This study concerns the involvement of calbindin‐D28K (CaBP28k)‐containing neurons in ascending spinal projections to the brainstem (nucleus of the solitary tract, lateral reticular nucleus area), pontine (parabrachial area) and mesencephalic (periaqueductal grey) structures. All these central structures are important in the processing of visceroception and visceronociception and all are targets for spinal efferents from similar areas. CaBP28k controls the excitability of cells by acting on intrinsic calcium metabolism. Results refer to the caudal spinal areas where the visceroceptive regions are concentrated. Experiments were performed through a double labelling approach that combined the retrograde transport of a protein ‐ gold complex to identify the projection cells and immunohistochemistry to identify the CaBP28k‐positive cells. The caudal spinal cord is rich in both CaBP28k‐containing and projection cells. Cells colocalizing the protein and the retrograde tracer were quite numerous, with a particularly high concentration in the superficial layers of the dorsal horn (laminae I and outer II) and the lateral spinal nucleus. The other spinal areas containing immunoreactive projection cells were the reticular part of the neck of the dorsal horn, the medial laminae VII and VIII, lamina X and the sacral parasympathetic nucleus. The superficial layers and the neck of the dorsal horn are targets for nociceptive, visceroceptive and thermal inputs; the sacral parasympathetic column and lamina X are involved in visceroceptive integration. A functional role for the lateral spinal nucleus has not yet been established. Quite similar results were obtained for each of the ascending pathways under study. The high incidence of CaBP28k in spinal pathways suggests that calbindin has a major role in controlling the excitability of spinal cells subserving the processing of visceroception and/or visceronociception information to supraspinal levels. The participation of CaBP28k‐immunoreactive cells in spinal ascending tract cells largely outnumbers those previously reported for various neuropeptides (Leah et al., Neuroscience, 24, 195–207, 1988)


To examine the possibility of a difference in cell adhesiveness along the developing Xenopus hind limb bud axes, single mesenchymal cells from developing hind limb buds were cultured, allowing them to form an aggregate in a gyratory culture system. By observing the distribution of cells within aggregates, it was found that sorting‐out occurred between cells from different positions and different stages. Cells derived from more distal positions tended to be situated interiorly in the aggregates. According to Steinberg's differential adhesion hypothesis, these results support the idea that there is a graded difference in cell adhesiveness along the proximo‐distal axis of the developing limb, with adhesiveness increasing distally. Although similar sorting‐out was observed between anterior and posterior cell populations, it could not be determined which cell populations were definitely more cohesive. These properties may be correlated with the experimentally demonstrated 'positional value', which should be different among cells located at different positions along the axes of the developing vertebrate limb bud.


In the paper the portfolio of financial assets has been formulated using the fuzzy numbers idea and the statistical information concerning assets. The optimization task of the portfolio structure has been formulated for two types of fuzzy numbers. The data from Polish market have been used for exemplary calculations. ¶ ¶


Recent developments in the remote sensing systems and image processing made it possible to propose a new method of the object classification and detection of the specific changes in the series of satellite Earth images (so called targeted change detection). In this paper we develop a formal problem statement that allows to use effectively the deep learning approach to analyze time-dependent series of remote sensing images. We also introduce a new framework for the development of deep learning models for targeted change detection and demonstrate some cases of business applications it can be used for.


Sir The fulsome welcome laparoscopic cholecystectomy has received from many of the leading journals in the British Isles and North America'-5 has had the effect, intentional or otherwise, of pushing general surgeons into the widespread adoption of this operation with often barely adequate training In laparoscopic techniques. It is already being practised in most district and community hospitals in this country. As a surgeon not yet convinced about its safety or efficacy, I was impressed by the wise caution and common sense displayed by Paterson-Brown er a / . in their leading article (Br J Surg 1991 ; 78: 131-2). However, the clear message that comes from McEntee er a / . in their leading article (Br JSurg 1991 ;78: 385-6)is that laparoscopiccholecystectomy has already passed the test. That assertion in itself takes a certain amount of fortitude. Subsequently to infer, albeit as a moot point, that routine peroperative cholangiography and clearance of the common bile duct (CBD) of all stones may no longer be a prerequisite for safe biliary surgery is surely injudicious and premature. Seven hundred and twenty-one patients underwent traditional open operation for non-malignant biliary tract disease in our two-surgeon unit between January 1985 and December 1990. The mean(s.d.) age of the patients was 49( 16) years. and 25 per cent of them were over 65 years old. Six hundred and thirty had a simple cholecystectomy only, and 91 had in addition a CBD exploration. Thirteen patients had an emergency cholecystectomy (within 24 h of admission), 166 had an urgent cholecystectomy (within 5 days) and 542 had an elective operation. Simple cholecystectomy operations lasted 85(25 ) min. Operative cholangiograms were performed in 92 per cent of cases. The postoperative length of stay for simple cholecystectomy was 5-7(4.2 ) days. There were no deaths. The procedure-related morbidity for simple cholecystectorny was 2.4 per cent, the vast majority being due to sepsis. N o bile duct injuries occurred. On the basis of these results i t is difficult to make a convincing case for changing to laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The initial reports and editorial comment on laparoscopic cholecystectomy suggest it is a safe operation'-'. This has been responsible for the remarkable speed of its acceptance among general surgeons. There is now some disquiet that this uncritical acclaim is wide of the mark. Occasional reports of serious complications6-* and more measured ~ o m m e n t ~ . ~ have appeared in the literature but less than one might expect for a new technique being robustly applied by a large proportion of general surgeons. To suggest that what little morbidity there is is largely related to a learning curve is not borne out by the consistent morbidity rates associated with many interventional endoscopic procedures that have been in use for several years"-". More widespread information on complication rates of this new procedure is necessary, and judgement should be deferred for the moment. The case for a prospective controlled comparison of laparoscopic wrsus open cholecystectomy seems very strong. The leaders of our specialty should see that this is done now when it is still feasible rather than have it demanded of us later, as has happened to the urologists in relation to prostatectomy.


Abstract. Tropical shallow-water reefs are the most diverse ecosystem in the ocean. Its persistence rests upon adequate calcification rates of the reef building biota, such as reef corals. Optimum calcification rates of reef corals occur in oligotrophic environments with high seawater saturation states of aragonite (Ωsw), which leads to increased vulnerability to anthropogenic ocean acidification and eutrophication. The calcification response of reef corals to this changing environment is largely unknown, however. Here, we present annually and sub-annually resolved records of calcification rates (n = 3) of the coral Porites from the nutrient rich and low Ωsw Arabian Sea upwelling zone (Masirah Island, Oman). Calcification rates were determined from the product of skeletal extension and bulk density derived from X-ray densitometry. Compared to a reference data set of coral skeletons from typical reef environments (Great Barrier Reef, Hawaii), mean annual skeletal bulk density of Porites from Masirah Island is reduced by 28 %. This density deficit prevails over the entire year and probably reflects a year-round low saturation state of aragonite at the site of calcification (Ωcf), independent of seasonal variations in Ωsw (e.g. upwelling). Mean annual extension rate is 20 % higher than for the reference data set. In particular, extension rate is strongly enhanced during the seasons with the lowest water temperatures, presumably due to a high PO43−/NO3−-ratio promoting rapid upward growth of the skeleton. Enhanced annual extension attenuates the negative effect of low density on calcification rate from −25 % to −11 %, while sub-annual calcification rates during the cool seasons even exceed those of the reference corals. We anticipate optimal nutrient environments (e.g. high PO43−/NO3−-ratios) to have significant potential to compensate the negative effect of ocean acidification on reef coral calcification, thereby allowing to maintain adequate rates of carbonate accumulation, which are essential for preserving this unique ecosystem.


