We propose a model that identifies the configurations of relations between environmental practices and other management practices that can improve employee performance, measured as labor productivity. To test our model, we use the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) methodology, which allows us to demonstrate empirically how different configurations of management practices, including environmental practices, quality management systems, teamwork, and interorganizational relations, contribute to work systems in ways that increase labor productivity. Our results, based on data from 4,975 employees from 1,866 firms, show that environmental practices are associated with higher labor productivity only when they are combined with other management practices.


'Diversifying Density' explores current issues surrounding New Zealand's struggling rural regions with particular focus on the test region of Kāpiti/Horowhenua Coast. These rural regions are subject to pressure from cities with regard to economic production and a cultural shift toward urban lifestyle. This has contributed to deconstructing much of what originally made these regions so attractive to live in. Through the process of revitalisation this research looks at the specific test site of Lake Horowhenua. While there is no shortage to these rural challenges, Lake Horowhenua has managed to retain particular significance within the overall region of Kāpiti/Horowhenua Coast.  The focus area of this research is to explore a diverse hybrid settlement for a specific area based around a potential economy. On developing this, the design explores how this can provide new habitation while working towards a better environmental system and occupancy potential.  This research looks to encouraging discussion about conservation by adding further economic opportunity, the displacement of some current practices with the benefit of economic, environmental, and spatial diversities. Pulling these elements together the thesis proposes that this generates further opportunity, to increase human occupancy, formulating a perception and involvement within this rural landscape. Reconfiguring rural economies, lifestyles, recreation and conservation encourages authenticity of rural landscapes, creating new experiences and opportunities building the notion of abundance.  The research being tested in detail is the harakeke (flax) economy. It is structured around the processing stages involving the extraction of the harakeke fibre. Developing this concept through one economy generates new opportunities for habitation, while facilitating alternative growth specific to the site and economy. This informs design moves that are directed specifically toward the economic and environmental diversity drivers connected to the site for growth encouragement.  Then begins the exploration of concepts of authenticity; new rural living patterns; interdependencies of economies; environment and spatial patterns; and developing a synergy between work and living to construct community.


The paper presents design optimization strategies and a comparison of the performance of SiGe HBT fundamental and push-push Colpitts and Colpitts-Clapp voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), with and without doublers and buffers, as possible solutions for efficient milliwatt-level, low-noise signal sources at submillimeter-wave frequencies. The fundamental frequency Colpitts VCO covers a 12% tuning range between 218 and 246 GHz (the highest for SiGe HBTs) with up to -3.6-dBm output power and 0.8% efficiency. The 300-GHz signal source, consisting of a Colpitts-Clapp VCO followed by a buffer amplifier and a doubler, shows -1.7-dBm output power around 290 GHz, -101-dBc/Hz phase noise at 10-MHz offset, 7.5% tuning range, and 0.4% efficiency. Finally, the push-push Colpitts-Clapp VCO exhibits the highest operation frequency, from 309 to 325 GHz, but with reduced efficiency of only 0.07% and 5% tuning range. It was concluded that the differential cascode buffer placed between the VCO and doubler was instrumental in achieving the best phase noise and output power with good efficiency and without compromising tuning range.


Existing empirical studies on the relation between inequality and growth have been criticized for their focus on income inequality and their use of cross-country data sets. Schipper and Hoogeveen use two sets of small area welfare estimates-often referred to as poverty maps-to estimate a model of rural per capita expenditure growth for Uganda between 1992 and 1999. They estimate the growth effects of expenditure and education inequality while controlling for other factors, such as initial levels of expenditure and human capital, family characteristics, and unobserved spatial heterogeneity. The authors correct standard errors to reflect the uncertainty due to the fact that they use estimates rather than observations. They find that per capita expenditure growth in rural Uganda is affected positively by the level of education as well as by the degree of education inequality. Expenditure inequality does not have a significant impact on growth.


Computers and computer-related technology have become an integral part of teaching and learning in the past decades due to the rapid development of information technology. Although a number of studies have reported the positive effects of technology use on student motivation, self-direction, sense of accomplishment, critical thinking and language skills (Van Scoter, Ellis & Railsback, 2001), recent research has shown that the integration of technology has not yet been fully acknowledged and accepted by teachers (Herman, 2002), particularly in the EFL countries. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of an 8-week CALL instruction as a supplement to face to face in class grammar instruction on the grammar and listening skills of Turkish EFL students. The participants are a hundred and seventy-four Turkish EFL learners enrolled at the English preparatory school of a state university in Istanbul, Turkey. Data were collected by means of grammar and listening tests.


Multi-wavelength Fresnel digital holography is used to extract 3D features of objects imaged using a confocal system. The computed phase around the image plane using the synthetic wavelength gives the depth of the original object.


Lignin, an abundant organic polymer and a byproduct of pulp and biofuel production, has potential applications due to its high carbon content and aromatic structure. Processing-structure relationships are difficult to predict due to lignin's heterogeneity. The work discusses the role of unit operations in the carbonization process of softwood lignin, and its resulting impact on materials structure and electrochemical properties when used as the anode in lithium-ion cells. The processing variables include the presence, temperature, and duration of thermal stabilization, pyrolysis, and reduction. Materials are characterized at the atomicand micro-scales. High temperature carbonization, 2000 C, produced larger graphitic domains than 1050 C but resulted in reduced capacity. Coulombic efficiencies over 98% were achieved for extended galvanostatic cycling. Consequently, a properly designed carbonization process for lignin is well suited to generating low-cost, high-efficiency electrodes.


Aims. Kidney disease was found to be a major risk factor for vitamin D deficiency in a population study of patients hospitalized. The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency inpatients and outpatients in a nephrology department during fall and to evaluate effect of assessing serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and previous supplementation of cholecalciferol on vitamin D status. Methods. We studied 280 subjects in total, between October and January. The subjects were recruited from the following two groups: (a) inpatients and (b) outpatients in nephrology unit. We examined previous documentary evidence of vitamin D supplementation of the patients. Results. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among these 280 patients was 62,1% (174 patients). Fifty-three patients (18.9%) had severe vitamin D deficiency, 121 patients (43.2%) moderate vitamin D deficiency, and 66 patients (23.6%) vitamin D insufficiency. In logistic regression analysis female gender, not having vitamin D supplementation history, low serum albumin, and low blood urea nitrogen levels were significant independent predictors of vitamin D deficiency while no association of vitamin D deficiency with diabetes mellitus, serum creatinine, eGFR, and being hospitalized was found. Conclusion. Vitamin D deficiency, seems to be an important problem in both inpatients and outpatients of nephrology. Monitoring serum 25(OH)D concentrations regularly and replacement of vitamin D are important. Women in Turkey are at more risk of deficiency and may therefore need to consume higher doses of vitamin D.


Recent work has shown that data augmentation has the potential to significantly improve the generalization of deep learning models. Recently, learned augmentation strategies have led to state-of-the-art results in image classification and object detection. While these strategies were optimized for improving validation accuracy, they also led to state-of-the-art results in semi-supervised learning and improved robustness to common corruptions of images. One obstacle to a large-scale adoption of these methods is a separate search phase which significantly increases the training complexity and may substantially increase the computational cost. Additionally, due to the separate search phase, these learned augmentation approaches are unable to adjust the regularization strength based on model or dataset size. Learned augmentation policies are often found by training small models on small datasets and subsequently applied to train larger models. In this work, we remove both of these obstacles. RandAugment may be trained on the model and dataset of interest with no need for a separate proxy task. Furthermore, due to the parameterization, the regularization strength may be tailored to different model and dataset sizes. RandAugment can be used uniformly across different tasks and datasets and works out of the box, matching or surpassing all previous learned augmentation approaches on CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100, SVHN, and ImageNet. On the ImageNet dataset we achieve 85.0% accuracy, a 0.6% increase over the previous state-of-the-art and 1.0% increase over baseline augmentation. On object detection, RandAugment leads to 1.0-1.3% improvement over baseline augmentation, and is within 0.3% mAP of AutoAugment on COCO. Finally, due to its interpretable hyperparameter, RandAugment may be used to investigate the role of data augmentation with varying model and dataset size.


The published DNA sequence that includes the gene for the envelope glycoprotein gp67 of the baculovirus Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus also contains a segment that shows 32% amino acid identity to papain, a cysteine endopeptidase from the papaya plant (Carica papaya). The viral papain-like sequence is apparently affected by a frame-shift mutation, but otherwise appears capable of encoding a functional enzyme. Catalytically essential amino acids appear to be conserved, as do disulphide bridges. The overall structure of the putative protein is similar to that of papain, as judged by hydropathy profile. Secondary structure prediction using a consensus of seven methods indicates that the putative viral enzyme retains the alpha/beta domain structure of papain, including the long helix beginning with cysteine-25. Infecting SF9 cells with the virus did not lead to a detected increase in cysteine endopeptidase activity, and a cysteine endopeptidase inactivator appeared to have no effect on infectivity. Irrespective of whether the sequence encodes a functionally active cysteine endopeptidase, this is the first example of a papain-related sequence in a viral genome.


Purpose: Active surveillance (AS) with the possibility of delayed intervention (DI) is emerging as a safe alternative to immediate intervention for many patients with small renal masses (SRMs). However, limited comparative data exist to inform the most appropriate management strategy for SRMs. Materials and Methods: Decision analytic Markov modeling was performed to estimate the health outcomes and costs of 4 management strategies for 65-year-old patients with an incidental SRM: AS (with possible DI), immediate partial nephrectomy, radical nephrectomy, and thermal ablation. Mortality, direct medical costs, quality-adjusted life-years, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were evaluated over 10 years. Results: The 10-year all-cause mortality was 22.6% for AS, 21.9% for immediate partial nephrectomy, 22.4% for immediate radical nephrectomy, and 23.7% for immediate thermal ablation. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000/quality-adjusted life-year, AS was the most cost-effective management strategy. The results were robust in univariate, multivariate, and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Clinical decision analysis demonstrated that the tumor's metastatic potential, patient age, individual preferences, and health status were important factors influencing the optimal management strategy. Notably, if the annual probability of metastatic progression from AS was sufficiently low (under 0.35%–0.45% for most ages at baseline), consistent with the typical metastatic potential of SRMs <2 cm, AS would achieve higher health utilities than the other strategies. Conclusions: Compared to immediate intervention, AS with timely DI offers a safe and cost-effective approach to managing patients with SRMs. For patients harboring tumors of very low metastatic potential, AS may lead to better patient outcomes than immediate intervention.


