Background: The KDOQI (Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative) recommends not using Arterio-Venous-Fistulas (AVFs) for Hemodialysis treatment (HD) within 1-month after creation because earlier cannulation (≤ 14 days) leads to reduced fistula survival. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in 205 patients, who started maintenance HD with a Radial-Cephalic-AVF (RC-AVF) based on institutional guidelines similar to the KDOQI recommendations. Configuration of the RC-AVF was standardized. Postoperative day from creation to first RC-AVF cannulation was abbreviated as POD. The primary endpoint was the first occurrence of a Vascular Access (VA) event (thrombectomy, surgical revision, or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty). Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the primary endpoint were determined. The cut-off POD for a VA event was calculated using the Receiver-Operating Characteristic curve and a Diagnostic Performance plot. Results: The primary endpoint occurred in 85 patients (41%) during 52 months (median). The cutoff POD to predict a VA event was <22 days. Cumulative incidence rates of VA endpoints were 53% and 31% for PODs ≤ 21 and >21 days, respectively (p=0.0008). A POD ≥ 22 days reduced the risk of a VA event by 52% compared with a POD <22 days. No significant difference in a VA event was seen for a POD ≤ 14 and a POD 15-21 days. A POD ≥ 22 days exerted a 60% reduction in a VA event compared with a POD ≤ 14 days. Discussion: The time from creation until the first cannulation of a RC-AVF should be set at more than 3 weeks. This finding provides a good example of the KDOQI recommendations. Keisuke Ota1, Michio Fukuda1*, Tamaki Wakamatsu-Yamanaka1, Toshiyuki Miura1, Masashi Mizuno1, Ryo Sato1, Daisuke Fuwa1, Nobuo Kato1,6, Minamo Ono1, Taisei Suzuki1, Naoyuki Fukuda2, Yumiko Nishimoto3, Toshihito Haba4, Masaki Kobayashi1,5, Osamu Ishida6, Yoshihiro Ota7, Satoshi Sugiyama8, Kunio Morozumi1,9 and Nobuyuki Ohte1 1Department of Cardio-Renal Medicine and Hypertension, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Japan 2Department of Oral Surgery, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Japan 3Chukyo-kosei Clinic, Japan 4Department of Transplant and Endocrine Surgery, Nagoya Second Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan 5Department of Laboratory of Molecular Pathology and Metabolic Disease, Tokyo University of Science, Japan 6Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, National Defense Medical College, Japan 7Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, Japan 8Kanayama Clinic, Nagoya, Japan 9Masuko Memorial Hospital, Japan


Background TV is the most common non-viral STI in the world. Despite this, TV infection in UK Genitourinary clinics is mainly (and often exclusively) diagnosed by wet mount microscopy alone. Microscopy is known to have a low and variable sensitivity and therefore greatly underestimates the true prevalence of TV infection. Objectives A clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the performance of five methods for detecting TV: an in-house PCR; the Aptima TV kit; the OSOM Trichomonas Rapid Test (POCT); culture and microscopy to diagnose infection in symptomatic women. The results of the study were used to power a financial model for clinical implementation of a molecular test. Methods Symptomatic women were recruited for testing. Results and resource costs from the study were extrapolated to calculate the cost of implementing POCT and in house PCR compared to wet mount microscopy in the clinic. Results A composite reference standard of 2 more or more positives was used. 246 women were recruited of which 24 had a positive test by 2 or more of the 5 methods. Aptima TV kit, POCT, Real-time PCR and culture (sensitivities 92, 92, 88 and 88%) all out performed wet-mount microscopy (sensitivity 38%). The prevalence based on two tests as reference standard was 9.75%. Conclusions Cost modelling showed although initial outlay costs for PCR and POCT were high, savings were made in labour costs. PCR and POCT would improve the rate of TV diagnosis in this group and therefore reduce repeat visits due to false positive results. PCR requires additional clinical time for recalling the patient for a further visit to give a positive result, treatment and contact tracing. Implementation of newer tests could potentially reduce clinical cost and improve patient outcomes in the long term.


Liquefied wood-based precursors and carbon fibers were prepared by various chemical curing processes to investigate the effects of curing time and temperature on the thermostability and tensile strength of carbon fibers. The primary fibers can be converted into high-performance precursors by directly heating at a targeted curing temperature. With the temperature and duration increasing, the number of methylene bonds in the precursors increased, resulting in the enhancement of cross-linkages among molecular chains and the improvement of the thermostability of the precursors. Carbon fibers prepared from the precursors (95 °C and curing time 3 h) exhibited the minimum value in the average interlayer spacing (d002); however, they displayed the highest tensile strength, at almost 800 MPa, which can be classified as fibers of general grade.


This paper deals with piconet topology issues in IEEE802.15.3 High Rate Wireless Personal Area Network standard. These issues preventing two devices to establish a connection come from the coexistence of two conflicting concepts: ad-hoc networking and centralized coordination. An algorithm for the initialization of the topology of the piconet is proposed. This algorithm leads to a probability higher than 95% of connection success in the whole power emission range defined by the standard


Long-leg braces are often used by persons with paraplegia to negotiate architectural barriers, and thereby increase their wheelchair mobility. Such barriers include ramps, stairways, and narrow corridors requiring multiple turns. This study was designed to measure the energy expenditure during such activities for two long-leg orthoses: standard braces without a dorsiflexion stop and Scott-Craig braces. Energy expenditure was measured in eight subjects by indirect spirometry using Douglas bag collection and Haldane analysis. Data obtained were used to calculate oxygen consumption per minute, volume of oxygen per turn, step, or meter, and calories per minute during each activity. Using Scott-Craig braces on one day and standard braces on another day, each subject negotiated five 90 degrees turns and two 180 degree turns, ten 15.24 cm steps, both up and down, and an 11.9 m ramp inclined 12 degrees, both up and down. Milliliters of oxygen consumed per kilogram of body weight per turn, step, or meter were recorded for Scott-Craig braces, standard braces, and normal walking. All of these activities required a high expenditure of energy. No significant difference was apparent between the standard and the Scott-Craig braces for any activity.


Phase synchronization is one of the key issues that must be addressed in the bistatic synthetic aperture radar (BiSAR) system. LuTan-1 is an innovative L-band spaceborne BiSAR mission of China. An advanced synchronization scheme is used in the LuTan-1 system. The synchronization pulses are exchanged immediately after the ending time of the radar echo receiving window and before the starting time of the next pulse repetition interval. Therefore, it can not interrupt the normal SAR data acquisition, further improving synchronization frequency and avoiding the data missing effect. In order to accurately monitor system malfunctions and compensate for the phase synchronization errors introduced by hardware system, an innovative internal calibration strategy is designed and employed in the LuTan-1 mission. The test data acquired from the ground validation system of LuTan-1 are used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed scheme. The results validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme and prove the promise for its future application in LuTan-1.


In this paper, we present a new numerical approach for improving the resolving power of low-resolution (LR) images. This approach may be applied for failure analysis of microelectronic chips. The resolution improvement is based upon numerical iterative comparison between a LR experimentally captured image and a high-resolution layout image of the same region of interest.


Geochemical analyses have been made of late Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks on the eastern North American margin from Baltimore Canyon northeastward to the Newfoundland Seamounts. Samples from the Newfoundland Seamounts were obtained from dredge hauls, from the New England Seamounts from Deep Sea Drilling Project holes, and from the Grand Banks, Scotian Shelf, Georges Bank, and Baltimore Canyon area from exploratory oil wells. All of the rocks analyzed are alkali basalts and related mafic rocks. The analytical data allow the rocks to be divided into two distinct igneous suites. The New England suite includes the Baltimore Canyon, Georges Bank, and New England Seamounts. Rocks from these areas show marked enrichment in light REE and many incompatible trace elements. The Eastern Canadian suite, consisting of rocks from the Scotian Shelf and Grand Banks, show slightly convex REE spectra and less enrichment in incompatible elements. The rocks from the New England suite contain high-pressure clinopyroxene phenocrysts, some of which show complex zoning; these are absent in rocks from the Eastern Canadian suite. The data available from these offshore areas is limited and does not permit a unique petrogenetic explanation for the geochemical differences between the two suites. The Eastern Canadian suite resembles early-formed alkali rocks from Loihi Seamount, interpreted as the products of a low degree of partial melting of a MORB-type mantle source. This source was slightly depleted in LREE in order to produce the observed convex LREE spectra. The New England suite closely resembles many ocean island basalt suites. Our data do not allow discrimination between various current hypotheses for the origin of relative enrichment in incompatible elements of alkali olivine basalts. Variations in element ratios for geochemically very similar element pairs (such as La/Ce and Zr/Hf) suggest that the mantle beneath the two suites may have different compositions. The mantle composition inferred for the New England suite is similar to that postulated by many authors as resulting from mantle plumes. The localization of the volcanism in the Early Cretaceous, however, is related to the development of fractures, some of which resulted from reactivation of old fracture zones.


Abstract Infestation with Varroa spp. (varroosis) has been assessed according to the criteria of the Animal Health Law (AHL), in particular criteria of Article 7 on disease profile and impacts, Article 5 on the eligibility of varroosis to be listed, Article 9 for the categorisation of varroosis according to disease prevention and control rules as in Annex IV and Article 8 on the list of animal species related to varroosis. The assessment has been performed following a methodology composed of information collection and compilation, expert judgement on each criterion at individual and, if no consensus was reached before, also at collective level. The output is composed of the categorical answer, and for the questions where no consensus was reached, the different supporting views are reported. Details on the methodology used for this assessment are explained in a separate opinion. According to the assessment performed, it is inconclusive whether varroosis can be considered eligible to be listed for Union intervention as laid down in Article 5(3) of the AHL because there was no full consensus on the criterion 5 A(v). Consequently, the assessment on compliance of varroosis with the criteria as in Annex IV to the AHL, for the application of the disease prevention and control rules referred to in Article 9(1), and which animal species can be considered to be listed for varroosis according to Article 8(3) are also inconclusive.


