bitter, and astringent notes. Twelve pea protein-based beverages were formulated; they varied in pea protein type (pellet vs. isolate) and their content of gellan gum, salt, sunflower oil, sugar, and soy lecithin. They were evaluated by 16 trained panelists using three sensory profiling methods: static block profiling, mono-intake temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) profiling, and multi-intake TDS profiling. The static block and mono-intake TDS profiling methods yielded complementary results about the impact of beverage composition on attribute perceptions. Static block profiling revealed that beaniness was mainly affected by gellan gum and oil content and that bitterness and astringency were mainly affected by protein type and gellan gum content. Mono-intake TDS profiling highlighted the dynamics of beaniness and the strong persistence of astringency, and its results suggested that higher gellan gum and salt contents could limit this persistence. Multi-intake TDS profiling found that, throughout the consumption of a full product portion, beaniness and bitterness decreased, indicating an adaptation effect, while fattiness increased, indicating a build-up effect. This study has increased the understanding of how pea protein-based beverages are perceived under conditions that more closely resemble those associated with real-life consumption. It has also revealed how product formulation can reduce bitterness and astringency.


FACTORS INFLUENCING PHYTATE PHOSPHORUS UTILIZATION BY BROILER CHICKS by ANASTASSIA LIEM (Under the Direction of Hardy M. Edwards, Jr.) ABSTRACT Phytase, 1-alpha hydroxycholecalciferol, Ca level, and organic acids have been shown to influence phytate P utilization by broiler chick. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the interactions between the phytase, 1-alpha hydroxycholecalciferol, and Ca level. Two other experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of various organic acids on phytate P utilization. Phytase improved phytate P utilization in broiler chicks, but the magnitude of the effect was influenced by the level of 1-alpha hydrohycholecalciferol and Ca. The effect of 1alpha hydroxycholecalciferol was influenced by Ca level in the diet. Its effect was more prominent when the levels of phytase in the diet were low and there was little hydrolysis of phytate due to phytase. Increasing Ca level decreased phytate P utilization by broiler chicks. Some of the organic acids studied, citric, malic, and 2-hydroxy-4methylthio butanoic acid increased phytate P utilization, while fumaric and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) did not.


With the global financial crisis that showed up a couple of years back, the debate of executive compensation once again was brought into the stage by the media and become the hot issue for academicians, researchers, regulators, policy-makers, and the public. The major reason for the financial meltdown is attributed to the large portion of performance-based salary that the executives in the financial sector were paid. Since, the performance indicators are linked with the asset accumulation and short-term profit generation of these institutions, it encouraged executives to take high risk to gain immediate returns so that their performance is positively appraised and hence their paycheck gets bigger. This excessive risk-taking behavior, without due consideration for long-term sustainability of the organization gave rise to excessive defaults and brought about a systemic crisis in the financial sector, which spread to a number of countries by their inter-linkages. Although, this is only a part of the greater problem, it encouraged the regulatory authorities to formulate some sort of regulations for executive compensation. The Financial Stability Board came up with guiding principles for effective executive compensation. Several countries emphasized these principles and regulated executive compensation in line with the basic principles stipulated therein. The major focuses of all these provisions was to discourage the excessive risk-taking behavior of the bank's executive by especially targeting the performance-based remuneration of the executives in the financial institutions. The essence of the regulation is to align the risk with payments such that provisions of payments through non-cash instruments, deferring of variable payments for several years, provision of claw-backs, etc were made. Nepalese scenario also updated through a series of developments regarding the executive compensation, especially in the financial sector. The changes in the management structure of the central bank, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), also changed its policy regarding free-market-economy and executive compensation is one of the primary and important targets in this process. Although, the central bank's policy should have been uniform and predictable, the political and vested interest played its role. The regulation for executive compensation is brought in the way that not only affected the variable payment but also the fixed payments, which are numerically specified. Nowhere in the world, has regulators targeted the fixed portion of the compensation. Even the institutions that received taxpayers money for bailout has been exempted from limiting the basic annual compensation. Nepalese regulators, on the other hand, does neither considered this simple fact nor the fact that it will bring about several ills to the only sector performing professionally and transparently. It will also drain the talents not only from the institution but also from the whole financial sector due to non-competitive market price offered for retaining these talents. Corporate governance is the other issue that will have the most effect. Besides, the major blunder was to link the fixed salary with Asset Size and/or Staff Expenses of the bank. The very reason that gave rise to the whole debate of executive compensation regulation has been overlooked. The basic principle that linking compensation with performance will encourage excessive risk-taking in pursuit of increasing asset size that my lead to financial crash has instead been encouraged by the Nepalese regulator, the central bank, Nepal Rastra Bank.


Intestinal transporters are crucial determinants in the oral absorption of many drugs. We therefore studied the mRNA expression (N = 33) and absolute protein content (N = 10) of clinically relevant transporters in healthy epithelium of the duodenum, the proximal and distal jejunum and ileum, and the ascending, transversal, descending, and sigmoidal colon of six organ donors (24-54 years). In the small intestine, the abundance of nearly all studied proteins ranged between 0.2 and 1.6 pmol/mg with the exception of those of OCT3 (<0.1 pmol/mg) and PEPT1 (2.6-4.9 pmol/mg) that accounted for ∼50% of all measured transporters. OATP1A2 was not detected in any intestinal segment. ABCB1, ABCG2, PEPT1, and ASBT were significantly more abundant in jejunum and ileum than in colon. In contrast to this, the level of expression of ABCC2, ABCC3, and OCT3 was found to be highest in colon. Site-dependent differences in the levels of gene and protein expression were observed for ABCB1 and ASBT. Significant correlations between mRNA and protein levels have been found for ABCG2, ASBT, OCT3, and PEPT1 in the small intestine. Our data provide further physiological pieces of the puzzle required to predict intestinal drug absorption in humans.


By employing the innovative approach of community participation, road building and maintenance can more successfully meet the needs of the target population. To this end, WSP International Management Consulting has pioneered new and practical ways of involving local communities by promoting their 'ownership' at each stage of the project cycle - planning, design, construction and maintenance. This paper describes how, in Uganda, this innovation has proved itself, taken root and entered the mainstream. (A)


Harmonics is a periodic sine wave distortion, due to the operation of nonlinear loads. Har-monics causes current to flow in the neutral wire even though in a balanced load condition, in addition to harmonic load imbalance problems will increase the current flowing in the neutral wire, making it dangerous for the electrical system. This research was using electrical system modeling simulation in MATLAB application by changing the earth resistance value to see the effect of earth resistance value to Total Harmonic Current Distortion (THDi), it is necessary to analyze the effect of resistance value for THDi neutral wire grounding. This study uses the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) method. THDi simulation results when the conditions of the resistance value is 9 ?, THDi percentage in phase R is 6.30%, Phase S is 2.86%, Phase T is 2.50%. When the earth resistance value is 5 ?, the percentage of THDi decreases with the value in phase R is 6.09%, Fasa S is 2.61%, Fasa T is 2.48%. When the earth resistance value is 2 ?, the THDi percentage in the R phase is 5.85%, Fasa S is 2.09%, Fasa T is 2.22%. Based on the simulation results it is known that the smaller the earth resistance value, the smaller the harmonic distortion in the electrical system.