While scholars have proposed to interrupt and resist the prevailing androcentric view prevalent in Kenyan society, and, of course, some of these ways have borne fruit, this article proposes to turn attention to women's narratives as captured in their autobiographies. This article is thus an interpretive analysis of Professor Wangari Maathai's autobiography Unbowed: One Woman's Story. Hopefully, personal story will answer particular theoretical questions that underpin the understanding and conceptualisation of feminism by Wanjiku (poor women) in Kenya. Under the backdrop of this question lies a fundamental assumption that feminism in Kenya needs a rethinking and a possible reconceptualisation to address past failures and setbacks. While locating its interrogation on postcolonial feminist theoretical underpinnings, the article adopts a qualitative approach as part of the research design. Being interpretive, the study relies on lit-crit methodology to analyse Wangari Maathai's Unbowed. The main concern is to interrogate how Maathai's autobiography reframes feminist scholarship in Kenya, particularly by underscoring the significance of Wanjiku as a key resource in the whole feminist enterprise.


introduction: Home special caring program is a treatment –caring program for children with cerebral palsy which has considered its effectiveness on parents and their children. This program used neurodevelopmental approach helps parent to improve parent ability into their children's caring and independence. To successfully implement program, occupational therapists should consider educational program (one workshop, booklet, phone follow-up)  facilitator factors that were infleneced on parent implementation of home caring program. Materials and Methods: Data gathered and analyzed with qualitative content analysis method. 15 in-depth interviews were conducted with parents who participated and implemented the program at home for three months. Transcripts of interview were coded by usinginductive conventional qualitative content analysis. Results: Facilitator factors were grouped into three main categories: "factors related to workshop", " factors related to booklet", " persistent relationship with children's therapists". Conclusions: There were several factors indicated that, occupational therapist should pay more attention to educational methods of cerebral palsies parent and hold their supportive relationships with parents during implementation of  home- based educational caring program. Key words: cerebral palsy/ facilitator/ qualitative content analysis/ home-based educational special caring program


OBJECTIVE
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, non-coding RNAs, which exert crucial functions in regulating biological progressions. Previous studies have demonstrated the anti-tumor effect of miRNA-215-5p. However, its specific role in influencing the progression of prostate cancer (PCa) remains unclear. This study aims to uncover the regulatory effect of miRNA-215-5p on the metastasis and prognosis of PCa.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
MiRNA-215-5p levels in collected PCa tissues (n=52) and paracancerous tissues (n=52) were determined by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). The relationship between miRNA-215-5p level and pathological indexes, as well as overall survival of PCa patients, was analyzed. Regulatory effects of miRNA-215-5p on proliferative and metastatic capacities of LNCaP and DU-145 cells were evaluated through cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and transwell assay, respectively. Bioinformatics prediction was performed to search for the target genes of miRNA-215-5p and PGK1 was selected. The biological role of PGK1 in the progression of PCa was finally clarified by a series of rescue experiments.

RESULTS
MiRNA-215-5p was lowly expressed in PCa tissues and cell lines. Low level of miRNA-215-5p predicted poor prognosis in PCa patients. The silence of miRNA-215-5p enhanced viability, migratory, and invasive capacities of LNCaP cells, while the overexpression of miRNA-215-5p yielded the opposite trends in DU-145 cells. PGK1 was predicted to be the target of miRNA-215-5p. PGK1 was upregulated in PCa tissues and cell lines and its high level predicted poor prognosis of PCa. Moreover, PGK1 level was negatively correlated to that of miRNA-215-5p in PCa tissues. PGK1 was able to reverse the regulatory effects of miRNA-215-5p on metastatic potentials of PCa cells.

CONCLUSIONS
Downregulated miRNA-215-5p in PCa is closely related to distant metastasis and poor prognosis of affected patients. MiRNA-215-5p alleviates the malignant progression of PCa by targeting and downregulating PGK1.


Abstract Our field-based geochemical studies of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous granitoids on Hainan Island indicate that their magmas had different geochemical affinities, changing from alkaline in the Triassic through ocean island basalt (OIB) in the Jurassic, to calc-alkaline in the Cretaceous. We show that these changes in the geochemical affinities of the Mesozoic granitoids on Hainan and in SE China reflect different melt sources and melt evolution patterns through time. Our new geodynamic model suggests that: (1) Triassic geology was controlled by flat-slab subduction of the palaeo-Pacific plate beneath SE China. This slab dynamics resulted in strong coupling between the lower and upper plates, causing push-over tectonics and contractional deformation in SE China. Flat subduction-induced edge flow and aesthenospheric uprising led to the production of high-K granites, syenites and mafic rocks. (2) Slab foundering, accelerated subduction rates and subduction hinge retreat in the Early Jurassic caused rapid rollback of the downgoing slab. Strong decoupling of the upper and lower plates resulted in pull-away tectonics, producing extensional deformation in SE China. Decompression melting of the upwelling aesthenosphere produced OIB-type melts, which interacted with the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) to form A- and I-type granitoids. (3) Segmentation of the palaeo-Pacific plate in the Early Cretaceous resulted in steeply dipping slabs and their faster rollback, facilitating lithospheric-scale extension and oceanward migration of calc-alkaline magmatism. This extensional deformation played a significant role in the formation of metamorphic core complexes, widespread crustal melting and development of a Basin and Range-type tectonics and landscape evolution in SE China.


In support of the Bioenergy Technologies Office, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are undertaking studies of biomass conversion technologies to hydrocarbon fuels to identify barriers and target research toward reducing conversion costs. Process designs and preliminary economic estimates for each of these pathway cases were developed using rigorous modeling tools (Aspen Plus and Chemcad). These analyses incorporated the best information available at the time of development, including data from recent pilot and bench-scale demonstrations, collaborative industrial and academic partners, and published literature and patents. This technology pathway case investigates the catalytic conversion of solubilized carbohydrate streams to hydrocarbon biofuels, utilizing data from recent efforts within the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC) in collaboration with Virent, Inc.. Technical barriers and key research needs that should be pursued for the catalytic conversion of sugars pathway to be competitive with petroleum-derived gasoline, diesel and jet range hydrocarbon blendstocks have been identified.


Weak part analysis of a system is a key element in a system reliability quantification process. It enables the weakest areas of a system to be recognized and assists in directing remedial measures for improving the system reliability. This paper proposes an unreliability tracing technique for a ring shipboard distribution system. The case studies indicate that the developed technique can distribute the system unreliability indices to components reasonably, and can therefore be used to recognize the weak parts of a shipboard power system.


This article is a revised version of a 1991 speech on the battle then looming over ancient forests and timber harvests in the Pacific Northwest. It discusses the biology and ecology of old-growth forests and their relationship to the northern spotted owl. It also explains the legal framework governing federal timber harvests, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Forest Management Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Finally, the article examines several then-pending and legal challenges to continued industrial timber harvesting, including Seattle Audubon Society v. Robertson, Northern Spotted Owl v. Hodel, and Marble Mountain Audubon Society v. Rice. The article concludes by drawing a number of institutional lessons evident from the environmentalist campaign to preserve ancient the Pacific Northwest's forests.


It has been found that the magnetic field effect detected by fluorescence of the pyrene–N,N-dimethylaniline exciplex in binary liquid mixtures containing components of significantly different relative permittivities depends on VmP(δP–δN)2 values which appear in Hildebrand's theory. Here VmP is the molar volume of a polar component and δP and δN are the solubility parameters of polar and non-polar components, respectively. The results suggest that the preferential solvation of radical-ion pairs in mixtures may be affected by their concentration fluctuations. The characteristic dimension of polar microdomains produced around radical ions was determined by the magnetic-field-effect technique to be ca. 50 A.


Edmund Burke's Reflexions on the Revolution in France provoked one of the most fertile political debates in Great Britain. As a response to the French revolution and declaration of 1789, Burke received instantly numerous responses, namely by Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft and others; this paper examines the Scottish enlightenment involvement in this debate through James Mackintosh's response to Burke this encounter of British and French enlightenment will illuminate our modern vision of human rights theories.


OBJECTIVE
Leptin is an adipocyte-derived hormone regulating body weight and energy balance in animals and human being. Although the physiological functions of leptin in human are still unclear, its secretion is closely related to fat mass and energy expenditure in both adults and children. This study investigated whether the plasma leptin level was reduced in connection with the weight loss during the neonatal period and try to find out the role of leptin in body weight regulation and energy balance of premature infants.

METHODS
The radioimmunoassay was used to determine the plasma leptin concentration. The first blood samples were obtained at the delivered, and then collected the samples every two days until the infants' body weight recovered to the birth weight or above. At the same time, the essential fluid and energy for the patients were supplied to keep their physiological functions. One person was appointed to take responsibility to examine the body weight, body length and head circumference. Then computed out their Kaup index from the first day to the seventh or twelfth day.