Ginseng is known to have antistress effects. Previously, red ginseng (RG) was shown to repress stress-induced peptidyl arginine deiminase type IV (PADI4) via estrogen receptor β (ERβ) in the brain, thus inhibiting brain cell apoptosis. Moreover, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α plays a critical role in immobilization (IMO) stress. However, the signaling pathway of RG-mediated repressesion of inflammation is not completely understood. In this study, we determined how RG modulated gene expression in stressed brain cells. Since secretion of TNF-α is modulated via TNF-α converting enzyme (TACE) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB, we examined the inflammatory pathway in stressed brain cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed that TACE was induced by IMO stress, but RG repressed TACE induction. Moreover, PADI4 siRNA repressed TACE expression compared to the mock transfected control suggesting that PADI4 was required for TACE expression. A reporter assay also revealed that H2O2 oxidative stress induced NF-κB in neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells, however, RG pretreatment repressed NF-κB induction. These findings were supported by significant induction of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species (ROS) by oxidative stress, which could be repressed by RG administration. Taken together, RG appeared to repress stress-induced PADI4 via TACE and NF-κB in brain cells thus preventing production of ROS and subsequently protecting brain cells from apoptosis.


The paper presents the research results of the problem of information society risk exposure in an anthropological aspect. The authors reveal new conditions of human existence in the context of both positive and negative components based on the analysis of modernization processes taking place in information epoch and their impact on the human. Potential dangers to human personality and possible ways of their destructive influence, relating to identity and trust loss, increase in hyperdynamism, are studied. When considering the production of risks by the example of modern biomedical technologies, the authors conclude that development and application of modern convergent means of socium and human transformation provoke large-scale risks and threat to the future of mankind. It results in the need for adequate humanitarian understanding of existent processes and development of new strategic approaches to the risk exposure problem solution. The specific nature of educational activity under the conditions of establishing new stage of information society development – the knowledge society is exposed. Risks of wide-spread technologic approach to education quality management are distinguished. Possible risk management methods in information society by the example of education quality management are proposed. The issue is the need for education management holistic model formation in the unity of technologic and axiological approaches. Philosophical and theoretical analysis of anthropological risks of the information society allowed stating a number of proposals and recommendations of practical nature, which can be used by organizations/corporations that make decisions in the area of risk


The development of an ultra-violet (UV) differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) fibre-optic sensor for the monitoring of vehicle exhaust gases is described in this paper. Experimental results describing the operation of this sensor with NO2, SO2 , and NO are shown. These experimental results are compared with existing published spectroscopic absorption measurements. It is shown that the minimum detectable concentration of NO2 is 1 ppm, SO 2 is 1 ppm, and NO is 26 ppm. The sensor was found to have a low susceptibility to interference between the detection of these gases


Objective:To compare the ability of three Env (15-mer) peptide sets derived from the HIV-1 MN, the subtype B consensus, and the group M consensus to detect HIV-1 specific interferon (IFN)-γ responses in HIV-1 subtype B infected subjects. Methods:Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained from 17 HIV-1 subtype B seropositive and 5 HIV-1 seronegative subjects. Peptide matrices comprising each peptide set were used in IFN-γ Elispot assays to screen for T cell epitopes. Following matrix deconvolution, individual peptides were analyzed by IFN-γ intracellular cytokine-staining to confirm and characterize the responding cells. Results:HIV specific IFN-γ responses were detected in 17 of 17 HIV-1 seropositive and none of 5 HIV-1 seronegative subjects by Elispot. Within the 17 HIV-1 seropositives, 16, 14, and 11 subjects responded to MN, B consensus, and group M env peptides, respectively. Responses were confirmed by intracellular cytokine analysis in 14 subjects and were in the CD3CD8 compartment. Cross-recognition of 'equivalent' peptides (i.e., peptides mapping to the same sequence region from the three peptide sets) was observed in 9 of 17 subjects. Peptide set specific responses to individual peptides were also observed; 11, 1, and 1 subjects demonstrated peptide set specific responses to MN, B consensus, and consensus group M, respectively. Conclusion:MN derived Env peptides were better able to detect HIV-1 specific CD8 T cell responses, many of which were not detectable by the equivalent clade or group consensus peptides. No single peptide set detected all the IFN-γ responses within an individual. These results demonstrate the importance of reagent selection for monitoring of HIV responses in HIV-1 infected individuals and subsequently vaccine recipients.


Detecting 3D objects keypoints is ofgreat interest to the areas of both graphics and computer vision. There have been several 2D and 3D keypoint datasets aiming to address this problem in a data-driven way. These datasets, however, either lack scalability or bring ambiguity to the definition of keypoints. Therefore, we present KeypointNet: the first large-scale and diverse 3D keypoint dataset that contains 83,231 keypoints and 8,329 3D models from 16 object categories, by leveraging numerous human annotations. To handle the inconsistency between annotations from different people, we propose a novel method to aggregate these keypoints automatically, through minimization of a fidelity loss. Finally, ten state-of-the-art methods are benchmarked on our proposed dataset.


Two mononuclear DyIII crown ether complexes [Dy(15C5)(H2O)4](ClO4)3·(15C5)·H2O (1) and [Dy(12C4)(H2O)5](ClO4)3·H2O (2) have been prepared and characterized. X-ray diffraction studies show that both compounds crystallize as half sandwich type structures with muffin and pseudo-capped square antiprismatic geometries respectively. Despite the comparable local environments of the DyIII ions they display remarkably different dynamic magnetic properties with only 1 displaying SMM properties in zero field. The solid state emission spectra for both 1 and 2 display sharp bands associated with f–f transitions. From the fine structure of the 4F9/2→6H15/2 band, the Stark splitting of the 6H15/2 ground state permitted the energy difference between the ground and first excited state to be determined. For 1 this value (ΔE = 58.0 ± 3.0 cm−1) is in excellent agreement with ab initio calculations and the experimentally observed SMM behaviour. For 2, the photoluminescence data and theoretical calculations support a less well isolated ground state (ΔE = 30 ± 3.0 cm−1) in which a rapid relaxation process affords no SMM behaviour in zero-field.


This paper considers the problem of voiced and voiceless Russian explosive consonants in the Russian pronunciation by Korean students. An experiment was conducted to identify the acoustic variations in the pronunciation by Korean students of Russian explosive consonants. In the first stage, a computer program Praat 5.3.48 recorded Russian explosive consonants pronounced by native speakers of Russian and Korean languages. In the second stage, during the comparative analysis of the results of the experiment, acoustic characteristics of Russian explosive consonants were analyzed, and while they were pronounced by Korean students, they were found to have deviated from the norm of Russian language.


The objective of this work was to study the adsorption efficiency of natural clay and its surface modified with manganese oxide for removal of Pb( II) ion. The adsorption of Pb( II) from aqueous solution onto raw natural clay (NC) and manganese oxide-modified natural clay (MnO-NC) was evaluated based on batch experiment. The adsorption efficiency of MnO-NC onto Pb( II) was investigated as a function of the initial pH of 6, equilibrium time of 30 min, adsorbent concentration of 5 g/L and initial concentration of Pb(II) solution in the range of 50500 mg/L. The adsorption isotherms of Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich were used to describe the equilibrium isotherm. It is observed that the data from MnO-NC adsorbents fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacities of MnONC were estimated as 38. 76 mg/ g. By comparing with NC, the amount of Pb( II) adsorbed onto MnO-NC was more than NC by about 38 times under the optimized adsorption condition. According to Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm, the adsorptive mechanism of Pb( II) onto MnONC was chemisorption, whereas the NC showed the mechanism as physical in nature. The kinetic studies of Pb( II) demonstrated that the adsorption of Pb( II) onto MnO-NC and NC adsorbents followed a pseudo secondorder model with a good correlation. The adsorption mechanism was processed via chemical ion exchange between H+ and bonded MnO groups and Pb(II) ions in solution.


Significance of protection of the meadow and grassland communities for maintenance the floristic diversity in the area of the south-eastern Silesian Upland (Poland) Variety of relief and geology of the south-eastern Silesian Upland results in richness and diversity of its vegetation. Wet meadows and xerothermic grasslands are one of its most valuable components. In their phytocoenoses many protected (27 in meadows and 22 in grasslands) and rare (25 and 34) species have been noted. Among them there are threatened species put on the "Red list of the vascular plants in Poland". A few species represent the mountain element. Some meadow and grassland phytocoenoses from the south-eastern part of the Silesian Upland are characterised by exceptionally high floristic richness. The Cirsietum rivularis patches have proved to be the richest among them. Large-scale cessation of usage caused that meadows and grasslands actually need urgent active protection here. This is the only chance of survival for many rare protected and threatened plants.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the mechanism of protective effect of Xingnaojing and Xuesaitong injections on cerebral ischemic reperfusion injury in rats.

METHODS
The focal cerebral ischemia & reperfusion model was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). A total of 152 male SD rats were randomly assigned into 19 groups: sham operated group, Xingnaojing group, Xingnaojing plus Xuesaitong group and control group according to different reperfusion durations: 2, 4, 8, 24, 48, 72 h. Each group had 8 rats. Rats in Xingnaojing group received the ip injections of Xingnaojing (1 ml x 100 (-1) x d(-1)) until an onset of ischemia; Xingnaojing plus Xuesaitong group received the ip injections of Xingnaojing (1 ml x 100 g(-1) x d(-1)) and Xuesaitong (1 ml x 100 g(-1) x d(-1)) until an onset of ischemia; In the meantime, rats in control group received the same ip dose of saline. The levels of SOD and MDA were detected. The number of apoptotic neurons was detected by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase medicated nick end labeling (TUNEL).

