Large volume (102–103 L) seawater samples are routinely processed to investigate the partitioning of particle reactive radionuclides and Ra between solution and size‐fractionated suspended particulate matter. One of the most frequently used methods to preconcentrate these nuclides from such large volumes involves extraction onto three filter cartridges (a prefilter for particulate species and two MnO2‐coated filters for dissolved species) connected in series. This method assumes that the extraction efficiency is uniform for both MnO2‐coated cartridges, that no dissolved species are removed by the prefilter, and that any adsorbed radionuclides are not desorbed from the MnO2‐coated cartridges during filtration. In this study, we utilized 234Th‐spiked coastal seawater and deionized water to address the removal of dissolved Th onto prefilters and MnO2‐coated filter cartridges. Experimental results provide the first data that indicate (1) a small fraction of dissolved Th (<6%) can be removed by the prefilter cartridge; (2) a small fraction of dissolved Th (<5%) retained by the MnO2 surface can also be desorbed, which undermines the assumption of uniform extraction efficiency for Th; and (3) the absolute and relative extraction efficiencies can vary widely. These experiments provide insight on the variability of the extraction efficiency of MnO2‐coated filter cartridges by comparing the relative and absolute efficiencies and recommend the use of a constant efficiency on the combined activity from two filter cartridges connected in series for future studies of dissolved 234Th and other radionuclides in natural waters using sequential filtration/extraction methods.


Abstrocf - A triple-made plated ceramic black based hybrid filter is designed for UMTS base station applications, fabricated and tested. It is designed using 3-D finite element method based electromagnetic simulator along with circuit model based in-house software. The simulated response of the filter matches very well with the measured response. The filter is very compact; its size is 75 mm X 36 mm X 33 mm. It has low loss, compact size, and goad spurious performance.


Great progress has been made in point cloud classification with learning-based methods. However, complex scene and sensor inaccuracy in real-world application make point cloud data suffer from corruptions, such as occlusion, noise and outliers. In this work, we propose Point-Voxel based Adaptive (PV-Ada) feature abstraction for robust point cloud classification under various corruptions. Specifically, the proposed framework iteratively voxelize the point cloud and extract point-voxel feature with shared local encoding and Transformer. Then, adaptive max-pooling is proposed to robustly aggregate the point cloud feature for classification. Experiments on ModelNet-C dataset demonstrate that PV-Ada outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. In particular, we rank the $2^{nd}$ place in ModelNet-C classification track of PointCloud-C Challenge 2022, with Overall Accuracy (OA) being 0.865. Code will be available at https://github.com/zhulf0804/PV-Ada.


In this study, a versatile poly(methyl methacrylate)–poly(ϵ-caprolactone) covalently crosslinked polymer co-network (PMMA–PCL CPN) tethering all polymeric chains between netpoints is designed and prepared to develop a novel type of adjustable multiple-shape memory polymers. The CPN is demonstrated to produce a broadening of glass transition and memorize up to four different shapes based on a single thermal transition for the first time, as the whole energy stored in the broad transition can be distributed into several parts for multi-step shape fixation and recovery in one-shape memory cycle. Furthermore, the versatile multiple-shape memory effects from dual to quadruple can be adjusted simply by shifting the corresponding deformation temperatures on demands, without variation of material chemistry.


Glycans are complex compounds consisting of sugars linked glycosidically, existing either as pure polysaccharides or as part of glycoconjugates. They are prevalent in nature and possess important functions in regulating biological pathways. However, their diversity coupled with physiochemical similarities makes it challenging to isolate them in large quantities for biochemical studies, hence hampering progress in glycobiology and glycomedicine. Glycochemistry presents an alternative strategy to obtain pure glycan compounds through artificial synthetic methods. Efforts in glycochemistry have been centered on glycosylation, the key reaction in glycochemistry, especially with regards to anomeric stereoselectivity in polysaccharides and glycoconjugates. In particular, the stereoelectronic and steric properties of glycosyl donors are commonly used to direct the stereoselectivity in glycosylation reactions. Classic glycosylation strategies typically involve saturated glycosyl donors, proceeding either directly using hydrogen bonds and conformational constraints or indirectly by installing moieties covalently through neighboring group participation and intramolecular aglycon delivery. Over the past years, new glycosylation strategies, tapping on the foundations of transition metal catalysis, have emerged. To leverage the power of coordination chemistry, unsaturated glycosyl donors were introduced. Not only are the number of protection/deprotection steps reduced, the resultant unsaturated glycoside provides opportunities for downstream functionalizations, allowing quick access to a variety of sugars, including rare sugars. Alongside the glycosyl donor, an equally important but neglected aspect for targeting stereoselective glycosylation is the glycosyl acceptor. In the case of dual-directing donors, glycosyl acceptors have proved themselves capable of becoming the dominating factor for stereocontrol. Interestingly, rational manipulation or selection of glycosyl acceptors with particular nucleophilicity and p Ka values can lead to different stereoselectivities, thereby proving the tunability of such acceptors to favor the formation of one anomer over the other stereoselectively. By further venturing beyond substrate controlled stereoselectivity, we are presented with the opportunity to effect stereoselective glycosylation through glycosylating reagents. Of the key reagents, stereoselective catalyst stands out as a greener and efficient alternative to direct stereoselective control with stoichiometric substrates. Recently, investigations into this approach of stereocontrol presented an intriguing range of stereoselectivities, achieved by merely varying the nature of catalysts used. Another crucial effort in glycochemistry is enhancing the efficiencies of glycosylations, by reducing the number of preparative steps before or during glycosylation. Through using transient masking groups or one-pot synthetic strategies, these streamlined approaches provide enormous convenience and practicability for oligosaccharide syntheses. This Account presents mainly our advancements beyond the conventional donor-controlled strategies over the past decade, with emphasis placed on mechanistic explanations of anomeric selectivities, thereby providing perspectives to inspire further progress toward a generalized unified strategy for preparing every type of glycan.


The current labor market context is characterized by a diversification of forms of employment, a transformation of work organizations and a singularization of career paths. This article aims to analyze and describe how young adults conceive their professional future and how they define a decent job. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with ten young adults. The corpus of interviews was subjected to content analysis. The results show that work is a necessity for young people, without being a priori an end in itself. Some criteria of decent work (ILO) are more widespread than others, however, the links with the desire to maintain an activity and the social and fulfillment dimensions tend to show that models of a job integrating the dimension of personal development remain prevalent. This study


FMS‐like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) is critical for normal haematopoiesis and have been reported to be expressed in the majority of acute myeloid and lymphoid malignancies. We correlated the impact of FLT3 mutations and its expression with age, WHO 2008 classification and treatment outcome in 531 childhood acute leukaemias. Of 150 acute myeloid leukaemia (AMLs), 18 (12%) harboured FLT3‐ITD while nine (6%) had FLT3‐TKD. FLT3‐ITD and ‐TKD were rare in acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia (AMKL; FLT3‐ITD 0/26, FLT3‐TKD 1/26) and children below 3 years (n = 2/48). Acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) with t(15;17);PML‐RARα (n = 7/18; 39%) harboured the highest frequency of FLT3 mutations, followed by myelomonocytic (n = 4/18; 22%) and AML with t(8;21);RUNX1‐RUNX1T1 (n = 2/21; 9%). FLT3 expression levels were also lowest in AMKL, both in Down's and non‐Down's (p = 0.002) followed by patients <3 years (p = 0.001). The rarity of FLT3 mutations and expression levels in AMKL were independent of age. Conversely, only 2% of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) harboured FLT3 mutations (ITD = 1/381; TKD = 6/381). FLT3 was highly expressed in hyperdiploid ALL (p < 0.001). Of the 121 AMLs with clinical history, there were no significant differences in 4‐year event‐free survival (EFS) (46% vs. 38%; p = 0.46) and overall‐survival (OS) (55% vs. 43%; p = 0.30) between FLT3‐wildtype and ITD+ patients. Similarly, FLT3 expression levels did not influence survival in AML in both the good risk and non‐good risk subgroups. FLT3 does not appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of AMKL, both in Down's and non‐Down's. Therapeutic targets using FLT3 inhibitors may not be useful in AMKL and in young children with AML. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In a democracy, every child must be regarded as indispensable and the government must be accountable for the deaths of children and mothers. Unfortunately, the issue of children's health seldom finds space in contemporary political discourse in India. The process of ensuring that every child is taken care of as a matter of right involves societal pressure through public action and democratisation of all public institutions.


The target of these investigations was a study of covalent binding the antipsychotic drug clozapine and the tripeptide glutathione. Other workers, primarily using radioisotopes, have found many adducts of clozapine and glutathione. We wanted to see how well the chlorine atom in clozapine could serve as an alternate to the use of a radiolabel using the Chemical Reaction Interface/Mass Spectrometer technique with HPLC introduction (HPLC/CRIMS). Here, we examine the capabilities of two such schemes that were previously used with GC introduction: Cl detection with SO2 as the reactant gas; and Cl and S detection using NF3 as the reactant gas. Detecting chlorine as HCl with SO2 was accomplished giving linearity over an 80-fold range of sample size. Incubations of the drug and glutathione with a peroxidase/peroxide system system yielded several metabolites characterized as novel conjugates of clozapine by electrospray mass spectrometry. This tentative identification of two conjugates was confirmed by examining the incubation mixture with NF3 as the CRIMS reactant gas. The simultaneous appearance of both Cl and S is consistent with covalent binding of clozapine to glutathione. A nearly doubled ratio of S to Cl in one peak confirmed the presence of a di-glutathione conjugate. These experiments support our proposition that element selective detection of HPLC effluents with CRIMS can supply additional information, not previously available using radioisotopic methods.