RESULTS
A total of 26 premature infants were selected into the study, of which 14 cases were male and 12 female, and their gestational age ranged from 30 to 36 weeks. There was a significantly positive correlation between the premature newborns' body weight loss and their plasma leptin levels (the 1st day: n = 26, r = 0.766; the 3rd day: n = 26, r = 0.636; the 5th day: n = 26, r = 0.629; the 7th day: n = 26, r = 0.717; the 9th-12th day: n = 24, r = 0.587; P < 0.01). The time of body weight loss and the plasma leptin level which declined to extremely low were positively correlated. (r = 0.611, P < 0.01). The time when body weight loss declined to extremely low in 26 premature infants ranged form the 3rd to the 9th day after birth [(5.2 +/- 1.6) day], and that of the plasma leptin levels ranged form the 3rd to the 8th day after birth (4.7 +/- 1.4) day. The maximal ranges of the body weight loss and the plasma leptin decrease in 26 premature infants were (6.5 +/- 3.0)% and (59.6 +/- 11.3)%, respectively. In addition, there were significantly positive correlations among the plasma leptin level, the premature newborns' body length (the 1st day: n = 26, r = 0.609, P < 0.01; the 3rd day: n = 26, r = 0.419, P < 0.05; the 5th day: n = 26, r = 0.583, P < 0.01; the 7th day: n = 26, r = 0.626, P < 0.01; the 9th-12th day: n = 24, r = 0.482; P < 0.05), and the Kaup index (the 1st day: n = 26, r = 0.634; the 3rd day: n = 26, r = 0.534; the 5th day: n = 26, r = 0.542; the 7th day: n = 26, r = 0.611; the 9th-12th day: n = 24, r = 0.539; P < 0.01). Although the head circumference correlated positively with the plasma leptin level at the first week after the delivery (the 1st day: n = 26, r = 0.580, P < 0.01; the 3rd day: n = 26, r = 0.417, P < 0.05; the 5th day: n = 26, r = 0.426; P < 0.01). There was a lower correlation between them one week after the delivery (the 7th day: n = 26, r = 0.369; the 9th-12th day: n = 24, r = 0.323; P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION
There was a significantly positive correlation between the plasma leptin level and the premature newborns weight loss. Leptin may participate in the regulation of energy balance and body weight of premature infants during neonatal life. Leptin may play an important role in growth and development of premature infants.


This volume describes the procedures governing the transfer of sentenced foreign nationals from the United States to serve the remainder of their sentences in their native countries, and of United States nationals sentenced in foreign countries to serve the remainder of their sentences in the United States. It discusses the statutory and treaty framework regulating the transfer of sentenced persons to and from the United States, as well as the case law interpreting those statutes and treaties. Appendices contain United States statutes and regulations, US Department of Justice Manual materials, and all treaties governing the transfer of prisoners to and from the United States.


In most lepidopteran insects, the biosynthesis of sex pheromones is regulated by pheromone biosynthesis-activating neuropeptide (PBAN). Bombyx mori PBAN (BomPBAN) consists of 33 amino acid residues and contains a C-terminus FSPRLamide motif as the active core. Among neuropeptides containing the FXPRLamide motif, the arginine (Arg, R) residue at the second position from the C-terminus is highly conserved across several neuropeptides, which can be designated as RXamide peptides. The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of the Arg residue in the BomPBAN active core. We synthesized 10-residue peptides corresponding to the C-terminal part of BomPBAN with a series of replacements at the second position from the C-terminus, termed the C2 position, and measured their efficacy in stimulating Ca2+ influx in insect cells expressing a fluorescent PBAN receptor chimera (PBANR–EGFP) using the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator, Fura Red–AM. The PBAN analogs with the C2 position replaced with alanine (Ala, A), aspartic acid (Asp, D), serine (Ser, S), or l-2-aminooctanoic acid (Aoc) decreased PBAN-like activity. RC2A (SKTRYFSPALamide) and RC2D (SKTRYFSPDLamide) had the lowest activity and could not inhibit the activity of PBAN C10 (SKTRYFSPRLamide). We also prepared Rhodamine Red-labeled peptides of the PBAN analogs and examined their ability to bind PBANR. In contrast to Rhodamine Red-PBAN C10 at 100 nM, none of the synthetic analogs exhibited PBANR binding at the same concentration. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the C2 Arg residue in BomPBAN is essential for PBANR binding and activation.


Medical oestrogen suppressive therapy has to be considered as an important principle in the management of endometriosis. In the last years GnRHa became the "gold standard" as pre or postoperative measures before/after surgical intervention. We analyzed the data of 198 patients, most of them with recurrent endometriosis histologically confirmed during first-look laparoscopy. Patients were treated in a prospective, multicentre phase III study with the six months GnRHa leuprorelinacetate depot (LAD) followed by a second-look laparoscopy for precise assessment of therapeutic effects. In all stages of endometriosis a 35% reduction of the r-AFS-score compared to the baseline could be achieved due to surgical intervention during first-look laparoscopy with a further improvement of 64% after GnRHa-therapy and surgery during second-look laparoscopy. Two subgroups of patients (24 vs. 45) could be analyzed according to the time of second-look laparoscopy (< or = 30 days vs. > or = 60 days after last injection) showing a comparable r-AFS-score reduction. Both, superficial lesions and deep infiltrating nodules, endometriomas, peritoneal implants and obliterated cul de sac could successfully be treated through the combined medical-surgical approach. Pre- or postoperative therapy with a GnRHa facilitates surgical excision of the implants, a subtle adhesiolysis and often complete removal of all visible lesions. In a high percentage of patients, including advanced stages of the disease, a preservation of ovarian tissue to ensure the childbearing potential could be achieved by minimal-invasive techniques. These results can be claimed as the prerequisites for long-term relief of endometriosis complaints and encouraging pregnancy rates in endometriosis related infertility. This confirms great clinical benefit of the combined medical-surgical approach for the treatment of this enigmatic disease.


Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) or drug-induced hypersensitivity is a severe adverse drug-induced reaction. Aromatic anticonvulsants, such as phenytoin, phenobarbital, and carbamazepine, and some drugs, can induce DRESS. Atypical crystalluria can be seen in patients treated with amoxycillin or some drugs and can cause acute renal failure. We describe a 66-year-old man who presented fever and rash and acute renal failure three days after starting amoxycillin. He was also using phenytoin because of cerebral metastatic lung cancer. Investigation revealed eosinophilia and atypical crystalluria. The diagnosis of DRESS syndrome was made, amoxicillin was stopped, and dose of phenytoin was reduced. No systemic corticosteroid therapy was prescribed. Symptoms began to resolve within three to four days. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of microscopic examination of urine in a case with acute renal failure and skin lesions to suspect DRESS syndrome.


OBJECTIVE
To study the effect of acupuncture on enzymology of the motor neuron of anterior horn of injured spinal cord in rats.

METHODS
Chemical staining method was used to quantitatively analyze the acetylcholinesterase (ACHE), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), acid phosphatase (ACP), changes in motor neuron of anterior horn of spinal cord simultaneously, and auto-analysis photogram apparatus was used to quantitatively analyze.

RESULTS
After spinal cord was injured, the AchE and SDH reduced, ACP raised; in the acupuncture group, ACHE and SDH were increased and ACP was lowered after acupuncture (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION
Acupuncture could regulate enzymology of the motor neuron of anterior horn of injured spinal cord. Acupuncture could inhibit or delay the deterioration of neuron, and also could promote the recovery.


This Ph.D. thesis delved into the intricate engineering of extracellular vesicles (EVs) for optimized protein-based drug delivery. The clinical utilization of EVs for drug delivery was contingent upon efficient drug loading methods, scalable EV production techniques, and improved methods to achieve targeted delivery for enhanced therapeutic efficacy. Thus, the research aimed to expedite the clinical translation of EVs for protein delivery by: (i) developing efficient loading approaches, (ii) upscaling EV production, and (iii) exploring the preclinical and therapeutic applications of EVs.

In the first section, novel strategies for enhancing EV-mediated protein delivery were developed. A versatile platform, TOP-EVs, was introduced, which leveraged the rapamycin-interacting FKBP/FRB complex and the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein, thereby enhancing protein delivery both in vitro and in vivo. Further, a strategy using the FKBP12/FRB complex and the PTGFRN transmembrane protein was explored for efficient protein loading/unloading in target cells and concurrent EV-mediated targeted delivery of bioactive content. Furthermore, a new endogenous loading method, VINCI, was devised to improve protein delivery using engineered EVs.

The second section tackled the low yield issue prevalent in the current EV production process. Biofabrication of artificial cell-derived nanovesicles was shown to be a scalable and efficient solution, capable of producing EV mimics with functionality akin to natural EVs. However, more research was needed to enable effective protein loading inside these artificial nanovesicles.

The third section examined the preclinical and therapeutic applications of EVs. EVs' in vivo behavior and capacity for effective intracellular delivery of protein-based payloads were investigated using varied administration strategies. A thorough examination of the biodistribution of EVs and their ability to mediate intracellular protein delivery in the liver was performed. Moreover, evidence was provided that EVs could effectively deliver CRISPR/Cas9 to inactivate the Pcsk9 gene, a therapeutic target for cholesterol reduction, hence increasing LDL receptor expression.

In conclusion, this research underscored significant advancements in EV engineering for protein-based drug delivery. The strategies presented in this work could catalyze the clinical translation of EV-based nanomedicine, expanding the horizons of precision gene therapy and protein-based therapeutics. However, standardizing EV-isolation, -characterization, -purification, and -storage methods to decrease heterogeneity and ensure reproducibility remained fundamental challenges within the field. Future studies are warranted on identifying the most optimal loading and delivery strategies, scalable EV production platforms, and improved delivery to target organs. Advancements in these areas could propel the utilization of EVs as nanomedicine.


High-efficiency CW amplification has been obtained using germanium TRAPATT diodes. Several modes of amplification are described. The first mode gives approximately a 12-dB gain with a maximum efficiency of 25 percent at saturation. The second mode exhibits lower gain, but at a relatively low input power the diode switches into a locked TRAPATT oscillator mode with an efficiency of approximately 35 percent. Each of these modes exhibits a noise figure of approximately 120 dB. A third mode which allows the diode to oscillate in the TRAPATT mode at one frequency and to amplify at a second frequency has also been obtained. The noise figure for this mode is approximately 60 dB.