BACKGROUND
Recurrent posterior urethral strictures after failed urethroplasty may need urethral substitution. Skin or mucosal grafts, currently used for this purpose, have a high complication rate. The authors describe the use of pedicled appendix for posterior urethral substitution.

METHODS
Two boys with pelvic fracture urethral distraction injuries were treated for recurrent posterior urethral strictures after a failed perineal anastomotic urethroplasty. Through a perineal-transpubic approach the stricture tissue was excised, which resulted in a gap of 5 to 7 cm between the healthy ends. The vermiform appendix was mobilised on its own pedicle and transposed to the perineum; the proximal end of appendix was anastomosed to the prostatic urethra and the distal end (tip discarded) to the bulbar/penile urethra. Omentum was transposed to wrap the anastomosis and fill the dead space.

RESULTS
Normal micturition was restored in both patients. No further treatment was required after 1 dilatation in the first case. Both patients are continent. Potency status remains unchanged from the preoperative period with normal erections in 1 case. Follow-up (1 to 3 years) has been satisfactory with no complications.

CONCLUSIONS
The appendix is a promising organ for posterior urethral replacement. It can be brought to the perineum on its own vascular pedicle.


A deficient vitamin D status has been associated with various diseases but its correlation with different types of cancer remains of interest. Thyroid cancer is the most frequent endocrine malignancy and despite the fact that differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) has an excellent survival rate (>90% 10-year survival), persistent and recurrent disease is still an issue nowadays. Epidemiological studies confirmed lower levels of vitamin D in patients with DTC and correlation of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] status with clinicopathologic features and poor prognosis, being considered a biomarker for aggressiveness.Vitamin D, through it active form 1α,25-dihydoxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] and its receptor (VDR) exerts genetic changes to both healthy and neoplastic cells thus controlling their proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Also, vitamin D binding protein (DBP) has been recently discovered to have many different biological functions. This review is an update on molecular mechanisms of vitamin D signaling and its association with thyroid cancer prevention, treatment and prognosis.


We consider the question of learning in general topological vector spaces. By exploiting known (or parametrized) covariance structures, our Main Theorem demonstrates that any continuous linear map corresponds to a certain isomorphism of embedded Hilbert spaces. By inverting this isomorphism and extending continuously, we construct a version of the Ordinary Least Squares estimator in absolute generality. Our Gauss-Markov theorem demonstrates that OLS is a "best linear unbiased estimator", extending the classical result. We construct a stochastic version of the OLS estimator, which is a continuous disintegration exactly for the class of "uncorrelated implies independent" (UII) measures. As a consequence, Gaussian measures always exhibit continuous disintegrations through continuous linear maps, extending a theorem of the first author. Applying this framework to some problems in machine learning, we prove a useful representation theorem for covariance tensors, and show that OLS defines a good kriging predictor for vector-valued arrays on general index spaces. We also construct a support-vector machine classifier in this setting. We hope that our article shines light on some deeper connections between probability theory, statistics and machine learning, and may serve as a point of intersection for these three communities.


Abstract Background: For an effective colorectal cancer (CRC) screening program, high participation rate is essential. However, non-participation in CRC screening program has increased in Finland. Material and methods: The study was based on a population-based nationwide cohort of persons invited for CRC screening in 2004–2011. Information on the first round of the CRC screening participation and related background factors was obtained from the Finnish Cancer Registry, and information about health behavior factors from the Health Behavior Survey (HBS) in 1978–1999. Non-participation in CRC screening was analyzed with Poisson regression as incidence rate ratios (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: Of all persons invited for CRC screening (79 871 men and 80 891 women) 35% of men and 21% of women refused. Of those invited for screening, 2456 men (3.1%) and 2507 women (3.1%) were also invited to the HBS. Persons, who declined HBS, were also more likely to refuse CRC screening (men IRR 1.40, 95% CI 1.26–1.56, women 1.75, 1.52–2.02) compared to HBS participants. Never married persons had about a 75% higher risk for refusing than married ones. The youngest age group (60 years) was more likely to refuse screening than the older age groups (62 or >64 years). Smoking was associated with non-participation in screening (current smokers, men: IRR 1.32, 95% CI 1.05–1.67, women: 2.10, 1.61–2.73). Conclusions: Participation in CRC screening was affected by gender, age, and marital status. Persons, who refused the HBS, were also more likely to refuse CRC screening. Smoking was a risk factor for non-participation in CRC screening.


This investigation examines and compares the loading characteristics and power factor values of V-V, Scott, and Le Blanc-connected transformers by a novel approach. Four definitions of power factor are compared-three considering harmonics and unbalances and one based only on fundamental components. A proper power factor value is needed to truly reflect the loading characteristics of these specially connected transformers, considering the influences of harmonics and unbalances. The computation results of the five given loading cases and two simulation cases demonstrate that the power factor values of V-V, Scott, and Le Blanc-connected transformers are different, even with the same loading on the load side. Since the V-V connection scheme has an inherent unbalanced structure, its performance in reducing the three-phase unbalance is substantially worse than that of the Scott and Le Blanc connection schemes, which can more effectively transform three-phase powers to two-phase powers. Additionally, a field measurement of the Le Blanc transformer in a substation of the Taiwan Railway System is also used to identify the contents of power factor definitions. The computation results reveal that the effective power factor could be recommended for use in fairly evaluating the load characteristics for specially connected transformers.


Fifty-two percent of American adults report use of a dietary supplement, most commonly for improved health and disease prevention. However, literature supporting such use is inconsistent. Many providers suggest that the addition of a multivitamin "couldn't hurt," but this messaging may promote unintentional consequences including a shift of emphasis on intake of healthy foods to nutrient supplements and a neglected opportunity to discuss the profound benefits of a healthy diet. Potential implications of such messaging and recommendations for counseling are described.


Twelve species of fungi growing on the Sabouraud medium in darkness and illumination in an incubator, were tested to find out their ability to emit the ultra-weak biochemiluminescence. Using a sensitive photon-counling device, it was possible to measure biochemiluminescence intensity during ten days of cultures growth. Boletus edulis, Pestalotia funerea and Microsporum gypseum displayed biochemiluminescence, while Aspergillus nidulans, A. quadrilineatus, Beauveria bassiana, Macrophoma candollei, Mucor lausanensis, Paecilomyces farinosus, Penicillium sp., Trichoderma lignorum and Tricholoma equestre failed to do it. Illumination put down biochemiluminescence and stimulated colour formation in both mycelia and in the medium.


OBJECTIVE
New Mexico enacted a law in 2003 requiring that emergency departments (EDs) offer emergency contraception (EC) to survivors of sexual assault and that both doses be administered in the ED. This investigation sought to examine practices and knowledge of ED providers about EC in the setting of sexual assault.

METHODS
We visited hospitals in New Mexico from July 2005 to December 2005 and administered an 18-item questionnaire to three providers-a physician, a nurse, and a clerk-in the ED. The questionnaire included items related to characteristics of the hospital, knowledge of providers about EC and the law, and ED practices relevant to EC for sexual assault survivors as well as for women who had consensual unprotected intercourse.