The neurosecretory neurons in the mammalian hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus receive prominent GABAergic and noradrenergic projections arising from local interneurons and the A1 cells in the ventrolateral medulla, respectively. Intracellular recordings in in vitro perfused hypothalamic explants reveal an abundance of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) and a compound IPSP after electrical stimulation in the diagonal band of Broca area. The sensitivity of both spontaneous and evoked IPSPs to intracellular chloride injection, bicuculline, and pentobarbital is consistent with a GABA-activated, chloride-mediated inhibitory synaptic input. Parallel changes in membrane voltage and conductance are present during applications of GABA and muscimol, with similar sensitivity to ionic manipulation, bicuculline, and pentobarbital. These observations contrast with the consistently excitatory effects that follow either the stimulation of A1 cells or the application of norepinephrine and alpha 1-adrenergic agonists. Norepinephrine induces membrane depolarizations and bursting activity patterns that are blocked by the selective alpha 1 antagonist prazosin. Membrane response to norepinephrine is voltage dependent and is associated with little change in conductance. GABA and norepinephrine are proposed as transmitters in the final central pathways that mediate information to supraoptic vasopressinergic neurons from peripheral baroreceptors and chemoreceptors, respectively.


In 1976, the detection of estrogen-receptor expression in melanomas ushered in the era of targeted therapy in melanoma, although we did not use that term back then.1 In 1992, Cocconi et al. found that dacarbazine plus tamoxifen provided a higher response rate and longer survival than dacarbazine, but only in women.2 Subsequently, whether melanoma cells express estrogen receptors was questioned, and the efficacy of tamoxifen could not be confirmed. Since then, the drug has not been used to treat melanoma. However, molecular analysis of tumors has revealed specific growth-promoting pathways in human cancers that have become targets for therapy. BRAF . . .


Interplanetary coronal mass ejections are the interplanetary manifestations of coronal mass ejections observed by coronagraphs near the Sun. Their associated effects include the generation of upstream shocks which may accelerate energetic particles, short-term (Forbush) decreases in the galactic cosmic ray intensity, unusual energetic particle flows, and geomagnetic storms. We summa- rize some of the properties of ICMEs observed during solar cycle 23.


This paper shows an analysis on the behaviour of the meteorological drought in the eastern part of Holguin, in order to achieve a mechanism that facilitates the participation of different sectors involved in the assessment of such phenomenon and their interaction with the authorities of the province. It is aimed primarily at assessing the agricultural sector because of its vulnerability due to the deficit of rainfalls. An assessment was also carried on the consequences of drought for the agriculture.


Aim: This prospective study was carried out to assess the outcome of manipulation of the shoulder as a treatment for adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder. Method: 31 patients were followed prospectively for twelve months after shoulder manipulation for adhesive capsulitis. All patients underwent manipulation under general anaesthetic and scalene block followed by intra-artificial gleno-humeral injection of steroid and local anaesthetic. Postoperative physiotherapy was started on the day of surgery. Shoulder function was assessed with range of movement, Constant and Murley score and DASH score (Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand by specialist upper limb physiotherapists, pre-operatively, and post – operatively at 6 weeks, 3, 6, and 12 months. Results: The DASH score improved from a mean of 60.1 (range 27–98) pre-operatively to a mean of 24.1 (range 5–83) at final follow up. Constant scores improved from a mean of 34.4 (range 16–51) pre-operatively to 65.8 (range 35–88). The mean improvement in Constant scores was 31.5 points. Pre-operative range of movement (expressed as a percentage of the total ROM of the unaffected side) was 51.5 % (range 23.8–67.2). The mean postoperative ROM was 85.4% (range 56.2 – 99.3). External rotation improved from 41.7% (range 23.5 – 81.5) of the unaffected side preoperatively to 77.7% (range 44.1 – 105.3) at final review. Abduction improved from 47.4 % (range 23.3 – 70.6) to 85.4% (range 49.7 – 100) and forward flexion improved from 59.1% (range 33.5 – 73.9) to 90o (range 64.3 – 100.6). No patients required further manipulation. Conclusion: All outcome measure improved following treatment. These improvements were sustained at 12-month follow up. In particular, external rotation which was the most restricted movement pre-operatively was seen to improve and this improvement was maintained throughout follow-up. We conclude that manipulation of the shoulder under inter-scalene block and general anaesthetic for adhesive capsulitis results in a sustained improvement in function and movement.


Editor's Note: This issue of the International Journal of Applied Glass Science is the second in a planned series which engage internationally recognized authorities to serve as Guest Editors. We are especially pleased that Drs' Kathleen Richardson and Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem accepted our invitation to organize this issue on Glass and Photonics, arguably one of the most important branches of glass science throughout the world. We extend sincere thanks to them for their care, diligence, and exceptional dedication in completing this task. We also extend our sincere thanks to the authors who committed their time and energy to bring this issue to completion.


A 57-year-old black man with sickle cell disease was admitted to the hospital because of a painful crisis. After a fall with a fracture into the right knee joint, he developed an acutely painful, swollen knee. Synovial fluid from the right knee showed leukocyte counts of up to 154,000/mm3 and was negative for urate and calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals. Gram stains and cultures were negative. Some sickled red cells were seen by light microscopy; electron microscopy revealed crystal-like arrays of sickled hemoglobin tactoids in erythrocytes which were enfolded and phagocytized by the cells of the synovial fluid. We suggest that this phagocytosis of sickled red cells is the likely cause for the otherwise unexplained inflammation.


A patient with a metastasis in the left parietal lobe demonstrated difficulty in pointing to body parts although he could name them when they were pointed to by someone else. As he had no nominal aphasia, could understand complex verbal instructions and could correctly describe the functions of named body parts, his autotopagnosia is unlikely to be a result of a category-specific comprehension deficit. As he is able to point to parts of objects, plants and animals on command, his disorder is also unlikely to be part of a general inability to analyse a whole into its details. Instead, his difficulty appears to be one of locating body parts in relation to the whole body. Such a disorder provides support for the existence of a discrete body image that can be disrupted by a lesion of the left parietal lobe.


Amphibian tissues seem to resist oncogenesis in proportion to their regenerative capacity, a phenomenon most easily seen in relation to limb regeneration. There is evidence that mammalian tissues also possess, in addition to and distinct from the capacity for physiological renewal, a limited and not always overtly evident degree of amphibian-like capacity for regeneration (epimorphic regeneration). It is the thesis of this paper that cancer in mammals would seldom occur were it not for a local destruction or exhaustion, secondary to injury or aging, of this normal amphibian-like regenerative capacity.


Abstract Objectives Ischemic stroke is known as a common causes of disability, lower psychological well-being as well as preventable death. The pathogenesis of ischemic stroke process becomes worse immediately after oxidative stress occurs. One of the flavonoids with antioxidant abilities is quercetin. This study was aimed to investigate quercetin administration on the behavioral functions (motor and sensory) and expression of melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) in mice with ischemic stroke. Methods Male ICR mice were divided into sham, stroke, stroke with quercetin 100, 150, and 200 mg/kg. The stroke model was performed by blocking the left common carotid artery for 2 h. Quercetin was intraperitoneally administered daily for seven days. Evaluation was conducted during two weeks after induction using ladder rung walking test and narrow beam test for motoric function and adhesive removal tape test for sensory function. On day-14 mice were sacrificed, MC4R expression in the dorsal striatum was determined using RT-PCR. Results Stroke decreased the motor, sensory function and MC4R mRNA expression in dorsal striatum. Quercetin improved motor and sensory function, and upregulated expression of MC4R. Conclusions Quercetin administration after ischemic stroke improves behavioral function, possibly through the upregulation of MC4R in the brain.


The present study aimed at investigating the cosubstitution of two biologically important cations, namely Zn2+ and Sr2+, in the structure of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), a well-known resorbable biomaterial. The formation Zn2+ and Sr2+ cosubstituted β-Ca3(PO4)2 has been ensured through aqueous coprecipitation technique that involves the addition of Zn2+ and Sr2+ containing precursors to partially replace Ca2+ in a calcium-deficient apatite composition during the synthesis, followed by heat treating the resultant apatites at 800°C to form single-phase β-Ca3(PO4)2. Five different concentrations of single or combined substitution of elements have been investigated and the results were compared with those of pure β-TCP without any substituted Zn2+ and Sr2+. The obtained materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, elemental analysis, and Rietveld refinement techniques. The transformation of deficient apatites to Zn2+ and Sr2+ cosubstituted β-TCP occurred at 800°C and well crystalline β-TCP materials were formed at 1000°C with the typical rhombohedral structure at hexagonal setting (space group R3c). The Rietveld refinement results revealed gradual decreases in the a-axis and c-axis lattice parameters with increasing concentration levels of Zn2+ and Sr2+ substituted in the lattice of β-TCP. Zn2+ prefers to occupy the sixfold coordinated Ca (5) site whereas Sr2+ preferentially occupies the ninefold coordinated Ca (4) site of β-TCP structure.


ABSTRACT Lesson study has attracted the attention of teachers and teacher educators over the past two decades, and practices vary from region to region and from school to school. This study, as a conceptual discussion paper, aims to discuss the modes of coordination of lesson study at the school level, based on comparative institutional analysis (CIA). CIA is a framework to investigate the 'rules of the game' that govern given organisations. The conditions of categorisation include three core foci: whether lesson study is essentially more subject oriented or student oriented, whether or not the entire school is involved and whether or not the members are consistent throughout the process. According to these conditions, five modes are generated, namely: subject expert mode (E-mode), subject departmental mode (D-mode), LSLC multiple layer mode (M-mode), LSLC initial concentration mode (C-mode) and LSLC initial participation mode (P-mode). These are based on the differing needs of teachers: E-mode and D-mode refer to the more subject oriented lesson study aimed at instructional improvement; M-mode refers to school reform based on the needs of students observed in the process of lessons; finally, C-mode and P-mode are introductory approaches to M-mode, requiring careful planning and management for scaling up.