In 2019 the European Union adopted two key Directives on consumer protection with regard to digital contracts: the Directive on the supply of digital content and digital services (2019/770, hereinafter DCD), and the Directive on the online sale of goods (2019/ 771, hereinafter SGD). The European Commission has meant these Directives to be futureproof, which is the reason why the range of digital content under the scope of the DCD is as broad as possible, and the SGD applies to so-called 'goods with digital elements'.
Yet, and in-spite of this future-proof ambition, no mention is made of what is probably the most pressing current technology: artificial intelligence (AI). This technology presents a number of important challenges as underscored by the European Commission in its recent White Paper on AI. Yet, they do not seem to have been taken into account by the Directives.
This contribution therefore tries to apply the challenges identified by the Commission in the context of product safety and liability to these Directives with a focus on the DCD. It shows that it presents a number of important challenges, in particular as far as provision on conformity, remedies, or liability are concerned. Ultimately, it raises the question as to whether these Directives are able to deal with AI.


D.C. Sigee, F. Bahrami, B. Estrada, R.E. Webster and A.P. Dean. 2007. The influence of phosphorus availability on carbon allocation and P quota in Scenedesmus subspicatus: A synchrotron-based FTIR analysis. Phycologia 46: 583–592. DOI: 10.2216/07-14.1 Synchrotron-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy was used to characterise the molecular composition of the freshwater alga Scenedesmus subspicatus, cultured at three different initial concentrations of phosphorus (PO4-P): 0.05 mg l−1, 0.5 mg l−1 and 5 mg l−1. These led, respectively, to limited algal growth due to phosphorus deficiency (low-P culture), maximum algal growth with no luxury consumption (intermediate-P) and maximum algal growth with luxury phosphorus consumption (high-P culture). In all cultures, FTIR spectra had nine major absorbance bands (wavenumber range 1760–900 cm−1), including bands at 1736 cm−1 (lipid), 1652 cm−1 (amide I) and the region from 1180 to 950 cm−1 (carbohydrate). Internal phosphorus concentrations (Qp), determined by energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis, differed markedly between low-P (typically < 0.1% dry wt), intermediate-P (> 0.1%) and high-P (> 0.3%) cultures. During logarithmic growth phase, a rapid change in carbon allocation was observed in the low-P cultures, with increases in both the lipid:protein (0.1–0.34) and carbohydrate:protein (0.4–1.0) ratio. Mean cell volume increased by 60%, and the mean chlorophyll a content remained consistently low (typically < 0.2 pg cell−1). The change in carbon allocation was triggered primarily by low Qp values rather than low external (culture medium) concentrations. Intermediate-P and high-P cultures showed higher chlorophyll a content (> 0.2 pg cell−1) and changes in carbon allocation only after entry into stationary phase. No increase in cell volume occurred, suggesting that a switch in carbon allocation during stationary phase (intermediate- and high-P cultures) rather than log phase (low-P culture) does not result in an increase in cell size. Entry into stationary growth phase occurred simultaneously in all three cultures and was not caused by internal (Qp) or external phosphorus depletion. Medium replacement in late stationary phase (day 35) cultures led to a rapid stimulation of growth, with a reversed carbon allocation (reduced lipid:protein and carbohydrate:protein ratios) and in low-P cultures a decrease in cell volume.


Honoring relatives by tending graves, building altars, and cooking festive meals has been an honored tradition among Latin Americans for centuries. The tribute, "el Dia de los Muertos," has enjoyed renewed popularity since the 1970s when Latino activists and artists in the United States began expanding "Day of the Dead" north of the border with celebrations of performance art, Aztec danza, art exhibits, and other public expressions. Focusing on the power of ritual to serve as a communication medium, Regina M. Marchi combines a mix of ethnography, historical research, oral history, and critical cultural analysis to explore the manifold and unexpected transformations that occur when the tradition is embraced by the mainstream. A testament to the complex nature of ethnic identity, "Day of the Dead in the USA" provides insight into the power of ritual to create community, transmit oppositional messages, and advance educational, political, and economic goals.


Prefabricated and non-load bearing sandwich facade elements were developed using Textile Reinforced Reactive Powder Concrete (TRRPC) along with low density Foamed Concrete (FC) and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) continuous connecting devices. Four-point bending tests were performed on large-scale TRRPC sandwich element beams to characterize the structural performance, which included the flexural capacity, level of composite action, resulting deformation, crack propagation and failure mechanisms. Optical measurements based on Digital Image Correlation (DIC) were taken simultaneously to enable a detailed analysis of the underlying composite action. The structural behavior of the developed elements was found to be highly dependent on the stiffness and strength of the connectors to ensure composite action between the two TRRPC panels.


TMEM16A was found recently to be a calcium‐activated CU channel (CaCC). CaCCs perform important functions in cell physiology, including regulation of epithelial secretion, cardiac and neuronal excitability, and smooth muscle contraction. CaCC modulators are of potential utility for treatment of hypertension, diarrhea, and cystic fibrosis. Screening of drug and natural product collections identified tannic acid as an inhibitor of TMEM16A, with IC50 ∼ 6 µM and ∼100% inhibition at higher concentrations. Tannic acid inhibited CaCCs in multiple cell types but did not affect CFTR Cl− channels. Structure‐activity analysis indicated the requirement of gallic or digallic acid substituents on a macromolecular scaffold (gallotannins), as are present in green tea and red wine. Other polyphenolic components of teas and wines, including epicatechin, catechin, and malvidin‐3‐glucoside, poorly inhibited CaCCs. Remarkably, a 1000‐fold dilution of red wine and 100‐fold dilution of green tea inhibited CaCCs by >50%. Tannic acid, red wine, and green tea inhibited arterial smooth muscle contraction and intestinal Cl− secretion. Gallotannins are thus potent CaCC inhibitors whose biological activity provides a potential molecular basis for the cardioprotective and antisecretory benefits of red wine and green tea.—Namkung, W., Thiagarajah, J. R., Phuan, P.‐W., Verkman, A. S. Inhibition of Ca2+‐activated Cl− channels by gallotannins as a possible molecular basis for health benefits of red wine and green tea. FASEB J. 24, 4178–4186 (2010). www.fasebj.org


&NA; Although gamma analysis is still a widely accepted quantitative tool to analyze and report patient‐specific QA for intensity‐modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric‐modulated arc therapy (VMAT), the correlation between the 2D percentage gamma passing rate (%GP), and the clinical dosimetric difference for IMRT and VMAT has been questioned. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of individual volume‐based 3D gamma indices for pretreatment VMAT QA. Percentage dosimetric errors (%DE) of dose‐volume histogram metrics (includes target volumes and organ at risks) between the treatment planning system and QA‐reconstructed dose distribution, %GPs for individual volume and global gamma indices, as well their correlations and sensitivities were investigated for one‐ and two‐arc VMAT plans. The %GPs of individual volumes had a higher percent of correlation with individual 15 %DE metrics compared with global %GPs. For two‐arc VMAT at 2%/2 mm, 3%/3 mm, and 4%/4 mm criteria, individual volume %GPs were correlated with 9, 12, and 9 out of 15 %DE metrics, while global %GPs were correlated with only 2 out of 15 %DE metrics, respectively. For one‐arc VMAT at 2%/2 mm, 3%/3 mm, and 4%/4 mm criteria, individual volume %GPs were correlated with 18, 16, and 13 out of 23 %DE metrics, and global %GPs were correlated with 19, 12, and 1 out 23 %DE metrics, respectively. The area under curves (AUC) of individual volume %GPs were higher than those of global %GPs for two‐arc VMAT plans, but with mixed results for one‐arc VMAT plans. In a conclusion, the idea of individual volume %GP was created and investigated to better serve for VMAT QA and individual volume‐based %GP had a higher percent of correlation with DVH 15 %DE metrics compared with global %GP for both one‐ and two‐arc VMAT plans.


Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) has been in constant research for a number of years. The different parts of a text are called text spans. RST helps in organizing these text spans. These text spans are connected with each other by Discourse markers. In this paper, we are exploring the possibility of realizing some RST relations (CONTRAST, SEQUENCE and PARALLEL) from multi-nuclear sentences in Bengali Language with the help of the semantic structure of the sentences and the discourse markers. We present a rule based approach for comprehending the RST relations from the discourse markers in Bengali Language.


Data adaptation is an essential system component in a wide variety of application areas. Adaptation is performed to manage data in response to limited resources and changing system conditions. Recent research has led to the development of general models for adaptive systems, including our own general framework for multidimensional adaptation. In this article, we review our framework, which distills the common elements essential to a broad class of adaptive applications. We then present our design for GAL, a middleware library which implements our generic framework. We include a thorough evaluation of GAL's adaptive performance in our experimental prototype.


Unintentionally doped GaN epitaxial layers with a conventional single low temperature (LT) GaN buffer layer and with multiple MgxNy∕GaN buffer layers were grown on sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The multiple MgxNy∕GaN buffer layers exhibit a low nuclei density, increasing the volume of defect-free regions and reducing the dislocations associated with the grain boundaries. Therefore, the GaN with multiple MgxNy∕GaN buffer layers reveals an asymmetrical reflection (102) with a small full width at half maximum, and a higher mobility, lower background concentration, and lower etching pit density than the GaN with the LT GaN buffer layer.


ATP-dependent degradation plays a critical role in the quality control and recycling of proteins in cells. However, complete degradation of membrane proteins by ATP-dependent proteases in bacteria is not well-studied. We discovered that the degradation of a multidomain and multispan integral membrane protein AcrB could be facilitated by the introduction of a ssrA-tag at the C-terminus of the protein sequence and demonstrated that the cytoplasmic unfoldase-protease complex ClpXP was involved in the degradation. This is the first report to our knowledge to reveal that the ClpXP complex is capable of degrading integral membrane proteins. The chaperone SspB also played a role in the degradation. Using purified proteins, we demonstrated that the addition of the ssrA-tag did not drastically affect the structure of AcrB, and the degradation of detergent solubilized AcrB by purified ClpXP could be observed in vitro.