RESULTS
During ischemic reperfusion, the MDA content of brain homogenate increased while the SOD activity decreased (P < 0.05). Xingnaojing could significantly inhibit the increase of MDA after cerebral ischemic reperfusion (P < 0.05) and the decrease of SOD activity in rats. The changes of SOD and MDA were smaller in the Xingnaojing plus Xuesaitong group than those in the Xinnaojing group (P < 0.01). The number of apoptotic neurons in the Xingnaojing group was significantly lower than that in control group (P < 0.05). And the number of apoptotic neurons in the Xingnaojing plus Xuesaitong group was even lower than that in the Xingnaojing group(4,8 h: P < 0.05, 24, 48, 72 h: P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION
The Xingnaojing plus Xuesaitong injection has protective function after cerebral ischemic reperfusion.


The energy management technology has been occupying the attention due to the requests for the high-efficiency energy use. Especially, the electric power management is the key issue in order to achieve the high-efficiency energy generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption. Therefore, the progress in power electronics technology is very important, as the power electronics technology offers the function of efficient electric power control. The wide-gap semiconductor is the promising technology in the field of the power electronics which is now based on the Si devices. In this manuscript, the recent technical trend in the field of power electronics R&D is explained from the viewpoint of wide-gap semiconductor application.


Gene-based rare variant association studies (RVASs) have low power due to the infrequency of rare variants and the large multiple testing burden. To correct for multiple testing, traditional false discovery rate (FDR) procedures which depend solely on P-values are often used. Recently, Independent Hypothesis Weighting (IHW) was developed to improve the detection power while maintaining FDR control by leveraging prior information for each hypothesis. Here, we present a framework to increase power of gene-based RVASs by incorporating prior information using IHW. We first build supervised machine learning models to assign each gene a prediction score that measures its disease risk, using the input of multiple biological features, fed with high-confidence risk genes and local background genes selected near GWAS significant loci as the training set. Then we use the prediction scores as covariates to prioritize RVAS results via IHW. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this framework through applications to RVASs in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. We found sizeable improvements in the number of significant associations compared to traditional FDR approaches, and independent evidence supporting the relevance of the genes identified by our framework but not traditional FDR, demonstrating the potential of our framework to improve power of gene-based RVASs.


The assessment of fragmentation through blasting and therefore subsequent crushing and grinding stages is important in order to control and optimize the mining operation. Prediction of the mean size of fragmented rock by the rock mass characteristics, the blasting geometry, the technical parameters and the explosive properties is an important challenge for the blasting engineers. Some of the effective parameters on rock fragmentation have been investigated in several empirical models. A model for fragmentation in bench blasting was developed using the effective parameters on the existing empirical models, so as to propose a simple applicable model to predict X50. The proposed model was calibrated by nonlinear fits to 35 bench blasts in different sites from Sungun copper mine, Akdaglar quarry and Mrica quarry. In order to validate the proposed model, its results were compared to data obtained from six blast sites in Chadormalu iron ore mine and one in Porgera gold mine. The results indicated a small variance in X50 which is calculated by the proposed model, through the image processing approach. The Comparison of the powers between the proposed and the Kuz-Ram models showed that the specific explosive energy and the powder factor are almost the same. The advantage of the proposed model rather than the Kuz-Ram model is specific explosive energy, since this parameter includes the powder factor and the weight strength of explosive. Also a sensitivity analysis was carried out based on artificial neural network. The results showed that the burden and the specific explosive energy were the most effective parameters in the proposed model.


This paper proposes a novel modulation format that results in a constant envelope when orthogonal multicode spread-spectrum signals are linearly combined. This feature is desirable for the use of a low-cost nonlinear amplifier in a high-data-rate multiple access system, especially on the uplink of cellular systems. To allow coherent demodulation, per-symbol detection is introduced to the constant envelope modulation (CEM), which increases receiver complexity modestly compared to conventional bit-by-bit detection. Analysis of the multiuser performance reveals superiority to an ideal system without nonlinear distortion, and significant improvement when nonlinearity is taken into account.


Background Experimental and clinical evidence support a link between body representations and pain. This proof-of-concept study in people with painful knee osteoarthritis (OA) aimed to determine if: (i) visuotactile illusions that manipulate perceived knee size are analgesic; (ii) cumulative analgesic effects occur with sustained or repeated illusions. Methods Participants with knee OA underwent eight conditions (order randomised): stretch and shrink visuotactile (congruent) illusions and corresponding visual, tactile and incongruent control conditions. Knee pain intensity (0–100 numerical rating scale; 0 = no pain at all and 100 = worst pain imaginable) was assessed pre- and post-condition. Condition (visuotactile illusion vs control) × Time (pre-/post-condition) repeated measure ANOVAs evaluated the effect on pain. In each participant, the most beneficial illusion was sustained for 3 min and was repeated 10 times (each during two sessions); paired t-tests compared pain at time 0 and 180s (sustained) and between illusion 1 and illusion 10 (repeated). Results Visuotactile illusions decreased pain by an average of 7.8 points (95% CI [2.0–13.5]) which corresponds to a 25% reduction in pain, but the tactile only and visual only control conditions did not (Condition × Time interaction: p = 0.028). Visuotactile illusions did not differ from incongruent control conditions where the same visual manipulation occurred, but did differ when only the same tactile input was applied. Sustained illusions prolonged analgesia, but did not increase it. Repeated illusions increased the analgesic effect with an average pain decrease of 20 points (95% CI [6.9–33.1])–corresponding to a 40% pain reduction. Discussion Visuotactile illusions are analgesic in people with knee OA. Our results suggest that visual input plays a critical role in pain relief, but that analgesia requires multisensory input. That visual and tactile input is needed for analgesia, supports multisensory modulation processes as a possible explanatory mechanism. Further research exploring the neural underpinnings of these visuotactile illusions is needed. For potential clinical applications, future research using a greater dosage in larger samples is warranted.


In general, the decay of the residential district has been considered a phenomenon of old towns. But now it has become a problem of new development areas too, which have been a cause of the decay of old town. This study aims to investigate the decay of the residential district in the new development area. The survey site was Dunsan, a town-intown of Daejeon metropolitan city. The findings were as follows (:) 1) even in the new development area, a high level of vacancy ratio was evident. ; 2) among the buildings above ground, 1st floor showed the highest vacancy ratio, which means the 1st floor was allotted to too many commercial facilities relative to the buying power size in this district. ; 3) there were many conversions in response to the decay of the district, from residential to commercial, and commercial to residential. ; and 4) the allocation of each type of conversion showed a spatial pattern.


A polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric transducer is used for time-resolved measurements of shock waves generated by a KrF excimer laser irradiating a thin Nickel foil. Pressure loading due to both thermal expansion and surface evaporation is measured. The peak pressure of the shock wave increases with laser fluence, and the stress behind the shock reaches 390 bar at a laser fluence of 3.7 J/cm2. The mechanical coupling efficiency during laser-metal interaction is estimated for laser fluences between 0.72 and 3.7 J/cm2. The measurement results reveal prolonged pressure loading at the target surface after the termination of laser pulse, which is due to superheating of the surface layer during laser ablation.


This document explores the infrastructure needed during the next decade to support European climate research for seasonal to centennial climate predictions. This research will be integral to providing the scientific basis for climate services. It is highly relevant to the objectives of the Joint Programming Initiative on Climate "Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe".

The scientific community working on climate modelling is organized within the European Network for Earth System modelling (ENES). It has outlined major scientific issues both related to the reliability of climate change predictions and to the scientific understanding of climate natural variability. The document presents a vision of what could be available in 10 years time. It is envisaged that by the end of the decade, convective scales will be fully featured in climate models. Initialization and ensemble techniques will be well developed. Uncertainty will be well characterised ensuring appropriate diversity in both regional predictions and longer paleoclimatic simulations. It will be possible to initialise models from real data using full data assimilation techniques. It will be easier to evaluate models and their shorter range projections using hindcasts applied to real data, and such evaluation will be harnessed in a cycle of continuous model improvement.

The implications of this vision for infrastructure are set out. The most demanding goal is to ensure by the end of the decade convective scales are resolved in European climate models of the Earth system with the objective to obtain regional climate predictions for next few decades which are more reliable. This in turn will require intensive and adapted access to exascale computing (1018 operations per second), co-located to an unusually large data archive, which needs to be connected to national archives by networks transferring data at rates faster than Tera bits/second. European models will benefit from being more modern in terms of flexibility and usability, and having a designed diversity, with the number of model «families» possibly reduced and commensurate with the resources available for their development and use.They should scale very well on high performance computers, but also allow usage across the whole computing pyramid. This will mandate a better connected and organized European community, agreeing and working together on common goals.

The requirements to ensure the availability of appropriately skilled experts is outlined, and possible funding and governance are discussed.

ENES recommends the following action items for the climate modelling research infrastructure:

1. Provide a blend of high-performance computing facilities ranging from national machines to a worldclass computing facility suitable for climate applications, which, given the workload anticipated, may well
have to be dedicated to climate simulations.
2. Accelerate the preparation for exascale computing, e.g. by establishing closer links to PRACE and by developing new algorithms for massively parallel many-core computing.
3. Ensure data from climate simulations are easily available and well documented, especially for the climate impacts community.
4. Build a physical network connecting national archives with transfer capacities exceeding Tbits/sec.
5. Strengthen the European expertise in climate science and computing to enable the long term vision to be realized.

Strengthening the European climate modelling infrastructure will provide Europe with the necessary evidence
and expertise for its mitigation and adaptation policies.


The aims of this study were to analyse perceptions regarding the sporting events held in the Madrid Sports Palace and to analyse whether those perceptions vary by age or gender. One hundred and ninetyfive residents answered the Ntloko and Swart (2008) questionnaire. The dimensions most highly rated were economic benefits (3.9±0.8), the event as a regional showcase (3.6±0.7), and the event as entertainment (3.4±0.6). However, the respondents did not agree with the negative environmental impact (2.0±0.8). Men rated the use of public money (z=2.4; pmenor que.05) and the regional showcase (z=2.0 pmenor que.05) more positively than women. Finally, women rated the increase in prices (z=2.0; pmenor que.05) more highly than men. The age groups differed significantly only regarding the promotion of community pride. Seniors and middle-aged adults rated it more positively than young adults (?2(2)=9.9; pmenor que.01). The fact that in an urban sports facility regular sporting events take place on a regular basis means that there are diverse perceptions, though mainly positive, and those perceptions differ from the perceptions about mega events that take place once in a life time at temporary sports facilities.