Zn was electrodeposited galvanostatically on a steel sheet at 1500 A/m2 in an agitated sulfate solution of pH 2 at 40°C to investigate the effects of small amounts of Mo, W, or Sn additives on the morphology, crystal orientation and lightness of the deposited Zn. Neither Mo nor W codeposited with Zn, and both showed hardly any effect on the morphology of the deposited Zn. Mo and W increased the orientation of the (0001) plane of Zn, but did not change the overpotential for Zn deposition. Sn codeposited with Zn and, as a result, platelet crystals of Zn did not form. Sn increased the crystal orientation of the (0001) and (1013) planes of Zn as a result of a decrease in the overpotential for Zn deposition. The lightness of the deposited Zn depended on its crystal orientation and surface roughness. At a coating mass of 20 g/m2, Sn, Mo and W enhanced the lightness of Zn by increasing the orientation of its (0001) and (1013) planes. At higher coating masses, however, this enhancement in lightness disappeared as a result of the increase in surface roughness induced by the presence of the inorganic additives.


Abstract The non-normal mode initialization, i.e., an initialization scheme which does not require an explicit computation of the eigenmodes of the linearized equations, is reviewed. The formulation of such a scheme is given in abstract form, in the case of the Machenhauer initialization scheme as well as in the case of higher-order schemes. The particular case of a stationary Rossby mode is examined in detail. In this case, the separation between slow modes and fast gravity modes is explicitly given, and it is conjectured that the formulation of non-normal mode initialization can be given only in such a case. An application to the shallow-water equations, which includes the main β-terms in the linearization is given as a result of the preceding formulation. Such a scheme extends the previous scheme proposed by Bourke and McGregor.


Objective To investigate the protective effect and mechanism of TGF-β1 on intestinal mucosa against ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury,so as to provide new methods of clinical prevention from and dealing with intestine I/R injury and gut-derived multiple organ dysfunction syndrome(MODS).Methods 30 SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (n=10 each),A:namely sham-operation group (group A):superior mesenteric artery (SMA) was only isolated but not blocked; B:control group (group B),ischemia for 60 minutes,then reperfusion for 120 minutes,and administered with normal saline solution (NS) 0.5ml through SMA 10 minutes before SMA blockage; C:experimental group (group C):animals underwent the same procedure with group B except for taking TGF-β1 instead of NS. The contents of intestinal mucosa Chiu's score,bacteria translocation,intestinal mucosa cellular apoptosis index,expression of bax mRNA and bcl-2 mRNA and protein were measured.Results Compared with group A,the results from group B are as follows,the Chiu's score significantly increased,bacteria translocation increased,intestinal mucosa cellular apoptosis rate significantly increased,level of bax mRNA and Bax protein significantly increased,while level of intestinal mucosal bcl-2 mRNA and Bcl-2 protein significantly decreased. All the changes in group B were reversed significantly in group C.Conclusion TGF-β1 exerts a protective effect on the gut barrier against intestine I/R injury,perhaps via reversing injury-induced downregulation in bcl-2 transcription and upregulation in bax transcription,with the result in modulating bcl-2 and bax protein expression and downregulation of the susceptibility to apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells.


Between 1987 and 1990, seven patients hospitalized in our hospital had bacteremia caused by Streptococcus bovis. Complete gastrointestinal evaluation was routinely carried out for digestive portal of entry and liver disease screening. In four cases (2 bacteremia, 2 endocarditis), a colonic growth was detected: sigmoid adenoma (n = 1) and rectosigmoid carcinoma (n = 4); in one case (endocarditis), several rectosigmoid carcinomas were associated with alcoholic cirrhosis; in one case (bacteremia), alcoholic cirrhosis was diagnosed; in one case (endocarditis), no gastrointestinal or hepatic portal of entry was found. These cases emphasize the need for simultaneous detection of endocarditis and gastrointestinal portal of entry such as colonic tumor and/or cirrhosis, in case of Streptococcus bovis bacteremia.


Despite the fact that since the middle of the last century, Andrei has been developing at a rapid pace, many facets of the writer's work remain «in the background». To a sufficient extent this is also characteristic of the coverage of Andreev's demonology.

Infernal character – a figure of supernatural origin, personifying evil, destructive principle, the term «infernal» is used along with the definition of «demonic».

A significant part of the prose work of L. Andreev can be considered as a kind of original «devil» («hoffmaniad»). These are works on the temptation of the «superhuman» («devilish») reason of man («The Story of Sergey Petrovich» (1900), «Thought» (1902), «Darkness» (1907), «My Notes» (1908), etc. ) and works on the themes of the devil («Something about the Devils» (1901), «About the Writer» (1902), «Peace» (1911), «Rules of Good» (1912), «Diary of Satan» (1919)).

 Some of them are narratives, as if narrated by the devil («It Was» (1905), «Ben-Tovit» (1905), «Eleazar» (1906), «Judas Iscariot» (1907), «Witness of Truth» («Miraculous Image») (1915) and others); others are stories in which the devil himself is a protagonist («Peace» (1911), «Rules of Good» (1912), «Damn at a Wedding» (1915), «Diary of Satan» (1919), etc.); the third – in which human heroes, combining the «superman» and «devil» and non-infernal in origin, take the place of carriers of destructiveness, i.e. – infernal heroes (Ivan Koprov – «The Life of Vasily Thebes» (1903), «grandfather» – «My Notes» (1908), Norden – «He (The Story of the Unknown)» (1913), Thomas Magnus – «The Diary of Satan» (1919 )).

In the late work of the writer, the Andreev infernal theme undergoes a significant transformation. If at the beginning of creativity it was a devil testing a person, then in the future the writer's imagination occupied the paradoxically ridiculous image of a devil who wants to do good.

Throughout the career of L. Andreev, in his prose, ironic demonological discourse continued to function, which is of great importance and plays an important role in understanding the entire work of the writer as a whole. He allowed L. Andreev to pose the «damned questions» of human life, comprehending them from an anti-didactic point of view, as well as resist the latest ideas of Nietzscheanism, positivism and God-seeking, so widespread at the beginning of the twentieth century.


The risk of malignant tumor progression has been a concern associated with the use of anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha monoclonal antibody (anti-TNFα mAb). On the contrary, recent observational studies have reported negatively on this risk and instead suggested that anti-TNFα mAb acts as a tumor suppressor in inflammatory carcinogenesis models and subcutaneous transplant models of colorectal cancer. However, no consensus has been established regarding the actual effects of anti-TNFα mAb on malignant tumors. Here, we aimed to evaluate, for the first time, the effect of anti-TNFα mAb on the tumor microenvironment in the absence of intestinal inflammation in a colorectal cancer orthotopic transplant mouse model suitable for tumor microenvironment assessment. The orthotopic transplantation model was developed by transplanting CT26 cells into the cecum of BALB/c mice. Changes in tumor size and weight were recorded 3 weeks after transplantation, and the tumor microenvironment was assessed via RNA sequencing and immunohistological staining. In the orthotopic transplant model, the administration of anti-TNFα mAb led to a reduction in colorectal cancer. The RNA sequencing analysis showed upregulation of immune-related pathways and apoptosis and suppression of stromal- and tumor growth-related pathways. Additionally, Gene Ontology analysis showed inhibition of angiogenesis. Immunohistochemical staining showed inhibition of tumor growth, increase in apoptosis, suppression of stromal response, suppression of angiogenesis, enhancement of tumor immunity, and reduction in the number of tumor-associated macrophages. Anti-TNFα mAb acts as an inhibitor of tumor progression in the tumor microenvironment of a colorectal cancer orthotopic transplant mouse model.


General game testing relies on the use of human play testers, play test scripting, and prior knowledge of areas of interest to produce relevant test data. Using deep reinforcement learning (DRL), we introduce a self-learning mechanism to the game testing framework. With DRL, the framework is capable of exploring and/or exploiting the game mechanics based on a user-defined, reinforcing reward signal. As a result, test coverage is increased and unintended game play mechanics, exploits and bugs are discovered in a multitude of game types. In this paper, we show that DRL can be used to increase test coverage, find exploits, test map difficulty, and to detect common problems that arise in the testing of first-person shooter (FPS) games.


Introduction: Malnutrition is associated with negative outcomes for patients, including higher infection and complication rates, increased muscle loss, impaired wound healing, longer length of hospital stay and increased morbidity and mortality. The negative effect of malnutrition on respiratory infection and muscle strength has also been established. Therefore, this study was designed to find out the treatment outcomes of malnourished acute respiratory infection (ARI) patients.
Objective: To observe the relation between the poor nutritional status & outcome of patients
Materials & Methods: In this study there were 23(44.2%) male and 29(55.8%) female cases while 27(51.9%) cases were in 16-35 years of age, 7(13.5%) cases were 35-45 years old and 18(34.6%) cases were 45-65 years old. This observational & prospectivestudy was conducted atSKBZ/CMH Muzaffarabad Azad Kashmir.All patients who fulfilled inclusion criteria were included consecutively. All cases with age 16-65 years of either gender were included. Treatment outcome was labelled as good or bad. Mean and standard deviations were calculated for quantitative variables and frequency and percentages were calculated for qualitative variables.
Results: A total of 42(80.8%) cases had length of hospital stay for 1-7 days, 9(17.3%) cases had 8-14 days and 1(1.9%) cases had ≥ 14 days. According to final outcome 17(32.7%) cases had bad and 35(67.3%) cases had good outcome. Moreover, 34(65.4%) cases had improved, 2(3.8%) cases were referred or left against medical advice and 16(30.8%) remained in follow up.
Conclusion: Malnutrition remains a burden for general healthcare and has considerable impact on worsening the treatment outcome of ARI in malnourished patients.


Single molecule fluorescence tracking provides information at nanometer-scale and millisecond-temporal resolution about the dynamics and interaction of individual molecules in a biological environment. While the dynamic behavior of isolated molecules can be characterized well, the quantitative insight is more limited when interactions between two indistinguishable molecules occur. We address this aspect by developing a theoretical foundation for a spectroscopy of interaction times, i.e., the inference of interaction from imaging data. A non-trivial crossover between a power law to an exponential behavior of the distribution of the interaction times is highlighted, together with the dependence of the exponential term upon the microscopic reaction affinity. Our approach is validated with simulated and experimental datasets.


