Energy harvesters are being used to power autonomous systems, but their output power is variable and intermittent. To sustain computation, these systems integrate batteries or supercapacitors to smooth out rapid changes in harvester output. Energy storage devices require time for charging and increase the size, mass, and cost of systems. The field of transient computing moves away from this approach, by powering the system directly from the harvester output. To prevent an application from having to restart computation after a power outage, approaches such as Hibernus allow these systems to hibernate when supply failure is imminent. When the supply reaches the operating threshold, the last saved state is restored and the operation is continued from the point it was interrupted. This paper proposes Hibernus++ to intelligently adapt the hibernate and restore thresholds in response to source dynamics and system load properties. Specifically, capabilities are built into the system to autonomously characterize the hardware platform and its performance during hibernation in order to set the hibernation threshold at a point which minimizes wasted energy and maximizes computation time. Similarly, the system auto-calibrates the restore threshold depending on the balance of energy supply and consumption in order to maximize computation time. Hibernus++ is validated both theoretically and experimentally on microcontroller hardware using both synthesized and real energy harvesters. Results show that Hibernus++ provides an average 16% reduction in energy consumption and an improvement of 17% in application execution time over state-of-the-art approaches.


IN ANA-modeultrasound display, the amplitude of the echoes produced at acoustic interfaces by a single wave of ultrasound is presented. TheB-scan("Brightness" mode), which consists of a series of transverse and longitudinal scans made at 1- or 2-cm intervals, produces an accurate sonar "picture" of the region. The scan is displayed on an oscilloscope as a series of dots, each indicating the location of an echo. The brightness of each dot reflects the relative strength of its echo. All these points together provide a map of the acoustic representation of the organs and lesions, in essence an ultrasonic tomogram. A picture of the oscilloscopic image made with a Polaroid camera provides a permanent record. The B-scan is an ideal diagnostic tool in children, since ultrasound examination is quick, relatively simple to perform, very well tolerated by the patient, and has no known hazards. Diagnosis of Abdominal Lesions


This paper considers numerical simulation of time‐dependent non‐linear partial differential equation resulting from a single non‐linear conservation law in h, p, k mathematical and computational framework in which k=(k1, k2) are the orders of the approximation spaces in space and time yielding global differentiability of orders (k1−1) and (k2−1) in space and time (hence k‐version of finite element method) using space–time marching process. Time‐dependent viscous Burgers equation is used as a specific model problem that has physical mechanism for viscous dissipation and its theoretical solutions are analytic. The inviscid form, on the other hand, assumes zero viscosity and as a consequence its solutions are non‐analytic as well as non‐unique (Russ. Math. Surv. 1962; 17(3):145–146; Russ. Math. Surv. 1960; 15(6):53–111). In references (Russ. Math. Surv. 1962; 17(3):145–146; Russ. Math. Surv. 1960; 15(6):53–111) authors demonstrated that the solutions of inviscid Burgers equations can only be approached within a limiting process in which viscosity approaches zero. Many approaches based on artificial viscosity have been published to accomplish this including more recent work on H(Div) least‐squares approach (Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 1965; 18:697–715) in which artificial viscosity is a function of spatial discretization, which diminishes with progressively refined discretizations. The thrust of the present work is to point out that: (1) viscous form of the Burgers equation already has the essential mechanism of viscosity (which is physical), (2) with progressively increasing Reynolds (Re) number (thereby progressively reduced viscosity) the solutions approach that of the inviscid form, (3) it is possible to compute numerical solutions for any Re number (finite) within hpk framework and space–time least‐squares processes, (4) the space–time residual functional converges monotonically and that it is possible to achieve the desired accuracy, (5) space–time, time marching processes utilizing a single space–time strip are computationally efficient. It is shown that viscous form of the Burgers equation without linearizing provides a physical and viablemechanism for approaching the solutions of inviscid form with progressively increasing Re. Numerical studies are presented and the computed solutions are compared with published work. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


ABSTRACT Persistent activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is frequently reported in cancers and plays important roles in tumor progression. Therefore, directly targeting persistent STAT3 signaling is an attractive cancer therapeutic strategy. The aim of this study is to test the inhibitory efficacy of novel STAT3 small molecule inhibitors, LLY17 and LLL12B, in combination with irradiation in human medulloblastoma cells. Both LLY17 and LLL12B inhibit the IL-6-induced and persistent STAT3 phosphorylation in human medulloblastoma cells. Irradiation using 4 Gy alone exhibits some inhibitory effects on medulloblastoma cell viability, and these effects are further enhanced by combining with either STAT3 inhibitor. Irradiation alone also shows certain inhibitory effects on medulloblastoma cell migration and invasion and the combination of LLY17 or LLL12B with irradiation further demonstrates greater inhibitory effects than monotherapy. STAT3 inhibitor alone or irradiation alone exhibits some suppression of medulloblastoma tumorsphere growth, and the combination of LLY17 or LLL12B and irradiation exhibits greater suppression of tumorsphere growth than monotherapy. Combining either STAT3 inhibitor with irradiation reduces the expression of STAT3 downstream targets, Cyclin D1 and Survivin, and induces apoptosis in medulloblastoma cells. These results support that combination of a potent STAT3 inhibitor such as LLY17 or LLL12B with irradiation is an effective and novel therapeutic approach for medulloblastoma.


The test process of electric vehicles (EVs) traction battery peak power is analyzed in detail. Aimed at a special "traction" design of versatile battery—HORIZON~ C~2M Battery, the features are introduced. According to the peak power test schedule, the test parameters of HORIZON~ C~2M Battery are calculated and the charging and discharging experiments are carried out. The sustained (30 s) discharge power capability of battery at 2/3 of its open circuit voltage at each of various depths of discharge is determined. The dynamic internal resistance under peak power test is established. Considering the temperature impact during discharging, the peak power capability at each of various depths of discharge is corrected. The correctness of peak power test is validated by combining theory analysis with test results.


This article describes the development of a modern search engine-based information retrieval setting from its envisioning through to its technological realization. The author takes up the thread of an earlier article on this subject (ZfBB 51 (2004), 5/6), this time from a technical viewpoint. After presenting the conceptual considerations of the initial stages, this article deals principally with the technological aspects of the project.


Long memory plays an important role in many fields by determining the behaviour and predictability of systems; for instance, climate, hydrology, finance, networks and DNA sequencing. In particular, it is important to test if a process is exhibiting long memory since that impacts the accuracy and confidence with which one may predict future events on the basis of a small amount of historical data. A major force in the development and study of long memory was the late Benoit B. Mandelbrot. Here, we discuss the original motivation of the development of long memory and Mandelbrot's influence on this fascinating field. We will also elucidate the sometimes contrasting approaches to long memory in different scientific communities.


A three-part study was designed in order to test the applicability of the fluid-level method for registration of natural head position. In the first part the fluid-level method was utilized to make two repeated cephalometric radiographs of 33 young adults. The reproducibility of the craniovertical, craniocervical and cervicohorizontal relationships was comparable with previous results with the mirror method. In the second part, the fluid-level method was compared with the mirror method when used by two radiographers for repeated radiographs in 40 subjects. The reproducibility of the craniocervical and cervicohorizontal angles was less accurate with both methods and the only difference between them was a slightly better reproducibility of the craniovertical angle with the fluid-level method for one of the radiographers. In the third part, it was shown that using the fluid level, a patient can be transferred from a standing to a sitting position in the cephalostat without any systematic change in craniovertical, craniocervical or cervicohorizontal relationships.


We sought to quantify early deaths following neonatal circumcision (same hospital admission) and to identify factors associated with such mortality. We performed a retrospective analysis of all infants who underwent circumcision in an inpatient hospital setting during the first 30 days of life from 2001 to 2010 using the National Inpatient Sample. Over 10 years, 200 early deaths were recorded among 9 833 110 subjects (1 death per 49 166 circumcisions). Note: this figure should not be interpreted as causal but correlational as it may include both undercounting and overcounting of deaths attributable to circumcision. Compared with survivors, subjects who died following newborn circumcision were more likely to have associated comorbid conditions, such as cardiac disease (odds ratio [OR] = 697.8 [378.5-1286.6]; P < .001), coagulopathy (OR = 159.6 [95.6-266.2]; P < .001), fluid and electrolyte disorders (OR = 68.2 [49.1-94.6]; P < .001), or pulmonary circulatory disorders (OR = 169.5 [69.7-412.5]; P < .001). Recognizing these factors could inform clinical and parental decisions, potentially reducing associated risks.


—Previous work has introduced a Cloud platform model and budget-aware static algorithms to schedule stochastic workflows on such platforms. In this paper, we compare the performance of these algorithms obtained via simulation and via execution on an actual platform, Grid'5000. We focus on DIET, a widely used workflow engine, and detail the extensions that were implemented to conduct the comparison. We also detail additional code that we made available in order to automate and to ease the reproducibility of such experiments.


