Although over 60 loci for type 2 diabetes (T2D) have been identified, there still remains a large genetic component to be clarified. To explore unidentified loci for T2D, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 6 209 637 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which were directly genotyped or imputed using East Asian references from the 1000 Genomes Project (June 2011 release) in 5976 Japanese patients with T2D and 20 829 nondiabetic individuals. Nineteen unreported loci were selected and taken forward to follow-up analyses. Combined discovery and follow-up analyses (30 392 cases and 34 814 controls) identified three new loci with genome-wide significance, which were MIR129-LEP [rs791595; risk allele = A; risk allele frequency (RAF) = 0.080; P = 2.55 × 10(-13); odds ratio (OR) = 1.17], GPSM1 [rs11787792; risk allele = A; RAF = 0.874; P = 1.74 × 10(-10); OR = 1.15] and SLC16A13 (rs312457; risk allele = G; RAF = 0.078; P = 7.69 × 10(-13); OR = 1.20). This study demonstrates that GWASs based on the imputation of genotypes using modern reference haplotypes such as that from the 1000 Genomes Project data can assist in identification of new loci for common diseases.


Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive lymphoma, with 40% of patients relapsing or refractory to the conventional chemotherapy treatment, usually with fatal consequences. Therefore, more targeted therapies are needed. DLBCL are characterized by profound alterations in the epigenome (histone modifications and DNA methylation) that are correlated with poor survival. While epigenetic drugs are used as anti-cancer treatments, their full potential has not been achieved. One limitation for the implementation of epigenetic-based therapies in the clinic has been its use as single agents; therefore, we explored new combinatorial therapies with the goal to increase efficacy. Our previous studies showed that lymphoma epigenetic programming involves repression of BCL6 target genes. This BCL6-mediated gene silencing in DLBCL is driven by 1) reduced H3K27 acetylation through recruitment of histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) and 2) reduced 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). We thus tested a therapy consisting of the hypomethylating agent 5-azacytidine (5-Aza) and a specific HDAC3 inhibitor (HDAC3i). DLBCL cell line MD901 was treated with 200nM 5-Aza or vehicle daily for 5 days, with 10uM HDAC3i or vehicle added at days 3 and 5. Analysis at day 8 showed that whereas single agent did not induce cell death based on propidium iodide (PI) staining (vehicle=13.5%, 5-Aza=18%, HDAC3i=14.8% PI+ cells), the combination induced significantly higher cell death (5-Aza+HDAC3i=43.6% PI+ cells). We observed similar increased efficacy of 5-Aza+HDAC3i in OCI-Ly7 and SUDHL-4 cells. We also demonstrated that 5-Aza+HDAC3i acted synergistically in MD901, OCI-Ly7 and SUDHL-4 (combination index (CI)<1), with a dose-reduction index (DRI)=3.1 for 5-Aza and DRI=2.6 for HDAC3i to achieve 50% cell death in MD901; similar results were obtained in the other cell lines tested. We established xenografts -transplanting lymphoma cells in NSG mice through intraperitoneal injection- to test the efficacy of the combinatorial therapy in vivo. Mice engrafted with OCI-Ly7 cells received daily treatment with 1mg/kg 5-Aza or vehicle for 1 week, and were also treated with 25mg/kg HDAC3i or vehicle for other 3 weeks. 80% mice treated with 5-Aza+HDAC3i survived after 150 days, compared to 50% mice treated with HDAC3i alone; 5-Aza did not induce survival advantage compared to vehicle-treated mice. At the molecular level, we found that 5-Aza as single agent reduced global 5hmC levels compared to vehicle-treated cells; interestingly, this was also observed when cells were treated with HDAC3i alone. Intriguingly, the level of 5hmC when combining 5-Aza+HDAC3i was comparable to vehicle-treated cells. In summary, we demonstrate superior efficacy of 5-Aza in combination with HDAC3i in DLBCL. We are currently performing genome-wide assays to dissect the molecular mechanisms underpinning this synergistic anti-tumor activity. At the same time, we are generating xenograft models with primary DLBCL samples to confirm the potential of this new therapeutic approach to improve the outcomes of DLBCL patients.
 Citation Format: Pilar M Dominguez, Leonie A Cluse, Noura Tawfic, Peter J Fraser, Sophia Rutaquio, Rachel Lim, Giorgio Inghirami, Gareth Gregory, Michael Dickinson, Ari M Melnick, Ricky W Johnstone. A selective HDAC3 inhibitor synergizes with 5-azacytidine in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Third AACR International Meeting: Advances in Malignant Lymphoma: Maximizing the Basic-Translational Interface for Clinical Application; 2022 Jun 23-26; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Blood Cancer Discov 2022;3(5_Suppl):Abstract nr A29.


The feeding-deterrent activity of methanol extract from the brown alga Dictyopteris undulata that grows densely in the nursery grounds of the abalone Haliotis discus was tested on the abalone H. discus hannai by the cellulose plate bioassay method. Bioassay-guided isolation afforded five active sesquiterpene derivatives (zonarol, isozonarol, chromazonarol, zonarone, and isozonarone) from the neutral and acidic fractions of the methanol extract. It seems that D. undulata adopts to sublittoral zones where abalone are abundant by virtue of having feeding-deterrent sesquiterpenes.


Color Images captured under complex lighting conditions may suppress the visual cue information. In order to perform consistent analysis from the images they need to be enhanced in terms of brightness along with colors restored with minimal computational overhead. Transform domain image enhancement offers a superior visual brilliance. This paper presents Hirschman Optimal Transform (HOT) based enhancement of color images. The features of HOT are its basis kernel has more no. of zeros and has high frequency resolution. These features are exploited to achieve reduced computational complexity and enhanced image quality in terms of brightness, contrast & color. Further the proposed HOT based enhancement resulted in a better JPEG Quality Metric compared to conventional DCT based transform domain enhancement. The enhanced visual features of the subject images using HOT are found to be superior to the contemporary transform domain methods.


Drawing on a broad foundation in the history of nineteenth-century French art, Richard Shiff offers an innovative interpretation of Cezanne's painting. He shows how Cezanne's style met the emerging criteria of a "technique of originality" and how it satisfied critics sympathetic to symbolism as well as to impressionism. Expanding his study of the interaction of Cezanne and his critics, Shiff considers the problem of modern art in general. He locates the core of modernism in a dialectic of making (technique) and finding (originality). Ultimately, Shiff provides not only clarifying accounts of impressionism and symbolism but of a modern classicism as well."


Matroids are combinatorial objects that capture abstractly the essence of dependence. The Tutte polynomial, defined for matroids and graphs, has a numerous amount of information about these structures. In this thesis, we will introduce matroids, define them and give the most important properties they have. Then we will define the Tutte polynomial and give interesting results found in this area of research. After that we will start interpreting Tutte coefficients. First we will discuss about some specific Tutte coefficients and the relation between Tutte coefficients and parallel and series classes in a matroid. These relations were found recently for graphs, and we worked out in applying them for matroids and adding to the given results. Then we will discuss will be about a theorem linking matroid connectivity and the coefficient of x, where we have also our contribution in proving it using the activities. Finally, we will introduce Brylawski's equations. We will discuss the proof of two cases of this equation. The proof of the second equation in this section is a result of our work on this thesis.


With the increasing complexity and scale of industrial projects the need of comprehensive and trustworthy methods for planning and scheduling becomes more and more apparent. Being implemented in recent project management systems, the traditional methods aid in project scheduling based on activity durations, precedence relationships, explicit timing constraints, and resource limits all assumed by Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP). However, the methods have many shortcomings for the industrial projects where spatial factors play critically important role. The objective of this paper is to present an advanced Visual Scheduling Method (VSM) for solving Generally Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (GCPSP) that extends the classical RCPSP statement by taking into account additional spatial factors such as product element collisions, missing of supporting neighbouring elements, workspace congestion. In the paper we provide a holistic framework of the method as well as illustrate how feasible project schedules can be generated under complex spatio-temporal constraints in highly automatic and visually interpretable way. A software implementation of the method and its prospects for application in industrial practice are discussed too.


Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) migration to stromal cell-derived factor (SDF) -1 correlates with CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) expression and bone marrow homing. Activation of Sphingosine-1-Phophate (S1P) receptors (S1P 1–5 ) modulate chemokine induced migration of lymphocytes and HSC. S1P 1 partial activation and internalisation after binding of FTY720, a S1P analogue, leads to trapping of lymphocytes in lymphoid tissue. To analyze the influence of S1P 1 on SDF-1 dependent migration in HSC we cloned S1P 1 cDNA into an oncoretroviral vector containing an EMCV-IRES GFP reporter gene (MFGS-S1P 1 -IRES-EGFP). Transduction of mobilized peripheral blood CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (PBSC) and Jurkat cells with MFGS-S1P 1 -IRES-EGFP derived virus particles resulted in transgene overexpression in more than 95% of target cells. A significantly higher amount of S1P 1 transgene positive PBSCs acquired an adherent phenotype compared to GFP control-transduced cells. Flow cytometric analyses revealed a 3 fold downregulation of CXCR4 expression on S1P 1 overexpressing PBSCs and Jurkat cells. SDF-1 dependent migration of S1P 1 overexpressing PBSCs or Jurkat-cells in transwell assays was inhibited by more than 90% compared to control transduced cells. In contrast retrovirus mediated overexpression of S1P 2 or S1P 3 in Jurkat cells did not show a significant influence on SDF-1/CXCR4 dependent migration. SDF-1 dependent ERK1/2 phosphorylation was abolished in S1P 1 overexpressing PBSCs, suggesting that Gi-protein signaling pathways are involved in the inhibition of migration. Sublethally irradiated NOD/SCID mice were transplanted with ex vivo cultured 6 day old PBSC which were either transduced with MFGS-S1P 1 -IRES-EGFP to 95% or with MFGS-EGFP to 85%. Screening for GFP positive human cells in the mouse bone marrow 18 hours after transplantation revealed a 5 to 10 fold reduction (p 1 -IRES-EGFP transduced cells compared to MFGS-EGFP control transduced cells. Our data suggest that high levels of S1P 1 act as a downregulator of CXCR4 expression and as a strong inhibitor of CXCR4 dependent migration in HSCs.


