Background End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is one of the most common non-communicable causes of death. ESRD's effects are significantly worse in the economically underprivileged parts of African society where renal replacement therapy such as dialysis or kidney transplantation is not available, as it is both scarce and unaffordable for most patients and families. About 2 years ago, we established Ethiopia's first living donor kidney transplant program. Herein, we sought to describe the patient characteristics and outcomes of our living donor kidney program. Methods We retrospectively analyzed all ESRD patients who received kidney transplantation at the Ethiopian Ministry of Health National Kidney Transplant Center, located at St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa. All patients underwent living donor kidney engraftment from September 2015 to August 2017. Results After about 3 years of planning prior to human transplants, a total of 52 living donor kidney transplants were performed, of which 20 were performed in the first year. Of these, 40 recipients (76.9%) were male. Recipient age ranged from 16 to 60 years, with a mean of 34.5 years, and a mean BMI of 20.1 (range 15.3-30.6). Geographically, the majority of patients were from Addis Ababa (71.2%). Due to a relative lack of access for pre-transplant biopsy, the cause of ESRD was unknown in many patients (63.5%). All patients received left donor kidneys, and the majority was placed on the recipient's left external iliac artery (88.5%). The mean operation time and blood loss were 148 minutes and 120 mL, respectively. The mean length of stay was 8.1 days (SD=4.1). There were a total of 9 surgical complications (6 early and 3 late) in 7 patients, with superficial surgical site infection (SSI) being the most common (4). There were no patient deaths during the immediate postoperative period. Conclusions We have successfully established the first kidney transplant center in Ethiopia. While training for faculty and staff are ongoing, our results so far are comparable to other international centers. Key words: ESRD, Kidney Transplant, Outcomes


The electrical properties of Ag Schottky contacts to hydrothermally-grown polar (Zn- and Opolar) and nonpolar (m-plane) bulk ZnO were investigated. Ohmic-like behavior for Zn-polar ZnO and rectifying behaviors for O-polar and m-plane ZnO were observed from current-voltage (I–V ) measurements. Schottky contacts to O-polar ZnO were found to have higher barrier heights and lower ideality factors than those to m-plane ZnO. Higher series resistances were found for both the Zn-polar and the m-plane ZnO compared to the O-polar ZnO probably due to the presence of the interfacial layer and interface states. The homogeneous barrier heights obtained from linear fitting to the effective barrier height vs. ideality factor plots were similar to those obtained from capacitance-voltage (C–V ) measurements. A higher degree of oxidation at the Ag-ZnO interface might occur for O-polar ZnO than for m-plane ZnO, increasing the barrier heights. The large dispersion in the capacitance for m-plane ZnO was related to the excess capacitance due to the interface states.


Inspired by quantum cosmology, in which the wave function of the universe is annihilated by the total Hamiltonian, we consider the internal dynamics of a simple particle system in an energy eigenstate. Such a system does not possess a uniquely defined time parameter, and all physical questions about it must be posed without reference to time. We consider in particular the following question: what is the probability that the system's trajectory passes through a set of regions of configuration space without reference to time? We first consider the classical case, where the answer has a variety of forms in terms of a phase-space probability distribution function. We then consider the quantum case, and we analyze this question using the decoherent histories approach to quantum theory, adapted to questions which do not involve time. When the histories are decoherent, the probabilities approximately coincide with the classical case, with the phase-space probability distribution replaced by the Wigner function of the quantum state. For some initial states, decoherence requires an environment, and we compute the required influence functional and examine some of its properties. Special attention is given to the inner product used in the construction (the induced or Rieffel inner product), the construction of class operators describing the histories, and the extent to which reparametrization invariance is respected. Our results indicate that simple systems without an explicit time parameter may be quantized using the decoherent histories approach, with the expected classical limit extracted. The results support, for simple models, the usual heuristic proposals for the probability distribution function associated with a semiclassical wave function satisfying the Wheeler-DeWitt equation.


A young man presented with headache, proptosis, and asymmetric ophthalmoplegia. He was found to have a mass in an unusual area of the brain. The differential diagnosis, diagnostic testing, pathology, treatment, and prognosis of this rare tumor are discussed in detail.


BACKGROUND
This study was undertaken with the objective of evaluating the pharmaceutical and chemical equivalence of some commercially available loratadine tablets, and offers a possible explanation for the therapeutic failure of the drug products.

METHOD
The equivalence of eight brands of loratadine hydrochloride tablets labelled A to H was assessed and compared with the Innovator brand labelled I. Visual observation and uniformity of weight tests were carried out on the tablets, mechanical properties were assessed using friability and crushing strength tests as parameters. Release properties of the tablets were assessed by disintegration and dissolution tests. Assay was based on non-aqueous titration procedure using crystal violet solution indicator.

RESULT
All the brands studied were white in colour with different shapes and lustre, and complied with the official specification for uniformity of tablet weight. Friability tests showed that only brand G lost more than 1% of its initial weight, while brands A and E failed the crushing strength test. Brand C did not undergo complete disintegration within 15 minutes, while brands A, B, F and G had less than 70% of the active drug content still in solution after 45 minutes. Two of the brands had active drug content between officially specified range of 98.5% and 101.5% for loratadine tablets.

CONCLUSION
There was a large variation in the pharmaceutical properties of the commercially available loratadine hydrochloride tablets that were selected for this study. Six of the brands evaluated exhibited poor pharmaceutical properties. Generally, only two of the brands were pharmaceutically equivalent with the innovator brand.


Monkey blood samples were collected from 214 monkeys relocated as part of the wildlife rescue organized in French Guiana during the filling of the Petit Saut Dam on the Sinnamary River. These samples were tested for malaria parasites by microscopy of thick blood films and by nested PCR for small subunit rRNA genes (SSUrRNA). Parasitic blood forms similar to Plasmodium brasilianum were detected in 4 monkey species: Alouatta seniculus macconnelli, Saguinus midas midas, Pithecia pithecia and Ateles paniscus paniscus, with the highest prevalence in Alouatta monkeys. PCR was more sensitive than the conventional method for detecting low-grade parasitaemia in positive monkeys. The examination of blood films indicated that 5·6% of the animals carried parasites whereas the nested PCR for ribosomal DNA indicated a prevalence of 11·3%. The P. brasilianum SSUrRNA gene sequence was analysed and aligned with those from P. malariae, P. falciparum and P. vivax. This suggested that P. brasilianum and P. malariae are very closely related. Similar results were obtained from analysis of the sequences in P. malariae and P. brasilianum isolates of a polymorphic gene fragment analogous to the merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1) gene of P. falciparum. The P. brasilianum/P. malariae sequences were more similar to those of P. vivax than to those of P. falciparum, at least in the gene region examined. The high degree of DNA homology in the sequences of the SSUrRNA and msp1-like genes is consistent with other characterizations demonstrating a taxonomic relationship between P. brasilianum and P. malariae species. Our results provide further evidence that P. brasilianum and P. malariae are virtually identical and should probably be considered to be a single malaria species. This raises the question as to whether monkeys living in the rainforest are natural reservoirs for both simian and human malaria. These results have implications for the interpretation of the current epidemiological situation in French Guiana.


In this work, we face a payment estimation problem that involves a community of users and an energy distributor (or producer). Our aim is to compute payments for every user in the community according to the single user's consumption, the community's consumption and the available energy. The proposed scheme influences the community in consuming in a virtuous way. In order to reach this goal, our payment function distributes incentives if the consumption is lower than the produced energy and penalties when the consumption exceeds the resources threshold. Our model satisfies efficiency and fairness properties both from the community (efficiency as an economic equilibrium among sellers and buyers) and the single user (fairness as an economic measure of energy good-behaving) points of view. By computing community-dependent energy bills, our model stimulates a virtuous users' behaviour so that it approaches the production threshold as close as possible. We also provide a simulation based on real data referring to a dataset of buildings in California State, thus, showing several possible shapes of our payment scheme.


We map induced supply and demand environments to equivalent general equilibrium economies. This general equilibrium structure facilitates reinterpretation of bargaining models and market experiments, typically formulated as partial equilibrium environments, in the framework of implementation in general equilibrium economies. We reinterpret results of and relationships among several bargaining models and market experiments to illustrate advantages of the delineation between environment, institution, and behavior that our formulation provides. This leads to a clearer understanding of those environments in which various forms of boundedly rational behavior will achieve eecient outcomes under several alternative exchange mechanisms.


Abstract The rationale behind this discussion is an attempt to apply the basic principles of thermodynamics to the operations of social systems. Since the second law of thermodynamics was critized by Maxwell and his colleagues, the notion of entropy was introduced as being similar to the idea of uncertainty. In this paper I will try to explain how uncertainty can be removed to a certain extent by information-flow through a system, provided that one should consider the flow of information as that which does logical work to the recipient's state of readiness and that evolution can only take place in systems which operate on a certain level of openness.


An efficient and economical method for mapping flooding extent in a coastal floodplain is described. This method was based on the reflectance features of water versus non-water targets on a pair of Landsat 7 Thematic Mapper (TM) images (before and during the flood event), as well as modelling inundation using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data. Using limited ground observation, most flooded and non-flooded areas derived from this analysis were verified. Utilizing only TM data, the total flooded areas in Pitt County, North Carolina on 30 September 1999 was 237.9 km 2 or 14.0% of the total county area. This number could be low due to the underestimation of the flooded areas beneath dense vegetation canopies. To further investigate this underestimation, a subset of the area covering the four central topographic quadrangles, the Greenville area, in Pitt County was selected. Through addition of the DEM data into the flood mapping analysis of the Greenville area revealed that the total flooded area was 98.6 km 2 (out of a study area of 593.9 km 2 ) or 16.5%. In the Greenville study area, the three landuse and landcover categories most affected by the flood were bottomland forest/hardwood swamps (32.7 km 2 ), southern yellow pine (28.8 km 2 ), and cultivated land (19.1 km 2 ). Their total flooded areas were 80.6 km 2 or 81.7% of the total flooded area within this study area. The DEM data helped greatly in identifying the flooding that occurred underneath forest canopies, especially within bottomland forest and hardwood swamps. The method was reliable and could be applied quickly in other coastal floodplain regions using data that are relatively easy to obtain and analyse, and at a reasonable cost. This method should also work well in areas of large spatial extent where topography is relative flat.