Accurate antenna characterization is important in any wireless communication system. Traditionally, electrically large antenna ranges are not equipped to perform return loss measurements and thus a separate benchtop vector network analyzer (VNA) setup is required for measuring reflection coefficient or VSWR of an antenna under test (AUT).In this paper, we demonstrate the two-port S-parameter measurement capability of the NSI-MI Vector Field Analyzer™ (VFA) and how it can be used to integrate return loss measurements in an antenna range. We selected three known millimeter-wave components as devices-under-test (DUT) and measured the S-parameter matrix for each. These WR-10 band measurements were made using the VFA with Virginia Diodes VNAX frequency extension modules. Results are compared with Keysight's N5225A PNA network analyzer using the same set of extension modules for verification.S-parameter measurements taken on VFA and PNA setups are compared based on three factors: Repeatability, reproducibility, and measurement comparison. The variations between successive measurements are presented in graphical form to compare repeatability of both instrument setups. Error distribution comparison is presented for reproducibility test data to show the difference between independent repeat measurements taken on both instrument setups. Measurement comparison result shows the total difference between independent VFA and PNA measurements taken for each DUT.


CoopMAC has been recently proposed as an efficient medium-access-control (MAC)-layer protocol for cooperative wireless networks. This protocol allows high-data-rate terminals to assist low-data-rate terminals by relaying their data. The backward compatibility of this protocol with well-known distributed local area networks (LANs), its adaptable functionality, and its capability to flatten the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) level over time make CoopMAC a desirable choice for cooperative communications. In spite of the prevalence and importance of this protocol, not enough attention has been paid to this protocol so far. Therefore, in this paper, we develop an analytical model to evaluate the performance of this protocol. Our proposed model is centered around a 2-D Markov chain, similar to that introduced by Bianchi for IEEE 802.11. This model empowers us to derive the probability density function (pdf) of medium-access delay in CoopMAC from which any higher statistical moments can be obtained. Using this obtained pdf, both local and global network performance metrics can be improved.


Changes in seabird populations, and particularly of penguins, offer a unique opportunity for investigating the impact of fisheries and climatic variations on marine resources. Such investigations often require large–scale banding to identify individual birds, but the significance of the data relies on the assumption that no bias is introduced in this type of long–term monitoring. After 5 years of using an automated system of identification of king penguins implanted with electronic tags (100 adult king penguins were implanted with a transponder tag, 50 of which were also flipper banded), we can report that banding results in later arrival at the colony for courtship in some years, lower breeding probability and lower chick production. We also found that the survival rate of unbanded, electronically tagged king penguin chicks after 2–3 years is approximately twice as large as that reported in the literature for banded chicks.


The topoisomerase I inhibitors represent a class of antineoplastic agents with a wide spectrum of activity against malignancies. Currently available topo-isomerase I inhibitors are derivatives of the parent compound, camptothecin. Irinotecan is most active against gastrointestinal (GI) tumours, and has predominantly GI and haematological toxicities. Significant pharmacokinetic variability occurs in patients with hepatic dysfunction, particularly those with glucuronidation pathway deficiencies. The toxicity of topotecan is principally haematological with little extramedullary toxicity. Topotecan is well-tolerated in patients with significant hepatic dysfunction; however, patients with even mild renal insufficiency require significant dose reductions. This article discusses the toxicities of these drugs in detail, including the need for dose adjustments in selected patient populations.


Recent research suggests that the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is involved in perception as well as in declarative memory. Amnesic patients with focal MTL lesions and semantic dementia patients showed perceptual deficits when discriminating faces and objects. Interestingly, these two patient groups showed different profiles of impairment for familiar and unfamiliar stimuli. For MTL amnesics, the use of familiar relative to unfamiliar stimuli improved discrimination performance. By contrast, patients with semantic dementia—a neurodegenerative condition associated with anterolateral temporal lobe damage—showed no such facilitation from familiar stimuli. Given that the two patient groups had highly overlapping patterns of damage to the perirhinal cortex, hippocampus, and temporal pole, the neuroanatomical substrates underlying their performance discrepancy were unclear. Here, we addressed this question with a multivariate reanalysis of the data presented by Barense et al. (2011), using functional connectivity to examine how stimulus familiarity affected the broader networks with which the perirhinal cortex, hippocampus, and temporal poles interact. In this study, healthy participants were scanned while they performed an odd-one-out perceptual task involving familiar and novel faces or objects. Seed-based analyses revealed that functional connectivity of the right perirhinal cortex and right anterior hippocampus was modulated by the degree of stimulus familiarity. For familiar relative to unfamiliar faces and objects, both right perirhinal cortex and right anterior hippocampus showed enhanced functional correlations with anterior/lateral temporal cortex, temporal pole, and medial/lateral parietal cortex. These findings suggest that in order to benefit from stimulus familiarity, it is necessary to engage not only the perirhinal cortex and hippocampus, but also a network of regions known to represent semantic information.


We investigate the structures of Calabi-Yau differential equations and the relations to the arithmetic of the pencils of Calabi-Yau varieties behind the equations. This provides explanations of some observations and computations in the recent paper [6].


Background: Containment of the hip has become a popular strategy for treatment of severe Legg-Calve-Perthes disease; however, the best method remains unclear. This study describes a minimal-incision variation of the labral support shelf arthroplasty, which uses arthroscopic visualization and an allograft buttress on the shelf support. The outcome in a group of hips undergoing this minimal-incision variation is compared by the Stulberg classification with a group treated by the traditional anterolateral open operative approach. In addition, the outcomes of both groups of labral support shelf arthroplasties are compared then with other containment techniques used in our hospital consisting of Petric cast, varus femoral osteotomy, and innominate osteotomy of Salter. Methods: Forty-two patients who fulfilled the following criteria underwent a labral support shelf arthroplasty: (1) unilateral hip disease; (2) age equal to or older than 6 years at diagnosis; (3) Catterall group III or IV; and (4) Herring B or C disease. Twenty patients had a traditional open approach (group I) and 22 had an approach using a minimal-incision arthroscopic visualization and allograft buttress on the shelf support (group II). Outcomes by the Stulberg classification were then compared between these groups (I and II) and with 29 cases of Petri casting, 15 of varus femoral osteotomies, or 15 of innominate osteotomies of Salter. Results: There is no statistical difference in Stulberg classification outcomes between group I and group II, which demonstrates that a minimally invasive technique is satisfactory and prevents substantial tissue dissection as is required in a standard anterior lateral approach to the hip, P>0.05. In addition, there is no statistical difference in Stulberg classification outcomes between the labral support shelf arthroplasties and common containment methods such as Petri casting, varus femoral osteotomies, or the innominate osteotomy of Salter, P>0.05. Conclusions: The labral support shelf arthroplasty by either the traditional method or the minimal-incision variation offers similar Waldenstrom class outcomes when compared with a Petric cast, a varus femoral osteotomy, or an innominate osteotomy of Salter. We believe the labral support shelf arthroplasty technique is simple to perform and does not induce a permanent deformity in the proximal femur or acetubulum.


This paper aims to reconceptualize the relationship between organizational learning and bureaucracy. Although the two are generally considered to be antithetical, this paper shows that, in some organizations, bureaucracy can be functional for organizational learning.,The central argument is theoretical and builds on two main ideas: firstly, the nature of knowledge creation and organizational learning is conditioned by the organization's main technological characteristics; and secondly, bureaucracy has a dual nature as an instrument of managerial control and as a vehicle of large-scale collaboration. This study uses examples from process industries as empirical illustrations.,As products and production systems come to embody deeper and more diverse knowledge, their development takes on an increasingly collaborative character. The need to integrate differentiated knowledge and material artefacts calls for specialization, formalization, centralization and staff roles. Hence, technological complexity drives a bureaucratization of organizational learning.,The core argument is developed with reference to industries where organizational learning involves the accumulation of knowledge, not its periodic replacement associated with technological shifts. Its relevance outside these industries remains to be assessed.,Organizations, whose knowledge creation fits the pattern of creative accumulation, should learn to harness formal structures for large-scale collaboration.,The main thesis runs counter to mainstream perspectives on organizational learning. This paper explores organizational learning in sectors that have received little attention in debates about organizational learning.


We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson using events with two oppositely charged leptons and large missing transverse energy as expected in $H\rightarrow WW$ decays. The events are selected from data corresponding to 8.6 \ifb\ of integrated luminosity in $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. No significant excess above the standard model background expectation in the Higgs boson mass range this search is sensitive to is observed, and upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section are derived.


Background: Geriatric acetabular fractures are becoming more common due to demographic changes. Compared with proximal femoral fractures, surgical treatment is more complex and often does not allow full-weight-bearing. The aims of this study were to compare operatively treated acetabular and proximal femoral fractures with regard to (1) cumulative 1-year mortality, (2) perioperative complications, and (3) predictive factors associated with a higher 1-year mortality. Methods: This institutional review board-approved comparative study included 486 consecutive surgically treated elderly patients (136 acetabular and 350 proximal femoral fractures). After matching, 2 comparable groups of 129 acetabular and 129 proximal femoral fractures were analyzed. Cumulative 1-year mortality was evaluated through Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis, and perioperative complications were documented and graded. After confirming that the proportionality assumption was met, Cox proportional hazard modeling was conducted to identify factors associated with increased 1-year mortality. Results: The acetabular fracture group had a significantly lower cumulative 1-year mortality before matching (18% compared with 33% for proximal femoral fractures, log-rank p = 0.001) and after matching (18% compared with 36%, log-rank p = 0.005). Nevertheless, it had a significantly higher overall perioperative complication rate (68% compared with 48%, p < 0.001). In our multivariable Cox regression analysis, older age, perioperative blood loss of >1 L, and wheelchair mobilization were associated with lower survival rates after acetabular fracture surgery. Older age and a higher 5-item modified frailty index were associated with a higher 1-year mortality rate after proximal femoral fractures, whereas postoperative full weight-bearing was protective. Conclusions: Despite the complexity of operative treatment and a higher complication rate after acetabular fractures in the elderly, the 1-year mortality rate is lower than that after operative treatment of proximal femoral fractures, even after adjustment for comorbidities. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.