Process parameters of the Laser-Arc hybrid welding of HSLA-590 steel have been studied using 2.4 kW CO2 laser machine and a MAG welding machine. The effects of power ratio, laser power, arc power and leading process have been investigated in this study. The results shows that the power ratio between laser power and arc power is higher, the bead shape is better. And the effects of root gap and bevel angle in butt joint were investigated. From the experiments, the maximum gap tolerance and suitable bevel angle are found, that are 1 mm and 45°, respectively. The effects of shielding gases, helium or argon, are also investigated for finding the effects on penetration, bead width and bead appearance. The microstructures of welds are studied by laser scanning microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The Dendrite Arm Spacing is measured in laser, MAG and hybrid welds. The maximum hardness is not appeared in the HAZ, but in the weld metal. And there is a soften zone on the fusion line.


A seven degree-of-freedom (DOF) haptic device has been developed with applications towards robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. The device consists of four degrees of force feedback (X, Y, Z, and grasping) capability and seven degrees of freedom for positioning capability. The haptic device is a closed kinematic chain with two halves (user interface and spatial mechanism) connected by a universal joint. Kinematic analysis of the haptic device has been developed with the particular goal of computing the slave robot position and the end point configuration of the laparoscopic tool. Additionally, the achievable workspace of the mechanism has been calculated based on the motion of each half of the device. Friction modeling and its compensation has also been presented to enable higher transparency of the haptic device.


Effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID: amfenac sodium, diclofenac sodium, indomethacin and ketoprofen) on the generation of superoxide anion (O2-) by isolated rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) were studied spectrophotometrically using cytochrome c. The effects of these drugs were also studied on O2- production by the xanthine-xanthine oxidase and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-NADPH oxidase systems. Amfenac sodium, at 0.1 mM, inhibited significantly O2- generation in rat PMN induced by opsonized zymosan. At 0.5 mM, diclofenac sodium and indomethacin inhibited the O2- generation in rat PMN. All of the above drugs slightly inhibited O2- production by the xanthine-xanthine oxidase system. On the other hand, O2- production by the NADPH-NADPH oxidase system was significantly inhibited by the addition of amfenac sodium, ketoprofen or indomethacin. These results suggest that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs do not work as an O2- scavenger and block O2- production by the NADPH-NADPH oxidase system of rat PMN. It is concluded that amfenac sodium and the other drugs are able to inhibit granulocyte O2- production by blocking the activation of NADPH-oxidase.


OBJECTIVE: To estimate whether recurrence risks of preeclampsia, preterm birth, and fetal growth restriction relate to prepregnancy plasma volume. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in 580 formerly preeclamptic women and a control group. In all women we measured plasma volume (iodine125-human serum albumin indicator dilution method) in the nonpregnant state. One hundred seventy-eight normotensive (formerly preeclamptic) women had a subsequent pregnancy within the study period (1996–2008). Odds ratios (ORs) for recurrent preeclampsia, preterm birth, and small for gestational age (SGA) neonates were estimated, using multivariable logistic regression with adjustment for confounders. RESULTS: Plasma volumes were lower in women who developed recurrent preeclampsia (1,241±158 mL/m2, 17% lower compared with women in the control group) than in women without recurrent preeclampsia (1,335±167 mL/m2, 11% lower compared with women in the control group). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that each 100-mL/m2 difference in plasma volume was associated with an OR of 0.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.5–0.8) to develop recurrent preeclampsia in subsequent pregnancy. Risk of preterm delivery (before 37 weeks of gestation) depended on preeclampsia in subsequent pregnancy, the adjusted hazard ratio for preterm birth was 0.9 (95% CI 0.7–1.1) for each 100-mL/m2 change in plasma volume. Risk of delivering an SGA neonate was independent of recurrent preeclampsia. Each 100-mL/m2 change in plasma volume was associated with an adjusted OR of 0.8 (95% CI 0.5–0.9) to deliver an SGA neonate in subsequent pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The risk of recurrent preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction in subsequent pregnancy relates inversely and linearly to prepregnancy plasma volume. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II


This paper presents a text mining based knowledge management (KM) approach. After a short introduction, we describe our idea of an integrated knowledge management infrastructure, using natural language technology as a main building block to enable the sharing of knowledge with as little additional effort as possible. Two tools are presented, which built the main components of the solution. Annotation and indexing of a big textual corpus on the one side and a sophisticated graphic search and retrieval front-end on the other side.


The specifically synthesized and selected carbon dots of relatively high fluorescence quantum yields were evaluated in their fluorescence labeling of cells. For the cancer cell lines, the cellular uptake of the carbon dots was generally efficient, resulting in the labeling of the cells with bright fluorescence emissions for both one- and two-photon excitations from predominantly the cell membrane and cytoplasm. In the exploration on labeling the live stem cells, the cellular uptake of the carbon dots was relatively less efficient, though fluorescence emissions could still be adequately detected in the labeled cells, with the emissions again predominantly from the cell membrane and cytoplasm. This combined with the observed more efficient internalization of the same carbon dots by the fixed stem cells might suggest some significant selectivity of the stem cells toward surface functionalities of the carbon dots. The needs and possible strategies for more systematic and comparative studies on the fluorescence labeling of different cells, including especially live stem cells, by carbon dots as a new class of brightly fluorescent probes are discussed.


A case-control study of epilepsy in multiple sclerosis (MS) is presented using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to semiquantitatively assess cortical-subcortical lesion load. In this sample of 13 pairs of cases with MS and epilepsy and controls with MS without epilepsy we found statistically higher cumulated cortical-subcortical lesion loads in the cases than in the controls (Wilcoxon, P=0.036). Total lesion loads (cortical-subcortical plus deep white matter loads) did not differ significantly (P > 0.1) between cases and controls. The relative risk for seizures as determined by the odds ratio of a cortical-subcortical lesion load of ≥20 was. 8.8 (χ2 = 5.23, P 0.025), the odds ratio of a large (> 1 cm) cortico-subcortical lesion was 4.7 (χ2 = 4.9, P < 0.05), while the 2 MR criteria combined show an odds ratio of 19.2 (χ2 = 8.0, P < 0.005). We conclude that first, the presence of cortical-subcortical lesions in part accounts for the occurrence of seizures in MS patients; second, due to the substantial overlap of MR imaging scores between cases and controls the ultimate use of these MR imaging findings in the management of individual patients or in the organizations of trials should depend on the expected benefit of the treatment If the benefit is only moderate or not known a cautious approach with exclusion of cases showing a substantial cortical-subcortical lesion load on MR imaging seems appropriate in trials with drugs, like 4-aminopyridine, that lower the epileptic threshold.


AIM
To investigate the extrahospital reservoirs of Acinetobacter spp. in Lebanon.

MATERIALS & METHODS
Two thousand three hundred and sixty-one samples from different ecological niches were analyzed by culture methods. Species identification was confirmed by rpoB-gene sequencing. Multilocus sequence typing was used to characterize the Acinetobacter baumannii clones.

RESULTS & CONCLUSION
Acinetobacter spp. were detected in 14% of environmental samples and 8% of food samples. Furthermore, 9% of animals and 3.4% of humans were colonized. Non-baumannii Acinetobacter were the most common species isolated and newly susceptible A. baumannii clones were detected. Interestingly, 21 isolates were not identified at the species level and were considered as putative novel species. To our knowledge, this is the largest epidemiological study investigating the epidemiology of Acinetobacter spp. outside hospitals.


Not for the first time in the history, theory and practice of art has the influence of science taken on the role of a strong though usually silent partner in the development of arts' material expressions, logics, representations, stylistics and/or practical-political pathways. But today something ground-breaking and certainly compelling in its raw intensity is occurring across and through the discipline, disrupting in its wake the very meaning of materiality, philosophy, aesthetics and indeed contemporary art practice itself. In direct opposition to Newtonian physics and its insistence on a conception of absolute space as inseparable from dialectical development, Diffraction, Entanglement and the 'Sensuous Unnatural' Act(s) of Art seeks to explore the ephemeral skins of radical matter and its consequent requirement to re-stage aesthetics and contemporary art practices away from simplistic "scientistic 'rationality' v artistic 'irrationality'" binarisms, where either art acts as the handmaiden to science or science is used as the metric for art research.

What is proposed, instead, is a walk on the wild side of science and its impact for redressing not only the tedium of a binaric divide, but propelling us toward, post-postmodern Enlightenment: one that not only re-thinks the very 'matter' of contemporary art, but also impacts on the question: what does it mean, in the 21st century to be or to become 'human'.


Three moral principles provide an ethical basis for the management of unwanted pregnancy. The principle of liberty guarantees a right to freedom of action; the utilitarian principle defines moral rightness by the greatest good for the greatest number; and justice requires that everyone have equitable access to necessary goods and services. Applied to unwanted pregnancy, these principles yield the conclusion that women have a natural right to reproductive freedom, and a social right to family planning and abortion services.


Piezoelectric single-crystal composites (PSCCs) have been studied and applied because of their improved resolution and power source level performance in underwater acoustic transducer applications relative to traditional piezoelectric ceramic composites (PCCs). Currently, the methods to fabricate curved PSCCs are mostly derived from PCCs, including molding with flexible backing, molding with heating, and molding with the casting rubber method. Unfortunately, the methods mentioned above are not suitable for preparing curved PSCCs for underwater acoustic transducer applications because of their brittleness, the large anisotropy of piezoelectric single crystals, and the high thickness (>2 mm) of PSCCs for achieving the low operating frequency (<700 kHz). In the present work, we proposed a preparation method, 3D-printing-assisted dice and insert technology, and successfully prepared curved PSCCs with high performance. Although the PSCCs have a low volume fraction of single crystals in this work (∼33%), a high thickness electromechanical factor kt of 86% and a large piezoelectric coefficient d33 of 1550 pC/N were achieved in the curved 1-3 PSCCs, which are superior to other reported PSCCs and PCCs with nearly the same volume fraction of single crystals and piezoelectric ceramics. This work presents a paradigm for fabricating curved PSCCs for underwater acoustic transducers, and this method shows the potential for large-area, special-shaped PSCCs, which are key materials for next-generation underwater acoustic transducers.


