Personnel departments often have particular responsibility for equal opportunities within their organizations. This paper explores equal opportunities within personnel departments themselves, in relation to the careers of ethnic minority personnel practitioners. Through primary research, it identifies a range of criteria which can affect personnel careers, of which ethnic origin is often one. However, although being categorized as of ethnic minority origin often hinders personnel careers, the paper reveals that it is sometimes possible for individuals who are so categorized to overcome that negative effect through demonstrating some of those other criteria. Thus, the paper suggests, it is not just organizational equal opportunities practices which may provide hope for ethnic minority personnel careers but also – and perhaps more importantly – the actions of the ethnic minority individuals themselves. Ways in which personnel departments might support these actions are discussed.


The morphological ontogeny of Trichoribates naltschicki (Shaldybina, 1971) is described and illustrated, based on juvenile and adult specimens from a horse pasture in the steppe of northern Mongolia (Bulgan Province). The juveniles of T. naltschicki lack a humeral organ and a dark pigmented cuticle around the opisthonotal gland opening, which occur in some species of Trichoribatinae. In the adult, seta l" on genua I and II and all tibiae is thick, spine-like and barbed.


BACKGROUND
Numerous theoretical studies have been performed to iteratively optimize the physicochemical properties such as dendrimer size and surface constituents in solution, as well as their molecular recognition properties for drugs, lipid membranes, nucleic acids and proteins, etc. Molecular modeling approaches such as docking and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations have supported experimental efforts by providing important insights into the structural properties of dendrimers in solution and possible binding properties of drugs at the atomic level.

METHOD
We review the utilization of molecular modelling tools to obtain insight into the study and design of dendrimers, with particular importance placed on the improvement of binding properties of dendrimers for their use as drug nanocarriers and to increase the water solubility properties and drug delivery.

RESULTS
The modeling studies discussed in this review have provided substantial insight into the physicochemical properties of dendrimers in solution, including solvent pH and counterion distribution, at the atomic level, as well as the elucidation of some of the key interactions in solution of unmodified and modified dendrimers with some drugs of pharmaceutics interest and biological systems such as nucleic acids, proteins and lipid membranes.

CONCLUSION
the described studies illustrate that whether simulations will be run at the all-atom or coarse-grained level, physicochemical conditions such as the type of force field, the treatment of electrostatics effects, counterion distribution, protonation state of dendrimers, and dendrimer concentrations which have been probed to play a crucial role in the structural behavior and binding properties must be prudently incorporated in the simulations.


Recognizing the several roles that education can play in turning a country around had prompted the Nigerian nation to change from the system of education that was bequeathed to her by the British colonialist into an education system that was believed, could move the country forward and accelerate a rapid growth and development. The Nigerian nation needed a system of education that could favorably compete with its developing counterparts in the area of science and technology, good governance and in socio-economic advancement; a system that could create a national consciousness in the citizens and a holistic development in all spheres of life. There was the need to have an education system that is result-focused and development-driven.With this challenge, it became binding and fundamental to design an education system that could transform the Nigerian nation in all respects and a system of education that is capable of building a sound and virile society for the Nigerian nation state. It was the general belief therefore, that the 6-3-3-4 system of education could make a dramatic and the desired change that the nation had long aspired to have. The system has taken more than a period of three decades now in practice, it is not too early nor out of purview to assess the product or take stock of its successes, failures, strengths and weaknesses. It is with this in view, that this paper has tried to look at one of the cardinal components of the New National Policy on Education, its functionality, how much it has impacted or challenged the imaginative and the creative competence of the Nigerian child especially at the secondary school level and how much it has transformed the beneficiaries of the system and the entire sectorial life of the Nigerian nation. In doing this, the paper has tried to look at few of the core techniques of teaching that are used often by teachers and how the traditional teaching techniques could be assisted to provoke the latent imaginative and the creative ability of the child by teachers in our secondary schools so as to achieve the goals that were set for the 6-3-3-4 system of education. To address this impasse, the study has stressed how the traditional teaching techniques could be fostered and be better strengthened through the use of strategies that could help to transform theories and practices learnt by students in the classroom to functional assets. In addition, how the strategies could synchronize with the existing teaching techniques to make a change in secondary school teaching and make learning easier was given a pertinent consideration. Recognizing the preponderance of the challenges foisted on our education system, some recommendations were made to the relevant bodies that oversee the running of education in Nigeria and, to those who are supposed to complement the efforts of those vested with the responsibility of managing the education industry in Nigeria.


This paper focuses on controlling a real power system which includes 15 kW photovoltaic power source combined with 15 kW - 7.5 kWh lithium - ion battery and 10 kW proton exchange membrane fuel cell. A control method needs to be developed to ensure the power balance between the supply from the intermittent PV power and the demand at any instant. In this study, a power management unit associated with Kalman filter prediction and based on experimental dynamic characteristics of system components has been designed. The performance of system with implemented power management strategy for several typical days is evaluated through simulation. The simulation results show that this new control method is reliable in load satisfaction in a long term as well as in a short term. In addition, the proposed method, compared with conventional power management strategy, shows the benefit of using less hydrogen and therefore, higher efficiency in the simulation time.


Traditional planning processes, Effects-Based Operations, and Systemic Operational Design fill niches in the continuum of military planning, yet each is insufficient by itself to generate optimum solutions to every problem. This paper first describes three systemic problems faced by every modern planning process. With these issues in mind, this paper then examines the strengths and weaknesses of each planning process. Finally, a recommended integrated planning process is proposed that leverages the strengths of each process while mitigating their weaknesses.


The Big Spruce alkaline complex has yielded a Rb–Sr isochron of 2111 ± 40 m.y. The rocks are unmetamorphosed, but the local geochronological evidence indicates that they have had a complicated thermal history. The complex has four magnetizations, which can be separated by a two-stage demagnetization procedure. The D magnetization (19 sites; 022, +88; α95 = 8°; pole 67 °N 113 °W) is considered to have been acquired at the time of emplacement because it generally has the highest blocking temperatures (500 to 650 °C). The X, Y, and Z magnetizations are believed to be later overprints, as they generally have lower blocking temperatures and have directions that are comparable to those found in younger rocks in the interval of approximately 2000 to 1400 m.y. Most of the overprints seem to have been acquired at times of mild reheating during this interval.


This article discusses the self-sustainability of reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) in wireless powered Internet of Things (IoT) networks. Our vision is that RIS helps improve energy harvesting and data transmission capabilities simultaneously, without the extra utilization of RF spectrum and energy consumption. The inherent properties of RIS are first discussed to unveil its distinctive features, followed by a broader range of use cases motivated by RIS as their enabling technology. The focus is on the application of RIS in the wireless powered IoT networks, and its potential to interconnect and support these practical use cases. Such an application is then thoroughly evaluated in a case study of an RIS-assisted wireless powered sensor network, with system throughput, energy transmission time consumption, and energy harvesting as the key performance metrics. The comprehensive performance evaluation showcases the self-sustainable property of RIS being unlocked in the considered scenario, identifying a clear pathway toward the future wireless powered IoT networks. We further pave the way by exploring research challenges and open issues related to emerging technological development.


To decrease NOx emissions from combustion systems, lean premixed combustion is used. A disadvantage is the higher sensitivity to combustion instabilities, leading to increased sound pressure levels in the combustor and resulting in an increased excitation of the surrounding structure: the liner. This causes fatigue, which limits the lifetime of the combustor. This paper presents a joint experimental and numerical investigation of this acoustoelastic interaction problem for frequencies up to 1 kHz. To study this problem experimentally, a test setup has been built consisting of a single burner, 500 kW, 5 bar combustion system. The thin structure (liner) is contained in a thick pressure vessel with optical access for a traversing laser vibrometer system to measure the vibration levels of the liner. The acoustic excitation of the liner is measured using pressure sensors measuring the acoustic pressures inside the combustion chamber. For the numerical model, the finite element method with full coupling between structural vibration and acoustics is used. The flame is modeled as an acoustic volume source corresponding to a heat release rate that is frequency independent. The temperature distribution is taken from a Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes (RaNS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. Results show very good agreement between predicted and measured acoustic pressure levels. The predicted and measured vibration levels also match fairly well.


The eighteenth century saw a flourishing of scientific and philosophical thought throughout Scotland, known as the Scottish Enlightenment. The accomplishments of prominent male figures of this period have been well documented in all disciplines. However, studies of women's experiences are relatively sparse. This paper partially corrects this oversight by drawing together evidence for women's participation in mathematics in Scotland between 1730 and 1850. In considering women across all social classes, it argues for a broad definition of 'mathematics' that includes arithmetic and astronomy, and assesses women's opportunities for engagement under three headings: education, family, and sociability. It concludes that certain elements of Scottish Enlightenment culture promoted wider participation by women in mathematical activities than has previously been recognized, but that such participation continued to be circumscribed by societal views of the role of women within family formation.


The purpose of this study was to define the level of twin birthweight discordance across gestational age at which perinatal morbidity, neonatal death, or congenital anomalies were more likely to occur. One hundred ninety-four sets of twins (1982-1985) were retrospectively studied. Discordance was defined as (birthweight of larger-birthweight of smaller/birthweight of larger) x 100. The mean discordance was 10.3 +/- 8.5% (26 to 32 weeks = 7.6 +/- 5.9%; 33 to 36 weeks = 9.5 +/- 9.5%; 37 to 42 weeks = 11.4 +/- 8.5%) (p = 0.07). The occurrence of morbidity, neonatal death, and anomalies was increased with prematurity or the occurrence of small for gestational age in both twins. However, neither morbidity, neonatal death, nor anomalies were significantly related to level of discordance. These data demonstrate that prematurity and birthweight below the tenth percentile may present a greater threat to twins than does birthweight discordance. These findings should be given due consideration in planning antepartum management.