Urinary vasopressin (VP), aldosterone (ALDO), osmotic substances, sodium excretion, and plasma volume were assessed in 4 healthy male divers during 2 predive control days, 2 compression days, 6 days at 46 atm abs, and 26 days of decompression with stops at 37 and 27 atm abs. At pressure the ambient gas was trimix (0.5 atm abs O2:5% N2:remainder He). All urine was collected throughout the dive. Samples were divided into daytime (0700-1900) and nighttime (1900-0700). Indocyanine green dye dilution was used to determine plasma volume at predive 1, 46, and 24 atm abs. In agreement with previous dives at 31 atm abs, there was a decrease in VP excretion during compression lasting until return to 1 atm abs (P less than 0.05). Also similar to the shallower dives at 31 atm abs, the normal diurnal pattern of VP excretion, daytime higher than nighttime (P less than 0.05), disappeared at pressure. Urine osmolality showed alterations compatible with responses to VP. In contrast to previous studies at 31 atm abs, but in agreement with a previous study at 49.5 atm abs, there was no sustained increase in urinary ALDO excretion and only a transient natriuresis during the compression phase, followed by a reduced sodium excretion. In confirmation of earlier conclusions from indirect evidence, direct measurements of plasma volume indicated a reduction of about 20% (P less than 0.05) at 46 atm abs which remained reduced after decompression to 24 atm abs.


Tk transformed red blood cells were obtained in vitro by treatment with supernatants from cultures of three different Bacteroides fragilis strains. The reactions of these cells with AB sera show that Tk is different from other known types of polyagglutination. Beside the already known modifications of A B H antigens, we found that Tk activated cells have an important modification of I and i antigens: both are reduced, and can even be completely destroyed.


Almost all computer games today are based on a visual presentation on the screen. While the visual realism advanced the main baseline of the interaction remains the same – when you switch off the display the fun is gone. In our research, we aim to provide non-visual access to computer games providing blind and sighted players with fun and pervasive interaction. As an application example we developed AuditoryPong, an interactive game that transfers the game PONG into a physical and acoustic space. The central elements of the game are transformed to moving and movable acoustic objects in a 3D acoustic environment. Based on the current acoustic game state the user moves the game paddle with body interaction or haptic devices and receives immediate acoustic feedback. Players do not need the visual display and sighted and blind people can play PONG together.


Breast cancer resistant protein (BCRP) is expressed on the apical membrane of small intestinal epithelial cells and functions as an efflux pump with broad substrate recognition. Therefore, quantitative evaluation of the contribution of BCRP to the intestinal permeability of new chemical entities is very important in drug research and development. In this study, we assessed the BCRP-mediated efflux of several model drugs in Caco-2 cells using WK-X-34 as a dual inhibitor of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and BCRP and LY335979 as a selective inhibitor of P-gp. The permeability of daidzein was high with an apparent permeability coefficient (P AB) for apical-to-basal transport of 20.3 × 10-6 cm/sec. In addition, its efflux ratio (ER) was 1.55, indicating that the contribution of BCRP to its transport is minimal. Estrone-3-sulfate and ciprofloxacin showed relatively higher ER values (>2.0), whereas their BCRP-related absorptive quotient (AQ BCRP) was 0.21 and 0.3, respectively. These results indicate that BCRP does not play a major role in regulating the permeability of estrone-3-sulfate and ciprofloxacin in Caco-2 cells. Nitrofurantoin showed a P AB of 1.8 × 10-6 cm/sec, and its ER was 7.6. However, the AQ BCRP was 0.37, suggesting minimal contribution of BCRP to nitrofurantoin transport in Caco-2 cells. In contrast, topotecan, SN-38, and sulfasalazine had low P AB values (0.81, 1.13, and 0.19 × 10-6 cm/sec, respectively), and each AQ BCRP was above 0.6, indicating that BCRP significantly contributes to the transport of these compounds in Caco-2 cells. In conclusion, Caco-2 cells are useful to accurately estimate the contribution of BCRP to intestinal drug absorption. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: We performed an in vitro assessment of the contribution of BCRP to the transport of BCRP and/or P-gp substrates across Caco-2 cell monolayers using absorptive quotient (AQ), which has been proposed to represent the contribution of drug efflux transporters to the net efflux. The present study demonstrates that the combined use of a BCRP/P-gp dual inhibitor and a P-gp selective inhibitor is useful to estimate the impact of BCRP and P-gp on the permeability of tested compounds in Caco-2 cells.


Amoebic gill disease (AGD) is one of the most significant infectious diseases affecting marine farmed Atlantic salmon and is caused by the marine amoeba Neoparamoeba perurans. Atlantic halibut are also farmed in Norway, Canada, Chile and Scotland; however, the total production is approximately 0.1 per cent that of salmon. Halibut reared in a net pen sea site in Scotland presented with low-level mortalities and pale, raised patches on the gills. Fresh microscopy of the gills demonstrated amoeboid organisms and histology of the gills confirmed typical AGD pathology. Gill samples tested by PCR confirmed the presence of N perurans. Freshwater baths of three hours duration are the preferred treatment for AGD in salmon; however, hydrogen peroxide has also been used and as halibut do not tolerate freshwater low-level hydrogen peroxide baths (1000 mg/l) were administered as a 15-minute bath. Net changes were also undertaken, and mortalities subsequently reduced.


The aim of this study is to explore the existence of different patterns of information technology use in the firms operating Turkish manufacturing sector and the relationship between these patterns and various firm (number of employee, ownership structure, annual sales and export figure) and sectoral(sector type and competition intensity) characteristics. Data are collected from 123 firms in ISO 1000 list operating in different sectors using a standard survey form. Three different information technology use patterns(Low users, Followers and High users) are identified as a result of cluster analysis. Results suggest that there is no relationship between information technology use patterns and number of employees;conversely it reveals that there is a significant relationship between sector type, competition intensity, ownership structure, annual sales and export figures. In final section, the implications of the results are discussed; limitations of the study are noted and additional research is suggested.


Public Administration in developing countries, whether as a set of theories and approaches or as institutions of government, faces formidable challenges at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The challenges stem primarily from the democratic transformation that took place in many of these countries during the last decade of the twentieth century and the concomitant institutions and technologies that accompanied this democratic transition. This paper explores the anti-democratic tradition of development theories, especially development administration, and the daunting challenges that public administration faces in the newly established or reconstituted democracies in many developing counties. The challenge is multi-facetted. It includes operating in a political environment where politics are preeminent, not economic or administrative rationality. It also includes operating in an environment where the newly established democratic institutions have not yet developed the necessary legislation and institutions to hold the administration accountable. Finally, administrations in many developing countries are faced with the need to adapt to a rejuvenated private sector and an emerging global economy. All these challenges must be faced in the midst of an information revolution and a deepening cynicism and apathy by the citizen towards the state. The emphasis of this paper, however, is on the democratic challenge and the need of legislative institutions to build their capacities to insure proper control over the administration.


Background: In Indonesia, HIV/AIDS is still a public health problem and approximately 620.000 people living with HIV/AIDS in this country. Female sexual workers (FSWs) as one of the groups in HIV cases are more ten times more likely to acquire HIV than the general population. This study aimed to find out the description of the knowledge, attitudes and practice of FSWs in Makassar about HIV/AIDS. Methods: This was observational research by using a descriptive approach. There were 255 FSWs recruited as respondents chosen by stratified random sampling. An Interviewer-administered questionnaire was designed to collect data about knowledge, attitude and practice on HIV/AIDS. Results: Overall, more 50% of respondents could provide the correct answers about HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention. One of the preventions that have not been known by most of them was blade and shaver sharing. Concerning attitude, most respondents had a positive attitude towards HIV / AIDS, but there were still 38.0% who agreed not to make friends with HIV patients and 28.2% respondents agreed not to offer condoms to clients who seem healthy. The condom offer was higher than condom use for clients that is 60.0% and 54.1% respectively. Conclusion: more than 50% of respondents could provide correct answers about basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS and more than 50% FSWs had a positive attitude. AIDS eradication commission of Makassar needs to provide any information on HIV/AIDS not only for FSWs but also for clients.


Wikidata is a key resource for the provisioning of structured data on several Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia. By design, all Wikipedia articles are linked to Wikidata entities; such mappings represent a substantial source of both semantic and structural information. However, only a small subgraph of Wikidata is mapped in that way – – only about 10% of the sitelinks are linked to English Wikipedia, for example. In this paper, we describe a resource we have built and published to extend this subgraph and add more links between Wikidata and Wikipedia. We start from the assumption that a number of Wikidata entities can be mapped onto Wikipedia sections, in addition to Wikipedia articles. The resource we put forward contains tens of thousands of such mappings, hence considerably enriching the highly structured Wikidata graph with encyclopedic knowledge from Wikipedia.