This paper compares controlled series capacitor (CSC) converters applied to generator-sets used in series hybrid electric vehicles (SHEV). The operation of each circuit is discussed and simulated using Matlab/Simulink. It is concluded that CSC converters can improve the power factor (PF) of the generator-set.


Abstract. Hydrodynamic modeling has been increasingly used to simulate water surface elevation which is important for flood prediction and risk assessment. Scarcity/inaccessibility of in-situ bathymetric information has hindered hydrodynamic model development at continental-global scales. Therefore, river cross-section geometry has commonly been approximated using highly simplified generic shapes. However, strong correlations appear between cross-section shape parameters and hydraulic roughness in a hydraulic inversion approach. This study introduces a novel parameterization of 1D hydrodynamic models that reduces ambiguity by combining cross-section geometry and roughness into a conveyance parameter. Flow area and conveyance are expressed as power-law functions of flow depth, and thus are assumed to be linearly related in log-log space at reach scale. Data from a wide range of river systems show that the linearity approximation is globally applicable. Because the two are expressed as power-law functions of flow depth, no further assumptions about channel geometry are needed. Therefore, the hydraulic inversion approach allows for calibrating flow area and conveyance curves in the absence of bathymetry and hydraulic roughness. Its feasibility and performance are illustrated using satellite observations of river width and water surface elevation.


In collaborative software development, the utilization of Version Control Systems VCSs is a must. For this, a multitude of pessimistic as well as optimistic VCSs for model artifacts emerged. Pessimistic approaches follow the lock-edit-unlock paradigm whereas optimistic approaches allow parallel editing of one resource, which are therefore the preferred ones. To be flexible for the ever increasing variety of modeling environments and languages such tools should be independent of the modeling environment and applicable to various modeling languages. Those VCS characteristics may implicate a lack of information for the conflict detection method by virtue of firstly receiving solely the state of an artifact without concrete editing operations and secondly due to unavailable knowledge about the semantics of a modeling language. However, in optimistic VCSs concurrent changes can result in conflicts and inconsistencies. In environment and language independent VCSs inconsistencies would even arise more often due to information losses. Hence, accurate conflict detection methods are indispensable for the realization of such VCSs. To tackle this task, the "Semantically enhanced Model Version Control System" SMoVer is presented. With SMoVer it is possible to specify the semantics of a modeling language, needed for conflict detection in order to provide more accurate conflict reports than other current environment and language independent VCSs. In this work, it is exemplified how semantics of a specific modeling language can be specified in SMoVer, how those specifications can improve the accuracy of conflict reports and finally how those can be presented to modelers.


Cytogenetic and molecular analyses have shown that the chromosome band 12q22 is recurrently deleted in male germ cell tumors (GCTs), indicating the presence of a candidate tumor suppressor gene (TSG) in this region. To identify the TSG, we mapped the APAF1 gene, a proapoptotic mammalian homologue of ced‐4, to chromosomal band 12q22, that suggested that this might be the candidate deleted gene in GCTs. We further localized the gene between the polymorphic markers D12S1671 and D12S1082 at 12q22 to determine the role of APAF1 in the pathogenesis of GCT, and we characterized its normal genomic structure and analyzed its alterations in GCTs. The APAF1 gene comprises 27 exons, with the coding region spanning 26. The region containing APAF1 was found to be deleted in GCT by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, but without evidence of coding sequence alterations. RT‐PCR and Western blot analysis showed APAF1 gene expression at detectable levels in all GCT cell lines analyzed. An aberrant‐sized APAF1 protein was seen in one cell line. This and 2 other cell lines carrying APAF1 deletions also exhibited defects in dATP‐mediated caspase‐3 activation. Caspase‐3 activity was effectively restored by addition of recombinant caspase‐9 and APAF1 proteins, and to a lesser extent by caspase‐9 alone, but not by APAF1 alone. These data do not support a TSG role for APAF1, but defects in other components of the apoptotic pathway that may be related to 12q22 deletion cannot be ruled out. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 28:258–268, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Author(s): Sun, Zeyu | Advisor(s): Tan, Sheldon X.-D. | Abstract: Long-term reliability is a major concern in modern VLSI design. Literature has shown that reliability gets worse as technology advances. It is expected that the future VLSI systems would have shorter reliability-induced lifetime comparing with previous generations. Being one of the most serious reliability effects, electromigration (EM) is a physical phenomenon of the migration of metal atoms due to the momentum exchange between atoms and the conducting electrons. It can cause wire resistance change or open circuit and result in functional failure of the circuit. Power-ground networks are the most vulnerable part to EM effect among all the interconnect wires since the current flow on this part is the largest on the chip. With new generation oftechnology node and aggressive design strategies, more accurate and efficient EM models are required. However, traditional EM approaches are very conservative and cannot meet current aggressive design strategies. Besides circuit level, EM also need to be thoroughly studied in system level due to limited power and temperature budgets among cores on chip. This research focuses on developing physical level EM model for VLSI circuits and system level EM optimization for multi-core systems in order to overcome the aforementioned problems. Specifically, for physical level, we develop two EM immortality check methods and a power grid EM check method. Firstly, a voltage based EM immortality analysis has been developed. Immortality condition in nucleation phase can be determined fast and accurately for multi-segment interconnect wires. Secondly, a saturation volume based incubation phase immortality check method has been proposed. This method can further reduce the redundancy in VLSI circuit design by immortality check in multiphase. Furthermore, both immortality check methods are integrated into a new power grid EM check methodology (EMspice) as filter for EM analysis. These filters can accelerate the simulation by filtering out immortal trees so that we only need to do simulation on fewer trees that are mortal. Coupled EM simulation considering both hydrostatic stress and electronic current/voltage in the power grid network will be applied to these mortal trees. This tool can work seamlessly with commercial synthesis flow. Besides physical level reliability models, system level reliability optimization is also discussed in this research. A deep reinforcement learning based EM optimization has been proposed for multi-core system. Both long term reliability effect (hard error) and transient soft error are considered. Energy can be optimized with all the reliability and other constraints fast and accurately compared to existing reliability management techniques. Last but not least, a scheduling based reliability optimization method for multi-core systems has been proposed. NBTI, HCI and EM are considered jointly. Lifetime of the system can be improved significantly compared to traditional methods which mainly focus on utilization.


This literature review examines the current evidence regarding the potential usefulness of tight glycemic control in pediatric surgical patients. In adults, fluctuations in glucose levels and/or prolonged hyperglycemia have been shown to be associated with poor outcomes with respect to morbidity and mortality. This review begins by summarizing the findings of key papers in adult patients and continues by investigating whether or not similar results have been seen in pediatric patients by performing a comprehensive literature review using Medline (OVID). A database search using the OVID interface and including the search terms (exp glucose) AND (exp surgery) AND (exp Paediatric/pediatric) AND (exp Hypoglycaemia/hypoglycemia) AND (exp Hyperglycaemia/hyperglycemia) yielded a total of 150+ papers, of which 24 fulfilled our criteria. We isolated papers utilizing pediatric patients who were hospitalized due to illness and/or surgery. Our review highlights several difficulties encountered in addressing this potentially useful clinical intervention. An absence of scientifically robust and randomized trials and the existence of several small-powered trials yielding conflicting results mean we cannot recommend tight glycemic control in these patients. Differences in study design and disagreements concerning the crucial stage of surgery where hyperglycemia becomes important are compounded by an over-reliance on the discretion of clinicians in the absence of well described treatment protocols. Closer inspection of key papers in adult patients identified fundamental discrepancies between exact definitions of both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. This lack of consensus, along with a fear of inducing iatrogenic hypoglycemia in pediatric patients, has resulted in professional bodies advising against this form of intervention. In conclusion, we cannot recommend use of tight glycemic control in pediatric surgical patients due to unclear glucose definitions, unclear thresholds for treatment, and the unknown long-term effects of iatrogenic hypoglycemia on the developing body and brain.


Abstract Piketty (2014) combines neoclassical economic theory and Keynesianism with an appreciation of how economic patterns and processes are tied to concrete socio-historical circumstances, and exemplifies how economists should compute in their models the socio-cultural costs accompanying economic growth and development. Piketty's concern with trends in economic inequality, returns from capital, and economic growth, addresses issues is also consistent with Marx's critique of political economy. While Piketty deems Marx's theory overly simplistic, Piketty's contention that modern democratic nation-states should confront the problem of increasing economic inequality exaggerates governments' ability to regulate the economy today. Basic income is indicative both of the diminished capacity of states to promote social welfare via established policy strategies, and the heightened need to scrutinize the specific logic of capital in the twenty-first century. Recent reinterpretations of Marx affirm the need to resist orthodox, dogmatic and non-critical readings of his analysis of the inner workings of capitalism, and are consonant with the idea of basic income.