RESULTS
Surveys were completed at 33 of 38 hospitals (87%). Overall, 52% of respondents reported that EC was routinely offered to sexual assault survivors, and 33% reported that both doses were administered in the ED. Forty-one percent of RNs, MDs, and clerks reported that EC was offered to sexual assault survivors who were minors regardless of age. Overall, 64% of respondents knew that EC may prevent pregnancy up to 72 hours after unprotected intercourse, and only 12% of respondents reported awareness of any requirements to offer EC to sexual assault survivors. Respondents reported that physicians in the ED more often routinely offered EC to sexual assault survivors (52%) than to women who requested it after consensual sex (20%). Thirty-three percent of respondents indicated parental consent was necessary for minors in the setting of sexual assault, although there is no requirement for parental notification in New Mexico.

CONCLUSIONS
EDs in New Mexico are not universally complying with the law. Better dissemination of the law and education about EC could improve care of sexual assault survivors in New Mexico.


This thesis describes a new framework for 3D surface landmarking and evaluates its performance for feature localisation on human faces. This framework has two main parts that can be designed and optimised independently. The first one is a keypoint detection system that returns positions of interest for a given mesh surface by using a learnt dictionary of local shapes. The second one is a labelling system, using model fitting approaches that establish a one-to-one correspondence between the set of unlabelled input points and a learnt representation of the class of object to detect.
Our keypoint detection system returns local maxima over score maps that are generated from an arbitrarily large set of local shape descriptors. The distributions of these descriptors (scalars or histograms) are learnt for known landmark positions on a training dataset in order to generate a model. The similarity between the input descriptor value for a given vertex and a model shape is used as a descriptor-related score.
Our labelling system can make use of both hypergraph matching techniques and rigid registration techniques to reduce the ambiguity attached to unlabelled input keypoints for which a list of model landmark candidates have been seeded. The soft matching techniques use multi-attributed hyperedges to reduce ambiguity, while the registration techniques use scale-adapted rigid transformation computed from 3 or more points in order to obtain one-to-one correspondences.
Our final system achieves better or comparable (depending on the metric) results than the state-of-the-art while being more generic. It does not require pre-processing such as cropping, spike removal and hole filling and is more robust to occlusion of salient local regions, such as those near the nose tip and inner eye corners. It is also fully pose invariant and can be used with kinds of objects other than faces, provided that labelled training data is available.


In the wake of negotiated settlements to civil wars, one critical problem involves reassuring people who have been killing one another that conflict is not about to break out again, endangering people's lives. Those concerned with the success of negotiated settlements have debated how best to enhance the prospects of a stable peace. We address this question by exploring variables that may explain the longevity of negotiated peace settlements. These variables are divided into two categories—one tapping into the potential effects of the environment in which settlements are negotiated and another focusing on the impact of settlement arrangements. On the basis of our analysis of thirty-eight civil war settlements negotiated between 1945 and 1998 we identify the environmental factors and institutional choices that affect the short-term stability of the peace following civil war.


This article examines representations of border security within public museums, through the example of the UK Border Force National Museum. It begins by discussing the way that international borders are theatrically experienced, and the parallel characteristics of museum spaces. I then suggest the value of performance autoethnography when analysing such phenomena, which arises from the ability to creatively situate personal experience alongside institutional scripts of border control. The article then presents a performance autoethnography that illustrates my experiences within the Border Force Museum. This provides new insights into the theatrical framing of the museum and its effect on visitor interpretations. The article demonstrates that the Border Force Museum replicates the theatricality of border control sites, and thus supports the ordering of bodies into insiders and outsiders; however, creative methods for knowledge production might offer a means of challenging existing border taxonomies, especially when personal experience is circulated through theatrical means. Seized! L'auto-ethnographie de performance au Musée national des forces frontalières britanniques


The lipid-lowering effect of pravastatin on glomerulosclerosis was observed in nephrotic syndrome model, which was induced in rats by using repeated puromycin injections. The histologic changes of the model were similar to those of human focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Rats were divided into three groups, namely, normal control, nephropathy and nephropathy with pravastatin. Pravastatin was administered through gastric tube 6mg.kg-1.d-1 for 12 weeks. The lipoprotein profile and histologic development were observed. The results showed that pravastatin-treated rats had significantly lower cholesterol, triglycerides, very low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein than the nephropathy group at 7 weeks (P < 0.05). Moreover, the renal damage was also less marked in pravastatin-treated rats. Light microscopic and immunohistochemical examination revealed that lipid-lowering therapy was associated with significant lower level of glomerular sclerosing index and less accumulation of extracellular matrix including collagen III, IV, laminine and fibronectin as compared with the nephropathy group. However urinary protein and serum albumin levels were similar in both groups. It is suggested that lipid-lowering thyrapy may retard the progression of glomerulosclerosis and thus preserve renal function. The results imply that hyperlipoidemia plays an important role in the pathophysiological progression of renal disease.


Variable frequency transformer (VFT) is a controllable bi-directional transmission device that can transfer power between asynchronous networks. The construction of VFT is similar to conventional asynchronous machines. Electrical power is exchanged between the two networks by magnetic coupling through the air gap of the VFT. This paper gives an overview of the VFT


Thyroid carcinoma metastatic to the maxillofacial area is extremely rare. Other carcinomas can metastasize to this area, but very few cases of follicular thyroid carcinoma metastasizing to the nasopharynx have been reported. Carcinoma from the kidney, liver, large bowel, prostate, and thyroid are known to have the potential for clear cell differentiation, and all of them can metastasize to the sinonasal area. Histochemical and immunohistochemical evaluations, along with clinical details, are useful in distinguishing metastases of these clear cell tumors from primary sinonasal tumors. In this article we describe a rare case of metastatic thyroid carcinoma with clear cell change mimicking metastatic renal cell carcinoma in the nasopharynx.


There are several factors that affect successful execution of public capital projects in every economy.  This study specifically investigates the influences of selected macroeconomic factors such as: inflation, exchange rate, total expenditure, population, debt servicing and Real GDP on government capital investments using data that cover a period from 2000 to 2017.   Using ordinary least squares technique, the findings reveal that Real GDP and population have insignificant negative impact on capital investments, while debt servicing has a significant negative influence on government capital expenditure.  Inflation rate does not exert any influence but exchange rate and total expenditure have significant positive impact on capital expenditure.  The implication is that a lot of funds go into debt servicing, thereby denying the masses of adequate infrastructural provisions.  Due to poor funding of local industries, they lack the capacity to affect the economy positively such that the size of the Real GDP is negatively influencing the public capital investment.  Therefore, the study has made some recommendations which could help our policy makers in their decision to ensure that investment in capital projects and infrastructures in the country is given the basic consideration to achieve its economic objectives.  Above all the domestic industries and agriculture should be well financed since inflows from them can help to carry out more capital projects and reduce the country's level of borrowing.


The iminoacylation of alkenes via photoredox N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis is developed with the employment of alkene-tethered α-imino-oxy acids and acyl imidazoles. The corresponding substituted 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrroles were afforded in moderate to good yields with good to high diastereoselectivities in most cases. The reaction involves the 5-exo-trig radical cyclization of an alkene-tethered iminyl radical and the following coupling with a ketyl radical from acyl imidazole under NHC catalysis.


