This article develops an anthropology of the body in its material and social environment among the Cashinahua (Huni Kuin) from Brazilian and Peruvian Amazonia. The Cashinahua body, it shows, is thought of as produced by others, not as growing naturally. Growth can be defined as the corporeal accumulation of knowledge in the form of "soul." The article describes the verbal, medical, and other techniques used to transform it into "a body that knows." In the Cashinahua understanding, a healthy body is one that constantly learns through the senses and expresses the accumulated knowledge in social action and speech. An ill body is one that no longer knows. Curing, therefore, acts to restore a person's capacity to know. The whole article defends the proposition, then, that a prior condition for any medical anthropology in the Cashinahua case is a thorough examination of Cashinahua epistemology. Finally, through comparative discussion of other peoples in lowland South America, it seeks to show that this is also the case more widely in the ethnographic region. Ultimately, it suggests that ethnography in lowland South America undermines the possibility of a "medical anthropology" per se.


Summary Memory complaints and altered states of consciousness with automatic behaviour of narcoleptic patients indicate cognitive dysfunctioning. Although more problems arise while performing attention tasks than memory tasks, the neuropsychological test inquiry doesn't indicate one particular neuropsychological function as consistently impaired. They often perform well because they compensate impaired wakefulness by an increased willingness to respond. Neurophysiological research indicates that the sometimes occurring cognitive dysfunction is associated with a waxing and waning between wakefulness and sleep. The increased psychopathology is partly a reflection of, partly a reaction to the symptoms. The impact of hypersomnia on psychosocial functioning is more important than that of epilepsy in epileptics. In severe cases smoking and driving should better be dissuaded.


Many decades of exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources have adversely affected the host communities in the Niger Delta. Environmental degradation, loss of means of livelihood, unemployment, poverty, loss of lives and general underdevelopment characterized the region. These formidable odds that threaten the survival of the Niger Delta people triggered off various shades of interminable violent agitations by militants that involved hostage taking and attacks on oil installations. These agitations, no doubt, reduced crude oil production and had adverse effect onthe national economy. This prompted the Nigerian state to intermittently launch attacks on the militants. In spite of the bombardments by the military Joint Task Force, the militants remain resolute in their agitations. Disturbed by the security and economic challenges, the Nigerian state came out with the amnesty initiative. The initiative was designed for the militants to surrender their arms, renounce militancy and also create a favourable atmosphere for the sustainable development of the region. This paper is geared towards examining theoretically, the efficacy of the amnesty initiative in finding solution to the general problem of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta. Situating the discourse within economic integration framework, the paper argues succinctly that the amnesty initiative is intentionally designed to deceitfully disarm the militants and create an enabling environment for the multinational oil companies to operate unhindered while ignoring the burning issues of underdevelopment that triggered the violent agitations in the first place. In order to avert a relapse into militancy, the Nigerian state must develop a credible rehabilitation package for the ex-militants and a holistic framework that can adequately address the problem of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta.


Most published reports of patient safety in clinical practice focus largely on the culture of safety in complex health systems, separate from pre-approval and postmarketing research-related safety considerations for drugs, biologics, and other medical products. The science of safety requires a linked integrated perspective, i.e., an iterative process examining and relating safety concerns from drug or biologic discovery and development in preclinical stages, clinical trials and post-market use, research, surveillance, and potential regulatory changes. This commentary addresses the science of safety across the lifecycle of drug and biological products, regulatory considerations, barriers, and research needs. This paper provides a brief overview on how the functioning of healthcare systems affects the safety environment and describes how stakeholder involvement, research participation, and targeted education and training can help facilitate better safety measures and practices, provide improved quality of care to patients, and contribute to the science of safety.
Conflict of Interest
We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received), employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties".

Type: Commentary


Surface restructuring is a useful approach to modulating the properties of nanoparticles. A low-dimensional atomic-thickness active species may exhibit remarkably enhanced activity, in contrast to the inert nature of its bulk counterparts. Here, we report a procedure for growing in situ a low-dimensional monolayer-thick MoO3 entity from its bulk precursor. Traditional analysis of NO abatement catalyzed by vanadium-based materials implicates vanadium as the active site enhanced by the promoter element W or Mo. However, we report here that the atomic-thickness MoO3 film can function alone as an efficient NO abatement catalyst by itself; to achieve comparable performance with the industrial catalysts, it is not necessary to add vanadium oxide, which often has serious toxicity issues associated with it. We find that submonolayer MoO3 is responsible for the observed high activity. Electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy reveal that the monolayer-thick MoO3 surface phase is directly attached to the anatase TiO2 support. The ab initio quantum calculations predict that the bidimensional MoO3 surface phase would provide more electron back-donation to the antibonding orbital of reactants and thus more efficient reactant activation. The spectral evolution of in situ DRIFTS indicates that the redox mechanism over the low-dimensional MoO3/TiO2 involves both Brønsted and Lewis acid sites during the reaction cycle.


THE CORRELATION BETWEEN STUDENT'S LEARNING INDEPENDENCE AND STUDENT'S DISCIPLINE. This research is correlation study research that using quantitative approach is done in students' grade of Fifth on Elementary School Pondok Rumput 1 Bogor city with amount 102 students as population. The samples are collected by simple random sampling technique which amount of samples from formula calculate are 51 students. The aim of this research is to know correlation between student's learning independence and student's discipline. The data of this research is collected with using questionnaire Likert scale for independence to discipline student's..Validityof the instrument from learning independence and student's discipline is calculated by using Product Moment Pearson formula and for reliability is calculated by using Alpha Cronbach formula. The population of this research is collected with using Taro Yamane formula with 10% precision. This quantitative research is conducted with pre validity and reliability instrument which next to survey the samples to get valid and reliable. After that, the result of this research is showed that has correlation between learning independence and student's discipline, it is showed with statistical analysis that producing regression coefficient score (r xy ) amount 0,99 and got t- calculate is 49,14. It is showed that has correlation between learning independence and student's discipline, while determination coefficient (r 2 ) is 0,98 or 98%. It means that score of learning discipline 98% is based on learning independence, with regression equality Y = 13,16 + 0,99X, is significance, so each increasing1 unit independence will improve student slearning discipline for 0,99 unit. Accordingto the result above, it can be concluded that has correlatiton betwen student's learning independence and students learning discipline. It is showed that for improving learning discipline has to fix that learningindependence.


Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) affects more than 100 000 people in the United States annually and is the third leading cardiovascular cause of death. The standard management for PE is systemic anticoagulation therapy. However, a subset of patients experience hemodynamic decompensation, despite conservative measures. Traditionally, these patients have been treated with systemic administration of thrombolytic agents or open cardiac surgery, although attempts at endovascular treatment have a long history that dates back to the 1960s. The technology for catheter-based therapy for acute PE is rapidly evolving, with multiple devices approved over the past decade. Currently available devices fall into two broad categories of treatment methods: catheter-directed thrombolysis and percutaneous suction thrombectomy. Catheter-directed thrombolysis is the infusion of thrombolytic agents directly into the occluded pulmonary arteries to increase local delivery and decrease the total dose. Suction thrombectomy involves the use of small- or large-bore catheters to mechanically aspirate a clot from the pulmonary arteries without the need for a thrombolytic agent. A thorough understanding of the various risk stratification schemes and the available evidence for each device is critical for optimal treatment of this complex entity. Multiple ongoing studies will improve our understanding of the role of catheter-based therapy for acute PE in the next 5-10 years. A multidisciplinary approach through PE response teams has become the management standard at most institutions. An invited commentary by Bulman and Weinstein is available online. Online supplemental material is available for this article. ©RSNA, 2022.


The presence of hemolymph thermal hysteresis antifreeze proteins is described in both the nymphs and adults of the Antarctic oribatid mite, Alaskozetes antarcticus collected from Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands. These proteins, functionally similar to the antifreeze proteins of polar marine fish and certain cold-tolerant insects, lower the freezing point of water by a noncolligative mechanism while not significantly affecting the melting point, thus producing their characteristic thermal hysteresis. This is the first finding of these proteins in mites and the first description of them in an arthropod from the southern hemisphere.


This article investigates the future of Britain's Freedom of Information Act [FOIA]. It argues that the UK FOI regime faces a set of unique opportunities and challenges that may decisively impact upon the shape of FOI policy in Britain.

On the one hand, the increasingly assertive FOIA appeal bodies, constant pressure from requesters, alongside the more open habits practised within the Civil Service, may serve together to 'open up' government information access. This in turn may widen and strengthen the British FOI regime.

On the other hand, a series of potential obstacles may inhibit or undermine the new FOI regime. Delay and inconsistency, potential record management problems and 'gaps' within the scope of the Act, all present possible barriers to further openness. Most of all, following the two recent attempts to limit the scope of the legislation, the intentions and actions of the government will be crucial in shaping the future of FOI policy.


Deoxyribonucleic acids (DNAs) from an unnamed species of microorganism (bovine encephalitis isolate) previously placed in the family Brucellaceae and from representative species of this family were thermally denatured to determine mole percentages of guanine plus cytsine (mol %G+C). The results established that DNA from the bovine encephalitis isolate had a mol %G+C of 37.3 ± 0.2, which was between values for Haemophilus influenzae and Francisella tularensis. Values for mol %G+C of the other microorganisms in this family agreed with previously reported data. A heterogenous group of microorganisms composed of six different overlapping genera and the BEI were in the range of 33 to 46 mol %G+C. Because the mol %G+C of the genera in this group did not differ statistically, the proper taxonomic position of recognized members of the family Brucellaceae was questioned.


