Acute gastroenteritis is a major cause of illness and death among children in developing countries. Knowledge about the aetiology is important to make the right priorities regarding preventive measures, and for the recommendation to use or not use antibiotics. The objective of this thesis was to investigate causes of acute diarrhea in children in Rwanda by real-time PCR targeting a wide range of infectious agents. By analysing 326 paired faecal samples we found that rectal swabs provided equal rates of PCR detection of 10 different pathogens as usual stool samples, and correlating Ct values indicated that rectal swabs also may be used for quantitative measurements. PCR findings in 544 children with acute diarrhea and 162 controls showed a higher prevalences in children with than without diarrhea only for rotavirus and the enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC-estA) (42% vs. 2%, and 21% vs. 9%). Other agents were detected at similar rates in sick and healthy children (adenovirus, 39% vs. 36%; ETEC-eltB, 29% vs. 30%, Campylobacter, 14% vs. 17%, Shigella, 13% vs. 10%). Lower Ct values for ETEC-estA, Shigella and norovirus GII indicate that measuring pathogen concentration in faeces may help to identify clinically relevant infections. At least one pathogen was detected in 92% of 880 children with diarrhea. Rotavirus and ETEC-estA were associated with more severe dehydration, Shigella with bloody diarrhoea and higher CRP, and concentrations in faeces of rotavirus, ETEC-estA and Shigella were associated with more severe symptoms. Rotavirus and ETEC-estA were more common in younger, Shigella more a common in older children. Antibiotics were given to 42% of children, mainly those with fever and more severe dehydration, and without any logical connection with the causative organism. The conclusions of this thesis are (i) that rectal swabs are as good as conventional stool samples for pathogen detection by PCR, (ii) that rotavirus, ETEC-estA and Shigella were the major causes of gastroenteritis, (iii) that higher concentrations of rotavirus, ETEC-estA, Shigella and norovirus GII were associated with symptoms, and that Ct value cut-offs for these agents improved identification of them as causes of disease, (iv) that antibiotics were used extensively and in a seemingly irrational manner, and (v) highly sensitive multiple real-time PCR was efficient and informative and that its use in future studies may provide valuable new information about the clinical significance and epidemiology of these infections.


Absrruct-A design method for acoustic thin disk transducers with high efficiency, broad bandwidth, and good impulse response is presented. This method is based on the use of quarter-wave matching layers between the piezoelectric material and the acoustic load. As is made evident using the transmission line model of Krimholtz, Leedom, and Matthaei, the finite thickness of the piezoelectric material must be taken into account in the matching layer design. Criteria for optimum broad-band transducer designs with a given piezoelectric material are developed which show the importance of a high electromechanical coupling coefficient. A method for obtaining Gaussian shaped passbands, necessary for optimum impulse response, is also shown. Several transducers have been built to illustrate this design approach with excellent agreement between theory and experiment. One such transducer has 3.2 dB round trip insertion loss and one octave bandwidth.


Industry 4.0 is commonly considered the "Fourth industrial revolution" in manufacturing and, more generally, in the economic systems. Industry 4.0 is a result of a mix of technological innovations (robots, digital systems, 3D‐printers, simulation models, augmented reality and so on) that make possible the real‐time interconnectivity among different processes, firms and supply chains. Despite the considerable attention awarded to this theme, the potential impact of the new paradigm of Industry 4.0 on the traditional managerial studies have not been sufficiently highlighted. Starting from this premise, the present paper tries to bridge this gap, providing an academic dissertation about the Industry 4.0 issues and their relationship between the most important theoretical frameworks in the managerial science (e.g. economies of scale, services/manufacturing, globalization strategies, networks). This contribution presents some valuable research implications mainly useful for researchers and academics, but also for professionals and public makers.


The tuberculosis (TB)-related caregiver burden (CB), and particularly the multidrug and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB)-related CB, is not rare in caregivers caring for TB patients, especially when a family member is the caregiver. However, the existing studies on this topic are insufficient. This study briefly summarized the risk factors for the imposition of a TB-related CB and reasons why caregivers for patients with M/XDR-TB are more susceptible to a CB. We propose that special measures should be implemented to alleviate the TB-related CB based on our clinical experience and insights from China. This may improve the situation of caregivers for TB patients and ultimately improve the quality of life of TB patients.


Plant sterols are suspected to exert atherosclerotic propensity. Modern drug-eluting stents are superior to bare metal stents but show a late catch up phenomenon for restenosis. Due to its superb resolution, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has the capability to identify and quantifiy very early patterns of in-stent proliferation. Studies have shown that in-stent neointimal proliferation is linked to late in-stent stenosis.

 This study aimed to analyze associations of plasma levels for markers of cholesterol homeostasis such as campesterol and sitosterol (markers for cholesterol absorption) as well as lanosterol (marker for cholesterol synthesis)and and their respective oxides with In-stent restenosis after stent deployment in stable coronary artery disease.

 Plasma cholesterol was measured by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection. Plasma campesterol, sitosterol and lanosterol and their oxides were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass selective detection. In-stent proliferation (restenosis) was assessed after six months by OCT in 33 patients (21 males). A quantitative OCT algorithm was applied to each stent by steps of one mm and in-stent proliferation volumes and areas were calculated and normalized to stent length and area. In-stent proliferation can be measured by OCT as global volumes and focal areas.

 No clinically significant restenosis or angiographic restenosis of >30% was observed at 6-month f/u. Mean cholesterol level was 166,5±62,8 mg/dl and positively correlated with proliferation volume/cm (r=0.316, p=0.037) and absolute median proliferation area (r=0.322, p=0.029). Absolute median proliferation area and relative median proliferation area correlated positively with markers for cholesterol absorption such as campesterol-to-cholesterol (r=0.277, p=0.07 and 0.315, p=0.037) and sitosterol-to-cholesterol (r=0.237, p=0.092 and 0.322, p=0.034), whereas lanosterol (a marker for cholesterol synthesis) and its ratio to cholesterol correlated negatively with proliferation volumes and areas (p<0.05; table). Moreover, 7-beta-OH-campesterol correlated positively with proliferation volumes and areas (p<0.05, table). Also, the ratio of 7-beta-OH-campesterol-to-cholesterol correlated positively with proliferation volumes and areas (p<0.1,; table), but did not reach significance in this relatively small sample size. Morevover, there was a positive association of the sum of all plant sterol oxides with In-stent restenosis (data not shown).

 In this hypothesis-generating study, in-stent proliferation assessed by OCT at six months follow-up was positively associated with markers for cholesterol absorption and negatively associated with markers for cholesterol synthesis. Larger studies will have to evaluate whether patients with high cholesterol absorption might benefit in particular from combined-lipid-lowering therapy with a statin and a cholesterol absorption Inhibitor.


The Health Inequalities Research Collaboration (HIRC) is a research initiative to address health inequalities, established in July 1999 by the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Aged Care. Its ability to offer policy options to the government, like similar initiatives in other countries, is circumscribed by numerous factors. They include lack of consensus about the causes of health status differentials, inadequate evidence on how to intervene to reduce health inequalities, and an infrastructure that is underdeveloped in terms of intersectoral action. This article reflects on the work done during the first eighteen months of the Collaboration; on the dynamics that need to be accounted for in any research and development (RD and on some opportunities offered by the Collaboration in meeting these challenges.


Aging clocks that accurately predict human age based on various biodata types are among the most important recent advances in biogerontology. Since 2016 multiple deep learning solutions have been created to interpret facial photos, omics data, and clinical blood parameters in the context of aging. Some of them have been patented to be used in commercial settings. However, psychological changes occurring throughout the human lifespan have been overlooked in the field of "deep aging clocks". In this paper, we present two deep learning predictors trained on social and behavioral data from Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study: (a) PsychoAge, which predicts chronological age, and (b) SubjAge, which describes personal aging rate perception. Using 50 distinct features from the MIDUS dataset these models have achieved a mean absolute error of 6.7 years for chronological age and 7.3 years for subjective age. We also show that both PsychoAge and SubjAge are predictive of all-cause mortality risk, with SubjAge being a more significant risk factor. Both clocks contain actionable features that can be modified using social and behavioral interventions, which enables a variety of aging-related psychology experiment designs. The features used in these clocks are interpretable by human experts and may prove to be useful in shifting personal perception of aging towards a mindset that promotes productive and healthy behaviors.


The Kugel-Khomskii Hamiltonian for cubic titanates describes spin and orbital superexchange interactions between d(1) ions having threefold degenerate t(2g) orbitals. Since orbitals do not couple along "inactive" axes, perpendicular to the orbital planes, the total number of electrons in |alpha> orbitals in any such plane and the corresponding total spin are both conserved. A Mermin-Wagner construction shows that there is no long-range spin ordering at nonzero temperatures. Inclusion of spin-orbit coupling allows such ordering, but even then the excitation spectrum is gapless due to a continuous symmetry. Thus, the observed order and gap require more symmetry breaking terms.


Organizations hire in-house communication professionals to maximize efficiency in managing information and stakeholder relationships across various internal and external boundaries. The boundary-spanning aspect of in-house communication professionals' job has the potential to shape their membership negotiation (MN, that is, ongoing communication processes through which individuals develop meanings of their organizational participation) in important ways that differ from the experiences of those who become integrated into a workgroup or domain with a well-defined boundary. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with communication professionals employed at public sector organizations, this study explores key characteristics and challenges of their boundary-spanning roles and how they negotiated meanings of their membership as they navigated the challenges. Based on the findings, the authors propose a novel conceptual model of boundary spanners' MN, future research directions, and pragmatic implications for employers of boundary-spanning members.