SYMPATHECTOMY for hypertension remains a controversial subject. Lack of uniformity in case selection, modification of standard operative procedures and variations in methods for analysis of results are factors which have contributed to the confusion existing in the field. Successful case selection has been a most difficult problem. This report is based on an analysis of the results of sympathectomy on the blood pressure in 52 patients who were selected for operative intervention according to reported criteria 1 from a total of 210 hypertensive patients available for study and surgical consultation. These patients have been followed for a period of one to three years postoperatively. The analysis is primarily concerned with the blood pressure responses, although it is conceded that other factors beside high blood pressure are of great importance in hypertensive vascular disease. METHOD OF CASE SELECTION A total of 210 hypertensive patients were referred for complete hypertensive study and


Eighty Holstein cows (first, second, or third lactation) were used to evaluate the efficacy of a prolonged-release formulation for sometribove (n-methionyl bovine somatotropin). Cows were fed ad libitum a complete mixed diet and milked twice daily. Cows were allocated randomly by parity to two treatment groups receiving 500 mg sometribove in a prolonged release formulation or excipient at 14-d intervals starting at 60 +/- 3 d postpartum and continuing for 36 wk. Treatment with sometribove increased FCM yield to a similar extent (11.4%, +3.1 kg/d) in primiparous and multiparous animals. Milk content of lactose, fat, ash, and Ca was not affected, but protein and phosphorous were slightly greater (less than 5%) in milk from sometribove-treated cows. Within a 14-d injection interval, animals treated with sometribove displayed a cyclic pattern in milk yield, but a similar pattern was not evident in feed intake.


This study assesses the capability of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) decadal hindcasts to represent Sahel rainfall and a relative sea surface temperature (SST) index (RSI). The RSI measures the relative difference between subtropical North Atlantic SST and tropical SST and is highly correlated with Sahel rainfall. Ten year predictions from 15 models initialized every 5 years (six initialized every year) beginning in 1960 are evaluated. The hindcasts show increased decadal variability compared to the uninitialized historical simulations, with a larger magnitude drought and smaller RSI in the 1970s and 1980s. The multimodel ensemble mean shows skillful predictions that are more accurate than persistence and historical simulations. Models that were able to realistically simulate the correlation between the RSI and Sahel rainfall in uninitialized historical simulations produced more skillful decadal hindcasts of Sahel rainfall as these models were able to successfully translate the SST that was improved through initialization to more skillful Sahel rainfall predictions.


We investigate the problem of speaker independent acoustic-to-articulatory inversion (AAI) in noisy conditions within the deep neural network (DNN) framework. In contrast with recent results in the literature, we argue that a DNN vector-to-vector regression front-end for speech enhancement (DNN-SE) can play a key role in AAI when used to enhance spectral features prior to AAI back-end processing. We experimented with single- and multi-task training strategies for the DNN-SE block finding the latter to be beneficial to AAI. Furthermore, we show that coupling DNN-SE producing enhanced speech features with an AAI trained on clean speech outperforms a multi-condition AAI (AAI-MC) when tested on noisy speech. We observe a 15% relative improvement in the Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC) between our system and AAI-MC at 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio on the Haskins corpus. Our approach also compares favourably against using a conventional DSP approach to speech enhancement (MMSE with IMCRA) in the front-end. Finally, we demonstrate the utility of articulatory inversion in a downstream speech application. We report significant WER improvements on an automatic speech recognition task in mismatched conditions based on the Wall Street Journal corpus (WSJ) when leveraging articulatory information estimated by AAI-MC system over spectral-alone speech features.


Objective. The objective of this work is to understand the relationship between the Critical Success Factors and the 5 Laws of Information Media Literacy, in order to observe if it is possible based on such factors to develop information literacy on organizational subjects. Design/Methodology/Approach . The identification of Critical Success Factors constitutes an important phase of knowledge management in organizations, and their analysis is a key element for the success of the implementation of knowledge management. The Information Literacy, in its turn, seeks to develop skills and abilities related to the conscious use of information. The research is a documentary study, exploratory and qualitative, followed by a contrastive analysis between the Critical Success Factors identified in the literature studied and the Five Laws for Informational Literacy. Results/Discussion . It was possible to compose a systematizing table containing the main Critical Success Factors found and, thus, to analyze the main bases that impact said factors, as well as to identify the interrelationships from the aspects presented by the Five Laws. Conclusions . Although the Critical Success Factors are (and should be) adaptable to different organizational realities, they permeate aspects seeking harmony between people, technology and organizational structure. From this perspective, it is possible to improve the organizational conditions and the implementation of knowledge management programs and/or projects anchored in the main pillars identified. Originality/Value . UNESCO incorporated Media and Information Literacy as part of its mission in 2017, stressing that the development of skills in these two areas provides the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for life and work in the 21st Century. In bringing these laws for discussion in the Information Science field we show support for Unesco's positioning, as well as reinforcing the need for the area's activity within the knowledge management.


Abstract Using a cross‐sectional design to evaluate the perceptions of 242 nurses working in a Malaysian hospital, this study investigates the mediating role of work locus of control (WLOC) on the relationship among emotional intelligence (EI), organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs), and mental health among nurses. Additionally, the role of EI is examined. Findings indicate that EI correlates positively with OCBs and negatively with mental health and that WLOC mediates the relationship between EI and OCBs. However, WLOC does not mediate the relationship between EI and mental health. An in‐depth understanding of nurses' EI provides insights into health institution management to increase organisational outcomes. Results of this study are interpreted to indicate that EI should be part of nurse training and that OCBs are associated with performance and productivity. It is suggested that EI could also be included in selection processes to encourage growth and development of a health institution.


Many naturally-occurring compounds have elicited chemotherapeutic activity in various cancer models. However, due to the limited bioavailability, the effective dose is either not translatable or has rendered only limited effectiveness despite high doses. We previously reported a novel concept in which polycaprolactone:F68 (PCL:F68) implants embedded with test agents provide sustained low doses. While tested successfully for various agents, this formulation ("extrusion" method) does not apply to heat-labile compounds; further, it also renders an initial burst release for many compounds. To overcome these limitations, we now report an improvised formulation ("coated" implants). The method involves i) preparation of blank PCL:F68 implants (1.2 mm dia), and ii) coating of 20-40 layers by dipping blank implants, with intermittent drying, in 10-20% PCL solution in dichloromethane (DCM) containing 0.5-2% of test agent in DCM or another appropriate solvent. The coated implants of oltipraz, withaferin A and curcumin when tested for in vitro release showed that i) the burst release was minimal, and ii) the release was largely sustained for three weeks. To determine their efficacy, female A/J mice were treated with dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DBP) by subcutaneous polymeric implants alone or together with coated implants of oltipraz, withaferin A and curcumin (two, 15 mm long, 2.5 mm dia; 10%, 5% and 10% loads, respectively). Three weeks later animals were euthanized. Analysis of the target (lung) DNA by 32P-postlabeling showed significant inhibition of DNA adducts (adducts/109 nucleotides) by oltipraz implants (28 ± 7) compared with sham treatment (54 ± 17); withaferin A (45 ± 26) and curcumin (71 ± 17) revealed no significant effect. The oltipraz-mediated inhibition of DNA adducts is consistent with the inhibition of CYP1A1, 1A2 and1B1 activity with oltipraz. Measurement of the residual compounds in the implants recovered from the animals showed that the total amounts of oltipraz (3.1 mg), curcumin (6.1 mg) and withaferin A (1.9 mg) administered was 10 to 20-fold lower than the typical dietary doses reported. To determine if the implant delivery concept would lower the effective dose in a tumor model, nude mice were inoculated with human lung cancer A549 cells (3×106 cells), and then treated with withaferin A coated implants. Two additional groups were treated i.p. with vehicle or withaferin A (8 mg/kg, on alternate days). Four weeks into the study, withaferin A treatment has shown nearly 50% reduction in tumor burden irrespective of the route of the treatment, except that the implant route cut down the effective dose significantly. Together, our data suggest that coated polymeric implants can accommodate heat-labile compounds, furnish more sustained release, and can elicit DNA damage-inhibiting and anti-tumor activities in animal models (Supported from the USPHS grants CA-118114, CA-125152, KLCRP and the Duggan Endowment). Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4631. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4631


Hanita-Ben-Sira has recently developed a bifocal optical implant with central hyperminus and peripheral positive components that is used in conjunction with specially constructed spectacles to improve visual performance in patients with age-related macular degeneration. The Ben-Sira teledioptric system was evaluated in 17 patients. It produces a magnified image of high and improved resolution and an enlargement of the visual field. It is easy to use and increases the reading distances.