Lack of sufficient semantic description makes it difficult to find and compose suitable Web services during analysis, search, and matching processes. As Semantic Web Services provide well-defined meaning, composition of new services is possible through logical deductions achieving resolutions automatically. This book develops an Inference-based Semantic Business Process Composition Agent (SCA). Utilizing Revised Armstrongs Axioms (RAAs) in inferring functional dependencies, SCA System composes available OWL-S based atomic processes into required services. RAAs are embedded in the knowledge base ontology of SCA System. In order to find functional dependencies between processes in the candidate set of SWSs, the Semantic Matching Step (SMS) was prepared using a well-organized matchmaking algorithm. The SMS scores the similarity of two focused-on processes based on the assessment of distance among concepts. Experiments show that the SCA System produces process sequences as a composition plan that satisfies users requirement for a complex task. The SCA System is the first to use RAAs for semantic-based planning and inference.


Cholera disease is a major public health problem in Kenya and is caused by toxigenic Vibrio cholerae. V. cholerae are curved or straight Gram-negative bacilli. Epidemic cholera occurs in areas with water contamination and poor sanitation. This research investigated strains of Vibrio cholerae isolated from western Kenya during the 2007 to 2009 outbreaks. Stocked isolates were sub-cultured onto BTB agar and 24hr-colonies were used to perform specific biochemical tests on the isolates to determine their biotypes, serotypes and sub- serotypes. Presence of cholera toxin (ctx) and antibiotic resistance genes in the genome of the isolates was detected by amplification using PCR. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was done to determine the clonal relatedness of the strains. The collected data were coded and analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 11 to determine chi square distributions for qualitative data. All the isolates were confirmed to be V. cholerae O1 El Tor biotype. Majority (97%) of them were Inaba serotype while 3% were Ogawa serotype and none was Hikojima serotype. PCR assays showed that 97% of the isolates were toxigenic and contained the ctx gene. The isolates showed varied antibiotic resistance patterns while the presence of resistant genes to commonly used antibiotics was not uniform but random in their genomes. Analyses of the PFGE bands to infer population relationships using the unweighted Neighbor-joining method viewed using the program DARwin software did not show any significant genetic diversity. Furtherinvestigation on the Western Kenya isolates using the in-vivo as well as in-vitro bioassays methods and comparison to other isolates from endemic regions in Kenya is required


: Blood pressure (BP) is one of the four main vital signs providing valuable medical information about the cardiovascular activity . In this paper, a new method for estimating systolic and diastolic BP in contact-free for comfort is proposed using a millimeter-wave (MMW) sensor. The MMW sensor is sensitive to small cardiac motion of 1mm or less included in chest surface motion because of the higher frequency and wider bandwidth available, thereby continuous systolic and diastolic BP per heartbeat would be able to be estimated from the time-domain features of unique cardiac motion waveform. Measurement was conducted with the MMW sensor system and the estimated systolic and diastolic BP are also compared with an intermittent BP monitor. As a result, the sensor system is found to estimate systolic and diastolic BP continuously.


Introduction Acute exacerbations (AEs) increase morbidity and mortality of patients with chronic pulmonary diseases. Little is known about the characteristics and impact of AEs on children's interstitial lung disease (chILD). Methods The Kids Lung Register collected data on AEs, the clinical course and quality of life (patient-reported outcomes - PRO) of rare paediatric lung diseases. Characteristics of AEs were obtained. Results Data of 2822 AEs and 2887 register visits of 719 patients with chILD were recorded. AEs were characterised by increased levels of dyspnoea (74.1%), increased respiratory rate (58.6%) and increased oxygen demand (57.4%). Mostly, infections (94.4%) were suspected causing an AE. AEs between two register visits revealed a decline in predicted FEV1 (median −1.6%, IQR −8.0 to 3.9; p=0.001), predicted FVC (median −1.8%, IQR −7.5 to 3.9; p=0.004), chILD-specific questionnaire (median −1.3%, IQR −3.6 to 4.5; p=0.034) and the physical health summary score (median −3.1%, IQR −15.6 to 4.3; p=0.005) compared with no AEs in between visits. During the median observational period of 2.5 years (IQR 1.2–4.6), 81 patients died. For 49 of these patients (60.5%), mortality was associated with an AE. Conclusion This is the first comprehensive study analysing the characteristics and impact on the clinical course of AEs in chILD. AEs have a significant and deleterious effect on the clinical course and health-related quality of life in chILD.


INTRODUCTION
Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) is a rare disorder affecting 1 of 300,000 people, characterized by growth, mental and motor retardation, small stature, broad thumbs and toes, characteristic face, high-arched palate, and recurrent respiratory infections.

CASE REPORT
The present report describes the periodontal and immunological status of a 14-year-old female patient with RTS. Probing depth, clinical attachment level, bleeding on probing, and radiographic evaluation were performed. Periodontal examination revealed severe attachment loss in incisors and molars and generalized bleeding on probing. Periodontal treatment consisted of scaling and root planing and oral hygiene instructions. Periodontal treatment resulted in resolution of gingival inflammation and pocket depth reductions. The association of periodontal disease and RTS is previously undescribed.

CONCLUSION
This case report underscores the importance of periodontal clinical diagnosis and the possibility of successful periodontal treatment in RTS patients.


Background Sex-biased gene expression, particularly male-biased expression in the gonad, has often been linked to rapid protein sequence evolution (dN/dS) in animals. This evolutionary trend may arise from one or both of sexual selection pressures during mating or low pleiotropy. In insects, research on sex-biased transcription and dN/dS remains largely focused on a few holometabolous species, with variable findings on male and female gonadal effects. The brain is central to the mating process, and provides neurological foundation for mating behaviors, such as courtship, intrasex competition and mate choice. However, there is a striking paucity of research on sex-biased expression of genes in the brain and the rate of protein sequence evolution in such genes. Results Here, we studied sex-biased gene expression in a hemimetabolous insect, the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. We generated novel RNA-seq data for two sexual tissue types, the gonad and somatic reproductive system, and for two core components of the nervous system, the brain and ventral nerve cord. From a genome-wide analysis of genes expressed in these tissues, we report the accelerated evolution of testis-biased genes and seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) genes, as compared to ovary-biased and unbiased genes in this cricket model, which includes an elevated frequency of positive selection events. With respect to the brain, while sex-biased brain genes were much less common than for the gonads, they exhibited exceptionally rapid evolution, an effect that was stronger for the female than for the male brain. Certain sex-biased brain genes were predicted to be involved in mating or sex-related functions, which we suggest may cause exposure to sexual selection. Moreover, the sex-biased brain genes exhibited remarkably low cross-tissue expression breadth, or pleiotropy. We speculate that this feature may permit relaxed purifying selection, and allow the freedom for adaptive protein functional changes in these brain-expressed genes. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that sex-biased expression in the male gonad, and sex-biased gene expression in the brain, especially the female brain, are associated with rapid protein sequence evolution in a cricket model system. We discuss the results with respect to our findings on pleiotropy and positive selection, and consider the potential role of the dynamic mating biology of this cricket model in shaping these patterns.


Background The vaginal fl ora plays an important role in the defence against HIV infection. It is thus important to assess the impact on the vaginal milieu of products that are developed to protect women against HIV acquisition. Objectives Using Real Time PCR, describe and quantify Lactobacillae spp. in healthy European women who enter microbicide phase I studies. Methods Thirty healthy women who don ' t use hormones and have a regular menstrual cycle, were sampled with a COPAN fl ocked vaginal swab on days 7 and 21 of the cycle for a total of 5 visits. Real Time PCR was used to quantify bacterial cells for four Lactobacillus spp. at all visits. Results L crispatus, L iners, L jensenii , and L gasseri were present at least once in 93%, 77%, 73% and 70% of women, respectively. High counts ( $ 8 log for L crispatus , $ 6 log for other species) were consistently present in 60%, 67%, 53%, and 53% of women. We labelled these latter women " L species-positive " . Using logistic regression we modelled the probability of belonging to this group. The temporal variation of the log counts within this group was modelled using random effects linear regression. No predictors of being " L. species-positive " for any of the studied Lactobacillae were identi fi ed. Longitudinal analysis showed that L crispatus counts were 0.22 log higher (p < 0.001) and L iners counts were 0.83 log lower (p < 0.001) at the end of the menstrual cycle. Furthermore, L crispatus counts decreased by 0.40 log after intercourse (PSA present) (p ¼ 0.002), while L iners (+0.73 log, p ¼ 0.033) and L


OBJECTIVE
Recognizing registered nurses (RNs) as valued, trusted professionals to lead and advocate for healthier communities (Pittman, 2019), the New Jersey Action Coalition (NJAC) developed a model designed to match RN volunteers to community projects.

DESIGN
Using a descriptive study design, researchers examined the numbers of RN volunteers and projects across 21 counties in NJ from 2016 to 2018.

SAMPLE
The sample consisted of the numbers of volunteers and projects from every county retrieved from the NJAC's website.

MEASUREMENTS
In addition to the NJAC data, researchers examined the percentage of RNs living in each county as well as data from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps© (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, 2019). The counties were divided into three groups: high, moderate, and low overall health counties.

RESULTS
After 2 years of implementing the NJAC model, the data revealed that, at minimum, there was one RN coach per county in the high overall health counties group. In the lower overall health counties group, there were fewer community projects, less RN coaches, and volunteers.

CONCLUSION
Engaging RN volunteers requires raising awareness of the needs of the community and the ways in which a RN can take action to promote public health and health equity.


Immunization strategies which aid in the clearance of beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques have raised new hopes for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Two particularly promising passive immunization therapies currently being investigated include intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) containing Aβ antibodies and specifically developed monoclonal antibodies for Aβ. These Aβ antibodies may reduce amyloid accumulation in the brain by binding to the amyloid peptide and drawing it in through the blood-brain barrier for subsequent removal from the capillaries. However, as this strategy aims at removing extracellular amyloid through cerebral vessels, a redistribution of amyloid pathology may manifest as increased cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). CAA occurs when Aβ becomes embedded in the walls of cerebral vessels associated with weakening of the vessel walls. Antibody mediated Aβ clearance from the parenchyma could significantly increase the Aβ burden in the vessel lumen and wall, therefore increasing the risk of vessel rupture and hemorrhage. This chapter will review the current literature on Aβ immunotherapy for AD and explore the mechanisms as well as possible risks of amyloid clearance treatment, particularly cerebral amyloid angiopathy.