Reinforcement learning (RL) is recognized as lacking generalization and robustness under environmental perturbations, which excessively restricts its application for real-world robotics. Prior work claimed that adding regularization to the value function is equivalent to learning a robust policy with uncertain transitions. Although the regularization-robustness transformation is appealing for its simplicity and efficiency, it is still lacking in continuous control tasks. In this paper, we propose a new regularizer named $\textbf{U}$ncertainty $\textbf{S}$et $\textbf{R}$egularizer (USR), by formulating the uncertainty set on the parameter space of the transition function. In particular, USR is flexible enough to be plugged into any existing RL framework. To deal with unknown uncertainty sets, we further propose a novel adversarial approach to generate them based on the value function. We evaluate USR on the Real-world Reinforcement Learning (RWRL) benchmark, demonstrating improvements in the robust performance for perturbed testing environments.


CANCER of the large intestine frequently develops in patients who have had ulcerative colitis for more than ten years. When ulcerative colitis begins in childhood and involves the entire colon, the incidence of colonic cancer after the first ten years is reported to be 20% per decade. With the advent of colonoscopy, it is now suggested that multiple, periodic, colonoscopic biopsies with tissue taken from throughout the colon can detect the early development of cancer1,2in patients with chronic ulcerative colitis. The following case report shows that colonoscopy, even in the hands of an excellent endoscopist, cannot always be relied on in the diagnosis of carcinoma. Report of a Case A 34-year-old man was first seen at the Ochsner Clinic in 1972. In 1963 a chronic diarrhea that he had had since 1962 had been diagnosed elsewhere as ulcerative colitis. The colitis had been well controlled with salicylazosulfapyridine (Azulfidine);


We provide dual algorithms for sampling the space of abstract simplicial complexes on a fixed number of vertices. We develop a generative and descriptive sampler designed with heuristics to help balance the combinatorial multiplicities of the states and more widely sample across the space of nonisomorphic complexes. We provide a formula for the exact probabilities with which this algorithm will produce a requested labeled state, and compare with an existing benchmark. We also design a highly conductive local ergodic random walk with known transition probabilities. We characterize the autocorrelation of the walk, and numerically test it against our sampler to illustrate its efficacy.


Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) is a bacterial protein capable of binding up to 20% of the entire T cell repertoire. T cells that have come into contact with SEB initially proliferate and secrete inflammatory cytokines; however, this is followed by anergy or death of the affected cells. This population of deleted or functionally inactivated cells is likely to include T cell clones that are important for immunity to other pathogens such as influenza A virus (IAV). For this reason, we hypothesize that SEB exposure will alter the magnitude and breadth of the CD8+ T cell response to IAV. Using mouse model of intraperitoneal vaccination with IAV, we found that prior exposure to SEB actually increased the number of IAV-specific CD8+ T cells for several IAV epitopes during the primary phase of the immune response. The number of cells specific for these epitopes remained elevated even after the peak of the primary CD8+ T cell response had passed. In addition, repetition of the first experiment with several different naturally circulating and lab-adapted strains of IAV gave similar results, showing that the effect of SEB on virus-specific CD8+ T cells is the same for a potentially diverse range of IAV strains. Furthermore, the ability of the CD8+ T cells to kill target cells pulsed with cognate IAV antigen was also enhanced after SEB exposure, for both primary and memory CD8+ T cells. Curiously, we did not observe an effect of SEB when it is given in the context of a replicative IAV infection in the lungs. This work reveals an unexpected role for SEB as an enhancer of CD8+ T cell immunity in this model.


Load unbalance and modern office equipment result in a significant neutral current in three-phase four-wire low-voltage power systems. This paper considers a new configuration of hybrid broadband filter for power quality management in three-phase four-wire low voltage power systems. The proposed hybrid filter is composed of a single-phase power converter and the broadband passive filter connected in series. The hybrid filter can be operated in both passive and hybrid mode. The compensating performance of the filter is confirmed with computer simulation using MATLAB software. Analysis and simulation proved that the hybrid filter is an effective solution for neutral current mitigation.


A one-semester integrated microelectronics projects laboratory for junior-level electrical engineering students is described, which serves to educate the student in the physics and technology of microelectronics. The first third of the course is devoted to prescribed introductory experiments. In the final two-thirds of the semester, the student pursues a project of his own design. The curriculum of a first-year graduate course in microelectronics is also outlined.


Sobral has gone through structural changes in his territory and has reaffirmed his influence in the urban zone of Ceará. In this context, the Dom Expedito neighborhood stands out because its urbanization process took place the arrival of tertiary activities with precarious spaces in its interior. This manuscript analyzes the fragmentation of the area into territories and the relationship between the Terra Nova allotment and the Gaviões community. The urban space development includes characteristics such as segregation, which is the process that the population demands and enjoys the city in different ways. The visits and interviews carried out with long-term residents revealed their displeasure regarding the modernization process. When considering their precarious condition and comparing the transformation between this community and other areas of the city, it is clear that it is a forgotten neighborhood.


Abstract Essentially all petroleums are mixtures with different components charged from source rocks at different temperatures. This heterogeneous charge is the basis for compositional differences in reservoirs that are the basic elements of reservoir geochemical approaches. Because many classical petroleum geochemical tracers of source facies and maturity, such as the cyclic biomarker hydrocarbons, show several orders of magnitude variation in concentration in petroleum systems these compounds do not reliably track facies or maturity signals in mixed oil situations. Light hydrocarbon and aromatic hydrocarbon parameters are more reliable in this sense but, as mixtures are the norm, the concept of the maturity of oils needs revising. We suggest an alternative approach is needed which tracks the maturity/petroleum mass fraction relationships for reservoired oils (mass fraction maturity) and allows the bracketing of source kitchen maturity. We strongly advise against using compound ratios in reservoir geochemical studies without having knowledge of the compounds concentration range variations within the petroleum system being studied.


The effect of post-thermal annealing after halo implantation on device characteristic and reliability of sub-100-nm CMOSFETs was investigated. We found that the control of annealing time is more efficient than that of annealing temperature with respect to improving the hot-carrier-induced degradation. The best result of device performance and reliability was obtained by a post-thermal annealing treatment performed at medium temperatures (e.g., 900/spl deg/C) for a longer time (>1 min).


Object tracking is an essential and challenging sub-domain in the field of computer vision owing to its wide range of applications and complexities of real-life situations. It has been studied extensively over the last decade, leading to the proposal of several tracking frameworks and approaches. Recently, the introduction of reinforcement learning and the 'Actor-Critic' framework has effectively improved the tracking speed of deep learning trackers. However, most existing deep reinforcement learning trackers experience a slight performance degradation mainly owing to the drift issues. Drifts pose a threat to the tracking performance, which may lead to losing the tracked target. Herein, we propose a drift-proof tracker with deep reinforcement learning that aims to improve the tracking performance by counteracting drifts while maintaining its real-time advantage. We utilize a reward function with the Distance-IoU (DIoU) metric to guide the reinforcement learning to alleviate the drifts caused by the trained model. Furthermore, double negative samples (hard negative and drift samples) are constructed in tracking for network initialization, which is followed by calculating the loss by a small error-friendly loss function. Therefore, our tracker can better discriminate between the positive and negative samples and correct the predicted bounding boxes when the drift occurs. Meanwhile, a generative adversarial network is adopted for positive sample augmentation. Extensive experimental results on multiple popular benchmarks show that our algorithm effectively reduces the occurrences of drift and boosts the tracking performance, compared to those of other state-of-the-art trackers.