Introduction: Acute bronchiolitis is a common viral respiratory illness with clinical features ranging from mild to severe forms, requiring intensive care management. Calcium, a micronutrient, plays a significant role in numerous intracellular and extracellular events. Vitamin D deficiency is known to be associated with respiratory infections, and vitamin D metabolism regulates serum calcium and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) levels. Thus, calcium levels may be the actual causative factor at the molecular level to determine the severity of respiratory infections. Aim: To estimate and compare serum calcium levels in infants with acute bronchiolitis and controls. Additionally, it aimed to investigate the effect of sunlight exposure on calcium levels in infants presenting at a tertiary care centre. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2004 to April 2006, over two consecutive years, among 446 infants in the paediatric unit of a tertiary care centre in Delhi, North India. A total of 223 infants (<1 year of age) hospitalised with a diagnosis of acute bronchiolitis, presenting with the first episode of wheeze based on American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) criteria (including coryza, fever, tachypnoea, tachycardia, paroxysmal wheezy cough, and irritability), were considered as cases. An equal number of age-matched controls (n=223), admitted for non respiratory illnesses, were included. Blood samples were collected for total serum calcium, phosphorus, and ALP, along with other relevant investigations related to their diagnosis. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's t-test, Kruskal-Wallis's test, and Chi-square test. Results: The study included 223 patients in both the case and control groups. In the control group, there were 76.58% males and 23.42% females, while in the cases, there were 81.53% males and 18.47% females. The mean age of cases was 5.78±3.45 months, and controls were 4.77±2.83 months, with a mean difference of 1.01 (95% CI, 0.42-1.59). The mean calcium levels were 9.00±1.43 mg/dL and 8.71±1.51 mg/dL in controls and cases, respectively, with a mean difference of 0.29 (95% CI0.02 to 0.56), which was statistically significant (p-value=0.037). There was no significant difference in phosphorus and ALP levels between the two groups. Conclusion: This study found an association between calcium levels and acute bronchiolitis. The findings suggest that low serum calcium levels might serve as a risk factor for acute bronchiolitis.


Common experience suggests that many networks might possess community structure—division of vertices into groups, with a higher density of edges within groups than between them. Here we describe a new computer algorithm that detects structure of this kind. We apply the algorithm to a number of realworld networks and show that they do indeed possess non-trivial community structure. We suggest a possible explanation for this structure in the mechanism of assortative mixing, which is the preferential association of network vertices with others that are like them in some way. We show by simulation that this mechanism can indeed account for community structure. We also look in detail at one particular example of assortative mixing, namely mixing by vertex degree, in which vertices with similar degree prefer to be connected to one another. We propose a measure for mixing of this type which we apply to a variety of networks, and also discuss the implications for network structure and the formation of a giant component in assortatively mixed networks.


This article deals with the starting of a GIS project with a brief description of the planning and the engineering process. Typically, the process starts with the network planning performed by the system engineers. It is therefore important that the system planning engineers possess a certain minimum knowledge of GIS to be able to utilize the benefits of this technology.


A recent paper in the Journal of business ethics (Staricco 2016) measures fair trade against Levinasian ethics. Our paper is a critic of that paper. We want to show that (1) Levinasian ethics is not necessarily the best normative reference for evaluating fair trade. This means that his fetishisation of Levinasian ethics in fair trade is not a valid idea, (2) the author commits a methodological error when he argues that fair trade should be evaluated with regard to an ideal normative criterion, and (3) his distorted view of fair trade does not accurately reflect the fair trade movement, and he commits another methodological error by confusing fair trade with a sole practice, whereas the movement is based on a multiplicity of ramifications and practices.


The intravenous injection of ketamine in the human arm with isolated circulation, using the same technique as for intravenous regional anesthesia, produces a dose-related depression of neuromuscular transmission, as evidenced by the evoked response to supramaximal stimulation of the ulnar nerve with a nerve stimulator. The dose range of ketamine was 200, 25, 10, 5, 1, 0.5 and 0.25 mg, in 20 ml of 5% dextrose in water. The exact mechanism of this effect is discussed. This depression may have clinical significance under certain circumstances.


In a newly developed murine model of allogeneic peripheral progenitor transplantation (PBPCT) we investigated the immunotherapeutic potential of allogeneic peripheral stem cells. The following topics were addressed by our experiments: (1) comparison of the graft-versus-leukemia effect exerted by allogeneic PBPCT compared to allogeneic BMT; (2) the influence of T-lymphocytes on GVL activity; (3) the possibility to enhance the GVL activity of allogeneic PBPCT grafts by ex vivo cytokine incubation. Balb/c mice received cells of the syngeneic B-lymphatic leukemia A20 2 days prior to TBI (7.5 Gy) and the respective graft. The recipients received allogeneic bone marrow grafts or allogeneic peripheral progenitor cells obtained after mobilization of the donors (DBA/2) with either G-CSF in a dose of 250 microg/kg/day for 5 days. In some experiments T lymphocytes were removed by immunomagnetic depletion with CD3-coated beads. An additional group received T cell-depleted and IL-2/IL12-activated PBPCT grafts. The antileukemic activity of an allogeneic PBPCT graft was significantly greater than the antileukemic activity of an allogeneic BMT graft of the same size. Relapse rates were 80% in syngeneic PBPCT, 60% after allogeneic BMT and 34% after allogeneic PBPCT. This rise in antileukemic activity is not accompanied by a rise in GVHD mortality. Depletion of T lymphocytes by CD3-coated beads resulted in a nearly complete loss of the GVL activity with a relapse rate of 75%. Incubation of the T-depleted graft with IL-2 and IL-12 to enhance NK-based GVL activity has only limited success after MHC-matched transplantation with a relapse rate of 55%. Allogeneic PBPC exert a pronounced antileukemic effect. After MHC-matched PBPCT, this GVL effect resides mostly on the T cells of the graft. Ex vivo activation of T cell-depleted grafts by IL-2 and IL-12 is accompanied by an only limited reduction of relapse rate. PBPC are a valuable modality for primary transplantation in situations with high risk of relapse and for the treatment of relapse after BMT.


Iron(III) loaded cellulose nanocomposite bead, synthesized through sol-gel method, was characterized by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, tunneling electron microscopy, and tested for adsorptive removal of alizarin red S from aqueous solution. The influence of variables such as pH, contact time, initial dye concentration, adsorbent dose and temperature for dye retention were investigated in batch operation. The process was optimized by employing response surface methodology following full factorial and central composite design. The maximum adsorption of 97% was observed at an optimum condition of pH 3.0, dose of 2.0 gdm-3 and shaking time of 45 mins corresponding to the dye concentration of 100 mgdm-3 at 303 K. Correlation of cooperative influences of the significant variables and the extent of dye adsorption were represented by a second order polynomial equation. The mutual interactions of the significant variables were presented by 3D response surface and 2D contour plots in the design space. The adsorption was better described by Langmuir isotherm and pseudo second order kinetics. The process was spontaneous (-∆G°, 48.19 kJmol-1 ), feasible (∆S°, 0.284 Jmol -1 K-1 ) and endothermic (∆H°, 71.62 kJmol-1 ). The adsorbent can be regenerated with NaOH (10.0 × 10-2 M) and recycled for reuse, at least for five successive operations.


This study discusses the phenomenon of fujoshi which is a favorite of a woman in enjoying anime and manga that has the genre Yaoi or Boys Love. Yaoi is a genre that tells about same-sex relationships made by men. This research was conducted with qualitative research methods with virtual ethnographic analysis. This study will examine how the construction of gender identity is built on yaoi fans on social media by using the communication theory of gender from Michael Hecht. The results showed that the gender identity of fujoshi was formed through three layers, namely the personal layer, the enactment layer, and the communal layer. This study also found that Fujitsu tends to have multiple identities in their lives. Fujoshi is more willing to show identity about their passion for yaoi on social media.

Keywords: Popular Culture, Fujoshi, Social Media, Gender Identity Communication


At some early stage in a child's development of the comprehension and production of language, he/she must recognize that single words correspond to referents in the environment. How to best present the critical aspects of the environment to which a verbal label is attached is not entirely known. For language-impaired children it is important to know how to highlight this relationship between linguistic and nonlinguistic cues so that therapy will be most effective. To examine how language-impaired children best learn single word lexical items, nouns and verbs were taught expressively through two modes of stimulus presentation thought to highlight the nonlinguistic environment: object manipulation and picture identification. The efficacy of these two treatment conditions was assessed with four children functioning at Piaget's sensorimotor period of development by using a single subject, alternating treatments design. The results indicated individual variation in learning strategies. Two of the children learned more single words (nouns and verbs) in the object manipulation condition. One child learned equally well in both conditions and the fourth child learned best in the picture identification condition. Variables accounting for the individual variation are discussed.


Fat grafting is an old technique. Since its first description in 1893, fat was used in a lot of indications. After more then a century of evolution, there is still no commonly accepted standard method of fat transfer by all the authors. On the contrary, many different techniques have been described in the literature with the only aim of reducing resorption of the transferred fat. Today the main inconvenient of fat grafting remains the partial resorption the transferred tissue. After a review of the literature of the various technique of fat transfer presented according to their chronology in the operative procedure, we have observed that the techniques developed by certain authors are the opposite of the techniques developed by others. This shows the lack of rigorous work concerning the fat transfer. Whether they are experimental or clinical, in most of these studies, we can find at least one skew which could have influence the results and the conclusion of these studies. A critical revue of the literature offers the opportunity to reconsider the actual bases of fat transfer. The use of an objective way of quantifying the volumes in clinical practice could permit the comparison of different studies in the future.