An investigation was conducted using a subscale solid rocket motor to measure the effect of nozzle residence time on the behavior of A120O particles to assess the applicability of subscale motor data to full-scale motors and to measure the effects of nozzle entrance particle size distribution on the slag accumulated with submerged nozzles. Although particles as large as 140 pun were present at the nozzle entrance, most of the particulate mass was contained in much smaller particles. This observation is in good agreement with the small mass that accumulated above the submerged nozzle. It was found that both particle breakup and collision coalescence occurred across the exhaust nozzle, with a significant increase in the mass fraction of small (<2 pm) particles. Increasing the nozzle residence time enhanced particle breakup but did not affect the maximum plume particle size. Thus, full-scale motors are expected to have a higher percentage of mass in particles less than 2 Um than subscale motors but with similar diameters of the largest particles. Accesicui Fe . I NTIS CRA&I h OtIC TAS 0 Utla n;iouicu d L. Justification 1BY ...... ..... ............... . NO-i',butiot. Availabilty C(les SAvail ai-4 'o0u wai


In this paper, an online adaptation algorithm for bipedal walking on uneven surfaces with height uncertainty is proposed. In order to generate walking patterns on flat terrains, the trajectories in the task space are planned to satisfy the dynamic balance and slippage avoidance constraints, and also to guarantee smooth landing of the swing foot. To ensure smooth landing of the swing foot on surfaces with height uncertainty, the preplanned trajectories in the task space should be adapted. The proposed adaptation algorithm consists of two stages. In the first stage, once the swing foot reaches its maximum height, the supervisory control is initiated until the touch is detected. After the detection, the trajectories in the task space are modified to guarantee smooth landing. In the second stage, this modification is preserved during the Double Support Phase (DSP), and released in the next Single Support Phase (SSP). Effectiveness of the proposed online adaptation algorithm is experimentally verified through realization of the walking patterns on the SURENA III humanoid robot, designed and fabricated at CAST. The walking is tested on a surface with various flat obstacles, where the swing foot is prone to either land on the ground soon or late.


Loneliness in later life remains a serious problem despite extensive research across the life span. Unfortunately, most studies of loneliness that include older adults focus on individuals who are already lonely; findings suggest interventions dependent upon external factors such as socialization and functional status. Such interventions are not always feasible for older adults, who may have experienced social and functional losses. Nurses must adopt a new perspective in examining loneliness in later life. This new perspective should include a more positive approach that focuses on older adults who are not lonely even though they may have experienced decreased socialization or physical function. Identification of strategies employed by these older individuals may be used to help many elders avoid loneliness and help others cope with the related losses so frequent in later life.


After the Second World War, the question of the religious character of Germanic kingship was no longer prominent - not least because previously excessively hybrid views had been developed on the existence of a Germanic religious kingship. Now that in the meantime important insights have been gained into the practical exercise of power in the early kingdoms, it is time to enquire again into their ideological and religious foundations. The multiple perspectives developed in these papers lead to new insights, which differ distinctly from earlier understandings of the early kingdoms. Above all, weight is added to the doubts about the existence of Germanic religious kingship.


The re-analysis of mtDNA sequence data on sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in the north-east Atlantic revealed the presence of a 'slippage error' in the alignment of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences. This induced an overestimation of the genetic variability within this species, and hence the inference of a striking multi-clade partitioning of D. labrax populations within this area. After correction, the existence of highly distinct D. labrax haplogroups in Atlantic areas does not hold anymore, but the robust dichotomy between a single Mediterranean and a single Atlantic subgroup is confirmed. Here we present the new results related to the amended mtDNA control region alignment, and also summarize the key message in relation to the microsatellite data, which are unaffected by this revision. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 106, 455–458.


SUMMARY 1. Oligotrophic softwater lakes represent a special type of aquatic ecosystem with unique plant communities where generalisations from other aquatic plant communities to rising CO2 in the water column may not apply. 2. In the present study, we set up large in situ mesocosms and supporting laboratory experiments with isoetid vegetation (Littorella uniflora) where water column CO2 and light could be manipulated in order to test whether (i) light and CO2 availability affect nutrient concentrations in isoetid vegetation, and (ii) if changes in light and CO2 climate affect fluxes of inorganic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from sediment to water column, which potentially could result in increased growth of epiphytic algae. 3. The results showed that the standing stocks of phosphorus and nitrogen in the L. uniflora vegetation were significantly influenced by CO2 concentration and light intensity. Both standing stocks of P and N were significantly higher in the mesocosm treatments with high CO2 concentration than in those at low CO2 concentration. Similarly, standing stocks of P and N enhanced with increasing light intensity. 4. Measurements of nutrient fluxes both in the field and the laboratory did not show any significant release of nutrients to the water column from plants or sediments at any of the light or CO2 treatments. However, mats of epiphytic algae developed from the beginning of June to late September and caused a light reduction for the isoetid vegetation. 5. Increasing CO2 concentrations in the water column may over time potentially result in a change in soft water plant communities.


Abstract Objectives: To investigate the airflow characteristics of respiratory isolation rooms (IRs) and to evaluate the use of visible smoke as a monitoring tool. Methods: Industrial hygienists from the New York State Department of Health evaluated 140 designated IRs in 38 facilities within New York State during 1992 to 1998. The rooms were located in the following settings: hospitals (59%), correctional facilities (40%), and nursing homes (1%). Each room was tested with visible smoke for directional airflow into the patient room (ie, negative air pressure relative to adjacent areas). Information was obtained on each facility's policies and procedures for maintaining and monitoring the operation of the IRs. Results: Inappropriate outward airflow was observed in 38% of the IRs tested. Multiple factors were associated with outward airflow direction, including ventilation systems not balanced (54% of failed rooms), shared anterooms (14%), turbulent airflow patterns (11%), and automated control system inaccuracies (10%). Of the 140 tested rooms, 38 (27%) had either electrical or mechanical devices to monitor air pressurization continuously. The direction of airflow at the door to 50% (19/38) of these rooms was the opposite of that indicated by the continuous monitors at the time of our evaluations. The inability of continuous monitors to indicate the direction of airflow was associated with instrument limitations (74%) and malfunction of the devices (26%). In one facility, daily smoke testing by infection control staff was responsible for identifying the malfunction of a state-of-the-art computerized ventilation monitoring and control system in a room housing a patient infectious with drug-resistant tuberculosis. Conclusion: A substantial percentage of IRs did not meet the negative air pressure criterion. These failures were associated with a variety of characteristics in the design and operation of the IRs. Our findings indicate that a balanced ventilation system does not guarantee inward airflow direction. Devices that continuously monitor and, in some cases, control the pressurization of IRs had poor reliability. This study demonstrates the utility of using visible smoke for testing directional airflow of IRs, whether or not continuous monitors are used. Institutional tuberculosis control programs should include provisions for appropriate monitoring and maintenance of IR systems on a frequent basis, including the use of visible smoke.


The seasonal changes of leaf physiological traits and its relationship with abiotic factors (photosynthetic active radiation-PAR, leaf temperature-Tleaf, air temperature-Tair, Tleaf - Tair- ∆T) were studied on sugar beets grown under the semi-arid conditions of central Greece. Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cv Rizor was established in a Randomised Complete Block design experiment for two years (2004-2005). From early June till the end of October, 11 determinations of leaf physiological traits (intracellular to ambient CO2 concentration-ci, transpiration rate-E, stomatal conductance-gs, net photosynthesis-A, instantaneous water use efficiency-A/E, photosynthetic water use efficiency-A/gs, chlorophyll content-SPAD, carbon isotope discrimination- ∆, N concentration and specific leaf areaSLA) took place. Temperatutes (Tleaf and Tair) and ∆T were higher in 2004 when water budget (WB, precipitation + irrigation – evapotranspiration) was more negative. Also, seasonal mean of carbon isotope discrimination (∆) and net photosynthesis (A) were lower in 2004 to compare to 2005. A gradual decline with the progress of the growing season was found for A, ∆, gs, E, SLA and leaf N concentration while the adverse trend was evident for water use efficiencies (WUE, A/E and A/gs). PAR was positively related with gs and E and negatively with A/E. Temperatures (Tair and Tleaf) had a positive effect on E and a negative one on A/E. High temperatures (35-37 oC) degraded leaf chlorophyll but temperatures higher than 37 oC tended to increase chlorophyll content. ∆T (transpirational cooling) was negatively related with gs, E, and A and positively with A/E and A/gs. Both E and A were regulated by gs which was kept higher or slightly lower than 0.10 mol m -2 s -1 , a limit indicative of severe drought in C3 species. Positive relationships were found between A, leaf N concentration and SLA. SLA is an indicator of resource-use strategy and can provide useful information about abiotic factor effects on sugar beet physiology and yield. ∆ was negatively related with A/gs showing that it can be an indirect assessment of WUE at leaf level.


It is a general opinion that applicative cooperation represents a useful vehicle for the development of e-government. At the architectural level, solutions for applicative cooperation are quite stable, but organizational and methodological problems prevent the expected and needed development of cooperation among different administrations. Moreover, the introduction of the digital government requires a considerable involvement of resources that can be unsustainable for small public administrations. This work shows how the above mentioned problems can be (partially) solved with the introduction of a Shared Services Center (SSC).


Electrical conductivity measurements of pyronine G(Y) were performed as a function of both temperature (303-443 K) and frequency (50 Hz-550 kHz). The frequency dependence of ac conductivity is well represented by the form ω8. The values of exponent, (s) decrease from 0.98 at 303 K to 0.67 at 403 K. The temperature dependence of both ac electrical conductivity and the exponent (s) reveals that the ac conduction is due to the correlated barrier hopping (CBH). The dielectric constant, e1 (ω) and dialectic loss, e2(ω), have been determined for bulk pyronine G(Y). Both e1(ω) and e2(ω) decrease by increasing frequency and increase by increasing temperature.


Background A high prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis is observed in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Various risk factors of bone loss have been suggested in IBD. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of low bone mineral density (BMD) and to identify related risk factors in Greek patients with IBD. Methods One hundred and eighteen consecutive IBD patients were included. All patients underwent bone densitometry by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry at the femoral neck and lumbar spine levels. Serum levels of 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25 OH D), 1.25 dihydroxyvitamin D (1.25 OH 2D), osteocalcin, calcitonin and homocysteine were measured in all participants. Results Forty (33.9%) patients were normal, 55 (46.6%) were osteopenic, and 23 (19.5%) were osteoporotic. No significant differences between IBD patients with osteopenia or osteoporosis and those with normal BMD concerning the use of steroids and the examined biochemical markers were found. Statistically significant differences among the three groups were found for body mass index (BMI), age and disease duration (P=0.002, P<0.0001 and P=0.03 respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that the most significant factors associated with BMD were age and BMI (P<0.0001). A weak but statistically significant correlation was also found for disease duration (P=0.04). Conclusions There is a high prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis in Greek patients with IBD. Low BMI, age and disease duration are the most important independent risk factors for osteoporosis in Greek IBD patients.