Like many rapidly aging countries Germany is experiencing an increasing lack of health care professionals. There is growing interest also in recruiting health care personnel in developing countries, alongside concerns about potential effects of that recruitment on health overseas. In this process, the German government – like many other governments of industrialized countries – has been guided by the World Health Organization's (WHO) 2010 "Global Code of Practice". But this Code has turned out to be inconsistent: on one hand the WHO recommends not recruiting health workers from some countries, while on the other hand guaranteeing their freedom of mobility. To cope with this contradiction, many governments of receiving countries rely on a 2006 WHO list of 57 states with a "critical shortage" of health professionals. That list was constructed using inherently poor and outdated data, and a country's inclusion on the list required numerous debatable judgment calls. How can industrialized countries meet their increasing demand of health care personnel while avoiding negative development outcomes?


A novel atomic electronegative distance vector (AEDV) has been developed to express the chemical environment of various chemically equivalent carbon atoms in alcohols and alkanes. Combining AEDV and γ parameter, four five-parameter linear relationship equations of chemical shift for four types of carbon atom are created by using multiple linear regression. Correlation coefficients are R = 0.9887, 0.9972, 0.9918 and 0.9968 end roots of mean square error are RMS = 0.906, 0. 821, 1.091 and 1.091 of four types of carbons, i.e., type 1, 2, 3, and 4 for primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary carbons, respectively. The stability and prediction capacity for external samples of four models have been tested by cross-validation.


The ITER EDA is a bucked design, The basic stress states of the coils are presented. Interface issues are discussed including vertical lock-up vs. slip at the CS-TF boundary; TF in-plane shear; local loading in the TF conductor; and vertical registration of the TF and CS coils


From the Publisher:
The only guide to managing and integrating the open source model
With the phenomenal success of Linux, companies are taking open source business solutions much more seriously than ever before. This book helps to satisfy the growing demand for guidance on how to manage open source enterprise development projects. Expert Jan Sandred explores the open source philosophy, describes current software tools for managing open source projects, and provides expert guidance on how to organize and manage open source projects using the Internet as a collaboration tool. With the help of several fascinating and instructive case studies, Sandred explores practical concerns such as building, motivating, and managing virtual teams; structuring tasks and meeting deadlines; establishing trust; project management software tools; maintaining project security; and more.


This publication provides an overview of the current domestic legislation providing for responsibility for the dissemination of false information in the conditions of the pandemic of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) (Articles 2071 and 2072 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Article 13.15 of the Administrative Code), problems arising in the process of applying these norms. The authors pay close attention to the existence of technical and legal errors in criminal law norms, as well as to the existence of sectoral competition between administrative and criminal laws in forensic practice. The present article attempts to study the elements of the corpus delicti that cause the most difficulties among law enforcement agencies and specialists in the field of criminal law doctrine. In addition, attention is paid to foreign experience in countering such criminal acts. The scientific study also reviews the available explanations of the highest court published during the epidemic, including those affecting the legal assessment of crimes under Art. 2071 and 2072 of the Criminal Code. Based on the research carried out, including the study of law enforcement materials, measures are proposed to improve the existing legislation in the field of combating the dissemination of inaccurate information about coronavirus and its practice.


Abstract The AFLP technique (amplified fragment-length polymorphism) was employed to identify and isolate species specific markers in tephritids. We have found that the technique has good potential for this purpose, with the only difficult part being the reamplification of AFLP fragments from silver stained gels. Cloning of putative species-specific markers and genomic dot blot hybridizations resulted in the development of diagnostic probes for tephritid identification. A repetitive DNA sequence from the genome of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) was isolated. This sequence rapidly and reliably identified C. capitata and C. rosa Karsch in a collection of closely related and outgroup species tested in this study. Although this probe has been developed for C. capitata and C. rosa, the proposed methodology can be applied to any group of organisms.


Tooth loss relates to functional problems and have psychological and social impact. At the end it can cause impairment of Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL). Self-awareness is one of the very important factor that influence demand for tooth loss replacement. This study was aimed to analyze relation between self-awareness and demand for prosthodontics treatment and other factors that influence it. A cross sectional study was conducted on 115 adults aged 34 to 80 year using convenience sampling method in Depok, Jawa Barat, Indonesia. Subject was clinically examined for location of tooth loss, posterior contacts (Eichner index) and denture status. Questionnaire used to assess awareness for missing tooth replacement and demand for prosthodontics treatment. Sociodemographic data were also collected. Spearman, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to assess the relation between variables. Subject age was between 35-80 years old, and dominated by female (83.5%). Only gender has a significant influence to the awareness of prosthodontics treatment. Awareness and demand for prosthodontic treatment are related (p<0.05). Increasing the awareness for replacing missing tooth through oral health education could be one preventive procedure to change public perception about their oral and general health. Clinical article (J Int Dent Med Res 2017; 10(3): pp. 872-876)


Despite its health benefits, vegetable consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa is below recommended levels. This report is part of a larger project, aiming to pilot and scale innovative approaches within the food systems of Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso to improve consumption of safe vegetables. The aim of this report is to obtain insights into the vegetable consumption behaviour of urban consumers in Benin. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted. Results were reviewed and validated by relevant experts in the field of nutrition, health, and food safety in Benin. This was important as most relevant literature referred to the larger context of West Africa. This report describes the results for Benin and identifies potential entry points for enhancing the consumption of safe vegetables.


Difference in strains in the layers of a multimorph beam causes it to curl, thereby leading to transduction. Straight multimorph beams have been widely used for thermal, piezoelectric, and shape-memory-alloy-based transducers that undergo out-of-plane bending, but curved multimorph beams have not been explored much. In this paper, we report thermal transducers based on curved multimorphs that have a nonzero curvature in the plane of the substrate. The distinguishing feature of curved multimorphs is that they undergo both out-of-plane bending and twisting deformations. We report the small-deformation analysis of curved multimorphs. The analytical expressions greatly expand the design space for microelectromechanical systems engineers and can lead to novel devices, including micromirrors and infrared sensors. The closed-form expressions were validated against finite-element (FE) simulation and experimental results. Experimental verification was done by monitoring a curved electrothermal multimorph beam at different temperatures. Good agreement between the analysis and experiments has been observed in the small-deformation range. At large deformations, in-plane displacement becomes significant. FE simulations and experiments are used to study large deformations.


Controllable Text Generation (CTG) is an emerging area in the field of natural language generation (NLG). It is regarded as crucial for the development of advanced text generation technologies that better meet the specific constraints in practical applications. In recent years, methods using large-scale pre-trained language models (PLMs), in particular the widely used Transformer-based PLMs, have become a new paradigm of NLG, allowing generation of more diverse and fluent text. However, due to the limited level of interpretability of deep neural networks, the controllability of these methods needs to be guaranteed. To this end, controllable text generation using Transformer-based PLMs has become a rapidly growing yet challenging new research hotspot. A diverse range of approaches have emerged in the past 3 to 4 years, targeting different CTG tasks that require different types of controlled constraints. In this article, we present a systematic critical review on the common tasks, main approaches, and evaluation methods in this area. Finally, we discuss the challenges that the field is facing, and put forward various promising future directions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first survey article to summarize the state-of-the-art CTG techniques from the perspective of Transformer-based PLMs. We hope it can help researchers and practitioners in the related fields to quickly track the academic and technological frontier, providing them with a landscape of the area and a roadmap for future research.


We consider a general situation where a charged massive scalar field at finite temperature interacts with a magnetic flux cosmic string. We determine a general expression for the Euclidean thermal Green's function of the massive scalar field and a handy expression for a massless scalar field. With this result, we evaluate the thermal average and the thermal average of the energy--momentum tensor of a non-conformal massless scalar field.