BACKGROUND
Abnormalities in renal sodium transport may be involved in hypertension. Adducin, an alpha/beta heterodimeric protein found in the renal tubule is thought to regulate ion transport through changes in the actin cytoskeleton. We investigated whether an alpha-adducin polymorphism (Gly 460 Trp) is involved in essential hypertension in two separate populations.

METHODS
Linkage analysis of three DNA markers at different distances from the alpha-adducin locus (20-2500 kb) was done in 137 hypertensive sibling-pairs. 477 hypertensive and 322 normotensive individuals were genotyped for the alpha-adducin polymorphism. The blood-pressure response to acute and chronic changes in sodium balance was studied in hypertensive individuals with and without the 460 Trp alpha-adducin allele.

FINDINGS
Significant linkage was found for all three markers in the sibling-pair study. The extra shared alleles (9.1%, 6.5%, and 4.7%) and the significance level for linkage (p = 0.0006, p = 0.0119, and p = 0.0211) both decreased with increasing distance from the alpha-adducin locus. There was a significant association between the 460 Trp mutation and hypertension (p = 0.0003). In the salt-sensitivity test, to assess the acute blood-pressure response to changes in body sodium in 86 hypertensive patients, the decrease in mean arterial pressure was greater in 65 patients who were heterozygous for the mutant allele (Gly/Trp) than in 21 wild-type homozygotes (Gly/Gly) (mean decrease 15.9 [SE 2.0] vs 7.4 [1.3] mm Hg; p = 0.001). Similarly, 21 heterozygous hypertensive patients showed a greater fall in mean arterial pressure in response to 2 months' treatment with hydrochlorothiazide than did 37 wild-type homozygous hypertensive patients (mean decrease 14.7 [2.2] vs 6.8 [1.4] mm Hg; p = 0.002).

INTERPRETATION
Our findings of significant linkage of the alpha-adducin locus to essential hypertension and greater sensitivity to changes in sodium balance among patients with the mutant allele suggest that alpha-adducin is associated with a salt-sensitive form of essential hypertension. We suggest the alpha-adducin polymorphism may identify hypertensive patients who will benefit from diuretic treatment or manoeuvres to reduce total body sodium.


Two children with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction due to myocardial hypertrophy received oral disopyramide as a negative inotrope. Both showed rapid improvement in clinical signs and by echo Doppler examination. Nearly complete abolition of severe left ventricular outflow tract obstruction was documented in each case. This experience may prompt further application of disopyramide as a therapeutic agent to relieve dynamic muscular subaortic obstruction in children.


The majority of design and controller optimization methodologies for electric vehicles (EVs) are based on single-cycle optimization strategies. It has been shown that design parameters that are optimized for one average-assumed drive cycle (DC) are not necessarily optimal when applied to different DCs or to the entire driving profile of a vehicle. Stochastic optimization techniques that consider a multitude of DCs in their objective function can overcome the suboptimalities associated with this so-called cycle beating but, as a drawback, require a large amount of stochastically representative DC data. This paper presents a novel methodology to generate stochastic DCs for the design and control optimization of EVs. DCs and driving profiles are segmented into modules of similar modes of vehicle operation. The key physical parameters of each module are identified and stochastically analyzed. The obtained probability functions of each key parameter are then implemented in a DC generation tool (DCGT). The DCGT is capable of generating an unlimited amount of DCs by reassembling the DC modules according to their stochastic composition. The results show that DCGT-generated DCs accurately represent the original DC data with respect to the frequency spectra, speed distribution, acceleration distribution, and load characteristics of their correspondent duty cycles.


We present a high speed phototransistor with integrated waveguide based on our InP double hetrojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) process technology. We measured an optical-gain cutoff frequency F,* of 447 GHz with an internal optical gain of over gePt=30 at a base current of It.=650 pA using devices with emitter dimensions of A=0.7 x 4 pm2.


Cognitive deficits are frequent in epileptic patients and can be considered as epileptic behavioral markers. They are assessed by a neuropsychological exploration that requires the use of standardized psychometric tests with well-established goals, that will be discussed in this paper. The obtained neuropsychological data complement information provided by other investigations. The manifestation of cognitive deficits associated with epilepsy depends on a variety of factors in which some are specific to epilepsy. These disorders affect in certain cases the intellectual functioning as well as other aspects of cognition, as emphasised in this paper, and may be accentuated by medically intractable seizures.


Each year, SID's Display Industry Awards Committee selects products that have advanced the state of the art of display technology in the categories of Display of the Year, Display Component of the Year, and Display Application of the Year.


The aim of the present work was to develop once-daily sustained release microsponges formulations of Nicorandil, a potent potassium channel opener used in cardiovascular diseases and it has low oral bioavailability (70%) and half-life 1 h. So, it is good candidate for sustained release formulations based on microsponge technology. The microsponges were prepared by using quasi-emulsion solvent diffusion method. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed that the microsponges of nicorandil with Eudragit - RSPO and HPMC K100M were smooth, porous, glossy and discrete spherical. The actual drug content and encapsulation efficiency of batch M1 to M9 were obtained in range of 62.05 ± 0.31 to 80.69 ± 0.43 and 64.41 ± 1.71 to 70.58 ± 1.12, respectively. The microsponges formulations were subjected to in-vitro release studies and the results were evaluated kinetically and statically. The best fitted model was found to be Korsmeyer - Peppas model (R 2 = 0.9992) for M6 batch.  The ' n ' value for Korsmeyer - Peppas model was between 0.5 and 1.0 which is indicative of non-Fickian diffusion. Statistical analysis using ANOVA yielded a p value of 0.572 for all the formulations, indicating that there was no significant difference among them.


Objective – To determine the self-perceived information needs, information-seeking strategies, and skill levels of hospital clinicians, in addition to their opinions on the inclusion of a clinical informationist (CI) in their clinical teams.

Design – Questionnaire survey.

Setting – Two public, medium-sized teaching hospitals (200-250 beds) in Ireland.

Subjects – Hospital clinicians.

Methods – A 33-item questionnaire (pilot tested on nurses) was deployed using SurveyMonkey. Participants were recruited using snowball sampling and were emailed the link to the questionnaire in June, July, and August of 2008. Hard copies of the questionnaire were also distributed at one of the hospitals; the librarian at this hospital manually entered the responses into SurveyMonkey. Survey results were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Main Results – Of 230 eligible hospital clinicians (HCs), 22 participated in the survey. Of the HCs surveyed, 90% spend "over 21 hours per week engaged in patient care" (p. 26). During this time the HCs generate an average of 1-5 clinical questions each. The HCs surveyed frequently required information on the latest research on a specific topic, treatment, or patient problem. Information on diagnosis, drugs, prognosis, new therapies and products, or the latest information on a disease area, was required less frequently, but still by at least one-third of participants.

Not having the time to conduct searches was the greatest barrier to information seeking for HCs. HCs spend from 1-10 hours per week on investigating answers to clinical questions. Most of this information seeking occurs outside of working hours, either at home or during breaks at work.

To answer their clinical questions, 90% of the HCs use published, medical literature. The resources used by HCs include textbooks (30%), journals (30%), the Internet (19%), colleagues (17%), and databases (4%). The most important factors that influence resource choices are access to electronic or Internet resources: 60% prefer electronic resources rather than print resources. Additional influential factors included whether the resource was evidence-based, if it provided concise summaries of the information provided, and if the information could be found in a paper copy. HCs in this study also consult colleagues regularly, and their proximity to a colleague for consultation was a factor.

The HCs rated their search skills very high: over half (55%) rated their ability to find information as good, 15% believed they were very good, 25% felt they were average, and 5% rated themselves as poor. The HCs were also confident in finding information to meet their needs: 70% claim that they find the information they require more than half of the time. Of those HCs, 25% claim they are successful more than three quarters of the time.

65% of the HCs experience difficulties in keeping current with evidence based medicine. Evidence-based resources such as the Cochrane Collaboration are used less frequently (25%) than resources such as Medline (65%) and Google (75%).

When HCs were provided with a definition of clinical informationists (CI), 68% were not familiar with the role of CIs and only 32% of clinicians were familiar with the term "clinical informationist." The HCs were then asked their feelings regarding the idea of involving a CI in their hospital: 18 of the 19 responses were positive. Various suggestions for how CIs could be used and the benefits of CIs were provided by the participants. Only three disadvantages of CIs were noted. Of 18 responses, 72% perceived that the inclusion of CIs would have a positive impact on patient care while 27.7% were neutral.