Ant colony optimization (ACO) is typically used to search paths through graphs. The concept is based on simulating the behavior of ants in finding paths from the colony to food. Its searching mechanism is applicable for optimizing electric circuits with components, like resistors and capacitors, available in discrete values. In this paper, an extended ACO (eACO) that can search the optimal values of components manufactured in discrete and continuous values is presented. The idea is based on using the orthogonal design method (ODM) to dynamically update the database of the continuous components so that those components will have pseudo-discrete values in the search space. To speed up the optimization process, the ODM performs local search of the best combination around the best ant. The eACO also takes the component tolerances into account in evaluating the fitness value of each ant. The proposed algorithm has been successfully used to optimize the design of a buck regulator. The predicted results have been compared with the published results available in the literature and have also verified with experimental measurements.


Six Holstein steers (313 +/- 10 kg BW) surgically fitted with hepatic portal, mesenteric venous, mesenteric arterial, and hepatic venous catheters were used in a replicated crossover design experiment to evaluate the feeding of Acremonium coenophialum-infected fescue hay on portal-drained visceral and hepatic nutrient metabolism. Only four steers had functional hepatic catheters. Infected (INF) and endophyte-free (EF) fescue hays were harvested on the same day in May, at the soft dough stage of maturity, from a similar location in southeast Kansas. The hay was chopped through a 2.5-cm screen and fed in 12 portions daily. Intake was limited to 5.2 kg of DM/d to equalize consumption. Each experimental period lasted 21 d. Dietary CP concentration was greater for INF than for EF (9.9 vs 8.6%); however, apparent digestibilities of DM (52.6%) and N (37%) were not different. Ruminal total VFA concentrations and molar proportions were not different with the exception of butyrate, which was increased (P less than .10) for steers when they were fed INF. Feeding of INF increased (P less than .05) arterial beta-hydroxybutyrate concentration and decreased (P less than .10) arterial butyrate concentration. Steers fed EF showed a greater (P less than .05) portal-arterial concentration difference for acetate and an increased (P less than .05) net portal flux of acetate (500 vs 620 mmol/h). No differences in net flux were noted for any of the other VFA, glucose, lactate, urea N, insulin, glucagon, or prolactin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The paper demonstrates that a detailed analysis of Hegel's criticism of rationalist metaphysics in the "Vorbegriff" (Preliminary Conception) chapter of the Encyclopedia Logic can shed light on the following critical features of Hegel's metaphysics: (1) advancing semantic holism as an alternative to semantic atomism; (2) renouncing the projection of a substance-attribute formal structure onto actuality; (3) dismissing sense perception as the source of conceptual content; and (4) rejecting dualist ontology.


The article investigates the expression of Masonic book culture in Lithuania, viewed as the lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in the 19th century. This culture is recognizable from the special symbols and bibliographic design. The article also researches such activities of Freemasons, active in Lithuania since 1776, as storage and distribution of collections owned by them, book publishing, symbolism of illustrations and cover page structure. The very term Masonic book is used to describe the books compiled, stored and used by members of this Masonic Brotherhood as well as the books related to Freemasons. It has been established that at the beginning of the 19 century, side by side with the personal collections held by Michal Dluski, Kazimierz Kontrym and Johann Friedrich Wolfgang, the Masons also collected the libraries of the Gorliwy Litwin, Reformed Gorliwy Litwin and other Lodges. Proof of that has been found in the surviving Vilnius University Gift Book, 1792–1832, a list of books acquired by the Vilnius Lodge Gorliwy Litwin, signed by Michal Dluski on October 23, 1816 as well as archival sources. The main incentive to collect books was storage of the Brotherhood memory, self-education, moral development, training Brotherhood discipleship, and preparation of ritual statements. The illustrations of the Masons' books, particularly their title pages and comments in their ritual works reflect the same instruments as the ones used in the portraits of Lithuanian Masons such as a hammer, a plumb, a level, a square, a compass, a trowel, etc. One can also find other generalized symbols of the Age of Enlightenment and Freemasonry in these books such as the eye of providence, a sword, an hourglass, a skull, a punch, etc. The books also stand out from the rest in their unusual structure of bibliographic design (Mason-specific marking of the year of publication and provenance, encryption of the lodge name, etc.) Even though Masons in Lithuania were not actively involved in publishing activities, they commissioned the publication of subject-specific brochures and various forms from the bookmen Jozef Zawadzki and Christian Weise. In the sphere of publishing and distribution, Freemasons collaborated with the Tilsit Masonic lodge 'Louise under the Open Hearts', functioning from 1799 to 1835. In this context, the donation of 'Lithuanian Bible Histories' by Ludwig Rhesa (1816) on August 27, 1817, could be regarded as a manifestation of not only ethnic but Masonic relationship as well. Ludwig Rhesa, professor of the Konigsberg university, was from 1806 member of the Konigsberg Masonic lodge 'Three Crowns'; in the period 1816–1819, he served as orator. After the persecution instigated against Freemasons by Emperor Alexander's administration started in 1812, they gave over to Vilnius university library the books of 26 titles – in total, 28 volumes (on February 20, 1824 and May 7, 1824, respectively). Three more Masonic books, used during the rituals conducted, have been identified on the basis of historiographic sources. The majority of books were aimed at Masonic lawmaking, rituals, history as well as philosophical issues of Freemasons. The books collected were in French, German, Polish, Latin and Russian languages. After the closure of Vilnius University in 1832, a major part of Masonic books were taken to Kiev. In the mid 20th century, however, thanks to prof. Levas Vladimirovas' efforts, they were returned to the Vilnius University library storage. The surviving Masonic books reflect Freemasons' symbolic thinking, their moral values as well as a transnational nature of the Brotherhood activities. On the other hand, the surviving books, their design and binding were related not only to the elite book and luxury but also to mid layer of town-dwellers'and the intelligentsia, which was beginning to develop. The functioning of the Masonic book culture from a broader perspective of both space and time could be revealed by further studies.


This paper presents the initial stage of an effort aimed at developing a new correlation to estimate pseudo critical properties for sour gas when the exact composition is not known. Several mixing rules and gas gravity correlations available in the literature are first evaluated and compared. The evaluation is performed on a large database consisting of more than 2106 samples of sour gas compositions collected worldwide. Several evaluation criteria are used including the average absolute deviation (AAD), the standard deviation (SD), the coefficient of correlation, R, and cross plots and error histograms. The mixing rules include: Kay's mixing rule combined with Wichert–Aziz correlation for the presence of non-hydrocarbons, SSBV mixing rule with Wichert and Aziz, Corredor et al. mixing rule, and Piper et al. mixing rule. These methods, in one form or another, use information on gas composition. Three different other methods that are based on gas gravity alone were also analyzed. These are: Standing, Sutton, and Elsharkawy et al. gas gravity correlations. While the methods based on knowledge of composition showed reasonable accuracy, those based on gas gravity alone showed weak accuracy with low correlation coefficients. A new gas gravity correlation that is based on the fraction of non-hydrocarbons present in the sour gas was proposed. Preliminary results indicate that a good improvement over past gravity correlations was achieved. The compositional correlations, still show, however, better accuracy. Research is still going on to come up with more accurate correlations that are based on only readily available descriptors.


The key idea behind cultural algorithms is to acquire problem solving knowledge (beliefs) from the evolving population and in return apply that knowledge to guide the search (R.G. Reynolds et al., 1993; 1996), In solving nonlinear constraint optimization problems, the key problem is how to represent and store the knowledge about the constraints. Previously, Chung (Chan-Jin Chung and R.G. Reynolds, 1996; 1998) used cultural algorithms to solve unconstraint optimization problems. Use was made of interval schemata proposed by L.J. Eshelman and J.D. Schaffer (1992) to represent global knowledge about the independent problem parameters. However, in constraint optimization, the problem intervals generally must be modified dependently. In order to solve constraint optimization problems, we need to extend the interval representation to allow for the representation of constraints. We define an n-dimensional regional based schema, called belief cell, which can provide an explicit mechanism to support the acquisition, storage and integration of knowledge about the constraints. In a cultural algorithm framework, the belief space can "contain" a set of these schemata, each of them can be used to guide the search of the evolving population, i.e. these kind of region based schemata can be used to guide the optimization search in a direct way by pruning the unfeasible regions and promoting the promising regions. We compared the results of 4 CA configurations that manipulate these schemata for an example problem.


Believing mutually is an important premise to ensure that cooperation among multiple agents goes smoothly. However, mutual belief among agents is always considered for granted. In this paper, we adapt a method based on the position-exchange principle to reason about mutual belief among agents. To reason about mutual belief formally, we first use a process algebra approach, the pi-calculus, to formalize cooperation plans and agents, and then bind the position-exchange principle into the inference rules. By reasoning about mutual belief among agents, we can judge whether cooperation among agents can go on rationally or not.


In recent years, a more active and aggressive Congress has often sharply disagreed with the president over the ends and means of American foreign policy. The normal tensions that arise in the U.S. system of separate institutions sharing power have been exacerbated by the contemporary pattern of split-party control of the two branches. The ensuing conflict in areas ranging from Central America to China has stimulated a spirited debate about the constitutional authority and institutional competence of the president and Congress to make foreign policy. In this volume, noted authors, led by Thomas Mann, examine executive-legislative relations in five major policy areas: war powers, intelligence, arms control, diplomacy, and trade. They offer a fresh analysis of the sources and consequences of conflict between the President and Congress as well as constructive suggestions for strengthening each branch's comparative advantages.


Most Tier-1 centers of LHC Computing Grid are using dCache as their storage system. dCache uses a cost model incorporating CPU and space costs for the distribution of data on its disk pools. Storage resources at Tier-1 centers are usually upgraded once or twice a year according to given milestones. One of the effects of this procedure is the accumulation of heterogeneous hardware resources. For a dCache system, a heterogeneous set of disk pools complicates the process of weighting CPU and space costs for an efficient distribution of data. In order to evaluate the data distribution on the disk pools, the distribution is simulated in Java. The results are discussed and suggestions for improving the weight scheme are given.