The public policies of media literacy gain importance in the face of the transformations of the ways of making communication. And the effectiveness of these policies, within the scope of basic education, may run counter to the receptivity of teachers. This article analyzes the perception of teachers of public education in Fortaleza (Brazil) about educational radio and the orientation they adopt in the development of curricular activities. The research was carried out in 2014, in 21 schools integrated to the More Education Program (PME). The PME, implemented in 2007 by the Ministry of Education, intends to develop a policy of integral education for schools. One of the activities offered is school radio, by the macro field "Communication and Use of Media". A total of 124 interviews were carried out, among More Education coordinators, teachers and students. The interviews were carried out from a questionnaire of 63 questions. For this article, we focused on the analysis of 31 interviews with public school teachers who made the option of school radio as an activity. The results of the analysis point to a low index of teachers participation in the functioning of school radio, a perception of learning still focused only on literacy and difficulties in the approximation between school radio and classroom.


In recent work, the augmented Lagrangian approach to large deformation frictional contact problems has been advocated for finite element calculations. The resulting algorithms have been shown to facilitate accurate constraint enforcement in a robust manner, while providing an effective technique for removal of the nonsymmetry associated with most frictional constitutive laws. In this work, we examine automation schemes for the algorithm, such that multipliers can be determined to a specified degree of accuracy without user intervention. The performance of the resulting automatic augmentation algorithm is then examined, providing important information about practical attributes of the procedure.


Precarious employment is an important social determinant of health inequities. Through in-depth qualitative interviews ( n  =  35), we examine precarious employment and labor exploitation, their potential impact on the working environment, and, ultimately, the health of farmworkers. We present results from the community-based participatory Michigan Farmworker Project. Our analysis identified dimensions of precarious employment and labor exploitation that involved lacking access to fundamental labor and social rights—including dehumanization—discriminatory occupational practices, and insufficient access to health care and social benefits. Policy reform is needed to address precarious employment and labor exploitation among farmworkers due to their potential long-lasting health effects.


The research was concuted with the aims to find out the correlation between the biceps explosive power and shot-put achievement of sideways style of the students class VI SD Negeri Suro Kalibagor Banyumas. The aims expected were (1) theoretically, it increased the knowledge of sport especially shot-put, (2) practically; it was benefical for sport teacher, especially the trainer of shot-put to plan and conduct a good rehearsal program. This research was correlational research, the subjects were the sixth graders of SD NegeriSuroKalibagorBanyumas with 30 students. The instrument and the technique used in this research was test and the measurement of biceps explosive power and the test of shot-put of sideways style. The data analysis was by correlation test with the significance level 5%. The result showed that there was a significant correlation between the biceps explosive power and shot-put achievement of sideways style of the students class VI SD NegeriSuroKlibagorBanyumas. It could be seen from the result of the coefficient correlation, that was rcount0,676 >rtabel0,361


Introduction. Uveal melanoma is the most common primary malignancy of the eye. The Cancer Registry of Slovenia reported the incidence of choroid melanoma from 1983 to 2009 as stable, at 7.8 cases/million for men and 7.4/million for women. Patients and Methods. From 1986 to December 2008 we treated 288 patients with malignant melanoma of the choroid (MMC). 127 pts was treated by brachytherapy with beta rays emmiting ruthenium-106 applicators, 161 pts were treated by enucleation. Results. Pts treated by brachytherapy had 5-and 10- years overall mortality 13% and 32% respectively. Pts treated by enucleation had 5- and 10 years mortality 46 % and 69% respectively. The difference could be atributed to selection of the pts with tumours larger than 7 mm in height and base larger than 16 mm to the treatment by enucleation. 30 pts treated by brachytherapy developed local reccurence. 25 of 127 pts treated by brachytherapy and 86 of 161 those treated by enucleation developed metastases. Patients of age ≥60years had significantly worse survival in both treatment modalities. For pts treated by brachytherapy the diameter of the tumour and time of implantation were independent prognostic factors for survival, for pts treated by enucleation only histological type of tumour was significant. In first years after treatment of the primary tumour there is a temporary increase in melanoma mortality rate especially in older patients. Conclusions . It seems that some patients can be cured, particularly younger patients with early tumours, whereby preference is given to eyesight preserving brachytherapy over enucleation.


In order to clarify the morphological features of peripheral motor nerves and motoneurons that innervate trunk muscles, the size distribution of external oblique (EO) peripheral motor fibers and motoneurons of the thoracic and the lumbar segments were examined. Histograms of the size distribution of EO motor fibers in peripheral nerves after ganglionectomy clearly had a bimodal distribution of small fiber groups and large fiber groups. It is very likely that small fiber groups correspond to gamma motor fibers and large fiber groups to alpha motor fibers. Gamma and alpha motor fiber groups were separated at 8–14 μm. The average diameter of the gamma and alpha motor fibers were different in each segment. The ratio of gamma and alpha motor fibers was approximately 1:2.0 in the thoracic segments and from 1:1.8 to 1:0.9 in the lumbar segments. Horseradish peroxidase was applied to the central stump of EO nerves, and the size distribution of EO motoneuron cell bodies in the thoracic and the lumbar spinal cords was examined. The size distribution of motoneuron cell bodies was bimodal in one cat (small and large motoneurons) and unimodal in three cats. When the ratio of small motor fibers to large motor fibers in peripheral nerves was applied to that of small motoneurons to large motoneurons, the separation of small and large motoneurons was approximately 40 μm. These results suggest that the morphological characteristics in peripheral nerves of trunk muscles are not reflected in motoneurons.


ABSTRACT Water scarcity involves quantity and quality risks, as well as technological, behavioral, and policy-based factors. This study informs understanding of water scarcity by examining perceived threats and solutions across sites in the United States, New Zealand, Fiji, and Bolivia. Using interview data, we (1) characterize perceived water scarcity risks and solutions for each setting and (2) examine how perceptions differ across countries based on development and water scarcity. Broadly, residents in developed contexts worried more about quality than about quantity, and individual practices (e.g., preventing pollution) were most commonly cited as remedies. Yet significant differences exist across geographies. First, residents in water-scarce regions were relatively concerned about quantity, and they tended to emphasize collective policies and technologies. Second, residents of developed countries were more likely to suggest collective water policies as strategies, whereas those in developing areas stressed behavioral and technological strategies as solutions, primarily to pollution.


The case of the socially disruptive breakup of the century-old Timken provides an example of how accountants could have exercised creative leadership to push back against self-interested constituencies who manipulated accounting data. Accountants can exercise creativity in educating decision makers about the uncertainty inherent in accounting estimates. Accountants can present information in a nuanced manner that will pierce the illusion that there is a single rational choice. By presenting information in a creative and nuanced manner, accountants can empower decision makers to make courageous, reasonable choices that balance financial realities with the public interest.


A 320×240 pixel organic-light-emitting-diode-on-silicon (OLEDoS) driving circuit is implemented using the standard 0.5 μm CMOS process of CSMC. It gives 16 gray scales with integrated 4 bit D/A converters. A three-transistor voltage-programmed OLED pixel driver is proposed, which can realize the very small current driving required for the OLEDoS microdisplay. Both the D/A converter and the pixel driver are implemented with pMOS devices. The pass-transistor and capacitance in the OLED pixel driver can be used to sample the output of the D/A converter. An additional pMOS is added to OLED pixel driver, which is used to control the D/A converter operating only when one row is on. This can reduce the circuit's power consumption. This driving circuit can work properly in a frame frequency of 50 Hz, and the final layout of this circuit is given. The pixel area is 28.4 × 28.4 μm2 and the display area is 10.7 × 8.0 mm2 (the diagonal is about 13 mm). The measured pixel gray scale voltage shows that the function of the driver circuit is correct, and the power consumption of the chip is about 350 mW.


The crystallographic structure of Hg1–xMnxTe grown on GaAs by an interdiffused multilayer organometallic vapour–phase epitaxial process has been investigated using high resolution X–ray diffraction. Most layers were almost 100 % relaxed and of poor composition uniformity across the wafer. In contrast to layers grown by direct deposition of the ternary compound, no variation of double–axis rocking–curve width was found with thickness, but there was a linear variation with the Mn fraction. Triple–axis reciprocal space maps showed that a substantial gradient existed in the Mn composition with depth. This has been quantified by matching experimental data to simulations based on the Takagi–Taupin theory. Evidence has been found for both epitaxy and clumps of MnTe on the surface of samples with low x content, providing a possible explanation of anomalous transport and magnetic phenomena.


Essential and toxic metals were determined in eighteen samples of medicinal herbs from Poland, Lithuania and Serbia by means of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). Calcium, K and Mg concentrations were obtained in % (m/m) and other metals (Na, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn, Cd, Cr and Pb) in mg kg-1. The fact that the herb samples analyzed belonged to specific plant species and represented different morphological plant parts explained the characteristic distribution in two-dimensional scores plots obtained by principal component analysis (PCA). A strong correlation of LIBS results was achieved in comparison to those obtained by ICP OES for Ca, K and Mg. Differences in the types of infusions were observed, in that leaves are related to Zn and Ni concentrations, leaves and flowers to Co, Ca and Mn concentrations and flowers to K, Na, Mg and Fe content.


In this paper, to evaluate the applicability of electrostatically-actuated metal to metal direct-contact RF MEMS switches in practical RF fields, we performed three kinds of lifetime tests for the switches using three different conditions: cold-switching with no power, hot-switching with RF power, and hot-switching with DC current loads. The tested MEMS switch was demonstrating stable operation even after 109 cycles when cold-switching with no loads. We also experimentally showed that the tested switches could endure up to 106 cycles with 0.5W of RF power and 108 cycles with 30mA of DC current.