The routine histopathologic stains used for the demonstration of fungi in animal tissue are inadequate. The fungi are differentiated poorly and sometimes not at all. This is a limitation in the diagnosis of the mycotic granulomas in which the organisms may be rare. A definitive fungus stain, therefore, is needed, particularly by the pathologist and mycologist. During an attempt to stain the capsules of certain fungi, brilliant staining with the periodic-acid-Schiff-reagent technique (Hotchkiss-McManus stain) was observed. A survey of many different types of mycotic tissue revealed the general usefulness of this reaction in mycologic histopathology. The present communication presents the method and briefly reviews the pertinent literature. The chemistry of this and related reactions has been recently reviewed by DeLamater, Mescon, and Barger (1950). The various applications of the Schiff reagent have in common the requirement that the tissues must be hydrolyzed in such a manner as to release substances (usually aldehydes) that will recolorize and react with the Schiff reagent. The best known use of the Schiff reagent is in the Feulgen reaction, which is presujmably specific for aldehydes released from desoxyribonucleic acid by acid hydrolysis of the tissue. Under optimal conditions the nuclei only stain. The Bauer stain calls for prolonged hydrolysis of tissue in chromic acid (Lillie, 1947a). Under these conditions glycogen stains intensely red with the Schiff reagent. The Bauer reaction is an empirical procedure (Hotchkiss, 1948). Potassium permanganate or other oxidizing agents can be substituted for the chromic acid in the hydrolyzing process. How this may affect the chemical specificity of the reaction is not yet clear. It is not possible to predict from the chemical structure which substances will recolorize with the Schiff reagent. The chemistry of the periodic-acid-Schiff technique is fairly well understood (Hotchkiss). The substances stained by this procedure belong to the general class of carbohydrates. These must contain the 1,2-glycol grouping in unsubstituted form or the equivalent structure in which OH groups are replaced by amino or alkylamino groups. Jeanloz (1950), however, has stated that he believes structure has no definite relation to a positive reaction. Periodic acid


The current study focuses on flight simulation and control of a helicopter undergoing rotor chord morphing. A model-following dynamic inversion controller with inner and outer loop control laws (CLAWS) is implemented and chord extension is introduced as an additional feedforward component to the inner loop CLAW. Simulation results based on a chord-morphing variant of the UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter at 20,000 lbs gross weight are presented. From the baseline rotor blade, the chord is increased from 63% to 83% of the rotor span by means of a trailing-edge plate (TEP) extension at a deployment angle of 2 degrees. Chord morphing at sea-level and hot-and-high conditions are considered. The controller is shown to regulate the operating state of the aircraft well over the nominal morphing duration of 60 seconds and also for reduced durations down to 15 seconds. Differences between baseline and morphed states are discussed. In addition, the performance of the controller with respect to rate of morphing is evaluated and the effect of asynchronous morphing is also considered.


Numerous studies suggest that anxious individuals are more hypervigilant to threat in their environment than nonanxious individuals. In the present event-related potential (ERP) study, we sought to investigate the extent to which afferent cortical processes, as indexed by the earliest visual component C1, are biased in observers high in fear of specific objects. In a visual search paradigm, ERPs were measured while spider-fearful participants and controls searched for discrepant objects (e.g., spiders, butterflies, flowers) in visual arrays. Results showed enhanced C1 amplitudes in response to spatially directed target stimuli in spider-fearful participants only. Furthermore, enhanced C1 amplitudes were observed in response to all discrepant targets and distractors in spider-fearful compared with non-anxious participants, irrespective of fearful and non-fearful target contents. This pattern of results is in line with theoretical notions of heightened sensory sensitivity (hypervigilance) to external stimuli in high-fearful individuals. Specifically, the findings suggest that fear facilitates afferent cortical processing in the human visual cortex in a non-specific and temporally sustained fashion, when observers search for potential threat cues.


A search for light long-lived neutral particles with masses in the O (MeV–GeV) range is presented. The analysis targets the production of long-lived dark photons in the decay of a Higgs boson produced via gluon–gluon fusion or in association with a 𝑊 boson. Events that contain displaced collimated Standard Model fermions reconstructed in the calorimeter or muon spectrometer are selected in 139 fb − 1 of √ 𝑠 = 13 TeV 𝑝𝑝 collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Background estimates for contributions from Standard Model processes and instrumental effects are extracted from data. The observed event yields are consistent with the expected background. Exclusion limits are reported on the production cross-section times branching fraction as a function of the mean proper decay length 𝑐𝜏 of the dark photon, or as a function of the dark-photon mass and kinetic mixing parameter that quantifies the coupling between the Standard Model and potential hidden (dark) sectors. A Higgs boson branching fraction above 1% is excluded at 95% CL for a Higgs boson decaying into two dark photons for dark-photon mean proper decay lengths between 10 mm and 250 mm and dark photons with masses between 0.4 GeV and 2 GeV. This paper presents a search for light long-lived neutral particles which decay into collimated pairs of fermions in the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Data collected from 139 fb − 1 of √ 𝑠 = 13 TeV 𝑝𝑝 collisions during 2015–2018 were analysed for evidence of long-lived dark photons from Higgs boson decays and were found to be consistent with the background prediction. Upper limits on the Higgs boson branching fraction to dark photons as a function of their mass and mean proper decay length 𝑐𝜏 are reported, assuming SM Higgs boson production cross-sections. Branching fractions above 0.1% are excluded at 95% CL for Higgs boson decays to two dark photons with mean proper decay length between 10 mm and 250 mm and mass between 0.4 and 2 GeV. This analysis has significantly higher sensitivity than previous ATLAS searches for light long-lived neutral particles that decay to collimated pairs of fermions. The higher sensitivity is due to the addition of an event selection targeting long-lived dark photons from decays of Higgs bosons produced in association with a 𝑊 boson and to the use of a larger dataset and new methodologies for reconstructing dark-photon candidates and rejecting non-collision backgrounds.


Within the confines of this study, the results of direct shear box tests performed on poorly-(GP) and well-graded (GW) gravel samples are presented. Samples are tested under effective normal stresses ranging from 77 to 205 kPa, and with initial void ratio ranging from 0.42 to 0.53. The estimated peak secant-angles of shearing resistances vary in the range of 49 to 61 degrees. On the basis of the ratio of vertical to horizontal deformation rates, the peak angles of dilation are estimated as 10-16 degrees. These estimated values are concluded to be in coherency with available literature, other than the recommendations of Navfac DM 7.01.


Objective Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most common cancers worldwide, is resistant to anticancer drugs. Angiogenesis is a major cause of tumor resistance to chemotherapy, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key regulator of angiogenesis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of small-interfering RNA targeting VEGF gene (VEGF-siRNA) on chemosensitivity of HCC cells in vitro. Materials and Methods In this experimental study, transfection was performed on Hep3B cells. After transfection with siRNAs, VEGF mRNA and protein levels were examined. Cell proliferation, apoptosis and anti-apoptotic gene expression were also analyzed after treatment with VEGF-siRNA in combination with doxorubicin in Hep3B cells. Results Transfection of VEGF-siRNA into Hep3B cells significantly reduced the expression of VEGF at both mRNA and protein levels. Combination therapy with VEGF-siRNA and doxorubicin more effectively suppressed cell proliferation and induced apoptosis than the respective monotherapies. This could be explained by the significant downregulation of B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) and SURVIVIN. Conclusion VEGF-siRNA enhanced the chemosensitivity of doxorubicin in Hep3B cells at least in part by suppressing the expression of anti-apoptotic genes. Therefore, the downregulation of VEGF by siRNA combined with doxorubicin treatment has been shown to yield promising results for eradicating HCC cells.


Oral mucositis is one of the most common adverse effects of radiation and chemotherapy in treatments of cancers. Some clinical guidelines have focused on the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis, and thus, a mouthwash containing drugs is often recommended. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the disappearance time and palatability in the oral cavities of healthy volunteers in foams prepared from different concentrations of the three viscosity grades of methylcellulose (SM-4, -100, -400). In addition, we prepared foam formulations of drugs (benzydamine, dexamethasone, allopurinol and rebamipide) for use as a prevention and treatment of oral mucositis. There was a significant relationship between the foam drainage ratios at 5-15 min and the disappearance time in the oral cavities. The significant relationship of foam densities to the foam disappearance time and overall palatability in a clinical study were observed. Thus, the foam density is considered an important parameter and reflects these clinically important properties. The foam from SM-4 has the longest disappearance time and the best palatability followed by foams from the 4 and 1% SM-4. Drug contents in drug-containing foam formulations which were prepared with 1-4% SM-4 represented 101-112% of the loaded drug contents, and the relative standard deviations of drug contents were <2.2%, which suggests that these formulations had pharmaceutically acceptable properties. This is the first report in regard to foam formulations containing drugs for the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis, and these formulations could be potentially useful for the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis.