The rapid identification and accurate diagnosis of breast cancer, known as the killer of women, have become greatly significant for those patients. Numerous breast cancer histopathological image classification methods have been proposed. But they still suffer from two problems. (1) These methods can only hand high-resolution (HR) images. However, the low-resolution (LR) images are often collected by the digital slide scanner with limited hardware conditions. Compared with HR images, LR images often lose some key features like texture, which deeply affects the accuracy of diagnosis. (2) The existing methods have fixed receptive fields, so they can not extract and fuse multi-scale features well for images with different magnification factors. To fill these gaps, we present a \textbf{S}ingle \textbf{H}istopathological \textbf{I}mage \textbf{S}uper-\textbf{R}esolution \textbf{C}lassification network (SHISRCNet), which consists of two modules: Super-Resolution (SR) and Classification (CF) modules. SR module reconstructs LR images into SR ones. CF module extracts and fuses the multi-scale features of SR images for classification. In the training stage, we introduce HR images into the CF module to enhance SHISRCNet's performance. Finally, through the joint training of these two modules, super-resolution and classified of LR images are integrated into our model. The experimental results demonstrate that the effects of our method are close to the SOTA methods with taking HR images as inputs.


Identical triplet Daffodil (from Daffodil, BCCB 7/04) is increasingly tired of being a "pretty little, clean little flower of a girl" who's considered to be interchangeable with her sisters, Rose and Violet. Rescue comes in the form of Daffodil's mother's art project, a papier-mâché crocodile head; when Daffodil puts it on, she becomes a crocodile of high-spirited adventure and gleeful misbehavior ("Violet and Rose had a tea party, and the crocodile ate the guests"), making a statement about individuality that lasts even after the crocodile head becomes soggy and undergoes retirement. While this echoes the first book's theme of individuality, the story lets it rip in a whole new direction that will delight audiences who knew there was something brewing behind Daffodil's demure desire, in the previous book, for her own choice of clothing. The text makes particularly effective use of dialogue, with compact, crisply humorous sentences setting up structure as well as situation (it's clear that Daffodil really is putting up with considerable indignity on the mistakenidentity front). Daffodil's crocodile experience is deliciously empowering, including the opportunity for repeated roars and snapping ("Raa Raa Raa/ Chomp Chomp Chomp") in which audiences will delight in participating; they'll also be pleased to note that Daffodil successfully makes her point, even after removing the crocodile head, that she's more crocodile than flower. Bogacki's illustrations complicate the situation somewhat by making most of the human faces nearly as identical as the triplets', but his frosty-edged layers of color shift interestingly from brushtroke textures to concrete daubs on the crocodile head, which is a geometric wonder that dominates the scenes in which it appears. Plenty of kids will relish the notion of releasing their inner scary monster, and they'll find it enjoyable to let loose with a few comradely "Raa raa raas" of their own. DS


Feminism and Actor-Network Theory (ANT) have often been considered opposing theoretical and intellectual traditions. This paper imagines a meeting between these seemingly divergent fields and considers the theoretical and methodological challenges that ANT and feminism raise for one another. This paper examines an empirical project that calls for an engagement with both ANT and feminism. Through the lens of this empirical project, three methodological questions that an alliance between ANT and feminism would raise for any research project are considered: 1) Where does the analysis start? 2) What can be seen once the research has begun? 3) What about politics? The potential places where ANT and feminism can meet and mutually shape research on scientific practice and technological innovation are explored. In doing so, this paper moves toward an imagining of a feminist ANT. DOI: 10.4018/jantti.2012040101 2 International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 4(2), 1-9, April-June 2012 Copyright © 2012, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. feminism and ANT are incommensurable. But perhaps, as this paper will explore, this need not be the case. This paper takes up Harding's (2008) hopeful projection and imagines a meeting between the seemingly divergent fields of feminist scholarship and Actor-Network Theory. I will examine an empirical project that calls for an engagement with both ANT and feminism. Through the lens of this empirical project, I will consider what these diverging theoretical and methodological traditions can learn from one another. I will consider three methodological questions that an alliance between ANT and feminism would raise for any research project: 1) Where do we start our analysis? 2) What can we see once we have begun? 3) What about politics? Through these questions, I will explore how ANT and feminism challenge and potentially speak to one another.


This article describes the CC-SEM project, a research effort focused on building an integrated platform for smart monitoring, controlling, and planning energy consumption and generation in urban scenarios. The project integrates cutting-edge technologies (Big Data analysis, computational intelligence, Internet of Things, High Performance Computing and Cloud Computing), specific hardware for energy monitoring/controlling built within the project and efficient communication protocols. The proposed platform considers the point of view of both citizens and administrators, providing a set of tools for controlling home devices (for end users), planning/simulating scenarios of energy generation (for energy companies and administrators), and proposes advances in communication infrastructure for transmitting the generated data.


Background: Considering the positive or negative potential effects of adipocytes, depending on their lipid composition, on breast tumor progression, it is important to evaluate whether adipose tissue (AT) harvesting procedures, including epinephrine infiltration, may influence breast cancer progression. Methods: Culture medium conditioned with epinephrine-infiltrated adipose tissue was tested on human Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF7) breast cancer cells, cultured in monolayer or in oncospheres. Lipid composition was evaluated depending on epinephrine-infiltration for five patients. Epinephrine-infiltrated adipose tissue (EI-AT) or corresponding conditioned medium (EI-CM) were injected into orthotopic breast carcinoma induced in athymic mouse. Results: EI-CM significantly increased the proliferation rate of MCF7 cells Moreover EI-CM induced an output of the quiescent state of MCF7 cells, but it could be either an activator or inhibitor of the epithelial mesenchymal transition as indicated by gene expression changes. EI-CM presented a significantly higher lipid total weight compared with the conditioned medium obtained from non-infiltrated-AT of paired-patients. In vivo, neither the EI-CM or EI-AT injection significantly promoted MCF7-induced tumor growth. Conclusions: Even though conditioned media are widely used to mimic the secretome of cells or tissues, they may produce different effects on tumor progression, which may explain some of the discrepancy observed between in vitro, preclinical and clinical data using AT samples.


This Thesis examines the operation and dynamic performance of a single-stage, single-switch power factor corrector, S4 PFC, with an integrated magnetic device, IM. Also detailed isthe development and analysis of a high power light emitting diode, HP LED, power factorcorrection converter and proposed voltage regulation band control approach.The S4 PFC consists of a cascaded discontinuous current mode, DCM, boost stage anda continuous current mode, CCM, forward converter. The S4 PFC achieves a high powerfactor, low input current harmonics and a regulated voltage output, utilising a singleMOSFET. A steady-state analysis of the S4 PFC with the IM is performed, identifying theoperating boundary conditions for the DCM power factor correction stage and the CCMoutput voltage regulation stage. Integrated magnetic analysis focuses on understanding theperformance, operation and generated flux paths within the IM core, ensuring the device doesnot affect the normal operation of the converter power stage. A design method for the S4 PFCwith IM component is developed along with a cost analysis of this approach. Analysis predictsthe performance of the S4 PFC and the IM, and the theoretical work is validated by MATLABand SABER simulations and measurements of a 180 W prototype converter.It is not only the development of new topological approaches that drives theadvancement of power electronic techniques. The recent emergence of HP LEDs has led to aflurry of new application areas for these devices. A DCM buck-boost converter performs thepower factor correction and energy storage, and a cascaded boundary conduction current modebuck converter regulates the current through the LED arrays. To match the useful operatinglifetime of the HP LEDs, electrolytic capacitors are not used in the PFC converter. Analysisexamines the operation and dynamic characteristics of a PFC converter with low capacitiveenergy storage capacity and its implications on the control method. A modified regulationband control approach is proposed to ensure a high power factor, low input current harmonicsand output voltage regulation of the PFC stage. Small signal analysis describes the dynamicperformance of the PFC converter, Circle Criterion is used to determine the loop stability.Theoretical work is validated by SABER and MATLAB simulations and measurements of a180 W prototype street luminaire.


The United States–Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) are part of the US National Tuberculosis (TB) Surveillance System and use laboratory services contracted through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2004, the CDC established the National Tuberculosis Genotyping Service, a system to genotype 1 isolate from each culture-confirmed case of TB. To describe the molecular epidemiology of TB in the region, we examined all Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates submitted for genotyping from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2008. Over this time period, the USAPI jurisdictions reported 1339 verified TB cases to the National Tuberculosis Surveillance System. Among 419 (31%) reported culture-confirmed TB cases, 352 (84%) had complete genotype results. Routine TB genotyping allowed, for the first time, an exploration of the molecular epidemiology of TB in the USAPI.


Nation states keep a firm grip on old age policies; they may be considered among the least likely issues to be dealt with at the supranational level. Yet, a number of community policies directly and indirectly exert influence on national old age policies. While the political science literature primarily focuses on the Open Method of Coordination on pensions, the chapter shows that these instruments are older, wider and more influential. Employing a policy analysis perspective, the chapter asks: When and how did these instruments develop? What are their (potential) effects? On this basis it is shown that the governance capacity of soft steering instruments, seeking to trigger reforms in the area of pensions, is typically overvalued. In contrast we tend to underestimate how much the EU forms national room to manoeuvre on ageing and old age security through legislative instruments establishing individual rights for equal treatment or through the free movement of capital and persons. The analysis draws on a number of case studies on different policy instruments and is based on 26 interviews, and primary and secondary document analysis.


While cognitive skills are known to play an important role in labour market success, empirical evidence is mainly concentrated in its effect on returns to schooling. Evidence on the role of cognitive skills in gender earnings gap decompositions is virtually absent. I use two approaches to investigate the potential for cognitive skills to affect the size and pattern of the unexplained component of the earnings gap ('relative discrimination') across the wage distribution, using data from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). It has been shown that when the raw cognitive score is used to control for cognitive skills, the return to schooling cognitive skills is generally underestimated. Once a distinction is made about the origins of cognitive skills (acquired in school versus outside the school), the returns to cognitive skills can vary depending on their origin. I find that using the raw score to control for cognitive skills does not result in any significantly different estimates of the unexplained component of the gap compared to when cognitive skills are not controlled for. However, once cognitive skills by origin of skill are used in place of total cognitive skills, the results change substantially for three of the five countries examined.