In their emblematic song of commercial nihilism, 'Anarchy in the UK' (1977), the Sex Pistols sarcastically reflected on the bathetic fate of that once imperial title, the 'United Kingdom'. The UK was now little more than one acronym among many in a neo-corporate Britain straining under the weight of a proliferation – NEDDY, TUC, CBI, PIB, GLC, etc. Northern Ireland seemed only the most extreme example of a general dissolution, where Parliament and government waned in their effective power of decision and acronym organisations had taken on a life of their own: Is this the M.P.L.A. or Is this the U.D.A. or Is this the I.R.A. I thought it was the U.K. Or just another country For Conservatives, of course, punk was part of the disease. Northern Ireland, however, was in their eyes an extreme manifestation of a general malaise: the decline of parliamentary sovereignty, refusal to defend to the hilt irreducible Britishness, and conciliation of subversion and over-mighty interest groups. Indeed, by the later 1970s, it was close to common sense that Britain had made the situation in Northern Ireland worse by trying too hard to resolve it.


Two 5-wk experiments were conducted to determine the effects of water and diet acidification with and without antibiotics on weanling pig growth performance and microbial shedding. In Exp. 1, 204 pigs (19.2 d of age) were used in a 3 x 2 factorial, with 3 dietary treatments fed with or without water acidification (2.58 mL/L of a propionic acid blend; KEM SAN, Kemin Americas, Des Moines, IA). Dietary treatments were: 1) control, 2) control + 55 ppm of carbadox (CB), and 3) dietary acid [DA; control + 0.4% organic acid-based blend (fumaric, lactate, citric, propionic, and benzoic acids; Kemin Americas)] on d 0 to 7 followed by 0.2% inorganic acid-based blend (phosphoric, fumaric, lactic, and citric acids; Kemin Americas) on d 7 to 34. In Exp. 2, 210 pigs (average 18.3 d of age) were fed 1 of 3 dietary treatments: 1) control, 2) control + 55 ppm of CB, and 3) control + 38.6 ppm of tiamulin + 441 ppm of chlortetracycline on d 0 to 7 followed by 110 ppm of chlortetracycline on d 7 to 35 (TC) with or without dietary acidification (same as Exp. 1) in a 3 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. For both experiments, the pigs were allotted based on genetics, sex, and initial BW [5.5 kg (Exp. 1) or 5.6 kg (Exp. 2)]. Pigs were housed at 6 or 7 (Exp. 1) and 7 (Exp. 2) pigs/pen. Treatments were fed in 3 phases: d 0 to 7, 7 to 21, and 21 to 35 (34 d, Exp. 1). Fecal grab samples were collected from 3 pigs/pen on d 6, 20, and 33 for measurement of pH and Escherichia coli. During phase 3 and overall in Exp. 1, pigs fed CB had greater (P < 0.001) ADG (overall ADG, 389 vs. 348, and 348 g/d, respectively), ADFI (P < 0.007, 608 vs. 559, and 554 g/d, respectively), and d 34 BW (P < 0.001, 18.8 vs. 17.3, and 17.3 kg, respectively) than pigs fed NC and DA. Phase 3 ADG was improved (P < 0.01) by water acidification across all diets. In Exp. 2, pigs fed CB and TC had greater ADG (P < 0.004; 315 and 303 vs. 270 g/d, respectively), ADFI (P < 0.01), and d 35 BW (P < 0.002; 16.7 and 16.2 vs. 15.1 kg, respectively) than pigs fed NC. There was a tendency (P < 0.08) for an improvement in ADG when DA was added to the NC or TC, but decreased ADG when DA was added to CB.


A 64-year-old woman attended for elective coronary angiography for investigation of atypical chest pain. She had undergone emergency saphenous vein bypass grafting to her left anterior descending coronary artery 19 years previously following dissection of the left main stem during diagnostic-coronary angiography. She also had previous bilateral mastectomies with extensive scarring of the chest wall.

Her current angiogram shows a patent vein graft (arrow) filling retrogradely from the left anterior descending coronary artery and a fully healed left main stem. Her native coronary arteries were normal. Her symptoms of chest pain were thought to be due to her extensive chest wall scarring and not coronary disease. The patient was discharged with no further follow-up.

It is unusual to see such a patent, pristine saphenous vein graft 19 years after coronary artery bypass surgery. This may be related to the absence of the usual risk factors for atherosclerosis as in this case, and illustrates that the age of the graft is not the sole determinant of vein graft degeneration that so commonly causes problems late after coronary artery bypass surgery surgery.


Changes in the EPR spectra of manganese-doped BaF2 single crystals induced by thermal treatments in different atmospheres have been studied. No modifications have been induced by thermal treatments at temperatures below 500 °C. Annealings above 700 °C only induce a total destruction of the cubic Mn2+ signal (Mn2+-I). If the annealings are performed at temperatures between 500 and 700 °C the modifications of the EPR spectra depend on the presence of water vapour in the surrounding atmosphere. When the annealing is performed in dry oxygen or nitrogen only the trigonal Mn2+-II centre, which has already been reported by Orera et al, is formed. If the annealings are performed in a wet atmosphere, two new manganese-related centres are formed. One of them has a trigonal symmetry and shows a resolved superhyperfine interaction with one fluorine. The other one has an orthorhombic symmetry and does not show any superhyperfine structure. Values of the spin-Hamiltonian parameters for both centres are given. A study of the production conditions and interconversion of the different centres is presented. Some tentative models for each are discussed.


In order to understand the mechanism by which cyclic 3':5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) regulates insulin secretion, cAMP-dependent protein phosphorylation was studied in a transplantable hamster islet cell tumor. Single cell suspensions prepared by enzymatic digestion of the tumors released insulin into the incubation media. Glucagon (3 nM to 3 muM) stimulated cellular cAMP accumulation and insulin release in a dose-dependent manner and these effects were enhanced by 1 mM theophylline. 8-Bromoadenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (8Br-cAMP) (1 mM) increased insulin release. Somatostatin (10 mug/ml) inhibited basal and glucagon or 8Br-cAMP-stimulated insulin release without significantly lowering cellular cAMP in glucagon-stimulated cells. For analysis of phosphoproteins, cells were incubated with carrier-free 32Pi following which lysates were prepared and analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate slab gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Of the numerous 32P-labeled protein bands found, only one (P1, Mr = 28,000) displayed a significant increase in 32P incorporation when cells were incubated under conditions that raise the concentration of cellular cAMP. Somatostatin did not affect 32P incorporation into P1 or any other protein band. When cells were incubated with glucagon, an increase in cellular cAMP was evident after 1 min, enhanced 32P incorporation into P1 after 1 to 5 min, and stimulation of insulin release after 5 to 10 min. Analysis of subcellular fractions led to the designation of P1 as a 40 S ribosomal protein. Two-dimensional electrophoresis of 32P-labeled basic ribosomal proteins showed two labeled proteins, P1 and P2, both of which were localized to the 40 S ribosomal subunit. Only phosphorylation of P1 was stimulated by cAMP. The cAMP-dependent ribosomal phosphoprotein, P1, may be identical with a ribosomal phosphoprotein demonstrated in a variety of tissues and species. Its physiological role remains to be established.