Over the last several years, federal courts have invalidated abusive transactions by relying heavily on the judicially created economic substance doctrine. These court decisions not only reinforce the vitality of the doctrine, but also reaffirm the principle that literal compliance with statutory tax provisions is simply not enough to secure tax benefits. Despite the impressive anti-shelter effectiveness of the economic substance doctrine, Congress is preparing to straitjacket the doctrine by codifying it under the Internal Revenue Code. Codification is a terrible idea. Reducing the doctrine to an inelastic administrative rule would sap its power and lead to more rather than less abuse by providing clever tax planners an opportunity to occupy and manipulate the statutory line between permissible and impermissible behavior. The power of the doctrine lies in its ability to adapt to new and unforeseen tax planning strategies. Malleable standards are particularly important in tax law, where the law itself can be ambiguous and where application of fact to law contains numerous outcomes, such that determining the right answer is an inherently uncertain proposition. A rigid rule would provide opportunity rather than certainty, and it would foster overaggressive tax planning. The economic substance doctrine regularly acts as the last line of defense against abusive tax avoidance, and its facts and circumstances analysis is better left in the hands of judges than legislative drafters.


Hexanucleotide repeat expansions in C9orf72 are the most common inherited cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The expansions elicit toxicity in part through repeat-associated non-AUG (RAN) translation of the intronic (GGGGCC)n sequence into dipeptide repeat-containing proteins (DPRs). Little is known, however, about the structural characteristics and aggregation propensities of the dipeptide units comprising DPRs. To address this question, we synthesized dipeptide units corresponding to the three sense-strand RAN translation products, analyzed their structures by circular dichroism, electron microscopy and dye binding assays, and assessed their relative toxicity when applied to primary cortical neurons. Short, glycine-arginine (GR)3 dipeptides formed spherical aggregates and selectively reduced neuronal survival compared to glycine-alanine (GA)3 and glycine-proline (GP)3 dipeptides. Doubling peptide length had little effect on the structure of GR or GP peptides, but (GA)6 peptides formed β-sheet rich aggregates that bound thioflavin T and Congo red yet lacked the typical fibrillar morphology of amyloids. Aging of (GA)6 dipeptides increased their β-sheet content and enhanced their toxicity when applied to neurons. We also observed that the relative toxicity of each tested dipeptide was proportional to peptide internalization. Our results demonstrate that different C9orf72-related dipeptides exhibit distinct structural properties that correlate with their relative toxicity.


This paper reports on variational calculations of eigenstates of the hydrogen atom in an external homogeneous magnetic field (the Zeeman effect). We use a set of basis functions that have the proper analytic form to describe the wavefunctions of the Zeeman Hamiltonian both in the Coulomb (B → 0) and in the Landau (Z → 0) limits. Using this set of basis functions, we determine the eigenvalues of the Zeeman Hamiltonian with accuracy up to 30 significant digits.


Reports on comprehensive mandibular tumours are very rare. The present article describes a total of 81 primary tumour and tumour‐like lesions of the mandible seen at the University Hospital, Banaras Hindu University, during last 16 years. In the mandible the ratio of odonto‐genic to nonodontogenic tumors is 1.6:1. Ameloblastomas constitute 56% of the odontogenic tumors. Among the benign mesenchymal tumours of the jaw 58% are neoplastic and 42% are nonneoplastic in which cementoostoid tissue is laid down secondary to inflammatory process. Over all 40 cases are benign 28 potentially malignant (ameloblastoma) and 13 are malignant lesions. Among the malignant mandibular tumours, bone tumours are more common than the soft tissue sarcomas. Microscopically mandibular osteosarcomas are better differentiated than similar tumours in the long bones. Local, segmental, or radical surgery seems to be the treatment of choice in the mandibular tumours.


Perseveration and wandering are well recognized sequelae of traumatic brain injury. They are believed to arise as a constellation of behaviours from lesions involving the frontal, temporal, or parietal lobes or subcortical motor regions. Attention and memory deficits are believed to contribute to the presence of perseveration and wandering. Patients who perseverate and/or wander after brain injury tend to have poorer outcomes and slower rates of progress. This prospective study is based on 32 consecutive admissions to a brain injury rehabilitation unit over a 4-month period. For each patient data was collected on perseverative behaviours, wandering, Functional Independence Measure, total number of rehabilitative days, supervision requirement at discharge and discharge disposition. Perseveration and wandering were assessed using the Agitated Behaviour Scale and clinical observations of the primary physician, physical and occupational therapist and speech-language pathologist. Correlations between perseverative and wandering behaviours were made with the variables identified.


Chemotherapy overdoses (ODs) are severe complications that can occur following the use of antineoplastics. However, little is known about chemotherapy ODs in veterinary medicine. The goals of this retrospective study were to report the occurrence, type, and cause of known chemotherapy ODs in companion animal medicine. The American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine oncology and internal medicine listservs were solicited for chemotherapy OD cases in dogs and cats. An OD was defined as administration of a chemotherapy dose 10% higher than intended, or at a shorter interval than planned. Twelve non-anthracycline ODs in 11 dogs, and 3 cat ODs, were collected. Overdoses in dogs included carboplatin, cyclophosphamide, L-asparaginase, lomustine, mustargen, vincristine, and vinorelbine. The cat ODs included doxorubicin and vincristine. In dogs, the median OD was 2.1x (range: 1.2–10x) the intended dose. All dogs survived the OD and developed a variety of gastrointestinal and hematologic toxicities of varying grades. Both cats with a 2.4x vincristine OD died despite supportive care. The cat who received a 2x OD of doxorubicin survived the event, experiencing Veterinary Cooperative Oncology Group–common terminology criteria for adverse events (VCOG) grade I thrombocytopenia and anemia, and VCOG grade II neutropenia. Chemotherapy ODs appear to be rare in veterinary medicine and are typically 2–3xs the intended dose. Clinical effects include VCOG grade I and II gastrointestinal distress and VCOG grade III and IV hematologic effects. With appropriate supportive care, most patients will survive the event. Life-threatening events are more common in cats following vincristine ODs.


Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a simple, efficient, specific, precise and accurate Reverse phase High Performance liquid chromatography method for the simultaneous estimation of Metformin and Linagliptin Pharmaceutical Dosage form. Methods: The separation method was carried out using reverse phase C18 column, Inertsil ODS – 3V (250 mm x 4.6 mm x 5μm). The mobile phase used was a mixture of Phosphate buffer (1.625 g of Potassium Di Hydrogen Ortho Phosphate and 0.3 g of Di Potassium Hydrogen Ortho Phosphate in 550 ml water) pH 4.5 and Acetonitrile in the ratio of 60:40 (v/v) at isocratic mode. The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min, column temperature was 30°C and eluents were monitored at 280 nm using waters 2695 alliance HPLC instrument equipped with the Waters 2998 PDA detector and Empower 2 software. Results: With the optimized method, the retention times of Metformin and Linagliptinwere found to be 3.048 and 4.457 respectively, with theoretical plate count and asymmetry as per the ICH limits. The method has shown a good linearity in the concentration range of 500-3000µg/ml from Metformin and 2.5-15µg/mL for Linagliptin with Regression coefficient (R2) of 0.99 and 0.99. The percentage assays were found to be 99.28% and 99.54% respectively for Metformin and Linagliptin. The method was found to be accurate (with percentage mean recoveries 100% for Metformin HCl and 100% for Linagliptin), precise, robust, stable and Degradation studies are conducted under various conditions. Conclusion: The proposed method was validated in accordance with ICH guidelines and hence, can be successfully applied to the simultaneous estimation of Metformin and Linagliptin tablet formulations.


The paper aims at discussing the challenges and opportunities of laboratory experiments for communication studies. An experimental approach to research on TV news effects is presented. It focuses on interpersonal communication about a newscast and simulates the social context of media use and media effects. Based upon two research domains, (1) The role of interpersonal communication in media effects and (2) TV news reception, five hypotheses are derived which are tested in an innovative experimental design integrating survey and observation methods in a combination of media effects study and small group experiment. The influence of conversations on news memory and evaluation is assessed by treating conversations as independent variable in the experiment. In a video observation, the mechanisms of interpersonal communication about the media are identified. A moderating influence of conversations, specifically an enhanced news recall, is revealed. Additionally, the characteristics of the social processing of the media content can be described and applied as possible explanations for the effects of the experimental treatment. Consequently, the advantages of integrative research designs are explicated.


: An approach is developed for sharing the resource of the mobile object communication system and the local radio navigation system based on the integration of their topologies according to the criterion of electromagnetic availability of mobile stations simultaneously to several base stations of the network. This approach can be used in the design of navigation and communication systems and navigation equipment of the consumer.