Application Programming Interface (API) documents represent one of the most important references for API users. However, it is frequently reported that the documentation is inconsistent with the source code and deviates from the API itself. Such inconsistencies in the documents inevitably confuse the API users hampering considerably their API comprehension and the quality of software built from such APIs. In this paper, we propose an automated approach to detect defects of API documents by leveraging techniques from program comprehension and natural language processing. Particularly, we focus on the directives of the API documents which are related to parameter constraints and exception throwing declarations. A first-order logic based constraint solver is employed to detect such defects based on the obtained analysis results. We evaluate our approach on parts of well documented JDK 1.8 APIs. Experiment results show that, out of around 2000 API usage constraints, our approach can detect 1158 defective document directives, with a precision rate of 81.6%, and a recall rate of 82.0%, which demonstrates its practical feasibility.


This special issue seeks to bring together contributions of a nascent community of scholars studying infrastructure delivery models; what they are, how they are created, and how they change over time and across institutional fields. This area of research is crucial to advancing the field of project management and, with its links to neighboring fields such as innovation, organizational theory, and strategic management, is a fertile ground for developing new insights and knowledge. Before we introduce the articles that make up the special issue, we describe the policy environment and drivers for innovation in infrastructure delivery models, situate infrastructure delivery models within project management scholarship, and provide some conceptual scaffolding for considering the nature of innovation in delivery models. We then turn to a discussion of how each article in the special issue advances our knowledge of delivery models and project management. Drawing inspiration from the articles, we conclude by sketching out the building blocks and core conceptual components of a delivery model, and laying the foundations for a more nuanced comparison of existing, emerging, and novel delivery models over time and across institutional fields.


Philosophical Aspects of Scientific Discovery: A Historical Survey.- Learning, Mining, or Modeling? A Case Study from Paleoecology.- The Computer-Aided Discovery of Scientific Knowledge.- On Classification and Regression.- Knowledge Discovery in Biological and Chemical Domains.- Random Case Analysis of Inductive Learning Algorithms.- On Variants of Iterative Learning.- Uniform Characterizations of Polynomial-Query Learnabilities.- Inferring a Rewriting System from Examples.- Toward Genomic Hypothesis Creator: View Designer for Discovery.- Visualization of Community Knowledge Interaction Using Associative Representation.- Discovering Characteristic Patterns from Collections of Classical Japanese Poems.- Approximate Retrieval of High-Dimensional Data by Spatial Indexing.- Practical Algorithms for On-Line Sampling.- Discovering Conceptual Differences among People from Cases.- Discovery of Unknown Causes from Unexpected Co-occurrence of Inferred Known Causes.- Refining Search Expression by Discovering Hidden User's Interests.- The Discovery of Rules from Brain Images.- Instance Guided Rule Induction.- Learning with Globally Predictive Tests.- Query-Initiated Discovery of Interesting Association Rules.- Boosting Cost-Sensitive Trees.- On the Boosting Algorithm for Multiclass Functions Based on Information-Theoretic Criterion for Approximation.- The Continuous-Function Attribute Class in Decision Tree Induction.- Feature Transformation and Multivariate Decision Tree Induction.- Formal Logics of Discovery and Hypothesis Formation by Machine.- Finding Hypotheses from Examples by Computing the Least Generalization of Bottom Clauses.- On the Completion of the Most Specific Hypothesis Computation in Inverse Entailment for Mutual Recursion.- Biochemical Knowledge Discovery Using Inductive Logic Programming.- Computational Characteristics of Law Discovery Using Neural Networks.- Development of SDS2: Smart Discovery System for Simultaneous Equation Systems.- Discovery of Differential Equations from Numerical Data.- Automatic Transaction of Signal via Statistical Modeling.- Empirical Comparison of Competing Query Learning Methods.- Abstracting a Human's Decision Process by PRISM.- Mechanisms of Self-organized Renormalizability.- An Efficient Tool for Discovering Simple Combinatorial Patterns from Large Text Databases.- A Similarity Finding System under a Goal Concept.- Parallel Induction Algorithms for Large Samples.- Toward Effective Knowledge Acquisition with First Order Logic Induction.- A Logic of Discovery.- A Strong Relevant Logic Model of Epistemic Processes in Scientific Discovery.- Four-Fold Table Calculi for Discovery Science.- Parallel Organization Algorithm for Graph Matching and Subgraph Isomorphism Detection.- Visualizing Semantic Clusters in the Internet Information Space.- KN on ZK - Knowledge Network on Network Note Pad ZK.- Virtual Integration of Distributed Database by Multiple Agents.- Development of Some Methods and Tools for Discovering Conceptual Knowledge.- Reducing the Dimensions of Attributes by selection and Aggregation.- On the Number of Clusters in Cluster Analysis.- Geometric Clustering Models in Feature Space.- Efficient Mining of Association Rules with Item Constraints.- GDT-RS: A Probabilistic Rough Induction Approach.- A Constructive Fuzzy NGE Learning System.- Composing Inductive Applications Using Ontologies for Machine Learning.- TDDA, a Data Mining Tool for Text Databases: A Case History in a Lung Cancer Text Database.- Crowww Classification and Retrieval on WWW.- Extracting Knowledge Patterns from Ticket Data.- Automatic Acquisition of Phoneme Models and Its Application to Phoneme Labeling of a Large Size of Speech Corpus.- An Experimental Agricultural Data Mining System.- Data Mining Oriented System for Business Applications.- Moving Object Recognition Using Wavelets and Learning of Eigenspaces.- Search for New Methods for Assignment of Complex Molecular Spectra and a Program Package for Simulation of Molecular Spectra.- Computer Aided Hypotheses Based Drug Discovery Using CATALYSTRTM and PC GUHA Software Systems.- Knowledge Discovery through the Navigation Inside the Human Body.- Application of Discovery Science to Solar-Terrestrial Physics.- Incorporating a Navigation Tool into a WWW Browser.


ABSTRACT: This case is designed to impart practical skills in data analysis techniques aimed at fraud examination. Instructors could employ any one of widely available tools such as ACL, IDEA, Microsoft Access, or Picalo, which is an open-source data analysis tool. Couched in the context of a manufacturer of electronic components in the southeastern United States, the case involves the identification of potentially fraudulent travel expense reimbursements. In the case scenario, traveling salespersons submit expense reimbursement claims, which are subject to a number of business rules. Using data analysis techniques, students are required to identify potentially fraudulent travel expense reimbursements. The data analysis techniques covered in the case include basic features such as identifying duplicates and gaps to more advanced features like joining tables, finding unmatched records, filtering data based on various criteria, and classifying and summarizing data. The degree of structure provided to studen...


Cerebral malaria (CM), a fatal complication of Plasmodium infection that affects children in sub-Saharan Africa and adults in South-East Asia, results from incompletely understood pathogenetic mechanisms, which include an excessive release of microvesicles (MV). Plasma MV levels have been found elevated in CM patients and in the experimental mouse model. We compared lipid profiles in circulating MV purified from CBA mice infected with P. berghei ANKA (PbA), which causes CM, to those from P. yoelii (Py), which does not. Here we show that plasma MV produced at the time of CM differed dramatically from those from non-CM mice, in spite of identical levels of parasitaemia. Using high-resolution LCMS, we identified over 300 lipid species within 12 lipid classes. Total lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) levels were significantly lower in PbA infection compared to uninfected mice, while they were unchanged in Py MV, and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) was more significantly reduced in PbA mice compared to the other two groups. These results suggest, for the time, that experimental CM is characterised by specific changes in lipid composition of circulating MV, pointing towards triglycerides (TG) especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA 22:6) containing species, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), LPC, LPE, and diacylglycerol (DG) as potential important players in CM pathogenesis.


We have reported a rare case of a giant ovarian tumor which, due to the lack of proper health care on the side of the patient, had not been diagnosed until 27 weeks of pregnancy. The patient did not demonstrate any clinical symptoms till the moment of the diagnosis. Peripheral blood analysis showed severe anemia at the admission. The right adnex with the multilocular cystic tumor containing bloody fluid and measuring 40 cm in diameter, was removed in the course of the surgical procedure. The histological diagnosis of the tumor was: serous cyst. Surgical removal of the giant tumor allowed for further development of pregnancy and enabled vaginal delivery of healthy newborn at term.


This paper examines the role of time in Just War theory. It maintains that contemporary Just War theory's legalist focus on rules and principles, rather than judgment and interpretation, makes a serious engagement with timing appear quite irrelevant. To deal with this shortcoming, the paper clarifies the dual nature of political time as both chronos and kairos. It is argued that a cogent account of the justice of warfare needs to incorporate the two faces of political time. I show that a casuistic re-orientation of Just War theory would also have the beneficial effect of putting critique back on the agenda. The moral core of my argument is that judgment and interpretation ought to be guided by the spirit of "pragmatic fallibilism", thereby combining the willingness to assertively uphold one's values with a disposition to revise, through reflection and deliberation, one's commitments.