This dedicated issue recognizes the growing interest in spirituality among academics, practitioners and students and we welcome the role that Critical Social Work has taken in giving recognition to this significant area of research and practice. This issue contains papers arising primarily from the Fourth Annual Canadian Conference on Spirituality and Social Work held at King's University College, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, May 26-28, 2005.


To assess the lasting value of clinical skills learned by residents in a subspecialty-oriented training program in internal medicine, we surveyed recent graduates. Graduates received a questionnaire contrasting separate ratings of the amount of training (preparation) they received during residency with the importance of this training in subsequent career activities. Topics included 12 traditional medical disciplines, 15 areas related to the practice of medicine, 15 allied medical disciplines, ten basic skill and knowledge areas, and 28 technical procedures. Response rate was 91.8% (56/61). Ninety-five percent of respondents had certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine, 80% had subspecialty training, and 89% rendered direct patient care. Fifty-six topics showed disparity between preparation and importance scores (45 with P less than .0001). For 14 categories, mainly technical procedures, disparate ratings suggested excessive programmatic emphasis, while for 42 categories, including history taking and physical examination, there may have been inadequate emphasis. These data suggest that basic clinical skills may require greater emphasis, even in traditional programs. The opinion of program graduates is an important resource in designing training programs in internal medicine.


Background This study performed a follow-up investigation of parasitic infections and the evolution of the infection spectra in Shanghai and its surrounding areas in Eastern China. The current study was conducted in the Shanghai Ruijin Hospital, a tertiary hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Methods This retrospective investigation reviewed a total of 412 parasitic infections in patients admitted to the Department of Infectious Diseases, Ruijin Hospital from January 1, 2010 to July 31, 2022. Detailed information for these patients was retrieved from the Electronic Medical Record System. Analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism 5.0 and SPSS Statistics 26. Results Overall, 17 species of parasites were detected from the 412 admissions. Over the 13 years, the number of patients peaked in 2021 and food-born parasites (FBPs) were the primary species. During the most recent 5 years, Clonorchis sinensis, replacing Paragonimus westermani, has become the primary parasite detected among the patients, consistent with the observation that eating uncooked fish has turned into the most common route of transmission. Paragonimus westermani infections declined with age, but Cysticercus increased with age. The periods from the onset of symptoms to definite diagnosis for some patients infected with Sparganum mansoni, Paragonimus westermani, and Cysticercus were more than 6 months. Interestingly, eosinophilia was only detected in 51.83% of parasite-infected patients. In addition, superinfections of parasites were common in our study. Conclusion Our study demonstrates the transitional change in the prevalence of parasitic infection over the latest 13 years in a single center in Eastern China. The incidence of parasitic infections peaked in 2021, and the dominant parasitic species switched from a soil origin to foodborne. The direction for the diagnosis and prevention of parasitic infection among different age groups should alter according to age. It is difficult to diagnose parasitic infections and superinfections that occur in some patients. Thus, more sensitive and efficient detection methods should be developed. In addition, although eosinophilia and elevated IgE are still reliable indicators for initiating screening of parasitic infection, the development of novel parasitic diagnostic kits is still in urgent need for occult infection.


A sensitive chemiluminescence method based on a luminol-myoglobin system is proposed for the determination of melamine in milk products. It was found that the mixed solutions of melamine and myoglobin could react to form a complex on line, which could greatly inhibit the chemiluminescence intensity generated from the reaction between luminol and myoglobin. The decrease in chemiluminescence intensity was proportional to the concentration of melamine, giving a calibration graph linear over the concentration from 10 pg mL(-1) to 50 ng mL(-1) (R(2) = 0.9988) with a detection limit of 3 pg mL(-1) (3sigma). At a flow rate of 2.0 mL min(-1), one analysis cycle, including sampling and washing, could be accomplished in 20 s with a relative standard deviation of <4.0%. The proposed method was applied successfully to the determination of melamine in milk products, and the recovery was from 93.4 to 106.5%. The possible mechanism of luminol-myoglobin-melamine reaction is given.


AbstractThere is no strict rule among Filipinos as to where to reside after marriage. Numerous factors, mostly economic, are considered. There is, however, an ideal residence pattern: the matrilocal residence rule. This article presents the experiences of women belonging to highly mobile families of fishers in Gigantes Island, located in the inland sea of the Visayas, in the central Philippines. Marriage to men from other islands has subjected women to living permanently in their husband's residence, even though they may feel emotionally disconnected from that place due to experiences of discrimination as a pangayaw (sojourner) even after marriage. The feeling, however, does not last throughout the year. During the southwest monsoon, the women's families, and their fishing boats and crew, come to fish. The visit reverses these women's status vis-a-vis the community. While discrimination still occurs once in a while, the financial investment the sojourners bring to the island is acknowledged until the end ...


This research deals with the evolution of the structure of the sapphire–brass interface due to the variation of contact pressure. This evolution primarily affects the essential parameters that govern the thermal contact resistance (TCR), namely, the contact point density N, the ratio of real area of contact S*, and the distance d separating the median contact planes. The combination of three measurement techniques, namely, profilometry, imaging, and mechanical characterization, was used for the purpose of investigating the structural variation of the interface. Alternatively, the TCR, which prevails at the interface, was estimated. Thus, the object of our study is to propose an original and new experimental approach allowing at the same time the precise measurement of the TCR and the estimate of the contact parameters of the interface studied constituting input data to the theoretical models of TCR. The estimated values given by these last are then compared with those measured. Through this approach, we try to open new ways of experimentation that would tend to reinforce the effort of TCR modeling. The results obtained showed that the roughness parameters Ra and Rq are independent of loading. The roughness Rp, which is considered equal to d, is sensitive to loading and has the same decreasing behavior under the effect of loading. The determination of S*, using the hardness testing, is even more relevant when the effective hardness Hc is considered. Analysis of data for the estimation of the TCR shows that the comparisons with the reference model (Bardon) attest to the relevance of our approach.


Summary As refugees of the war in Southeast Asia, Hmong experienced various traumatic events. Evidence suggests the persistence of psychiatric disorders related to trauma in refugees even after prolonged resettlement in their host country. This systematic review aimed to summarize the mental health literature on the Hmong population with a focus on cultural and social factors. The databases PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Social Services Abstracts, Web of Science, and PubMed were reviewed for peer-reviewed articles published up to April 2018. Forty articles were included in the final review. Findings Results highlight three primary themes: (1) mental health outcomes were associated with a variety of premigration and postmigration factors, (2) group and community-based treatment and interventions provided promising results, and (3) barriers to mental health care were primarily stigma, communication challenges, discrimination, and mental health literacy. The results of this systematic review shed light on the limited and small studies with the Hmong population. Applications Implications for social work and culture-sensitive research, practice, and policymaking for this population are discussed.


Young adult (3 months old) and old (26-28 months old) male Wistar rats were studied. Testicular weight was 1.66 g (range: 1.33--2.86) in the younger group and 1.62 g (range: 1.04--1.90) in the older group. The total Leydig cell volume as measured by a quantitative histometric method was significantly larger in the old animals (-x = 0.153 ml vs. -x = 0.089 ml). The testicular HCG binding capacity was 2.54 ng HCG per 100 mg tissue (range: 1.88--3.77) in the younger animals and 1.83 ng HCG per 100 mg tissue (range: 0.80--3.02) in the older ones (P less than 0.01). Plasma testosterone was on an average 242 ng/100 ml (range: 72--1162) in the young adult rats and 91 ng/100 ml (range: 23--277) in the older rats. Plasma LH was only slightly (P less than 0.05) decreased and was 49 ng LH-RP-1/ml (range: 14--120) in the younger group and 40 ng LH-RP-1 ng/ml (range: 5--98) in the older. When the testicular tissue pieces were incubated with different doses of HCG or dibutyryl cAMP and testosterone production was measured, identical dose-response curves for old and young tissue were obtained. After in vitro incubation with a NADPH generating system, which under the conditions used was a much stronger stimulus for steroid biosynthesis than HCG or dibutyryl cAMP, the tissue of young rats produced about twice the amount of testosterone precursors (pregnenolone, progesterone, 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone and androstenedione) than old tissue.


Non-formal education has been suggested as becoming more and more important in the last decades. As the aims of non-formal education are broad and diverse, a large variety of non-formal learning activities is available. One of the emerging fields in many countries, among them Finland and Germany, has been the establishment of non-formal laboratory learning environments. These laboratories were established in universities and research institutes to aim at enriching opportunities for primary and secondary school students to do more and more intense practical work, e.g. in chemistry. The primary rationale of these laboratories, in the beginning, was mainly to raise students' interest in the fields of science and engineering, possibly inspiring them to pursue a career in these fields. However, recently the movement has started offering more programs aiming at all learners, but especially those students who are sometimes neglected in traditional science education in the formal sector. A focus on all learners is suggested to help raise students' level of scientific literacy when connecting practical science learning with the societal and environmental perspectives of science. Chemistry learning connected to sustainability issues offers many contemporary topics that are often not yet part of the chemistry formal curriculum but can easily form contexts for non-formal learning. Because of its flexible character, non-formal education can help implementing aspects of sustainability into chemistry education and also can take a gander at the growing heterogeneity of today's students. This paper derives a joint perspective from two non-formal chemistry education initiatives from Finland and Germany focusing education for sustainability for both talented and educationally disadvantaged students in the foreground of a more general perspective on non-formal and sustainability education in chemistry.