The anomalous dielectric absorption current of BaTiO3 ceramics when an electric field is applied at above the Curie point was measured. The results cannot be explained by the famous Maxwell-Wagner double layer theory. The total charge of the charging and discharging absorption current was more than 1000 µC/cm2. The giant space charge produces "internal bias field" in the opposite direction to the first applied field. Another space charge is generated during the aging process after poling at below the Curie point. In this report, two types of space charge effects are described and discussed respect to "space charge stabilized effects" for electromechanical strength and the difficulties of polarization reversal applications due to "space charge asymmetric effects".


Abstract Social media is used by patients for health care information. We analyzed the quality of YouTube videos on prostate cancer screening. Most videos (71.1%) mentioned the potential harms of prostate cancer screening. There was no significant difference in risk-related information between videos published before and after the publication of US Preventive Services Task Force 2012 guidelines for prostate cancer screening. In conclusion, the quality of information of YouTube videos on prostate cancer screening is low and the content is potentially misleading.


Many years ago, Hugh MacLennan (1945) described the relationship between French and English speaking Canadians as "two solitudes." This paper contends that there are "two solitudes" in education that threaten the very essence of state-supported education. It will argue that policy makers have made schools the centres of blame and have adopted policies that fail to account for the realities of schools, teachers and students. It will also suggest ways to bridge the gap between policy and practice and develop schools as centres of change.


The practice of parents and their young children co-sleeping is a topic of ongoing controversy and debate. Both physical and psychosocial risks and benefits have been attached to this practice. In this introduction to the special issue, we present the prevailing views about early sleep arrangements. We then discuss the organization of the special issue and highlight the contributions of each article. Together, this collection of original articles comprises a body of research that advances our understanding of co-sleeping in the context of social and physical environments. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. A contract requires that the parties reach an Agreement which normally consists of a matching offer and acceptance. This chapter discusses the following: the objective test of agreement; identifying an offer and acceptance; rejection, counter-offers and inquiries; communication of acceptance including the postal rule and the contrasting rule for revocation; mode of acceptance; the death of an offer; and unilateral contracts.


With constantly changing environmental selection pressures, retroviruses rely upon recombination to reassort polymorphisms in their genomes and increase genetic diversity, which improves the chances for the survival of their population. Recombination occurs during DNA synthesis, whereby reverse transcriptase undergoes template switching events between the two copackaged RNAs, resulting in a viral recombinant with portions of the genetic information from each parental RNA. This review summarizes our current understanding of the factors and mechanisms influencing retroviral recombination, fidelity of the recombination process, and evaluates the subsequent viral diversity and fitness of the progeny recombinant. Specifically, the high mutation rates and high recombination frequencies of HIV-1 will be analyzed for their roles in influencing HIV-1 global diversity, as well as HIV-1 diagnosis, drug treatment, and vaccine development.


In this paper we derive closed-form expressions for the single-user capacity of Maximum Ratio Combiner (MRC) system system, taking into account the effect of imperfect channel estimation at the receiver. The channel considered is a slowly varying spatially independent flat Rayleigh fading channel. The complex channel estimate and the actual channel are modelled as jointly Gaussian random variables with a correlation that depends on the estimation quality. Two adaptive transmission schemes are analyzed: 1) optimal power and rate adaptation; and 2) constant power with optimal rate adaptation. Our numerical results show the effect of Gaussian channel estimation error on the achievable spectral efficiency.


Eating and its associated activities are embodied, social practices that are meaningful and meaning-making. In order to explore the emotional geographies of eating practices, this article draws on a qualitative study of the everyday food rituals of female farm workers of colour in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Drawing on interview transcripts analysed using a social constructionist approach, three themes are elaborated, concerned with knowing, agency and community in relation to which the transformative potential of women's participation in food practices in the space of the kitchen is explored. In the ritual of preparing food, knowing is demonstrated as embodied activity with possibilities of corporeal transformation. As an embodied way of knowing, food-making also enhances women's sense of agency. Furthermore, eating rituals do not simply endorse a celebration of community, but call for a re-appreciation of women's positions and their power to shape relations and spaces of resistance.


This article focuses on how 11-year-old children in a segregated Swedish suburb at the time of choosing school for Year 6 in the 9-year compulsory school used current community discourses in their identity work, while constructing an 'us' in relation to 'them'. The segregation in the suburb was strengthened by the process of a school market, with competition among the schools. Even if the formal choice was made by the parents the study shows that the choosing process was also an important part of the children's identity work. The results show differentiations among the children with a majority of children involved in re-constructing both a neighbourhood and the neighbourhood's school as no-go-areas while other children rather choose that school.


Responding to a need in their community, Halifax Home Care in Daytona Beach, Florida established a mobile x-ray service for clients with a limited ability to ambulate.


The Finslerian curvature is introduced in the three-dimensional isospin space, sug-gesting that the isospin-pion field transforms according to non-linear Finslerian invariance transformations. The fundamental non-linear realization is associated with the pion field triplet. The Finslerian Lagrangian, as well as the implied pion-field selfinteraction, involves the first but no higher derivatives of the pion field. While the invariance transforma-tions are now nonlinear, the conservation laws are still meaningful and sufficient to get the conservations for the energy-momentum and charges. The Finsler-invariant pion-nucleon Lagrangian function is also proposed. The Finslerian isospin-space symmetry is a pure interaction symmetry not shared by the asymptotic fields. The full Klein-Gordon-Dirac equation is accordingly extended. Various details of the implied Finsleroid-structure are formulated in an explicit way.


Renal ischemia/reperfusion injury is a common cause of acute kidney injury (AKI) and hypertension might contribute to the increased incidence of AKI. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of single and combined hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) preconditioning and NADPH oxidase inhibition on oxidative stress, kidney function and structure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) after renal ischemia reperfusion injury. HBO preconditioning was performed by exposing to pure oxygen (2.026 bar) twice a day for two consecutive days for 60 minutes, and 24h before AKI induction. For AKI induction, the right kidney was removed and ischemia was performed by clamping the left renal artery for 45 minutes. NADPH oxidase inhibition was induced by apocynin (40 mg/kg b.m., intravenously) 5 minutes before reperfusion. AKI significantly increased renal vascular resistance and reduced renal blood flow, which were significantly improved after apocynin treatment. Also, HBO preconditioning, with or without apocynin treatment showed improvement on renal hemodynamics. AKI significantly increased plasma creatinine, urea, phosphate levels and lipid peroxidation in plasma. Remarkable improvement, with decrease in creatinine, urea and phosphate levels was observed in all treated groups. HBO preconditioning, solitary or with apocynin treatment decreased lipid peroxidation in plasma caused by AKI induction. Also, combined with apocynin, it increased catalase activity and solitary, glutathione reductase enzyme activity in erythrocytes. While AKI induction significantly increased plasma KIM– 1 levels, HBO preconditioning, solitary or with apocynin decreased its levels. Considering renal morphology, significant morphological alterations present after AKI induction were significantly improved in all treated groups with reduced tubular dilatation, tubular necrosis in the cortico-medullary zone and PAS positive cast formation. Our results reveal that NADPH oxidase inhibition and hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning, with or without NADPH oxidase inhibition may have beneficial effects, but their protective role should be evaluated in further studies.


Background: Some spices have been reported to play contributory role in enhancing male reproductive function. Aims: To determine the effect of Piper guineense consumption on some libido indices and behavioral pattern of male Wistar rats at different concentrations. Study Design: This is a Cross-sectional nonclinical study in animal model. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Medical and Health Sciences, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria between the month of March and June, 2016. Methodology: Thirty (30) male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups of five rats each (n=5). Animals in Group 1 (Control) were fed with 100% Pelletized growers feed, while Group 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were fed with different concentrations of P. guineense supplemented diet: 0.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20%, respectively for 28 days. On the 28 day of the experiment, female rats were introduced into the cages of the male rats (2 females to 1 male ratio) and from the cage side, the male rats were observed for mounting latency, mounting frequency and intromission frequency. The values of all Original Research Article Ochei et al.; AJOB, 4(4): 1-9, 2017; Article no.AJOB.36542 2 the morphometric measurement, including change in sexual behaviours were analyzed statistically using SPSS 20 Software. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The result of the libido index test show that the dry leaves of Piper guineense, in comparison with the control group, significantly (P<0.05) increased the Mounting Frequency and Intromission Frequency of the male rats, while it caused a significant (P<0.05) reduction in the Mounting Latency of the animals, especially at 10%, 15% and 20% concentration. The plant appears to induce aggression in the treated rats in a dose-dependent manner with the highest occurrence (100%) in Group 6 fed with 20% of P. guineense. No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in the % body weight gain and testicular weight of the test rats when compared with the control group. Conclusion: P. guineese showed potential value as a natural sexual enhancement (aphrodisiac) agent as shown by significant increase in some of the libido indicator parameters assessed.