Background: End-Stage Liver Disease (ESLD) causes several clinical and psychological comorbidities. Some accompanying psychiatric disturbances have significant effects on the patients' quality of life. Objectives: Thus, we aimed to evaluate some psychological characteristics of ESLD patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 91 ESLD patients aged 18 - 70 years. We assessed the patients using the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), Fatigue Severity Scale, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Also, we measured the demographic and some laboratory data of the participants. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 software, and P values of less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: The study included 68 men and 23 women with a mean age of 41.9 ± 13.72 years (range 19 - 68). The mean scores of fatigue (40.6 ± 14.8) and anxiety (12.98 ± 2.76) were more than the normal range. The most significant association was seen between age and CVLT items (attention (P = 0.01), immediate memory (P < 0.001), short delay free recall (0.01), and short delay cued recall (0.03). Conclusions: End-stage liver disease patients had anxiety, fatigue, and memory disorders in addition to their poor clinical conditions. Although the main treatment of ESLD is liver transplantation but the psychological and cognitive problems before transplantation in these patients are prognostic factors for post-operation compliance and follow up.


ume with its compact but highly relevant bibliography, genuinely helpful index, and welcome references to other books in the series Sources and Studies in World History, edited by Kevin Reilly. Although readers may be frustrated by space limitations that prevent adequate amplification or illustration of many primary assertions, particularly in Mennell's essay comparing civilizing processes, they will still appreciate the numerous thought-provoking comments of three distinguished scholars who have spent their careers struggling to formulate "a common theory of human history and social evolution" (p. 30) for which all world historians ultimately yearn. john a. mears Southern Methodist University


Percutaneous image-guided biopsy, while valuable, is an invasive procedure, and evidence has shown rather disappointing positive microbiologic culture yields of around 33%. Recent evidence also has shown that percutaneous image-guided biopsy rarely adds any new information when blood cultures have positive findings and that an effective empiric treatment can be started in most of cases even when the microbiologic culprit remains unknown. Finally, there is currently no evidence that percutaneous image-guided biopsy improves patient outcome. SUMMARY: Percutaneous image-guided biopsy currently has a central role in the diagnostic work-up of patients with suspected spondylodiscitis. However, on the basis of recent evidence, the value of routine image-guided biopsy in this disease can be challenged. In this article, we discuss this recent evidence and also share a new diagnostic algorithm for spondylodiscitis that was recently introduced at our institution. Thus, we may move from a rather dogmatic approach in which routine image-guided biopsy is performed in any case to a more individualized use of this procedure.


The effective identification of clouds and monitoring of their evolution are important toward more accurate quantitative precipitation estimation and forecast. In this study, a new gradient-based cloud-image segmentation algorithm is developed using image processing techniques. This method integrates morphological image gradient magnitudes to separate cloud systems and patches boundaries. A varying scale kernel is implemented to reduce the sensitivity of image segmentation to noise and to capture objects with various finenesses of the edges in remote sensing images. The proposed method is flexible and extendable from single to multispectral imagery. Case studies were carried out to validate the algorithm by applying the proposed segmentation algorithm to synthetic radiances for channels of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-16) simulated by a high-resolution weather prediction model. The proposed method compares favorably with the existing cloud-patch-based segmentation technique implemented in the Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Networks–Cloud Classification System (PERSIANN-CCS) rainfall retrieval algorithm. Evaluation of event-based images indicates that the proposed algorithm has potentials comparing to the conventional segmentation technique used in PERSIANN-CCS to improve rain detection and estimation skills with an accuracy rate of up to 98% in identifying cloud regions.


This study aimed to describe the statistical methods used and statistical practice in PhD thesis in sports and exercise sciences, and to examine the time trends of statistical methods prevalence. We analyzed 50 PhD theses supported by a post-graduate program recognized by CAPES and defended between January 2003 and December 2013. Most theses used more than two statistical methods, and T-test, ANOVA, multiple comparisons, correlation and reliability analysis were the most used approaches. Less than 50% of both experimental and observational theses reported the effect size (ES), confidence interval (CI), sample size calculation and observed power analysis. The use of multiple comparisons in experimental studies significantly increased in the last 5-years compared to 2004-2008 time period. No other significant changes were observed. Results suggest that several statistical methods are used in quantitative design studies. Due to the observed large prevalence of statistical deficiencies (lack of reporting ES, CI, power analysis), postgraduate programs should have qualified statisticians with a major say in checking the statistical quality of PhD theses and subsequent articles.


This article aims to demonstrate that blockchain technology is the most optimal solution to tackle the significant challenge that Value Added Tax (VAT) non-compliance poses to the European Union (EU). VAT non-compliance, particularly evasion and fraud, is a complex and costly challenge to EU tax authorities and nations as a whole. Current compliance mechanisms fail to sufficiently ensure the collection of VAT in an effective and truly secure manner, leaving VAT and associated data open to misreporting and exploitation, posing a risk to both individual and national security.
Focusing on the design aspects of security, transparency, and efficiency, it will be argued that blockchain provides the opportunity to tackle non-compliance whilst achieving a balance in both taxpayer's wants and tax authorities' needs. Utilizing current examples of blockchain implementation, as well as a specific VAT Coin proposal, it is demonstrated that a blockchain solution can come in many forms; be it a public, private or consortium blockchain, with each type respectively achieving compliance whilst prioritizing different aspects of data security and privacy. Ultimately, it is indicated that a blockchain-based VAT system has the potential to enable a significant reduction in the risk of non-compliance, whilst streamlining taxpayer obligations and protecting valuable datasets.
blockchain, VAT, tax, cryptocurrency, MTF, VATCoin, fraud, non-compliance, security, EU


Abstract The Mesozoic Proto-Caribbean Plate was consumed in the subduction zone of the Greater Antilles volcanic arc until the Campanian. At this time, volcanic arc magmatism ceased along Cuba. From Late Campanian to Danian, Cuba and its surroundings were a collision zone where the GAC accreted to the North American palaeomargin. In the Danian the almost east–west trending SE Cuba–Cayman Ridge–Hispaniola? volcanic arc was born. The related north dipping subduction zone acted as the SE North American plate boundary. From the Paleocene to Middle Eocene dense Caribbean lithosphere travelled northwards. The location, strike and subduction polarity of the assumed subduction zone are very different from those described by other models. Almost simultaneously the Cuban Orogeny developed in western and central Cuba. During the orogeny the northern ophiolite belt of Cuba and the Cretaceous volcanic rocks were thrust northwards tens of kilometres, onto the Mesozoic North American palaeomargin. In the Middle Eocene subduction stopped. Simultanously(?) a change in the regional stress field originated the near east–west trending sinistral Oriente fault zone, whose position and origin are probably tied to the weakened hot crust to the south of the Palaeogene volcanic arc axis.


Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is the etiologic agent of a disease of great concern to aquaculture. We performed experimental infections with intraperitoneal VHSV IVb injections at 106 pfu/fish in four species: tiger muskellunge, ♂Esox luciusA—♀Esox masquinongy; Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar; channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus; and walleye, Sander vitreus. The fish were thermal shocked concurrent with infection to cause immunosuppression and increase the probability of eliciting disease. Each species was observed for morbidity and mortality and periodic samples taken. Virus was detected using virus isolation and real‐time quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR). Histopathology confirmed lesions in tiger muskellunge and Atlantic salmon, and immunohistochemistry showed virus associated with some lesions. Tiger muskellunge were highly susceptible to VHSV IVb, and high viral levels were detected in exposed fish. A single mortality was observed in exposed Atlantic salmon with a short viral replication period. Channel catfish and walleye were resistant to developing clinical signs of VHS. The results show that these species vary in the development of VHS under these conditions, and qRT‐PCR testing enabled virus detection in subclinically affected fish. Basic concordance statistics between the qRT‐PCR test results and the virus isolation results were evaluated.


Deep learning embeddings have been successfully used for many natural language processing problems. Embeddings are mostly computed for word forms although a number of recent papers have extended this to other linguistic units like morphemes and phrases. In this paper, we argue that learning embeddings for discontinuous linguistic units should also be considered. In an experimental evaluation on coreference resolution, we show that such embeddings perform better than word form embeddings.


BACKGROUND
The transition from secondary to tertiary education can be challenging, as students must adapt to the independence of university learning (van der Meer, Jansen & Torenbeek, 2010). These challenges are compounded in complex STEM disciplines, such as anatomy (Schutte, 2006). Students' agency – their capacity to make intentional choices to alter the course of their learning - may play a key role in adjusting to STEM at university (Jaaskela, Poikkeus, Vasalampi, Valleala, & Rasku-Puttonen, 2017). The aim of this study was to develop a measure for agency and determine the influence of agency on academic achievement.

METHODS
First year anatomy students (n=131) completed open-ended questions designed to examine six aspects of agency – self-efficacy, perceived control, motivation, intentionality, forethought, self-reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness. Student responses were subjected to thematic analysis.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION
A principal component analysis of scores generated from student responses revealed three key factors of agency – action, metacognition and self-efficacy. When all other variables were controlled, agency had a significant positive impact on academic achievement (R2=0.32), although action was the only factor of agency that was significant. These results suggest that developing students' agency in first year may ease the transition from school to university and improve outcomes.


In this study, we undertook the risky task of predicting the world's future supply of and demand for petroleum liquids [crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL's)] to the Year 2050. On the basis of earlier work, we choose to forecast future supply using the Hubbert model, which has advantages of simplicity and availability of data. Although this approach has several known inadequacies, it has withstood the test of time in numerous cases, and we consider it a fairly reliable supply predictor. We also used the Hubbert model to forecast demand. We found no precedence for this use and currently regard its accuracy as speculative. Nevertheless, some signs indicate that it too may develop use over time as a reasonable predictor. Our study showed that world supply (and demand) for petroleum liquids is currently at a peak and will soon decline. We examined supply and demand by region. Some regions, such as the Middle East, will produce a surplus of crude throughout the forecast period. Other regions, most notably the Far East and North America, will remain importers. Still other regions, such as Africa, that are now exporting will soon become importers.


ABSTRACT A multiplex reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR assay was developed for the simultaneous detection of three different fish viruses: infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV), infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), and viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV). The sensitivity levels of the multiplex RT-PCR assay were 100, 1, and 32 50% tissue culture infective doses/ml for IPNV, IHNV, and VHSV, respectively.