Polar duality is a well-known concept from convex geometry and analysis. In the present paper, we study two symplectically covariant versions of polar duality keeping in mind their applications to quantum mechanics. The first variant makes use of the symplectic form on phase space and allows a precise study of the covariance matrix of a density operator. The latter is a fundamental object in quantum information theory., The second variant is a symplectically covariant version of the usual polar duality highlighting the role played by Lagrangian planes. It allows us to define the notion of"geometric quantum states"with are in bijection with generalized Gaussians.


This study examined a proposed framework of psychological net worth that builds on the current psychological capital conceptualization of positive psychological assets provided to an organization by articulating the construct of psychological debt or those psychological liabilities in an organization identified as organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviors, professionalism and subjective-wellbeing. Psychological debt is described as the negative individual attributes that hamper productivity, morale and effectiveness in organizations and are described using the dimension of emotional labor, job insecurity, job stress, job deviance, and stigmatic injustice. Data were collected from 166 third and fourth year medical students and 56 physician mentors in a Midwestern medical school using Hierarchical Linear Modeling with results indicating several significant relationships between Psychological Capital and Psychological Debt, including an interactive effect with psychological capital and psychological debt on organizational outcomes.


Abstract Whereas the fictiveness of narrative perspective is taken for granted in literature, it also emerges as a salient element in the experiences of pictorial art and architecture as part of a viewer's internal response to their altered views of reality. Whether a visual technique or a narrative one for shaping the way things are seen, perspective assumes that the conditions of seeing an object are flexible and open to mental and material variables in diverse historical media and sites. These range from the cognitively provocative trompe l'œil fresco paintings of seventeenth-century Italy, the typographical headings used as chapter divisions in eighteenth-century British novels, and hand-colored eighteenth-century prints of city scenes made to look three-dimensional through an optical device, to the inscribed stones used in post war Berlin monuments, and an art historian's recent perspectives on memories of his twentieth-century childhood home. Concentrating on perspective foremost as a medium and conduit for the imagination, Getting Perspective reveals its transhistorical role in word and image as a shaper and maker of imagined worlds.


The postgenomics era has witnessed a rapid change in biological methods for knowledge elucidation and pharmacological approaches to biomarker discovery. Differ- ential expression of proteins in health and disease holds the key to early diagnosis and accelerated drug discovery. This approach, however, has also brought an explosion of data complexity not mirrored by existing progress in proteome informatics. It has become apparent that the task is greater than that can be tackled by individual laboratories alone and large-scale open collaborations of the new Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) have highlighted major challenges concerning the integration and cross-validation of results across different laboratories. This paper describes the state- of-the-art proteomics workflows (two-dimensional gel electro- phoresis, liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry) and their utilization by the participants of the HUPO initiatives towards comprehensive mapping of the brain, liver, and plasma proteomes. Particular emphasis is given to the limita- tions of the underlying data analysis techniques for large-scale collaborative proteomics. Emerging paradigms including sta- tistical data normalization, direct image registration, spectral libraries, and high-throughput computation with Web-based bioinformatics services are discussed. It is envisaged that these methods will provide the basis for breaking the bottleneck of large-scale automated proteome mapping and biomarker discovery.


Remote sensing plays a key role in landscape monitoring, but our handling of these data in a multi-temporal time series is not yet fully developed. Of particular concern is the presence of spatial and thematic errors in independently created maps that distort measures of landscape pattern and constrain the reliability of change analysis. In addition, there is a need to incorporate continuous attributes of cover gradients for flexible map representations that support a variety of applications. In this paper, we present a framework for generating temporally and categorically dynamic land-cover maps that provide such a reliable and adaptable foundation. The centerpiece is a spatio-temporal disturbance-inventory database, created through semi-automated change detection and conditioned with boundary-matching procedures, which can be used to backdate and update both continuous and categorical reference maps. We demonstrate our approach using multi-annual Landsat imagery from a forested region in west-central Alberta, Canada, between the years 1998 and 2005.


There is abundant evidence for the association between erectile dysfunction (ED) and the traditional atherosclerotic risk factors, such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and obesity, that make up the metabolic syndrome. Recent findings have demonstrated a linear relationship between the number of these risk factors and the prevalence of ED. There is also growing evidence that endothelial dysfunction characterized by decreased bioavailability of nitrogen monoxide (NO) and a proinflammatory, prothrombotic, and proliferative phenotype is the common pathogenetic pathway linking ED to peripheral vascular diseases. Since ED often occurs several years before any clinical manifestation of systemic cardiovascular disease, ED should be seen as a warning of early atherosclerotic disease and an opportunity for doctor and patient to initiate preventive measures.


An understanding of linear algebra is critical as a stepping-oo point for understanding neural networks. This handout includes basic deenitions, then quickly progresses to elementary but powerful techniques such as eigenbases. For your private ediication, a few exercises are included, identiied by bullets ; some exercises come with hints and answers. Take what you will from this handout, but be forewarned that future problem sets will require most of the concepts developed here, so it behooves you to be comfortable with them. Don't delay in asking a TA i f y ou can't gure it out on your own.


Torque Teno virus (TTV) has been demonstrated to be present persistently in the blood of healthy individuals without evidence that it causes any disease process. The levels of TTV vary in patients co‐infected with other viruses and there has been considerable speculation as to whether TTV contributes to pathogenesis by other viruses or if the varying levels might be related to immune activation in the host. In the present study, the load of TTV was examined in plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) following immunization of subjects with either influenza (a recall antigen) or hepatitis B virus (HBV) (a new antigenic exposure). The results overall did not indicate a significant change in TTV titers over a 90 day observation period; however, when TTV genogroup was taken into consideration there was an increase in viral load in plasma at some time points for subjects persistently infected with genogroup 3. While this was observed in both influenza and HBV immunized subjects, the effect was more profound in HBV vaccination. Thus, it appears that exposure to a new antigen rather than a recall antigen may stimulate TTV replication more effectively. The data further suggest that investigating the interactions between TTV and its host might require to examine specifically each TTV genogroup separately in order to determine if certain TTV types have any role in disease pathogenesis. J. Med. Virol. 75:358–365, 2005. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


BACKGROUND
Urine protein strip tests are often used in the ward or clinic as first-line measures of proteinuria. The ability of a semi-quantitative meter-read strip test for the protein:creatinine ratio, Multistix* PRO 10LS (Siemens Medical Solutions, Tarrytown, USA), was assessed as a first-line test to exclude significant proteinuria in the monitoring of patients with established chronic kidney disease.

METHODS
Eighty-six patients attending a hospital renal outpatient clinic collected three random urine samples during a 24-h period. Random urine protein:creatinine ratios measured by the strip test were compared to the laboratory estimation of 24-h protein excretion on that same day.

RESULTS
At significant protein excretion of 0.3 g/24 h, the strips elicited negative predictive values in the range of 91.2-94.1% and negative likelihood ratios of 0.01-0.12, using all the random urines. Receiver-operator characteristic curve analysis also demonstrated good performance with all samples.

CONCLUSIONS
The strip test allows the physician to rule out significant proteinuria at the patient consultation on a random urine sample, obviating the need for specially collected samples, and with the added benefit of reducing the need for a lengthy and costly quantitative laboratory follow-up by approximately 40-48%.


People love to alter and extend their homes. Many countries have large stocks of government-built housing which, for various reasons, are in poor physical conditions and/or do not conform to the expectations of occupants as we approach the second millenium. In many developing countries, occupants of such housing make unauthorised but quite considerable changes and extensions to their dwellings for their own use and for renting out. This phenomenon is known as "Transformation" and may contain useful models for countries around the world. In this paper we examine user-initiated transformations to government-built housing in Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana and Zimbabwe, studied in an ODA (now DFID)-sponsored research programme. The 1600 dwellings surveyed show how relatively low income households are capable of supplying new rooms and services both to improve their own housing conditions and to supply rental rooms or accommodation for family members living rent-free. In addition, the new construction is often of at least as good quality as the original structures and sometimes envelops the original in a new skin. Thus, transformation can be 1 This paper contains material previously presented in a paper at the 24th IAHS International Congress, Ankara, Turkey, 27-31 May, 1996 and the ENHR Conference in Helsingor, Denmark, 26-31 August, 1996. Although it was sponsored by the Overseas Development Administration of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of Her Majesty's Government, the views expressed are the authors alone.


We previously reported that noradrenergic neurons in the monkey locus coeruleus (LC) are activated selectively by target stimuli in a target detection task. Here, we varied the discrimination difficulty in this task and recorded impulse activity of LC neurons to analyze LC responses on error trials and in relation to behavioral response times (RTs). In easy and difficult discrimination conditions, LC neurons responded preferentially to target stimuli with phasic activation. These responses consistently preceded behavioral responses regardless of task difficulty. Latencies for LC and behavioral responses increased similarly for difficult compared with easy discrimination trials. LC response latencies were also shorter for fast RT trials compared with slow RT trials regardless of difficulty, indicating a close temporal relationship between LC and behavioral responses. This relationship was confirmed with response-locked histograms of LC activity, which yielded more temporally synchronized LC responses than stimulus-locked histograms. Population histograms of LC activity revealed that nontarget stimuli resulting in false alarm responses produced phasic LC activation (although smaller than for target-hit trials), and nontarget stimuli resulting in correct rejection responses yielded a small inhibition in LC activity. Population analyses also revealed that LC responses included an early, small excitatory component that was not previously detected. This early response was nondiscriminative because it was similar for target and nontarget stimulus trials. These results indicate that LC neurons exhibit early small magnitude responses that are closely linked to sensory stimuli. In addition, these cells show a later, larger magnitude response that is temporally linked to behavioral responses. These and other results lead us to hypothesize that LC responses are driven by decision processes and help facilitate subsequent behavioral responses.