"In American musical theater, Bordman has become as important a historian as Stephen Sondheim is a writer," according to Library Journal. The author of the monumental American Musical Theater: A Chronicle ("absolutely the best reference book on its subject"--Newsweek) here completes his trilogy which began with American Operetta and American Musical Comedy, each focusing on a specific musical theatre genre. Revues--Broadway musicals where plot was unimportant or nonexistent and the emphasis was on comedy skits, specialty vocal and dance numbers, catchy songs, and chorus lines of beautiful girls--flourished for half a century, from the 1890s to about 1950. After looking at some forerunners of the revue form, Bordman examines the 1894 Passing Show, generally accepted as the first traditional revue and then traces the genre's development, its long decline and ultimate fate. He then pays homage to the apothesis of the revue, the almost yearly editions of the Ziegfeld Follies (1907-1927) which featured leading comics, singers, and songwriters and prided itself on "glorifying the American girl." In the 1930s, Bordman points out, revues were more modest in scale and more satiric in intent and featured performers like Fred Astaire, Fred Allen, Clifton Webb, and Ethel Waters. The postwar period, Bordman notes, saw few memorable revues and television took over many of the functions of the revue. The most successful recent revues--Ain't Misbehavin', Eubie, and Sophisticated Ladies--hve been primarily retrospective concerts of older music. So it may be that the revue now belongs simply to history. But as anyone knows who has ever been fortunate enough to see a revue--or to vicariously enjoy one through this book--what a legacy! About the Author Gerald Bordman's most recent book is The Oxford Companion to American Theatre.


Quaternary phosphonium salts are popular candidates used in many chemical transformations and synthetic chemistry, notably in catalysis. We have examined the single crystals of two bulky phosphonium compounds, tetra([1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl) phosphonium dicyanamide (C48H36P+·N(CN)2−, compound 1), and tetra([1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl) phosphonium bromide hydrate (C48H36P+·Br−, CH3CN, H2O, compound 2), and herein report the structural properties for the compounds with an emphasis on the influence of the ion-ion interaction towards self-assembly; the overall self-assembly for both structures is very similar, with subtle differences in the cell parameters. The symmetrical tetra ([1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl) phosphonium cations in both compounds self-assembled to form robust stacked columns in the solid-state, with voids occupied by anions or solvent molecules. Quantitative examination of intermolecular interactions using Hirshfeld surface analysis found that classical and non-classical hydrogen bonding appears to be the dominant contributor in stabilizing the self-assembly in both cases. The present work can not only benefit in understanding the mutual interaction between the sterically encumbered tetra ([1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl) phosphonium cations and between counterions, but also provide insights for the self-assembled arrays in the solid-state.


Introduction I. The Symposium and Its Perspectives A. The Metropticon B. Energy and Microgrids C. The Interwebs D. Local Service Delivery: The Transportation Example E. Local Political Participation Conclusion INTRODUCTION When the Fordham Urban Law Journal, along with a consortium of centers at Fordham University, (1) decided to organize a two-day "Smart Law for Smart Cities: Regulation, Technology, and the Future of Cities" Symposium, the need was clear. The interest in "smart cities" had grown exponentially across disciplines--from urban planning and sociology to environmental studies and history--as well as in general interest press. (2) Local elected officials (3) and cities started using smart city technology to, for example, decrease crime rates, (4) develop municipal infrastructure, (5) and even to develop entirely new city models. (6) The "smart cities" topic therefore is exceedingly wideranging. The Smart Law for Smart Cities Symposium took hold of this broad subject and focused on the questions most pressing to the legal community. As far as the organizers knew, no one had written about (7) or gathered together experts to set out an agenda for the law and smart cities: identifying the particular barriers that legal and regulatory regimes present to the emergence of smart cities and envisioning how the law could help support the best aspects of smart cities while preventing the least desired ones. (8) The Symposium, and now this book, in other words, have begun the conversation by asking both the descriptive question--what role the law is playing in the development of smart cities--and the normative one--what role the law should play. The Articles in this book capture the core issues that structured the Symposium--local service delivery, broadband and the new digital divide, regulating big data, resident engagement, energy and infrastructure, and surveillance--while also indicating how rich and multi-layered each of these categories is. Running throughout the contributions is a steady stream of optimism, tempered by realism. I. THE SYMPOSIUM AND ITS PERSPECTIVES A. The Metropticon Kelsey Finch and Omer Tene take us on an invigorating ride. (9) They begin with the benefits of smart cities--including the potential to increase residents' mobility, expand access to information, and improve quality of services. Then they lucidly identify the problems that smart cities pose. (10) In particular, they provide a haunting picture of the surveillance and privacy concerns created by the "metropticon": an urban government that wields advanced technology to track, infiltrate, and modify the lives of its residents, (11) fulfilling George Orwell's dystopian predictions. (12) Yet after sending us into a near and justified panic, the authors lay out a set of legally sound proposals--including strategies for engendering trust in residents, stripping data of identifying markers, and embracing transparency--that can help cities avoid falling into those traps and instead build on the potential of new technology. (13) Finch and Tene's Article speaks to the literature that criticizes how technology has oversaturated our lives. (14) It also contributes to the burgeoning work on big data and cities. The technology transforming urban governance inhales significant amounts of potentially sensitive information. (15) bleated debates are underway about the proper level of regulation. (16) As data continues to drive decision making, cities face increasing challenges in protecting residents' sensitive information. (17) B. Energy and Microgrids Kevin Jones and his co-authors, Sylvia J.S. Bartell, Daniel Nugent, Jonathan Hart, and Achyut Sherestha, share a series of fascinating case studies on urban microgrids (including a portrayal of how NYU's microgrid system survived the onslaught of Superstorm Sandy while most other power systems failed) to show that clean energy use in cities not only is theoretically possible but also is happening right now. …


We have previously reported on a new nanobubble inflation technique we have developed to measure the absolute creep compliance of polymer films at thicknesses down to ∼10 nm (1-5). One of the more surprising results to come out of these studies was the observation that as the film thickness decreased the rubbery plateau compliance was seen to decrease dramatically. At the thinnest film thickness (∼10 nm) the compliance decreased (or conversely the stiffness increased) by some 3 orders of magnitude from the bulk value. It is known that, at the nanometer scale, surface tension effects can become significant. We examine here the contribution of surface tension to the observed stiffening and show that, while the contribution is important, it does not account for the degree of stiffening observed. This suggests that molecular or confinement induced stiffening is the major factor.


The issue addressed in this article is whether investor-state arbitration within the EU (based on intra-EU BITs) is compatible with EU law. Under the current approach, investor-state arbitration based on intra-EU BITs is seen as a threat to the Court of Justice for the European Union's (CJEU's) authoritative power of interpretation, because relevant questions of EU law may never reach the CJEU. This, however, is only true if investment treaty arbitration is treated in the same way as commercial arbitration. Under the Nordsee and Eco Swiss judgments, commercial arbitration tribunals are not allowed to make preliminary references to the CJEU. This conventional approach, as illustrated by the recent case of Eureko v Slovak Republic, relies on the supervisory powers of the EU Member State courts in international (commercial) arbitration. It focuses on the reviewability of questions of EU law only in so far as they form part of EU public policy. Typically, such review and potential reference from the Member State court to the CJEU will take place only at the enforcement stage. This article argues that the case law of the CJEU could be interpreted in a way that would allow investment tribunals to make direct references for a preliminary ruling. Investment treaty arbitration as a species of transnational public law is different from commercial arbitration, which was the subject of the Nordsee and Eco Swiss judgments. If references from investment tribunals to the CJEU were allowed, as a matter of law, there would be no bypassing of the CJEU and therefore no threat to the EU judicial system. The advantages of the proposed system of direct referral would be that investment tribunals could refer any question of EU law, which would enhance the role of EU law in investment treaty arbitration. Also, they would be able to do so at any stage of the arbitration proceedings. This would alleviate the risk that any final award eventually proves unenforceable within the EU for breach of EU public policy. This would not only be more efficient but also create legal certainty for the parties to an investment treaty arbitration and better respect investment treaty law and arbitration within the EU. Please note that this is the pre-edited version of an article that has been accepted for publication in one of the forthcoming issues of the Common Market Law review. Publication with kind permission from Kluwer Law International.