Conclusion – Overall, the HCs surveyed in this study ask fewer questions, have different information needs, and are more confident in their search skills than clinicians found in previous studies; however, the authors state that previous studies had been done with clinicians in office settings rather than clinicians in hospital settings. HCs in this study identified lack of time as their main barrier to researching clinical questions and when they do find the time to search for clinical questions, it is either during breaks in their day or after work at home. Their preferred resources are those found electronically. Though they value evidence-based resources, HCs rarely use them. These factors point to a need for information professionals to provide either remote access to electronic medical information resources from home, or provide a service that would allow hospital clinicians to quickly and easily find information during the work day. This is an area in which a CI might play a role. Though many HCs were not familiar with CIs, they were receptive to having a CI on their clinical team. The HCs provided various suggestions for where a CI could be involved as well as desired skills and qualifications of CIs. The only possible disadvantages that the clinicians could foresee was cost, the deskilling of clinicians' own information-seeking skills, and medico-legal issues. The authors identified several limitations of this study which include the small sample size, the snowball sampling method and the possibility of bias in subject recruitment, and not including other health care professionals in this study. Further research regarding the information behaviour, seeking and skills of other health professionals is needed, as well as research on training and accreditation of CIs.


Setting up infrastructure for long-term management is one way of ensuring the survival of critical sites for conservation. Our experience in Uganda gives an overview of engaging communities to participate actively and effectively in sustainable utilisation of natural resources, first and foremost for their own good, and then for national and global benefit. Ecotourism and adding value to locally produced materials in communities can translate into support for conservation. This paper highlights the importance of community-based conservation for important biodiversity sites.


Numerous efforts have addressed the problem of defining the fundamental architectural building blocks and methods for modelling software architectures in dynamic mobile environments. However, there is a lack of tools for documentingthe evolution of the products generated during the design of software architectures for mobile systems. Based on a generic versioning administration scheme, a model to capture and manage the products of a software architecture design process is proposed placing the focus on mobility concerns. This model follows an operational approach, where design decisions are represented as architectural operations that are captured when they are applied during a design project. The capture of this information enables the tracing of such a design process and its resulting products.


: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, aviation at the global level is currently facing one of the biggest challenges in its sustainability. The entire philosophy related to airport operations and passenger processing changes due to the fast-spreading nature of this disease. The "new normal" in the aviation sector, primarily at the airport, will provide the passenger a di ff erent quality level of service in comparison to what we used to have until now. Following World Health Organization measures, especially those related to social distances, the future focus will be on the implementation of fully automated self-service passenger tra ffi c flows that will change the airport passenger tra ffi c flows' processing structure. This paper shows current technologies and processes and how this "new normal" will change philosophy related to Industry 4.0 at the airport passenger operations, functionality, and human resource (HR) planning and optimizations.


The purpose of this article is to identify the types of readers' characters, to study the literary preferences of readers' characters and the influence that the book has on the inner world, to analyze the positive and negative aspects of the influence of the Internet on the reading process. This study used a content analysis design and a qualitative approach to data analysis. In addition, quantitative analysis was also used to visualize qualitative data using numerical values, fixing elements of the text content (the frequency of different types of readers). As a result of this research, interesting observations were made: reading saves teenage characters from temporary difficulties, puberty rebellion, helps to find their place in life and decide on the choice of a future profession. It also forms a culture of communication and contributes to the maturation of the characters. Using the content analysis method, the authors were able to identify such types of reading characters as developing (Spoilers by Elena Ozhich, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak), literate (Anka M and Anka P by Tatyana Mart), unformed (Death to Dead Souls by Andrey Zhvalevsky and Evgeniya Pasternak), and professional (Literodura by Yulia Linde, Black Swan Green by David Mitchell). Having considered the problem of forming a competent reader, the authors came to the conclusion about three main agents of influence on the reading taste of a teenager: teachers, parents, and friends. However, in modern realities, the Internet seriously affects the formation of a teenager's reading taste, and with the help of the use of Internet resources, it is possible to support and promote reading, as well as solve the problem of forming a competent reader.


The exploitation of 2-bromo-1,4-naphthoquinone (NQBr) as a selective redox label for the determination of reduced thiol functionalities (RSH) has been investigated. The system is selective for RSH functionality, giving distinct voltammetric signals for glutathione and cysteine but can also be adapted for broad spectrum thiol detection. Ion chromatographic protocols based on conductimetric detection enable total RSH analysis (protein and monomolecular moieties) within human plasma. Bromide released through the reaction can be easily quantified and integrated within normal IC measurements. The efficacy of the approach has been assessed and the response validated through comparison with the standard colorimetric technique.


In the evaluation of the impingement syndrome, conventional radiography can only show secondary bony changes. Sonography is able to demonstrate the anatomy of the musculotendinous structure of the rotator cuff. Lesions can be detected with the same accuracy and specificity as by contrast arthrography. As sonography is a non-invasive method, it should be used routinely to test rotator cuff integrity. Joint effusions and proliferative synovial changes are easily demonstrated by sonography. It is thus possible to perform follow-up studies in a pre-erosive stage of rheumatoid arthritis.


Abstract In diverticular bleeding, extravasation detected by computed tomography indicates active bleeding. It is unclear whether an endoscopic procedure is the best method of hemostasis for diverticular bleeding. This retrospective study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of endoscopic hemostasis in preventing diverticular rebleeding with extravasation visualized by contrast-enhanced computed tomography. This single-center, retrospective, the observational study utilized data from an endoscopic database. Adult patients admitted to our hospital due to diverticular bleeding diagnosed by colonoscopy were included. We compared the data between the extravasation-positive and extravasation-negative groups. The primary outcome was the proportion of successful hemostasis without rebleeding within 1 month after the first endoscopic procedure. Altogether, 69 patients were included in the study (n = 17, extravasation-positive group; n = 52, extravasation-negative group). The overall rebleeding rate was 30.4% (21/69). The rebleeding rate was higher in the extravasation-positive group than in the extravasation-negative group, although without a statistically significant difference. However, among the patients who underwent endoscopic hemostasis, the rebleeding rate was significantly higher in the extravasation-positive group than in the extravasation-negative group (50% [8/16] vs 10.5% [2/19], p = .022). In the extravasation-positive group, all 8 patients with rebleeding underwent repeat colonoscopy. Of these, 5 patients required additional clips; bleeding was controlled in 3 patients, while arterial embolization or surgery was required for hemostasis in 2 patients. None of the remaining 3 patients with rebleeding in the extravasation-positive group required clipping; thus, their conditions were only observed. Many patients with diverticular bleeding who exhibited extravasation on computed tomography experienced rebleeding after endoscopic hemostasis. However, bleeding in more than half of these patients could be stopped by 2 endoscopic procedures, without performing transcatheter arterial embolization or surgery even if rebleeding occurred. Some serious major complications due to such invasive interventions are reported in the literature, but colonoscopic complications did not occur in our patients. Endoscopic hemostasis may be the preferred and effective first-line therapy for patients with diverticular bleeding who have extravasation, as visualized by contrast-enhanced computed tomography.


Anonymizing wireless sensor networks allow users to access services privately by using a series of routers to hide the client's IP address from the server. As a result, administrators block all known exit nodes of anonymizing networks, denying anonymous access to misbehaving. To address this problem, servers can "blacklist" misbehaving users, thereby blocking users without compromising their anonymity. Monitoring personal locations with a potentially untrusted server poses privacy threats to the monitored individuals, a privacy-preserving location monitoring system for wireless sensor networks is adopted. Two innetwork location anonymization algorithms are considered, namely, resource and quality-aware algorithms, that aim to enable the system to provide high-quality location monitoring services for system users, while preserving personal location privacy. Both algorithms rely on the well established k-anonymity privacy concept, that is, a person is indistinguishable among k persons, to enable trusted sensor nodes to provide the aggregate location information of monitored persons. Each aggregate location is in a form of a monitored area A along with the number of monitored persons residing in A, where A contains at least k persons. The resource-aware algorithm aims to minimize communication and computational cost, while the quality-aware algorithm aims to maximize the accuracy of the aggregate locations by minimizing their monitored areas. To utilize the aggregate location information and to provide location monitoring services, a spatial histogram approach is used that estimates the distribution of the monitored persons based on the gathered aggregate location information. Then, the estimated distribution is used to provide location monitoring services through answering range queries.


ABSTRACT The ontogenetic changes of the scallop Patinopecten yessoensis from Dalian, China, were studied during four stages (3, 6, 12, and 24 mo) using a geometric morphometric method and cross-validation method for evaluating the utility of the classification. The results showed that they exhibited characteristically different ontogenetic trajectories within a space defined by test size and shell shape. Landmark and semilandmark analyses were applied to successfully determine the stage of the individuals with approximately 89.04% accuracy. Moreover, each stage had a typical shell shape. The distinction of these patterns was assigned to the circularity and symmetry of the disc and the symmetry of the auricles: the 3 mo shells had a circular disc and asymmetrical auricles, and the 6 and 12 mo shells showed a more elongated disc and more symmetrical auricles, whereas the 24 mo shells showed an elongated disc and relatively small, symmetrical auricles. The ontogenetic shell form changes (size + shape) of P. yessoensis reflected the life history characteristics, which could potentially be used for age stage identification. The results provide a reference for determining the growth stage of P. yessoensis during fisheries and aquaculture management.


It is fact that the health and welfare sector in our country, private and public lags dramatically in the application of information technologies and communication. In practice, the use of IT in the Health provides a number of important benefits, relating both to better serve patients, and to facilitate the medical and nursing staff. Despite the fact that electronic medicine is not yet widespread in Greece, however recent years have seen a significant mobility in research and development of this industry. The main purpose of this paper is to examine the Health Information Systems. More specifically, the purpose of this paper is the introduction into the environment of information systems, the reference to the important concepts that related to the Information systems, and study about their implementation in Greece. The main conclusion from this work is that computers and information systems help and offer solutions in the sector of healthcare, which have as a result the procedures, are applied today, through computers. This element reduces both the time and cost and also decreases the phenomena of delays in the diagnosis of the patient, (through - medical record), as well it reduces the likelihood of meaningless visits to hospitals (which is achieved through telemedicine), notably for patients in remote locations.