Background: The roles of patients as teachers in the clinical setting have been well documented in the literature. The traditional model of a "passive" role has existed since the time of William Osler. Unprepared patients' perceptions of their role as teachers of medical students when seen on their own has only been described twice, and in the context of the community clinical setting. The assumption of a passive role of patients in the education of students in hospitals has not been challenged, or their perceptions of that role enquired upon.Objectives : To enquire into patients' perceptions of their role in the facilitation of students' learning in the hospital environment and to challenge previous perceptions of the passivity of that role.Method: A pilot questionnaire-based study on 35 patients, utilizing both closed and open free text questions. Questions addressed key issues related to the patient's role as a teacher identified from previous literature.Results : Themes extracted were that patients felt they were experts in their condition, providers of a real life experience of an illness for the student, facilitators of the development of professional and clinical skills as well as a positive learning environment for the student. The younger male patient was less inclined to think he could help students learn.Conclusions: This pilot study shows that patients feel they have an active role to play in helping students learn in the hospital environment. Facilitating a positive learning environment for students within the acute hospital setting is a new theme not previously found. A follow up qualitative study based on patient interviews will begin soon.


In this paper, we provide a new perspective and insight into the process of finding the maximal performing method using a Cognitive Engine (CE) for link adaptation. It is found that near maximal performance can be reached relatively fast, even when a small number of the available communication methods provide adequate performance. The parameters that affect the expected number of trials are fully discussed along with analytical and simulation results. Finally, we provide the novel Robust Training Algorithm (RoTA), which given at least one method that exceeds the minimum performing requirements, adaptively maintains a communication link with the minimum required performance. The RoTA allows the CE to both continue learning and maintain a stable link for mission-critical applications1.


The article is devoted to L.N. Tolstoy's unfinished works, published in academic Complete Works in 100 volumes (vol. 9, 2014). The author explores textual features of comedies "The Contaminated Family", "The Nihilist" and the novel "The Decembrists". Complications in studying the text of unfinished works arise from many factors, the main being the preservation of manuscript collection. Textual critic often has to reconstruct separate words or text fragments predicating on autographs and authorized copies. Another factor which greatly influences author's text is the work of copyists. Their deliberate or unintentional meddling in the text usually results in losses but sometimes it becomes Tolstoy's new source of inventive solutions. Another problem is the peculiarity of the writer's handwriting which causes textual discrepancy. When it comes to selecting the main text source for the publication, the most difficult case is with "The Contaminated Family". Although Tolstoy had finished the comedy, to this day we only have its unfinished copy as some manuscripts and the last version proofread by the author have not been preserved. The author of the article compares old publications of comedy (1928, 1930, 1936, 1982) and substantiates the main source for the academic edition. On the basis of detailed study of the preserved autographs and handwritten copies of Tolstoy's unfinished works the progress of the writer's work is shown, copyists' work is analyzed and new interpretation of certain words is offered.


BACKGROUND
Triphala (Sanskrit tri = three and phala = fruits), composed of the three medicinal fruits Phyllanthus emblica L. or Emblica officinalis Gaertn., Terminalia chebula Retz., and Terminalia belerica Retz. is an important herbal preparation in the traditional Indian system of medicine, Ayurveda. Triphala is an antioxidant-rich herbal formulation and possesses diverse beneficial properties. It is a widely prescribed Ayurvedic drug and is used as a colon cleanser, digestive, diuretic, and laxative. Cancer is a major cause of death, and globally studies are being conducted to prevent cancer or to develop effective nontoxic therapeutic agents. Experimental studies in the past decade have shown that Triphala is useful in the prevention of cancer and that it also possesses antineoplastic, radioprotective and chemoprotective effects.

CONCLUSIONS
This review for the first time summarizes these results, with emphasis on published observations. Furthermore, the possible mechanisms responsible for the beneficial effects and lacunas in the existing knowledge that need to be bridged are also discussed.


Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) promote tumor immune escape through multiple mechanisms including suppressing antitumor activities of T lymphocytes. However, therapeutic abrogation of MDSCs often causes severe adverse effects, compensatory recruitment of alternative cell populations, and the multiplicity and complexity of relevant cytokines/receptors. Alternatively, suppressing the expansion and tumor trafficking of MDSCs may be a proficient and safe way for cancer treatment. Here we report that pseudo-neutrophil cytokine sponges (pCSs) can disrupt expansion and tumor trafficking of MDSCs and reverse immune tolerance. Coated with plasma membranes of neutrophils phenotypically and morphologically similar to polymorphonuclear MDSCs (PMN-MDSCs), the nano-sized pCSs inherited most membrane receptors from the "parental" neutrophils, enabling the neutralization of MDSC-related cytokines. Upon pCSs administration, the expansion of MDSCs and their enrichment in peripheral lymphoid organs and tumors were reduced without the compensatory influx of alternative myeloid subsets. In murine breast cancer and melanoma syngeneic models, pCSs treatment dramatically increased the number of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes and restored their antitumor functions. In addition, combining pCSs with the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint blockade synergistically suppressed tumor progression and prolonged animal survival. Overall, the pseudo-cell nano-platform opens up new paths toward effective cancer immunotherapy.


Due to high electricity consumption in the Cloud datacenters, providers aim at maximizing energy efficiency through VM consolidation, accurate resource allocation or adjusting VM usage. More generally, the provider attempts to optimize resource utilization. However, while minimizing expenses, the Cloud operator still needs to conform to SLA constraints negotiated with customers (such as latency, downtime, affinity, placement, response time or duplication). Consequently, optimizing a Cloud configuration is a multi-objective problem. As a nontrivial multi-objective optimization problem, there does not exist a single solution that simultaneously optimizes each objective. There exists a (possibly infinite) number of Pareto optimal solutions. Evolutionary algorithms are popular approaches for generating Pareto optimal solutions to a multi-objective optimization problem. Most of these solutions use a fitness function to assess the quality of the candidates. However, regarding the energy consumption estimation, the fitness function can be approximative and lead to some imprecisions compared to the real observed data. This paper presents a system that uses a genetic algorithm to optimize Cloud energy consumption and machine learning techniques to improve the fitness function regarding a real distributed cluster of server. We have carried out experiments on the OpenStack platform to validate our solution. This experimentation shows that the machine learning produces an accurate energy model, predicting precise values for the simulation.


Acquiring a sufficient amount of training data is a significant bottleneck for machine learning (ML) based data analytics. Recently, commoditizing ML models has been proposed as an economical and moderate solution to ML-oriented data acquisition. However, existing model marketplaces assume that the broker can access data owners' private training data, which may not be realistic in practice. In this paper, to promote trustworthy data acquisition for ML tasks, we propose FL-Market, a locally private model marketplace that protects privacy against not only model buyers but also an untrusted broker. FL-Market decouples ML from the need to centrally gather training data on the broker's side using federated learning, a privacy-preserving ML paradigm in which data owners collaboratively train an ML model by uploading local gradients (to be aggregated into a global gradient for model updating). Then, FL-Market enables data owners to locally perturb their gradients by local differential privacy and thus further prevents privacy risks. To drive FL-Market, we propose a deep learning-empowered auction mechanism for intelligently deciding the local gradients' perturbation levels and an optimal aggregation mechanism for aggregating the perturbed gradients. Our auction and aggregation mechanisms can jointly maximize the global gradient's accuracy, which optimizes model buyers' utility. Our experiments verify the effectiveness of the proposed mechanisms.