Orientation: Within an emerging market context, the informal sector's role was deemed critical towards achieving ideals of a developmental state. Given this perceived importance, there was a need to continually study informal sector entrepreneurial activity and its ramifications on firm performance. Research Purpose: This study aimed to understand the link between informal sector entrepreneurial activities and firm performance using a sample of firms operating in Durban, South Africa. Motivation of the study: Exploring those entrepreneurial activities that either enhanced or impeded the informal sector was deemed critical in the effectual and efficient operation of the sector. In driving the firm performance agenda ascertaining the role of factors such as (1) entrepreneurial culture, (2) entrepreneurial education and skills, (3) government and incubation support and finally, (4) access to finance can enhance the informal sector through the provision of evidence-based interventions. Research approach/design/method: A quantitative survey research approach was used to collect data from 152 informal sector businesses operating in the city of Durban in South Africa. A convenience sampling technique was used to access the respondents. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme version 23 using correlation and regression tests. Main findings: The findings revealed the adoption of an entrepreneurship culture, including access to entrepreneurship education and skills to predict a firm's financial and non-financial performance significantly. Furthermore, it was found that government and incubation support predicted a firm's financial performance. However, it was also established that government and incubation support had no unique contribution to non-financial performance. Practical/managerial implications: Suggestions were made based on the findings that entrepreneurial activities have a bearing on informal sector business performance. These findings became a helpful intervention towards enhancing the performance of informal businesses. Contribution/value-add: This study contributed to understanding entrepreneurial activities that either enhanced or impeded informal businesses' performance.


BACKGROUND
We present the methods and results of the surgical management of extracranial carotid artery aneurysms (ECCA). Postoperative complications including early and late neurological events were analysed. Correlation between reconstruction techniques and morphology of ECCA was assessed in this retrospective study.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
In total, 32 reconstructions of ECCA were performed in 31 symptomatic patients with a mean age of 59.2 (range 33-84) years. The causes of ECCA were divided among atherosclerosis (n = 25; 78.1%), previous carotid endarterectomy with Dacron patch (n = 4; 12.5%), iatrogenic injury (n = 2; 6.3%) and infection (n = 1; 3.1%). In 23 cases, intervention consisted of carotid bypass. Aneurysmectomy with end-to-end suture was performed in 4 cases. Aneurysmal resection with patching was done in 2 cases and aneurysmorrhaphy without patching in another 2 cases. In 1 case, ligature of the internal carotid artery (ICA) was required.

RESULTS
Technical success defined as the preservation of ICA patency was achieved in 31 cases (96.9%). There was one perioperative death due to major stroke (3.1%). Two cases of minor stroke occurred in the 30-day observation period (6.3%). Three patients had a transient hypoglossal nerve palsy that subsided spontaneously (9.4%). At a mean long-term follow-up of 68 months, there were no major or minor ipsilateral strokes or surgery-related deaths reported. In all 30 surviving patients (96.9%), long-term clinical outcomes were free from ipsilateral neurological symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS
Open surgery is a relatively safe method in the therapy of ECCA. Surgical repair of ECCAs can be associated with an acceptable major stroke rate and moderate minor stroke rate. Complication-free long-term outcomes can be achieved in as many as 96.9 % of patients. Aneurysmectomy with end-to-end anastomosis or bypass surgery can be implemented during open repair of ECCA.


Pore structure plays an important role in the in vivo osteogenesis for bone repair materials. In this study, honeycomb β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffolds were prepared by extrusion method, and gelatin microspheres were used as porogens to modify the pore structure of the scaffolds. The honeycomb β-TCP scaffolds were characterized by channel-like square macropores and unidirectional interconnection. To improve the pore interconnectivity of the scaffold, the spherical pores were formed in the channel walls by burning off the gelatin microspheres. Compared with unidirectional honeycomb β-TCP scaffold, the honeycomb β-TCP scaffold with interconnected pore structure had significantly higher porosity and faster degradation rate, at the expense of the mechanical strength. The in vivo assessment results demonstrated excellent osteogenesis of the honeycomb scaffolds. Moreover, the honeycomb β-TCP scaffold with interconnected pore structure markedly promoted new bone formation in comparison with the unidirectional honeycomb β-TCP scaffold. This work provides a new approach to prepare scaffolds with interconnected pore structure, and the honeycomb β-TCP scaffold with interconnected pore structure is expected to serve as an efficient bone repair material. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Summary: Streptomyces coelicolor (Muller) became resistant to killing by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) when pretreated with non-lethal concentrations of H2O2. When rapidly growing cells were pretreated with 100 μm-H2O2, they became 7-10-fold more resistant to 20 mM-H2O2 than were naive cells. Activities of several oxidative defense enzymes were measured in cells treated with 100 μm-H2O2 in either exponential or stationary phase growth. The specific activity of catalase in crude extracts of cells pretreated in either phase increased about 40%, Peroxidase activity, in cell extracts and culture supernatants, respectively, of cells treated in the stationary growth phase increased two times and four times. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase increased by 60% at the exponential growth phase. Glutathione reductase increased 80% after treatment in the exponential phase and 4-fold in the stationary growth phase. However, superoxide dismutase activity decreased by 70%. Two mutants resistant to H2O2 were isolated after mutagenesis of spores with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. In addition to a dramatic increase in the survival rate in 20 mM-H2O2, both mutants exhibited increased activities of all the above enzymes except superoxide dismutase. The pleiotropic phenotype of the mutants suggests that there exists a global regulation of oxidative response in S. coelicolor.


This paper presents a mechanics-based procedure for modeling the nonlinear moment resistance of multiple-dowel wood connections. The lack of a consistent methodology for predicting rotational resistance of multiple-dowel joints was identified as one of the barriers to adoption of a ready-to-assemble (RTA) wood framing system. Integral to the RTA system is a nail plate connector (NPC) that consists of a metal plate with multiple dowel and is used to assemble RTA framing members into complete structural systems. The principle of energy conservation is used to derive the model. The proposed procedure is formulated such that the nonlinear response of the nails and plate bearing are explicitly included in the model to accurately predict the moment-rotation relationship over a wide range of deformations. Therefore, the model provides the information on both the ultimate strength and deformation capacity needed to establish safety margins and to perform serviceability checks, respectively. The method requires input of the lateral load-displacement relationships for an individual nail and plate bearing on the end grain of wood framing member. These relationships can be readily measured using lateral test procedures or determined analytically. The formulation showed excellent correlation with test results (R 2 = 0.98). The proposed model presents an engineering and research tool and has the potential to promote the use of timber frames assembled with multiple dowel joints.


This report presents information on young people under youth justice supervision, both in the community and in detention, during 2012–13. It explores the characteristics of their supervision and recent trends. Data are reported for all states and territories except WA and the NT. National totals include estimates for all jurisdictions where possible. Around 6,300 young people under youth justice supervision on an average day On an average day in 2012–13 in Australia, there were around 6,300 young people aged 10 and older under youth justice supervision due to their involvement, or alleged involvement, in crime. This equates to a rate of 23.8 per 10,000, or about 1 in 420 young persons aged 10–17. A total of 12,880 young people were under supervison at some time during the year.


Pest and disease attacking winter jujube in Guanzhong Plain are mainly sucra Jujuba Chu,peach fruit moth,gall midge,armyworm,florida wax scale,anthracnose and rust.Integration of the agricultural measures,plant quarantine measures,physical measures,pesticides and biological measures was adopted,which proved to be effective.


Abstract Paraumbilical hernia sac usually contains omentum, bowel loop and rarely appendicular epiploicae, metastatic deposits and vermiform appendix. Presentation of acute appendicitis in a paraumbilical hernia is rare and limited to few case reports in the literature. Herein, we would like to report a case of a successfully treated acute appendicitis presenting in a paraumbilical hernia in an 84-year-old lady with 6-month follow-up.


T1-weighted images after the injection of Gd-DOTA, a new paramagnetic contrast medium, were compared with non-enhanced T2-weighted images in 42 consecutive cases of musculoskeletal pathology. In addition we evaluated the incidence of side effects. Enhanced T1-weighted images were superior in depicting the various parts of a lesion and the borders between the lesion and normal tissue or perifocal reaction. On the other hand the non-enhanced T2-weighted images better depicted the border between the perifocal reaction and normal tissue. In aggressive lesions, especially in malignant tumours, the two sequences are complementary. Enhanced T1-weighted images did not contribute significantly to assessing benign lesions. The incidence of side effects was acceptable and no severe reactions occurred.


Dynamic reconfiguration of a microwave photonic filter by tuning its basic delay based on stimulated Brillouin scattering-induced slow light and optical phase shift of the optical carrier is experimentally implemented. The measurements confirm that the free spectral range of the filter changes when a Brillouin pump is applied. These results demonstrate the potential of the separate carrier technique in microwave photonics applications.