Lactoferrin is a multifunctional glycoprotein with a range of antimicrobial and immune-related properties that is found at >10-fold higher concentration in human milk (~1.7 g/L) relative to bovine milk (~0.15 g/L). Consumer demand is increasing for bovine lactoferrin through a wide range of nutritional and cosmetic consumer products. Increasing lactoferrin yield and concentration in bovine milk could assist in satisfying this increasing demand and may also help in increasing resistance to bovine mammary infection. Two experiments with cows in mid and late lactation were carried out to examine milking strategies to increase milk lactoferrin concentration and yield. Milking was suspended in cows normally milked twice daily, for periods of 2, 4, or 7d (mid lactation) or 2 or 4d (late lactation) after which cows were milked out and twice-daily milking resumed for 4d. In all groups, lactoferrin concentration was significantly increased during the remilking period, approaching concentrations similar to those found in human milk (~1 g/L). Lactoferrin yields were significantly higher in all treatment groups, although increasing the nonmilking period beyond 2d offered no advantage. Milk yield was lower initially after resumption of milking but recovered to preexperimental values by the fourth day of remilking in all groups, except the 4-d nonmilking group in late lactation. Milk somatic cell count was significantly elevated in all groups at the start of remilking but had substantially reduced by d 4 and reached a preexperimental level in the 2-d nonmilking group of mid-lactation cows. In summary, extended milking intervals can be used as a tool to produce a short-term increase in the concentration and yield of lactoferrin from bovine milk during established lactation, without any apparent long-term effects on milk yield and quality.


This paper tests the hypothesis that expression of the DNA methyltransferase, dnmt1, gene is regulated by a methylation-sensitive DNA element. Methylation of DNA is an attractive system for feedback regulation of DNA methyltransferase as the final product of the reaction, methylated DNA, can regulate gene expression in cis. We show that an AP-1-dependent regulatory element of dnmt1 is heavily methylated in most somatic tissues and in the mouse embryonal cell line, P19, and completely unmethylated in a mouse adrenal carcinoma cell line, Y1. dnmt1 is highly over expressed in Y1 relative to P19 cell lines. Global inhibition of DNA methylation in P19 cells by 5-azadeoxycytidine results in demethylation of the AP-1 regulatory region and induction of dnmt1 expression in P19cells, but not Y1 cells. We propose that this regulatory region of dnmt1 acts as a sensor of the DNA methylation capacity of the cell. These results provide an explanation for the documented coexistence of global hypomethylation and high levels of DNA methyltransferase activity in many cancer cells and for the carcinogenic effect of hypomethylating diets.


Among the policy changes associated with neoliberalism in Latin America, tax reform has played a leading role as it has been crucial not only to price stabilization but also to managing economic liberalization. But it also has a larger significance, since it involved a reconstitution of core state powers, and these could prove useful to any future government that seeks to expand the state's economic role. This paper seeks to determine its causes more precisely by analyzing data from fifteen Latin American countries from 1977 to 1995. Findings show that the definition of "tax reform" has been remarkably similar across the region with less progressivity, fewer exemptions, a new leading role for the value-added tax (VAT), and the strengthening of tax administration. The data analysis then finds reform is predicted by (in roughly descending importance) past inflation, explicit IMF performance conditions, new administrations, more authoritarian-elected governments, the dominance of the president's party in the legislature, established electoral systems, closed-list proportional representation, less polarized party systems, and more numerous parties. Little or no support exists for the causal importance of past changes in gross domestic product (GDP), the constitutional powers of the president, party institutionalization, or partisan balance. The analysis concludes by placing these results in historical context, referring to theories of state formation and the building of institutions in exchange for resources.


Ocean waves penetrate hundreds of kilometres into the ice-covered ocean. Waves fracture the level ice into small floes, herd floes, introduce warm water and overwash the floes, accelerating ice melt and causing collisions, which concurrently erodes the floes and influences the large-scale deformation. Concomitantly, interactions between waves and the sea ice cause wave energy to reduce with distance travelled into the ice cover, attenuating wave driven effects. Here a pilot experiment in the ice tank at Aalto University (Finland) is presented to discuss how the properties of irregular small amplitude (linear) waves change as they propagate through continuous model sea ice. Irregular waves with a JONSWAP spectral shape were mechanically generated with a very low initial wave steepness to avoid ice break up and maintain a consistent continuous ice cover throughout the experiments. Observations show an exponential attenuation of wave energy with distance. High frequency components attenuated more rapidly than the low frequency counterparts, in agreement with a frequency-cubed power-law. The more effective attenuation in the high frequency range induced a substantial downshift of the spectral peak, stretching the dominant wave component as it propagates in ice.


Spatial auto- and cross-correlation characteristics of propagation channels are investigated for four indoor scenarios using measurement data. In addition to the well-known spatial auto-correlation effect, significant cross-correlation between channels is also observed. We found that non-zero spatial cross-correlation among channels may occur in three scenarios with possibly different mechanisms. These results should be considered when establishing realistic models for the spatial cross-correlation behavior of channels.


The bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) nanoparticles are easily synthesized from a solution of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate (Bi(NO3)3·5H2O) in ethylene glycol by a hydrolysis solvothermal route at temperatures of 120-150C. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy are used to characterize the products. The results show that the reaction temperature, the reaction duration and the initial solution concentration play important roles in the formation of the Bi2O3 nanoparticles, and all the as-synthesized Bi2O3 samples have the cubic phase structure. In addition, studies of the photocatalytic properties by exposure to visible light irradiation demonstrate that the as-obtained Bi2O3 nanoparticles show potential photocatalytic application.


We study an optomechanical system consisting of an optical cavity and movable mirror coupled through dispersive linear optomechanical coupling (LOC) and quadratic optomechanical coupling (QOC). We work in the resolved side band limit with a high quality factor mechanical oscillator in a strong coupling regime. We show that the presence of QOC in the conventional optomechanical system (with LOC alone) modifies the mechanical oscillator's frequency and reduces the back-action effects on mechanical oscillator. As a result of this the fluctuations in mechanical oscillator can be suppressed below standard quantum limit thereby squeeze the mechanical motion of resonator. We also show that either of the quadratures can be squeezed depending on the sign of the QOC. With detailed numerical calculations and analytical approximation we show that in such systems, the 3 dB limit can be beaten.


In this presentation, we focus on the melting phenomenon during laser drilling. The governing equation is the transient three-dimensional heat conduction equation for the solid substrate and for the liquid molten part boundary layer approximations of the mass, momentum and energy equations are used. The melting interface is moving and therefore need to be determined as part of the solution. In this paper, coupled BEM-FDM formulation for the transient three-dimensional heat conduction equation with moving boundary and the boundary layer formulation will be presented. The moving boundary, solid-liquid interface, appears in the surface integral of the BEM formulation. Consequently, it is easy to track. The thin layer is coupled to the solid substrate at the solid-liquid interface by the interface velocity, energy flux and temperature. To increase the efficiency of the computation, we combine the BEM formulation with finite difference method, which models the region that is far away from the melting zone. We are working towards a coupled BEM-FDM-THINLAYER model, that would be effective in simulating the process of material removal in the laser drilling.In this presentation, we focus on the melting phenomenon during laser drilling. The governing equation is the transient three-dimensional heat conduction equation for the solid substrate and for the liquid molten part boundary layer approximations of the mass, momentum and energy equations are used. The melting interface is moving and therefore need to be determined as part of the solution. In this paper, coupled BEM-FDM formulation for the transient three-dimensional heat conduction equation with moving boundary and the boundary layer formulation will be presented. The moving boundary, solid-liquid interface, appears in the surface integral of the BEM formulation. Consequently, it is easy to track. The thin layer is coupled to the solid substrate at the solid-liquid interface by the interface velocity, energy flux and temperature. To increase the efficiency of the computation, we combine the BEM formulation with finite difference method, which models the region that is far away from the melting zone. We ...


With this study the students of nursing are empowered to establishment the necessary understanding of the skills used in technology; helping them develop a roadmap for the effective integration of technology in the classroom. The article summarizes the findings about the means of access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and their use for academic purposes performed by the students of the Nursing Department at the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao. The study identifies the perception that students have of the professors and the uses that they give to technology in their courses. Methodology: Cross-sectional study, a digital questionnaire was administered to students admitted to the nursing program. Three dimensions were defined: access to services, perception of teachers to new media and information skills of students. These dimensions were set according to the literature review and indicators of the accrediting agency. Results: The findings show that students have access to mobile devices, which represent their main method of connecting to the Internet and social networks; as well as the beneficial use of these devices in the classroom. Discussion: The results establish a profile of the relationship of students with ICT and contributes to the decision-making process that allows continuing efforts to effectively integrate ICT curriculum level in the classroom. Keywords: technologies, students, information skills, mobile devices, digital environments


In this paper a new electric ship propulsion system is proposed as combination of a double generator set with a double inverter feeding a wound rotor synchronous machine (WR-SM). Each generator set is composed by a diesel engine directly coupled to a compact, permanent magnet, synchronous generator. A diode rectifier connects the output of the generator to a variable voltage dc bus. The dc bus feeds one of the input sides of the double inverter. The double inverter acts as a multilevel converter and it is able to drive the 3-phase 6-wire motor coupled to the propeller. The two generator sets can operate either jointly or one at a time, depending on the power demand from the drive system. The working point of each diesel engine is determined in order to supply power to the propeller with maximum efficiency.


Midurethral sling operations are the most commonly performed surgeries in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. Midurethral sling surgeries are minimally invasive with high success rate and rare complications. However; the type of complications encountered are different than other incontinence surgeries. The complications may be classified as intraoperative, early, and late complications. In this review, the complications encountered, preventive measures and management will be discussed.