The objective of this study was to develop an online tool-wear-measurement scheme for small diameter end-mills based on machine vision to increase tool life and the production efficiency. The geometrical features of wear zone of each end mill were analyzed, and three tool wear criterions of small-diameter end mills were defined. With the uEye camera, macro lens and 3-axis micro milling machine, it was proved the feasibility of measuring flank wear with the milling tests on a 45# steel workpiece. The design of experiment (DOE) showed that Vc was the most remarkable effect factor for the flank wear of small-diameter end mill. The wear curve of the experiments of milling was very similar to the Taylor curve.


Cultured rat ovarian granulosa cells undergo a dramatic morphological change when exposed to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Exposure to FSH causes the flattened epithelioid granulosa cells to assume a nearly spherical shape while retaining cytoplasmic processes which contact the substrate as well as adjacent cells. This effect of FSH is preceded by a dose-dependent increase in intracellular cAMP, is potentiated by cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase inhibitors, and is mimicked by dibutyryl cAMP. Prostaglandins E1 or E2 and cholera enterotoxin also cause the cells to change shape. A subpopulation of the cells responds to luteinizing hormone. These morphological changes, which are blocked by 2,4-dinitrophenol, resemble those produced by treating cultures with cytochalasin B. Electron microscopy shows that the unstimulated, flattened cells contain bundles of microfilaments particularly in the cortical and basal regions. After FSH stimulation, microfilament bundles are not found in the rounded granulosa cell bodies but they are present in the thin cytoplasmic processes. These data suggest that the morphological change results from a cAMP-mediated, energy-dependent mechanism that may involve the alteration of microfilaments in these cells.


Eucalyptus globulus Labill. (Myrtaceae) is used as a traditional remedy in many parts of the world for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases including microbial infections (1). The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil has been ascribed to its monoterpenes, principally to citronellal and citronellol (2). Methanolic extracts of the dried leaves showed inhibitory activity towards Staphylococcus aureus, and bioassay-guided purification using normal phase open column chromatography followed by RP-HPLC, yielded a component (0.01 % dry weight leaves) with an MIC of 8 tg ml against methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains. The component I was characterised by spectroscopic techniques (UV, mass, NMR) as a novel member ofthe class of compounds known as euglobals (3, 4) which are reported to be potent granulation inhibitors.


With the advent of Network Function Virtualization (NFV), network services that traditionally run on proprietary dedicated hardware can now be realized using Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) that are hosted on general-purpose commodity hardware. This new network paradigm offers a great flexibility to Internet service providers (ISPs) for efficiently operating their networks (collecting network statistics, enforcing management policies, etc However, introducing NFV requires an investment to deploy VNFs at certain network nodes (called VNF-nodes), which has to account for practical constraints such as the deployment budget and the VNF-node capacity. To that end, it is important to design a joint VNF-nodes placement and capacity allocation algorithm that can maximize the total amount of network flows that are fully processed by the VNF-nodes while respecting such practical constraints. In contrast to most prior work that often neglects either the budget constraint or the capacity constraint, we explicitly consider both of them. We prove that accounting for these constraints introduces several new challenges. Specifically, we prove that the studied problem is not only NP-hard but also non-submodular. To address these challenges, we introduce a novel relaxation method such that the objective function of the relaxed placement subproblem becomes submodular. Leveraging this useful submodular property, we propose two algorithms that achieve an approximation ratio of $\displaystyle \frac{1}{2} (1\ -\ 1/e)$ and $\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}(1\ -\ 1/e)$ for the original non-relaxed problem, respectively. Finally, we corroborate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms through extensive evaluations using both trace-driven simulations and simulations based on synthesized network settings.


This paper is committed to simplify the task of manual seating arrangement of students in an examination hall. The main goal is to develop an android app for automatic examination seating arrangement in addition to reducing the manual work of staff. A PDF containing student exam number with subject code and subject name will be sent by the university and will be received by the admin staff which will be converted into suitable format. Then an algorithm will be used to involuntarily allocate the students to the suitable block according to their strength. Then the staff will be randomly allocated to particular block. Alternating staff allocation will be done according to department. The students and the staff will receive a message regarding the block where they have been assigned. In this paper we can further add features to improve the flexibility.


This comprehensive study of the chronology of the Priestly
 Document demonstrates that the Sabbatical calendar (364-day year) is not a
 Qumran invention but was devised at the beginning of the Persian period (ca. 520
 bce). The Priestly Document (Genesis 1 to Joshua 5) is divided into 7 eras:
 creation, antediluvian, re-creation, exiles, Exodus, wandering, and rest in the
 Promised Land. The large amount of chronological data contained in the narrative
 describes each element of the Sabbatical calendar, the sacredness of which is
 later upheld by the apocryphal books of Jubilees and Enoch and in Qumran texts.
 In spite of subsequent additions of other calendars upon the original Priestly
 Document, its narrative remains coherent enough to reveal the use of
 intercalation.


"DON'T LOOK AT HER, SHE'S MAD": MAMA AND FRANKENSTEIN REVEAL MODERN-DAY PREOCCUPATIONS Caitlin Gamble, MA Department of English Northern Illinois University, 2020 Brian May, Director Viewing the film Mama (2013) through the lens of a certain Gothic text, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, reveals similar fears of the feminine alongside the focus of the nature of the inbetween. These commonalities between the texts reveal an emerging trend in modern monsterhorror films—the narrative-driven analysis of the role of the other and multiculturalism in the social consciousness. In this paper, I examine how Mama as an Imperial Gothic film builds on the tradition of indigenous stories, like La Llorona, and the Gothic. By referencing and combining these histories in the genre markers, it uses motherhood and the other to express the traumas and relationship between "colonized" and "colonizer" in the 21st century. The growth of the Imperial Gothic genre represents a movement towards a "neo-Imperial Gothic" which looks towards how to deal with Imperialism in the present and future rather than focusing on the traumas and fears of the past. NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY DE KALB, ILLINOIS


The 2007-13 period has seen important changes in the management and implementation of cohesion policy with respect to improving strategic coherence, concentrating expenditure on priorities related to the Lisbon Agenda, improving performance and ensuring better strategic reporting. However, the expectations of the 2006 reforms have only been partially met, and there are key lessons for European institutions and Member States regarding commitment, capacity and accountability for the 2014-20 period.


In most ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs), a thin interfacial layer is inserted between the ferroelectric and semiconductor in order to avoid the interdiffusion of metallic impurities. In this work, we have used ZrTiO4 (ZTO) as an interfacial layer to improve the interface of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT)/Si and prevent the diffusion of metallic impurities of PZT. It was found that optimizing the thickness of ZTO strongly influences the FeFET retention characteristics. Gate leakage current and Pb metallic interdiffusion were effectively suppressed when the ZTO thickness was thicker than 5 nm. However, a self-depolarization field was generated by the charge compensation loss in PZT, caused by the thick ZTO. On the other hand, our sample showed a large gate leakage current and Pb metallic interdiffusion when ZTO was thinner than 2 nm. It was found that 2 nm thick ZTO is the optimum thickness for long retention characteristics in FeFETs.


Vortex generators (VG) are widely used in multifunctional heat exchangers/reactors for augmenting the heat transfer from fin plates to the working fluid. In this study, numerical simulations for longitudinal VGs are performed for both laminar and turbulent flow regimes. The shear-stress transport (SST) κ–ω model is used for modeling turbulence. Inclination angle for a new streamlined VG configuration called inclined projected winglet pair (IPWP) was varied to study the effect of this angle on the heat transfer enhancement and pressure drop. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to deduce the inclination angle effects on heat transfer, pressure drop, and vorticity from both local and global points of view. Such study highlights the optimization for this VG configuration for better heat transfer intensification, based on thermal enhancement factor (TEF). Finally, it is found that the VG with inclination angle ranging from 30 deg to 35 deg exhibits the best global performance compared to other inclination angles. This type of studies is important for the enhancement of the thermal performance of heat exchangers and static mixers in various engineering applications.


Abstract Coastal areas of ecological importance, like tidal flats and salt marshes, are gradually decreasing because of large-scale coastal development projects, land reclamation, and so on. The Nakdong estuary is the most developed estuary in South Korea. The development of artificial tidal flats and salt marshes has been promoted as mitigation countermeasures. Previous studies evaluated artificial tidal flats and salt marshes for their degree of restoration of natural sites. In this paper, an in situ pilot plant of a tidal flat and a salt marsh was conducted to monitor and quantify bio-chemical indicators (biodiversity, population, and biomass of macro benthos; survival ratio of reeds; number of heterotrophic bacteria) and physicochemical characteristics. The content of dredged soil was varied to assess the difference and similarity between the natural and dredged soil. The degree of restoration and creation of ecological environmental zones is evaluated quantitatively with the use of a restoration index. The utility of this restoration index and the beneficial use of dredged soil are demonstrated for this pilot plant.


Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains are among the most critical antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing hospital-acquired infections and treatment failures. The global spread of two clones has been responsible for the bulk of the resistance, in particular, carbapenem resistance. However, there is a substantial gap in our knowledge of which clones and which specific lineages within each clone are circulating in many parts of the world, including Africa and the Middle East region. This is the first genomic analysis of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii strains from Iran. All the isolates, from a single hospital, belonged to lineage 2 of global clone 1 (GC1) but fell into two groups distinguished by genes in the locus for capsule biosynthesis. The analysis suggests a potential origin of multiply antibiotic-resistant lineage 2 in the Middle East region and highlights the ongoing evolution of carbapenem-resistant GC1 A. baumannii strains. It will enhance future studies on the local and global GC1 population structure. ABSTRACT The worldwide distribution of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) has become a global concern, particularly in countries where antibiotic prescription is not tightly regulated. However, knowledge of the genomic aspects of CRAB from many parts of the world is still limited. Here, 50 carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii isolates recovered at a single hospital in Tehran, Iran, during several outbreaks in 2012 and 2013 were found to be resistant to multiple antibiotics. They were examined using PCR mapping and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). All Iranian strains belonged to sequence type 328 in the Institut Pasteur MLST scheme (ST328IP), a single-locus variant of ST81IP, and all Iranian strains contained two carbapenem resistance genes, oxa23 and oxa24. The oxa23 gene is in the transposon Tn2006 in AbaR4, which interrupts the chromosomal comM gene. Phylogenetic analysis using whole-genome sequence (WGS) data for 9 isolates showed that they belonged to the same clade, designated the ST81/ST328 clade, within lineage 2 of global clone 1 (GC1). However, there were two groups that included either KL13 or KL18 at the K locus (KL) for capsular polysaccharide synthesis and either a tet39 or an aadB resistance gene, respectively. The genetic context of the resistance genes was determined, and the oxa24 (OXA-72 variant) and tet39 (tetracycline resistance) genes were each in a pdif module in different plasmids. The aadB gene cassette (which encodes gentamicin, kanamycin, and tobramycin resistance) was harbored by pRAY*, and the aphA6 gene (which encodes amikacin resistance) and sul2 gene (which encodes sulfamethoxazole resistance) were each harbored by a different plasmid. The sequences obtained here will underpin future studies of GC1 CRAB strains from the Middle East region. IMPORTANCE Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains are among the most critical antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing hospital-acquired infections and treatment failures. The global spread of two clones has been responsible for the bulk of the resistance, in particular, carbapenem resistance. However, there is a substantial gap in our knowledge of which clones and which specific lineages within each clone are circulating in many parts of the world, including Africa and the Middle East region. This is the first genomic analysis of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii strains from Iran. All the isolates, from a single hospital, belonged to lineage 2 of global clone 1 (GC1) but fell into two groups distinguished by genes in the locus for capsule biosynthesis. The analysis suggests a potential origin of multiply antibiotic-resistant lineage 2 in the Middle East region and highlights the ongoing evolution of carbapenem-resistant GC1 A. baumannii strains. It will enhance future studies on the local and global GC1 population structure.


In this paper, we study the price of anarchy of traffic routing, under the assumption that users are partially altruistic or spiteful. We model such behavior by positing that the "cost" perceived by a user is a linear combination of the actual latency of the route chosen (selfish component), and the increase in latency the user causes for others (altruistic component). We show that if all users have a coefficient of at least β > 0 for the altruistic component, then the price of anarchy is bounded by 1/β, for all network topologies, arbitrary commodities, and arbitrary semi-convex latency functions. We extend this result to give more precise bounds on the price of anarchy for specific classes of latency functions, even for β < 0 modeling spiteful behavior. In particular, we show that if all latency functions are linear, the price of anarchy is bounded by 4/(3+2β--β2).
 We next study non-uniform altruism distributions, where different users may have different coefficients β. We prove that all such games, even with infinitely many types of players, have a Nash Equilibrium. We show that if the average of the coefficients for the altruistic components of all users is β, then the price of anarchy is bounded by 1/β, for single commodity parallel link networks, and arbitrary convex latency functions. In particular, this result generalizes, albeit non-constructively, the Stackelberg routing results of Roughgarden and of Swamy. More generally, we bound the price of anarchy based on the class of allowable latency functions, and as a corollary obtain tighter bounds for Stackelberg routing than a recent result of Swamy.


The best test of a theory is its actual performance in the real world, i.e. its practice. To quote Kurt Lewin, "There is nothing more practical than a good theory" The Wall Street has enjoyed the reputation as the bastion of lightly
regulated financial industry. It is thus not surprising that as a result of the ongoing financial crisis, the USA is losing its economic clout and its intellectual authority
in economic matters (Beddoes 2008). The crisis represents an occasion for social scientists to do some hard rethinking. It re-affirms the relevance of development
studies. It also shows the wisdom displayed by the editors of this journal in taking the initiative two years ago to open a forum for development studies. This paper is a very modest contribution to the debate, by looking at some
salient features of the ongoing financial crisis. As I observe elsewhere, economic development should be seen as part of societal development (Heng 2008). Economic development takes place within a historical context, within a concrete physical environment and societal conditions. Economic development can damage and even destroy the natural
environment or our physical resources, e.g. a lush forest turned into a wasteland or semi-desert. Similarly, it can also damage or destroy societal resources, e.g. rampant corruption displacing public spirit among civil servants and politicians.


Cd/sub 0.5/Mn/sub 0.5/S diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) quantum dots (QDs) of crystallite size ranging from 24 /spl Aring/ to the bulk have been chemically synthesized using an aqueous solution precipitation method and thermal annealing. Subsequent characterization indicates that the "as prepared" material is of the cubic zinc blende structure which evolves with increasing size to the bulk hexagonal wurtzite structure. Magnetic properties of the DMS QDs have been measured with a SQUID magnetometer. A transition from a paramagnetic to a spin-glass (SG) state at a critical temperature T/sub f/ has been observed. Size dependence measurements on T/sub f/ indicate a minimum size for SG formation. Relaxation in isothermal remanent magnetization has also been measured and shows a power law decay.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) on tumor metastasis in mouse model bearing melanoma xenograft.

METHODS
Mice bearing murine melanoma B16-F10 cell xenograft were randomized for sham-HIFU or HIFU exposure when the tumors grew to a maximum diameter of 7-10 mm, and the tumor size was measured every 3 days. The cumulative survival rate of the mice and tumor metastasis rate were calculated, and the circulating melanoma cells were detected using qRT-PCR. At 14 days after HIFU treatment, B16-F10 cells were retransplanted via the tail vein and the pulmonary metastatic nodules were counted.

RESULTS
The median survival time of the mice was 19.00 days (95% CI 17.14-20.86 days) in the sham group and 26.00 days (95%CI 24.76-27.25 days) in HIFU group. The cumulative survival rate in the HIFU group was significantly higher than that in sham-HIFU group (P<0.01), and the tumor size was significantly smaller in HIFU group at 20, 23, and 26 days after HIFU treatment (P<0.05). Compared with the sham-HIFU group, HIFU group had significantly lower levels of MAGE-A3, MART1 and PAX3 at 7 days after HIFU (P<0.05) with still lower MAGE-A3 level at 14 days (P<0.05). HIFU group showed a significantly smaller number of pulmonary metastatic nodules following tumor cell retransplantation than in sham-HIFU group (P<0.01) with a metastasis inhibition rate of 42.4%.

CONCLUSION
HIFU treatment can inhibit tumor metastasis in melanoma-bearing mice possibly by reducing tumor cell detachment from the primary tumor site and suppressing colonization of the circulating melanoma cells.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating effect of interpersonal relationship on the relationship between attachment and subjective well-being of university students. We conducted a survey on 336 university students in Andong-si and Cheongju-si. The data were analyzed by Pearson`s productive correlation, hierarchical regression analysis and Sobel test. The results were as follows: First, affective well-being made an effect by avoidant attachment and anxiety attachment, and was more affected by interpersonal relationship than anxiety attachment including mediating variable of interpersonal relationship. Second, there was a significant effect in cognitive well-being only by anxiety attachment. Including mediating variables of interpersonal relationship, cognitive well-being affected by interpersonal relationship only. Third, interpersonal relationship mediated partially the relationship between attachment and affective well-being, and perfectly between attachment and cognitive well-being.


Leishmania parasites are able to secure their survival within their host by altering key signalling pathways involved in the ability of macrophages to directly kill pathogens or to activate cells of the adaptive immune system. This book provides an up-to-date literature review about Leishmania, its major virulence factors, its early interaction with the host, and the implications of this initial contact on the ability of the parasite to interfere with macrophage signalling and functions. Importantly, this book provides original data describing novel mechanisms used by the Leishmania parasite to alter host cell signalling pathways with special emphasis on Toll-like receptor signalling and functions, and the negative regulatory role played by host protein tyrosine phosphatases in this process. Taken together, the data presented in this book are aimed to improve our understanding of evasion mechanisms employed by promastigotes and/or amastigotes of Leishmania, hoping that such findings will broaden our understanding of the disease they cause and help in the development of more efficient anti-leishmanial therapies in the near future.


TO OUR READERS: An error appeared in the ahead-of-print version of the following article: Freitas TT, Alcaraz PE, Winckler C, Zabaloy S, Pereira LA, Loturco I. Differences in strength, speed, and power performance between visually impaired Paralympic and Olympic sprinters. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2021-0237. A phrase in the second paragraph in the Discussion section on the second page of the article was deleted in error. The article was corrected March 11, 2022.


The study was conducted about the growth performance of Black Bengal goat in village condition at Savar Upazila under the Dhaka District from June/2017 to April/2018. Least-squares means for body weights at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of ages were 1.10, 5.02, 8.41, 10.41 and 12.42 kg respectively. Sex has highly significant (p < 0.01) effect on the body weight at 3 months (5.22 ± 0.04 and 4.77 ± 0.04 kg), 6 months of ages (8.74 ± 0.04 and 7.96 ± 0.04 kg) and sex has significant (p < 0.05) effect on the body weight at 9 months (10.66 ± 0.09 and 10.10 ± 0.10 kg) and 12 months (12.88 ± 0.06 and 11.82 ± 0.07 kg) respectively male and female. Type of birth has highly significant (p < 0.01) effect on body weight at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Parity has highly significant (p < 0.01) body weight at 3 months (4.95 ± 0.05, 5.04 ± 0.04 and 5.08 ± 0.05 kg) and 12 months (12.21 ± 0.67, 12.39 ± 0.08 and 12.67 ± 0.07 kg) and significant (p < 0.05) effect at birth weight (0.94 ± 0.01, 0.95 ± 0.01 and 0.97 ± 0.01 kg) and 6 months body weight (8.29 ± 0.06, 8.37 ± 0.05 and 8.54 ± 0.05 kg) respectively at 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd parity. Season has a highly significant (P < 0.01) effect in birth weight (0.91 ± 0.01, 0.99 ± 0.01 and 0.97 ± 0.01 kg), 3 months (4.87 ± 0.04, 5.22 ± 0.04 and 4.89 ± 0.06 kg), 12 months (12.21 ± 0.06, 12.65 ± 0.07 and 12.30 ± 0.10 kg) and season has significant effect (P < 0.05) at 6 months body weights (8.20 ± 0.04, 8.63 ± 0.05 and 8.23 ± 0.07 kg) respectively in winter, summer and rainy season. It can be concluded that male type of sex, single type kid, third parity of dam and summer season was better.