The conformal deformations are contained in two classes of mappings: quasiconformal and harmonic mappings. In this paper we consider the intersection of these classes. We show that, every K quasiconformal harmonic mapping between C 1,µ (0 < � 6 1) surfaces with C 1,µ boundary is a Lipschitz mapping. This extends some recent results of several authors where the same problem has been considered for plane domains. As an application it is given an explicit Lipschitz constant of normalized isothermal coordinates of a disk-type minimal surface in terms of boundary curve only. It seems that this kind of estimates are new for conformal mappings of the unit disk onto a Jordan domain as well.


Utility-based data mining is a new research area interested in all types of utility factors in data mining processes and targeted at incorporating utility considerations in both predictive and descriptive data mining tasks. High utility itemset mining is a research area of utilitybased descriptive data mining, aimed at finding itemsets that contribute most to the total utility. A specialized form of high utility itemset mining is utility-frequent itemset mining, which – in addition to subjectively defined utility – also takes into account itemset frequencies. This paper presents a novel efficient algorithm FUFM (Fast UtilityFrequent Mining) which finds all utility-frequent itemsets within the given utility and support constraints threshold. It is faster and simpler than the original 2P-UF algorithm (2 Phase Utility-Frequent), as it is based on efficient methods for frequent itemset mining. Experimental evaluation on artificial datasets show that, in contrast with 2P-UF,this algorithm can also be applied to mine large databases..


In this study, we report the initial evaluation of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to choroidal osteoma and subsequent response to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment monitored with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A). A 38-year-old female presented with an initial visual acuity of 20/150 in the left eye. Clinical examination revealed a choroidal osteoma. OCT demonstrated both subretinal and intraretinal fluid. OCT-A was performed and showed CNV. A course of ten treatments with ranibizumab showed an improvement of visual acuity to 20/30–3, improvement of subretinal and intraretinal fluid, as well as attenuation of CNV. Our report demonstrates OCT-A as a useful tool for both initial evaluation of CNV and following treatment response to anti-VEGF therapy.


Logging activity is one of the factors which changes the structure of forest stand. The objective of this study was to determine the species composition and development of forest stand structure in the IUPHHK-HA area of PT. Barito Putera, Central Kalimantan, especially on the logged over area (LOA) of year 2002, 2007, 2012, and also on the pre-logged area of year 2014 as a comparison (primary forest). Based on observations which have been made, species Shorea leprosula were dominant with different rates of growth in each observation area. Growth development of the stand on logged over area can be said to be normal, because it is in the process toward a normal forest conditions. Potency of the stand before felling in 2014 was 103 trees/ha for the nucleus trees, and 49 trees/ha with volume of 317.25 m3/ha of mature timber (ready to be harvested). On LOA of year 2012, the number of core trees was 77 trees/ha, and 51 trees/ha for mature timber (ready to harvested) with a volume of 584.84 m3/ha. LOA in 2007 exhibited the nucleus trees as many as 93 trees/ha and 53 trees/ha of mature timber (ready to be harvested) with a volume of 427.95 m3/ha. LOA in 2002 exhibited nucleus trees as many as 75 trees/ha and 59 trees/ha of mature timber (ready to harvested) with a volume of 442.41 m3/ha. The differences of growth development in the observation area were probably caused by illegal logging activities that occur in the forest area, and the damage of residual stand (including nucleus trees) as a result of logging and log transportation activities. Logged over forest conditions can be said to be in balance because there were more than 25 nucleus trees/ha remaining, appropriate to the Selective Cutting and Line Planting (TPTJ) regulations, which indicates that the logged over forest can be utilized in subsequent cutting rotation.Key words: composition, Dipterocarp forest, logged-over area, core tree, stand structure.


Hope is a motivational/cognitive attribute that is theoretically necessary to initiate and sustain action toward goal attainment. The Herth Hope Scale (HHS) not only appears to tap into some of the same Agency and Pathways content of the commonly used Adult Hope Scale developed by Snyder et al. but also contains some more spiritual and social support-oriented content as well as more optimism content. The purpose of the current study was the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a Spanish-language version of the HHS, using a Latino sample. The study participants were 315 college students from a private university in Lima, Peru. Both first-order and a hierarchical, second-order factor analyses were conducted, yielding evidence of a theoretically salient four-factor structure similar to that found with the English version. Internal consistency of scores on the total and factor-analytically derived subscales were found to be satisfactory. It was concluded that the Spanish-language translation of the HHS appears to yield psychometrically sound scores and should have utility for studies of hope in Spanish-speaking samples.


A sub-sampling RF front end which exploits the intrinsically high quality factor of MEMS devices for performing channel filtering directly at RF is proposed in this work. This narrow band filtering at RF also acts as a good anti-aliasing filter to support down-conversion by sub-sampling. The RF front end employs current reuse for amplification, mixing and filtering. A low phase noise BAW based DCO is used as the reference clock for channel selection and sub-sampling. The front end is integrated in 0.18 μm CMOS process and it exhibits up to 300 kHz bandwidth filtering at RF with 44.2 dB conversion gain and 62 dB rejection at 10 MHz offset from the center frequency.


The fate and physiology of individual cells are controlled by protein interactions. We recently developed SCoPE-MS, a method for direct analysis of proteomes of single cells by LC-MS/MS. SCoPE-MS is enabled by isobaric-tag multiplexing of peptides from single cells together with carrier material, which serves both to minimize sample losses to equipment surfaces and enhance peptide identifications. Yet, our ability to quantitatively analyze proteins in single cells has remained limited. To overcome this barrier, we developed SCoPE2. SCoPE2 lowers cost and hands-on time by introducing automated and miniaturized sample preparation while increasing quantitative accuracy using only commercially available equipment and reagents. Additionally, SCoPE2 accomplishes increased sample preparation throughput and increased measurement throughput. Using SCoPE2, we quantified over 2,700 proteins in 1,018 single monocytes and macrophages in 10 days of instrument time, and the quantified proteins allowed us to discern single cells by cell type. Parallel measurements of transcripts by 10x Genomics scRNA-seq indicate that most genes had similar responses at the protein and RNA levels, though the responses of hundreds of genes differed. In this talk, we present users with how to begin adopting SCoPE2 in their lab. Executing a SCoPE2 experiment has similarities to conventional proteomics sample preparation as well as pitfalls and deviations unique to working with single cells. We discuss successful strategies, including study design and reagent selection, how to avoid common pitfalls, and the range of common equipment that can be used to execute SCoPE2 sample prep. Additionally, we discuss approaches to optimizing LC-MS/MS instrumentation for SCoPE2 samples. We hope to give users ideas about how to successfully design and execute a SCoPE2 experiment to facilitate the broad adoption of automated and quantitative single-cell analysis of proteins by mass-spectrome.


Scarcely anything influences today's young generation as intensely as global and digital developments. Confusing real places in everyday life and virtual places in online communities leads to an acting out of their hybrid identity in the context of globalisation. These new opportunities consequently create new, often ambivalent, forms of identity in adolescents. Thus the boundaries between the virtual and the real world coalesce, the two can no longer be separated. What significance does spirituality have for this generation? How can youth ministry react? This article aims to link the intersection of globalisation, digital networks and virtual reality with the spirituality of adolescents, and to find out what a contextualisation of a Christian youth ministry could look like in these intersections.


The RAPD technique has been extensively applied to reveal polymorphism between closely related genomes. We have used it to isolate genes of the uncultured phloemrestricted bacterium " Candidatus Liberibacter" sp. of citrus huanglongbing (HLB). Using 102 random 10-mer primers, eight DNA bands were amplified only from HLB-infected plant DNA. These bands were cloned and analyzed. Six of them corresponded to fragments of the liberibacter genome as shown by sequence and hybridization experiments, indicating that the RAPD technique is appropriate to isolate genes from uncultured phloem-restricted plant bacteria. Four genes, nus G, pgm, omp, and an hypothetical protein gene, were identified in the DNA fragments; they will be used for further characterization of the bacterium. A PCR detection method based on the amplification of part of the s operon of the two liberibacter species has been developed. Compared to the previously described PCR detection method in which the 16S ribosomal RNA gene was amplified and which required restriction of the amplified DNA to distinguish between " Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" and " Candidatus Liberibacter africanus", the new PCR approach allows direct identification of the two species. In order to characterize the bacterium associated with citrus huanglongbing (HLB), the following genes of the bacterium have been isolated: (i) the highly conserved 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene obtained by PCR using universal primers (3); (ii) the more variable intergenic 16S/23S region which was also amplified and cloned (5); (iii) three other-HLB DNA fragments were isolated after random cloning of total DNA from infected plants (7). One of these fragments encoded several genes of the wellknown s operon; they corresponded to four ribosomal proteins (L1, L10, L11, and L12) and to the 5' end of the β subunit of the RNA polymerase gene (8). Sequence analyses of the 16S rDNA and the s operon revealed that the HLB bacterium was a new bacterial genus that we named " Candidatus Liberibacter" and in which two species could be defined " Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" and " Candidatus Liberibacter africanus". This work also resulted in the development of specific and sensitive detection techniques for the liberibacters by DNA/DNA hybridization and PCR (2, 4, 7). However, in order to better characterize the liberibacters, isolation of additional genes is needed. For that purpose, the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique (10) has been carried out on healthy and HLBinfected plant DNA. This method is able to reveal polymorphism in genomic DNA without any prior knowledge on the genome, as this PCR-based technique uses single arbitrary 10-mer primers. Amplification of 16S-rDNA by PCR, allows detection of both liberibacter species. However, in order to distinguish between the two species, digestion of the amplified DNA with restriction enzyme Xba I must be carried out. This step is time consuming and difficult to achieve when little DNA is amplified in a given sample. This is why an alternative PCR method was developed. It is based on the amplification of part of the s operon leading to one size product for " Candidatus L. asiaticus" and another for " Candidatus L. africanus". " Candidatus Liberibacter" sp. gene isolation using RAPD as well as PCR detection of the two liberibacters with primers A2/J5 selected 364 Fourteenth IOCV Conference, 2000—Short Communications in ribosomal protein genes rpl A and rpl J are presented in this paper. RAPD amplification of DNA from healthy and " Candidatus Liberibacter"—infected plants . Out of 102 RAPD primers used to amplify DNA extracted from healthy or HLB-infected citrus or periwinkle plants, eight primers revealed additional PCR products on the profiles obtained when DNA from infected plants was used as compared to those obtained with DNA from healthy plants. Figure 1A shows the RAPD profiles obtained with one of these primers (P3). Four bands (P3-Af, P3-As, A17-Af and C13-Af) evidenced with three primers (P3, A17, and C13) were further studied. They were specific of the profiles corresponding to infected plant DNA. Their size were approximately 700 bp, 340 bp, 550 bp and 1 kbp, respectively. Three of them were obtained from plants infected with " Candidatus L. africanus" and one from plants infected with " Candidatus L. asiaticus". Analysis of the selected RAPD products. The selected RAPD fragments were reamplified, radiolabeled and used as probes in dot-blot hybridization against DNA extracted from healthy and infected citrus plants in order to verify that they corresponded to "Candidatus Liberibacter" DNA. In parallel, sequences of the different cloned fragments were determined and compared with those present in data banks. When used as probe under high stringency conditions, fragment P3Af hybridized strongly with DNA from "Candidatus L. africanus"infected citrus plants but not with DNA extracted from healthy or "Candidatus L. asiaticus"-infected plants (Fig. 1B). This indicates that this PCR product is, indeed, DNA of "Candidatus L. africanus". The sequence of P3 AF (662 bp) had no homology with any of the sequences in the GenBank database. Similarly, P3-As hybridized with DNA from citrus infected with different strains of "Candidatus L. asiaticus" Poona (India), Lipa City (Philippines), Nakom Pathom (Thailand), Taipei (Taiwan) and Fuzhou Fig. 1. A. RAPD profile obtained with primer P3 (A). Amplifications were performed from water (lane 1), DNA from healthy periwinkle (lane 2), and citrus (lane 3); DNA from "Candidatus L. africanus"-infected periwinkle (lane 4) and citrus (lane 5); DNA from "Candidatus L. asiaticus"-infected periwinkle (lane 6) and citrus (lane 7). M: size marker. B. Dot blot hybridization of probe P3Af with DNA extracted from healthy citrus (1), citrus infected with "Candidatus L. africanus" (2), citrus infected with "Candidatus L. asiaticus" from India (3), the Philippines (4), Thailand (5), Taiwan