The local election examined is a bond issue election in Georgia's DeKalb County, a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Until recently a predominantly rural county, DeKalb has more than doubled its population since 1950. Moreover, the modern world has invaded the county in the form of considerable industrial growth. Yet it is no mere bedroom suourb. Many of its residents are employed in the county, and thousands of Atlanta residents "commute" to work in DeKalb. This is a study of voting behavior in the tradition of the studies of Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and the Michigan Survey Research Center. The authors call attention to the declining emphasis on ecological determinism in studies of presidential voting since socio-economic status may be less determinative of voter choice in some presidential elections than others. In recent studies of presidential elections, greater stress has been placed on the psychological basis of group or individual voting decisions, but this psychological emphasis has not yet appeared in studies of local elections. The authors seek to bring this approach to the study of a local election. The authors chose an election in which the voters supported by a two-to-one majority a bond issue to finance a number of services which are standard for a rapidly urbanizing county, e.g., an incinerator plant, expanded library service, more fire stations, parks, water mains, sewers, and roads. The authors classify voting districts into high and low support districts, then subdivide each category into urban, suburban, and rural. Within two weeks after the election, interviews were conducted in each of these twelve voting districts with a systematic sample of respondents chosen from among persons who had actually voted. The total number of persons interviewed in DeKalb County was 136. Income, perceived socio-economic status, and the 40-60 year age bracket appear to be the factors most closely associated with support or rejection of the bond issue. In terms of type of precinct, the greater support came from the suburban and urban areas, especially the suburban areas, and the greatest opposition came from the lowincome, rural fringe. When asked their chief reason for supporting the bond issue, the "yes" voters referred to "progress" or asserted the need for a particular expanded public service. Opponents either denied the need for the services or registered a hostile attitude toward county government, often making dark references to graft. Although support for the bond issue was highest among a socially homogeneous group of upperincome suburbanites, the authors insist that status did not directly effect the voting decision. Rather they feel that they have isolated


Cryptochromes (CRYs) are core components of the circadian feedback loop in mammals, which regulates circadian rhythmicity in a variety of physiological processes including sleep–wake cycles and metabolism. Dysfunction of CRY1 and CRY2 isoforms has been associated with a host of diseases, such as sleep phase disorder and metabolic diseases. Accumulating evidence for distinct roles of CRY1 and CRY2 has highlighted the need for CRY isoform-selective regulation; however, highly conserved sequences in CRY ligand-binding sites have hindered the design of isoform-selective compounds. Chemical biology approaches have been identifying small-molecule modulators of CRY proteins, which act in isoform-non-selective and also isoform-selective manners. In this review, we describe advances in our understanding of CRY isoform selectivity by comparing X-ray crystal structures of mammalian CRY isoforms in apo form and in complexes with compounds. We discuss how intrinsic conformational differences in identical residues of CRY1 and CRY2 contribute to unique interactions with different compound moieties for isoform selectivity.


Environmental enrichment, or the enhancement of an animal's surroundings when in captivity to maximise its wellbeing, has been increasingly applied to fish species, particularly those used commercially. Laboratory species could also benefit from enrichment, but it is not always clear what constitutes an enriched environment. The zebrafish, Danio rerio, is used widely in research and is one of the most commonly-used laboratory animals. We investigated whether changing the structural complexity of housing tanks altered the behaviour of one strain of zebrafish. Fish were kept in three treatments: (1) very enhanced (VE); (2) mildly enhanced (ME); and (3) control (CT). Level of aggression, fertilisation success, and growth were measured at regular intervals in a subset of fish in each treatment group. The VE fish were more aggressive over time than either ME or CT fish, both in the number of attacks they made against a mirror image and in their tendency to stay close to their reflection rather than avoid it. Furthermore, VE fish were shorter than CT fish by the end of the experiment, though mass was not significantly affected. There was no significant effect of treatment on fertilisation success. These findings suggest that the way in which fish are housed in the laboratory can significantly affect their behaviour, and potentially, their growth. The zebrafish is a shoaling species with a dominance hierarchy, and so may become territorial over objects placed in the tank. The enrichment of laboratory tanks should consider aspects of the species' behaviour.


Alkene aminooxygenation and dioxygenation reactions that result in carbonyl products are uncommon, and protocols that control absolute stereochemistry are rare. We report herein catalytic enantioselective alkene aminooxygenation and dioxygenation that directly provide enantioenriched 2-formyl saturated heterocycles under aerobic conditions. Cyclization of substituted 4-pentenylsulfonamides, catalyzed by readily available chiral copper complexes and employing molecular oxygen as both oxygen source and stoichiometric oxidant, directly provides chiral 2-formyl pyrrolidines efficiently. Reductive or oxidative workup of these aldehydes provides their respective amino alcohols or amino acids (unnatural prolines). Enantioselective synthesis of an indoline and isoquinolines is also demonstrated. Concurrently, cyclization of various alkenols under similar conditions provides 2-formyl tetrahydrofurans, phthalans, isochromans, and morpholines. The nature of the copper ligands, the concentration of molecular oxygen, and the reaction temperature all impact the product distribution. Chiral nitrogen and oxygen heterocycles are common components of bioactive small molecules, and these enabling technologies provide access to saturated heterocycles functionalized with ready-to-use carbonyl electrophiles.


This study deals with the effects of the internet on international trade for 30 OECD countries including Turkey. For this purpose, Countries' host and internet user numbers were taken into account as a proxy of internet. Augmented gravity model and panel data analysis were used for evaluation of data. According to the results; it was found that gross domestic products, indicating countries' size is an important determinant of international trade and it affects the trade between countries in a positive way. Moreover, the effect of internet on international trade was found positive and significant. Likewise, a 10 % increase of host and internet users in exporter countries increases their international trade 1.6 % and 6.8 % respectively. This result shows that a policy maker who wants to increase the international trade is to develop information and communication technologies.


A longstanding challenge for computational neuroscience has been the development of biologically plausible learning rules for recurrent neural networks (RNNs) enabling the production and processing of time-dependent signals such as those that might drive movement or facilitate working memory. Classic gradient-based algorithms for training RNNs have been available for decades, but they are inconsistent with known biological features of the brain, such as causality and locality. In this work we derive an approximation to gradient-based learning that comports with these biologically motivated constraints. Specifically, the online learning rule for the synaptic weights involves only local information about the pre- and postsynaptic activities, in addition to a random feedback projection of the RNN output error. In addition to providing mathematical arguments for the effectiveness of the new learning rule, we show through simulations that it can be used to train an RNN to successfully perform a variety of tasks. Finally, to overcome the difficulty of training an RNN over a very large number of timesteps, we propose an augmented circuit architecture that allows the RNN to concatenate short-duration patterns into sequences of longer duration.


In this study, we focused on the ozone/hydrogen peroxide water treatment system, one of the advanced oxidation processes, which is expected to be applicable to the treatment of various kinds of waste water. We experimentally investigated the effect of operational parameters with a reaction system with single ozone contactor, and tried to determine the appropriate conditions for the high performance of the system. As the results of this research, we found the existence of the optimal value of overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient, the necessity of maintaining the concentrations of dissolved ozone and hydrogen peroxide in an appropriate range, and the importance of controlling the ozone dose for the high performance of the system. These results also suggested that multiple injection of ozone and hydrogen peroxide is effective fir the high performance. Thus, we have experimentally shown that the multiple injection system achieves higher TOC removal than the single injection system at the same doses of ozone and hydrogen peroxide.


One usually has in mind when one visualizes a city, that it would be modern, urban and devoid of any traditional elements, although street fairs are common in most part of the world. But visitors to the capital city of India are surprised to see a city that teems with life not only human, but of all kinds on the streets. Unlike in the most parts of the world, the city does not have organized and disciplined practices on its roads, but any kind of 'activity' for any kind of purpose, religious, social and cultural may transform the streets at any time, with no planning and no rationality and yet be accepted by all concerned as 'normal'. One cannot but refer back to age old cosmologies and world-views to explain how a seemingly modern city fitted out with practically every modern technology can still remain so rooted in traditions and manifest an almost complete lack of discipline, predictability and order. There is a need to redefine what exactly we mean by urban and if any substantive definition cutting across regional/cultural differences is possible.


Continuity plan for urban systems in case of major risk is a goal recently taken into account by the civil security policy in France. The implementation of operational tools for civil protection raises yet more questions about the definition of major risk and urban planning. Through some examples of Nantes, Lyon and Le Havre, the study of local civil protection plan in case of danger brings the light on technical and concrete modalities, but also on its institutional and territorial issues. The use of civil tool protection, made for crisis management, to prevent any failure in urban systems can lead the image of urban circulatory system where every breakdown of flows of goods, services or information is seen as a major risk.


ABSTRACT Patients with Parkinson's disease suffer from gait disturbances, such as a shuffling and festinating gait, which reduces their quality of life. To circumvent this problem, external visual cues may be applied in gait training to maintain the integrity of motor function. However, conventional training methods, such as transverse lines stuck on the ground, are difficult to adjust and adapt to personalized gait ability. This study proposes a convenient instrumented wheel walker that provides gap adjustable visual cues and selectable projection modes onto the ground with and without motion relative to the user. Ten subjects with Parkinson's disease were recruited, and the efficacy of the proposed device for their gait training was assessed. We demonstrated the applicability of our device to address personalized demands in gait guidance. With a personalized setting for patients with Parkinson's disease, a significantly lengthened stride length may be achieved.