The clinical effect of intratumoral administration of OK-432 was evaluated. The patients with nonresectable advanced cancer were divided into three groups according to administration method of OK-432 at laparotomy: Group I; Intratumoral administration, Group II; Scattering to the abdominal cavity, and Group III; No OK-432, administration. Improvement in suppression of tumor progression was more frequently noticed in the Group I compared to the Group II and III, but there was no significant difference in terms of survival time and rate among the three groups.


Three new species of Astyanax are described from southern Brazil: A. dissensus and A. xiru from the laguna dos Patos system and rio Uruguay basin, the first species also occurring in the rio Tramandai system, and A. procerus from the laguna dos Patos system. Astyanax procerus and A. xiru possess outer row premaxillary teeth pentacuspid and inner row heptacuspid, maxillary with one tri- to pentacuspid teeth, 18-23 branched anal-fin rays, and two humeral spots. Astyanax procerus has the largest body depth (38.3-46.0% of SL), while A. xiru has the lowest body depth (32.5-37.5% of SL) among the three species. The characters combination can distinguish these species from its congeners. Astyanax dissensus distinguish from Astyanax species by the presence of one developed heptacuspid teeth on maxillary, 22-28 branched anal-fin rays, 35-39 perforated scales along the lateral line, two humeral spots, conspicuous lateral band continuous on middle caudal rays, 6-7 scale row between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line, and head length 22.7-27.3% of SL. All three species has the predorsal region of the body scaled. An identification key to the species of Astyanax species from the rio Uruguay basin, and laguna dos Patos and rio Tramandai systems is provided.


Receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors have become a central part of modern targeted cancer therapy. However, their curative potential is distinctly limited by both rapid resistance development and severe adverse effects. Consequently, tumor-specific drug activation based on prodrug designs, exploiting tumor-specific properties such as hypoxic oxygen conditions, is a feasible strategy to widen the therapeutic window. After proof-of-principal molecular docking studies, we have synthesized two cobalt(iii) complexes using a derivative of the clinically approved Abelson (ABL) kinase and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor ponatinib. Acetylacetone (acac) or methylacetylacetone (Meacac) have been used as ancillary ligands to modulate the reduction potential. The ponatinib derivative, characterized by an ethylenediamine moiety instead of the piperazine ring, exhibited comparable cell-free target kinase inhibition potency. Hypoxia-dependent release of the ligand from the cobalt(iii) complexes was proven by changed fluorescence properties, enhanced downstream signaling inhibition and increased in vitro anticancer activity in BCR-ABL- and FGFR-driven cancer models. Respective tumor-inhibiting in vivo effects in the BCR-ABL-driven K-562 leukemia model were restricted to the cobalt(iii) complex with the higher reduction potential and confirmed in a FGFR-driven urothelial carcinoma xenograft model. Summarizing, we here present for the first time hypoxia-activatable prodrugs of the clinically approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib and a correlation of the in vivo activity with their reduction potential.


This paper presents an emission measurement technique with reduced uncertainties for electrically large equipment under test (EUTs) in gigahertz transverse electromagnetic (GTEM) cells and fully anechoic rooms (FARs) above 1 GHz. A small and a large EUT were measured and the results obtained in the GTEM cell were validated against those obtained in a FAR. Measurements in a FAR were made, for the small EUT, in the conventional way with an azimuth scan and, for the large EUT, with a limited antenna height scan. Key findings are that similar scanning is required in the GTEM cell and that the three-orthogonal-position (TOP) method of EN61000-4-20 is not appropriate for EUTs that have multilobed radiation patterns. In other words, GTEM cells and FARs are sensitive to directional properties of EUTs, and both methods require further scanning for electrically large EUTs


Abstract:  The physiological changes of adolescence may promote risk‐taking behaviors, including binge drinking. Approximately 40% of alcoholics were already drinking heavily in late adolescence. Most cases of alcoholism are established by the age of 30 years with the peak prevalence at 18–23 years of age. Therefore the key time frame for the development, and prevention, of alcoholism lies in adolescence and young adulthood. Severe childhood stressors have been associated with increased vulnerability to addiction, however, not all stress‐exposed children go on to develop alcoholism. Origins of resilience can be both genetic (variation in alcohol‐metabolizing genes, increased susceptibility to alcohol's sedative effects) and environmental (lack of alcohol availability, positive peer and parental support). Genetic vulnerability is likely to be conferred by multiple genes of small to modest effects, possibly only apparent in gene–environment interactions. For example, it has been shown that childhood maltreatment interacts with a monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene variant to predict antisocial behavior that is often associated with alcoholism, and an interaction between early life stress and a serotonin transporter promoter variant predicts alcohol abuse in nonhuman primates and depression in humans. In addition, a common Met158 variant in the catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) gene can confer both risk and resilience to alcoholism in different drinking environments. It is likely that a complex mix of gene(s)—environment(s) interactions underlie addiction vulnerability and development. Risk–resilience factors can best be determined in longitudinal studies, preferably starting during pregnancy. This kind of research is important for planning future measures to prevent harmful drinking in adolescence.


Horizontal wells are becoming a very important component in the thermal recovery of heavy oil reservoirs. The success of a cyclic steam injection project depends strongly on the selection of key parameters, such as cycle length and amount of steam injected. The numerical simulation of horizontal wells, especially under non-isothermal conditions, is computationally demanding. When optimization is combined with numerical simulation, the computing time requirement may be prohibitive and it is not guaranteed that the optimal conditions will be found. In this research, a new methodology has been developed for optimizing the cyclic steam injection process for vertical and horizontal wells. The procedure integrates oil production characterization using numerical simulation, net present value maximization through a Quasi-Newton method, and model validation/tuning. The three-stage procedure provides the optimum number and/or duration of cycles, the optimal amounts of steam to be injected in each cycle and the optimal value of the overall economic indicator. The optimization algorithm was successfully validated with published results obtained from the discrete maximum principle. The methodology was then applied to determine the optimal conditions of cyclic steam injection for a horizontal well located in Bachaquero field, Venezuela.


We present a new method for fitting peculiar velocity models to complete flux limited magnitude-redshifts catalogues, using the luminosity function of the sources as a distance indicator. The method is characterized by its robustness. In particular, no assumptions are made concerning the spatial distribution of sources and their luminosity function. Moreover the inclusion of additional observables, such as for example the one carrying the Tully-Fisher information, is straightforward. As an illustration of the method, the predicted IRAS peculiar velocity model is herein tested using the fluxes of the IRAS 1.2 Jy sample as the distance indicator. The results suggest that this model, while successful in reproducing locally the cosmic flow, fails to describe the kinematics on larger scales.


In calculations of heavy-atom molecules with the shape-consistent Relativistic Effective Core Potential (RECP), only valence and some outer-core shells are treated explicitly, the shapes of spinors are smoothed in the atomic core regions and the small components of four-component spinors are excluded from calculations. Therefore, the computational efforts can be dramatically reduced. However, in the framework of the standard nodeless radially local RECP versions, any attempt to extend the space of explicitly treated electrons more than some limit does not improve the accuracy of the calculations. The errors caused by these (nodeless) RECPs can range up to 2000 cm − 1 and more for the dissociation and transition energies even for lowest-lying excitations that can be unsatisfactory for many applications. Moreover, the direct calculation of such properties as electronic densities near heavy nuclei, hyperfine structure, and matrix elements of other operators singular on heavy nuclei is impossible as a result of the smoothing of the orbitals in the core regions. In the present paper, ways to overcome these disadvantages of the RECP method are discussed. The developments of the RECP method suggested by the authors are studied in many precise calculations of atoms and of the TlH, HgH molecules. The technique of nonvariational restoration of electronic structure in cores of heavy atoms in molecules is applied to calculation of the P, T -odd spin-rotational Hamiltonian parameters including the weak interaction terms which break the symmetry over the space inversion ( P ) and time-reversal invariance ( T ) in the PbF, HgF, BaF, and YbF molecules. Effective Core Potential Ab initio relativistic method, Electronic structure calculation, Molecules with heavy atoms.