ATP-diphosphohydrolases (EC 184.108.40.206), also known as ATPDases, NTPases, NTPDases, E-ATPases or apyrases, are enzymes that hydrolyze a variety of nucleoside tri- and diphosphates to their respective nucleosides, being their activities dependent on the presence of divalent cations, such as calcium and magnesium. Recently, ATP-diphosphohydrolases were identified on the surface of several parasites, such as Trypanosoma sp, Leishmania sp and Schistosoma sp. In parasites, the activity of ATP-diphosphohydrolases has been associated with the purine recuperation and/or as a protective mechanism against the host organism under conditions that involve ATP or ADP, such as immune responses and platelet activation. These proteins have been suggested as possible targets for the development of new antiparasitic drugs. In this review, we will comprehensively address the main aspects of the location and function of ATP-diphosphohydrolase in parasites. Also, we performed a detailed research in scientific database of recent developments in new natural and synthetic inhibitors of the ATP-diphosphohydrolases in parasites.


BACKGROUND
 Few Tx options are available for pts with inadequately controlled PV. European LeukemiaNet defined resistance/intolerance was seen in ≈25% pts treated with HU (Alvarez-Larran et al, 2012). In the HU-resistant/intolerant PV pts evaluated in the pivotal RESPONSE study (week [wk] 208), RUX was well tolerated and superior to standard therapy in achieving durable hematocrit (HCT) control, hematologic response, and spleen size and symptom reductions. This Ph 3b ETP study was planned to provide RUX Tx to HU-resistant/intolerant PV pts, who have no alternative standard Tx, and are not eligible for any ongoing clinical studies. Results from wk 24 data cutoff of this study (Devos et al) were presented at ASH 2017. Here, we report consolidated findings from the ETP study at wk 96 data cutoff (Dec 29, 2017 [final database lock]) to further support the use of RUX in this pt population with an unmet medical need.
 METHODS
 RUX Tx was initiated at a starting dose of 10 mg bid (could be titrated to a maximum of 25 mg bid). Visits were scheduled every 4 wks until wk 24 and every 12 wks thereafter; final analysis was done when all pts had been followed for 30 days after discontinuation of Tx or completion of Tx per protocol (transitioned to commercial RUX or until Dec 31, 2017, whichever date occurred first). The primary endpoint was to assess the safety of RUX. Secondary endpoints included change in HCT level, change in spleen length, and pt-reported outcomes (change in MPN-SAF TSS score). HCT control at wk 24 was defined by absence of phlebotomy (PBT) eligibility starting at wk 8 and continuing through wk 24, with no more than 1 PBT eligibility occurring after first dose date and prior to wk 8. PBT eligibility was defined by confirmed HCT >45% (at least 3 percentage points higher than HCT at baseline [BL]), or confirmed HCT >48%. Blood count remission at wk 24 was defined by HCT control, and white blood cell count <10 × 109/L, and platelet count ≤400 × 109/L.
 RESULTS
 At data cutoff, 161 pts with PV were enrolled (BL characteristics similar to that presented at ASH 2017). End of Tx was reported for all 161 pts: Tx duration completed per protocol (141 pts), adverse event (AE [12 pts]), consent withdrawal (3 pts), pt decision (2 pts), disease progression (2 pts), and death (due to accident [1 pt]). The median exposure was 25.1 wks (range, 0.4-104.7), and median dose intensity of RUX was 20.0 mg/day (range, 6.7-47.7). AEs (regardless of study drug relationship) led to dose adjustment/interruption in 37.9% pts and study drug discontinuation in 8.7% pts. The most common hematologic AEs (rate=number of events per 100 pt-year exposure [pt-year exposure=110.2]; all grades]) included anemia (31.8) and thrombocytosis (10.0), while headache (24.5), diarrhea (14.5), constipation (12.7), and fatigue (12.7) were the most frequent non-hematologic AEs. For all reported grade 3/4 AEs, exposure-adjusted rate was less than 3. Thromboembolic events (all grade; Standardized MedDRA Query) were reported in 3 pts. Disease progression was reported in 4 pts (myelofibrosis=3 pts; acute myeloid leukemia=1 pt). The incidence of other neoplasms (regardless of study drug relationship) was low (leiomyoma, malignant melanoma, marginal zone lymphoma, renal cancer [1 pt each]; squamous cell carcinoma [2 pts]; basal cell carcinoma [3 pts]). Infections (all grades) were reported in 57 pts (grade 3/4 in 5 pts).
 At wk 24, 73 pts (45.3% [95% CI, 37.5%-53.4%]) achieved HCT control; hematologic remission was seen in 29 pts (18% [95% CI 12.4%-24.8%]). Changes in blood count parameters over time are shown in Fig. 1. In evaluable pts (N=105), use of PBT decreased from BL (39 PBTs between screening and BL) to end of Tx (5 PBTs in 12 wks prior). Best spleen response from BL for each pt by wk 96 is shown in Fig. 2. At least 50% spleen length reduction was seen in 86.7% (78/90) of pts from BL at any time in the study. Overall, 33.8% (46/136) of pts had ≥50% reduction in MPN-SAF TSS from BL at the end of Tx.
 CONCLUSION
 The observed safety profile of RUX in the ETP study was consistent with that of the RESPONSE studies. Efficacy results were close to the observed values in the RESPONSE studies. RUX Tx resulted in HCT control, hematologic remission, spleen response, and symptom reduction in this HU-resistant/intolerant pt population in need of a viable Tx option. Safety and efficacy findings from this ETP study support the use of RUX for pts with inadequately controlled PV, an unmet medical need.

 Foltz: Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Promedior: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding. Leber:Novartis Canada: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis Canada: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. de Almeida:Celgene: Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Speakers Bureau. Ranta:Novartis: Consultancy. Cartes:Novartis: Honoraria. Kiladjian:Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; AOP Orphan: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Chrit:Novartis: Employment, Equity Ownership. Yin:Novartis: Employment. Morando:Novartis: Employment, Equity Ownership. Devos:Celgene: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy.


Purpose: To determine corneal graft survival rates up to 10 years in a large consecutive series of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasties (DALKs). Methods: A retrospective, consecutive, noncomparative cases series of DALK procedures in a total of 806 eyes of 711 patients with stromal diseases and healthy endothelium performed between 2000 and 2009. Inclusion criterion was surgery performed by a single surgeon (660 eyes), with at least 6 months of follow-up. Graft survival was analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method. Endothelial loss was analyzed with the Gaussian distribution and the &khgr;2 methods. Follow-up time, and preoperative and postoperative endothelial cell density (ECD) were considered in the analyses. Results: Six hundred sixty eyes of 502 patients met the entry criteria. Mean length of follow-up was 4.5 years (range, 0.5–10 years). We report an average graft survival rate of 99.3% (range, 98.5%–100%); 3 eyes (0.45%) experienced graft failure and 1 eye (0.15%) developed late endothelial failure because of an intraoperative complication. Predominant indications for DALK in this series were keratoconus (74%), postherpetic keratitis scarring (15%), and corneal stromal opacities of different etiology (11%). Endothelial loss from preoperative levels averaged 11% (range, 10%–13%) at 6 months through 10 years after DALK. ECD was unchanged between 6 months postoperatively and the last follow-up visits. Conclusions: DALK is a successful form of transplantation in stromal corneal disorders with healthy endothelium, with higher long-term graft survival rates and stable ECD 6 months postoperatively. DALK survival rates do not vary significantly over time.