One of the fundamental objectives of this report is to use an analytic framework to identify key transport and logistics impediments that have left the South Asian region lagging behind in economic growth. A closely linked objective is to improve the access of the landlocked areas in the South Asia sub-region, specifically Nepal, Bhutan, and northeast India, to regional and international markets. The report is organized as follows: Chapter 1 provides a socioeconomic and economic growth profile for the sub-region, the challenges faced by landlocked regions in accessing regional and international markets, and regional and international trade patterns in light of the transport and logistics constraints. Chapter 2 examines specific impediments in the transport logistics chain of selected strategic commodity movement in the context of regional and international trade. It focuses on constraints with line-haul movement and impediments at border crossings and at ports. Chapter 3 compares existing routes with alternative ones, both for the movement of commodities within the region and to international markets. Chapter 4 highlights the constraints faced by private businesses, freight forwarders, exporters and importers, and shippers in the sub-region. Chapter 5 summarizes key constraints and suggests short-term and long-term options. Chapter 6 outlines a preliminary agenda for discussion in the sub-region.


With the objective to evaluate the utilization of a deciduous forest by grazing bovines at northeast of Guarico state, Venezuela, in dry and rainy seasons in 2007, it was carried out an experiment with a factorial design with randomized blocks. For that, there were used mixed dual purpose heifers with a grazing pressure of 6 kg DM/100 kg LW. The evaluated treatments were three grazing conditions: OG: Grazing of star grass (Cynodon nlemfuensis), RAF: Grazing of C. nlemfuensis with restricted access to the forest (5 h) and OAF: Grazing of C. nlemfuensis with open access to the forest. The area used for the treatments with forest was 2 ha. Dry matter utilization of grasses, litter, tree foliage, and fallen fruits were measured. No significant differences were found for grass utilization among treatments. However, significant differences (P<0.01) were observed due to season, being higher at the dry season due to the absence of pasture growing. Significant differences were also found for the season by grazing type interaction on the litter and tree foliage utilization. It is concluded that by means of the use of the forest, animals tend to diversify their diets, improving the selectivity capabilities.


The problem of the detection of the position, size and shape of an oscillating and migrating bubble from the acoustic signals detected by several pressure gauges located in the liquid is addressed. Two main approaches to the solution of the problem are considered - an asymptotic approach using the principal term of the expression of the far-field liquid pressure, and a system identification procedure using multi-dimensional minimization in the space of the input parameters. In this case we used for the `forward problem' solver the axisymmetric boundary element code 2DYNAFSTM, which has been shown to describe accurately large free surface bubble deformations. The accuracy and performance of both methods are checked using computer generated synthetic experimental data. Finally, computationally efficient strategies combining the asymptotic solution and the minimization technique based on the boundary element method are tested and discussed.


Your reviewer acknowledges the existence of Volume I. Nevertheless in his search for something to give spice to his criticism he appears to suggest that Volume 1I stands by itself. Had he studied its contents and compared them with those of Volume I he would have reminded himself that Volume I deals generally with new drugs and advances in medicine and Volume II with the numerous subjects ancillary to those dealt with in the first volume. This division does in fact avoid the "jumble of pharmacognostical information and analytical methods on the one hand with new drugs and advances in medicine on the other" of which he complains. Is it not the duty of a conscientious reviewer to study the contents of the book under review? Your reviewer is wrong when he says that there is " a lack of connexion" between the Society's Pharmacological Laboratories and its publications: the staff of the laboratories contribute largely to the publications. He is wrong, too, when he complains that the books lack " the benefit of that kind of pharmacological advice which can only be given by those engaged in or trained in research." Leading pharmacologists have ungrudgingly given their help and served as members of revision committees. When he asks, Who is interested in the determination of rotenone in derris? is he not in fact saying, "I am not interested; therefore omit it"? What would his opinion be of the views of any for whom the book fell open at page 171, instead of page 163, and who might deplore the description of methods for the biological assay of digitalis? From his disregard of other sections of this volume of 1,217 pages, dealing with, for example, proprietary medicines, chemotherapy, biological analysis, vitamins, and electrotherapy, one might, perhaps unfairly, conclude that he had not considered it advisable to allow the book to open at any other page. His determined disregard of Volume I provides him with the grounds upon wvhich he complains of "strange omissions " in the field of new drugs. Let us consider the drugs he names: thiourea and thiouracil have been introduced in this country since the last edition of Volume I was published and will be discussed in the next edition. Pethidine was not known by this name when the last edition of Volume I was published; it was available only in the proprietary form of dolantal. (It was this proprietary form that was the subject of the paper in the Quarterly Joui;nal which your reviewer mentions, a paper dealing solely with pharmacology, and not appearing until after Volume I had gone to press.) He has ignored the description of dolantal in Volume I and overlooked the publication of the recent Supplement to Volume I reviewed in your issue of March 11, in which pethidine is included as the name approved by the Medical Research Council for this substance. A pedestrian review may make dull reading, but it often has the merit of contributing solid suggestions for improvement. Your reviewer might have had less fun, but he would have done better justice to his reputation and that of your esteemed journal had he approached his task with something of the care and pains that have gone into the production of this book over the last four years.-I am, etc., HUGH N. LINSTEAD, 17, Bioomsbury Square, W.C.1. Secretary, Pharmaceutical Society oLGreat Britain.


Since opening in March 2002, the Visualization Center at Scripps has had more than 2,500 visitors, of which ∼500 were education- and outreach-related. Based upon follow-up requests and referrals, we expect these numbers to grow. The center's state-of-the-art visualization technology projects high-resolution, multidimensional images onto a 120° curved Panoram® floor-to-ceiling screen (8′6″ by 28′4″) that immerses viewers in a virtual environment (Figure 1). The center is ideal for presenting and manipulating very large data sets to groups of up to 50 people, and the system is equipped with transmitters and LCD shutter glasses that allow stereographic 3D viewing of high-resolution data sets through a set of specialized eyeglasses (Figure 2). The lenses in the glasses flicker synchronously with the computer images at 48 flames per second, per eye, thus producing a stereo or 3D effect.

 Figure 1.
▴ A group of visitors in the Visualization Center at Scripps view the topography of Mars.

Multiple video streams can be simultaneously displayed, including the SGI® megadesktop, S-VHS video, DVD video, and video from a laptop computer; the user can quickly toggle between these various platforms (Kent et al., 2002). Similarly, the five-channel surround-sound audio system can be integrated through several inputs, allowing for numerous video and audio combinations. For instance, one third of the screen can display S-VHS video of damaging earthquakes, while the remaining portion of the screen can show an interactive underground 3D flight through seismicity in the regions presented in the video. Alternatively, the audio surround-sound system can be set to produce sounds of various synthetically generated earthquakes (http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/info/listen/allsounds.htmt), while the corresponding seismicity, topography, and seismic station locations and telemetry paths are juxtaposed on the screen with the associated seismic waves.

 Figure 2.
▴ Visitors to the Visualization Center at Scripps use specially designed 3D glasses to view high-resolution stereo images of the …


Spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry is discussed in the light-cone framework. The essential ingredient is an infinite number of constituents near zero light-cone momentum. These high (light-cone) energy degrees of freedom freeze out and leave behind some explicit symmetry breaking in the low (light-cone) energy effective Hamiltonian. Connections with Regge theory and soft pion theorems are discussed. Taking the order parameter to be the 4-th component of a chiral4-vector, the effect of the spontaneous symmetry breaking on meson masses and decay width is calculated and compared with experimental data.


Objective: This study aimed to determine if the Australian human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme has had a population impact on presentations of genital warts. Methods: Retrospective study comparing the proportion of new clients with genital warts attending Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) from January 2004 to December 2008. Australia provided free quadrivalent HPV vaccine to 12–18-year-old girls in a school-based programme from April 2007, and to women 26 years and younger through general practices from July 2007. Results: 36 055 new clients attended MSHC between 2004 and 2008 and genital warts were diagnosed in 3826 (10.6%; 95% CI 10.3 to 10.9). The proportion of women under 28 years with warts diagnosed decreased by 25.1% (95% CI 30.5% to 19.3%) per quarter in 2008. Comparing this to a negligible increase of 1.8% (95% CI 0.2% to 3.4%) per quarter from the start of 2004 to the end of 2007 also in women under 28 years generates strong evidence of a difference in these two trends (p<0.001). There was no evidence of a difference in trend for the quarterly proportions before and after the end of 2007 for any other subgroup, and on only one occasion was there strong evidence of a trend different to zero, for heterosexual men in 2008 in whom the average quarterly change was a decrease of 5% (95% CI 0.5% to 9.4%; p = 0.031). Conclusions: The data suggest that a rapid and marked reduction in the incidence of genital warts among vaccinated women may be achievable through an HPV vaccination programme targeting women, and supports some benefit being conferred to heterosexual men.