We focus on the investigation of the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of N2 (A3Σu+, ν = 0) in a very early afterglow of a pulsed dc nitrogen discharge. The results indicate that a fast quenching process of N2 (A3Σu+, ν = 0) exists in the very early afterglow. We study the dependence of this fast quenching process on the discharge pressure 20–40 torr. It seems that this fast quenching behavior of N2 (A3Σu+, ν = 0) found in our experiment can be ascribed to the combined action of pooling reaction and collisions with N atoms through N2 (A3Σu+)+N2 (A3Σu+) → N*2+N2(N*2=N2(B3Πg, C3Πu, C'3Πu, C''5Πu)) and N2(A3Σu+)+N(4S)→N(2P)+N2, respectively. Meanwhile, the decay studies of N2(A3Σu+, ν = 0) near the anode and cathode infer that the production of N(4S) atoms does not distribute uniformly along the axis of the discharge gap at relatively low pressure, and this effect becomes gradually inconspicuous with the increasing discharge pressure.


A 54-year-old woman was incidentally noted to have hypercalcemia on routine testing. She feels well and reports no concerns. She underwent total thyroidectomy 15 years earlier for papillary thyroid cancer and is taking levothyroxine suppression therapy without evidence of recurrence. Serum calcium levels before her thyroidectomy were normal. She has well-controlled hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Her other medications include losartan, atorvastatin, and ezetimibe. She has no history of low trauma fractures (occurring from falls at standing height or less) or nephrolithiasis. She has no family history of hypercalcemia. Physical examination demonstrated no palpable thyroid tissue. Her laboratory values are reported in the Table.

Table

Patient's Laboratory Test Results


Objective

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common cancer with high mortality. Anillin (ANLN) has been identified as an actin-binding protein highly expressed in multiple cancers. However, the expression pattern and functional effects of ANLN in HNSCC remains to be unclear.
Methods

ANLN alternative splicing was assessed in HNSCC tissues and cell lines. We investigated the functional effects and related mechanisms of ANLN alternative splicing in HNSCC in vitro and in vivo.
Results

Our results showed that two ANLN alternative RNA splicing ANLN-201 and ANLN-210 were highly expressed in HNSCC tissues and cell lines. Knockout of ANLN led to inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of SCC-9 cells. ANLN-201 mainly binded to Myc and thus played a role in promoting cell proliferation, migration and invasion of SCC-9. ANLN-210 was found to bind mainly to HNRNPC and secreting into the environment in the form of exosomes. Exosomal ANLN-210 promotes macrophage polarization via PTEN/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, which in turn facilitated HNSCC tumor growth.
Conclusions

Variable alternative splicing of ANLN synergistically contribute to the progression of head-neck squamous cell carcinoma, which might offer new perspectives of HNSCC for treatment strategies.


In the era of industry 4.0 businesses are pursuing applications of technological developments towards increased digitization. This in turn necessitates continuous and increasing demand for competence development of professionals. This paper reports a study of the design of university courses targeted towards professionals and investigate how such an educational incentive can act as a catalyst for application of technologies for industry 4.0, including simulation. Quantitative data is collected from fifteen courses addressing the competence need in manufacturing industry, and the qualitative data includes ten focus groups with course participants from companies. The results highlight that the course design enables knowledge exchange between university and industry and between participants. Moreover the pedagogy of working on real cases can facilitate opportunities for introducing new technologies to management. The study shows that the educational incentive explored can act as a catalyst for application of simulation and technologies within industry 4.0 in manufacturing industry.


AIMS
To assess the differential clinical and angiographic characteristics of patients with severe mitral regurgitation related (n = 31) or unrelated (n = 16) to papillary muscle rupture complicating acute myocardial infarction.

METHODS AND RESULTS
The clinical and angiographic features of patients with myocardial infarction and severe mitral regurgitation were evaluated. Patients with papillary muscle rupture were older (67 vs 60 years, P < 0.005) and had a lower rate of diabetes (7% vs 38%, P < 0.005) and of previous angina or infarction (24% vs 50%, P < 0.05). Frequency of inferior infarction was high and comparable in both groups (papillary muscle rupture, 72% vs non-papillary muscle rupture, 88%, ns) whereas in-hospital rate of angina/infarct extension prior to mitral regurgitation, also high, tended to be higher in patients without than in those with papillary muscle rupture (67% vs 39%, ns). Incidence of multivessel disease tended to be higher in patients without papillary muscle rupture (87% vs 56%, P < 0.06) and they had a lower ejection fraction (46 +/- 15 vs 61 +/- 14%, P < 0.03), whereas the culprit artery was mainly the right or the circumflex coronary artery in both groups (papillary muscle rupture, 100% vs non papillary muscle rupture, 93%, ns). Valve replacement was performed earlier in patients with papillary muscle rupture (1 (1; 14) vs 25 (5; 45) days, median, P < 0.002) but was associated with a similar mortality (papillary muscle rupture 11/24, 46% vs non-papillary muscle rupture, 7/15, 47%, ns). The main cause of death was cardiogenic shock in patients without papillary muscle rupture (5/7, 71%), and respiratory insufficiency--sepsis in those with papillary muscle rupture (7/11, 64%).

CONCLUSIONS
Severe mitral regurgitation in myocardial infarction with or without papillary muscle rupture is mostly related to inferior infarction and often follows reinfarction, particularly in non-papillary muscle rupture cases. The main contributors to surgical mortality appear to be respiratory insufficiency in patients with papillary muscle rupture and cardiogenic shock, facilitated by a lower ejection fraction, a higher frequency of diabetes and more extensive coronary disease, in patients without papillary muscle rupture.


The challenge of high rate of poverty and how to address it continues to be the most persistent discuss in international development debates. In the heart of most academic researchers and policy makers are question on what makes sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) the poorest region in the world and what can be done to rescue the populace from the vicious cycle of poverty. This study examined the effect of access to finance and poverty level in SSA. Secondary data on household per capita consumption, number of commercial bank branches per one hundred thousand adults, number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per one hundred thousand adults, number of depositors per one thousand adults, number of borrowers from commercial banks per one thousand adults, per capita income, percentage of dependants over the active working population, trade openness, real interest rate, government expenditure as well as GINI index covering 2004-2018 were sourced from the World Development Indicators (WDI) of the World Bank (2019) and Global Financial Development (2019). Data collected were analysed using econometric method of Panel Ordinary Least Squares. The study found that number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults, number of ATMs per 100,000 adults and the number of depositors account per 1000 adults had positive and significant impact on poverty level (household final per capita consumption-expenditure). Whereas, borrowers from banks per 1000 adults had positive but insignificant impact on poverty level. The study concluded that overall access to finance positively impacted the level of poverty in SSA. Hence, access to finance can be used as tool for improving the welfare of the people and in turn reduce the rate of poverty in SSA.


This research gives empirically grounded insights into e-business adoption in conjunction with factors usually considered in SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis in Austrian micro and small to medium sized software enterprises. The study evaluates the degree in which the Internet is used in supporting the firm's primary activities in marketing and sales based on primary data collected from 141 Austrian software firms. The results show that internet usage in this area is dependent on the size of the company. While almost all small to medium sized enterprises apply e-business to some degree, many micro enterprises do not seek to utilise possible potentials. The study reveals that firms perceiving their relative strengths on branding, pricing, product diversity, internationalisation, and access to new technologies have adopted more advanced e-business support. From the external perspective, organisations more intensively relying on e-business tend to experience less competitive pressure, have lower capital resources, and consider international markets more often as business opportunities than their competitors.


For half a century, inappropriate terms have been used to describe the various parts of the heart in a clinical context. Does the cardiological community have the fortitude to correct these mistakes?

It is an undeniable fact that cardiac components are not always described according to the position they occupy within the body. This situation was initially drawn to our attention by Francisco Cosio. Thanks to his efforts, an attitudinally correct nomenclature was proposed to account for those features known to be of particular interest to those dealing with abnormal cardiac rhythms.1 The problem, however, is not confined to the electrophysiology laboratory. In this review, we will highlight other areas in which, currently, cardiac structures are not described appropriately with regard to the rest of the thoracic coordinates.

Thus, it is an accepted fact that all structures within the body are best described following the convention of the anatomical position (fig 1). Irrespective of the posture, or the location of the body, the subject is considered to be standing upright and facing the observer. Coordinates are then derived according to the three orthogonal planes. Orthogonal planes are at right angles to each other. For the body, two of these planes are in the long axis, while the third plane is transverse and in the short axis. The two planes in the long axis run from front to back, the sagittal plane, and from side to side, the coronal plane. Structures lying within different parts of the sagittal plane are then said to be anterior or posterior relative to each other, according to whether they are to the front or to the back of the body. Within the coronal, or frontal, plane, structures are described as being to the right or the left. Alternatively, within the frontal plane, structures can …


The lumped parameter approach based on equations describing of the physical behavior of the system still represents one of the most convenient way to simulate hydraulic control systems. The key advantages of this approach are given by its intrinsic simulation swiftness as well as the ease of deriving state space formulations for controller design purposes. However, the common limitation of lumped parameter models is the high level of simplification of for certain physical aspects. For the case of hydraulic control valves with complex geometry, the flow forces are usually one of the most difficult aspects to describe accurately.
 The present paper presents a lumped parameter model for counterbalance valves, which includes an accurate analytical approach to model the effect of the flow forces based acting on the valve poppet and piston. The model is based on a classic control volume scheme for the description of the flow through the valve, and it is coupled with a dynamic model for the descriptions of the motion of the moving parts inside the valve. The novelty of the proposed approach consists on the analytical description of the flow forces, which is based on fluid momentum considerations.
 After describing the modeling approach, the paper details the authors' efforts for experimentally validate the model on the basis of tests performed on actual components. The comparison between simulation results and experimental data confirms the validity of the proposed model and also highlights the importance of accounting for flow forces while describing the operation of counterbalance valves, particularly for cases of high flow rates.