This article aims to discuss the revitalization of religious moderation in realizing the Muslim character of the ummatan wasathan in the era of digital transformation. This religious moderation itself is an important basis for bringing people to a moderate understanding perspective, not radicalism and still upholding Islamic values even though they have a free way of thinking. This study is qualitative research where the analysis of this phenomenon is taken from reference sources of news, articles, reports and documents using the concept of Ummatan Wasathan M.Quraish Shihab. In this modern era, all things can be accessed easily, social media is not new anymore and because it becomes the daily intake of every individual. Not infrequently the digital world provides studies that are propaganda in nature so that it is easily used by several individuals to cultivate identity politics which causes the fading of religious authority, the spread of individualism and the strengthening of tribalism compared to pluralism. So the results of this analysis indicate that increasing religious moderation through digital space needs to be done and is very relevant in the digital era of transformation as a counterweight to the large flow of information on digital platforms, to stem religious framing that is radicalism and other religious issues, which will then shape the character of muslims ummatan wasathan through religious revitalization in the digital era.


Recently it has been demonstrated that it is possible to detect both longitudinal and shear waves as well as measure their velocities for a non-transparent iron layer compressed in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) to pressures approaching 23 GPa by using laser ultrasonics (LU) technique. These experiments were conducted in the reflection configuration when point source and point receiver were located at the same side of the specimen. The purpose of the present study is to examine the generation and detection of the acoustical waves in the LU-DAC system operating in the transmission configuration. The experimental results obtained at 16.4 GPa presented in this article demonstrate that the LU-DAC technique can be applied for longitudinal wave velocity measurements in small specimens under high pressure in the transmission configuration.


For particle-beam-driven plasma wakefield accelerators, a long and fully-ionized plasma is desirable. We describe an experiment at UCLA to develop a prototype of such plasma using a pulsed-current discharge. Scaling of the plasma density with glass-tube diameter and with discharge-circuit parameters is currently underway. We have found that 4 Torr of Argon can be fully ionized to a density of about 1.3 x 10 cm when the current density in the 1 inch diameter, 1.2 meter-long tube is around 2 kA/cm, at least at one point along the discharge. The homogeneity of the plasma density in the longitudinal direction is crucial to prevent slippage of the driven plasma structures with the particles. Equally important are the transverse gradients since any dipole asymmetry in the transverse direction can lead to "steering" of the particle beam.[1] The longitudinal and transverse gradients may be a function of time into the discharge, the shape of the electrodes, the tube size, and the fractional ionization for a given fill pressure. These issues are currently under investigation.


Research has established the importance of family support, and parental support in particular, in predicting adolescents' educational and psychological outcomes. The family has been identified as a critical force even more powerful and direct than teachers in their children's education. A number of studies have attempted to compare the belief, attitudes, values of parents and their children and also the extent to which parents opinion agree or conflict with that of children. These studies have shown that parents' potentially influence adolescent's identities. However, few studies have been undertaken to find the perception of adolescents about parental influence. The present study investigated the perception of adolescents about their parents' influence in academic activities. The sample for the present study comprised two hundred senior secondary school students namely Class XI studying in various private, government, central and aided schools of Delhi. The tool used was a self constructed questionnaire comprising 40: agree-disagree statements on a 5-1 Likert scale. The scores indicated that Class XI students belonging to private, government central and government aided schools of New Delhi perceived their parents as influencing their academic activities and the factor which was most influential was parental support.

 Key words: Adolescents, parental support, perception, parental influence, academic activities.


OBJECTIVES
There is growing evidence supporting the role of inflammatory mechanisms in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Corticoids, as most effective anti-inflammatory drugs, are widely used in treating inflammation. The aim of this study was to retrospectively assess the efficacy of oral corticoid treatment in CRPS patients.

METHODS
Patients treated at the center of pain medicine in the Erasmus University Medical Centre between January 2015 and January 2020 were approached to partake in this study. Medical records were screened for age, gender, medical history, duration of CRPS, and CRPS severity score. Also, treatment effect, dose and duration, pain scores (NRS), and side effects were extracted from medical records. In addition, global perceived effect was completed in patients treated with corticoids.

RESULTS
Between January 2015 and January 2020, twenty-nine CRPS patients received corticoids and met the inclusion criteria. One extreme outlier was excluded and treatment effect was unknown for one patient. Average daily dose was 28.9 mg (range 10-30 mg) and the mean treatment duration was 10.5 days (7-21 days). Fourteen patients (51.9%) responded positively to treatment and thirteen (48.1%) did not respond. Side effects were reported in five patients (17.9%).

CONCLUSIONS
Corticoid treatment was effective in more than half of the patients. With only mild side effects reported the treatment also appears to be relatively safe. Further research is needed to investigate the efficacy of corticoids in treating (early) CRPS, preferably in an intervention study.


Academic Freedom is an idea that has existed since the emergence of the modern university in the Middle-Ages in Europe. Enshrined into the logic of the university, it appears as a concept, an ideal, and an ideology, and while broadly discussed in the personal, professional and organisational enactments of this enduring idea, it has not been examined as a specific organisational value to understand its multidimensional existence. The central aim of this research has been to discover what contributes to the practice of, and limitations to, Academic Freedom as experienced by Australian academics. Employing a critical, interpretative and descriptive methodological approach involving in-depth interviews with academics from a range of humanities and social sciences disciplines, analysis of data has revealed that Academic Freedom, as a foundational value, is still alive, and indeed, still held as a personal, professional and organisational value by these academics. It has been found in this research that the enactment of Academic Freedom is mostly strongly influenced by academic rank. Further, there are three tiers of enactment being the personal, professional, and organisational that intersect and sometimes contradict one another.


Interphase between the fibers and matrix plays a key role on the properties of fiber reinforced composites. In this work, the effect of interphase on mechanical properties and microstructures of 3D C-f/SiBCN composites at elevated temperatures was investigated. When PyC interphase is used, flexural strength and elastic modulus of the C-f/SiBCN composites decrease seriously at 1600 degrees C (92 +/- 15 MPa, 12 +/- 2 GPa), compared with the properties at room temperature (371 +/- 31 MPa, 31 +/- 2 GPa). While, the flexural strength and elastic modulus of C-f/SiBCN composites with PyC/SiC multilayered interphase at 1600 degrees C are as high as 330 +/- 7 MPa and 30 +/- 2 GPa, respectively, which are 97% and 73% of the values at room temperature (341 +/- 20 MPa, 41 +/- 2 GPa). To clarify the effect mechanism of the interphase on mechanical properties of the C-f/SiBCN composites at elevated temperature, interfacial bonding strength (IFBS) and microstructures of the composites were investigated in detail. It reveals that the PyC/SiC multilayered interphase can retard the SiBCN matrix degradation at elevated temperature, leading to the high strength retention of the composites at 1600 degrees C.


Biopsy specimens from antral and duodenal mucosa were obtained from 64 patients with active duodenal ulcer and from 78 with nonulcer dyspepsia. Gastric metaplasia in the duodenal bulb was more frequent in patients with duodenal ulcer (82.5%) than in patients with dyspepsia and duodenitis (53.1%) or in patients with dyspepsia without duodenitis (34.5%). Helicobacter pylori infection in the duodenal bulb was found more often in patients with moderate to severe gastric metaplasia (62.3%) than in patients with mild gastric metaplasia (20%). Therefore, patients from a developing country, China, showed the same relationship between duodenitis, gastric metaplasia, duodenal colonization with H. pylori, and duodenal ulcer previously demonstrated in developed countries.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
To evaluate reliability of single objective tests in assessing sleepiness.

DESIGN
Subjects who completed polysomnography underwent a 4-nap multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) the following day. Prior to each nap opportunity on MSLT, subjects performed the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) and divided attention driving task (DADT). Results of single versus multiple test administrations were compared using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and adjusted for test administration order effects to explore time of day effects. Measures were explored as continuous and binary (i.e., impaired or not impaired).

SETTING
Community-based sample evaluated at a tertiary, university-based sleep center.

PARTICIPANTS
372 adult commercial vehicle operators oversampled for increased obstructive sleep apnea risk.

INTERVENTIONS
N/A.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS
AS CONTINUOUS MEASURES, ICC WERE AS FOLLOWS: MSLT 0.45, PVT median response time 0.69, PVT number of lapses 0.51, 10-min DADT tracking error 0.87, 20-min DADT tracking error 0.90. Based on binary outcomes, ICC were: MSLT 0.63, PVT number of lapses 0.85, 10-min DADT 0.95, 20-min DADT 0.96. Statistically significant time of day effects were seen in both the MSLT and PVT but not the DADT. Correlation between ESS and different objective tests was strongest for MSLT, range [-0.270 to -0.195] and persisted across all time points.

CONCLUSIONS
Single DADT and PVT administrations are reliable measures of sleepiness. A single MSLT administration can reasonably discriminate individuals with MSL < 8 minutes. These results support the use of a single administration of some objective tests of sleepiness when performed under controlled conditions in routine clinical care.