Abstract. Aerosol complex refractive index (ACRI) is an important microphysical
parameter used for the studies of modeling their radiative effects. With
considerable uncertainties related to retrieval based on observations, a
numerical study is a powerful method, if not the only one, to provide a
better and more accurate understanding of retrieved optically effective ACRIs
of aged black carbon (BC) particles. Numerical investigations of the
optically effective ACRIs of polydisperse coated BC aggregates retrieved from
their accurate scattering and absorption properties, which are calculated by
the multiple-sphere T-matrix method (MSTM), without overall particle shape
variations during retrieval, are carried out. The aim of this study is to
evaluate the effects of aerosol microphysics, including shell∕core
ratio Dp∕Dc, BC geometry, BC position inside coating,
and size distribution, on retrieved optically effective ACRIs of coated BC
particles. At odds with expectations, retrieved optically effective ACRIs of
coated BC particles in coarse mode are not merely impacted by their chemical
compositions and shell∕core ratio, being highly complicated functions
of particle microphysics. However, in accumulation mode, the coated BC
optically effective ACRI is dominantly influenced by particle chemical
compositions and the shell∕core ratio. The popular volume-weighted
average (VWA) method and effective medium theory (EMT) provide acceptable
ACRI results for coated BC in accumulation mode, and the resulting
uncertainties in particle scattering and absorption are both less than
approximately 10 %. For coarse coated BC, the VWA and EMT, nevertheless,
produce dramatically higher imaginary parts than those of optically effective
ACRIs, significantly overestimating particle absorption by a factor of nearly
2 for heavily coated BC with a large BC fractal dimension or BC close to the
coating boundary. Using the VWA could introduce significant overestimation in
aged BC absorption analysis studies, and this may be one of the reasons why
modeled aerosol optical depth is 20 % larger than observed, since it is
widely employed in the state-of-the-art aerosol–climate models. We propose a
simple new ACRI parameterization for fully coated BC with
Dp/Dc≥2.0 in coarse mode, which can serve as a
guide for the improvement of ACRIs of heavily coated BC, and its scattering
and absorption errors are reduced by a factor of nearly 2 compared to the
VWA. Our study indicates that a reliable estimate of the radiative effects of
aged BC particles in coarse mode would require accounting for the optically
effective ACRI, rather than the ACRI given by the VWA, in aerosol–climate
models.


Computer program package FORRUS-S has been developed for simulation modeling of forest stand ecosystems dynamics. FORRUS-S consists of the model of natural development of multi-species uneven-aged stand, the model of exogenous influence (including silvicultural activities) and a set of accessories. The model utilizes the standard input data that have traditionally been using in forestry of the Russian Federation and available for virtually all Russian territory. An informational technology for forecasting data analysis and decision-making at forest management unit level was implemented by integrating a forest ecosystem model FORRUS-S with an interactive visualization and analysis of spatially and temporally referenced data system CommonGIS. The paper describes the results of computational experiments at different scenarios of forest management (natural development, legal forestry, and illegal forest practice) over 100 years. The paper discusses the results of an analysis of changes in forest biodiversity quantitatively estimated by monitoring a dynamics of various indicators using a sample forest stand located in the Moscow region (Central European Russia). Exploratory analysis of the simulation results demonstrated that (1) natural stand development is the best alternative for forest biodiversity; (2) legal forest management is the best regime for timber production; (3) illegal forest practices lead to a fast decrease in forest productivity and decreasing biodiversity. Interactive and dynamic visualizations with maps and statistical graphics played a crucial role in data cleaning, model validation, and analysis of simulation results. The case study demonstrated the potential of integrating forest ecosystem models with exploratory data visualization for the analysis and expert evaluation of forest biodiversity at the local level. This approach allows to bridge the gap between the researches done on developing the framework for measuring sustainability of forest management and a lack of similar efforts in monitoring and using these indicators as a formal part of the planning system.


A guide to support students searching for scholarly materials and primary sources related to immigration and ethnicity in American History


Deformations of multi-eleciroded laminates under thermoelectromechanical loads are studied. An asymptotic formulation is derived to reduce the three-dimensional problem to a hierarchy of two-dimensional equations and is examined by comparing the present results with an exact solution. New results are given by using the asymptotic scheme for ceramic multilayer actuators with interdigital electrodes.


Background: Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR, HER1) is known to heterodimerize with HER2 and may modulate the effectiveness of trastuzumab or lapatinib. Historically, it has been difficult to measure, but recently we reported a new, standardized, quantitative immunofluorescence assay and a novel EGFR antibody which showed that high levels of EGFR were associated with decreased benefit in the concurrent arm of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG/Alliance) N9831 trial (Rimm et al, SABCS 2012). Here we assess its value in the neo-adjuvant setting in the NeoALTTO trial. Methods: NeoALTTO randomized 455 breast cancer patients to neoadjuvant trastuzumab, lapatinib or both and showed benefit in both single anti-HER2 therapy arms, and the combination therapy showing about twice as much benefit as either single drug arm. We used the previously described AQUA method of quantitative immunofluorescence to measure EGFR levels using the D38B1 antibody on between 4 and 140 fields of view per slide on 353 specimens. The averaged EGFR score was standardized to the absolute concentration using cell lines and western blots and the 13 ng/ug total protein established in the N9831 trial was tested to determine predictive value for pathological complete response (pCR) defined as ypT0/is. Results: In NeoALTTO, 19% of the patients had EGFR levels above 13 ng/ug, compared to 16% in NCCTG N9831. The pCR rate was 35.3% in the patients with low EGFR, compared with 29.8% for high EGFR but this difference was not statistically significant. However, when adjusted for treatment and hormone receptor (HR) status, high EGFR is statistically significantly associated with lower response rate(p = 0.038). Continuous analysis measures were not significant. The effect on overall response at 6 weeks was also weakly significant when adjusting for treatment and HR status (p = 0.06). Surprisingly, for HR negative patients in the lapatinib only arm, the pCR rate in the low EGFR group was 47.2% compared with 16.0% in the high group. While this difference is statistically significant (p = 0.014), it should be interpreted cautiously because of the small numbers of patients and the multiple tests performed. Conclusions: High expression of EGFR by the AQUA platform appears to be associated with decreased pCR rate from HER2 targeted therapy in the neoadjuvant setting. This observation is consistent with NCCTG N9831. Although underpowered, high EGFR levels predicted decreased pCR rate from lapatinib, the opposite of that anticipated for this small molecule dual EGFR/HER2 inhibitor. Further studies are required to determine the clinical utility of this assay and the biological mechanisms underlying these observations. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P1-08-09.


The curriculum for the training of electrical engineers at the Department of Electrical & Communications Engineering, Moi University, Kenya, is discussed in this presentation. The paper discusses the introduction of the 8-4-5 Educational system in Kenya, the rationale behind this, and the emphasis on a practical graduate engineer with the inherent capability to adapt to local demands and to new challenges of the future. It also discusses the challenges facing the Universities as they grapple with this new programme.


We identified a gene (dpiAdestabilizer of plasmid inheritance) which, when overexpressed in Escherichia coli, destabilizes the inheritance of pSC101 and other iteron‐containing plasmids as disparate as mini‐F and RK6 but not the inheritance of P1, RSF1010 and ColD. These effects of DpiA, which functions like an effector protein for a previously undescribed two‐component signal transduction system, were reduced by mutations known to promote pSC101 replication and partitioning. dpiB, a gene encoding the putative histidine kinase of this two‐component system, is located immediately 5′ to dpiA and adjacent to a DpiA‐induced target promoter that transcribes genes having homology to citrate lyase operon genes, citC, citD and citE, of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Disruption of dpiB reversed or reduced the effect of DpiA overproduction on pSC101 inheritance. A second DpiA target, the promoter for a gene (appY ) implicated in E. coli's response to anaerobiosis, is repressed by DpiA. A mutation in dpiA at a site commonly conserved and phosphorylated in two‐component system effector proteins abolished the effects of DpiA overproduction on pSC101 inheritance and negative regulation of appY expression. Our findings suggest a possible mechanism by which environmental and/or cellular stimuli may influence plasmid inheritance.


This paper presents performance evaluation of antenna selection capability proposed in IEEE 802.16e (Amendment of IEEE 802.16-2004 standard for combined Fixed and Mobile Broadband Wireless Access operation in licensed band), under 2048 points orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) mode of operation. It is shown that channel condition plays significant role on the amount of gain achievable by the scheme. Modification to the selection method is proposed and additional gain achieved is demonstrated. Measurements under different signal to noise ratio (SNR) values for different channel models are analysed. Results of the experimental studies are then summarised


This paper aims to examine levels of awareness and performance relating to the promotion of a Low-carbon economy (LCE) among the general public in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The data and information used were derived from 600 questionnaires distributed randomly among households in North West, North East and South senatorial districts of Akwa Ibom State. The results indicate a combination of high awareness with poor understanding of LCE programmes among respondents, with the poor understanding probably due to a shortage of appropriate information from trusted sources and shortcomings in education. Respondents generally showed positive attitudes toward pro-environmental actions, such as refusing to use plastic bags, waste recycling, water and energy conservation. Apart from regulation and policies, they considered education and economic incentives as effective mechanisms to promote LCE implementation. Overall, those consulted responded favourably towards the prospect of LCE. Results of the study, at this preliminary stage, suggest that the general public in Nigeria has the potential to be a facilitator of environmental improvements in the country. @JASEM


Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare, life-threatening, autosomal dominant disease characterized by recurrent episodes of angioedema, and caused by a deficiency of the plasma protein C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH). Clinical manifestation of HAE may first develop during childhood but typically presents around puberty with nonpruritic and non-pitting edema of the subcutaneous and mucosal tissues. Up to now, there has been no published report of HAE case in Taiwan. We reported a 33 year-old female patient who had recurrent painful swelling of face and hands since 27 years of age. She first suffered from sudden onset of painful swelling of the eyelids and lips in August 1998 when she was pregnant for the first time. Subsequently, similar episodes recurred for a few times. Her blood test disclosed that her C3 and C4 were 125 mg/dl and 6 mg/dl, respectively. Her uncle died of laryngeal edema at the age of 30 years. Her father and elder brother also had the similar history of recurrent facial and hand swelling. The C4 levels of her elder brother were 6 mg/dl and 13.3 mg/dl on two separate occasions. The C1-INH antigen serum level and functional assay of the index patient and ten other family members were studied. A total of seven members of the family were confirmed to have type 1 HAE as evidenced by the low C4 and low C1-INH antigenic level and functional activity. Two of the seven cases were asymptomatic up to the date of our report.