Adoptive T-cell transfer therapy (ACT) is a promising approach for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Using the pmel-1 transgenic mouse as a source of melanoma-reactive CD8 T-cells, our lab has shown that priming these tumor-specific cells ex vivo with IL-12 (pmel IL-12 ) prior to ACT results in significant anti-tumor synergy and enhanced persistence in combination with cyclophosphamide (CTX). Here we demonstrate that other currently accepted lymphodepletion approaches, total body irradiation (TBI) alone or in combination with CTX, are also capable of synergizing with ACT of pmel IL-12 . Interestingly, all 3 regimens (CTX, TBI and CTX + TBI) showed a similar ability to synergize with pmel IL-12 , suggesting a common underlying mechanism. To elucidate the mechanism(s) behind this observed synergy, we evaluated whether the persistence of pmel IL-12 cells transferred into a lymphopenic host required the cytokines IL-7 and IL-15, which are known to be increased in the host post lymphodepletion. We found that the early expansion of pmel IL-12 in an irradiated host was partially dependent on IL-7, but not IL-15, as both the percentage and total number of donor cells recovered from spleens of irradiated hosts 1-week after ACT were greatly diminished in mice treated with an antibody against the IL-7 receptor alpha, CD127, or with an IL-7 neutralizing antibody (clone M25). In vitro these pmel IL-12 cells were able to proliferate in response to IL-7 to a much greater extent than pmel CD8 T-cells activated without IL-12. Together, these findings demonstrate that activated CD8 T cells primed with IL-12 display enhanced responsiveness to IL-7, and that IL-7 is necessary for maximal persistence of these cells in an irradiated host. Therefore, we conclude that the observed synergy between IL-12 priming of CD8 T cells and lymphodepletion is due in part to increased availability of host IL-7 after lymphodepletion. Citation Format: Christopher Bryce Johnson, Bennett R. May, Colleen A. Cloud, Mark P. Rubinstein, David J. Cole. The synergy between IL-12 priming of CD8 T cells and lymphodepletion is mediated by host IL-7. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology: Multidisciplinary Science Driving Basic and Clinical Advances; Dec 2-5, 2012; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A6.


AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA

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The receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), Axl, is a novel therapeutic target for solid tumors. Axl is expressed in both neoplastic and stromal compartments and is associated with poor outcome in several human tumor types. Signaling via Axl drives migration, invasion proliferation, and cell survival. Genetic inhibition of Axl signaling blocks both tumor growth and suppresses angiogenesis in vivo. These data suggest that Axl inhibitors may suppress tumor growth via multiple mechanisms. By high throughput screening of a diverse chemical library followed by an extensive structure activity relationship (SAR) study, we have identified highly selective small molecule inhibitors of Axl kinase which exhibit potent on-target activity in both cell-based and biochemical assays. These compounds exhibit selectivity for Axl over other RTKs including PDGFR, EGFR, InsulinR and VEGFR2 as well as the Axl family member Mer in cells and lack generalized antiproliferative activity. Axl-selective inhibitors demonstrate favorable pharmacokinetic properties and are generally well tolerated. Our proof-of-concept Axl-selective inhibitor, R572, significantly reduced corneal neovascularization in vivo (p< 0.001). Basic tumor profiling was conducted to prioritize sensitive tumors for xenograft efficacy studies. Among cell lines tested, Caki-1 renal tumors exhibited consistent reduction of growth in xenograft studies when treated with R572 (%T/C 67% compared to vehicle, p<0.001). Follow-on compounds that exhibit low nM potency against Axl, further improved selectivity and pharmacokinetic properties have been generated and are being tested in efficacy models. Rigel has generated potent and selective inhibitors of Axl kinase. We propose that small molecule inhibition of Axl represents a novel therapy for a subgroup of sensitive solid tumors.


: From the cognitive perspective and focusing on external collaboration, this study aims to show their contribution to innovative performance, which usually differs between emerging and advanced economies. Databases on Science, Technology and Innovation activities of the countries studied are used, together with CFA and SEM, to validate the hypotheses. It is found that dominant logic and external collaboration enjoy a positive relationship with innovative performance. In Spain, the returns of research and development are greater. This may be due to the fact that cognitive aspects are determinant of leveraging collaborative networks, while in Colombia this needs to be strengthened. In addition to contributing theoretically to the operationalisation of dominant logic and external collaboration in innovative performance, this research contributes to the literature by proposing relationships among the factors studied, providing insights into their influence in the innovation process in a developed and an emerging country, which has not been addressed before.


We report a general approach to overcome the enormous obstacle of the integration of CNTs into devices by bonding single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) films to arbitrary substrates and transferring them into densified and lithographically processable "CNT wafers". Our approach allows hierarchical layer-by-layer assembly of SWNTs into organized three-dimensional structures, for example, bidirectional islands, crossbar arrays with and without contacts on Si, and flexible substrates. These organized SWNT structures can be integrated with low-power resistive random-access memory.


A compact millimeter-wave (MMW) sensor has been developed for remote monitoring of human vital signs (heart and respiration rate). The low-power homodyne transceiver operating at 94 GHz was assembled by using solid-state active and passive block-type components and can be battery operated. A description of the MMW system front end and the back-end acquisition hardware and software is presented. Representative test case results on the application of various signal processing and data analysis algorithms developed to extract faint physiological signals of interest in presence of strong background interference are provided. Although the laboratory experiments so far have been limited to standoff distances of up to 15 m, the upper limit of the detection range is expected to be higher. In comparison with its microwave counterparts, the MMW system described here provides higher directivity, increased sensitivity, and longer detection range for measuring subtle mechanical displacements associated with heart and respiration functions. The system may be adapted for use in a wide range of standoff sensing applications including for patient health care, structural health monitoring, nondestructive testing, biometric sensing, and remote vibrometry in general.


The long-term stability of electrical resistance and magnetoresistance in nanostructured La1-xSrxMnO3 (x = 0.17) manganite thin films grown on lucalox (Al2O3  + MgO) substrate by the MOCVD method was investigated. It was found that the storage of up to 3 months of the free surfaces of these films in normal atmosphere (air) conditions increases their resistivity by almost two times, while the annealing of the films in an Ar atmosphere at 450 °C decreases their resistivity only by 15%. It was concluded that the final increase of resistivity is determined by a long-term relaxation of the grain boundaries in the nanostructured films. The magnetoresistance of the films does not change significantly, which produces an advantage for magnetic field sensor applications. The passive protective coating of the free surfaces of the films stabilizes their electrical and magnetic properties. The results were analysed using various electron scattering mechanisms when the films were in a ferromagnetic state, and the Mott's variable range hopping model when they were in a paramagnetic insulating state.


Popular beliefs as well as opinions from medical staff have suggested a relationship between illicit drug use (hereafter referred to as "drug use") and sex workers (SW). From a public health perspective, it is important to investigate its validity, as decision makers in the field of prevention and treatment need to have a clear view on the needs of this vulnerable group, in order to provide the necessary services. Drug use among SW can endanger their health as it interferes with safe sex practices and can facilitate physical and mental abuse, and violence. Moreover, unsafe injecting drug use (IDU) is a risk factor for the spread of infectious diseases to the general population. The aims of this study were to describe the current status regarding the monitoring of illegal drug use among SW in European countries and to present an overview of the prevalence estimates.


Scedosporium prolificans is a fungus that has demonstrated resistance against most currently available antifungal agents and which causes a rapidly disseminating and potentially fatal infection. A 68-year-old woman presented with a fever and consolidation in the lung field. Her symptoms and inflammatory reaction did not improve despite treatment with tazobactam/piperacillin, meropenem, and micafungin. Scedosporium prolificans was detected from the patient's bronchial lavage fluid, and we initiated treatment with voriconazole. Voriconazole was effective in shrinking the consolidation and suppressing the inflammatory reaction. The residual lesion was surgically resected because of the risk of systemic dissemination. The patient is currently alive without relapse or dissemination.


The number and range of orthopaedic procedures performed in the UK has increased over recent decades, with many more devices now being implanted to replace diseased joints, stabilise bone or correct skeletal deformities. With these advances, the number, type and complexity of potential surgical site infections have increased. Postoperative orthopaedic infections can impair the functional result of surgery, prolong hospital admission, harm patients and sometimes prove fatal.1,2 They require vigorous treatment with antibiotics and often necessitate further surgery. Here, we discuss measures for preventing surgical site infection after orthopaedic surgery, concentrating on major joint replacement and surgery for long bone fractures.


Manned space flight control mission has the features of technology complexity, high requirement of reliability and real time, enormousness of software and hardware system, and difficulty in flight control cooperation, aiming at which this paper presents an Integrative Flight Control Validation (IFCV) architecture. The validation environment is composed of the actual spacecraft, astronauts, the software and hardware for mission in tracking station and flight control center. Before the launch of manned spacecraft, the IFCV implements comprehensive validation of the interface of spacecraft and ground system, the normal and emergency program for mission, the countermeasures against various faults, and the cooperation process between astronauts, spacecraft and ground system. Through maximizing the scope and reality of flight control validation, the preparative time is shortened, the hidden trouble is eliminated and the success of manned spacecraft mission is guaranteed.