Our review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest evolution of broadband photodetectors (BBPDs) based on 2D materials (2DMs). We begin with BBPDs built on various 2DM channels, including narrow-bandgap 2DMs, 2D topological semimetals, 2D charge density wave compounds, and 2D heterojunctions. Then, we introduce defect-engineered 2DM BBPDs, including vacancy engineering, heteroatom incorporation, and interfacial engineering. Subsequently, we summarize 2DM based mixed-dimensional (0D-2D, 1D-2D, 2D-3D, and 0D-2D-3D) BBPDs. Finally, we provide several viewpoints for the future development of this burgeoning field.


A digital displacement hydraulic motor uses actively controlled on/off valves instead of a valve plate for porting fluid. Displacement can then be varied by varying the timing of the on/off valves. To minimize throttling energy loss, the valve timing must also consider the precompression and decompression of the compressible fluid. In this paper, a rotary on/off valve, whose rotation controls the valve timing, is used. The desired motion of the rotary valve that encodes the ideal valve timing is a function of, and is periodic with respect to, the motor crank shaft angle. As the desired valve trajectory is not periodic in time unless the motor speed is constant, the conventional internal model based repetitive control is not applicable. A recently developed angle-domain repetitive control is used instead to control the rotary valve motion to achieve the desired valve timing. Experiments show that the proposed controller achieves good tracking performance for a broad range of varying motor speeds. The maximum error is reduced by six to ten times with the new control scheme over baseline fixed period repetitive or proportional-integral controllers. This in turn leads to efficiency gains for the digital hydraulic motor up to 45%.


ABSTRACT Purpose Fatigue in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI) is common. However, to better target fatigue, clear ways to categorize/interpret fatigue-severity in individual patients are lacking. This study aims to determine/categorize fatigue severity among children, adolescents, and young adults with ABI. Methods This cross-sectional study included young patients admitted to outpatient rehabilitation and their parents. To determine fatigue, the PedsQL™Multidimensional-Fatigue-Scale was used (MFS, scores 0–100, lower scores = higher fatigue, patient-/parent-reported). Based on scores from a reference population, four categories were formed: "1 = no/little fatigued" to "4 = severely-more fatigued." Results All scores were lower than those from the reference population, with comparisons in the adolescent and young adult groups reaching statistical significance (p < .05). The proportions of patients in category 4 were: 9%/50%/58% among children/adolescents/young adults, showing that many patients were "severely-more fatigued"-than the reference population. Conclusions Measuring fatigue and categorizing fatigue severity looks promising for clinical practice and could help to better target fatigue.


Cervical cancer is one of the leading gynecological malignancies affecting women worldwide. Although surgical cytoreduction and systemic chemotherapy combined with radiation are standard therapies, accessibility to such treatment as well as nonspecific toxicity limit its efficacy. We hypothesize that the site-specific local application of anticancer drugs utilizing innovative delivery technologies will improve efficacy, reduce toxicity and provide cost-effective, accessible therapeutic options. To test this hypothesis, we developed a mucoadhesive, polymeric hybrid chitosan gel embedding drug containing alginate beads. An optimized gel was achieved by mixing 1% chitosan (w/v) with glycerol dissolved in acetic acid (AA) solution at a volume ratio of 1:2 or 1:3 (2% AA:glycerol). Alginate beads were formed by dropping alginate solution (2%, w/v) into various concentrations of CaCl2 solution. In testing swelling properties, dried alginate beads transforming into wet ones were capable of releasing the drug load. Beads obtained from 1% CaCl2 solution demonstrated optimal and stable swelling properties that were 40 times greater than other formulations. Such beads, loaded with cisplatin (CDDP) dissolved in 0.9% NaCl were prepared. The loaded CDDP concentration was confirmed by colorimetric assay with Sn2Cl2 after re-swelling of the dried beads. Drug loaded-beads contained an average of 0.2mg of CDDP per 10 mg of dried beads. There was a linear correlation (R2 = 0.92) between the swelling ratio of the alginate beads and the amount of CDDP released, allowing the ability to estimate CDDP concentration based on the swelling ratio. Drug-loaded dried alginate beads were placed into a chitosan solution resulting in a hybrid hydrogel. To test the feasibility of local application of the gel on a mucosal surface, we investigated the swelling and mucoadhesive properties on a 4cm2 section of mouse peritoneal sidewall. We confirmed the complete swelling of beads within the hybrid gel suggested sufficient release of CDDP from the beads onto a biological surface. Mucoadhesive properties and toxicity were evaluated in vivo by surgically placing a 1cm2 sized gel pellet into the left peritoneal sidewall of immune competent female mice. The hybrid gel remained in place for 72 hours exhibiting no signs of local inflammation, tissue damage or systemic toxicity. Our results strongly suggest the feasibility of application of this hybrid gel to various mucosal surfaces. Ongoing experiments will evaluate the efficacy and safety of our hybrid gel/CDDP as a radiation enhancer in the treatment of cervical cancer and for the treatment of cervical dysplasia. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3232. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3232


The proposed web-based implementation of goal oriented knowledge acquisition and assessment environment allows to enhance learning process according to the requirements of student's knowledge level and his state of cognition. The use case actions definition is a starting point of the specification, which depends on different levels of learning scenarios and user cognition sub goals. The on- line assessment TestTool system is explored as an assessment engine capable of supporting and improving the individualized intelligent goal oriented and simulation based mode of learning, grounded on the GRID distributed service architecture.


This research study was designed to examine the relationships among secure attachment, gratitude, hope, ego-resiliency, and mental well-being in undergraduates by proposing a parallel multiple mediation model. The participants of this study were comprised 214 females and 145 males, a total of 359 undergraduates (60% female and 40% male) between 18 to 23 years old who were recruited from a state university in south of Turkey. To collect data, Relationship Scales Questionnaire, Gratitude Scale, Dispositional Hope Scale, Ego-Resiliency Scale, and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale were applied. The results showed that secure attachment, gratitude, hope, ego-resiliency, and mental well-being were positively correlated. The findings from the mediational analyses also indicated that the parallel multiple mediation of gratitude, hope and ego-resiliency in the hypothetical model was statistically significant and explained approximately 57% of the variance in mental well-being.


Although modes of interaction between the two continue to evolve, society and science are inextricably linked. Preserving the integrity of science, and by extension society, in the era of Twitter and Facebook represents a significant challenge. The concept of open communication in science is not a new one. Sociologist and scientific historian Robert Merton elegantly chronicled the qualities, or "norms" of science as Communism, Universalism, Disinterestedness, and Organized Scepticism, referred to by the acronym "CUDOS." Is social networking providing us with more efficient ways of upholding deep‐rooted principles, or are we at risk of compromising the integrity of science by bypassing traditional gatekeepers?


Applying a stochastic scheme we show how to obtain the density profile of a suspension of weakly interacting charged colloids in a steady state situation. The density profile corresponds to the set of macroions and depends of the electrophoretic velocity and the self-diffusion, as observed in experiments on dilute solutions of charged colloids. Our approach permits us to observe the deviation of the density profile from an ideal case when the pair interactions between the macroions are important and permits a better interpretation of such experiments. For the case of colloids with tuning interactions under a temperature gradient we obtain the behaviour of the collective diffusion and the thermal diffusion of the particles in terms of the volume fraction. This result could be important for understanding the boosting of DNA in thermocapillary traps.


In the interest of improving the quality of life for all people the US remains committed to working in a global partnership to achieve the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The ICPDs goals will be promoted through the spread of ideas and knowledge beginning with education especially for women and girls. It also involves the leadership of public officials at every level the work of community-based nongovernmental organizations and religious institutions the mass media and neighbor-to-neighbor communication. The Cairo plan recommends the kinds of services all women and families need through both the public and private sectors to help ensure that children are born wanted and that they survive and thrive. Although progress is uneven in achieving the goals of the ICPD and threatened by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and economic crises the program of action is working. Progress made in the US is reviewed.


I analyse a nationally representative, longitudinal dataset to investigate the income expectations of 20 American year old men over a 10 year time horizon. Specifically, I compare the accuracy of students' expectations to young adults from the same cohort who have chosen to enter the labour force. The results indicate that 20 year old American men overestimate their income at age 30 by an average of 50%. Yet, there is little evidence that those in the labour force are more realistic than their peers in higher education. In fact certain groups of students appear to be more realistic than those who are working, overestimating their future income by less than 10%


As wireless sensor networks is a self organizing and infrastructure less network in nature they are subject to various types of attacks on various environments. The objective of this paper is to mainly focus on a trust aware model between the communicating sensor nodes and the base station. A cluster node aggregates the data from other sensor nodes and eradicates the disused data, disseminates the used data to the base stations that are one hop distance from the node. Since base stations acts as an interface between the communicating sensor devices, the nodes are subject to various attacks on various layers. Here a comparative study is made on various types of attacks on a clustered environment and little available trust aware models are also discussed that defence against the various types of attacks that induces harm between the sensor nodes and base stations.