The purpose of this retrospective clinicopathologic study was to investigate the presence of eosinophils in oral and skin lesions of erythema multiforme. Seventeen cases were selected which fulfilled clinical and histopathologic criteria for the disease. Twelve out of 13 sections taken from skin biopsies and 4 out of 5 sections taken from oral lesions contained eosinophils in varying densities. The occurrence of eosinophils in the lesions of erythema multiforme is parallelized and discussed with the existence of certain clinical and histopathologic aspects. Therefore, we suggest that eosinophils occur in cutaneous and oral lesions of erythema multiforme and are occasionally numerous.


This article presents the most significant results to have emerged from the research process "Documentation, interpretation and digital diffusion of the educational patrimony produced in the period 1936–1939 in the schools of Barcelona: children's drawings". This research set out to analyse the drawings produced by the children of the Grup Escolar Lluís Vives that reflect their everyday lives both inside and outside school during the period of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The article begins by describing the methodology employed in our multidisciplinary study and follows by presenting the various dimensions of the lived experiences of children in wartime, understanding that these dimensions both reflect and draw on the political, educational and social context of that time. Taken together, the multiple voices of the children allow us to develop an interdisciplinary vision of the everyday life and school experiences of the children of Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War.


We propose GAN-based image enhancement models for frequency enhancement of 2D and 3D seismic images. Seismic imagery is used to understand and characterize the Earth's subsurface for energy exploration. Because these images often suffer from resolution limitations and noise contamination, our proposed method performs large-scale seismic volume frequency enhancement and denoising. The enhanced images reduce uncertainty and improve decisions about issues, such as optimal well placement, that often rely on low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) seismic volumes. We explored the impact of adding lithology class information to the models, resulting in improved performance on PSNR and SSIM metrics over a baseline model with no conditional information.


Based on specimens collected from eulittoral zone in rocky shores of northeast of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on 2017, two new tanaidaceans species from two different suborders are described: Apseudomorpha brasiliensis sp. nov. (Apseudomorpha, Metapseudidae) and Pseudozeuxo fischeri sp. nov. (Tanaidomorpha, Pseudozeuxidae). Diagnostic characters of Apseudomorpha brasiliensis are mandible palp article-2 and article-3 with six and nine finely penicillate setae on inner margin, respectively; pereopod-1 carpus and propodus with two and four ventral spines, respectively; pleonites 2 and 5 with pleura having long distal seta; uropod exopod shorter than endopod articles 1–2 combined, endopod four-articled. Pseudozeuxo fischeri is characterized by pereopods 1–3 coxa with long seta about half as long as basis; pereopods 2–3 carpus with ventrodistal seta; propodus with two ventral setae; pereopods 4–6 propodus with two ventral spines and one seta; uropod endopod two- and exopod one-articled. This is the first record of the family Pseudozeuxidae and the metapseudid subfamily Metapseudinae from the Southwestern Atlantic (Brazil). Remarks on their associations with macroalgae and identification keys to world species of Apseudomorpha and Pseudozeuxo are provided.


Are you interested in pursuing graduate school in Psychology or a Psychology - related field? The Dickinson Psychology Club is
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The rectification properties of selenium cells were first discovered in the year 1883. C. T. Fritts described them in the American Journal of Science.11,12 However, they were never used to any extent, except possibly as photocells. After the introduction of the copperoxide rectifier, research activities were stimulated, and selenium cells were again rediscovered. The first commercial cells were made in Germany in the early '30's, and, as the technique of manufacture improved, better cells were made with better life expectancy. The General Electric Company, after a period of developmental activity, started to make cells in 1938, first in its research laboratories, and subsequently a manufacturing plant was set up which permits producing cells in large quantities within relatively close electrical tolerances. This paper contains data pertaining to these cells particularly, and the information may not apply in detail to cells manufactured by other methods without some correction factors.


Background: The Fontan procedure is currently the mainstay therapy for single functional ventricles. However, with prolonged follow-up duration, various complications have been observed that seriously influence the quality of life of patients. Objectives: The aim of this meta-analysis is to compare the effectiveness of pharmacologic agents in improving exercise capacity in patients with Fontan circulation. Methods: This meta-analysis was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement and has been registered in the International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews database with registration no. 282352. Quality assessments of the included studies were assessed using the Strengthening Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement. Results: Twelve studies met the predetermined inclusion criteria and were included in this meta-analysis. This meta-analysis found that treatment with bosentan significantly improved New York Heart Association Functional Class (NYHA FC) in Fontan patients (standard mean difference -0.59, 95% CI -0.94 – -0.25; P=0.0008; I2 = 1%). However, the use of bosentan (P=0.66) and sildenafil (P=0.13) did not show a significant improvement in the maximum rate of oxygen consumption (VO2 max). Conclusion: This meta-analysis shows that people with Fontan circulation may benefit from using bosentan as it decreases postexercise heart rate and improves NYHA FC and 6-minute walking test results. Therefore, indirectly improving exercise capacity. Nonetheless, considerable work is required to strengthen our knowledge in improving the exercise capacity of Fontan patients.


Evolutionary anthropology is a scholarly endeavor informed by the history of human evolution, drawing on the fields of evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, behavioral economics, and evolutionary psychology, in addition to the substantial contributions of conventional anthropology itself. This frame of reference allows for a functional perspective on human behavior without ignoring or neglecting important sources of individual and cultural variation. In a general way, this work investigates how natural and sexual selection pressures shape human psychology and behavior, generating evolved proclivities and propensities, including the propensity for humans to be cultural animals. Hence, this perspective situates humans as active agents navigating a complex terrain of selective regimes and interacting with multiple local social systems in the interest of achieving both cultural competency and fitness. More specifically, within this framework, the work of this dissertation examines both differing forms of social status and cooperation and conflict in mating and mate selection.Much of the work presented here explores how, as autonomous agents operating within the affordances and constraints of their social ecology, women negotiate heterosexual mateship choices across varying environments. Positing that dominant men may also be domineering mates in the household, my research previous to this dissertation focused on critiquing the simplistic perspective that heterosexual women prefer dominant men. This research established that it is more likely that, on average, women interested in upward mobility actually prefer prestige in their prospective partners rather than dominance. Furthermore, these women pay attention to the context of men's domineering behaviors, ensuring that men adhere to culturally-prescribed norms of behavior. Presumably, this suite of preferences functions to increase the probability of coordination and cooperation in long-term pair bonds - cooperation directed toward the raising of extremely altricial human offspring. While the majority of heterosexual women surveyed in my prior work prefer male partners who pursue social status through prestige rather than through dominance, nonetheless, observation suggests that some women select domineering partners in spite of available alternatives. Clinicians and scholars alike tend to approach this phenomenon from a perspective that pathologizes these women and deprecates their choices. Chapter 1 of the dissertation argues that such women can, in part, be understood as confronting a trade-off wherein they shift their preferences toward men who are likely to offer them necessary protection in spite of the strong possibility that these same men will be domineering in the household. This work reveals that women who perceive themselves to be more vulnerable to crime indeed have preferences for such aggressive and physically formidable men. Hence, women who select domineering men as long-term partners may be responding in a functional manner to their unfortunate circumstances. Rather than suffering pathology or dysfunction, these women are making the best of a bad situation, a fact that has likely eluded middle- and upper-class investigators who are less familiar with the experiences and dangerous environments that such women face. Importantly, this work also offers an explanation for why preferences for long-term partners who can offer protection were long posited but went previously undetected.Again focusing on cooperation and conflict in mateships and mate selection, Chapters 2 and 3 of the dissertation call to task evolutionary psychology researchers who have, I argue, incorrectly characterized women's psychological responses to rape and their defensive coping strategies. My data-driven investigations challenge widely-held views on the subject. It is important for any phenomenological investigation to be held to high standards of scientific rigor. In addition, as sexual coercion and rape are deeply disturbing social ills and a profound tragedy for the victims, it is especially important that the scholarship of this topic be held to the highest levels of rigor. Chapter 2 of the dissertation systematically re-evaluates the logic and methods used to investigate women's rape-avoidance behaviors. Here, I contend that a significant body of the investigation of this phenomenon relies heavily on self-report measures that are only applicable to women in university or college settings, failing to accurately capture important variation in women's behaviors according to age and relationship status. I suggest in this work that women's fear of rape should be the primary motivator of rape-avoidance behaviors; thus, fear of sexual assault should be a useful index in measuring rape defensive strategies. Employing this approach, I obtain results that significantly deviate from the findings of previous researchers.Chapter 3 is an extension of the notion that fear of rape is an important index. Here I examine partnered women's fear of rape, simultaneously calling for higher levels of rigor in the study of partnered women's risk for emotional sequalae following sexual assault. A reified but under-investigated hypothesis contends that partnered women face a higher cost of sexual assault because the victim's mate may misperceive the assault as a cuckoldry threat. A thorough review of the existing evidence suggesting that partnered women face higher costs of rape indicates that existing findings are equivocal at best. I then present novel results indicating that the effects of relationship status on fear of sexual assault do not correspond with the notion that partnered women face higher costs due to rape than unpartnered women. Turning from issues of dominance to issues of prestige, in Chapter 4 I present an ethnographic description of Narcotics Anonymous (NA) as a mutual-aid group and a quasi-egalitarian cooperative institution characterized by complex prestige dynamics. I argue that, within this egalitarian organization, there is a clear dependence on experience-based transmission of cultural norms through a process of apprenticeship and imitation that necessarily generates a prestige hierarchy. Whenever status becomes a commodity, there is a risk that individuals will leverage their status into positions of dominance and control over subordinates. The codified orthodoxy of this institution has specific proscriptions condemning such behaviors and, accordingly, proscribing the pursuit of status. Mirroring small-scale societies, individuals in NA strategically employ leveling mechanisms designed to limit the power and personally sanction self-aggrandizing behaviors. Thus, what emerges is a relatively stable organization, across regions and time, with more-experienced members teaching the norms of the institution to less-experienced members and gently leading at local levels while treading carefully as regards self-aggrandizement. In sum, adopting an evolutionary perspective concerned with questions of ultimate function, this work examines the psychology and social dynamics of cooperation and conflict in a variety of domains. Simultaneously, this work stands as a cautionary tale against ethnocentrism and disciplinary in-group favoritism, warning of the dual dangers of sweeping important cultural contexts under the rug and settling for low standards of scientific rigor.