Timely accurate traffic forecast is crucial for urban traffic control and guidance. Due to the high nonlinearity and complexity of traffic flow, traditional methods cannot satisfy the requirements of mid-and-long term prediction tasks and often neglect spatial and temporal dependencies. In this paper, we propose a novel deep learning framework, Spatio-Temporal Graph Convolutional Networks (STGCN), to tackle the time series prediction problem in traffic domain. Instead of applying regular convolutional and recurrent units, we formulate the problem on graphs and build the model with complete convolutional structures, which enable much faster training speed with fewer parameters. Experiments show that our model STGCN effectively captures comprehensive spatio-temporal correlations through modeling multi-scale traffic networks and consistently outperforms state-of-the-art baselines on various real-world traffic datasets.


The smart grid leverages intelligent communication technologies to modernize the electric system infrastructure. The advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) enables an intelligent bidirectional communication between the smart meters and the energy services companies. The smart grid AMI provides better customer service, energy saving, and peak reduction. However, the smart grid also, raises new vectors for cyber risks and energy frauds. In this paper, we propose a machine learning based solution to detect the fraud of energy in advanced metering infrastructure. The proposed solution employs support vector machine to identify fraudulent activity by taking advantage of the predictability of the customer consumption's profile. The performance evaluation of the proposed solution on a real electricity consumption dataset shows a high detection rate and low false positive rate compared to related works.


The High-Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P) is a probe-class mission concept that will extend the reach of broadband (2-200 keV) X-ray observations, with 40 times the sensitivity of any previous mission in the 10-80 keV band and 10,000 times the sensitivity of any previous mission in the 80-200 keV band. HEX-P addresses key NASA science goals and is an important complement to ESA's L-class Athena mission. Working in coordination with Athena HEX-P will provide continuum measurements that are essential for interpreting Athena spectra. With angular resolution improved by more than an order of magnitude relative to NuSTAR, HEX-P will carry out an independent program aimed at addressing questions unique to the high energy X-ray band, such as the nature of the source that powers Active Galactic Nuclei, the evolution of black holes in obscured environments, and understanding of how compact binary systems form, evolve and influence galactic systems. With heritage from NuSTAR, HEX-P can be executed within the next decade with a budget less than double that of a Medium class Explorer (MIDEX) mission.


Radiation exposure of the biota in the shoreline area of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Pond was assessed to evaluate radiological consequences from the decommissioning of the Cooling Pond. This paper addresses studies of radioactive contamination of the terrestrial faunal complex and radionuclide concentration ratios in bodies of small birds, small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles living in the area. The data were used to calculate doses to biota using the ERICA Tool software. Doses from 90Sr and 137Cs were calculated using the default parameters of the ERICA Tool and were shown to be consistent with biota doses calculated from the field data. However, the ERICA dose calculations for plutonium isotopes were much higher (2–5 times for small mammals and 10–14 times for birds) than the doses calculated using the experimental data. Currently, the total doses for the terrestrial biota do not exceed maximum recommended levels. However, if the Cooling Pond is allowed to draw down naturally and the contaminants of the bottom sediments are exposed and enter the biological cycle, the calculated doses to biota may exceed the maximum recommended values. The study is important in establishing the current exposure conditions such that a baseline exists from which changes can be documented following the lowering of the reservoir water. Additionally, the study provided useful radioecological data on biota concentration ratios for some species that are poorly represented in the literature.


Even for those who have struggled with Hegel long enough to discover that he is neither a positivist nor a communitarian, nor (at the other end of the spectrum) a Platonist, the fact that he also insists upon distinguishing his approach to practical philosophy from Kant's may seem deeply puzzling. After all, the two philosophers share in common the same principal opponents. Both set out to undermine the sceptic's doubts about the possibility of objective practical judgments and requirements; both in addition reject positivist derivations of law, exclusively empiricist accounts of human behaviour, and intuidonist forms of justification. The two philosophers furthermore seem to share the same conception of the conditions of human freedom. For Hegel as well as Kant, a theory of morality and political right devoted to advancing the cause of freedom must require more than just the absence of obstacles preventing the satisfaction of our animal passions. For Hegel as well as Kant, freedom requires in addition the respect of the ends we have as rational natures. We achieve this kind of freedom when our actions are motivated by the legislation of reason and when the social norms which constrain us are norms we can rationally endorse. Despite these similarities, Hegel tells us in the Philosophy of Right that the conception of freedom he associates with Kant and discusses under the heading of "Moralitat" must give way to the more adequate conception of "Sittlichkeit" or "ethical life". It is clear that Hegel finds unacceptable what he calls the "empty formalism" of Kant's practical philosophy; it is also clear that he thinks that Kant's practical philosophy is "formal" because its supreme law or categorical imperative is an a priori law of reason. But this doesn't yet tell us why, for Hegel, these features of the Kantian approach are objectionable. In my view, we do his critique little justice if we say that it is aimed at a consequence which presumably follows from Kant's preoccupation with providing an a priori foundation for law and morality: namely, the failure to give sufficient moral weight to the empirical particulars which individuate persons and situations and need to be taken into account in the practice of moral assessment. As I shall argue below, the suggestion that Kant's formalism requires us to ignore empirical content in this way is neither plausible as a critique of Kant nor accurate as a representation of what troubles Hegel about Kant. We go more to the heart of the matter, I believe, if we say instead that Hegel is out to challenge the very distinction between the "empirical" and the "pure" or "a priori" so fundamental to both Kant's practical and theoretical philosophy. Hegel's critique of Kant's practical philosophy is an instance of his critique of Kant's idealism more generally, and of the assumptions about reason and nature upon which that idealism rests. Or so I shall argue here. This is a paper, then, about what we could call the metaphysical foundations of Hegel's critique of Kant's practical philosophy. My objective is to demonstrate how the two different forms of idealism yield distinct conceptions of moral subjectivity and of the source of practical laws. In comparing the idealisms of the two philosophers, I draw attention to features of Hegel's


Tourist photography is generally regarded as being beyond the pale, even by tourists themselves. While citizens' journalism quickly acquired the status of authenticity and mobile snaps that of cutting-edge cool, tourists and their cameras are still judged to be in irredeemably bad taste. Academic orthodoxy dictates that tourist photography is to be analyzed in terms of the gaze, which turns the tourist, the camera and the person being photographed into broad-brush generalizations. Yet millions of us travel abroad every year, with or without cameras, and find ourselves in foreign environments: this represents the livelihoods for millions of families across the world. Many of us are in search of culture and encounters, not only sunshine and beaches. It is time that we developed a more sophisticated way of analyzing what happens when a tourist turns a corner in a foreign city with a camera around her neck. I explore this taking myself as a case study, a photographing tourist in Kolkata. The essay has three parts: the cultural baggage that many tourists have internalized, my own unexpected experiences in the street, and the political implications of re-appraising the tourists, the interactions, and photographs.


Abstract:  Forest practices have progressively changed over the last 30 years in the Pacific Northwest to address water quality concerns. There have been some assessments of these new management practices made at a site scale but very few studies have attempted to evaluate their efficacy at reducing cumulative sediment production at a watershed scale. Such an evaluation is difficult due to the spatial and temporal variability in sediment delivery and transport processes. Due to this inherent variability, detecting a response to management changes requires a long‐term data record. We utilized a water quality dataset collected over 30 years at four locations in the Deschutes River watershed (western Washington) to assess trends in turbidity and whether sediment control procedures implemented over this time period had any detectable influence. The sample sites ranged from small headwater streams (2.4 and 3.0 km2) to the mainstem of the Deschutes River (150 km2). Declining trends in turbidity were detected at all the permanently monitored sites. The mainstem Deschutes River site, which integrates sediment processes from the entire study watershed, showed dramatic declines in turbidity even with continued active forest management. For the small basins, logging and road construction occurred in the 1970s and 1980s and turbidity declined thereafter, achieving prelogging levels by 2000. There are no temporal trends in flow that could be responsible for the observed trends in turbidity. Our results suggest that increased attention to reducing sediment production from roads and minimizing the amount of road runoff reaching stream channels has been the primary cause of the declining turbidity levels observed in this study.


EiffelVision 2 is an object-oriented library for developing graphical user interfaces in Eiffel. It offers several strategies to organise widgets in windows, and each strategy has its own specific language and features. The goal of this master thesis is to design and implement a more abstract language to develop user interfaces that is based on the mathematical model of linear programming. The resulting framework is seamlessly integrated in EiffelVision 2 and offers developers a valid alternative to existing layout managers.


The most recent meta-analyses of adjuvant chemotherapy in resected gastric cancer suggest that systemic treatment may achieve a small, but statistically significant and probably clinically relevant, reduction in risk of death. However, this still needs confirmation in a large, prospective, well-designed phase III study. The recent Intergroup 0116 study, conducted in USA, of combined post-operative chemoradiotherapy demonstrated significantly improved disease-free and overall 5-year survival compared with an observation-only arm. However, 54% of patients appeared to have had suboptimal surgery. The fact that adjuvant therapy reduced locoregional (and not distant) relapse suggests that its benefit may lie in compensating for inadequate dissection. Combined modality therapy was associated with moderate toxicity, but a high requirement for changes in radiation planning. Therefore, the role and feasibility of adjuvant radiotherapy needs to be confirmed in patients operated on in Western Europe. Several approaches to the development of early systemic therapy in gastric cancer are being pursued. These include the evaluation of cisplatin-based adjuvant regimens, the use of neoadjuvant treatment, the incorporation into adjuvant and neoadjuvant regimens of newer cytotoxics such as docetaxel and irinotecan, and the assessment of novel, molecularly targeted agents such as the epidermal growth factor receptor and angiogenesis inhibitors.