Design considerations for agile, precise and reliable attitude control of micro-spacecraft using Adaptive Singularity-free Control Moment Gyroscope (ASCMG) actuators are presented here. A complete dynamics model of a spacecraft with an ASCMG is derived using the principles of variational mechanics, relaxing some assumptions made in prior literature on Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMG). The dynamics so obtained shows the complex nonlinear coupling between the internal degrees of freedom associated with an ASCMG and the spacecraft base body's attitude motion. By default, the general ASCMG model is equivalent to that of a Variable Speed Control Moment Gyroscope without symmetrical rotor and gimbal, and can operate as a CMG by spinning the rotor at constant speed. This dynamics model is then extended to include the effects of multiple ASCMGs placed in the spacecraft bus, and sufficient conditions for non-singular ASCMG cluster configurations are obtained to operate the cluster in CMG mode. The adverse effects of the simplifying assumptions that lead to the standard CMG design, and how they lead to CMG singularities, are described. A bare minimum hardware prototype of an ASCMG using low cost COTS components, is shown. A control scheme for agile and precise attitude pointing control of a cubesat using a finite number of ASCMGs in the absence of external torques, is presented. A Geometric Variational Integration scheme is obtained for this multibody spacecraft for numerical and micro-controller implementation.


Outcome trials are the scientific method of determining if an antihypertensive agent really works; and for a therapy to work well, it should reduce mortality. The FDA requires only that blood pressure be controlled safely, but current evidence-based medicine demands answers to the mortality/morbidity question. We need this outcome trial information on all the classes of antihypertensives, including calcium channel blockers. For example, we often rely on surrogate endpoints such as control of blood pressure or control of PVCs. If we treat hypertensives with PVCs using beta-blockers or calcium channel blockers, we may see both control of blood pressure and suppression of PVCs. However, as we learned from the CAST trial with flecainide and encainide, PVCs can be controlled, but mortality may increase. On the other hand, the Lewis trial demonstrated that captopril, an ACE inhibitor, reduced proteinuria, which is another surrogate endpoint in diabetic hypertensives with nephropathy, although blood pressure was controlled with diuretic and conventional therapy. Importantly, captopril also reduced morbidity and mortality without influencing blood pressure. Unfortunately, there are no outcome trials measuring mortality endpoints for most of the antihypertensive agents in use today, especially in patients with uncomplicated hypertension.


INTRODUCTION:
In 1950, the Eighth Edition of the Price Textbook of
Medicine, outlining the management of patients with Acute
Myocardial Infarction, stated that "taking cases as a whole, it would appear that somewhat more than half survive the acute attack. The first week is particularly dangerous, especially the first two or three days, and prognosis must be very guarded at least three months of complete
rest, followed by a period of partial rest is strongly indicated" Retrospectively, this cautionary approach may seem exaggerated, but it must be remembered that until 1912, it was believed that acute myocardial infarction was uniformly fatal. It was James Herrick, a Chicago physician, who first described survival after infarction in an
article that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1912.
AIMS OF THE STUDY:
1. To determine the prevalence and prognostic implications of hyponatremia in the setting of acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
2. To validate the accuracy of frequently used prognostic
index killip classification.
3. To investigate the relative importance of other
prognostic factors cited in the literature.
4. To calculate the statistical associations between such
characteristics and short-term prognosis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
This study was conducted in the Thanjavur Medical College
Hospital, Thanjavur, during the period of September, 2005 to March, 2006.
Study Population:
A total of 54 patients admitted to the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit were studied. There were 40 male and 14 female patients, ranging from 35 years to 85 years. Average age of presentation 54.7 years.
Criteria For Entry Into The Study:
Patients with a diagnosis of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) were entered into the study. A definitive diagnosis of AMI was made if the patients satisfied the following criteria :
i) A history of typical chest discomfort, lasting for more than thirty minutes, not relieved by rest or nitrates.
ii) Typical ECG changes of AMI (Q waves or ST/T wave changes.
in two contiguous leads, or the appearance of new left bundle branch block).
Exclusion Criteria:
i) Patients with elevated renal parameters.
ii) Very late presentation more than 72 hours.


BACKGROUND
Following accidental immersion in cold water, the chance of survival through the initial short-term period may depend on manual dexterity for survival tasks. We aimed to study the time course of impairment of manual dexterity during the initial stages of immersion.

METHODS
We investigated gross (manipulating harness buckles) and fine (Purdue Pegboard Assembly) manual dexterity of 11 male and 15 female subjects with either no immersion (Control) or after immersion of right and left hand and forearm in 10 degrees C water for 30, 120, and 300 s. Exposure lengths were presented in a counter-balanced order in a single session.

RESULTS
Mean local skin temperature decreased significantly with cold-water immersion, with the amount of cooling proportional to the length of exposure. Buckle test times increased significantly from 9.1 +/- 3.0 s during Control to similar values of 19.5 +/- 11.1 s and 18.14 +/- 12.1 s after 120 and 300 s of immersion. Pegboard scores were significantly lower at 40.2 +/- 7.6 pieces following 300 s of immersion compared with Control and 30 s values of 49.0 +/- 6.4 and 47.2 +/- 6.9 pieces, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that fine and gross manual dexterity were rapidly and progressively impaired with short-term cold-water immersion. Therefore, efforts must be made to protect the hands/forearms from cold and to ensure survival equipment manipulation requires as little dexterity as possible.


In seasonal tropical regions, rainfall and/or temporary floods during the wet season generally increase the abundance and diversity of food resources to many consumers as compared to the dry season. Therefore, seasonality can affect intraspecific competition and ecological opportunity, which are two important ecological mechanisms underlying population and individual niche variations. Here, we took advantage of the strong seasonality in the Pantanal wetlands to investigate how within‐ and between‐individual diet variations relate to seasonal population niche dynamics of the tetra fish Astyanax lacustris. We quantified dietary niche using gut contents and stable isotopes. Tetras had higher gut fullness and better body condition in the wet season, suggesting that competition is more intense in the dry season. The population niche was broader in the wet season due to an increase in diet divergence between individuals, in spite of potential stronger competition in the dry season. We posit that low ecological opportunity in the dry season limits the diversifying effect of intraspecific competition, constraining population niche expansion. Our results add new insights on how seasonality affects population and individual diets, indicating that intraspecific competition and ecological opportunity interact to determine temporal niche variations in seasonal environments.


While model compression is increasingly important because of large neural network size, compression-aware training is challenging as it needs sophisticated model modifications and longer training time. In this paper, we introduce regularization frequency (i.e., how often compression is performed during training) as a new regularization technique for a practical and efficient compression-aware training method. For various regularization techniques, such as weight decay and dropout, optimizing the regularization strength is crucial to improve generalization in Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). While model compression also demands the right amount of regularization, the regularization strength incurred by model compression has been controlled only by compression ratio. Throughout various experiments, we show that regularization frequency critically affects the regularization strength of model compression. Combining regularization frequency and compression ratio, the amount of weight updates by model compression per mini-batch can be optimized to achieve the best model accuracy. Modulating regularization frequency is implemented by occasional model compression while conventional compression-aware training is usually performed for every mini-batch.


This paper describes the technical details of design and implementation of embedded system-based CAPTCHA (verification code) in C, including a brief analysis of techniques for implementing CAPTCHA, and a simple and practical CAPTCHA system designed by the author of this paper, which can be used not only in embedded systems but also ordinary Web based MIS or control systems, without the support of any dedicated graphics library. An example is provided to show the practical usage and effect of this CAPTCHA system on an embedded application demo system.


Background: The homeopathic preparation, Traumeel S, has been used as a valuable alternative to conventional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) for over 30 years. This antihomotoxic, anti-phlogistic drug has been widely used by sportsmen and women in the treatment of lesions and inflammatory processes which result from exercise-induced skeletal muscle microtrauma. Although numerous randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trials have confirmed the efficacy of Traumeel S as an anti-inflammatory agent, there are few in vivo studies which have specifically investigated the mechanism by which Traumeel S is effective in reducing inflammatory response to exercise-induced muscle cell damage. Aim: To establish whether the administration of Traumeel S during the five days before participation and three days following participation, significantly attenuates the systemic markers of the inflammatory response, following a 90-minute downhill running trial. Method: Twenty-four healthy athletes (14 men and 10 women), aged 20-50 years, were recruited for this study. Following baseline laboratory testing and familiarisation with the treadmill as well as a field test, subjects were matched according to gender, BMI, training age, training status, peak performance and foot strike patterns and randomised into Traumeel (TRS) and Control (PLAC) groups in a placebo-controlled, double-blind design. One Traumeel S or Placebo tablet was ingested three times per day for five days prior to and three days following a 90-minute exercise trial on a downhill (-6% gradient) at 75% V02 maxBlood samples were collected prior to the 90-minute trial (PRE), immediately after the trial (IPE) and 24 hours (24 PE), 48 hours (48 PE) and 72 hours (72 PE) following the trial. Each subject was also requested to complete a training record prior to the trial and keep a record of the daily symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) both at rest (general pain) and during walking (daily living). Full blood counts (FBC), serum creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and Cortisol concentrations were measured using standard haematological laboratory procedures and serum C-Reactive Protein (CRP) was determined by immunoturbidimetric assay. Sandwich ELISA's were used to determine myeloperoxidase (MPO) and plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations. All results obtained were adjusted for changes in plasma volume as calculated from the red blood cell indices. Results: Mean ± SD characteristics of the gender-matched subjects in the experimental (TRS) and placebo-control (PLAC) groups did not differ significantly in terms of BMI, age, % body fat, FVC, FEVi, training age and status, foot strike pattern or peak running performance, maximal Heart Rate, VE, V02peak> RER, RPE during the maximal exercise test (p > 0.05). This indicated that the randomised pairs were well matched. The 90-minute downhill running protocol resulted in significant elevations in total circulating white blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil, CK, LDH, Cortisol, CPR, MPO and IL-6 concentrations (p 0.05) over the 5 time points. At 24 PE, MPO concentrations were significantly higher in the TRS group than in the PLAC group (p = 0.03). The lower mean ± SD post-trial DOMS scores reported by the TRS group were not significantly different from those reported by the PLAC group (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Although the findings of this study did not identify differences in circulating CK, LDH, Cortisol, CPR and IL-6 concentrations between the TRS and PLAC groups, the elevated MPO concentration at 24 PE did provide preliminary novel evidence of enhanced activation of neutrophil oxidative burst activity following exercise-induced muscle damage which is hypothesized to accelerate the recovery process. TABLE OF CONTENTS VI DECLARATION ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.