In order to study the role of genetic factors in the etiology of patent ductus arteriosus the author has traced all Swedish citizens born 1945 or earlier who have been operated upon for this type of CHD at the departments for heart surgery in Stockholm during the years 1941-1965. Up to the time of study (1967-1969), 491 children of such probands had been born and survived the neonatal period. Among these children there were encountered 14 cases of isolated PDA and one case of PDA with associated coarctation of the aorta (in one of a couple of identical male twins). The incidence in children of affected individuals is of the same order as generally found in subsequent sibs of probands. It corresponds to the square root of the incidence among unselected newborn babies, which is estimated at about 0.8 per 1,000. These facts support the hypothesis of multifactorial inheritance. The heritability according to Falconer is estimated at about 70 O/o. The concept of multifactorial inheritance includes the possible role of factors other than mutant genes. Environmental factors as well as variations in the karyotype, including the normal chromosomal difference between the two sexes may be of significance. This is in accordance with what is known about PDA and also conforms to the present view on the etiology of malformations in general. b


The genus Phaeanthus Hook.f and Thomson of the family Annonaceae is a medicinal plant essentially characterized by inner petals that are longer than outer petals, numerous carpels and stamens, and monocarpous fruits. Previous studies have recognized Phaeanthus ebracteolatus as a synonym of P. ophthalmicus based on the morphological examination of limited herbarium specimens. In order to determine the validity of the finding, this study aims to verify the synonymy of P. ebracteolatusand P. ophthalmicus using combined matK and rbcL dataset, as well as computing its sequence divergence; and, to further explore the phytochemical and biochemical components of the plant.Collected plant samples were subjected to morphological characterization followed by molecular analysis through DNA extraction, amplification, purification, sequencing, sequence analysis and data analysis. The crude leaf extracts were subjected to phytochemical screening by thin layer chromatography and three colorimetric assays such as α-glucosidase inhibition, anti-tyrosinase and anti-Staphylococcus. This study confirms that the two Phaeanthus species are conspecific using combined matK and rbcL dataset which is strongly supported and computed sequence divergence which includes 5 bp (0.81%) and 3 bp (0.41%) in matK and rbcL regions, respectively. Overlapping morphological characters such as axillary inflorescence, valvate inner and outer petals, truncate stamens, club-shaped carpels, and globose monocarps also support the finding. The crude leaf extract yields positive to different antioxidant constituents and demonstrated a high potency in α-glucosidase inhibition. The study validated the synonymy of P. ebracteolatus and P. ophthalmicus using sequences and morphology, with P. ophthalmicus being acknowledged as its correct name. Furthermore, the plant extracts proved to be efficient as an α-glucosidase inhibitor.


Abstract The ability of cells to sense and adapt to curvy topographical features has been implicated in organ morphogenesis, tissue repair, and tumor metastasis. However, how individual cells or multicellular assemblies sense and differentiate curvatures remains elusive. Here, we reveal a curvature sensing mechanism in which surface tension can selectively activate either actin or integrin flows, leading to bifurcating cell migration modes: focal adhesion formation that enables cell crawling at convex front edges and actin cable assembly that pulls cells forward at concave front edges. The molecular flows and curved front morphogenesis are sustained by coordinated cellular tension generation and transmission. We track the molecular flows and mechanical force transduction pathways by a phase-field model, which predicts that multicellular curvature sensing is more efficient than individual cells, suggesting collective intelligence of cells. The unique ability of cells in curvature sensing and migration mode bifurcating may offer insights into emergent collective patterns and functions of living active systems at different length scales.


Loneliness among older adults has emerged as a specific social phenomenon relatively recently – in developed countries just a few decades ago. In Russia, due to its initially strong family-oriented culture, this problem presented itself even later, following the collapse of Soviet society. This article analyses probable social policy adjustments aimed at reducing the negative impact of loneliness on the older generation. We address the issue of loneliness assessment and prevention involving older adults themselves and social workers as experts. The methodology of 'expert seminars' involves comparing preliminary subjective assessments of the phenomenon under consideration with a final assessment of its contributing factors. Two groups of experts disagree on both the general assessment of loneliness and how to outline the loneliness-provoking factors and solutions suggested to combat it. Social workers have assumed that loneliness can be mitigated by developing an age-friendly environment, which improves the quality of life of the older generation. Older adults, however, clearly revealed in discussions during expert seminars and in their final recommendations that impersonal environment-oriented measures are not specific enough to tackle loneliness. In recent decades, political elites have made significant efforts to promote the importance, necessity and, to a large extent, the inevitability of delegating greater responsibility for the well-being of older adults to older adults themselves. However, participants of our Tomsk expert seminars were unwilling to take responsibility and continued to rely heavily on the social protection system rather than on personal resources or family support.


Tenure security in developed countries is generally explicit while in developing countries it is generally implicit. To reduce poverty, empower the poor, and ensure economic growth, security of tenure is essential. The rural poor and vulnerable groups in Nigeria have tenure insecurity, yet the extent of this insecurity is unknown in many rural communities. This study used the New Continuum of Land Rights Model (NCLRM) developed by Whittal (2014) to measure the tenure security of the rural poor in Itaji-Ekiti. A single case study approach using qualitative method was adopted for the research design. Four land right types emerged from the study: informal occupation, formal occupation, customary, and registered leasehold. These land rights are interpreted using the triple vertical axes of legitimacy, legality and certainty. Despite strong legitimacy and legality, the results show that tenure insecurity exists in Itaji-Ekiti due to weak certainty. Bad land governance is the cause of this. The use of NCLRM in Itaji-Ekiti provides an understanding of the tenure situation. This model has the potential for use in the development of pro-poor land policy that could be used as an example in other developing countries.


The structural and photoluminescence properties of Eu3+-doped Y2Sn2O7 nanoparticles have been systematically studied as a function of heat treatment temperature. Crystalline Y2Sn2O7:Eu nanoparticles with sizes in the range of 2–5 nm were prepared at the relatively low temperature of 700 °C. Based on the Rietveld refinement of powder X-ray diffraction patterns, it was confirmed that the YO8/EuO8 polyhedra in the Y2Sn2O7:Eu lattice become more symmetric as the annealing temperature increases. The extent of distortion of the YO8/EuO8 polyhedra is reflected in the luminescence parameters Ω2 and Ω4, which are a measure of the polarizability of Y–O and Eu–O bonds in the lattice. There are a significant number of surface Eu3+ ions in the nanoparticles annealed at 700 °C and the emission intensities of the Eu3+ ions in the nanoparticles are mainly decided by the surface Eu3+ ions, the concentration of which decreases with increasing temperature. Incorporation of the nanoparticles in a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix leads to a decrease in the 5D0 lifetime and this has been attributed to the quenching of the excited states of surface Eu3+ ions through the vibrations of different structural units in PMMA.


The issue of selection of IMF (and other international financial institutions) has been heightened by the resignation of IMF Managing Director Horst Kohler. Controversy focuses on whether a 60-year old convention reserving the IMF leadership for a European (and the World Bank for a U.S. citizen) is adequate for the current global economy. Proposals for a more open and transparent selection process have been made, although it appears that the current selection process will follow the traditional procedure. Nonetheless, reform of the process is of active concern and will likely arise again in 2005 with the selection of a new World Bank president. This report discusses the traditional process and proposals for reform. It will not be updated.


A fast way of computing quotients and remainders by numbers belonging to the class 2n ± 1 has been presented, and the related hardware implementations described. The main interest of this technique lies in its applications to address skewing and address mapping in parallel memory systems. Although the proposed implementations are based on two input adders, the basic principles can be extended in a straigthforward manner to three input adders, allowing even faster modular reduction / division circuits to be assembled.


We present a novel method for modeling contact areas and ligament lengths in articulations. Our approach uses volume images generated by computed tomography and allows the in vivo and noninvasive study of articulations. In our method, bones are modeled both implicitly (scalar distance fields) and parametrically (manifold surfaces). Using this double representation, we compute interbone distances and estimate joint contact areas. Using the same types of representation, we model ligament paths; in our model, the ligaments are approximated by the shortest paths in a three-dimensional space with bone obstacles. We demonstrate the method by applying our contact area and ligament model to the distal radioulnar joints of a volunteer diagnosed with malunited distal radius fracture in one forearm. Our approach highlights focal changes in the articulation at the distal radioulnar joint (location and area of bone contact) and potential soft-tissue constraints (increased "length" of the distal ligaments and ligament-bone impingement in the injured forearm). Results suggest that the method could be useful in the study of normal and injured anatomy and kinematics of complex joints.


Significance
 The MNB's first rate rise in a decade responds to headline inflation rising to the highest rate in the EU. The US Federal Reserve (Fed) decision to bring forward raising interest rates to 2023 is putting emerging market (EM) assets under increasing strain and heaping pressure on Central Europe's central banks to begin tightening.

 Impacts
 Capital markets' 'hunt for yield' will bolster EM bond and equity funds despite concerns about the Fed's withdrawal of stimulus.
 The vast majority of investors are behaving as if the current surge in inflation will prove transitory.
 A sharp deterioration in sentiment may follow if price pressures last longer than expected.
 Brent crude's rise to its highest level since October 2018, despite the recent rally in the US dollar, will fuel inflationary pressures.


Silane crosslinked polyethylene cable insulation occasionally fails to meet the aging requirements given in technical standards. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this phenomena and establish whether the safety margin of aging tests can be increased by changes in manufacture or test procedures. Using a number of cable types with different compositions and dimensions, the evolution of the absolute values of tensile strength and elongation at break upon aging was obtained. The results show that the major changes in mechanical properties happen within the first 24-48 h. This finding is valid both for ethylene vinylsilane copolymers and for grafted silane systems. In general, the effect is more pronounced for the 100°C compatibility test. Statistical analysis shows that insulation crosslinked in a hot waterbath will exhibit this behavior to a lesser extent, thus increasing the safety margin in aging tests, compared with ambient curing. This paper demonstrates that preconditioning at 70°C has no significant impact on aging properties. In addition, only small variations in mechanical properties were seen when changing the process parameters. It is concluded that further crosslinking is the principal cause of the phenomena under investigation.