This paper quantifies the influence of CuO nanoparticles on the boiling performance of R134a/polyolester mixtures on a roughened, horizontal, flat surface. Nanofluids are liquids that contain dispersed nano-size particles. A lubricant based nanofluid (nanolubricant) was made with a synthetic ester and 30 nm diameter CuO particles stably suspended in the mixture to a 1 % volume fraction. For the 0.5 % nanolubricant mass fraction, the nanoparticles caused a heat transfer enhancement relative to the heat transfer of pure R134a/polyolester (99.5/0.5) of between 50 % and 275 %. A smaller enhancement was observed for the R134a/nanolubricant (99/1) mixture, which had a heat flux that was on average 19 % larger than that of the R134a/polyolester (99/1) mixture. Further increase in the nanolubricant mass fraction to 2 % resulted in a still smaller boiling heat transfer improvement of approximately 12 % on average. Consequently, significant refrigerant/lubricant boiling heat transfer enhancements are possible with nanoparticles. Thermal conductivity measurements and a refrigerant\lubricant mixture pool-boiling model were used to suggest that increased thermal conductivity is responsible for only a small portion of the heat transfer enhancement due to nanoparticles. Further research with nanolubricants and refrigerants are required to establish a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that control nanofluid heat transfer.


The primary aim of this study was to analyze the validity and reliability of an instrument capable of measuring high school students' attentional stance, modes of reading engagement, and self-insight during literary reading. For this purpose, a self-report questionnaire was administered to high school students in three Austrian regions (N = 417). First, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the validity and the reliability of the preconceived measurement model. Second, the interrelationships among the validated constructs were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The fit and the validity of the structural model were evaluated, and the mediating effect of expressive reading was tested. The study yielded an instrument with valid and reliable scores that assesses 9 dimensions of high school students' reading experiences. The basic Kuiken-Douglas model (2017) on reading engagement and reading outcome could be replicated. Structural equation modeling indicated that high attentional focus negatively predicted expressive-experiential reading that in turn facilitated self-insight. This implies that students should be allowed leaky attention so that they can work with literary texts in a self-modifying way in literature education. Limitations are discussed.


Abstract The ability of a compound to cause adverse effects to the liver is one of the most common reasons for drug development failures and the withdrawal of drugs from the market. Such adverse effects can vary tremendously in severity, leading to an array of possible drug-induced liver injuries (DILIs). As a result, it is not surprising that drug development has evolved into a complex and multifaceted process including methods aiming to identify potential liver toxicities. Unfortunately, hepatotoxicity remains one of the most complex and poorly understood areas of human toxicity; thus it is a significant challenge to identify potential hepatotoxins. The performance of existing methods to identify hepatotoxicity requires improvement. The current study details a scheme for generating chemical categories and the development of structural alerts able to identify potential hepatotoxins. The study utilized a diverse 951-compound dataset and used structural similarity methods to produce a number of structurally restricted categories. From these categories, 16 structural alerts associated with observed human hepatotoxicity were developed. Furthermore, the mechanism(s) by which these compounds cause hepatotoxicity were investigated and a mechanistic rationale was proposed, where possible, to yield mechanistically supported structural alerts. Alerts of this nature have the potential to be used in the screening of compounds to highlight potential hepatotoxicity, whilst the chemical categories themselves are important in applying read-across approaches. The scheme presented in this study also has the potential to act as a knowledge generator serving as an excellent starting platform from which to conduct additional toxicological studies.


We present an algorithm for learning an approximate action-value soft Q-function in the relative entropy regularised reinforcement learning setting, for which an optimal improved policy can be recovered in closed form. We use recent advances in normalising flows for parametrising the policy together with a learned value-function; and show how this combination can be used to implicitly represent Q-values of an arbitrary policy in continuous action space. Using simple temporal difference learning on the Q-values then leads to a unified objective for policy and value learning. We show how this approach considerably simplifies standard Actor-Critic off-policy algorithms, removing the need for a policy optimisation step. We perform experiments on a range of established reinforcement learning benchmarks, demonstrating that our approach allows for complex, multimodal policy distributions in continuous action spaces, while keeping the process of sampling from the policy both fast and exact.


Aluminum-silicon Schottky diodes with a tapered window have been fabricated using graded etching of SiO2. The breakdown voltages have been drastically increased to 130 V in comparison with 30 V for unguarded Schottky diodes.


a slow pulse were combined with Cheyne-Stokes breathing, collapse was usually imminent. Headache was the commonest and most persistent symptom. Odd hysterical outbursts and visual disturbances were also seen, and in 24 cases severe papillredema, stupor, paralysis, convulsions and coma developed. Cerebra-spinal fluid pressure was raised in all cases. Three patients died from neurological complic8ltions, and at post-mortem examination the predominant features were cerebral and pulmonary eedema,


Abstract Background Infertility affects individual's and couples' adjustment. The defense mechanism and marital adjustment are mental processes that play a key role in infertile couples' life. Objective This study aims to investigate the role of defense mechanisms on marital adjustment in infertile couples based on the cause of infertility. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 infertile couples at Royan Institute (A referral center for infertility, Tehran, Iran). Infertile couples were divided into 4 groups based on the cause of infertility (female, male, both, and unknown). Demographic questionnaire, revised dyadic adjustment scale, and defense styles questionnaire were used for data collection. Results Results showed that the mean score of marital adjustment of men based on the cause of infertility (female, male, and both) was significantly higher in comparison with their wives (p = 0.04, p ≤ 0.001, p ≤ 0.001, respectively). However, no difference was observed between the mean score of women, men, and couples (women and husbands) in defense mechanisms. But marital adjustment has a significant positive correlation with mature defense mechanisms and a negative correlation with immature ones (p < 0.05). Conclusion The mean score of marital adjustment is higher in men than in their wives in all groups. So, counseling infertile couples in the field of marital adjustment and training in the use of mature defense mechanisms is recommended especially in women.


Images/videos are often uploaded in situations like disasters. This can tax the network in terms of increased load and thereby upload latency, and this can be critical for response activities. In such scenarios, prior work has shown that there is significant redundancy in the content (e.g., similar photos taken by users) transferred. By intelligently suppressing/deferring transfers of redundant content, the load can be significantly reduced, thereby facilitating the timely delivery of unique, possibly critical information. A key challenge here however, is detecting 'what content is similar,' given that the content is generated by uncoordinated user devices. Towards addressing this challenge, we propose a framework, wherein a service to which the content is to be uploaded first solicits metadata (e.g, image features) from any device uploading content. By intelligently comparing this metadata with that associated with previously uploaded content, the service effectively identifies (and thus enables the suppression of) redundant content. Our evaluations on a testbed of 20 Android smartphones and via ns3 simulations show that we can identify similar content with a 70% true positive rate and a 1% false positive rate. The resulting reduction in redundant content transfers translates to a latency reduction of 44 % for unique content.


P-glycoprotein, encoded by the MDR-1 gene, confers multi-drug resistance against antineoplastic agents and is important for the transmembrane transition of various other common therapeutic drugs. Recently, a number of polymorphisms in the MDR-1 gene were identified and the T/T genotype at position 3435 in exon 26 was found to correlate with intestinal P-glycoprotein expression and bioavailability of digoxin after oral administration. We analysed the allelic frequencies at the polymorphic site C3435T in a group of patients with locally advanced breast cancer treated by preoperative chemotherapy to evaluate its predictive value. Sixty-eight patients diagnosed between 1998 and 2001 were treated by preoperative chemotherapy with anthracyclines or these agents combined with taxanes. From genomic DNA, a 106 bp fragment of MDR-1 exon 26 was amplified and the C3435T genotype was determined by Pyrosequencing methodology. A potential correlation with therapeutic response was calculated with Fisher's exact test. The overall clinical response rate (cCR and cPR) was 68% but only 7 patients (10.3%) achieved pathological complete response (pCR). Heterozygous C3435T occurred in 57% of the subjects and 22% of the analysed individuals possessed only T alleles. Statistical analysis revealed a significant correlation (p=0.029) between clinical complete response to preoperative chemotherapy and the T/T genotype. MDR-1 polymorphism C3435T in exon 26 may co-determine resistance to chemotherapy and provide useful information to individualize therapy.


Recently, a self-camera that generates and distributes a large amount of moving images has been rapidly increasing due to the appearance of SNS such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tweet using mobile. In particular, the amount of SNS connections using mobile phones is significantly increasing in terms of usage, number of connections, and usage time. However, the use of a self-recording system using a smartphone by itself is extremely limited not only in terms of usage but also in frequency of use. In addition, the conventional unattended recording system is a very expensive system that automatically records and tracks an object to be photographed using an infrared signal. Therefore, this paper developed a low cost unmanned recording system using mobile phone. The system consists of a commercial mobile camera, a servomotor for moving the camera from side to side, a microcontroller for controlling the motor, and a commercial wireless Bluetooth earset for video audio input. And it is an unmanned automation system using mobile, and anyone can record image by self image tracking.


A method of impregnating a flexible, porous cellulosic sheet material involves passing the sheet through a low viscosity resin and across the resonant vibrating surface and through a cavitated zone in close proximity to at least one completely immersed ultrasonic wave generator, operating at a frequency and radiated power level effective to provide a combination vibratory pressure on the resin and cavitation effect causing degassing and heating of the resin, followed by passing the impregnated sheet through a drying means.