The effects of bacterial cell walls, peptidoglycans, and a water-soluble polymer of peptidoglycan subunits on dengue virus type 2 replication in cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages were studied. Pretreatment of macrophage cultures with all of test cell walls isolated from seven bacterial species for 3 days significantly enhanced the virus production in the cultures. Peptidoglycans prepared from four of the above cell walls also exerted the virus production-enhancing effects in a similar manner as the walls. A water-soluble polymer of peptidoglycan subunits which was prepared by treatment of Staphylococcus epidermidis wall peptidoglycan with an interpeptide bridge-splitting enzyme (endopeptidase) also definitely enhanced the virus production in macrophage cultures, although its activity was weaker than that of the original wall and peptidoglycan. Macrophage cultures from athymic nude mice, when treated with cell walls and peptidoglycans of S. epidermidis and Lactobacillus plantarum for 3 days, also showed an increased ability to support dengue virus type 2 replication. The infectious center assay demonstrated that the virus replication enhancement by S. epidermidis cell wall and peptidoglycan was primarily due to an increase in the number of virus-infected cells. This finding did not seem to be in conflict with the observation that macrophages treated with the above cell wall or peptidoglycan phagocytized more latex particles than did untreated macrophages. The conclusions based on the above experiments are that the treatment of mouse peritoneal macrophage cultures with bacterial cell walls and their components increases the take of dengue virus type 2 by macrophages and thus raises the virus production in the macrophage cultures.


Fabric of rockslide avalanche deposts, the topic of this paper, has been largely overlooked because of other more prominent geomorphological features which mass movements of these type exhibit. For rockslide avalanches such as the Cascade Springs slide originating from the Lower Cretaceous hogback which circumscribes the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming and for the Lower Gros Ventre slide in northwestern Wyoming the attitudes of the long axes (A-axes) of boulders reveal a dominant longitudinal fabric (A-axes parallel to flow). Conversely, boulders at the toe of the Lower Gros Ventre slide exhibit a transverse fabric (A-axes perpendicular to the flow). In addition, a crude fabric exists for boulders comprising the Lakota orthoquartzite blockfields which mantle the Permo-Triassic Red Valley of the northern Black Hills. It was found that the long axes of the boulders point to the parent material, the Lakota Formation, which crops out on the hogback, up to 4 km (2.5 mi) away. Although most of the geomorphological evidence has been largely destroyed, the crude fabric suggests that the block-fields are relict rockslide avalanche deposits derived from the hogback. Furthermore, fabric may be used as a valuable tool to facilitate identification of other relict mass movement deposits.


Tibial stress fractures and other lower extremity injuries can be treated using an ankle foot orthosis (AFO). AFOs are popular because they allow the patient to ambulate somewhat naturally while reducing weight bearing on the injured limb. Despite their popularity, it is currently unclear how well AFOs reduce lower extremity weight bearing. The first objective of this investigation was to examine the ability of three commonly used ankle foot orthoses to reduce weight bearing within the lower limb by comparing the ground reaction force measured from a force platform to the force measured from an insole pressure measurement device inside the AFO. Results indicated that the corset-style AFO was more effective in reducing the load compared to the camwalker and patellar-tendon bearing AFOs. The second objective was to examine and quantify the kinematic and kinetic changes made in the natural gait pattern of the participants when wearing an AFO. Wearing an AFO alters the geometry and inertial properties of the limb which causes the wearer to alter their natural gait pattern which could lead to addition problems such as low back pain. Results indicated that the camwalker AFO changed gait the most, the patellar-tendon bearing AFO altered gait to some extent, and the corset-style AFO changed gait minimally.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Various invasive pathogens cause diarrhea, but the mechanism(s) are poorly understood. We hypothesized that nitric oxide and prostaglandins might modulate chloride secretory and barrier properties of the infected intestinal epithelium and that diarrhea is caused, in part, by altered expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2).

METHODS
Studies were conducted in human intestinal epithelial cell lines (HT29/cl.19A, Caco-2, and T84). Cells were infected with enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC 029:NM) or Salmonella dublin (SD), or nonpathogenic, noninvasive bacteria (Streptococcus thermophilus [ST] and Lactobacillus acidophilus [LA]). Infected cells and controls were tested for transepithelial resistance, chloride secretion, prostaglandin E2, guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate and adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate, and protein expression.

RESULTS
Cells infected with EIEC or SD, but not uninfected controls or ST/LA-exposed monolayers, showed a progressive reduction in transepithelial resistance starting at 6-12 hours. Infected HT29/cl.19A and Caco-2 cells, but not T84 cells, also showed an increase in total nitrite. Expression of iNOS, and consequently COX-2, was also increased, followed by increased production of prostaglandins and cyclic nucleotides. Furthermore, basal and stimulated chloride secretory responses to various agonists were enhanced in HT29/cl.19A and Caco-2 cells after infection with enteroinvasive bacteria, and this effect was reversed for some agonists by iNOS or COX-2 inhibitors. Increased expression of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator and NKCC1 was also observed in EIEC or SD-infected cells vs. controls, secondary to NO synthase activity.

CONCLUSIONS
Up-regulation of iNOS and COX-2 by enteroinvasive bacteria can modulate chloride secretion and barrier function in intestinal epithelial cells. Thus, these enzymes represent possible therapeutic targets in infectious diarrhea.


Abstract #3061 Background: Activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway is a common event in human cancers and is responsible for key aspects of the transformed phenotype. This pathway is activated in most breast cancers, but by different mechanisms including HER2 amplification, PI3K mutation and PTEN inactivation. Inhibition of this pathway is thus thought to be clinically useful, but the functional output of PI3K/Akt signaling and the corresponding clinical effects of its inhibition may be due to the mechanisms by which it is activated. The objective of this study was to determine the role of Akt activation in breast cancer as a function of mechanism of activation and whether inhibition of Akt signaling is a feasible approach to therapy.
 Methodology/Principal Findings: Using a panel of human breast cancer cell lines that harbor HER2 amplification, PI3K or PTEN mutations, or wild-type of PI3K and PTEN, and a selective, PH-domain dependent, allosteric inhibitor of Akt1 and Akt2 (AKTi-1/2), and a variety of biochemical, molecular, and cellular techniques as well as in vivo xenograft models, we show that AKTi-1/2 resulted in the selective inhibition of breast tumor cell lines with either mutant PI3K or amplified HER2, but not those in which PI3K/Akt signaling is not mutationally activated. Cellular sensitivity was due to induction of G1 arrest and of apoptosis and associated with inhibition of Akt signaling, loss of D-cyclin expression, and dephosphorylation of Rb. Most importantly, AKTi-1/2 effectively inhibited Akt kinase and its downstream effectors in vivo and caused complete suppression of the growth of breast cancer xenografts with PI3K mutation or HER2 amplification, including models of the latter selected for resistance to Herceptin. Furthermore, chronic administration of the drug was well-tolerated, causing only transient hyperglycemia without gross toxicity to the host despite the pleiotropic normal functions of Akt.
 Conclusions/Significance: Our data demonstrate the exquisite dependence of PI3K-mutated or HER2-amplified breast cancer cells on Akt signaling, and that effective inhibition of Akt in tumors is feasible and effective in vivo. These findings suggest that direct inhibition of Akt may represent a therapeutic strategy for breast cancers that are addicted to the pathway and in patients with clinical resistance to Herceptin. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 3061.


In Town of Greece v. Galloway, the Supreme Court upheld a town board's practice of opening each session with a prayer – often sectarian – delivered by visiting clergy. The Court drew upon the principles set forth twenty years earlier in Marsh v. Chambers, upholding the legislative prayer practice of the Nebraska state legislature. As the Article title suggests, prayer is prologue in these cases and is therefore permissible. The Court found in both Marsh and Town of Greece that religious invocations at the start of sessions of "legislative and other deliberative public bodies" do not violate the Establishment Clause. Rather, voluntary prayer givers direct these opening prayers toward the policymakers to encourage a spirit of cooperation prior to deliberation.The Town of Greece decision has prompted a number of school boards to revisit their own prayer practices. Since Marsh, circuit courts have positioned school boards at the intersection between the "legislative prayer" exception and the "prayer in schools" prohibition. Enter Town of Greece, which clarified that the concept of legislative prayer applies to even the most intimate of deliberative public bodies. Because school boards equate with town boards in deliberative function and design, the principles established in Town of Greece logically extend to school boards. This Article argues that the Court's decision in Town of Greece lends a natural extension of its principles to school boards as deliberative public bodies. Part I examines the development of the deliberative public body doctrine leading up to Town of Greece, the avenues taken by school board circuit court precedent, and how some local school boards have reacted since the decision. Part II argues that a school board is nearly identical in nature to a town board, and therefore should have the discretion to open its meetings with an invocation in the same manner that town boards offer opening invocations. Part III explains that any structural distinctions between school boards and town boards are not constitutionally relevant for the limited purpose of solemnizing the meetings of adult school board members with a brief opening invocation. Part IV outlines the extent to which Town of Greece has eroded school board circuit court precedent. Part V examines the special case of student representatives to school boards. Finally, Part VI examines ways in which school districts may minimize potential Establishment Clause issues during opening invocations at school board meetings.