According to the annual report published by American Cancer Society ( ACS ) in 2018, about 0.3 million women are diagnosed with the deadly disease of breast cancer, among them, 40,000 were died due to breast cancer. For early detection of breast cancer, mammography screening is the most widely used method. It can improve survival rates. The sensitivity of mammogram depends upon the quality of the X-ray image. During acquisition and screening process the image is corrupted by noise, which can lead to the wrong diagnosis or minor tumors may not be marked by the radiologist. Moreover, due to low contrast nature of mammogram images, detection of specific diagnostic signs like masses and microcalcifications is a challenging problem. To cop up with this type of errors and discrepancies, computer-aided diagnosis ( CAD ) tools along with mammogram images is the only way forward. The advancement in the field of information and computing technology coupled with efficient image processing algorithms explores new ways for early detection of the breast tumor and image enhancement. In this paper, we have evaluated the performance of state of the art adaptive algorithm i.e. LSM combined with the connected components technique for the enhancement and segmentation of mammogram and detection of masses or lesions respectively. Additionally, we considered feature vector based on gray features i.e. gray value, window mean and standard deviation, which describes the extraction area i.e. region of interest ( ROI ). Results are evaluated in terms of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. Proposed system exhibited encouraging results of 80% accuracy in the detection of clustered masses and tumors. The mammogram images used in our research are taken from Digital Database for Screening Mammograms ( DDSM ).


Post-editing of machine translation (MT) is now increasingly implemented in the human translation workflow after studies in both industry and academia have demon-strated the efficacy of this practice. Post-editing still involves open questions, however, such as how best to train post-editors and how to estimate the effort required by post-editing tasks. In attempting to address some of these questions, many previous studies investigate the post-editing process, but less research has focused on the post-edited product. This chapter examines the link between the process and product of post-editing by checking to see how post-editing effort data related to the quality of post-edited texts, assessed in terms of fluency (linguistic quality) and adequacy (trans-lation accuracy). A statistical analysis indicated that the association between editing operations and the fluency of post-edited texts is dependent on the quality of the raw MT output. Interestingly, a negative association was observed between the number of eye fixations on the text and the quality of the post-edited translations. The chapter shows empirical evidence supporting the distinction between the concepts of translation fluency and adequacy, and postulates that automatic processes play a central role in post-editing performance.


This research investigated cultural differences in the use of, and responses to, gratitude statements in unsolicited email advertising messages. Study 1 found that Americans, compared with Koreans, were more positive about a message that included a gratitude statement (i.e., "Thank You"). Study 2 showed no cultural differences in responses to an email message that included a gratitude statement and one that omitted a gratitude statement. When participants in Study 3 were instructed to pay attention to the gratitude statement itself, Americans, compared with Koreans, viewed the gratitude statement more positively and considered the advertiser of the gratitude statement–included message as more credible. Americans had a greater intention to include a gratitude statement in their own advertising messages than did Koreans. In fact, Study 4 showed that when participants saw a gratitude statement–included example, a greater number of Americans, compared with Koreans included a gratitude statement in their own message.


C. elegans is the premier system for the systematic analysis of cell fate specification and morphogenetic events during embryonic development. One challenge is that embryogenesis dynamically unfolds over a period of about 13 h; this half day-long timescale has constrained the scope of experiments by limiting the number of embryos that can be imaged. Here, we describe a semi-high-throughput protocol that allows for the simultaneous 3D time-lapse imaging of development in 80-100 embryos at moderate time resolution, from up to 14 different conditions, in a single overnight run. The protocol is straightforward and can be implemented by any laboratory with access to a microscope with point visiting capacity. The utility of this protocol is demonstrated by using it to image two custom-built strains expressing fluorescent markers optimized to visualize key aspects of germ-layer specification and morphogenesis. To analyze the data, a custom program that crops individual embryos out of a broader field of view in all channels, z-steps, and timepoints and saves the sequences for each embryo into a separate tiff stack was built. The program, which includes a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI), streamlines data processing by isolating, pre-processing, and uniformly orienting individual embryos in preparation for visualization or automated analysis. Also supplied is an ImageJ macro that compiles individual embryo data into a multi-panel file that displays maximum intensity fluorescence projection and brightfield images for each embryo at each time point. The protocols and tools described herein were validated by using them to characterize embryonic development following knock-down of 40 previously described developmental genes; this analysis visualized previously annotated developmental phenotypes and revealed new ones. In summary, this work details a semi-high-throughput imaging method coupled with a cropping program and ImageJ visualization tool that, when combined with strains expressing informative fluorescent markers, greatly accelerates experiments to analyze embryonic development.


Many natural, technological and social systems are inherently not in equilibrium. We show, by detailed analysis of exemplar models, the emergence of equilibriumlike behavior in localized or nonlocalized domains within nonequilibrium Ising spin systems. Equilibrium domains are shown to emerge either abruptly or gradually depending on the system parameters and disappear, becoming indistinguishable from the remainder of the system for other parameter values.


Seismic monitoring of the Basel Enhanced Geothermal System has been running for more than a decade. Yet the details of the long‐term behavior of its induced seismicity remained unexplored because a seismic event catalog with consistent detection sensitivity and magnitudes did not exist. This knowledge is essential for developing guidelines and mitigation procedures on how to safely operate and terminate injection activities. Only few observational data exist that cover all phases of such projects in a consistent manner. Here we describe a method that overcomes these deficiencies based on sensitive matched filter detection and a machine learning approach to remove false detections. With an emphasis on consistency, we create a catalog that contains more than 280,000 events down to Mw−1.5. The much higher temporal resolution allows us to analyze induced microearthquakes in great detail and to gain new insights. We resolved temporal variations of seismicity parameters and, in the post‐operational phase, a preferential temporal clustering of events. We find a breakdown in the Gutenberg‐Richter scaling during reservoir stimulation, which may have physical reasons or could be caused by a method‐independent detection limit during high event rates. The scaling breakdown has implications for the design of Adaptive Traffic Light Systems and may limit the potential of real‐time mitigation strategies in future Enhanced Geothermal System projects. Nevertheless, our catalog gives the opportunity to study the temporal evolution of the sequence in unprecedented detail, which will help to better understand the physical processes in a geothermal reservoir, potentially not only in the Basel case.


Background. In recent decade, skin cancers are considered as a serious threat to the population health. Goal. Assessment of the dynamics of indicators characterizing the epidemiological manifestations of melanoma and other skin cancers among the population of the Altaiskiy krai in 2007–2016, as well as making a forecast for the next ten-year period. Materials and methods. The general and standardized melanoma and other skin cancers incidence (mortality) rates of the Altaiskiy krai population for the period 2007– 2016 have been calculated. A component analysis of the dynamic changes in morbidity during the studied period was carried out. The risk of development to 75, 85 years old and throughout life of the studied cancers was assessed for a residents of the Altaiskiy krai. The nonlinear extrapolation method was used to calculate the predicted values for the next ten years. Results. The melanoma and other skin cancers incidence rates in the population of Altaiskiy krai in the study period were 5.7 (95% CI 5.4 – 6.0) and 63.4 (95% CI 62.4 – 64.4) per 100 th population and tended to increase (5.2 and 3.1% per year, respectively), which was due to both demographic processes (42.1 and 68.6% respectively), and activation of risk factors (80.6 and 66.7%, respectively). The risk of melanoma and other skin cancer over a lifetime for a resident of the Altaiskiy krai was 0.37 and 4.12%, respectively. Conclusion. Thus, the revealed unfavorable tendencies to the growth of melanoma and other skin cancers morbidity rates in Altaiskiy krai during the studied period testify to the need to improve preventive measures and surveillance.


Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is currently implementing the Continuous Risk Management (CRM) Program developed by the Carnegie Mellon University and recommended by NASA as the Risk Management (RM) implementation approach. The four most frequently used risk assessment tools in the center are: (a) Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Hazard Analysis (HA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and Probabilistic Risk Analysis (PRA). There are some guidelines for selecting the type of risk assessment tools during the project formulation phase of a project, but there is not enough guidance as to how to apply these tools in the Continuous Risk Management process (CRM). But the ways the safety and risk assessment tools are used make a significant difference in the effectiveness in the risk management function. Decisions regarding, what events are to be included in the analysis, to what level of details should the analysis be continued, make significant difference in the effectiveness of risk management program. Tools of risk analysis also depends on the phase of a project e.g. at the initial phase of a project, when not much data are available on hardware, standard FMEA cannot be applied; instead a functional FMEA may be appropriate. This study attempted to provide some directives to alleviate the difficulty in applying FTA, PRA, and FMEA in the CRM process. Hazard Analysis was not included in the scope of the study due to the short duration of the summer research project.


The present study was designed to examine the effects of lifestyle modification on key contributing factors to atherogenesis, including oxidative stress, inflammation, chemotaxis, and cell adhesion. Obese men (n = 31), 15 of whom had metabolic syndrome, were placed on a high-fiber, low-fat diet in a 3-wk residential program where food was provided ad libitum and daily aerobic exercise was performed. In each subject, pre- and postintervention fasting blood was drawn for circulating levels of serum lipids, glucose and insulin (for estimation of insulin sensitivity), oxidative stress-generating enzyme myeloperoxidase and marker 8-isoprostaglandin F2alpha, the inflammatory protein C-reactive protein, soluble ICAM-1 as an indicator of endothelial activation, sP-selectin as a marker of platelet activation, the chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, and total matrix metalloproteinase-9. Using subject sera and human aortic endothelial cell culture systems, we measured VCAM-1 cell surface abundance and monocyte chemotactic protein-1, nitric oxide, superoxide, and hydrogen peroxide production in vitro by fluorometric detection. Also determined in vitro was serum-induced, monocyte adhesion and monocyte chemotactic activity. After 3 wk, significant reductions (P < 0.05) in body mass index, all serum lipids and lipid ratios, fasting glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance, myeloperoxidase, 8-isoprostaglandin F2alpha, C-reactive protein, soluble ICAM-1, soluble P-selectin, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 were noted. In vitro, serum-stimulated cellular VCAM-1 expression, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 production, and fluorometric detection of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide production decreased, whereas a concomitant increase in NO production was noted (all P < 0.01). Additionally, both monocyte adhesion (P < 0.05) and MCA (P < 0.01) decreased. Nine of 15 were no longer positive for metabolic syndrome postintervention. Intensive lifestyle modification may ameliorate novel coronary artery disease risk factors in men with metabolic syndrome factors before reversal of obesity.