— One of the most essential issues in software products is to maintain it relevancy to the dynamics of the user's requirements and expectation. Many studies have been carried out in quality aspect of software products to overcome these problems. Previous software quality assessment models and metrics have been introduced with strengths and limitations. In order to enhance the assurance and buoyancy of the software products, certification models have been introduced and developed. From our previous experiences in certification exercises and case studies collaborating with several agencies in Malaysia, the requirements for user based software certification approach is identified and demanded. The emergence of social network applications, the new development approach such as agile method and other varieties of software in the market have led to the domination of users over the software. As software become more accessible to the public through internet applications, users are becoming more critical in the quality of the services provided by the software. There are several categories of users in web-based systems with different interests and perspectives. The classifications and metrics are identified through brain storming approach with includes researchers, users and experts in this area. The new paradigm in software quality assessment is the main focus in our research. This paper discusses the classifications of users in web-based software system assessment and their associated factors and metrics for quality measurement. The quality model is derived based on IEEE structure and FCM model. The developments are beneficial and valuable to overcome the constraints and improve the application of software certification model in future. research intepla erest includes i anning, and softwinformation syst ware project managtems, informatio gement.


Abstract The present article aims at answering the question whether an early or late treatment approach is the ideal period for Herbst therapy. This topic will be discussed by summarizing and evaluating the short- and long-term effects of the Herbst appliance on the dentofacial complex. Special emphasis will be given to the treatment outcome in relation to the patient's somatic and skeletal maturity at the time of therapy. Furthermore, the long-term stability of the treatment results will be addressed. The available knowledge in the literature demonstrates that the ideal period for Herbst treatment is in the permanent dentition at or just after the peak of pubertal growth corresponding to the skeletal maturity stages FG to H of the middle phalanx of the third finger (implying the pre-capping to pre-union stages of the ephiphysis and metaphysis). As mandibular growth stimulation is also possible in postadolescent young adult subjects a new concept of Class II therapy is presented in which the Herbst appliance is used as an alternative to orthognathic surgery in older Class II subjects.


Recent advances in site-specific detection of fish's physiological responses to continuous stream flows now complement surveillance programs utilizing remote automated water quality monitoring stations. Developments in automated biosensing provide methods for measuring in situ fish breathing rate changes to stream episodes and add a real-time biological monitoring dimension to remote water quality networks incorporating automated data collection platforms and satellite data retrieval options. In meeting our objective of developing automated biosensing capabilities for remote monitoring, a series of field trials was designed to test various configurations of in situ fish-holding chambers, breathing rate detectors, and system interface to streamside water quality data collection platforms for satellite data retrieval. Results were used to design gwups of automated biosensing devices for detecting rainbow trout breathing rate responses and to implement eight units at each of two data collection, platform-equipped, water quality stations located along a stream subject to acid precipitation influences in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Remote stations are beihg maintained for real-time data needs as a part of the 5-year Acid Precipitation Mitigation Program initiated in 1985 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate stream ecological responses to regulated liming operations.


Abstract : The purpose of this study was to evaluate conventional (port) and nonconventional offload sites for the Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) in coastal North Carolina, and compare the potential throughput rates at these sites to throughput rates typical of Joint Logistics over the Shore (JLOTS) operations conducted in exercises in Camp Lejeune. North Carolina was selected as a test site both due to its proximity to Camp Lejeune and also because of its environmental (geomorphic) similarity to many coastal regions in Asia. Another goal was to evaluate the quality and appropriateness of maps, bathymetry data, and aerial photography from various sources to conduct offload alternatives studies with the intent of eventually applying these techniques to other (overseas) sites. The analysis of offload sites demonstrated that the total length of shoreline suitable for the JHSV to unload in North Carolina was surprisingly limited. In the Cape Fear River estuary, the total length accessible either directly or via 180-m causeway was 27.9 km; in Morehead City/Beaufort area, 5.4 km; and in Masonboro Inlet, 1.0 km. The reasons for the limited access are both geological and developmental. On this low-gradient, soft sediment, trailing edge coast, only these three inlets are dredged deep enough to accommodate the JHSV, which requires a channel of 4.6 m. Once within the inlets, the only water deep enough for the JHSV is in the dredged navigation channels and some naturally-deep areas near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Finally, offload sites must be within a suitable distance from paved roads or railroads (in this analysis, 150 m), and these sites, too, proved to be unexpectedly limited. Despite the flexibility of the JHSV, planners considering operations in lesser developed parts of the world will have to contend with even more limited infrastructure, along with geological and oceanographic constraints.


The staggerer mouse carries a deletion in a gene encoding the nuclear hormone receptor RORα, which leads to severe impairments in phenotypic differentiation of cerebellar Purkinje cells. We previously found parasagittal compartments in the mature staggerer cerebellum, as defined by different transcription levels of Purkinje cell‐specific molecules including calbindin. In the present study, we developed a hightiter anti‐calbindin antibody to examine morphological features of the staggerer Purkinje cells. Immunohistochemistry for calbindin revealed compartmentalized Purkinje cell populations with different cell sizes, alignments, cell densities, and dendritic arborization, as well as different immunoreactivities, corresponding to the "transcriptional" compartments. Based on these immunohistochemical and cytological characteristics, the rostral cerebellum was clearly subdivided into three to seven parasagittal zones (Zones I–VII). Purkinje cells in Zones I and III were associated with the strongest calbindin immunoreactivities and exhibited morphological features reminiscent of the wild‐type cells, i.e., large flask‐shaped cell bodies, monolayer alignment, and arborized dendrites. Purkinje cells in Zone V were also labeled strongly, but they were small in cell size, ectopic and possessed long unbranched dendrites. On the other hand, Purkinje cells in Zones II, IV, and VI were very low in calbindin immunoreactivity and marked by small cell size, ectopia, poorly‐developed dendrites and low cell density. Considering that this unique cytological compartmentalization emerges as the result of RORα gene mutation, it is suggested that normal cytodifferentiation of Purkinje cells is governed by both RORα‐dependent and ‐independent mechanisms, and further that the latter mechanism might exert unevenly along the mediolateral cerebellar axis. J. Comp. Neurol. 395:112–120, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


An extensive body of demographic literature has described Jews as 'long-lifers'. From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, this pattern affected all age groups and was particularly well expressed among Jewish males but was also present among Jewish females. It held good independently of the Jews' socio-economic position. This became known as 'Jewish pattern of mortality'. This paper has two aims. The first aim is to show the impact of COVID-19 on Jewish mortality. This is a study of a global pandemic in the Jewish population which is, to the best of our knowledge, unique in its scope and quality. The second aim is to settle the finding of relatively high mortality from COVID-19 in certain Jewish communities ('Jewish penalty' in relation to COVID-19) with the notion of 'Jewish pattern of mortality'. The author proceeds to show that the status of Jews as a low mortality group under a Western epidemiological regime, when mortality and morbidity are dominated by non-communicable diseases, does not stand in contradiction to a higher vulnerability among Jews to coronavirus. Thus, the paper further develops understanding of mortality of Jews and serves as a contribution to ethnic and religious demography and epidemiology.


An investigation of the relationship between depositions of immunoglobulin or complement and hyaluronic acid in cutaneous lesions of a patient with scleromyxedema was undertaken.