This study analyzed the geographic distribution of nurse practitioners in the United States. Primary data on nurse practitioners were obtained from State Boards of Nursing and the District of Columbia in the spring of 1994. At the state level, nurse practitioners were more concentrated in urban areas than their physician counterparts. Of the 33,094 certified nurse practitioners, 85% were in metropolitan areas. Results from the dissimilarity indices between nurse practitioners and general populations showed that a greater supply of nurse practitioners in a state may not necessarily lead to an equitable distribution across counties. At both the state and county levels, the supply of nurse practitioners was positively associated with the supply of primary care physicians. Results from multivariate analyses show that nurse practitioners were more likely to locate in a county where state laws allowed independent practice. States that allow independent practice and direct third-party reimbursement will likely have greater availability and a larger supply of nurse practitioners in rural counties. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


Eurocentrism is the idea that European culture, beliefs, and practices are superior to other cultures' attributes; it may be manifested in American culture. The purpose of this study was to determine if selected U.S. students had Eurocentric attitudes about North American/European agriculture. A stratified random sample of college undergraduates completed an online questionnaire measuring their attitudes on 16 Eurocentric propositions regarding North American/European agriculture. Students had Eurocentric attitudes about agriculture, agreeing with 14 of the 16 Eurocentric propositions. Significant differences existed when analyzed by race and college. The U.S. agricultural industry, academia, and government want employees with workforce-ready intercultural skills.


Author(s): Tajon, Cheryl | Advisor(s): Craik, Charles S | Abstract: Caspases execute programmed cell death, where low levels of caspase activity are linked to cancer. Chemotherapies utilize induction of apoptosis as a key mechanism for cancer treatment, where caspase-3 is a major player involved in dismantling these aberrant cells. The ability to sensitively measure the initial caspase-3 cleavage events during apoptosis is important for understanding the initiation of this complex cellular process, however, current ensemble methods are not sensitive enough to measure single cleavage events in cells. By utilizing the optical properties of plasmon coupling, peptide-linked gold nanoparticles were developed to enable single molecule imaging of caspase-3 activity in two different cancer systems. Au crown nanoparticles were assembled in a multimeric fashion to overcome the high and heterogeneous background scattering of live cells. In a colon cancer (SW620) cell line challenged with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), single molecule trajectories show early stage caspase-3 activation within minutes, which was not detectable by ensemble assays until 23 hours. Variability in caspase-3 activation among the population of cells was identified and likely a result of each cell's specific resistance to death receptor-induced apoptosis. Following these studies, improvements by way of sensitivity and selectivity were tailored into an improved nanosensor construct. Au nanoshell dimers were prepared as a comparably bright construct with 1) reduced heterogeneity compared to the synthesis of the crown nanoparticles and 2) a peptide sequence highly selective for caspase-3. Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) K562 cells were assessed for their early apoptotic response upon treatment with dasatinib, a clinically approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor that specifically targets BCR-ABL. It has been demonstrated that inhibition of BCR-ABL by dasatinib commits K562 cells to apoptosis. Single molecule experiments with Au nanoshell dimers show caspase-3 activation as early as 8 hours than previously reported. This suggests an early commitment to apoptosis that precedes the competing fate of growth factor mediated survival in CML patient-derived BCR-ABL cells. These nanosensors are sensitive and selective in observing caspase-3 activation compared to ensemble methods; and allow the possibility to detect caspase-3 activity for use as a drug screening or diagnostic tool for personalized care in the treatment of cancer.


College students are facing challenges to present their ideas by writing a paper because they rely more on information from computer and web. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel computer aided assessment system, to assess college students' writing ability. The CAAS system comprises of an expert team, a set of achievement standard for assessment, and software systems to conduct data analysis and store related information. It has been used by institute in U.S. It yields face validity and consistency reliability. Objective evaluation results will be provided by randomly-assigned multiple reviewers. CAAS can help students to improve writing skills, can provide a big picture and detailed information for both school administrators and policy makers.


In this paper we present AnIta, a powerful morphological analyser for Italian implemented within the framework of finite-state-automata models. It is provided by a large lexicon containing more than 110,000 lemmas that enable it to cover relevant portions of Italian texts. We describe our design choices for the management of inflectional phenomena as well as some interesting new features to explicitly handle derivational and compositional processes in Italian, namely the wordform segmentation structure and Derivation Graph. Two different evaluation experiments, for testing coverage (Recall) and Precision, are described in detail, comparing the AnIta performances with some other freely available tools to handle Italian morphology. The experiments results show that the AnIta Morphological Analyser obtains the best performances among the tested systems, with Recall = 97.21% and Precision = 98.71%. This tool was a fundamental building block for designing a performant PoS-tagger and Lemmatiser for the Italian language that participated to two EVALITA evaluation campaigns ranking, in both cases, together with the best performing systems.


This paper examines the effects of tax cuts in a multi-country world where both labour supply and capital formation are endogenous and taxes are distortionary. We highlight four channels through which tax cuts affect interest rates and the economy in general: (i) an increase in the supply of government debt; (ii) increased tax revenues, through increased economic activity; (iii) increased savings, through an increase in the post-tax return on savings; (iv) increased investment, through an increase in the marginal product of capital. The increase in the marginal product of capital may be related to the tax change either directly, in the case of capital taxation, or indirectly, through changes in future factor prices triggered by the tax changes. The indirect channel is important in the case of labour taxes. Tax cuts do not necessarily lead to a rise in interest rates in either the short or the long term. Welfare both at home and abroad may either increase or decrease as a result of the tax cuts; no general statement can be made without explicitly identifying which distortionary taxes are being changed. Even then ambiguities can arise, but we are able, in our analysis of adjustment dynamics, to trace the response of the term structure of real interest rates to the tax reform in different cases.


A 33-year-old, homozygous beta-thalassaemic, Jehovah witness man presented with subacute spinal cord compression secondary to extramedullary haematopoiesis within the thoracic spinal canal. In this case, MRI showed characteristic features of extramedullary haematopoiesis, leading to an early diagnosis.


Physicochemical and ecological attributes of ecosystems (i.e., environmental context) can modify the exposure and effects of metals, which presents a challenge for ecosystem management. Furthermore, the functional and structural attributes of an ecosystem may not respond equally to metals or be uniformly responsive to environmental context. We explored how physicochemical and ecological context modified sediment metal dose-response for a suite of functional and structural measures. Two sediments with high (HB) and low (LB) acid volatile sulfide and organic carbon content (i.e., physicochemical context) were amended with copper and nickel to establish a gradient of treatments from non-toxic to potentially toxic. Sediments were deployed in each of two streams (i.e., ecological context), incubated for four weeks, and measured for sediment microbe, biofilm, and macroinvertebrate dose-response to metal. The dose-response of microbial function was affected by physicochemical context, with cotton decomposition negatively related to sediment metal only on LB sediments. The abundance of invertebrates from the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) responded negatively to sediment metal only on LB sediments; however, this dose-response was only observed in one stream, likely because of greater abundance of sensitive EPT taxa (i.e., Baetidae and Ephemerellidae). Biofilm structure was negatively affected by sediment metal in only one stream and there was no difference in dose-response between the two sediment types. Biofilm function was affected by sediment type and stream; production by biofilms exposed to HB sediment was negatively related to sediment metal in only one stream. In all, the majority of our endpoints exhibited responses that were modified by environmental context; however, each component of the ecosystem exhibited unique context dependency. For management of sediment metals, an understanding of context dependency is useful for informed decision-making, but the application of simple contextual filters are unlikely to protect all elements of an ecosystem.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the effect of miR-1307-5p which specifically inhibits transforming growth factor beta-induced gene (TGFBI) on the biologic behavior of osteoarthritis (OA) chondrocytes.

METHODS
We detected miR-1307-5p and TGFBI expression in the cartilage tissue specimens of OA patients and mice, respectively. RNA22 was applied to predict the target gene of miR-1307-5p, and we further verified the relationship by performing a dual luciferase reporter experiment. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the expression of matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor-1 (TIMP-1), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the culture medium of mouse chondrocytes. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blot were used to measure the expression of Bax and Bcl-2. MTT method was applied to detect the proliferation activity of chondrocytes, while flow cytometry was implemented to detect the apoptosis of chondrocytes.

RESULTS
The expression of miR-1307-5p in cartilage tissue specimens of OA patients was up-regulated, while TGFBI expression was down-regulated. Compared with normal mice cartilage tissue specimens, the expression of miR-1307-5p in cartilage tissue specimens of OA mouse was increased, while TGFBI expression was decreased (both P<0.05). The results of the dual luciferase reporter experiment showed that TGFBI was a target gene of miR-1307-5p. In cell experiments, compared with the normal group, TIMP-1 and Bcl-2 expression, and cell proliferation activities in all model groups were decreased. IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, Bax expression, and cell apoptosis rates were increased (all P<0.05). Compared with the blank group, TIMP-1 and Bcl-2 expression, and cell proliferation activities in the miR-1307-5p inhibitor group and the TGFBI group were increased, while IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and Bax expression, and cell apoptosis rates were decreased (all P<0.05). The changes in all indicators in the miR-1307-5p mimic group were opposite to those of the miR-1307-5p inhibitor group (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences concerning all indicators between the blank group and the NC group, and between the blank group and the miR-1307-5p mimic + TGFBI group (all P>0.05).

CONCLUSION
The suppression of miR-1307-5p expression can increase TGFBI expression, promoting the proliferation of chondrocytes in OA mice, while inhibiting their apoptosis.