This article investigated the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the management practices in 36 Malaysian schools. The questionnaire used for this study was the 'School Management Team Questionnaire' developed and validated by the authors. It was designed to be answered by the school principals or senior assistants of the schools that participated in the Smart Schools pilot Project (SSPP). The analysis revealed that the impact has resulted in changes that include the enrichment of the OCT culture among students and teachers, more efficient student and teacher administration, better accessibility to information and a higher utilization of school resources. This analysis also revealed that time constraints, higher administrative costs, negative acceptance/support from some untrained staff, abuse of the ICT facilities and problems related to the imposed rigid procedural requirements are among the challenges encountered by the schools. According to the authors, the key challenge remains the transformation of the traditional learning environment into a new learning environment that necessitates the teachers to change their teaching pedagogy from that of knowledge instruction to knowledge construction. While the head of each institution at the agency, federal, state, district and school levels is the driver of the implementation, the study shows that the success requires the full support of parents and the community.


The standard backward‐facing step flow problem is solved for steady state laminar case using stream function‐vorticity method. The steady state results are obtained as the asymptotic solution of the transient formulation. The primary reattachment length is studied and the discrepancy in the v velocity is reported. A method for determining appropriate locations for comparison is proposed. The energy equation is solved and found to be in good agreement with benchmark results. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The formation and properties of a new class of self-assembled monolayers (SAM) of aryl isocyanides and diisocyanides based on the nonbenzenoid azulenic framework have been investigated using FTIR spectroscopy and ellipsometry. Syntheses of several new members of the isocyanoazulene family, a recently established type of aryl isocyanides, are reported as well. The FTIR spectra for the isocyanoazulene derivatives absorbed on the gold surface indicate the terminal upright coordination of every isocyanoazulene molecule studied. In addition, the ellipsometric thicknesses have been measured and are consistent with those calculated for single monolayers of the isocyanides oriented along the surface normal. Unlike SAMs of some benzenoid aryl isocyanides, the nonbenzenoid isocyanoazule-based SAMs proved resistant to oxidation, oligomerization, and isomerization into the corresponding nitriles under ambient conditions, which is an important prerequisite to their future applications.


A 7‐fold symmetric particle has been identified in Neurospora crassa which is most probably the mitochondrial chaperonin. The particle, about 12 nm in diameter, appears in preparations of cytochrome reductase, and is shown to contain a 60 kd protein which cross‐reacts with anti‐GroEL antibodies. Results of STEM mass measurement suggest that the particle is composed of 14 subunits. A preliminary interpretation of the structure of the particle based on electron microscopy is given. Its quaternary structure and molecular weight are similar to those of the recently discovered family of particles called chaperonins, found in bacteria, chloroplasts and mitochondria.


We present CASTING, a computer assisted software test engineering method. The method, supported by a prototype tool, generates realistic software test suites in a formal and semi-automatic way. Based on a two-layer modular architecture, CASTING is not tied to any particular style of input. Initially designed to engineer functional test suites from formal specifications, CASTING can easily be instantiated to accept other formal description levels, seamlessly supporting the main industrial testing techniques, ranging from functional testing to structural testing. A simple process scheduler specification is used in this paper to illustrate the interaction facilities of CASTING and to provide a sample of the resulting test suites.


A new wideband differentially fed dual-polarized antenna with stable radiation pattern for base stations is proposed and studied. A cross-shaped feeding structure is specially designed to fit the differentially fed scheme and four parasitic loop elements are employed to achieve a wide impedance bandwidth. A stable antenna gain and a stable radiation pattern are realized by using a rectangular cavity-shaped reflector instead of a planar one. A detailed parametric study was performed to optimize the antenna's performances. After that, a prototype was fabricated and tested. Measured results show that the antenna achieves a wide impedance bandwidth of 52% with differential standing-wave ratio <1.5 from 1.7 to 2.9 GHz and a high differential port-to-port isolation of better than 26.3 dB within the operating frequency bandwidth. A stable antenna gain ( $\approx 8$  dBi) and a stable radiation pattern with 3-dB beamwidth of 65° ±5° were also found over the operating frequencies. Moreover, the proposed antenna can be easily built by using printed circuit board fabrication technique due to its compact and planar structure.


Macrocage molecules with a bridged phenylene rotor have been synthesized as molecular gyrotops, whose cages were constructed by ring-closing metathesis (RCM) of bis(trialkenylsilyl)benzenes. An analysis of the yields of the products in the RCM reaction under various temperature conditions revealed that the desired cage, i.e., a molecular gyrotop, was produced in good yield under reflux, indicating that the cage is a thermodynamically controlled product.


The ovarian cancers have a low incidence rate and a high mortality rate mainly due to a late diagnosis. The potential value of ultrasonography and measurements of tumour associated markers to detect early ovarian cancer suggest the interest of a screening strategy. The analysis of the conditions for efficacy of a such screening program, of the predictive values of ultrasonography and tumour associated markers measurements and of the results of preliminary studies does not confirm on a rational basis the potential interest of screening strategies.


White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) proliferate as the brain ages and are associated with increased risk for cognitive decline as well as Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. As such, WMHs have been targeted as a surrogate biomarker in intervention trials with older adults. However, it is unclear at what stage of aging WMHs begin to relate to cognition and if they may be a viable target for early prevention. In a population-representative birth cohort of 843 45-year-olds we measured WMHs using T2-weighted MRI, and we assessed cognitive decline from childhood to midlife. We found that WMHs were common at age 45 and that WMH volume was modestly associated with both lower childhood (ß=-0.08, p=0.013) and adult IQ (ß=-0.15, p<0.001). Moreover, WMH volume was associated with greater cognitive decline from childhood to midlife (ß=-0.09, p<0.001). Our results demonstrate that a link between WMHs and early signs of cognitive decline is detectable decades before clinical symptoms of dementia emerge. Thus, WMHs may be a useful surrogate biomarker for identifying individuals in midlife at risk for future accelerated cognitive decline and selecting participants for dementia prevention trials.


Providing quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees over wireless packet networks requires a thorough understanding and quantification of the interactions among the traffic source, the wireless channel characteristics, the underlying link-layer error control mechanisms, and the various packet dropping policies adopted by the upper network layers. We explore the idea of cooperation among some of these different aspects to assist the packet level error recovery. First, we revise UDP to tolerate a certain amount of channel error and to allow the delivery of partially corrupted packets. Secondly, we propose a novel technique to resolve the problem of missed bits without the need to identify their exact locations. It is based on modifying the stack algorithm for convolutional decoding. Simulation results establish the effectiveness of the proposed approach for detecting and correcting missed bits, which have direct impact on packet loss and on the overall system performance.


We have studied the electronic structure of the ferromagnetic double perovskites Sr2CrReO6, Sr2CrWO6 and Ba2FeReO6 by means of a full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital density-functional method. Our scalar-relativistic calculations predict these compounds to be half-metallic with a total magnetic moment of 1, 2, and 3 µB respectively. However, when the spin-orbit coupling is included, the 5d transition Re and W ions exhibit substantial unquenched orbital magnetic moments, resulting in a significant increase of the total magnetic moment. The half-metallic gap turns into a pseudo-gap in Sr2CrReO6 and Ba2FeReO6 when the spin-orbit coupling is included whereas Sr2CrWO6 remains half-metallic even with spin-orbit coupling. The calculated spin and orbital magnetic moments agrees well with the recent experimental XMCD measurements.


In this review, we describe both theoretical and experimental results on the dynamics of liquid bridges under isothermal conditions with fixed triple contact lines. These two major restrictions allow us to focus on a well-defined body of literature, which has not as yet been reviewed in a comprehensive way. Attention is mainly paid to liquid bridges suspended in air, although studies about the liquid–liquid configuration are also taken into account. We travel the path from equilibrium to nonlinear dynamics of both Newtonian liquid bridges and those made of complex fluids. Specifically, we consider equilibrium shapes and their stability, linear dynamics in free and forced oscillations under varied conditions, weakly nonlinear behavior leading to streaming flows, fully nonlinear motion arising during stretching and breakup of liquid bridges, and problems related to rheological effects and the presence of surfactant monolayers. Although attention is mainly paid to fundamental aspects of these problems, some applications derived from the results are also mentioned. In this way, we intend to connect the two approaches to the liquid bridge problem, something that both theoreticians and experimentalists may find interesting.