Investing into the financial markets has become increasingly complex in recent years, with a multitude of investment products and motives. With the rapid growth in social investing and social entrepreneurship, scholars recognise that investors and entrepreneurs often consider a wide range of social factors, in addition to financial return, when making their financial decisions. Behavioural economists argue that it is important to understand the complex economic and behavioural/psychological factors affecting social investors' decision-making. In this paper, we draw upon lessons from behavioural economics (and in particular, social preference theory) in order to develop neuro-economic tests of investors' social and financial mind-sets. We focus on two main research questions: a) How heterogeneous are (social-) investors, in terms of the unconscious weightings that they place upon financial and social returns? Can investors' mind-sets be placed upon a continuum from focussing on social returns, through mixed motivations/weightings, through to focussing on financial returns? b). Can investors be nudged along this continuum? We address these two research questions by means of two neuro-experiments. We employ eye-tracking techniques to examine investors' attention to, and fixation on, social and financial aspects of financial market investment. In addition, we employ nudges in the form of images relating to positive and negative social behaviour. Our experiments demonstrate that a) investors can indeed be placed on the financial-social motivation continuum (and that there is heterogeneity in social-investors' motives along this scale), and b) investors can be nudged along the scale. Our experiments thus provide policy implications regarding nudges towards social investment. Practically, we suggest the development of a phone application that integrates real-time stock-tracking with nudges in order to inspire socially responsible investing; banks would play a key role in encouraging its download. Nudges can help to overcome the conflict between social and financial returns.


INTRODUCTION
Isolated volar dislocations of the distal radioulnar joint are reported as rare. We observed three such cases over a 12-month period. Literature to date consists of multiple case reports and case series with no structured reviews. There is debate as to incidence, mechanism, investigation, treatment and prognosis.

METHODS
A case series and formal systematic review was performed. This included an analysis of the demographics, mechanism, presentation, investigation, treatment and outcome of the cases identified from the wider published series.

FINDINGS
In total 99 cases of this injury were identified from 59 papers, with a further 9 cases having an associated ulna styloid fracture.

CONCLUSIONS
This is a rare injury, representing up to 0.02% of all bony injuries, which is diagnosed late in 36% of cases. Inability to obtain a true lateral radiograph may contribute to the diagnosis being missed. Computed tomography scans are useful in suspected cases without radiographic confirmation. Acute cases are successfully treated with closed reduction in 78% of cases; however associated soft tissue injuries may need to be surgically addressed. Delayed presentation is more likely to require open surgery and preoperative MRI scans are indicated to aid surgical planning. Chronic instability rarely occurs and may need treatment with reconstruction or salvage. A good, subjective, result is reported in the majority of patients.


All structural genes of human hepatitis B virus (HBV), subtype ayw, have been expressed in the Semliki Forest virus (SFV) expression vectors pSFV1 and pSFV-C, allowing direct and SFV coredependent expression of foreign genes, respectively. Three variants of HBV surface genes (large, middle and small), as well as the core gene were amplifi ed by PCR technique as independent units and fusions with the SFV core protein gene, cloned in both SFV vectors and expressed in BHK-21 cell culture as single proteins or in different combinations. Maximal production of HBV proteins was achieved using pSFV/C vectors where target products were obtained after processing of SFV core-HBV protein fusions. After infection of the cultured BHK cells with recombinanat SFV-HBV viruses, the expression of all HBV structural genes was detected by immunocytochemistry. Electron microscopy revealed the formation of virion-like particles in the case of simultaneous expression of HBV surface and core genes. This effi cient expression system of HBV subunits will be applied for the elucidation of molecular details of HBV assembly, structure and entry.


OBJECTIVE
To identify the differentially expressed microRNAs in the hippocampus of Down Syndrome model mouse Ts65Dn.

METHODS
Low molecular weight RNA from hippocampus were tailed and reverse transcribed by extended RT-primer. MicroRNAs primers were arrayed on plates according to the Tm of each primer. PCR were carried out at different annealing temperatures using a gradient real-time PCR instrument. The relative expression level of each microRNAs was calculated using the most stable reference gene as normalizer which was selected by geNorm and Normfinder software.

RESULTS
miR-27a was identified as the most stable reference gene by geNorm and Normfinder software. Among the 52 microRNAs detected by real-time PCR array, miR-33 and miR-19a were significantly down-regulated, whereas miR-130 were significantly up-regulated in the hippocampus of Ts65Dn mice as compared with the euploid control mice. The expression of miR-802, which was the trisomy chromosome 16 derived microRNAs, was very low in hippocampus with no difference between the two groups.

CONCLUSION
MicroRNAs are dysregulated in the hippocampus of Ts65Dn mice, which may contribute to the reduced neurogenesis of Down syndrome.


The paper provides mathematical analysis of sensitivity of different combination rules in the DS/AHP method when an alternative is added to the set of decision alternatives while solving foresight problems. Different cases of rank reversals are defined and two sets of conditions for these cases using the method DS/AHP are considered. Rank reversals are illustrated when the DS/AHP method is used to solve practical problem of critical technologies of energy conservation and power efficiency evaluation in Ukraine. It is shown that the DS/AHP method is not sensitive to exclusion (or addition) of an irrelevant decision alternative from (or to) the set of decision alternatives.


Crayfishes are keystone species and ecosystem engineers in freshwater systems and are considered the third most imperiled taxa on the planet. In 1906, Arnold Ortmann published one of the most complete historic crayfish surveys ever conducted, which has allowed Pennsylvania to assess changes to crayfish fauna over the past century. More recently, waterways have been impacted by anthropogenic stressors such as urbanization and extractive industry. Our primary goal is to determine changes in species distributions and relative abundances of crayfishes in western Pennsylvania by visiting historical and new sites. Surveys in 2015-16 focused on collecting primary burrowers by trapping and burrow excavation. In 2017, efforts shifted to epigean species in the Upper Ohio River drainage, using standardized sampling of 10 seine hauls/site to assess 265 sites. Populations of primary burrowing crayfishes were found at 20% of 61 historical sites and 72% of 57 new collection sites. Of epigean crayfishes, 79% were found at 102 historical sites and 97% of 163 new sites. These collections represent approximately 60% of the survey, with remaining collections to occur in 2018. Important findings were three nonnative species: Faxonius rusticus (Rusty Crayfish), Procambarus clarkii (Red Swamp Crayfish), and Procambarus acutus (White River Crayfish). Preliminary data suggests that crayfish fauna in western Pennsylvania has remained moderately stable over the last century, though the presence of nonnative crayfishes indicates the need for continued monitoring. Efforts in Pennsylvania must focus on prevention and management of the spread of nonnative species to preserve the native crayfish populations that remain.


To clarify the results of treatment of secondary empyema following lung resection complicated with internal fistula, 81 cases treated at 31 different institutions during the 5 years period from 1983 to 1987 were analysed. 1) All cases of thoracic empyema treated surgically and secondary empyema following lung resection complicated with internal fistula did not decreased during the study period, in spite of the remarkable decrease of surgical cases for pulmonary tuberculosis. 2) The highest rate was observed in males over 50 years of age. 3) Bacteriologically positive case in empyema space was occupied about 70%. 4) 196 operations (including drainage) of 17 types were performed on 81 patients. Only 16% of the cases were successfully treated with one stage of operation. 5) Principal surgical procedure applied in cases under this study was drainage followed by closure of fistula with muscle plombage and with or without thoracoplasty. Case of air plombage and omental pedicle flap plombage have increased recently in Japan. 6) Success rate was 55.6%, failure rate was 32.1% and the mortality was 12.3%. These results indicate the difficulty involved in treatment. Therefore, to avoid occurrence of secondary empyema cases, careful selection of surgical indication, sufficient training in surgical technique and good preoperative and postoperative management are crucial.


Objective: Superior mesenteric artery ischemia and nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia are representative diseases of the vascular emergency known as irreversible transmural intestinal necrosis (ITIN). The receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily of extracellular ligands, which also includes high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB-1) and proteins of the S100 family. The HMGB-1 ligands have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory disorders. This study was designed to investigate the relation between RAGE and ITIN in a murine acute intestinal ischemic model. Materials and Methods: ITIN was induced by clipping the cranial mesenteric artery and the peripheral blood vessels. Mucosal and blood samples were collected and analyzed by reverse-transcription PCR and immunohistochemistry for mucosal inflammation and levels of RAGE-related proteins. The influence of RAGE signaling on intestinal cell reproduction was investigated using the cell scratch test, an in vitro wound-healing assay. Finally, RAGE-related proteins and their respective inhibitors were administered intraperitoneally to ITIN model mice to determine their effects. Results: RAGE-expressing cells were located at the base of the intestinal crypts at day 0. As ITIN progressed, most of the damaged intestinal cells expressed RAGE, and ligands of RAGE such as HMGB-1, S100 A8/A9, and S100β were present in the crypt cells from the bottom to the top. The quantities of S100 A8/A9 and S100β were particularly high, above the levels found in other diseases. When S100 A8/A9 and S100β were applied to small intestinal epithelial cells in vitro, regeneration was significantly impeded. Inflammatory Gr1+ neutrophils and F4/80+ macrophages are involved in tissue ischemia. S100 A8/A9 enhances inflammatory myeloid cell influx. Conclusions: RAGE-related proteins are elevated in ITIN model mice and impede intestinal regeneration in vitro. RAGE-related proteins may be a new therapeutic target or a new marker for ITIN.


Although most annular lesions will be typical of a dermatophytosis, physicians must consider other possible diagnoses. Tinea corporis can often be diagnosed on the basis of a positive potassium hydroxide examination. Topical and systemic antifungals are usually curative. Pityriasis rosea is characterized by small, fawn-colored lesions distributed along skin cleavage lines. Treatment is symptomatic. Granuloma annulare is characterized by nonscaly, annular plaques with indurated borders, typically on the extremities. One half of cases resolve spontaneously within two years. Sarcoidosis can present as annular, indurated plaques similar in appearance to the lesions of granuloma annulare. Diagnosis is based on histopathology and the involvement of other organ systems. Hansen's disease can mimic tinea corporis by presenting as one or more annular, sometimes scaly, plaques. Urticaria may affect 10 to 20 percent of the population. The annular plaques lack scale and are evanescent. Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus can present in an annular form on sun-exposed surfaces or in a papulosquamous form. Erythema annulare centrifugum typically presents as annular patches with trailing scale inside erythematous borders.