In this paper we show that HSTS headers and long-term cookies (like those used for user tracking) are so prevailing that they allow a malicious Wi-Fi operator to gain significant knowledge about the past browsing history of users. We demonstrate how to combine both into a history stealing attack by including specially crafted references into a captive portal or by injecting them into legitimate HTTP traffic. Captive portals are used on many Wi-Fi Internet hotspots to display the user a message, like a login page or an acceptable use policy before they are connected to the Internet. They are typically found in public places such as airports, train stations, or restaurants. Such systems have been known to be troublesome for many reasons. In this paper we show how a malicious operator can not only gain knowledge about the current Internet session, but also about the user's past. By invisibly placing vast amounts of specially crafted references into these portal pages, we can lure the browser into revealing a user's browsing history by either reading stored persistent (long-term) cookies or evaluating responses for previously set HSTS headers. An occurrence of a persistent cookie, as well as a direct call to the pages' HTTPS site is a reliable sign of the user having visited this site earlier. Thus, this technique allows for a site-based history stealing, similar to the famous link-color history attacks. For the Alexa Top 1,000 sites, between 82% and 92% of sites are effected as they use persistent cookies over HTTP. For the Alexa Top 200,000 we determined the number of vulnerable sites between 59% and 86%. We extended our implementation of this attack by other privacy-invading attacks that enrich the collected data with additional personal information.


ABSTRACT This article further theorizes exemplary practitioners' roles in neighborhood governance by building on the framework of the four ideal types of practitioners—frontline worker, everyday fixer, social entrepreneur and boundary spanner. An actor-focused approach was applied which delivered data to reconstruct processes in which a single citizen practitioner engaged in an Amsterdam neighborhood. Data were collected through shadowing and interviewing him for 2 months. It is shown how this exemplary practitioner combined and switched between the role characteristics of the four generic types, just like chameleon, during his interactions with other actors in various situations and contexts. During this dynamic role switching, he took on the tasks of a community developer, previously delivered by civil servants. He also facilitated stakeholder collaboration leading to more inclusive and democratic local governance. However, role switching caused him to loose the trust of some citizens on the long term. These findings gain relevance in the context of the reorganization of the Dutch welfare state.


Bioactive food components have potential health benefits but are highly susceptible for degradation under adverse conditions such as light, pH, temperature and oxygen. Furthermore, they are known to have poor solubilities, low stabilities and low bioavailabilities in the gastrointestinal tract. Hence, technologies that can retain, protect and enable their targeted delivery are significant to the food industry. Amongst these, microencapsulation of bioactives has emerged as a promising technology. The present review evaluates the potential use of casein micelles (CMs) as a bioactive delivery system. The review discusses in depth how physicochemical and techno-functional properties of CMs can be modified by secondary processing parameters in making them a choice for the delivery of food bioactives in functional foods. CMs are an assembly of four types of caseins, (αs1, αs2, β and κ casein) with calcium phosphate. They possess hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties that make them ideal for encapsulation of food bioactives. In addition, CMs have a self-assembling nature to incorporate bioactives, remarkable surface activity to stabilise emulsions and the ability to bind hydrophobic components when heated. Moreover, CMs can act as natural hydrogels to encapsulate minerals, bind with polymers to form nano capsules and possess pH swelling behaviour for targeted and controlled release of bioactives in the GI tract. Although numerous novel advancements of employing CMs as an effective delivery have been reported in recent years, more comprehensive studies are required to increase the understanding of how variation in structural properties of CMs be utilised to deliver bioactives with different physical, chemical and structural properties.


Primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL) is a very rare malignancy although cardiac involvement with the disseminated disease is not uncommon. We present a case of a 43‐year‐old man with PCL that initially presented as marked thickening of all cardiac walls and was mistakenly diagnosed as an atypical type of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The diagnosis of PCL was made with a delay of 9 months after the initial presentation, when atypical lymphocytes staining positive for CD79a and CD20 were demonstrated in the rapidly growing mediastinal and neck mass. Anthracycline‐based chemotherapy and anti‐CD20 immunotherapy resulted in a remarkable reduction in cardiac wall thickness and mediastinal mass. The first lesson to be learnt from this case is that PCL can present as a diffuse infiltrative disease without a mass. The second lesson is that prompt exploratory thoracotomy should not be delayed when the diagnosis is elusive.


Charophytes are the group of green algae whose ancestral lineage gave rise to land plants in what resulted in a profoundly transformative event in the natural history of the planet. Extant charophytes exhibit many features that are similar to those found in land plants and their relatively simple phenotypes make them efficacious organisms for the study of many fundamental biological phenomena. Several taxa including Micrasterias, Penium, Chara, and Coleochaete are valuable model organisms for the study of cell biology, development, physiology and ecology of plants. New and rapidly expanding molecular studies are increasing the use of charophytes that in turn, will dramatically enhance our understanding of the evolution of plants and the adaptations that allowed for survival on land. The Frontiers in Plant Science series on "Charophytes" provides an assortment of new research reports and reviews on charophytes and their emerging significance as model plants.


Appalachian Kentucky was at the epicenter of the prescription opioid epidemic in the early 2000's. As we enter the third decade of the epidemic, patterns have begun to emerge as people who use drugs (PWUD) transition from use of opioids to other drugs. The purpose of this analysis was to examine longitudinal changes in methamphetamine use in an ongoing cohort of rural people who use drugs (PWUD) in Appalachian Kentucky. All but five of the cohort participants (N = 503) reported nonmedical prescription opioid use (NMPOU) at baseline and those 498 are included in this longitudinal analysis encompassing eight waves of data (2008–2020). Past 6-month use of methamphetamine was the dependent variable. Given the correlated nature of the data, mixed effects logistic regression was utilized to examine changes in methamphetamine use over time. Significant increases in methamphetamine use were observed over the past decade in this cohort of PWUD, especially in recent years (2017–2020). Prevalence of recent use at baseline and each of the follow-up visits was as follows: 9.4, 5.6, 5.0, 5.4, 8.1, 6.8, 6.9, and 33.1%, respectively (p < 0.001). On the contrary, significant reductions in NMPO and heroin use were observed in the same time period. The odds of methamphetamine use at the most recent visit were 25.8 times greater than at baseline (95% CI: 14.9, 44.6) and 52.6% of those reporting methamphetamine use reported injecting the drug. These results provide further evidence of "twin epidemics" of methamphetamine use among NMPOU. While problematic on several fronts, of particular concern is the lack of effective treatment options for methamphetamine use disorder. As policies around the opioid epidemic continue to evolve, particular attention should be paid to the surge in stimulant use in opioid-endemic areas.


Functional analysis of GnRH neurons is limited, although these neurons play an important role in neuroendocrine regulation. Therefore, we decided to conduct cell physiological analysis of GnRH neurons. To identify GnRH neurons, we tagged the neurons with green fluorescence protein by a transgenic technique. A dispersed culture of GnRH neurons was prepared from the transgenic rats. After overnight culture, a perforated patch clamp was applied to the identified GnRH neurons to analyze the Ca2+ currents. In neonatal GnRH neurons, high voltage-activated Ca2+ currents were clearly observed, but low voltage-activated Ca2+ current was negligible. Nimodipine (L-type channel blocker) and omega-conotoxin GVIA (N-type channel blocker) each attenuated the current by approximately 20%. The R-type channel blocker SNX-482 attenuated the current by approximately 55%. Inhibition by the P/Q-type channel blocker omega-agatoxin IVA was small. In GnRH neurons around puberty, however, both high and low voltage-activated Ca2+ currents were observed. Inhibitions by nifedipine, omega-conotoxin GVIA, and SNX-482 were similar to those in the neonatal neurons, whereas the inhibition by omega-agatoxin IVA was clearly seen in 40-61% of the GnRH neurons examined. These results indicate that GnRH neurons functionally express L-, N-, P/Q-, R-, and T-type channels. Expressions of P/Q- and T-type channels are developmentally regulated.


The results of neuropsychological and clinical examination of 29 children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis were analyzed. Specifics of cognitive development of patients at the early onset of disease and association between neuropsychological and MRI data as well as peculiarities of disease course were found. The authors emphasized the possibility of using neuropsychological diagnostics in the early stage of disease for prognostic purposes and assessment of treatment efficacy.


Permanent endocavitary cardiac pacing is a widely used therapeutic method. The implantation of pacing catheters is usually performed by the supracardiac veins, the epicardial approach being the classical alternative. The ilio-femoral approach is a third possibility. The authors report three cases in which this approach was used. The implantations were performed under general anaesthesia with an abdominal pacemaker. In two cases, atrial and ventricular catheters were implanted. After an average of 19 months' follow-up, no short or long-term complications were observed: displacement or fracture of the pacing catheter, infection, venous thrombosis, threshold elevation. These results show that this is a safe and feasible alternative to implantation by the traditional or epicardial techniques when these approaches cannot be used.


Researchers and network operators often say that BGP table transfers are slow. Despite this common knowledge, the reasons for slow BGP transfers are not well understood. This paper explains BGP table transfer delays by combining BGP messages collected at a large VPN provider backbone and controlled experiments with routers of three different vendors as well as a software BGP speaker. Our results show that table transfers both in the provider network and in the controlled experiments contain gaps, i.e., periods in which both the sending and receiving routers are idle, but no BGP routes are exchanged. Gaps can represent more than 90% of the table transfer time. Our analysis of a software router and discussions with router vendors indicate that gaps happen because of the timer-driven implementation of sending of BGP updates. Hence, gaps represent an undocumented design choice that gives preference to more controlled router load over faster table transfers.