Airway mucus is a complex, viscoelastic gel that has a three-dimensional structure. It is composed of water, mucous glycoproteins, low molecular weight ions, proteins and lipids. The three-dimensional structure of the mucous gel depends on a number of forms of bonding, such as ionic bonds and disulphide bridges. Airway obstruction in cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease is accompanied by the accumulation of thick and viscous secretions resulting from chronic infection and inflammation, promoting recurrent exacerbations. The normal, free-flow ing airway mucus becomes thick and purulent in patients suffering from CF lung disease. Therefore, current approaches to the treatment of CF include strategics for changing the physical properties of pulmonary secretions with the goal of improving airway clearance. Some of the same strategies may be applicable in the larger group of patients with chronic obstructive airway diseases, including bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This paper reviews various approaches to mucolysis based on the molecular nature of crosslinking and bonding in mucin gels. A brief review of the structure and biochemistry of airway mucus is followed by a discussion of the various physical and biochemical approaches to mucolysis. Seven representative mucotropic modalities are presented: N-acetylcysteine; urea; hypertonic saline; recombinant human DNase; gelsolin; oscillation; and surfactants. Each of these mucotropic modalities acts on a different component within the mucous gel. Finally, the possibilities of mucolytic synergism among these various agents are conside red.


Over the past couple of years we have had significant progress in determining long-distance singularities in gauge-theory scattering amplitudes of massless particles beyond the planar limit. Upon considering all kinematic invariants much larger than the QCD scale, the singularities factorise into universal soft and jet functions, leaving behind a finite hard-interaction amplitude. Such factorization can now be implemented in full to three loops for arbitrary scattering processes of massless partons. In particular, the soft anomalous dimension for a general configuration of $n$ coloured particles was computed to this order, where it displays for the first time non-dipole interactions that correlate the colour and kinematic degrees of freedom of three and four particles. In parallel, there has been progress in understanding amplitudes and their singularities in special kinematic limits, such as collinear limits of multi-leg amplitudes and the high-energy limit in $2\to 2$ scattering. These relate respectively to different factorization properties of gauge-theory amplitudes. In this talk I describe the state of the art and illustrate the interplay between the analysis of the singularities for general kinematics and the properties of amplitudes in special kinematic limits.


Investigation of oscillation of temperature and synthesis gas concentration inside spherical catalytic particle it is executed. Approximate distributions of temperature and concentrations in a particle with internal heat release and synthesis gas consumption are obtained. Stationary distributions of thermal and gaseous parameters are found. In the frame of small disturbances of temperature and concentrations thermal stability is investigated. It is revealed, that diffusion resistance synthesis gas inside a porous particle can lead to occurrence oscillation regime.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


Shirbot ( Barbus grypus ) is one of the species in south and southwest of Iran which is greatly favorable to residents of the region. Unfavorable ecological conditions in habitat of this species and overfishing have led to the reduction of the population of shirbot. Therefore, to restore the natural stock of this species, identifying its reproductive cycle associated with its habitat is of a great importance. In this study, the reproductive status of shirbot in the Maroon River in Khuzestan Province was studied in six sampling steps during four seasons. Also, morphological indicators, sex ratio, age of fish, gonadosomatic and hepatosomatic indices, histological changes in the testis and ovary of the fish were studied. The ratio of male fish to female was 2.35 to 1. The maximum value of gonadosomatic index (GSI) is among the specimens aged 3 to 5 years and in March and April. An increase of hepatosomatic index (HIS) during March may indicate the increased activity of liver during vitellogenesis and vitellogenin synthesis which is well verified by histological results of ovarian tissue. Based on our findings we recommend that the maximum reproductive activity of shirbot in the Maroon River starts around the end of March and continues to middle of July.


BACKGROUND
Femoral artery closure device use following percutaneous cannulation allows earlier mobilization, reduced staff burden, and improved comfort for patients compared with manual compression. The Mynx device (Access Closure, Inc), a novel extravascular closure device, uses a water-soluble non-thrombogenic polyethylene glycol plug.

METHODS
We report retrospective analysis of success, complication rates, and associated factors in 432 consecutive patients undergoing elective outpatient coronary angiography in a single United Kingdom center.

RESULTS
Six Fr sheaths were used in 62.1% and 5 Fr sheaths were used in 37.8%, with 100% successful deployment using a Mynx device. A total of 57.5% of patients were male. In 79.4%, this was the first procedure requiring femoral arteriotomy, while 20.6% had a previous procedure. Overall, 3.2% required conversion to manual compression/ FemoStop (St. Jude Medical) due to impending hematoma. In all, 99.5% of patients were discharged on the same day. Confirmed hematoma >5 cm was noted in 0.7% patients, with only 2 patients (0.5%) reporting "any discomfort" during deployment and the same requiring overnight hospitalization. Use of a 6 Fr sheath (compared with 5 Fr) was associated with conversion to manual compression and complications (P<.05), as was valvular heart disease as the indication for angiography (P<.05). Hematoma formation was associated with higher diastolic and mean arterial pressure (107.4 mm Hg vs 99.6 mm Hg; P<.01). There was no increase in complications associated with use of antiplatelet/anticoagulants, previous stroke, myocardial infarction/ischemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, high body mass index, or previous angiographic procedure.

CONCLUSIONS
Postangiography use of the Mynx closure device is highly successful, safe, and well-tolerated with a low complication rate, allowing safe same-day discharge.


Madam,
Among the many high-risk treatments used on critically sick patients, tracheal intubation (TI) is one of the most preferred actions. Out of many risk factors associated with tracheal intubation, cardiac arrest (CA) is a rare, the most serious and least considered risk. In most studies, peri-intubation CA (PICA) is referred to as, when it occurs within 5-60 minutes following the intubation procedure (1). According to different studies, the estimated incidence of PICA varies from 1.8% to 3.1% (1,2,3). One would think that the rate of PICA would be higher outside of the hospital because the environment isn't as good as in the hospital and it's harder to get help if there are problems with intubation. Significantly, in a study performed by Jardine C G at al, the incidence rate (2.5) of out of hospital PICA is comparable to that reported earlier in hospitalized patients who required emergency intubation.
 According to Jardine C G at al, PICA is linked to several parameters that contribute to arterial oxygen desaturation during intubation (2). One such factor was being overweight (2,5). Arteriole desaturation happens much more rapidly in obese patients than in those of normal BMI because of their diminished oxygen reserves. A greater number of intubation attempts is also one of the main factors leading to PICA (1,3,4). Increased risk of peri-intubation CA was also seen in individuals with increased lactate levels (metabolic acidosis) compared to those without (1,5). Cardiogenic pulmonary ooedema patients are also at risk of PICA (1). Due to their inhibitory influence on catecholamine release caused by stress, neuromuscular blocking drugs like succinylcholine and rocuronium may cause cardiac arrest (2,4,5)
PICA being a serious risk factor associated with TI, these preventative steps may significantly lower the likelihood of developing PICA.

It should be made sure that successful intubation should be done at the first attempt to avoid risk of PICA.
Ketamine and etomidate use should be preferred as they have favourable hemodynamic effect (3).
PICA incidence may be decreased by using bag mask ventilation prior to intubation, which lessens the possibility of arterial desaturation.
It is imperative that immediate resuscitation in case of PICA can reduce the number of deaths caused by it.
Calculating shock index prior to intubation can help in improved management of the patient.


We present a case that illustrates the challenges in making a unifying diagnosis and bringing together symptoms which, at first, seem unrelated. We aim to illustrate the process of decision-making and the practice of working along several parallel processes to reach a single explanation for a child to present unwell.


The paper presents results of measuring thermal conductivity and heat capacity of bentonite foundry sand in temperature range ambient – 900 O C. During the experiments a technical purity Cu plate was cast into the green-sand moulds. Basing on measurements of the mould temperature field during the solidification of the casting, the temperature relationships of the measured properties were evaluated. It was confirmed that water vaporization strongly influences thermal conductivity of the moulding sand in the first period of the mould heating by the poured casting.


In this paper, a miniaturized implantable antenna with the dimensions of 8×8×1 mm3 has been studied for continuous monitoring of Blood Glucose Levels (BGL). The antenna performance is analyzed numerically for both the free space and implanted operation. The results show that the works excellently in both the scenarios. The antenna has the lowest resonant frequency of 3.58 GHz in free space with a gain 1.18 GHz while it operates at 2.58 GHz with a gain of 4.18 dBi. Good performance, small size and resilience to the human body effects make the antenna to have a good potential use in future implantable glucose monitoring devices.


This paper presents CFD modelling of hydrogen-air deflagrations. The proposed mathematical models are validated with the experiments provided to SARNET2 (Severe Accident Research NETwork of Excellence 2) project [A. Bentaib, A. Bleyer, N. Chaumeix, B. Schramm, P. Kostka, M. Movahed, H.S. Kang and M. Povilaitis, Final results of the SARNET Hydrogen deflagration Benchmark Effect of turbulence on flame acceleration. (2012), pp. 1–15; A. Bentaib, A. Bleyer, N. Meynet, N. Chaumeix, B. Schramm, M. Höhne, P. Kostka, M. Movahed, S. Worapittayaporn, T. Brähler, H. Seok-Kang, M. Povilaitis, I. Kljenak and P. Sathiah, SARNET hydrogen deflagration benchmarks: Main outcomes and conclusions. Ann. Nucl. Energy 74 (2014), pp. 143–152. doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2014.07.012]. The goal of SARNET2 project was to investigate the effect of blockage ratio on flame propagation and pressure evolution during deflagration of a lean mixture of hydrogen and air. Three blockage ratios were tested: BR = 0, 0.33 and 0.63. The experiments were carried out in the ENACCEF facility. The proposed mathematical models test the effect of turbulence models and radiative heat losses on flame front position and absolute pressure in the testing facility. A good agreement between the calculated and experimental results for the three BRs is found for the SST k-ω model alone and in combination with the γ transition model when radiative heat losses are accounted for in the modelling. In addition, an unstable tulip flame is evidenced in our CFD simulations what corroborates previous reports on premixed combustion in a closed tube.