ABSTRACT qnrB is the most common of the five qnr families and has the greatest number of allelic variants. Almost two-thirds of the qnrB alleles have been reported in Citrobacter spp., and several were shown to be located on the chromosome. In this study, PCR was used to investigate the prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes in 71 clinical isolates belonging to the Citrobacter freundii complex. Thirty-seven percent contained qnrB alleles, including 7 (qnrB32 to qnrB38) that were novel and 1 pseudogene, while none contained qnrA, qnrC, qnrD, qnrS, or aac(6′)-Ib-cr. When the strains were arrayed by related 16S rRNA sequence and further separated into subspecies by biochemical criteria, clustering of qnrB-positive strains was evident. In only two strains with qnrB2 and qnrB4 was quinolone resistance transferable by conjugation, and only these strains contained the ISCR1 sequence that is often associated with qnrB on plasmids. Five of 26 qnrB-positive strains contained integrase genes, but these included the strains with qnrB2 and qnrB4 as well as two strains with other transmissible plasmids. In a fully sequenced genome of Citrobacter youngae, a member of the C. freundii complex, another novel qnrB allele, qnrB39, occurs in a sequence of genes that is 90% identical to sequence surrounding integron-associated qnrB4 incorporated into plasmids. The chromosome of Citrobacter is the likely source of plasmid-mediated qnrB.


Wastewater disinfection has attracted attention with regard to fecal–oral transmission during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China. Disinfection reduces the risk posed by waterborne pathogens; however, it threatens ecological safety. Comprising residual disinfectants, disinfection byproducts (DBPs), and other contaminants, disinfected wastewater effluents have a negative impact on aquatic organisms as well as on the balance of the aquatic ecosystem of the recipient water body. Here, we reviewed the in vivo toxicity bioassays of disinfected wastewater effluents on the aquatic organisms at different trophic levels, including freshwater organisms and marine organisms. Associated variables, i.e., total suspended solids (TSSs), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), residual disinfectants, and features of the effluent (water temperature and sampling season), can significantly influence the results of these in vivo toxicity bioassays. Each typical test organism has its own pros and cons, where the species type, life stages, and test endpoints have crucial influences on the bioassays; therefore, they should be taken into account before and during the studies on ecotoxicological effects. More efforts should be expended toward conducting more practical bioassays involving the scenarios of the recipient water body in order to better simulate real ecotoxicological effects of disinfected wastewater effluents; extended exposure time should be considered to gain additional insights into the long-term or pass-generation ecotoxicological effects, approaching true levels in the recipient water body.


Deciding on the best dedicated server hosting can be a tricky task even if you are tech-savvy. However, with the many options available, you should be able to find something that fits all your requirements along with your budget. Who is the right choice, however, and is the same choice right for everyone?


We describe a model-independent evaluation of the possibility of extracting detailed lattice dynamical information from neutron powder diffraction data. The method, which we first reported recently [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 075502 (2004)], is extended to include consideration of crystal symmetry. This is exploited to reduce errors in the approach and to allow unambiguous assignment of normal modes. The experimental and computational requirements are explored, with particular attention to the use of the reverse Monte Carlo method for generating atomistic configurations. Phonon-dispersion curves, extracted from neutron total scattering data using the technique, are presented for magnesium oxide and strontium titanate. These are used to illustrate the sensitivity and limitations of this method.


The development of functionalized polymers that can elicit specific biological responses is of great interest in the biomedical community, as well as the development of methods to fabricate these biologically functionalized polymers. For example, the generation of fibrous matrices with biological properties and fiber diameters commensurate with those of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) may permit the development of novel materials for use in wound healing or tissue engineering. The goal of this work is, therefore, to create a biologically active functionalized electrospun matrix to permit immobilization and long-term delivery of growth factors. In this work, poly(ethylene glycol) functionalized with low molecular weight heparin (PEG-LMWH) was fabricated into fibers for possible use in drug delivery, tissue engineering, or wound repair applications. Electrospinning was chosen to process the LMWH into fiber form due to the small fiber diameters and high degree of porosity that can be obtained relatively quickly and using small amounts of starting material. Both free LMWH and PEG-LMWH were investigated for their ability to be incorporated into electrospun fibers. Each of the samples were mixed with a carrier polymer consisting of either a 10 wt % poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) or 45 wt % poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA). Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), UV-vis spectroscopy, and multiphoton microscopy were used to characterize the electrospun matrices. The incorporation of heparin into the electrospun PEO and PLGA fibers did not affect the surface morphology or fiber diameters. The fibers produced had diameters ranging from approximately 100 to 400 nm. Toluidine blue assays of heparin suggest that it can be incorporated into an electrospun matrix at concentrations ranging from 3.5 to 85 mug per milligram of electrospun fibers. Multiphoton microscopy confirmed that incorporation of PEG-LMWH into the matrix permits retention of the heparin for at least 14 days. Improvements in the binding of basic fibroblast growth factor to the electrospun fibers were also observed for fibers functionalized with PEG-LMWH over those functionalized with LMWH alone. The combination of these results suggests the utility for producing electrospun fibers that are appropriately functionalized for use in biomaterials applications.


Vertigo, a symptom of illusory movement, is caused by asymmetry of the vestibular system. The vestibular system consists of the vestibular labyrinth, cranial nerve VIII, brainstem vestibular nuclei, cerebellum, ocular motor nuclei, spinal cord, and less well-defined cerebral projections. In this day and age of artificial intelligence, machine learning, advanced imaging, and cutting-edge research in the field of neurology, the exact cortical control of vestibular function is still uncharted. A 45-year-old woman with a past medical history of labyrinthitis about 4.5 years ago (resolved) presented to hospital due to severe dizziness, emesis, and mild vertical diplopia for the past few days. Her symptom of dizziness i.e. room spinning was continuous without any postural component. MRI of the brain revealed a small stroke in the left hippocampal area, more specifically alveus of hippocampus. The patient was started on dual antiplatelet therapy and atorvastatin for secondary stroke prevention. Follow-up visit as an outpatient at one-month post hospital discharge was unremarkable without any recurrence of vertigo symptoms. We believe this may indicate that the limbic lobe has a much larger role in vestibular functioning than previously thought, and may control more vestibular operations than any other central nervous system area.


A crossed beam technique has been used to investigate the angular distribution of electrons photodetached from the weakly-bound excited (2p3)2D state of the C- ion via the (2p2) 3P epsilon s,d channels. At a photon energy of 2.076 eV the asymmetry parameter was measured to be 0.38+or-0.05. No theoretical predictions are currently available.


Sudden infant deaths might be attributable to adverse reaction to vaccination, but separating them from coincidental occurrences is difficult. This study retrospectively investigated vaccination-related details and postmortem findings for 57 cases of sudden death in children 2 years or younger. Data were extracted from autopsy files at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine. Vaccination histories were available in 50 cases based on the maternity passbook. Of the 32 cases in which any vaccines were administered, 7 infants (21.9%) had received immunization within 7 days of death. The most frequent vaccine cited as the last immunization before death was Haemophilus influenzae B. Although a temporal association of vaccines with sudden death was present for two 3-month-old and one 14-month-old infants in whom death occurred within 3 days of receiving the H. influenzae type b and other vaccinations, a definitive relationship between the vaccine and death could not be identified. Histopathological examinations revealed pneumonia and upper respiratory infection as contributing to death in their cases. Moreover, all 3 cases showed hemophagocytosis in the spleen and lymph nodes, which are similar features to hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Judgment of the disorders as truly related to vaccination is difficult, but suspicious cases do exist. Forensic pathologists must devote more attention to vaccination in sudden infant death cases.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Medical Logistics (MEDLOG) is a function of the Army's integrated System for Health that provides the medical products and specialized logistics services required to deliver health protection and care under all operational conditions. In unified land operations, MEDLOG is an inherent function of Health Service Support (HSS), which also includes casualty care and medical evacuation. This paper focuses on a few key lessons observed during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom with direct implications for the support of HSS in future operations as envisioned in the Army Operating Concept and the Joint Concept for Health Services. It also examines a few key enablers that helped mitigate these challenges that are not yet fully acknowledged in Army Medical Department doctrine, policy, and planning.


The role of irinotecan-based chemotherapy as induction treatment of non-resectable advanced colorectal cancer (ACRC) is currently being elucidated. The objective of this retrospective study was to determine complete resection (R0), response rate, time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) in patients with non-resectable ACRC after being treated with neoadjuvant irinotecan-based chemotherapy. Thirty-six patients with ACRC were selected, of whom 23 (64%) were treated with irinotecan (250 mg/m2 on day 1), UFT (300 mg/m2/day for 14 days) plus leucovorin (45 mg/day for 14 days) every 3 weeks. Another 13 (36%) received the FOLFIRI schedule of irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin. A total of 214 cycles of irinotecan/UFT/LV (median 8, range 1–15) and 97 cycles of the FOLFIRI schedule (median 9, range 1–30) were administered. The overall response rate was 58% (95% confidence interval 42–74), with six complete and 15 partial responses, whereas seven patients (19%) showed stable disease. Laparotomy was performed in 12 patients, of whom eight (22%) achieved R0 and two (6%) a pathological complete response. Median TTP was 10.0 months and median OS was 38.0 months for all patients. After a median follow-up of 20 months (range 1–49), median TTP in patients with R0 was not reached (mean TTP, 33.1 months), whereas median TTP in non-resected patients was 7.5 months (p=0.016). Toxicity was manageable and no toxic deaths occurred. This retrospective study showed a high resectability rate, and a prolonged TTP and OS in patients with ACRC after induction treatment with irinotecan-based chemotherapy. Both toxicity profile and postoperative complications were acceptable. Nevertheless, the definitive role of irinotecan as induction treatment should be confirmed in future clinical trials.