Abstract An alkalophilic Bacillus cereus strain was found to produce a thermal and pH tolerant extracellular alkaline protease which showed very good compatibility and stability with commercial laundry detergents. Considering important industrial application of B. cereus protease, its production was need to be enhanced. Different agro-industrial waste products viz. wheat bran, lentil husk, green gram husk and corn cob were used as substrates for the production of B. cereus protease by solid state fermentation (SSF). The production of alkaline protease in SSF was compared with that in submerged fermentation (SmF) by using the same substrates. This comparative study revealed that production of Bacillus cereus protease is significantly higher in SSF than in SmF. Among all the substrates used, corn cob followed by lentil husk showed best production in SSF. Combined effect of corn cob and lentil husk was examined when mixed in 1:1 ratio. The production of protease was enhanced almost double in comparison to individual substrate. Other important parameters like inoculum size, substrate concentration, fermentation time, incubation temperature and moisture content were optimized to get maximum protease production in SSF. Maximum protease activity of 580.80 u/ml/min (4640 U/g solid substrate) was obtained in SSF when initial moisture content was maintained at 60%, 3g of corn cob and lentil husk were used in 1:1 ratio, 2.0-2.5 ml (2mg/ml) of inoculum was added and culture was incubated at 30°C for 7 days.


Continuous monitoring of cardiac rhythm may play an important role in measuring the true symptomatic/asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) burden and improve the management of anti-arrhythmic and anti-thrombotic therapies. Forty-seven patients with mitral valve disease and longstanding persistent AF (LSPAF) underwent a left atrial maze procedure with bipolar radiofrequency and valve surgery. The follow-up data recorded by an implanted loop recorder were analysed after 3, 6 and 12 months. On discharge, 40 (85.1%) patients were in stable sinus rhythm, as documented by in-office electrocardiography (ECG), 4 (8.5%) were in pacemaker rhythm and 3 (6.4%) were in AF. One (2.1%) patient died after 7 months. On 12-month follow-up examination, 30 (65.2%) patients had an AF burden <0.5% and were classified as responders. Three (6.5%) of the 16 non-responders had atrial flutter and 13 (27.7%) had documented AF recurrences with an AF burden >0.5%. Two (4.3%) patients with AF recurrences were completely asymptomatic. Among the symptomatic events stored by the patients, only 27.6% was confirmed as genuine AF recurrences according to the concomitant ECG recorded by the implanted loop recorder. A concomitant bipolar maze procedure during mitral valve surgery is effective in treating AF, as proved by detailed 1-year continuous monitoring.


This paper aims at (re)discovering Freirian categories to point out the emphasis that Popular Education has got by contrasting them with the so-called epistemological and political instabilities in our times. Therefore, I propose this initial principle: Freire is a good reference to revive Popular Education. Thus, the task is to highlight the categories Freire uses to reinforce and broaden the nature of Popular Education. The challenges which our times pose to education come up as landmarks both in the selection of categories and in the reflection upon education in general, and, specifically, upon school as a limit-situation which has to face severe consequences resulting from social transformation. The strategies used to approach this topic render several findings. Freire was a man who deeply believed in the human being. Although they are incomplete, men and women can be the subjects of History. In order to carry this task out, Freire became a thinker whose life was embedded in political coherence in favor of the oppressed. His coherence was known by his capacity to dream and have hope; it makes us understand the resistance attitudes that he helped to construct in Brazil and abroad. Freire strongly believed in the people's capacity (neither exclusive nor messianic) to educate itself (to prepare itself) and transform reality and applied his knowledge to teach people how to read mainly to help people read and write the world. Therefore, the task is to try to find answers for the following question: why Freire is chosen to revive Popular Education?


The growth of culturally and linguistically diverse population in Malaysia has led to many efforts to encourage or ensure that health care systems respond to the distinct needs of culturally and linguistically different patients by becoming "culturally competent". So the implementation of OET will play an increasingly expedient role both in medication and in medical tourism. Occupational English Test is an English language proficiency test for health practitioners intending to check whether health practitioners have sufficient knowledge of English in job-related context. It is designed by Professor Tim Mc Namara under contact with Australian Federal Government and is used by Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. This study using a case study method intends to know the acceptability of OET in Malaysia. The objectives of this study are to assess Malaysian nurses' performance in the existing OET writing test and to know their attitude towards the test. The cases are 31 nursing students from a reputed nursing college in Kuantan, Malaysia. The researcher administers some sample OET writing test questions on the cases at first so that they can have a clear idea about OET and after the test , she interviews 5 cases individually to know their view in detail. The researcher analyzes the result manually. From the test and especially from the interviews, it comes out that OET is very much acceptable to the nurses and though most them are not good in grammar, their performance in test is satisfactory on average because the task is associated with their job. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA


Abstract:  CAN is the leading cause of graft loss in pediatric renal transplant recipients. A retrospective single centre analysis of pediatric transplant patients with CAN treated with MMF in conjunction with CNI minimisation/withdrawal is reported. 35 children were successfully started on MMF. The mean age at transplant was 7.9 ± 0.1 years. MMF was introduced 3.5 ± 0.1 years after transplantation and patients were followed up for a mean of 32.2 ± 0.5 months. CAN was confirmed on biopsy in 31 patients. CNI was stopped in 23 patients at a mean time of 16.5 ± 0.6 months after MMF introduction and minimised in the remaining patients. Prior to MMF introduction, GFR was deteriorating by 21.6 ± 0.07 ml/min/1.73 m2/yr. After MMF, there was an overall improvement in GFR of 4.0 ± 0.03 ml/min/1.73 m2/yr. This was most marked in the first six months when the GFR improved by 20.8 ± 0.06 ml/min/1.73 m2/day. Mean acute rejection episode rate prior to MMF was significantly reduced after MMF introduction. MMF was discontinued in a total of 4 patients due to adverse effects. CNI minimisation/withdrawal with MMF introduction is safe and leads to significant initial improvement with subsequent stabilisation of GFR and improved long term graft survival in pediatric renal transplant recipients with CAN.


Epidural analgesia is a form of pain relief administered through the space surrounding the dural sheath either by direct injection or via catheter. The agent, when administered, can cause both a loss of sensation (anesthesia) and a loss of pain (analgesia), by reversibly interrupting the transmission of signals through nerves in or near the spinal cord. This form of pain relief has been found useful in many clinical situations. This book intends to provide an in-depth review of the current knowledge on epidural analgesia. The use of this form of analgesia is explored by contributors from different perspectives, including labor and delivery, postoperative analgesia in both pediatric and geriatric patients


Just as their ancestors went through the process of being physically liberated, students must undergo the process of being intellectually liberated—a mental marronage. Historically, the term marronage classified those who were enslaved, emancipating themselves by way of escape from the plantation, forming free and independent communities, and resisting, through armed rebellion, those who opposed their freedom. Essentially, African Diaspora and the World teaches students to use their minds for the same purpose. Hence, a mental marronage is a psychological emancipation from the negative perceptions surrounding those of African descent, created by forming communities of intellectuals, who use their knowledge of the African Diaspora to reform the historical narrative through creative forms of active and written resistance. Students, just as many authors have done, must pick up their pens and use their writing as a method of connecting, critiquing, and changing their world.


Starting with the active use of information systems that provide easy and faster access to data, they help to provide better and more quality services to their users in many fields. In this study, the role of information systems is investigated for professional management and service quality improvement of airports, which to some extent shows the levels of the development of a country and the integration with the rest of the world. Considering its size and air traffic capacity, Ataturk airport in Turkey is chosen for this research. For the design and creation of Ataturk airport information system, required spatial data were collected and digitized, and then combined with the attribute data. When the system becomes fully functional, it will provide considerable benefits to users and management by improving operational efficiency and productivity.


Component-based development (CBD) techniques have been widely used to enhance the productivity and reduce the cost for software systems development. However, applying CBD techniques to embedded software development faces additional challenges. For embedded systems, it is crucial to consider the quality of service (QoS) attributes, such as timeliness, memory limitations, output precision, battery constraints. Frequently, multiple components implementing the same functionality with different QoS properties can be used to compose a system. Also, software components may have parameters that can be configured to satisfy different QoS requirements. Composition analysis, which is used to determine the most suitable component selections and parameter settings to best satisfy the system QoS requirement, is very important in embedded software development process. In this paper, we present a model and the methodologies to facilitate composition analysis. We define QoS requirements as constraints and objectives. Composition analysis is performed based on the QoS properties and requirements to find solutions (component selections and parameter settings) that can optimize the QoS objectives while satisfying the QoS constraints. We use a multiobjective concept to model the composition analysis problem and use an evolutionary algorithm to determine the Pareto-optimal solutions efficiently.


We have estimated the seismic moment for two Nevada Test Site (NTS) explosions (Nebbiolo, 6/24/82; Atrisco, 8/5/82) at the Regional Seismic Test Network (RSTN) station in South Dakota (RSSD; distance from NTS approx. 1280 km). The moments are calculated from the vertical component mid-period channel for the Rayleigh waves and the merged mid- and short-period band for the P waves. The moment estimates from surface waves give values of 1.0 x 10/sup 23/ and 2.0 x 10/sup 23/ dyn-cm for Nebbiolo and Atrisco, respectively. The body-wave moments obtained at 0.5 Hz are approximately five times greater than those from surface waves and give values of 4.8 x 10/sup 23/ and 1.0 x 10/sup 24/ dyn-cm for Nebbiolo and Atrisco, respectively. The apparent discrepancy between the body and surface-wave moments can be resolved if there is overshoot (of 5:1) in the explosion source spectrum. As a check on the absolute value of the surface-wave moments, we compared them to moment values predicted from empirical moment-yield relationships for different emplacement media at NTS (Patton, 1983). We found that the agreement between observed and predicted values is satisfactory, within the measurement error on the moments at the one sigma level.


Hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs), as a newly developed porous material, have been widely used in various fields. To date, several organic building units (OBUs) with tri-, tetra-, and hexa-carboxylic acid synthons have been applied to synthesize HOFs. To our knowledge, di-carboxylic acids have rarely been reported for the construction of HOFs, in particular, di-carboxylic acid-based HOFs with fluorescence sensing properties have not been reported. In this study, a rare example of a di-carboxylic acid-based, luminescent three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded organic framework has been successfully constructed and structurally characterized; it has a strong electron-rich property originated from its organic linker 9-phenylcarbazole-3,6-dicarboxylic acid. It represents the first example of HOF-based sensors for the highly selective and sensitive detection of PA (Picric acid) with reusability; the LOD is less than 60 nM. This work thus provides a new avenue for the fabrication of fluorescent HOFs sensing towards explosives.


RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVESThe authors evaluated the diagnostic utility of supplemental imaging in the oblique sagittal (OS) plane for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnosis of rotator cuff tears. METHODSTwo radiologists with varying levels of MRI experience blindly reviewed shoulder MR examinations of 50 patients for rotator cuff tears. Shoulder examinations were interpreted twice, initially using only double-echo spin-echo images obtained in the oblique coronal (OC) plane and later using double-echo spin-echo images obtained in the both the OC and OS planes. Tears were characterized according to size, location, and extent, and levels of diagnostic confidence were evaluated. RESULTSSensitivity and specificity of MR for the diagnosis of rotator cuff tear was 85% and 80%, respectively, with the OC series increasing to 95% and 93%, respectively with OCOS scans. However, these increases were not statistically significant. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves suggest a trend toward increased diagnostic confidence when supplemental OS scans are available, especially for the less experienced reader. Characterization of rotator cuff tears was not improved with additional OS images. CONCLUSIONSSupplemental OS scans did not demonstrate a definite improvement in diagnostic accuracy for rotator cuff tears compared to OC scans alone. Estimations based on sample size calculations indicate that a much larger population of patients would be needed to show a statistically significant difference.


Author(s): Peyro, Mohaddeseh | Advisor(s): Mofrad, Mohammad R.K. | Abstract: Bidirectional transport of molecules through the nuclear envelope (nucleocytoplasmic transport) is a vital, yet very complex process inside eukaryotic cells. This process is facilitated by thousands of nanoscale pores embedded in the nuclear envelope, named nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). The remarkable feature of NPC is that it facilitates transport in a fast, yet selective manner. Despite numerous studies, the underlying mechanism of NPC's function is unknown. The intricate function of NPC cannot be fully captured via experimental techniques due to small scale and rapid movement of the FG Nucleoporins, which are intrinsically disordered proteins rich in phenylalanine-glycine repeats, responsible for facilitating the transport process. In this dissertation, using a range of computational approaches, the role of FG Nups in the nuclear transport process is explored. FG Nups do not have a well-defined secondary structure and it is believed that their sequence composition and conformational ensemble are critical for their function in the NPC. In this dissertation, for the first time, specific sequence patterns in the charge distribution of FG Nups were identified that were not observed in other intrinsically disordered proteins. These patterns are extended sub-sequences that only contain positively charged residues, have low charge density, and are located toward the N-terminus of FG Nups. We named these evolutionarily conserved patterns like charge regions (LCRs). Additionally, the role that LCRs play in the conformational ensemble and function of FG Nups was examined, using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. Our simulations in multiple levels (single Nups, ring cross sections of NPC, and whole NPC) show that number of charged residues in the LCR impact the conformational ensemble of FG Nups and movement of the cargo complex. Our simulations also suggest that the number of charged residues in LCR can regulate the interaction of cargo complex with FG Nups. Since conformational ensemble of FG Nups and their interaction with cargo complex are two governing factors of the transport process, we suggest that LCRs, the unique and evolutionarily conserved features of FG Nups, are major regulators of the nucleocytoplasmic transport.


In the course of this study 651 patients with morphologically confirmed soft tissue tumors of different localizations underwent gray-scale sonography, Doppler sonography and energetic Doppler carting. Hitachi HI Vision 900, Logiq-400, Aloka-650, Aloka-2000 scanners wih 5-13 MHz sensors were used. Lipomas, fibrolipomas, benign angioneoplasms and some of the desmoids were shown to have a characteristic sonographical picture. The potential sonographic symptom complexes were determined. Among the malignant tumors the distinct sonographic features were observed in liposarcoma and peripheral nerve sheath tumors. The other soft tissue sarcomas have no characteristic sonographic pattern. In this cases the differential diagnosis could be assisted by clinical signs and medical history analysis.


This study aims to analyze the characteristics of community leaders as tourism activists and to analyze the work relationship system between other stakeholder figures. This study used a mixed-method, with interviews community leaders, appropriate informants and questionnaires to 100 local community respondents, who took the case study location in Terong Village. Province of Bangka Belitung Islands. The results showed that there was consistency in the role of leadership in developing the capacity of tourism villages. The leader is the most important aspect besides establishing working relationships with local governments and other stakeholders who bridge the interests of the community or village tourism management business groups and be potential alternative tourism in Tulamben for its good destination image.
Keywords: Rural tourism, Leadership, Human capacity.


The developments of "off-the-shelf" cell-scaffold constructs received an increasing interest in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Although the direct cryopreservation of a single-cell suspension in the tube is a relative mature technology, the cryopreservation of cell-scaffold constructs remains a challenge. Nanotechnology shows tremendous potential for cryopreservation in regulating of freezing and thawing processes. For example, nanoparticles have been reported to modify the cryoprotective agent (CPA), adjust the process of cooling and warming cycles. In this review, we provide an overview of cryopreservation of cell-scaffold constructs firstly. The review further focuses on the effects of nanotechnology on cryopreservation of cell-scaffold constructs, including the nanostructure of scaffold, nanoparticles in cooling and warming process in cryopreservation. The perspectives on future challenges in this filed are also pointed out.


Microalbuminuria measurement is now widely available, but its use during and after pregnancy has not been clearly defined. This review will present a brief overview of microalbuminuria measurement and screening outside pregnancy, and discuss the diagnosis of microalbuminuria in pregnancy, the potential role of microalbuminuria in pregnancy for prediction and diagnosis of pre-eclampsia and for post partum assessment of long-term cardiovascular diseases. Several methods have been used in pregnancy for measurement of microalbuminuria. Screening is best performed by urinary spot albumin/creatinine ratio and cut-off values in the non-pregnant population are reasonable to be used in the first trimester. The roles of microalbuminuria screening in pregnancy remain unclear and further research is needed on the use of spot albumin/creatinine ratio for prediction and diagnosis of pre-eclampsia. Finally, the significance of persistent microalbuminuria beyond 6 weeks postpartum is also unclear. Microalbuminuria may represent generalized vascular disease or underlying renal disease. More research is needed into the natural history of microalbuminuria following hypertensive pregnancy, and any independent contribution of microalbuminuria to the heightened cardiovascular risk in these women.


In many low-mid income settings, accessibility of health services remains inadequate and inequitable. These observed disparities in accessibility are particularly evident for oral healthcare services. The access to oral healthcare is influenced by the responsiveness of the health system, including availability of human resources for health, oral health facilities' infrastructure, geographical distribution, equipment and materials as well as community's awareness and affordability of the provided services. The evolution of oral healthcare access in Tanzania; from the early post-colonial phases of independence to current transition that the country is undergoing from low to a low-mid income economy is presented. The major health policies' transition from "Free Healthcare" services to "Cost-sharing" and ultimately to "Health Insurance" are presented within the context of their influence towards oral healthcare access.


An expansive body of literature has documented how academia acts as a gendered organization, characterized by disadvantage at multiple levels. Because of data limitations, we know surprisingly little about whether and how access to the resources needed to carry out high-quality research may be gendered. This study begins to fill this gap using a newly available survey of researchers in three disciplines across five European countries. Across a wide range of resources, findings point to marked gender disparities. Women are more likely than men to say that they do not have the resources they need to do their research well and that having them would make a big difference in their work. These findings are robust to controls including academic seniority, suggesting that structural sexism contributes to resource disparities in science. Even after overcoming obstacles en route to research positions in competitive fields, women in science remain systematically disadvantaged.


Many reinforcement learning (RL) tasks provide the agent with high-dimensional observations that can be simplified into low-dimensional continuous states. To formalize this process, we introduce the concept of a DeepMDP, a parameterized latent space model that is trained via the minimization of two tractable losses: prediction of rewards and prediction of the distribution over next latent states. We show that the optimization of these objectives guarantees (1) the quality of the latent space as a representation of the state space and (2) the quality of the DeepMDP as a model of the environment. We connect these results to prior work in the bisimulation literature, and explore the use of a variety of metrics. Our theoretical findings are substantiated by the experimental result that a trained DeepMDP recovers the latent structure underlying high-dimensional observations on a synthetic environment. Finally, we show that learning a DeepMDP as an auxiliary task in the Atari 2600 domain leads to large performance improvements over model-free RL.


Objectives: To confirm the safety and effectiveness of high-dose (>8mg/week) methotrexate (MTX) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in Japan. Methods: A postmarketing surveillance program enrolled Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis starting on high-dose MTX followed up for either 24or 52-weeks. Analyses for safety, risk factors affecting safety, and effectiveness were conducted. Results: The safety/effectiveness analysis sets included 2838/2779 and 335/326 patients in the 24weeks and 52-weeks follow-up groups, respectively. Incidence rates of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and serious ADRs were 21.42% and 1.66% in the 24-weeks, and 35.52% and 2.69% in the 52-weeks groups, respectively. The Disease Activity Score in 28 Joints (DAS28) was significantly decreased as early as four weeks from the start of high-dose MTX; after 24-weeks (4.09–3.21) and 52-weeks of treatment (3.91–2.80; both p< .001). In a majority of patients at baseline who had high-to-moderate disease activity, the remission rate (defined as DAS< 2.6) increased three-fold from 10.6% (baseline) to 33.0% (24-weeks) compared to patients with low disease activity whose remission rate increased two-fold from 24.0% (baseline) to 53.6% (24-weeks). Conclusions: High-dose MTX was well tolerated in Japanese patients, resulted in improved disease control, and can be considered a step forward in achieving treat-to-target goals. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 16 December 2016 Accepted 7 March 2017


Interaction of Platonin (PI) and dexamethasone (DM) or testosterone propionate (TP) on bone wound healing was studied by measuring the areas of wound holes which were made in the rat parietal bone. The result was compared with that of the growth of the femur. 1) No significant difference was observed between the control group and pl groups (1, 10 and 100 micrograms/kg, s.c., for 4 weeks) on the wound hole area or the length, weight, calcium content (Ca) or hydroxyproline content (HP) in the femur. 2) The bone wound healing was delayed by DM (2 mg/kg, s.c., for the first 2 weeks). The inhibition of growth was also observed in the femur length and weight, but no significant effect of DM was observed in the Ca and HP of the femur. The combination of Pl and DM promoted the recovery from delayed bone wound healing and femur weight gain caused by DM. 3) No significant effects of TP (4 mg/kg, s.c., for the first 2 weeks) were observed on the wound healing and the femur growth, but an increase of the femur weight and Ca was observed by the combination of Pl and TP. These results indicate that Pl promotes the recovery from delayed bone wound healing and femur weight gain by DM, although no significant effects were observed in bone growth and bone wound healing by the administration of Pl alone. It is also suggested that a combination of Pl and TP promotes bone growth and mineralization.