The architectural drawings of Goon(郡) office buildings in Japanese colonial period collected in the national archives of Korea, were recently made as digital images, and their annotation published. On these basic research materials for the buildings a few papers were published. The purpose of this study is to investigate the tendency of the buildings' new construction and their architectural characteristics such as structure, scale or elevation composition. It used literature research method, i.e. analysing the digital images, the annotation, official documents between the Japanese government-general of Korea and To(道), and related articles of newspapers or journals. It found that the buildings were begun to newly construct from early 1910s, very early compared to To and Pu(府) office buildings, but the new construction were not sufficient from the point of total Goon's number(218). The reason of the early new construction is estimated that because the Japanese Government-General of Korea rearranged Goon in 1914 and 1915, therefore new buildings were needed in newly designated locations for the buildings. The structure of the buildings were mostly made of wood or brick, the size of them has very big deviation but no tendency toward time or region. The elevation composition of them was applied that of public offices in Japanese colonial period, and affected from the prototype scheme in 1910s by Government-General of Korea until 1930s.


Owing to its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities, in the last few years, lavender essential oil (LVO) has been used in medical applications as a promising approach for treating infected wounds. However, the practical applicability of LVO is limited by its high volatility and storage stability. This study aimed to develop a novel hybrid hydrogel by combining phytic acid (PA)-crosslinked sodium alginate (SA) and poly(itaconic anhydride-co-3,9-divinyl-2,4,8,10-tetraoxaspiro[5.5] undecane (PITAU) and evaluate its potential effectiveness as an antibacterial wound dressing after incorporating LVO. The influence of the mass ratio between SA and PITAU on the properties and stability of hydrogels was investigated. After LVO loading, the effect of oil addition to hydrogels on their functional properties and associated structural changes was studied. FTIR analysis revealed that hydrogen bonding is the primary interaction mechanism between components in the hybrid hydrogels. The morphology was analyzed using SEM, evidencing a porosity dependent on the ratio between SA and PITAU, while LVO droplets were well dispersed in the polymer blend. The release of LVO from the hydrogels was determined using UV-VIS spectroscopy, indicating a sustained release over time, independent of the LVO concentration. In addition, the hybrid hydrogels were tested for their antioxidant properties and antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Very good antimicrobial activity was obtained in the case of sample SA_PITAU3+LVO10% against S. aureus and C. albicans. Moreover, in vivo tests showed an increased antioxidant effect of the SA_PITAU3+LVO10% hydrogel compared to the oil-free scaffold that may aid in accelerating the healing process of wounds.


Vital statistics data for the United States for the years 1972-1978 have been analyzed for variation in frequency of suicide by month, day of the week, day of the month, and phase of the lunar cycle. Frequency of suicide showed a peak in the spring months, a lesser peak in the fall and was lowest in December. Suicide was most frequent on Mondays and declined during the week to a trough on Saturdays (in the summer) or Sundays (in the winter). There was a previously unreported cycle by day of the month, of comparable magnitude to that seen by month and day of the week; suicides were most frequent around the 5th of the month and least frequent in the last days of the month. February was the only month which failed to exhibit this within-month cycle. There is no satisfactory explanation for any of these temporal cycles. There was no relationship between number of suicides and phases of the lunar cycle.


This article reports a dental management of children with emotional problems. The dental treatment difficulty is more often due to behavior disorders and is prone to tears or temper tantrums. A very important cause of uncooperation is fear of an unknown experience. These children are parent dependent and presence of parent during dental treatment is mandatory. Care must be taken of any casual remarks to the parent or assistant in front of child, the waiting room should have play objects, after one or two social visits treatment procedures can be introduced. They must be simple at first and are usually confined to the prophylactic polishing. The traditional method is to ask the patient to raise his hand if he wishes the dentist to pause. Toothpaste is produced and discussed as a familiar topic, dentist's finger nail are then polished first, the parent's and then finally child's. From here it may be possible to polish the anterior teeth then followed by bur by introducing special small brush for posterior teeth, care should be taken to make no unexpected movements. Initially, simple restorations should be done followed by multiple restorations. If the child is not cooperative for the treatment, it has to be done under sedation. Along with dental causes and management have been also discussed.


This paper describes DUT-NLP Lab's submission to the WMT-21 triangular machine translation shared task. The participants are not allowed to use other data and the translation direction of this task is Russian-to-Chinese. In this task, we use the Transformer as our baseline model, and integrate several techniques to enhance the performance of the baseline, including data filtering, data selection, fine-tuning, and post-editing. Further, to make use of the English resources, such as Russian/English and Chinese/English parallel data, the relationship triangle is constructed by multilingual neural machine translation systems. As a result, our submission achieves a BLEU score of 21.9 in Russian-to-Chinese.


The application in purulent peritonitis of a novel surgical lavaging agent with unique properties is reported. Taurolin is a non-toxic formaldehyde-transmitter with a Thiadiazine structure exhibiting a twofold action in gram-negative sepsis owing to its bactericidal potency and its ability to denature endotoxins in vivo. The present study reports the surgical treatment of 62 patients with appendicitis and peritonitis of varying genesis, using 0.5% Taurolin as lavaging and 2% Taurolin as instillation agents. After 5 days 22 out of 25 patients with purulent peritonitis were void of intraperitoneal bacteria. To date no significant adverse drug reactions were observed.


The purpose of this study was to use a newly developed computerised scorebook for tennis in order to clarify the characteristics of tennis tactics used on specific court surfaces. The authors developed a computerised scorebook for tennis that calculates the time duration of shots, points, and the time between points. Data were collected from matches played by male Japanese intercollegiate players. A total of 97 points were observed. Two observers (A, B) were recruited for recording matches using the scorebook. The mean error of observer A was 0.003±0.05 s, while the mean error of observer B was 0.02±0.10 s. The computerised scorebook for tennis was used to collect data for clarifying the characteristics of tennis tactics used on specific court surfaces. Forty-one matches from the Grand Slam tournaments held in 2003 and 2004 were analyzed. The scorebook recorded the final shot of each point, the result of each point, and the time duration of each shot. The final shots were categorised into the following 5 groups: service, return of serve, ground strokes, attacking strokes, and defending strokes. The time between the impact of the serve and the impact of the return of serve determined the duration of service. The time duration of ground strokes was calculated as the time between the impact of one player and the impact of the other player. A chi-square test was used to compare the distribution of the final shots on each surface. An ANOVA test was conducted in order to compare the time duration on each surface and a Tukey's HSD test was used for multiple comparisons. For the last shot of each point, significant differences were observed between the court surface and the distribution of the type of stroke. The percentage of ground strokes was high on clay while the percentages for attacking and defending strokes were high on grass. Furthermore, the rate of service strokes was high on hard courts. The shot time duration of the 1st service was 0.91 s on clay, 0.71 s on grass, and 0.73 s on hard courts. The time duration of service on clay was significantly longer than the time durations observed on other surfaces. The time duration of ground strokes was 1.36 s on clay, 1.34 s on grass, and 1.35 s on hard courts. The time duration of ground strokes on clay was significantly longer than time durations observed on grass; however, the difference was only 2/100 of a second. Service and return of service strokes were important to the tactics used on grass and hard courts as players must react more quickly than on clay. Ground strokes were important on clay and hard courts, and the average time duration of ground strokes was equal on these surfaces.


The southern African cercopithecid (monkey) fauna has undergone a profound change in composition and diversity since the Plio-Pleistocene, with modern species representing only a small part of the diversity that existed in the past. During the Plio-Pleistocene, eleven cercopithecid species were found in southern Africa, as many as six of which might have been contemporaneous. The move to more open environments, plus dispersal from and to southern Africa, have probably contributed significantly to changes in monkey diversity over the past three million years. Some of the Plio-Pleistocene cercopithecids are likely to have lived in the same ecological communities as hominins. In modern primate communities, niche partitioning is sometimes used as a way to minimise competition for resources. This would have been a plausible way to maintain relatively high species diversity in the Plio-Pleistocene primate fauna of southern Africa. Nonetheless, the presence of hominins in the generalist feeder niche could have affected the behaviour of other primates in their communities, specifically the monkeys that today have an eclectic diet. It is also possible that Plio-Pleistocene hominins influenced community structure and behaviour through predation. In conclusion, environmental changes as well as interaction with hominins each contributed to shaping the community structure that is seen in South African monkeys today, but further work is required to reconstruct in more depth the interactions of the ecological communities to which hominins belonged.


Mortality is a common primary endpoint in randomized controlled trials of patients with a high severity of illness, such as critically ill patients. However, researchers are increasingly evaluating functional outcomes, such as quality of life. Importantly, in such trials some patients may die before the assessment of a functional outcome, resulting in the functional outcome being "truncated due to death." As described in this paper, defining and testing treatment effects on functional outcomes in this setting requires careful consideration. Data from a completed trial of critically ill patients are used to highlight key differences among three statistical approaches used when analyzing such trials.