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If we really wanted schools to be the great equalizer, much would need to change. The challenges are endless, everything from changing funding mechanisms and recruitment strategies to addressing the needs of educators caught in the political crosshairs of national standards, accountability, overtesting, and a poor preparation system. Faced with such constraints, as well as with the urgent need to improve student outcomes, we owe it to students--especially to those from nondominant groups--to put existing resources to great use now and employ only high-leverage strategies that promote high levels of learning for all. One high-leverage, gap-shrinking strategy is rooted in a strong research base (Koselak & Lyall, 2016) and thrives in its very simplicity: an embedded, open-all-day tutoring center that supports collaborative teacher teams by using peer tutors and community volunteers. The revitalized tutoring center provides a wealth of opportunity to students who may otherwise be underserved, creating equitable access and raising expectations for all. Centralizing these resources and providing them during the school day, free to all and targeted to some, helps schools close the opportunity gap without overburdening teachers, schedules, or budgets. Every facet of a robust peer tutoring model has a high effect size unto itself (Hattie, 2012). When properly leveraged, however, a tutoring center opens doors of opportunity for teachers and schools to bring about meaningful improvements to learning outcomes. The model: * Creates a diverse coalition of volunteer tutors; * Enhances collaboration and the work of professional learning communities (PLCs); * Leverages regular use of common formative assessments; * Makes standards-referenced and competency-based grading feasible; * Empowers a tiered system of intervention (such as response to intervention, positive behavior interventions and supports, and a multitiered system of supports); * Identifies and supports struggling students in a timely and targeted manner throughout the school day; * Personalizes learning by being flexible and responsive to individual needs; * Inspires a growth mindset among students, tutors, and faculty; * Promotes leadership, service learning, and mentorship opportunities to a diverse and often nondominant student population; and *Thrives in a variety of settings because it's fully customizable. Schools with robust, embedded tutoring centers focus less on labeling students and pigeonholing them into tiers and more on providing just-in-time supports to ensure students reach mastery on the essential learnings for college- and career- readiness. This level of support also allows schools to accelerate more nondominant students into honors-level coursework, knowing they will be supported along the way. Further, the flexible, targeted, and directive nature of the tutoring center enables staff to tease out the root cause of a student's academic struggle. Whether a student won't do the work or can't do it (or some combination of the two), the director of the tutoring center helps sort out this will-versus-skill dilemma so the team can target supports accordingly. In this model, nothing is left to chance, and students cannot hide from the opportunity. In addition, by recruiting, training, and supporting a diverse population of peer tutors, the tutoring center encourages students of color and those otherwise at risk to become mentors and leaders to help struggling students. This gives students coming into the center a wide range of tutors to pick from; some may prefer working with tutors from their own racial or ethnic background. Tutors also model and promote the behaviors and habits most likely to lead to success in an academic environment: They put forth effort, challenge themselves, ask questions, learn, and grow, while helping others do the same. …


The aim of the study. Investigation of the potential of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) evaluation for differential diagnosis of mediastinal lymphadenopathy in lymphoma and sarcoidosis. Materials and methods . The study included 15 patients with sarcoidosis and 7 patients with lymphoma. In each patient ADC values of 3 largest lymph nodes were measured. Results. Differences of mean ADC values in lymphoma (1,01±0,3×10 -3 mm 2 /s) and sarcoidosis (1,51±0,25×10 -3 mm 2 /s) were significant, p<0,0001. Optimal cut-point value for ADC of ≤1,1×10 -3 mm 2 /s differentiated lymphoma from sarcoidosis with sensitivity of 76,2%, specificity of 97,8% and accuracy of 90,9%, the area under the ROC-curve was 0,89. Conclusion . Preliminary results of the study have demonstrated the potential of DW-MRI in differential diagnosis of lymphoma and sarcoidosis and expediency of the further study.


The effects of pregnenolone-16 alpha-carbonitrile (PCN) on hepatic metabolism of cholesterol were studied in rat liver microsomes in order to clarify the underlying mechanisms of the PCN-induced biliary hypersecretion of cholesterol. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a diet supplemented with 0.05% of PCN for one week. The microsomal activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, regulating cholesterol biosynthesis, decreased from 577 +/- 46 (SEM) to 367 +/- 38 pmol/min/mg protein compared to the controls. Cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase activity, governing bile acid synthesis, was 9.0 +/- 1.1 pmol/min/mg protein in the treated group and 34.8 +/- 7.4 pmol/min/mg protein in the controls, a reduction of 74% (P < 0.01). The acyl CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity, catalyzing the esterification of cholesterol, remained unchanged, as did the levels of total and free cholesterol in liver homogenates and microsomes. The results of this study provide evidence that the increase in biliary cholesterol secretion during PCN treatment is not caused by a change in ACAT activity, but can be explained by a decreased catabolism of cholesterol to bile acids.


The Lombardy Castle is a naturally fortified site located in the highest part of the city of Enna. It is a complex good characterized by a long constructive history still not fully interpreted. Not very easily attainable and detached from its urban context, the monument stands today in a precarious state of conservation also because lacking of a coherent program for new functions. The study, founded on a thorough archival and bibliographical investigation, has seen in the execution of a complete and accurate survey, an experimentation aimed at the recognition and understanding of the built environment as an essential requisite for any subsequent action. At the same time, it has allowed to reflect on the role of drawing in the restoration project, also in the light of the opportunities offered by technological innovation.


study presents a systematic review of validity evidence for neuropsychological batteries. Studies published in international databases between 2005 and 2012 were examined. Considering the specificity of neuropsychological batteries, the aim of the study was to review the statistical analyses and procedures that have been used to validate these instruments. A total of 1,218 abstracts were read, of which 147 involved studies of neuropsychological batteries or tests that evaluated at least three cognitive processes. The full text of each article was analyzed according to publication year, focal instrument of the study, sample type, sample age range, characterization of the participants, and procedures and analyses used to provide evidence of validity. The results showed that the studies primarily analyzed patterns of convergence and divergence by correlating the instruments with other tests. Measures of reliability, such as internal consistency and test-retest reliability, were also frequently employed. To provide evidence of relationships between test scores and external criteria, the most common procedures were evaluations of sensitivity and specificity, and comparisons were made between contrasting groups. The statistical analyses frequently used were Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis, Pearson correlation, and Cronbach's alpha. We discuss the necessity of incorporating both classic and modern psychometric procedures and presenting a broader scope of validity evidence, which would represent progress in this field. Finally, we hope our findings will help researchers better plan the validation process for new neuropsychological instruments and batteries. Keywords: neuropsychological assessment, validity, reliability, systematic review.


We sliould like to report our experience with the Triservice Anaesthetic Apparatus', * both ashore and afloat during the Falklands campaign. I t proved highly successful in its intended role, but there were hitherto unreported disadvantages. It was found necessary, both in the Hospital Ship SS Uganda (where the ambient temperature was about 18"C)., but more noticeably so at Ajax Bay Field Hospital, (where the ambient temperature was about 13°C) and especially after 20 minutes of use. to turn up both halothane and trichloroethylene control settings in order to maintain the required level of anaesthesia. Control settings of up to 2.5% halothane and 17; trichloroethylene in air were often needed during spontaneous respiration anacsthcsia in order to counter tachycardia, tachypnoea, limb movements and sweating. Higher than expected concentration settings were also necessary during relaxant techniques. In terms of age, injury, level of resuscitation and premedication the patients and anaesthetic technique were comparable to those described by Knight and H o ~ g h t o n . ~ Houghton' has shown that the output of the Triservice apparatus Garies, and his graphs indicate that at low temperature the output falls. Thus. in the Falklands, it became common practice to cuddle the vaporizers under our clothing to supply additional heat--with apparent good effect. I t becameevident that such additional heat was required to maintain a satisfactory level of anaesthesia. The Oxford Miniature Vaporizer was originally designed as an induction unit for the E M 0 ether vaporizer when using a halothane-ether induction scquciicc, and had a capacity of 30 ml. The capacity was later increased to 50 ml and the vaporizer was used in plenum systems on anaesthetic machines. This largercapacity OMV (which has been incorporated in the Triservice apparatus) must have lost some of the Anaesthesia in the South Atlantic


Possible impacts of energy technologies on agriculture are evaluated, and some of the available simulation models that can be used for predictive purposes are identified. An overview of energy technologies and impacts on the environment is presented to provide a framework for the commentary on the models. Coal combustion is shown to have major impacts on the environment and these will continue into the next century according to current Department of Energy projections. Air pollution effects will thus remain as the major impacts on crop ecosystems. Two hundred reports were evaluated, representing a wide range of models increasing in complexity from mathematical functions (fitted to data) through parametric models (which represent phenomena without describing the mechanisms) to mechanistic models (based on physical, chemical, and physiological principles). Many models were viewed as suitable for adaptation to technology assessment through the incorporation of representative dose-response relationships. It is clear that in many cases available models cannot be taken and directly applied in technology assessment. Very few models of air pollutant-crop interactions were identified, even though there is a considerable data base of pollutant effects on crops.


Since last decades, the pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques have been an intensive research subject. Also, different kinds of methodologies have been presented on inverter switching losses, inverter output current/ voltage total harmonic distortion (THD), inverter maximum output of DC bus voltage. The Sinusoidal PWM is generally used to control the inverter output voltage and it helps to maintains drive performance. The recent years have seen digital modulation mechanisms based on theory of space vector i.e. Space vector PWM (SVPWM). The SVPWM mechanism offers the enhanced amplitude modulation indexes (MI) than sinusoidal PWM along with the reduction in the harmonics of inverter output voltage and reduced communication losses. Currently, the digital control mechanisms have got more attention than the analog counterparts, as the performance and reliability of microprocessors has increased. Most of the SVPWM mechanisms are performed by using the analog or digital circuits like microcontrollers and DSPs. From the recent study, analysis gives that use of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) can offer more efficient and faster solutions. This paper discusses the numerous existing research aspects of FPGA realization for voltage source inverter (VSI) along with the future line of research.