Lymphocytes stay in the blood only a short time before migrating to lymphoid and nonlymphoid organs. They represent only about 2% of all lymphocytes in the body. The ratio of CD4+/CD8+ lymphocytes in the blood depends on age and genetic influences. In HIV infection not only relative but also absolute numbers of lymphocyte subsets should be determined. The different effects of proliferation and apoptosis on lymphocytes in HIV infection have to be considered. Lymphocyte levels in the blood of HIV patients do not mirror alterations in the lamina propria of the gut or lymph nodes. The dynamic aspects of lymphocyte life span and migration during HIV infection and the progression to AIDS as well as the effects of treatment have to be taken into consideration to enable a meaningful interpretation of experimental data. More data from animal models of HIV infection are needed to study these kinetic aspects.


The current study investigates the influence of three dentin hypersensitivity treating agents (Gluma CPS, MS Coat and Saforide) on bond strength to dentin of two luting agents (Panavia Fluoro Cement and Super-Bond C & B). Sixty bovine dentin substrates were divided into 12 combinations of four treatment conditions (Gluma CPS, MS Coat, Saforide and control) and three adhesive systems (AD Gel sodium hypochlorite + Panavia Fluoro Cement, Panavia Fluoro Cement without AD Gel and Super-Bond C & B). After bonding the treated teeth to steel rods, 24-h tensile bond strengths were determined, and average values (n=5) were compared by analysis of variance (ANOVA). Without application of the desensitizers, bond strengths of the two groups (Super-Bond C & B, 10.2 MPa; AD Gel + Panavia, 11.5 MPa) were comparable, and they were greater than the group bonded with the Panavia material with no AD Gel conditioning (7.1 MPa). Application of the Saforide ammoniated silver fluoride desensitizer reduced bond strength of both the Super-Bond and Panavia luting agents, whereas the MS Coat polymeric agent negatively affected bond strength of the Panavia cement only. The use of the Gluma desensitizer did not affect bond strength of any of the three adhesive systems, and the bond strength of the Panavia cement with the AD Gel conditioning was not reduced by application of any of the three desensitizers. The four combinations of two desensitizers (MS Coat and Gluma CPS) and two adhesive systems (Super-Bond C & B and AD Gel + Panavia) are deemed to be applicable to fixed prosthodontic treatment.


This paper describes a low-pass reconfigurable baseband filter for GSM, TD-SCDMA and WCDMA multi-mode transmitters. To comply with 3GPP emission mask and limit TX leakage at the RX band, the out-of-band noise performance is optimized. Due to the distortion caused by the subthreshold leakage current of the switches used in capacitor array, a capacitor bypass technique is proposed to improve the filter's linearity. An automatic frequency tuning circuit is adopted to compensate the cut-off frequency variation. Simulation results show that the filter achieves an in-band input-referred third-order intercept point (IIP3) of 47 dBm at 1.2-V power supply and the out-of-band noise can meet TX SAW-less requirement for WCDMA & TD-SCDMA. The baseband filter incorporates −40 to 0 dB programmable gain control that is accurately variable in 0.5 dB steps. The filter's cut-off frequency can be reconfigured for GSM/TD-SCDMA/WCDMA multi-mode transmitter. The implemented baseband filter draws 3.6 mA from a 1.2-V supply in a 0.13 μm CMOS process.


This article describes the process of implementing a New England model of case management in a rural hospital and the modifications necessary in adapting an urban model to a rural setting. Nursing case management at this institution has been associated with a decrease in the length of stay by 1.7 days at an estimated cost savings of $65,932 for the 16-month study period. Case management has also been instrumental in improving quality of care through a program of continuous quality improvement and in redesigning the RN role. The vision for the future is to extend the nurse case manager role outside the hospital walls to the community in a collaborative plan that would bill nursing services through physicians' offices.


Abstract: The effects of some anticonvulsant drugs have been investigated on γ‐hydroxybutyrate release from rat hippocampal and striatal slices. Sodium valproate and ethosuximide inhibited the depolarization‐evoked release of γ‐hydroxybutyrate induced by 40 mM K+. The IC50 values for these two drugs are in the concentration range of valproate and ethosuximide that exists in rat brain after administration of anticonvulsant doses to the animals. Trimethadione and pentobarbital are without significant effects. It can be concluded that the inhibition of γ‐hydroxybutyrate release, particularly that observed for hippocampus, might explain the protective effect of valproate and ethosuximide on γ‐hydroxybutyrate‐induced seizures and perhaps on other kinds of epileptoid phenomenon.


In dentistry, digital radiology techniques, such as a charge-coupled device and a storage phosphor plate, are gaining popularity. It was the objective of this study to assess the importance of the advantages and disadvantages of digital radiology techniques for bitewing radiography in young children, when compared to conventional film. A group of dentists received a questionnaire regarding their experiences with digital radiology techniques or conventional films among young children. Using the Simple Multi-Attributive Rating Technique (SMART) a final weighted score was calculated for the charge-coupled device, the phosphor plate, and conventional film. The scores were 7.40, 7.38, and 6.98 respectively. The differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.47). It could be concluded that, on the basis of experiences in practice, there are no statistically significant preferences for the use of digital radioogy techniques for bitewing radiography in young children.


The movement of Xiongnu people gave greatly influence to the dominion of world history. Records about `Xiongnu` people were left only partly in the Chinese historical records of their contact with the West through the war. Their vestiges have been discovered in the area without the records of them, but the only way to find out their actual substance is archaeological expedition. Therefore, many countries of both East and West such as Russia, Hungary, France, the U. S., Belgium, Korea and Japan have dispatched the researchers to the Mongol area, once the central area of Xiongnu people, to proceed archaeological survey. Thereupon, in this study I will portray the picture of Xiongnu people who survived in the great steppe based on the archaeological evidences excavated from Mongolia as an extension of the existing studies on the Xiongnu tombs in Mongolia. Xiongnu People: How Xiongnu people who left the great Xiongnu culture on the steppe look like? The faces of two people appearing on the woolen object have eyes, wide nose and long mustache that are impressive. Through the archaeological materials, we can directly meet Xiongnu people via the excavated human skeleton, but in many cases the bones were damaged by tomb robbery or underground animals. In the recent excavations, it is the trend to proceed the study with physical anthropologist because researchers feel keenly the necessity of skeletal analysis. The materials tell that the height of Xiongnu women was 150-167 cm, and that of Xiongnu men was 167-174 cm. The age of death was thirties in women and thirties to forties in men. Also many male were dead in their teens. The fractures of men were because of battles and aged people over sixties were rare. The owner of large tomb is aristocrat who did not do hard work, and the tomb of children followed the status of their parents. Bones outside the wooden coffin might have been the burial of the living with the dead, and those who were buried in the attached tombs are subordinates of the owner of the main tomb. The hole in the skull is related to the medical treatment or religion, and there is a child who died of malnutrition. The serious wear and tear on teeth is because of carnivorous diet. What is important is the co-presence of Mongoloid and European race in the same tumulus, which means the Xiongnu society was multi-raced and multi-cultured one. Food & Cook: The main diet of nomad was meat such as mutton, goat, beef and horseflesh and dairy products. A great deal of animal bone has been excavated from Xiongnu tombs and most of them was sacrifices for funeral rites. The offering food for the owner of the tomb was left in some cases: Cow bones were put in bronze cauldron, sheep bone and rabbit bone were discovered together and sheep ribs were put beside the owner of the tomb. Large jar is a storing vessel. Sometimes grains were excavated from it and alcohol or liquid was stored in it. There is a hole in the lower part of the jar, which seems to be used like today`s rice barrel from which the contents are pulled out. Grains were excavated from the inside of a wooden coffin; grains were also in a lacquer ware; sheep bone, grain and vegetables were put in a bronze cauldron. Vessel: The kitchen appliances of nomad can be used indoor, however, in most cases they are fit for field life. Earthenware model of cooking fireplace was excavated. Bronze cauldron, bronze tray, wooden dish, bronze kettle, rice steamer, lacquer ware vessel with inscription (B. C. 2), lacquer ware side-dish box and bowl with two ear for cooking and distributing food were discovered. Iron ladle, tea spoon, wooden spoon, bone chopstick, birch bark vessel were also excavated. Earthenware excavated are bowl, pot, vessel, jar, footed dish, lamp-oil container and steamer etc. Customs & Ornaments Clothing and Clothing Ornaments: Winter cap with earpiece made of pelt and triangle-shaped hat made of silk were excavated. The burial of pigtail in silk pouch means the custom to summon the soul of the dead by cutting the hair where the soul stays, which illustrates the nomad proceeded the funeral rites without killing the living. A bronze ornament for the head end was discovered. The form of the clothing is convenient for riding horse. The long coat is long and there is the trace of fur padding on the inside. There is a hole on the crotch of the trousers which is to excrete without taking off trousers in the cold. The belts excavated were made of gold, iron, wood and stone and the shoes excavated were made of silk and pelt. A bronze shoes ornament and an iron shoes ornament were excavated. The jade ornaments excavated were round disk-shaped one, jade shroud, comma-shaped jade, jade trousers and beads. There were also ornaments like gold earrings and shells. `Salavch` stone necklace ornament and the sculpture of naked `Bes` which are presumed to have come Egypt were excavated. Weapons and Portable goods: A knife is basic belongings for nomad and diverse types of knife have been excavated such as knife, small knife, iron sword and iron knife. Xiongnu people carried iron cane and iron saw. Whetstone and firing tools, small musical instrument made of bone, tobacco pipe and coins were also major belongings. Bow and arrow was necessities for Xiongnu people as warrior and hunter. The tip and the hand-grip of the bow were made solid by attaching bones. A quiver made of white birch bark was discovered. Iron arrowheads of willow-leaf shape and three-wing shape were excavated and wooden arrowhead was also excavated. Mirrors made in the Han-Dynasty China and it was buried with destroyed and wrapped in silk. Unrhaeyeonhomungyeong(雲雷緣弧文鏡)(A.D. 20-50), Gyugugyeong(規矩鏡) (B.C. 1C-A.D. 1C) and Bannimungyeong(蟠리文鏡) (B.C. 3-2C) were excavated. A silver ornament plate which are presumed to be a Greek goddess is an important relic that suggests the presence of international trade. Coach and Horse Ornaments: Twenty or more coaches were discovered on the lid of large wooden chamber tomb and the form of the coaches were ones with umbrella and ones with room. Horse ornaments such as forehead plate, horse-bit, harness ornament, harness fittings, stirrup and horse-bell were excavated. In some cases, the part of horse-bit was replaced with antler and bone. Wooden saddle and iron stirrup were discovered. On the breast ornament of the horse was expressed an unicorn and on the hip ornament unicorn, yak, deer, goat and dragon. Sometimes horse bell was excavated. Settlement & Tomb: Nomads left few things after their movement since they made tent-like houses called `Ger` on the ground and moved to and from the summer camp and the winter camp. However, recently subterranean dwelling pit house and heating equipment was discovered, and building site and roadway were excavated as a result of the survey on castle site. Basically, the main burial is settled deep underground. The plane figure is divided into round and square, and the square-shaped tomb has doorway. The central part of the tomb is depressed because of the disruption of the wooden chamber of the main burial. Sometimes there exposed black soil that was presumed as the trace of firing rituals. Deep inside the pit of the tomb was filled with many stones (broken stones, 할석) and underneath there were sacrificed animals or buried coach. In case of large tomb, dual wooden chambers and wooden coffin were placed on the main burial. Artifacts were buried in the space between the exterior chamber and the interior chamber, a good deal of woolen cloth were excavated. The inside of the tomb was decorated with carpet, silk cloth or white birch bark to make a cozy place for rest after death. On the exterior of the wooden coffin are diverse ornaments such as gold belt, metal flower pattern ornament, ornament with sun and moon pattern made of various materials like gold, bronze and iron. The gilt-bronze or bronze rod discovered outside the coffin is likely to have been knob. Xiongnu Existence: The life of Xiongnu people was survival itself. We reviewed Xiongnu people and their food, clothing and shelter based on the archaeological evidence as mentioned above. The Xiongnu archaeology has very difficult process from the discovery of the remains to the survey & excavation because there are numerous challenges to solve such as great Steppe, fast-changing climate, insufficient materials and manpower. However, the collaboration of the scholars from Mongol and other countries for the past 77 years had made slow but steady survey and study until now and it yielded today`s achievement. I would like to express the existence of Xiongnu reviewed with the archaeological evidence as `the diversification of materials due to the insufficiency and the destruction and omission of formality.` Even in the production of one product, the choice of material was diverse such as gold, gilt-bronze, bronze, iron, wood and bone as situation permitted. In the situation where the Chinese buried the living with the dead, Xiongnu people destroyed the formality and just cut their hair and put it into the tomb. Xiongnu people valued the unique efficiency of nomad, fast absorbed and adapted to heterogeneous cultures. Who was the host of the Xiongnu culture at that time that comprehended the civilization from all over the world? Xiongnu emphasized free trade more than tax treatment. Xiongnu was superior to settled countries like China in the trade with far away region because they secured transportation with mobility by taming horses. (Nov. 2010)