The AIDS epidemic continues to spread in Georgia. Almost every medical specialty is affected in some manner by the increased number of patients being diagnosed and treated with AIDS or the AIDS-related complex. Radiology has a pivotal role in documenting various opportunistic complications so that further testing and therapy may be instituted. Because of the large number of AIDS patients that develop thoracic disease, we have reviewed many of the potential pulmonary complications and their radiographic findings. Certain patterns of disease may suggest etiologies, though admittedly the chest radiograph is nonspecific. Diagnosis must be confirmed with sputum culture, bronchial lavage, and biopsy or open lung biopsy. There are key features that should be kept in mind. P. carinii, the most common pathogen, and several other opportunistic agents usually present with a fine bilateral interstitial or ground glass appearance. The presence of mediastinal adenopathy and/or pleural effusion suggests an etiology other than PCP. These findings are indicative of mycobacterial infection, KS, or lymphoma. PCP can present as a focal pulmonary consolidation, but this is unusual, and bacterial pneumonia must be considered. Finally, a small percentage of persons will present with a normal chest x-ray despite the presence of pulmonary infection or neoplasm. In those cases gallium lung scanning can help identify the affected individuals.


Proinflammatory effects induced by the serine protease factor Xa were investigated in HUVEC. Exposure of cells to factor Xa (5-80 nM) concentration dependently stimulated the production of IL-6, IL-8, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and the expression of E-selectin, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1, which was accompanied by polymorphonuclear leukocyte adhesion. The effects of factor Xa were blocked by antithrombin III, but not by the thrombin-specific inhibitor hirudin, suggesting that factor Xa elicits these responses directly and not via thrombin. IL-1alpha and TNF-alpha were not implicated, since neither the IL-1 receptor antagonist nor a TNF-neutralizing Ab could suppress the factor Xa responses. Active site-inhibited factor Xa and factor Xa depleted from gamma-carboxyglutamic acid residues were completely inactive. The effector cell protease receptor-1 (EPR-1) seems not to be involved since anti-EPR-1 Abs failed to inhibit cytokine production. Moreover, neither the factor X peptide Leu83-Leu88, representing the inter-epidermal growth factor sequence in factor Xa that mediates ligand binding to EPR-1, nor the peptide AG1, corresponding to the EPR-1 sequence Ser123-Pro137 implicated in factor Xa binding, inhibited the factor Xa-induced cytokine production. In conclusion, these findings indicate that factor Xa evokes a proinflammatory response in endothelial cells, which requires both its catalytic and gamma-carboxyglutamic acid-containing domain. The receptor system involved in these responses induced by factor Xa remains to be established.


A distributed online curriculum and courseware development model (DONC 2 ) is developed and tested in this study. Courseware development teams which may work in different institutions who need to develop high quality, reduced cost, on time products will be the users of DONC 2 . The related features from the disciplines of instructional design and software engineering were combined. The research is conducted as a collective case study, including four cases with distinctive characteristics to reveal the several practices in online curriculum and courseware development work. The DONC 2 development model was proposed using the results gathered from the investigated cases and a literature survey. The model uses the iterative incremental and agile software development approaches in order to overcome the disadvantages of other linear development approaches. This enables building releasable yet good quality products in short time periods. Furthermore, continuous communication, evaluation and feedback as well as good project management and readiness to adapt to changes are integrated as the essential characteristics. DONC 2 is different then previous linear and non-adaptive models in all of these aspects. The model was tested with one of the cases while being improved with success. It was applied as a development model for scheduling of the courseware development project in the last case and considered as helpful for the success of the project by the project team members.


ized by an immense transformation: the transition from a world structured by religion to a world organized exclusively in terms of human beings and worldly values. This process of emancipation and humanization, which has been going on for several centuries, has taken two main forms. First came the project of replacing the divine absolute with a collective human absolute, what revolutionaries in France called 'the Nation.' Initial enthusiasm for this project began to wane, however, from the moment the Revolution engendered the Terror. The struggle for liberty had ended in the suppression of liberty: was this not proof that the project itself had been ill-conceived from the beginning? Those who did not wish to turn back the clock but were still dissatis1⁄2ed with the present then sought a second way, that of an absolute accessible to the autonomous individual. The search for this second way itself took several forms; the most influential of these identi1⁄2ed the individual absolute with beauty and favored what Friedrich Schiller would call the aesthetic education of man. This doctrine was Romanticism, adopted 1⁄2rst in Germany and then throughout Europe; it glori1⁄2ed the poet in place of the prophet and the work of art in place of prayer. "Beauty in its absolute essence is God," declared a spokesman for the movement. The fact that Romanticism reserved such a role for art and poetry, exemplary incarnations of the beautiful, did not mean that it neglected other human activities: for Schiller and his successors, aesthetic education and political vision went hand in hand. One of the best examples we have of the desire to improve the human condition by action in both spheres is that of the German composer Richard Wagner. Influenced by the revolutionary ideas of Mikhail Bakunin, Wagner took part in political agitation in Dresden in 1848–1849. Forced into exile by the ensuing repression, he sought refuge in Switzerland, where he produced Tzvetan Todorov


User authentication is fundamental to the protection of information systems. It is the first and most critical link in the security chain that restricts access to system and data resources to legitimate users only. The advantages of using biometrics to verify a person's identity over using passwords or tokens have been broadly presented. However, recent research has revealed that biometric technologies can be defeated with low-tech and cheap materials. This presents a new challenge at a time when people are encouraged to use biometrics as a means to enhance network security. Since biometrics are not secrets, there exists a risk of them being captured, copied, and forged. In this paper, the biometric authentication's vulnerability to various attacks is analyzed, and efforts to defeat the spoofing attacks are presented. In particular, multimodal biometric fusion approaches are presented to counteract security threats.


There has recently been interest in the use of high-dose radiation with methods such as radiosurgery and brachytherapy for skull base tumors. Brachytherapy is believed to be effective for clival chordomas, but technical difficulties exist in stereotactic insertion of catheters into the clivus. We assessed the usefulness following improvement of implantation techniques in three patients with clival chordomas. All tumors were larger than 50 mm in diameter. Removable iridium-192 sources were held in catheters which were implanted through a transnasal approach under general anesthesia using a CT-guided stereotactic system in one patient and a CRW stereotactic system adapted to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner in 2 patients. The implantation array was designed based on results of stereotactic 3-D MRI scanning, and coordinates were calculated for stereotactic implantation through twist drill holes. These catheters were introduced through the nares and directed into the clival chordoma under endoscopic visualization and X-ray fluoroscopy. No complications such as CSF liquorrhea, hemorrhage or infection were observed. Brachytherapy with a total dose of 43.2-58.0 Gy at the tumor periphery was administered for 7 to 10 days, and serial follow-up imaging studies demonstrated reduction in tumor size in two patients and no tumor growth in the other. Our results suggested that stereotactic brachytherapy is potentially useful for the control of clival chordomas and that computer-guided transnasal stereotactic insertion enables implantation of catheters less invasively and more accurately than does X-ray fluoroscopic guidance alone.


Death following accidental suffocation due to overlaying is often overlooked, and still attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). We report a case of sudden infant death following accidental suffocation due to breast overlaying during breastfeeding. We report the death of a two-month-old male baby, without medical history, who was found lifeless wedged under his mother's breast. The mother subsequently admitted that she had fallen asleep while breastfeeding and awoke a few minutes later to find him wedged under her breast and not breathing. External examination of the infant's body revealed right frontal congestion with reddish-purple colour of the right frontal skin corresponding to where the mother's breast had overlaid his face with bilateral conjunctival petechiae with no signs of external injury. Internal examination revealed congestion with petechiae marks of the internal side of the right frontal scalp, with moderate congestion and few petechiae marks at the level of the lungs. The histopathological examination showed non-specific passive congestion, with no abnormalities. The cause of death was attributed to accidental suffocation following obstruction of external airways by the mother's breast during breastfeeding. Accidental asphyxia cases require extensive investigation of the circumstances surrounding death, reconstruction of events, and careful documentation of the findings observed at autopsy with full histological examination which may become relevant in a specific case in later stages of the investigation.


We report a method for heavy doping of the Au25(SR)18 nanocluster (where R = C6H11) with silver through the Ag(I)-thiolate complex induced size/structure transformation of Au23(SR)16(-) into Au25-xAgx(SR)18(-). X-ray crystallographic analysis revealed that Ag dopants are distributed not only in the icosahedral core but also in the surface staple motifs; the latter was not achieved in earlier studies of alloy Au25-xAgx nanoclusters.


Change is a natural state that constantly happens, whether it is rapidly or slowly. It also occurs to Talang Mamak tribe at Talang Jerinjing village. Their traditional characteristics are changing. They were a primitive traditional tribe, but now their characteristics have assimilated to migrants who brought modern identity and eliminate their original identity. This research aims to analyze the cause of this matter by using qualitative method approach. Generally, qualitative method is defined as naturalistic research because it is performed naturally and interviews are conduceted directly to the informants and the researcher is involved in social condition of Talang Mamak tribe. Talang Mamak tribe is located in Talang Jerinjing village area which is the forerunner of their growth. This research explains the reason why Talang Mamak tribe changed their identity by combining the theory by Petter L Berger and Thomas Luckmann. In their theory, there are three issues that can develop the alteration process, namely externalization that is carried by migrants as well as introduced through direct interaction; objectification that transforms their mindset; and internalization that reforms their culture.


We investigate contributions to the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB) due to neutralino dark matter (DM) pair-annihilation into photons, from DM density enhancements (minispikes) surrounding intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). We focus on two IMBH formation scenarios; our conservative scenario where IMBHs are remnants of Population-III stars, and our optimistic scenario here IMBHs are formed in protogalactic disks. In both scenarios, their formation in pregalactic halos at high redshift lead to the formation of minispikes that are bright sources of gamma-ray photons. Taking into account minispike depletion processes, we only sum contributions from a cosmological distribution of IMBHs with maintained minispikes. Our conservative scenario (BH mass 10M⊙ with a r minispike) predicts gamma-ray fluxes that are an order larger than the equivalent flux, using the same DM parameters (mass 100 GeV and annihilation cross-section 3 × 10 cm s), from the host halo without IMBH minispikes. Our optimistic scenario (BH mass 10M⊙ with a r minispike) predicts fluxes that are three orders larger, that can reach current EGB observations taken by EGRET (DM parameters as above). This fact may serve interesting consequences for constraining DM parameters and elucidating the true nature of IMBHs. Additionally, we determine the spectra of DM annihilation into monochromatic gamma-rays, and show that its flux can be within observational range of GLAST, providing a potential 'smoking-gun' signature of DM.