Background Several studies have indicated that prostaglandin E2 and E-prostanoid (EP) receptors play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) in white populations. However, until now there was no report about EP receptor expression and its role in the pathophysiology of CRS in Chinese patients. Objective To investigate the expression profiles of EP receptors, including EP1, EP2, EP3, and EP4 receptors in different Chinese patients with CRS with aspirin tolerance. Methods Nasal biopsy specimens were obtained from 12 controls, 12 patients with CRS without nasal polyps (CRSsNP), 12 with eosinophilic CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), and 16 with noneosinophilic CRSwNP. Histopathologic characteristics were observed under a light microscope. Immunostaining was used to examine tissue localization of EP receptors. Messenger RNA and protein expression of EP receptors were examined by means of quantitative RT-polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively. Results Different types of CRS presented different histopathologic hallmarks. EP receptors were expressed mainly on epithelium, glands, and infiltrating inflammatory cells in nasal tissue. In controls, patients with CRSsNP, and those with noneosinophilic CRSwNP, EP4 mRNA levels were higher than EP1, EP2, and EP3 receptors. EP2 was downexpressed, and EP1 was upexpressed in patients with eosinophilic CRSwNP. When comparing EP receptor expression among different groups, Messenger RNA and protein of EP1 receptor were significantly enhanced in eosinophilic CRSwNP, but EP2, EP3, and EP4 receptors did not show significant differences. Conclusion EP receptor expressions present different features in healthy subjects and patients with CRS. The upregulated EP1 receptor in eosinophilic CRSwNP might be associated with excessive infiltrations of eosinophils and other inflammatory cells. The accurate role of the four EP receptors in the pathogenesis of different CRS remains to be further explored.


Abstract Land, which in a broader understanding is the Earth within the Universe, is grossly under-conceptualised and under-theorised in the prevailing mainstream or dominant paradigms under capitalism, imperialism and neo-colonialism. Land is often subsumed in the generic concept of property, thus making it a mere commodity in market economies or market economic thinking. In African epistemology land means much, much more: land is the basis of all life on earth and there can be no life, human life included, that can be detached from land. Epistemological terms such as 'Mother Land', 'Mother Earth', 'Mother Africa', 'Holy Land', 'Promised Land', 'Daughter/Son of the Soil', etc., express the centrality of land for people all over the world. Land is not only the material and spiritual basis of life for individual human beings but is also an essential component of the means of social production and reproduction, and statehood. Because of this, it stands to reason that in re-conceptualising and re-theorising land it is imperative also to rethink the concept and the theory of sovereignty – in other words, does sovereignty apply to the people or citizens of a country as a whole and/or the state? A new thinking about land and the state in relation to land, as presented in this article, can lead to re-negotiating the role of the state in society while at the same time empowering the people to assume greater demand on the control and sustainable development and use of resources that constitute land. The article introduces some of the current popular discourses in the media and in scholarly works on the issues of land, land reform and social contestations and then proceeds to present a critical reflection on why the pursuit of pan-Africanism and African renaissance in the 21st Century require decolonising knowledge on and about land. It puts land rights at the centre of human and peoples' rights and freedoms and, by doing so, critiques the dominant contemporary superficial conceptualisation and theorisation of socioeconomic rights. Indeed, constitutions of the new states in Africa do not entrench land as a common heritage of the citizens and permanent residents. Essentially the article is constructing what the author wishes to call 'The Wangari-Maathaist conception and theory of land' and its centrality to life. This is in honour of the late Professor Dr Wangari Muta Maathai, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 in recognition of her intellectualism and social activism for genuine democracy and practical approach to championing environmental protection in Kenya and the rest of the world. In her conception and social action, land and land issues are about all land, rural and urban. The two are interrelated and interdependent.


This work examines the alignment residual data for photolithography imaging in relationship to the maximum-minimum measured overlay values with linear factors corrected. Within the scope of this work, the relationships of maximum and minimum overlay vectors are examined instead of a three-sigma value characterizing the overlay. (The maximum vector is very close to a three sigma number, and the effective analysis would not be very different if three-sigma metric had been considered.) Such evaluation can lead to the understanding of what levels of alignment residuals are required to meet corresponding overlay budgets. It can be used to choose the alignment strategy or as a filter of real-time production alignment data.


This paper synthesizes the findings from a series of case studies on the interaction between the PRSP process and the budget. The five studies, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Tanzania and Vietnam aim to assess the extent to which public finance management and budget allocations reflect the principles and content of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PRSP, hence providing insights into progress in PRS implementation. The cases also shed light on whether the PRSP process itself has fostered more accountable, efficient and pro-poor budget processes and allocations as of 2003.The PRSP process, with its focus on data and information for evidence-based policy-making, open and participatory policy-making processes, poverty results and country-led donor coordination, alignment and harmonization has the potential to significantly improve the pro-poor focus and general accountability of budgeting processes.The cases confront a number of methodological challenges. First, in some countries and sectors, lack of appropriate data constrained the extent to which the research questions could be fully answered. Second, the PRSP remains a relatively recent innovation in all the countries studied and we recognize that many of our findings are preliminary, and require additional confirmation over time. Third, any assessment of the value added of the PRSP approach needs to be cognizant of the initial conditions in country, both to avoid ascribing successes to the PRSP which pre-date its existence, and to temper expectations about what the approach can deliver in a relatively short space of time given the starting point of each country. To address this last challenge, the case studies explicitly acknowledge the pre-existing situation in-country and try to assess the value added of the PRSP process.The four countries studied have a number of common features.Finally, and perhaps most importantly, all five countries share a high-level political commitment to addressing poverty, although the extent to which this commitment permeates throughout government agencies varies from country to country.The five countries, however, also display many distinctive features. Bolivia and Cambodia, for example, both suffer from high degrees of political fragmentation, which in Bolivia has manifested itself as civil unrest on a number of occasions in the last two years. Burkina Faso, Tanzania, and Vietnam, on the other hand, benefit from more stable political systems and an inherited commitment to pro-poor policies from socialist governments.


Early treatment of high‐risk COVID‐19 patients may prevent disease progression. However, there are limited data to support treatment of hospitalized or fully vaccinated patients with mild‐to‐moderate disease. In this retrospective cohort study, we studied the effect of early use of sotrovimab and remdesivir in high‐risk hospitalized COVID‐19 patients. We included PCR‐confirmed COVID‐19 patients admitted to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases who presented within the first 5 days of illness, and who were not requiring oxygen or ICU care at presentation. Sotrovimab‐ and remdesivir‐treated groups were compared with control (no early treatment). A multiple propensity‐score adjusted multivariable regression analysis was conducted with a composite primary endpoint of in‐hospital deterioration (oxygen requirement, ICU admission, or mortality). Of 1118 patients, 841 were in the control group, 106 in the sotrovimab group and 169 in the remdesivir group. The median age was 63 years (IQR 46–74 years) and 505 (45.2%) were female. In unvaccinated patients, both remdesivir and sotrovimab treatment were protective (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.19, 95% CI 0.064–0.60 and 0.18 [95% CI 0.066–0.47]), respectively. Contrarily, among the vaccinated patients there was no significant treatment effect with early remdesivir treatment (aOR 2.51, 95% CI 0.83–7.57, p = 0.10). Remdesivir and sotrovimab treatment, given early in the disease course to unvaccinated high‐risk patients, was effective in reducing the risk of in‐hospital deterioration and severe disease. This effect was not seen in fully vaccinated patients, which may be due to a small sample size or residual confounding.


We have recently demonstrated that adoptive transfer of regulatory T cell-depleted polyclonal T cells into lymphopenic mice leads to rejection of B16 melanoma, which generated an opportunity to study host requirements for tumor rejection when it effectively occurred. CD8+ T cell priming and tumor rejection required tumor Ag cross-presentation, as evidenced by tumor outgrowth in Kb−/− bone marrow chimeric or B71/2−/− mice. CD4+ T cells were additionally required for optimal tumor control, although not through classical CD4 "help," as the frequency of primed CD8+ T cells was similar in the absence of CD4+ T cells, and tumor rejection did not depend upon CD40–CD40L interactions or on IL-2 production by CD4+ T cells. Rather, CD4+ T cells appeared to act at the effector phase of tumor rejection and responded to B16-derived Ags in vitro. At the effector phase, IFN-γ production by transferred T cells, but not host cells, was necessary. IFN-γ acted either on host or tumor cells and was associated with reduced tumor vascularity. Finally, tumor rejection occurred after transfer of TNF-α, perforin, or FasL-deficient T cells. However, perforin/FasL double-knockout T cells failed to reject, arguing that the killing of B16 melanoma cells could occur either via the cytotoxic granule or Fas pathways. Collectively, these results support a model in which host tumor Ag cross-presentation primes adoptively transferred T cells, which remain functional in the setting of homeostatic proliferation and regulatory T cell depletion, and which promote tumor rejection via IFN-γ and lysis via cytotoxic granules and/or FasL.