In this Article, I make the case in favor of abolishing corporate criminal liability. Criminal liability for corporations is peculiar, given that "entity liability" does not otherwise exist in criminal law. The legal system appropriately deals with law-breaking within other entities (such as police departments and labor unions) solely through criminal prosecutions of the individual offenders and civil suits against the entities within which criminality occurred. Corporate criminal liability is another example of overcriminalization, in which criminal law is unjustifiably used to address problems better dealt with through other means. Finally, corporate criminal liability is fundamentally incompatible with established legal principles governing criminal liability. Rather than squander limited resources on efforts to prosecute corporations and other business entities, we should invest in more robust civil regulation of businesses and increased prosecution of corporate officers and employees who abuse their positions by committing crimes.


The most common arrhythmia associated with COronaVIrus-related Disease (COVID) infection is sinus tachycardia. It is not known if high Heart Rate (HR) in COVID is simply a marker of higher systemic response to sepsis or if its persistence could be related to a long-term autonomic dysfunction. The aim of our work is to assess the prevalence of elevated HR at discharge in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and to evaluate the variables associated with it. We enrolled 697 cases of SARS-CoV2 infection admitted in our hospital after February 21 and discharged within 23 July 2020. We collected data on clinical history, vital signs, laboratory tests and pharmacological treatment. Severe disease was defined as the need for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission and/or mechanical ventilation. Median age was 59 years (first-third quartile 49, 74), and male was the prevalent gender (60.1%). 84.6% of the subjects showed a SARS-CoV-2 related pneumonia, and 13.2% resulted in a severe disease. Mean HR at admission was 90 ± 18 bpm with a mean decrease of 10 bpm to discharge. Only 5.5% of subjects presented HR > 100 bpm at discharge. Significant predictors of discharge HR at multiple linear model were admission HR (mean increase = β = 0.17 per bpm, 95% CI 0.11; 0.22, p < 0.001), haemoglobin (β = −0.64 per g/dL, 95% CI −1.19; −0.09, p = 0.023) and severe disease (β = 8.42, 95% CI 5.39; 11.45, p < 0.001). High HR at discharge in COVID-19 patients is not such a frequent consequence, but when it occurs it seems strongly related to a severe course of the disease.


The surface pore morphology of two brands of membrane filters was studied by using scanning electron microscopy. The differences observed are presented as a possible explanation for reported discrepancies in coliform recovery from water.


Background: Stress-inducible phosphoprotein 1 (STIP1) and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) have been found to be correlated with malignant tumors. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between their expressions and lung adenocarcinoma (LAC).
Methods: The expressions of STIP1 and Hsp90 in LAC cells and tissues were tested by immunohistochemistry and western blot; the correlation between their expressions and clinicopathological parameters of LAC was analyzed by survival analysis and multiple regression analysis.
Results: The expressions of STIP1 and Hsp90 were higher in A549 cells and LAC tissues than that in 16 human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE cells) (P < 0.05) and cancer-adjacent normal lung tissues (P < 0.05). The expressions of STIP1 and Hsp90 in LAC showed a strong positive correlation (P < 0.05) and the increased expressions of STIP1 and Hsp90 significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05), advanced clinical stage (P < 0.05) and shorter survival (P < 0.05) of LAC.
Conclusions: The increased expressions of STIP1 and Hsp90 were closely related to malignant biological behavior of LAC, indicating that they could be used as the potential biomarkers and prognostic indicators for LAC.


Many practical applications suffer from the problem of imbalanced classification. The minority class has poor classification performance; on the other hand, its misclassification cost is high. One reason for classification difficulty is the intrinsic complicated distribution characteristics (CDCs) in imbalanced data itself. Classical oversampling method SMOTE generates synthetic minority class examples between neighbors, which is parameter dependent. Furthermore, due to blindness of neighbor selection, SMOTE suffers from overgeneralization in the minority class. To solve such problems, we propose an oversampling method, called extended natural neighbors based SMOTE (ExNN-SMOTE). In ExNN-SMOTE, neighbors are determined adaptively by capturing data distribution characteristics. Extensive experiments over synthetic and real datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of ExNN-SMOTE dealing with CDCs and the superiority of ExNN-SMOTE over other SMOTE-related methods.


This paper proposes a modeling method of an Extended Reduced-Order Physical Model (Extended Model) with arbitrary boundary condition. The Extended Model is proposed to apply to the simultaneous motion and vibration control of elastic structures. The Extended Model consists of some rigid bodies which are called as rigid body elements and stiffness elements. To design rigid body elements, four dynamical conditions are used ; (1) Total mass and Total moments of inertia, (2) Position of center of gravity, (3) Modal mass and Orthogonality, (4) Modal momentum and Modal angular momentum. The (1) - (4) values of a modeling object are needed to identify masses and moments of inertia of rigid body elements. In the case of that an elastic body has free boundary conditions, the values of the Modal momentum and the Modal angular momentum are zero. On the other hand, in the case of that an elastic body has general boundary conditions, these values are not zero and needed to be identified by any means. However, it is not always any to identify these values. Therefore, a novel formulation to identify mass and inertia matrices is presented that utilizes dynamical conditions for the original object subjected to free boundary conditions. The effectiveness of the presented formulation is examined by using a simple beam. Numerical analysis is carried out and the effectiveness of the presented modeling procedure is verified.


The 434 repressor binds more tightly to OR1 than it does to OR3. The repressor makes several specific contacts with the symmetrically arrayed outer four base-pairs of the 14 base-pair site, and no specific contacts to the central six base-pairs. The sequence of the outer base-pairs of OR1 and OR3 differs only by an A-->G substitution at position 4 in one half-site of OR3, while that of central bases is very different. As expected from sequence analysis of wild-type operators, the data show repressor prefers an A.T base-pair at position 4. The magnitude of this preference depends on operator sequence context and solution conditions. Position 4 changes in the context of OR1 have a greater effect on operator affinity for 434 repressor than do similar changes in OR3. Although OR1 and OR3 display different affinities for 434 repressor, their repressor-operator complexes are similarly insensitive to changes in salt concentration and temperature. By contrast, complexes formed between repressor and position 4 mutant OR1, bearing an A.T-->G.C change, and OR3, which bears a G.C-->A.T change, are affected greatly, and to similar extents, by changes in ionic strength and temperature. Nuclease protection experiments show that 434 repressor protects the DNA phosphate backbone of wild-type operators from cleavage more efficiently than those of mutant operators. These data show that the biochemical and structural properties of a repressor-operator complex, while affected by position 4 base sequence, are independent of the identity of this base. The ability of repressor to recognize the base at position 4 depends on the sequence context at operator positions 5 to 7. Apparently there is an interplay between the bases at operator positions 4 to 7 which has a global effect on the structure of the repressor-operator complex.


To account for differences between systems of education in highly educated societies, I argue that the impact of academic discipline (field of study) on labor market outcomes should be central. Three modifications of earlier typologies are needed to account for cross-national differences in the transparency of skills provided by educational specialization. We should observe: (1) the system of tertiary vocational programs; (2) whether a system has a bachelor's-master's structure; and (3) whether students choose minor and major subjects in college. Our analysis of Norway, Australia, and the Netherlands shows that these modifications seem useful. In the Netherlands, the impact of fields of study on wages and occupational status is much higher than in the other countries. The relatively high value of Australian qualifications compared to the Norwegian may be explained by the welfare state regulations of both countries, but this explanation is a tentative one. In Australia, eligibility to social benefits depends much more on previous work experience than in Norway, making fields of study a better indicator of labor market commitment.


In April 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, memes addressing the Thai monarchy in a critical way appeared on Twitter under the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance, which for a couple of days trended worldwide. Initially, the Twitter account of a Thai TV star was attacked by Chinese nationalists. But, different from similar incidents in the past, a new pan-Asian solidarity of Twitter users emerged, fought back the attack, and defeated the Chinese nationalists through highly self-ironic, witty, and political memes. In our article, we will discuss the meme war in its historic, political, and social context. Firstly, we claim that it can count as the inception of a new transnational movement comparable to the globalization-critical movement of the early 2000s, in so far as it targets the present, Chinese-led version of globalization. Secondly, we will challenge the dominant interpretation that the meme war was a confrontation between young Thai, Hong Kong, and Taiwanese pro-democracy activists versus state-sponsored trolls from the People's Republic of China. Despite all distortions caused by censorship measures from the side of the Chinese government and Twitter, the meme war seemed to have opened a transnational space for debate.


OBJECTIVES
Paraplegia is a complication that may occur following surgery or endovascular stenting of thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic pathology. Measuring transcranial motor evoked potentials (tcMEPs) has been shown to provide a reliable measure of spinal cord function during such procedures allowing interventions to protect cord function. In the spirit of sharing experience and eliminating the learning curve for others, this manuscript describes our experience of setting up a service for tcMEP monitoring as well as the documents and algorithms for measuring, recording and acting on the patient data, the so-called 'MEP Pathway'.

METHODS
Recording and interpretation of tcMEP during thoracoabdominal aortic intervention requires training of staff and close team working in the operating theatre and postoperative intensive care unit. Providing consistent, reliable, specific and sensitive information on spinal cord function and its safe and effective use to alter patient outcomes requires a protocol. The MEP pathway was developed by medical and paramedical staff at our institution based on clinical experience and literature reviews over a 1-year period (2012-2013).

RESULTS
The tcMEP pathway comprises six documents that guide staff in: (a) assessing suitability of patients, (b) setting up hardware, (c) preparing algorithms for management, (d) documenting intervention (left heart bypass, cardiopulmonary bypass or endovascular stenting) as well as (e) documenting postoperative intensive care processes.

CONCLUSIONS
The tcMEP pathway acts as a guide for safe introduction and use of tcMEPs in thoracoabdominal aortic interventions. tcMEP-led guidance of intraoperative and postoperative management in thoracic aortic surgery is an important adjunct in caring for this patient group.