Semarang Toll Road  Section ABC is one of many toll roads that are traversed by transport vehicles with a load exceeding the permit limit, especially for vehicles originating from the Port of Tanjung Mas. These overloaded vehicles cause a decrease in pavement condition due to pavement damage on Semarang Section ABC Toll Road Section. This study aims to determine the magnitude of the impact of overload vehicles on the remaining life of the road by using overload vehicle detection from the Weight in Motion Bridge system. The method used in this study refers to Bina Marga Pd T-05-2005-B and AASHTO 1993. Based on the results of the analysis that has been done, it can be concluded that there is a decrease in residual life due to overloading vehicles for the year 2022 in Section A, Line A reaches conditions of 26.93% and 37,46%; Section B Line A achieves pavement failure; Section C of Line A reaches 44.65% and 38.33% conditions; Section A Lane B reaches 32.02%; Section B Lane B achieves failure pavement; and Section C of Line B reaching 54.42% and 40.70%.


Following Norem's description of powder-snow avalanche formation and structure, we propose a mathematical model that consists of a suspension layer and a so-called saltation layer. The latter is only a few meters deep and is modelled by depth-averaged mass and momentum balances. In the suspension layer, the mass and momentum balance equations for the mixture are supplemented by the snow mass balance and the transport equations for turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation. Mass and momentum exchange between the two layers is determined by particle settling, turbulent diffusion against the concentration gradient and aerodynamic shear forces. The net erosion or deposition rate is a function of the kinetic energy of the impacting particles. The saltation layer reacts on the suspension layer in that saltating particles extract momentum from the air flow. The preliminary estimates of the model parameters can be refined by means of saltation-trajectory simulations. Three-dimensional simulations with a simplified model have clearly shown the importance of snow erosion and deposition in practical applications. This approach is well suited for coupling to a dense-flow avalanche model.


Let f= (f1, ..., fs) be a sequence of polynomials in Q[X1,...,Xn] of maximal degree D and V⊂ Cn be the algebraic set defined by f and r be its dimension. The real radical re < f > associated to f is the largest ideal which defines the real trace of V . When V is smooth, we show that re < f >, has a finite set of generators with degrees bounded by V. Moreover, we present a probabilistic algorithm of complexity (snDn )O(1) to compute the minimal primes of re < f >. When V is not smooth, we give a probabilistic algorithm of complexity sO(1) (nD)O(nr2r) to compute rational parametrizations for all irreducible components of the real algebraic set V ∩ Rn. Experiments are given to show the efficiency of our approaches.


Tight-controlling of the aspect ratios (ARs) and fine-tailoring of the crystallographic facets of gold nanorods (GNRs) are critical for their further applications in material, biological, and medical fields. However, the high-yield synthesis of GNRs with certain facets and ARs is still challenging because it requires grasping of various components and complicated interactions in the reaction system. Herein, we first report the pH-adjusting method to synthesize uniform and monodispersed GNRs in high yield with the (200) facet and fine-tuned their ARs within an optimal pH range. Through optimizing the experimental parameters, we found that the formation of GNRs was significantly influenced by the concentrations of silver ions and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Based on the precise control over the quantity of silver ions and CTAB additives, we further optimized the pH in the buffer system. Under the optimized weakly acidic conditions (pH 5.5–7.0), HAuCl4 was reduced by NH2OH to form single-crystalline GNRs with a preferential growth along the [200] facet (i.e. [100] direction), which was supported by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Interestingly, there was a linear relationship between the ARs and pH values over a narrow pH range of 5.5–6.5. The pH-dependent reducing ability of NH2OH enhanced with the increasing pH.


CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2008 Abstracts

Abstract #506

Excess energy, whether it is the form of high energy diets or low energy expenditure (sedentary lifestyle), is a risk factor for breast cancer. Observational studies show that continuous energy restriction (CER) and exercise reduce risk, particularly of postmenopausal breast cancer. Animal data indicate that intermittent energy restriction (IER) may be superior or at least as effective as continuous energy restriction in preventing or reducing the growth rate of mammary tumours. IER may also be more acceptable than CER which has been difficult to implement. We have tested the effectiveness and acceptability of IER and have performed a randomised trial of IER (n=53) versus CER (n=54) in overweight or obese premenopausal women. Energy restriction was 25% in both arms. IER subjects had approximately 550 kcal on 2 days per week and add lib food on other days; CER subjects had approximately 1500 kcal / day over 7 days. Nineteen women (18 %) withdrew from the study before 6 months (IER = 12, CER = 7, main reasons: stress = 4, pregnancy = 3, change in employment = 3, couldn't stick to diet = 3). Change in weight and biomarkers for last observation carried forward are reported. At 6 months. Both IER and CER are effective for loss of weight -7.9 vs. - 6.7% P = 0.26 and waist circumference -6.3 vs. -5% P = 0.13, and for lowering serum levels of leptin -43.3 vs. -39.8% P = 0.53; C – reactive protein -14.8 vs.-20.3% P = 0.15 and free androgen index -9.8 vs.-14.4% P = 0.90. Both IER and CER increased circulating levels of sex hormone binding globulin + 18.1 vs. 10.8% P = 0.51, and plasma adiponectin +11 vs. +1% P = 0.09. IER is better at lowering insulin resistance at 6 months than CER -29.6 vs. -15.3 % P <0.05. These data indicate that 2 days IER gives similar results to CER with respect to weight loss and many of the risk parameters measured and may be an alternative approach to continuous energy restriction. The superior reductions in insulin resistance with IER which may be related to periods of very low calorie intake (approximately 70% restriction). We are waiting data of the effects of IER vs. CER on the IGF-1 axis and oxidative stress. Future studies will investigate the mechanism of IER, its optimal duration and its influence on mammary cell function.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 506.


Colorectal anastomosis leak is a frequent complication in general surgery which is related to significant morbidity and mortality. Nowadays, several approaches are utilized, frequently invasive for the patient. Nevertheless, a golden standard strategy for anastomotic leak management has not been identified. We present a case of an anastomotic fistula after left laparoscopic colectomy for diverticular disease, managed by the suture of the anastomosis dehiscence and drainage. We choose this approach due to the reduced operative time, reduced morbidity and mostly to avoid the confection of a colostomy. Still, this surgical solution should be applied for well selected patients and further studies are necessary to validate this approach.


We present three patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). They lived in Fuji city and its neighboring towns in the eastern part of Shizuoka prefecture. Patient 1 and patient 2 were cousins. Patient 1 developed the illness at the age of 50 in 1987 and died 13 months later. Patient 2 became ill at the age of 73 in 1989 and died seven months later. Patient 3 was related to a familial CJD cases in Yamanashi prefecture, known as Akai's "H" family (Akai et al in 1979, Yamamoto et al in 1986). She became ill at the age of 78 in 1990 and died four months later. Their clinical features were common; rapidly progressive dementia, generalized myoclonus, and periodic synchronous discharges on electroencephalographies. They were autopsied and neuropathologically diagnosed as typical CJD. Molecular genetic analysis of the prion protein (PrP) gene was performed on patient 2 and patient 3 using their frozen brain sections. The results showed a point mutation in the PrP gene at codon 200; GAG to AAG (Glu-->Lys). The eastern part of Shizuoka prefecture is adjacent to Yamanashi prefecture where a large number of patients with CJD including familial cases has been found during the recent 15 years. This study suggests that the patients with CJD in both Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefecture should be re-evaluated by analysis of the PrP gene.


Thymus cilicicus is an endemic Eastern Mediterranean element that has aromatic-medicinal properties. Its natural population spreads across gravelly ground and open rocky areas of South and Southwest Anatolia. The current study on in vitro propagation of T. cilicicus focused deeply
on environmental applications such as the development of an optimum medium composition for efficient and genetically stable micropropagation
and improved preservation procedures for long-time conservation of elite germplasms for further studies. For this purpose, MS and OM media were used individually and in combination with cytokinins, charcoal, AgNO3, Fe-EDDHA, and H3BO3. The raw data were statistically analyzed via
the graph kernel method to optimize the nonlinear relationship between all parameters. The optimal proliferation medium for T. cilicicus was OM
supplemented with a combination of 10 g L-1 charcoal and 1 mg L-1 KIN and the calculated averages of the best regeneration rate, the best shoot number and the best shoot length were 96.89%, 3 and 1.24 respectively on this medium. The determination of genetic stability of in vitro grown plants on the optimum medium compositions obtained by the
graph kernel method was carried out with the use of the ISSR-PCR technique. All the ISSR primers produced a total of 192 reproductive band profiles, none of which were polymorphic. Furthermore, the micropropagated plants were successfully rooted and acclimatized to greenhouse conditions. In this study, we present a graph kernel multiple
propagation index which considers all the possible parameters needing to be analyzed. Such an index is used for the first time for the determination of the optimum proliferation medium.


ABSTRACT In a recent article in this journal, David Faraci (2019) argues that the value of fairness can plausibly be appealed to in order to vindicate the view that consensual, mutually beneficial employment relationships can be wrongfully exploitative, even if employers have no obligation to hire or otherwise benefit those who are badly off enough to be vulnerable to wage exploitation. In this commentary, I argue that several values provide potentially strong grounds for thinking that it is at least sometimes better, morally speaking, for employers to hire worse-off people at intuitively exploitative wages than to hire better-off people at intuitively fair wages. Rather than suggesting that hiring badly off people at intuitively exploitative wages is permissible, however, I suggest that this gives us reason to think that employers can be obligated to hire worse-off people rather than better-off people and to pay them nonexploitative wages.