Artificial intelligence is a way of making a computer behave 'intelligently'. This can be accomplished by: studying how people think when they are trying to make decisions and solve problems; breaking those thought processes down into basic steps, and finally designing a computer program that solves problems using those same steps.  AI  thereby provides  a simple, structured approach to designing complex decision making programs. The goal of an AI system is to analyse human behaviour in the fields of perception, comprehension and decision making with the ultimate hope of reproducing the  behaviour on  a machine, namely a computer. One major category of AI techniques is 'genetic algorithm'. Although it is recognised that the performance of an  evolutionary system such as GA is affected by the parameters that are employed to implement them, there is  hardly any work known to us that has shed much light on the  interdependencies and interactions between these parameters. Most studies on the effects of these parameters on performance of GA-based systems have focused on a parameter,  at a time, without considering the  effect of other parameters on that parameter and vice versa. Consequently, there is hardly any theory about the interactions and interdependencies of these parameters. This paper contributes towards correcting the situation mentioned above by examining empirically the relationship between three  parameters of GAs.


In Antarctica, experimental difficulties due to extreme conditions have meant that aerosol mass has rarely been measured directly by gravimetry, and only in coastal areas where concentrations were in the range of 1-7 μg m(-3). The present work reports on a careful differential weighing methodology carried out for the first time on the plateau of central Antarctica (Dome C, East Antarctica). To solve problems of accurate aerosol mass measurements, a climatic room was used for conditioning and weighing filters. Measurements were carried out in long stages of several hours of readings with automatic recording of temperature/humidity and mass. This experimental scheme allowed us to sample from all the measurements (up to 2000) carried out before and after exposure, those which were recorded under the most stable humidity conditions and, even more importantly, as close to each other as possible. The automatic reading of the mass allowed us in any case to obtain hundreds of measurements from which to calculate average values with uncertainties sufficiently low to meet the requirements of the differential weighing procedure (±0.2 mg in filter weighing, between ±7% and ±16% both in aerosol mass and concentration measurements). The results show that the average summer aerosol mass concentration (aerodynamic size ≤10 μm) in central Antarctica is about 0.1 μg m(-3), i.e., about 1/10 of that of coastal Antarctic areas. The concentration increases by about 4-5 times at a site very close to the station.


Recently, the issue of energy consumption of the UEs in heterogeneous networks has rapidly become a research focus area of the entire telecommunications community. This issue is obviously critical because the energy consumption of UEs can severely degrade their already limited battery capacity. In this article, we consider a heterogeneous network environment comprising base stations (each of which is also referred to as an eNB) with embedded storage that can serve as an effective cache-based traffic offloading technology in scenarios where many UEs simultaneously want to access popular contents of sports matches, live music events, and so forth. However, if many UEs are connected to only a few eNBs, they suffer from degraded throughput and increased transmission time. This longer transmission time eventually leads to increased energy consumption of UEs. To deal with this challenge, we propose an algorithm to reassign UEs to eNBs to minimize the total energy consumption of UEs with the constraint that their throughput is guaranteed. The effectiveness of our proposed algorithm is evaluated through computer-based simulations.


Abstract Introduction and Objective: Prostate cancer (CaP) is the most common noncutaneous malignancy in men in the U.S. Epigenetics may play important roles in CaP tumorigenesis. PMEPA1 is an androgen-inducible gene expressed in the prostate epithelium and shown to control the androgen receptor (AR) protein levels by recruiting the NEDD4-1 E3 ubiquitin ligase to AR. PMEPA1 gene expression is either reduced or lost in two-third of prostate tumors. In cell culture models of CaP, DNA methylation has been shown to play a role in epigenetic inactivation of PMEPA1. These results prompted us to investigate the methylation status of PMEPA1 in cells line models of CaP and laser capture micro-dissected (LCM) CaP specimens. Methods: Androgen responsive LNCaP (harboring mutant AR), VCaP and LAPC4 (both harboring wild type AR), and AR signaling negative DU-145 and PC-3, were treated with the DNA methyl transferase inhibitor 5-aza-2′-deoxycitidine (decitabine) for two weeks with 0, 2.5 and 5 uM of decitabine. Methylation status of PMEPA1 was evaluated by COMPARE-MS (Combination of methylated-DNA precipitation and methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes) method using methyl DNA binding protein-mediated enrichment followed by quantitative PCR. Expression of PMEPA1 at protein and transcript levels were assessed by Western blot and Q-PCR, respectively. Genomic DNAs from LCM CaP specimens were analyzed for methylation status of PMEPA1. As the control, DNA methylation status and expression of GSTP1 was evaluated. Results: DNA methylation of the promoter downstream sequences of the PMEPA1 gene was detected in VCaP, LNCaP and LAPC4 androgen inducible CaP cell lines. Western blot and Q-PCR analysis revealed significantly induction of PMEPA1 expression in response to decitabine treatment in the evaluated androgen responsive cells. In AR signaling negative DU-145 cells, Western blot and Q-PCR assays revealed induction of PMEPA1 protein and transcript, respectively, after decitabine treatment. In contrast, there was no detectable PMEPA1 protein in PC-3 cells, although Q-PCR showed decitabine induced increased expression of the PMEPA1 transcript. In a panel of LCM derived genomic DNA PMEPA1 was methylated in 13/25 specimens (52%), whereas, GSTP1 was methylated in 19/25 specimens (76%). Conclusion: PMEPA1 promoter downstream sequences are methylated in CaP cell lines and primary tumors suggesting that methylation contributes to the silencing of PMEPA1 gene in a subset of CaP. These data along with our earlier observation showing elevated AR levels by the loss of PMEPA1 expression, provide an intriguing role of methylation in a negative feedback regulation of AR in CaP. Citation Format: Shashwat Sharad, Hua Li, Michael C. Haffner, Srinivasan Yegnasubramanian, Gyorgy Petrovics, Srivastava Shiv, Albert Dobi. Epigenetic regulation of the androgen receptor regulator PMEPA1 in prostate cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Prostate Cancer Research; 2012 Feb 6-9; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(4 Suppl):Abstract nr B6.


In this study, the writer explained about the analysis of the topic of Code Mixing occurs, the reasons, and also the frequency of Code Mixing happened among the radio announcers in Maestro Gate FM Radio of Moslem University of Indonesia. The writer uses descriptive qualitative method for analyse the use of Code mixing among the radio announcers; there are some tables and descriptive explanation of each table. When a word or a phrase from another language then Code Mixing occurred. This phenomenon happened to the radio announcers commonly. Especially the announcers of Maestro Gate FM Radio always mix the codes in some particular programs. The writer expected that the use of Code Mixing among the radio announcers that they should understand "why" and "how" Code-mixing happens in their live for communicating. So they can inform and share the main purpose of announcing some programs and give a lot of benefit through the languages they used. Because it can stimulate the environment to develop the other languages to be learned by the listener.


This chapter gives a brief introduction of the significance of the work of caregivers and what it's like to work as a caregiver. It talks about the debate over home health care. The "home care is best" view casts the home as a place of rest and healing, and emphasizes the patient's comfort and the caregiver's love and concern. This view, however, downplays the costs associated with caregiving. There are issues with balancing work and family care, and many caregivers experienced sleeplessness and anxiety. Though most caregivers developed a "you do what you have to do" attitude and were able to figure out a way to perform the tasks, it was not a simple process. The chapter also discusses how caregivers are primarily forced laborers. "Home care for all" downplays caregiver labor and does not consider unmet caregiver needs or the particular nuisances of the home health situation. It discusses how workplace scholars have generally confined their analyses of medical labor to paid wage labor. By recognizing only those who are compensated, scholars allow capitalism to define work processes and to determine who it is that we consider as workers. This began a dichotomous division of labor whereby unpaid work in the "private sphere" was seen as personal and emotional, and paid work in the "public sphere" was seen as rational and productive. The separate-spheres construct not only fails to recognize the enormous contributions made in the private sphere, but also ideologically places "love" in the home and "labor" in paid jobs.