In filarial worms, as in other eukaryotes, microtubules are essential multifunctional components. The major protein of microtubules is tubulin, a heterodimer of two distinct polypeptides, alpha and beta. Tubulin is particularly important in helminthic parasites as a target for anthelminthic benzimidazoles, which bind to it and inhibit microtubule assembly. Two genomic Onchocerca gibsoni libraries were constructed in lambda NM1149 (EcoRI and HindIII). Three clones accounted for the entire gene: one from the EcoRI library (using a Plasmodium falciparum probe) containing the central part of the gene, and two from the HindIII library (using as probes PCR amplified fragments from the ends of the EcoRI clone) which, respectively, contained the 5'- and 3'-ends of the gene. The sequencing procedure for the EcoRI clone relied on the construction of a double-digested DraI/HindIII shotgun library. A number of recombinants were sequenced and aligned with each other for comparison. The sequencing of the overlapping 5'- and 3'-end clones was done by using a series of oligonucleotides. The sequence of the O. gibsoni beta-tubulin gene was completely determined, revealing an exceptionally complex structure as compared to the known beta-tubulin genes: 5,797 base pairs containing 12 exons and 11 introns. The deduced polypeptide is 444 amino acids long, and its sequence is highly conserved. The position of some introns appear to demarcate functional domains within the protein.


The recent discovery of an Earth-sized planet (TOI-700 d) in the habitable zone of an early-type M-dwarf by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite constitutes an important advance. In this Letter, we assess the feasibility of this planet to retain an atmosphere—one of the chief ingredients for surface habitability—over long timescales by employing state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamic models to simulate the stellar wind and the associated rates of atmospheric escape. We take two major factors into consideration, namely, the planetary atmospheric composition and magnetic field. In all cases, we determine that the atmospheric ion escape rates are potentially a few orders of magnitude higher than the inner solar system planets, but TOI-700 d is nevertheless capable of retaining a 1 bar atmosphere over gigayear timescales for certain regions of the parameter space. The simulations show that the unmagnetized TOI-700 d with a 1 bar Earth-like atmosphere could be stripped away rather quickly (<1 gigayear), while the unmagnetized TOI-700 d with a 1 bar CO2-dominated atmosphere could persist for many billions of years; we find that the magnetized Earth-like case falls in between these two scenarios. We also discuss the prospects for detecting radio emission of the planet (thereby constraining its magnetic field) and discerning the presence of an atmosphere.


Many researchers have performed cosmological-model-independent tests for the distance–duality (DD) relation. Theoretical work has been conducted based on the results of these tests. However, we find that almost all of these tests were perhaps not cosmological-model-independent after all, because the distance moduli taken from a given type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) compilation are dependent on a given cosmological model and Hubble constant. In this Letter, we overcome these defects and by creating a new cosmological-model-independent test for the DD relation. We use the original data from the Union2 SNe Ia compilation and the angular diameter distances from two galaxy cluster samples compiled by De Filippis et al. and Bonamente et al. to test the DD relation. Our results suggest that the DD relation is compatible with observations, and the spherical model is slightly better than the elliptical model at describing the intrinsic shape of galaxy clusters if the DD relation is valid. However, these results are different from those of previous work.


Purpose: Nucleotide excision repair (NER) modulates platinum-based chemotherapeutic efficacy by removing drug-produced DNA damage. To summarize published data on the association between polymorphisms of NER genes (ERCC1 and ERCC2) and responses to oxaliplatin-based chemotherapies, we carried out a meta-analysis of gastric and colorectal cancer for commonly studied polymorphisms ERCC1 rs11615C>T and ERCC2 rs13181T>G. Patients and Methods: In 17 previously published studies, 1,787 cancer patients were treated with the oxaliplatin-based regimen. Primary outcomes included therapeutic response (TR; i.e., complete response + partial response vs. stable disease + progressive disease), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). We calculated OR or HR with 95% CIs to estimate the risk or hazard. Results: We found consistent and clinically substantial risk or hazard for TR, PFS, and OS in the oxaliplatin-treated gastric and colorectal cancer patients with an ethnic discrepancy. For ERCC1 rs11615C>T, the T allele was associated with reduced response and poor PFS and OS in Asians (TR: OR = 0.53 and 95% CI = 0.35–0.81; PFS: HR = 1.69 and 95% CI = 1.05–2.70; and OS: HR = 2.03 and 95% CI = 1.60–2.59). For ERCC2 rs13181T>G, the G allele was associated with reduced response and poor PFS and OS in Caucasians (TR: OR = 0.56 and 95% CI = 0.35–0.88; PFS: HR = 1.41 and 95% CI = 1.02–1.95; and OS: HR = 1.42 and 95% CI = 1.11–1.81). Conclusions: NER ERCC1 rs11615C>T and ERCC2 rs13181T>G polymorphisms are useful prognostic factors in oxaliplatin-based treatment of gastric and colorectal cancer. Larger studies and further clinical trials are warranted to confirm these findings. Clin Cancer Res; 17(6); 1632–40. ©2011 AACR.


When Captain Alfred Dreyfus was publicly dishonoured in January 1895 his demeanour was the subject of intense journalistic scrutiny. Dreyfus's stoic and unemotional bearing during his degradation ceremony was roundly condemned. His failure to weep or show other signs of repentance or despair was interpreted in ways that reinforced perceptions of his guilt. Yet, Christopher Forth argues, such interpretations were at odds with the cultural norms of the period, since the ability to control one's emotions was central to definitions of adult masculinity in fin-de-si ecle France. Masculinity was perceived as a construct, one open to attack and relying on willpower for its maintenance. Why, then, did Dreyfus's self-control disturb his audience as it did? This apparent paradox is, in Forth's study, the starting point for a nuanced and sophisticated analysis of French manhood. The territories covered in the book are familiar: the Dreyfus Affair and more generally the Third Republic crisis of confidence. Forth illuminates both, bringing a valuable cultural perspective to the analysis of the Dreyfus Affair whilst using it to shed new light on broader cultural concerns. Drawing on a wide range of mostly published sources, including periodicals, cartoons, and advertisements, he shows that the Drefyusards and anti-Drefyusards shared a common conceptual language, in which pathology and effeminacy threatened French masculinity and thereby the French state. Both groups broadly agreed on the definition of appropriate masculinity, citizenship and health; for both, Dreyfus's Jewishness was perceived to complicate these categories. Forth demonstrates that the category of ''the Jew'' was far from stable, and that it was often used metaphorically to represent the intellectual and effeminate characteristics of modernity. Dreyfus's lack of tears was thus interpreted within this matrix to suggest that he felt no sense of honour or passion. To analyse the Affair purely in terms of the very real anti-Semitism of the period is reductive, however, ignoring the complexity of the symbolic uses to which the figure of Dreyfus was put.Widening his scope of analysis, Forth examines the gender politics of the Affair, and links anxieties over the role of women to those concerning the role of the ''intellectual'' in French culture. He is particularly strong in his analysis of the ways in which Dreyfusards attempted to re-establish their claim on virile masculinity by distancing themselves, and Dreyfus, from the symbols most commonly associated with effeminacy. However, in co-opting the language of virility, they implicitly accepted its assumptions, especially those concerning the passivity of women and the importance of cultivating the body rather than the mind. Forth demonstrates how these issues were crystallised in Emile Zola's successful battle with his weight, a feat of willpower celebrated by Dreyfusards as a proof of his masculinity and his commitment to the political cause. In the later chapters of the book, the figure of Dreyfus becomes obscured, a reflection of how far-reaching an influence theAffair had in fin-desi ecle France. Forth considers the rhetoric surrounding the new culture of physical force, with its emphasis on the traditional masculine virtues of physical action and courage, and links from these to the new cult of physical regeneration emerging in France. Here, the degree of influence between the Affair and broader cultural trends, especially that of the crisis of masculinity, could be further elucidated. It would also be interesting to learn more about the cultural influence of the literature surrounding diet, digestion, and strength. Forth concludes by suggesting that the willingness of Dreyfusards to embrace the cult of physical force ultimately saw their arguments being cited to support the ''man of action'' over the intellectual. When analysed in terms of gender, as well as anti-Semitism, the Affair emerges as an arena in which competing models ofmasculinitywere evaluated inways that would


Effects of basic amino acids, lysine (Lys) and arginine (Arg), at different levels (0%, 0.5%, and 1%, based on mince weight) on properties of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) mince gel containing low salt (LS) and high salt (HS) were investigated. Without Lys or Arg addition, HS gel had the higher textural properties including hardness, chewiness, as well as cohesiveness than LS gel (P < 0.05) and the highest values were achieved when 1% Arg was incorporated in both LS and HS gels (P < 0.05). Arg had no effect on acceptability of mince gel. However, whiteness was decreased in HS gel when Arg was applied. Autolysis of gel was lower in HS gel containing Arg. No differences in protein patterns among all gel samples were found. Addition of Arg could increase the gelling ability of both LS and HS mince during heating as evidenced by higher storage modulus (G') and viscous modulus (G″). Mince gel added with Arg had orderly interconnected structure and their microstructure was finer than that without Arg. Therefore, Arg could be used in LS gel from striped catfish mince, in which quality of gel was equivalent to HS counterpart. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Basic amino acid, especially arginine (Arg) with guanidinium group, could increase repulsive force between protein molecules at low-salt concentration (0.5%). This resulted in high solubilization of muscle proteins, whereas gel formation or gel strength was higher than that containing high salt (2.5% to 3.5%). Thus, Arg could be used for production of fish mince gel containing low salt with lowered health risk.