In clay-gun operation, when closing a furnace tap-hole, plasticity is the clay characteristic of importance. As a measure of plasticity, the workability index of tap-hole clay (often shortened to workability) is typically reported on datasheets, often without quoting the method applied. Even when results and standard methods applied are known, the correlation between the workability index and clay-gun performance is not clear. In the study presented here, the workability indexes of three different tap-hole clays were determined, by applying ISO 1927-3 (2012) as a standard, and using three different sandrammers, two manual and one automated.


Ninety-eight patients with ECG evidence of bifascicular block who had undergone general anesthesia and surgery have been followed up. His bundle electrogram was recorded in all patients prior to the surgery. On the basis of electrophysiologic studies, patients were classified in two groups: normal H-V group (47 patients) and prolonged H-V group (51 patients). The prolonged H-V group presented a significantly greater incidence of organic heart disease and cardiac symptoms. Correspondingly, there was a significantly higher incidence of cardiac intra- and postoperative complications in patients with prolonged H-V interval, but none of the patients developed complete heart block. Ventricular fibrillation and not the occurrence of complete heart block, was the cause of sudden cardiac death in three patients who had a prolonged H-V interval and severe organic heart disease. Patients with bifascicular block, undergoing anesthesia and surgery, even in the presence of presumable risk factors, do not require prophylactic pacing. The H-V duration represents a more accurate predictor of major cardiac intra- and postoperative complications than the surface recordings, but only in patients with symptomatic heart disease. These data support the concept that high-risk patients can be identified clinically and thus preoperative determinations of H-V intervals should not be recommended.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic pain is a complex and multifactorial event. Very few research compare chronic pain according to the body region in teachers, a population with demanding workloads. The objective was to characterize the most uncomfortable chronic pain, reported by teachers, according to the body region. METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted from 2012 to 2013 with K-12 teachers from the 20 largest state schools in Londrina (PR). Chronic pain (≥6-month duration) and the one that bothered the most were investigated. The Chi-square test (Yates) was used to compare the proportions of teachers with and without chronic pain, with a significance score of 5%. RESULTS: Among the 958 teachers, 408 (42.6%) reported chronic pain, and the most disturbing pain were located mainly in the upper limbs, head, lower limbs and lower back (n=321). Pain in the head region stood out for its longer duration, being classified as intense/unbearable and for strongly interfering with teachers' leisure and work. Pain in the upper and lower limbs frequently made it difficult for teachers to sleep. Teachers with low back pain had a greater proportion of leave of absence above 30 days compared to those with pain in other body sites. CONCLUSION: We observed differences in the most uncomfortable pain according to the regions of the body. Pain in the head region stood out for its duration, intense/unbearable intensity and for interfering in teachers' leisure/work in greater proportion.


Background Dysfunction of peripheral immune tolerance against self antigens is a critical factor in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) and is mainly mediated by T regulatory cells (Tregs). Objectives Aim of the present study was the evaluation of Tregs and related cytokines (IL-6, IL-10, TGF-β) in regard to disease activity in NPSLE patients. Methods Twenty patients (17 females, 3 males, mean age 44.9±14.1 years, mean disease duration 87.2±63.4 months) were included. CD4+CD25highFOXP3+ Tregs were assessed by triple color flow cytometry in 88 peripheral blood samples (26 active, 62 inactive disease). IL-6, IL-10 and TGF-β were evaluated by ELISA in 36 serum samples (18 active, 18 inactive disease). Disease activity was determined using SLEDAI (SLE Disease Activity Index). Statistics were performed by Student's t-test; p<0.05 was considered significant. Results Tregs were significantly lower in active NPSLE (0.57±0.17% of CD4+ T cells vs 1.05±0.39%, absolute numbers 4.6±3.4 vs 9.3±6.6 cells/mm3, p<0.001). Serum IL-6 was significantly higher in active disease (6.1±2.4pg/ml vs 2.8±3pg/ml, p=0.005). On the contrary, IL-10 levels were not differentiated (4.5±3.2pg/ml vs 2.75±3.77pg/ml, p=0.224), while TGF-β was marginally lower in active disease (20064±5495pg/ml vs 25770±9282pg/ml, p=0.103). Conclusions Peripheral Tregs are lower in active NPSLE, in parallel with higher IL-6 and lower TGF-β levels. Impairment of the IL-6/TGF-β axis probably plays an important role in disease pathogenesis. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.3813


BACKGROUND
Genomic sequencing is necessary for first-line advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) treatment decision-making. Tissue next generation sequencing (NGS) is standard but tissue quantity, quality, and time-to-results remains problematic. Here, we compare upfront cell-free-DNA (cfDNA) NGS clinical utility against routine tissue testing in patients with aNSCLC.

METHODS
cfDNA-NGS was performed in consecutive, newly identified aNSCLC patients between December 2019-October 2021 alongside routine tissue genotyping. Variants were interpreted using AMP/ASCO/CAP guidelines. The primary endpoint was tier-1 variants detected on cfDNA-NGS. cfDNA-NGS results were compared to tissue results.

RESULTS
Of 311 patients, 282 (91%) had an informative cfDNA-NGS test; 118 (38%) patients had a tier-1 variant identified by cfDNA-NGS. Of 243 patients with paired tissue-cfDNA tests, 122 (50%) tissue tests were informative; 85 (35%) tissue tests identified a tier-1 variant. cfDNA-NGS detected 39 additional tier-1 variants compared to tissue alone, increasing the tier-1 detection rate by 46% (from 85 to 124). The sensitivity of cfDNA-NGS relative to tissue was 75% (25% tissue tier-1 variants were not detected on cfDNA-NGS); 33% of cfDNA tier-1 variants were not identified on tissue tests. Median time from request-to-report was shorter for cfDNA-NGS versus tissue (8 versus 22 days; p < 0.0001). A total of 245 (79%) patients received first-line systemic-therapy: 49 (20%) with cfDNA-NGS results alone. Median time from sampling-to-commencement of first-line treatment was shorter for cfDNA-NGS blood draw versus first tissue biopsy (16 versus 35 days; p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS
cfDNA-NGS increased the tier-1 variant detection rate with high concordance with tissue, and halves time-to-treatment. 'Plasma-first' upfront cfDNA-NGS use should be considered routinely for aNSCLC.