Is industrial pollution reduction solely a matter of applying technical solutions to technical problems, or do organizational strategies and human factors also play an important part? In 1991 the US Environmental Protection Agency began collecting data on organizational strategies in pollution control as part of its Toxic Release Inventory database. An exploratory analysis of the 1991-1992 Toxic Release Inventory data revealed evidence that internally based, socially driven organizational strategies such as employee participation can have a dramatic impact on pollution reduction. The results are reported here of the second phase of this research: the approach is broadened to define general 'internal' versus 'external' strategies, and 'social' versus 'technical' approaches. There is strong evidence that the combination of internal and external strategies is superior to either alone; there is even stronger evidence that a socio-technical approach is better than either alone, and still stronger support for a combination of all of these criteria.


A process to geoengineer hydrodynamic seals is investigates numerically. It is well-documented that upon mixing, Barium- and sulfate-rich brines lead to rapid deposition of impermeable and stable scale. When deposited within open fractures, the mineral scale also holds significant tensile strength. This work investigates the intentional injection of these incompatible ions into faulted formations and around caverns to create mechanically resilient hydrodynamic seals. A coupled hydrological-mechanical-chemical HMC model is calibrated to available bench-scale experimental observations. The model attains a close match with experimental core-flooding observations by fitting reaction rate, solubility, precipitation, and nonequilibrium formation blockage. It is then applied to conduct field-scale investigations of various synthetic operational injection scenarios. The calibrated simulations suggest that the saturation index of the injected brines, injection patterns, and rates have a first-order impact on seal creation and uniformity. With inorganic precipitation, the critical injection rates to triggering seismic nucleation may be reinforced by one to two orders in magnitude due to cohesive mechanical healing.


Intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions of dioxanone-fused (Z,Z)-dienes, available in a stereoselective manner from the corresponding alcohols are described. These dienes exhibited high reactivity and high levels of endo selectivity, giving functionalized trans-fused bicyclic compounds.


Critical thinking ability refers to an individual's capacity for in-depth thought due to the development of diverse thinking talents, including cognitive capabilities, in response to the acquired information. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between critical thinking skills, biology learning outcomes, and the visual learning style of students. The study used the correlational research method to ascertain the association between critical thinking abilities and biology learning outcomes among students with a visual learning style in class XI MIPA SMAN 6 Tasikmalaya. To this end, 40 students with predominating visual learning styles were selected from 137 students from class XI MIPA 4-7 at SMAN 6 Tasikmalaya. They were asked to fill in a learning style questionnaire with 23 statements. Moreover, they were asked to answer the nine-question evaluation of students' critical thinking abilities regarding biology topics. Students completed learning outcomes from the Year-End Assessment (PAT) grade XI MIPA in biological issues. Pearson product-moment correlation was employed to answer the research question. The result of the study indicated there is critical thinking ability had a limited association with learning outcomes in students who chose a visual learning approach. The correlation coefficient (R) of 0.365 and coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.133 attested to this. The findings revealed that both critical thinking skills and visual learning styles could predict learning outcomes.


When performing complex actions, like graphic copying or imitation of gestures, some patients may perform these actions very close to, or directly on the top of the model. This peculiar behaviour, known as Closing-in, is the focus of the present literature review, which will provide a critical picture of the research in this field, highlighting the difficulties in defining and assessing Closing-in and the contrasting results about the nature and the characteristics of this phenomenon. Most importantly, we will discuss the two hypotheses proposed to explain Closing-in, namely the compensation and the attraction account, in light of most recent works. This critical review will provide substantial evidence that Closing-in represent a primitive default tendency in which movements are attracted towards the focus of attention. On the other hand, the possibility that this interpretation might not be fully exhaustive and that different components of Closing-in might exist will also be discussed.


Editor,— A 57 year old man presented with a spontaneous posterior dislocation of his right shoulder. It had happened as he reached up to open an overhead cupboard door. He had first dislocated it eight weeks before, while an inpatient receiving chemotherapy for a brain tumour.

He was accompanied by his daughter. When asked she admitted having dislocated both her shoulders in the past. From the history these seemed to be spontaneous dislocations. As there appeared to be a familial tendency she was asked about other members …


Plant tissue culture is an alternative method of commercial propagation and is being used widely for the commercial propagation of a large number of plant species, including many medicinal plants. Somatic embryogenesis is a process by which asexual or somatic cells are induced to form embryos in culture. Somatic embryogenesis is a multi-step regeneration process starting with formation of pro-embryogenic masses, followed by somatic embryo formation, maturation and regeneration. This paper outlined the important processes involved in the somatic embryogenesis.


Abstract Background: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has changed people's way of life and posed great challenges to plastic surgery. Most of plastic surgeries are considered elective surgeries and are recommended to be delayed. But breast reconstruction in plastic surgery is special. Doctors' associations from different countries have different rules on whether breast reconstruction surgery should be delayed. For the controversial topic of immediate breast reconstruction in the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted this study. Methods: We searched English databases such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase. The publication time of papers was set to be from the establishment of the databases to February 2021. All studies on immediate breast reconstruction in the COVID-19 pandemic were included in our study. Results: A total of 6 studies were included in this study. Four studies recommended the use of breast implants or tissue expansion for breast reconstruction surgery and had good results in their clinical practice. In addition, 1 study planned to use autologous free tissue transfer for breast reconstruction, and 1 study planned to use microsurgical techniques for breast reconstruction. But these 2 technologies are still in the planning stage and have not yet been implemented. Conclusions: In our opinion, breast cancer surgery belongs to confine operation, and breast reconstruction surgery should be performed immediately after the completion of breast cancer surgery. We recommend the use of breast implants for breast reconstruction surgery during the COVID-19 epidemic. Due to the limitations of the study, our proposed protocol for breast reconstruction surgery during the COVID-19 epidemic needs to be further validated in clinical studies.


The circadian oscillation is known to stop with prolonged inhibition of protein synthesis and to restart from a particular phase after the removal of inhibition. In order to know the underlying molecular mechanisms, the mouse suprachiasmatic nucleus was cultured and treated with a protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide (CHX), for various durations. Circadian rhythms in Bmal1 expression and PER2 protein were monitored by means of bioluminescence reporters. Bmal1‐LUC and PER2::LUC bioluminescence decreased to basal levels after CHX application. CHX washout restarted the circadian rhythms from a fixed phase when CHX treatment exceeded 18 h. mRNA of Per1, Per2 and Rev‐erbα increased and reached high plateau levels in 18 h after CHX application, which continued for 48 h; whereas Bmal1 mRNA increased for the first 18 h but then decreased to the basal level. Immunoblot analysis showed a decreased PER2::LUC level at 24 h after CHX application, indicating that the transcription of Pers and Rev‐erbα was disinhibited by CHX. CHX washout increased PER2::LUC bioluminescence and protein level in a few hours. High Per mRNA levels induced the rapid increases of their proteins, which might trigger the restarting of circadian oscillation. These findings indicate that the circadian oscillation is stopped by disinhibition of Per1 and Per2 transcriptions, and restarted upon the recovery of the PER mediated auto‐feedback loop. De novo synthesis of PER protein is a key factor to initiate the circadian oscillation after prolonged inhibition of protein synthesis.


Abstract Background Combination of ICIs and chemotherapy (ICI-C) has become a more favourable design in recent trials. We have previously reported 6-month PFS rate (PFS6) is a good surrogate for 12-month overall survival rate (OS12) within treatment (ICI) arms, but had limited data to examine surrogate endpoints for treatment comparisons. We extend our work to validate prior findings by updating with data from more recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs), especially studies testing combination ICI-C. Methods We performed a literature search to identify eligible Phase (Ph) 2 and 3 RCTs of ICI. We excluded studies with sample size of  Results Forty-six RCTs (5 Ph2; 41 Ph3) with 51 treatment comparisons were identified. Associations between ORR RR with PFS HR, ORR RR with OS HR, and PFS HR with OS HR were r = 0.67, r = 0.42 and r = 0.52 respectively. For the 16 RCTs of ICI-C, these associations were r = 0.79, r = 0.58 and r = 0.64 respectively. For the 35 RCTs of ICI monotherapy, these associations were r = 0.71, r = 0.40 and r = 0.54. Within the ICI arms, associations between ORR and PFS6, ORR and OS12, and PFS6 and OS12 were r = 0.67, r = 0.54 and r = 0.79. Within ICI-C trials, these associations were r = 0.60, r = 0.56 and r = 0.60 respectively. Within ICI monotherapy trials, these associations were r = 0.51, r = 0.46 and r = 0.80 respectively. Conclusions In treatment comparison, the correlation between PFS and OS was modest, but stronger in ICI-C trials. Within ICI arms, PFS6 had stronger correlation with OS12 than ORR. PFS is recommended as a surrogate endpoint for ICI trials over ORR. Legal entity responsible for the study The authors. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure M. Friedlander: Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy, Research grant / Funding (institution), Lecturer fees: AstraZeneca; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: Lilly; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: MSD; Honoraria (self), Advisory / Consultancy: Takeda. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


Four uranyl oxide hydrate phases with heavy lanthanide ions, [Ln(UO2)2O3(OH)]·0.5H2O [Ln = Tb (1), Dy (2), Ho (3) and Yb (4)], have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions at 240 °C and characterized. SEM-EDS revealed that these phases have very similar thin plate morphologies with a U to Ln atomic ratio of 2 : 1, which is further confirmed by TEM-EDS. Their high magnification TEM bright field images showed small crystalline domains (∼2–5 nm) with preferred crystal orientations. Both XRD and TEM SAED confirmed that they crystallize in the trigonal crystal system with the Pm1 space group. Raman characterization revealed the typical vibration modes for the uranyl units with the calculated UO bond lengths are comparable to the values reported for other UOH phases with d-transition metal ions as the interlayer species. The possible presence of a pentavalent uranyl unit has been ruled out by UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy. The thermal and optical properties have also been investigated and reported.