Superluminal Brillouin amplification is predicted and demonstrated for modulated pump and Stokes waves, for interaction lengths less than half the modulation wavelength. The group velocity increases by a factor ? G , the Brillouin exponential gain parameter.


Abstract Limiting the time and effort needed for setting up and running an inundation model, as well as increasing the flexibility to changes in conditions arising from land use, the location studied and infrastructure, will increase the usefulness of Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) for decision makers. In this respect a traditional 2‐dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic approach for inundation modelling is less desirable. Moreover, such complex models are less suited to uncertainty analyses based on a large number of simulations with multiple sources of uncertainty. This can be better accomplished using a Rapid Flood Risk Assessment (RFRA) approach which requires minimal data and modelling work. The approach is GIS‐based, using only data on land use and elevation as input, and does not require hydrodynamic computations. A small section of the River Elbe in Germany served as case study to examine the applicability of the RFRA approach. For comparison, the inundation process was also modelled with the 2D‐hydrodynamic modelling software SOBEK1D2D of WL | Delft Hydraulics. The results indicated that the rapid approach performs well in terms of estimating the damage caused by inundation depth, but poorly in terms of the dynamic flow velocity effects.


We describe and compare two approaches to achieve segments matching between two images from a sequence, without any knowledge on the viewed object and/or on the motion of the camera between the different images. The first method uses an Hopfield neural network with several local constraints like correlation and distance between segments of consecutive images. The second algorithm is an iterative optimization of a criterion. We model the primitives displacement between the images by an homographic transform. Then we search, with a Levenberg-Marquardt method, the homography matrix giving the best match between the segments of the two images. The two algorithms are validated and compared on sequences of real images.


Objective To prepare a lentiviral vector expressing LLGL2 and establish KYSE450 and TE-1 cell lines for the stable expression of LLGL2. Methods The full-length LLGL2 sequence was amplified by high-fidelity PCR, and then it was inserted into pCDH-CMV-IRES-GFP-EF1-Puro vectors. The recombinant plasmid was confirmed by double enzyme digestion and sequencing. After co-infection of pCDH-CMV-LLGL2-IRES- GFP-EF1-Puro with vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSVG) and PHR into HEK293T cells, the lentivirus was harvested and used for infecting esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines including KYSE450 and TE-1 cells. These two cell lines infected with the lentivirus were screened with puromycin, and the stable cell lines were further confirmed with green fluoresence and Western blotting. Results Dual-enzyme digestion and sequencing confirmed that the pCDH-CMV-LLGL2-IRES-GFP-EF1-Puro vector, a lentiviral expression vector for the overexpression of LLGL2, was successfully constructed through high-fidelity PCR and ligation. Western blotting showed the increased expression level of LLGL2 protein in KYSE450 and TE-1 stable cell lines compared with the controls. Conclusion The experiment successfully established KYSE450 and TE-1 stable cell lines for the overexpression of LLGL2.


This paper reports on the findings of a completed Canadian Electric Association (CEA) funded project exploring the application of neural network to dynamic security contingency screening and ranking. The idea is to use the information on the prevailing operating condition and directly provide contingency screening and ranking using a trained neural network. To train the two neural networks for the large scale systems of BC Hydro and Hydro Quebec, in total 1691 detailed transient stability simulation were conducted, 1158 for BC Hydro system and 533 for the Hydro Quebec system. The simulation program was equipped with the energy margin calculation module (Second Kick) to measure the energy margin in each run. The first set of results showed poor performance for the neural networks in assessing the dynamic security. However a number of corrective measures improved the results significantly. These corrective measures included: (a) the effectiveness of output, (b) the number of outputs, (c) the type of features (static versus dynamic), (d) the number of features, (e) system partitioning and (f) the ratio of training samples to features. The final results obtained using the large scale systems of BC Hydro and Hydro Quebec demonstrates a good potential for neural network in dynamic security assessment contingency screening and ranking.


In metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, chemotherapy in combination with targeted therapies such as Avastin, Erbitux, and Vectibix (monoclonal antibodies) has improved response rates with prolongation of progression free survival and overall survival. Despite these major therapeutic progresses, at least 30 to 50% of patients remain non-responders.

Our project aimed to identify and validate new molecular targets of CRC. Comparison of gene expression profiles between normal mucosa and primary tumor of CRC patients followed by immunohistochemistry analysis identified claudin-1 (CLDN1) as potential therapeutic target for antibody-targeted therapy. CLDN1 is a major tight junction transmembrane protein, already found overexpressed in CRC in several studies and associated with tumor progression.

We have generated monoclonal antibodies (mAb) directed against extracellular domains of CLDN1 and demonstrated their specificity against human CLDN1 in vitro and in vivo. Then, using mice xenografted with the CRC cell line SW620 we tested the therapeutic effect of the 6F6C3mAb. The mice were treated by i.p. injections with vehicle or 6F6C3mAb at two different doses. The results showed that 6F6C3mAb treated-groups had a significant (p= 0,018) reduced growth compared to the control group and this effect was dose-dependent. The in vitro effects of the binding of 6F6C3mAb to CLDN1 were also assessed by clonogenic assays. Treatment by 6F6C3mAb induced a significant (p< 0.05) reduction of the number of colony-forming cells for CLDN1high colorectal cancer cells (SW620, Caco2) but also for CLDN1high ovarian and pancreatic cancer cells (PANC1, BXPC3, SKOV3, IGROV1). Thus, 6F6C3mAb binding had a profound effect on cancer cell survival.

In conclusion, CLDN1 seems to be a promising target for antibody-based therapy. The 6F6C3mAb is able to inhibit tumor growth and tumor survival by binding the extracellular domains of CLDN1. It can be used in the treatment of cancer diseases such as colorectal cancer as well in adjuvant as in metastatic setting.

Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):B245.

Citation Format: Adeline Ayrolles-Torro, Nadia Vezzio-Vie, Vincent Denis, Florence Boissiere-Michot, Veronique Garambois, Muriel Busson, Imade Ait Arsa, Caroline Mollevi, Martine Pugniere, Frederic Bibeau, Pierre Martineau, Celine Gongora, Maguy Del Rio. Claudin-1 (CLDN1) as a new therapeutic target in colorectal cancer: Inhibition of cell growth and survival by an anti-CLDN1 monoclonal antibody. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B245.


An overview of the development of arc ion sources for heavy ion fusion is presented. Two approaches to heavy ion fusion (HIF)-the RF linac-storage ring approach and the induction linac approach-are described. RF linac schemes require low emittance and moderate current levels, because the beam is accumulated in storage rings before being focused on target. The induction linac approach requires low emittance and high current, because this is a single-pass approach to HIF and one wishes to limit the number of beams in the machine. The RF scheme generally uses long pulse sources together with a buncher of RFQ. The induction linac approach requires sources in the microsecond pulse length range, with good optics being maintained during the pulse. Emphasis is on the induction linac approach pursued at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. >


A mechanical design technique for optical coatings that simultaneously controls thermal deformation and optical reflectivity is reported. The method requires measurement of the refractive index and thermal stress of single films prior to the design. Atomic layer deposition was used for deposition because of the high repeatability of the film constants. An Al2O3/HfO2 distributed Bragg reflector was deposited with a predicted peak reflectivity of 87.9% at 542.4 nm and predicted edge deformation of -360 nm/K on a 10 cm silicon substrate. The measured peak reflectivity was 85.7% at 541.7 nm with an edge deformation of -346 nm/K.


Aiming at protecting swimmers and surfers from shark attacks and preventing hurting sharks, we present a novel shark repelling system: Autonomous Drone Shark Shield, which uses flying drones to impede and prevent shark attacks. We introduce the design of the shark shield system and the strategy for expelling sharks. A shark interception algorithm was developed to steer drones to intercept moving sharks. The effectiveness of the proposed method is proved by computer simulation.


This study investigates career indecision and levels of state anxiety among 647 returned international Chinese undergraduate students enrolled at 90 universities/colleges in Taiwan. The Chinese-language versions of the Career Decision Scale (CDS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were administered; results indicated that returned international Chinese undergraduate students in Taiwan are rarely free of state anxiety and career indecision. Moreover, it was discovered that career indecision could be predicted by whether or not students were interested in the subjects they had chosen to study and their current grade point averages, whereas levels of state anxiety could be predicted by whether or not students were interested in the subjects they had chosen to study and if they held part-time jobs during the semester in which the study took place. The results and implications for continuing research among participants of various cultural and linguistic backgrounds are discussed.

 Key word: Career education, career indecision, state anxiety, international students.


Maternal high-fat (HF) diet exposure in utero may affect fetal development and cause metabolic problems throughout life due to lipid dysmetabolism and oxidative damage. Metformin has been suggested as a potential treatment for body weight reduction and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, but its reprogramming effect on offspring is undetermined. This study assesses the effects of maternal metformin treatment on hepatic steatosis in offspring caused by maternal HF diet. Female rats were fed either a control or an HF diet before conception, with or without metformin treatment during gestation, and placenta and fetal liver tissues were collected. In another experiment, the offspring were fed a control diet until 120 d (adult stage). Metformin treatment during pregnancy ameliorates placental oxidative stress and enhances placental glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), GLUT3, and GLUT4 expression levels through 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation. Maternal metformin treatment was shown to reprogram maternal HF diet-induced changes in offspring fatty liver with the effects observed in adulthood as well. Further validation is required to develop maternal metformin therapy for clinical applications.