The rapid development of the Internet of Things and multimedia applications has led to an exponential growth in mobile network traffic year by year. In order to meet the demand for large amounts of data transmission and solve the problem of insufficient spectrum resources, millimeter waves are adopted for 5G communication. For B5G/6G, effective use of spectrum resources is one of the key technologies for the development of mobile communications. Therefore, this study uses a lightweight neural network to predict cellular traffic based on regional data, considering the data types of temporal and spatial dependence at the same time. Furthermore, in order to optimize the prediction performance and reduce the number of parameters of the neural network, this study uses a meta-heuristic algorithm to adjust the hyperparameters and combines local and global explanations to interpret the improvement of traffic prediction. The local explanations show the adjustment results of a single hyperparameter, and global explanations show the correlation between different hyperparameters and their influence on the amount and accuracy of model parameters. The simulation results show that compared with adjustment strategies of the manual method and greedy algorithm, the proposed explainable learning method can effectively improve the accuracy of cellular traffic prediction, reduce the number of parameters and provide a reasonable explanation.


Aim: The aim in this study was to examine the impact of eight-week high-Intensity interval training on speed, agility, and acceleration under 19 (U19) soccer players. Materials and methods: Healthy 22 soccer players from Anadolu Selçukspor U19 football team, one of the 2nd League teams of Turkish Football Federation (TFF), participated voluntarily in this study. The soccer players taking part in the study were separated randomly into two as the experimental and control groups. It was determined that the age average of the players constituting the experimental group was 18.36±0.51 years, their height average was 1.77±0.06 m, and their body weight average was 71.76±6.52 kg while the control group's age average was 17.55±0.69 years, height average was 1.76±0.04 m, and body weight average was 70.85±5.40 kg. In the study, the soccer players forming the experimental group attended a high-intensity interval training program three days a week for eight weeks, in addition to their regular training. The players of the control group continued their normal training schedule. The soccer players taking part in the study are the players who practice five days a week and play one official match. Results: In this study, through the comparison of the values of the pre-test and post-test regarding the speed and acceleration property of the soccer players of the experimental group, it was found that their post-test values were better (p<0.05). In terms of their agility property, an improvement of pro-rata 0.008 was seen in the experimental group, while the improvement of the control group took place at the proportion of 0.004 (p<0.05). Conclusion: It has been observed that 8-week high-intensity interval training is statistically significant in the speed and acceleration of soccer players. We contemplate that the inclusion of the high-intensity interval training within the annual training schedule in the field of soccer will affect the performance of the soccer players during the season more positively. Keywords: Agility, Soccer; Interval Training, Acceleration, Speed


Introduction : COPD often coexists with other diseases (comorbidities) that may have a significant impact on prognosis. Some of these arise independently of COPD, whereas others may be causally related.

Aims and objectives : To study the prevalence of extrapulmonary comorbidities in COPD patients and its correlation with severity of disease as assessed by FEV1%.

Methods : 100 patients who presented to respiratory medicine department with complains of breathlessness, cough, or sputum production and history of exposure to risk factors were enrolled for the study. After diagnosing and analysing the severity of COPD based on FEV1%, patients were screened for comorbidities - levels of Triglycerides and HDL, haemoglobin, glucose, resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, renal function test, bone mineral density (using Ultrasound scan of calcaneum), symptoms of anxiety and depression, and 2D-Echocardiography was done.

Results : Preavalence of comorbidities ;Hypertension 58%, underweight 44%, osteoporosis 44%, depression 31%, dyslipidemia 29%, anxiety 29%, diabetes 18 %, ischemic heart disease 13%, chronic renal failure 13%,heart failure 12%, Anemia 11%,and polycythemia in 10% of patients. Prevalence of hypertension, dyslipidemia, anxiety, depression, and underweight increased with increase in severity of disease, and this correlation was statistically significant (p value < 0.05).

Conclusion : Comorbidities are very common in COPD patients. Efforts should be made to screen for comorbidity, to weigh the impact of individual comorbidities on health status and, consequently, to plan a truly multidimensional therapeutic strategy especially in patients with severe disease.


The non-commutative Central Limit Theorem (CLT) introduced by Speicher in 1992 states that given almost any sequence of non-commutative random variables that commute or anti-commute pair-wise, the *-moments of the normalized partial sum S_N=(b_1+...+ b_N)/\sqrt{N} are given by a Wick-type formula refined to count the number of crossings in the underlying pair-partitions. When coupled with explicit matrix models, the theorem yields random matrix models for creation and annihilation operators on the q-Fock space of Bozejko and Speicher.
In this paper, we derive a non-commutative CLT when the pair-wise commutation coefficients are real numbers (as opposed to signs). The statistics of the limiting random variable are a second-parameter refinement of those above, jointly indexing the number of crossings and nestings in the underlying pair-partitions. Coupled with analogous matrix constructions, the theorem yields random matrix models for creation and annihilation operators on the recently introduced (q,t)-Fock space.


Pneumopericardium is a potential complication to frequent cannabis smoking due to barotrauma of the airways caused by forceful coughing and Valsalva's manoeuvre. This is a case report of a 27-year-old man, who had a daily consumption of cannabis and presented with abdominal pain and nausea consistent with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. A CT scan revealed an asymptomatic isolated minor pneumopericardium. The patient was observed, and no intervention was needed. At an outpatient control ten days later the pneumopericardium had spontaneously resolved.


The rapid spreading of SARS-CoV-2 and its dramatic consequences, are forcing policymakers to take strict measures in order to keep the population safe. At the same time, societal and economical interactions are to be safeguarded. A wide spectrum of containment measures have been hence devised and implemented, in different countries and at different stages of the pandemic evolution. Mobility towards workplace or retails, public transit usage and permanence in residential areas constitute reliable tools to indirectly photograph the actual grade of the imposed containment protocols. In this paper, taking Italy as an example, we will develop and test a deep learning model which can forecast various spreading scenarios based on different mobility indices, at a regional level. We will show that containment measures contribute to "flatten the curve" and quantify the minimum time frame necessary for the imposed restrictions to result in a perceptible impact, depending on their associated grade.


We study the occurence of delay mechanisms other than periodic orbits in systems with time dependent potentials that exhibit chaotic scattering. By using as model system two harmonically oscillating disks on a plane, we have found the existence of a mechanism not related to the periodic orbits of the system, that delays trajectories in the scattering region. This mechanism creates a fractal-like structure in the scattering functions and can possibly occur in several time-dependent scattering systems. Abstract We study the occurence of delay mechanisms other than periodic orbits in systems with time dependent potentials that exhibit chaotic scattering. By using as model system two harmonically oscillating disks on a plane, we have found the existence of a mechanism not related to the periodic orbits of the system, that delays trajectories in the scattering region. This mechanism creates a fractal-like structure in the scattering functions and can possibly occur in several time-dependent scattering systems.


The paper introduces and evaluates six soft approaches used in strategy development and planning. We take a planner's perspective on discussing the concepts of strategy development and planning. This means that we see strategy development and planning as learning processes based on Ackoff's interactive planning principles to be supported by soft approaches in carrying out the principles in action. These six soft approaches are suitable for supporting various steps of the strategy development and planning process. These are the SWOT analysis, the Future Workshop, the Scenario methodology, Strategic Option Development and Analysis, Strategic Choice Approach and Soft Systems Methodology. Evaluations of each methodology are carried out using a conceptual framework in which the organisation, the result, the process and the technology of the specific approach are taken into consideration. Using such a conceptual framework for evaluations of soft approaches increases the understanding of them, their transparency, and their usability in practice.


Four species of Sargassum were analyzed for their content of alginic acid at the different seasons of the year. S. polyceratlum and S. vulgare , two sessile species, had maximum amounts of alginic acid at the vegetative stage and peak reproductive phase in May. Minimum amounts were detected in the postreproductive phase. The whole plants had an average of 20.3% and 17.9% alginic acid for S. polyceratium and S. vulgare , respectively. In both species, the stipes had more alginic acid than the fronds. Whole plants of the pelagic species yielded an average of 18.8% and 19.9% alginic acid, for S. fluitans and S. natans , respectively. Stipes of S. fluitans had more alginic acid than the fronds, whereas in S. natans , the situation was reversed.


The dynamic response of a two-degree-of-freedom rotating machine supported on hardening springs and viscous dampers is investigated. The rotating machine is subjected to internal forces caused by the eccentricity of the center of mass of the rotor. The equations of motion of the system were determined from Lagrange's equation. The system has cubic nonlinearities. The method of multiple scales was then used to determine the response of the system. The method predicts that primary resonance occurs when the excitation frequency Q is near the first modal frequecy o)i, and the second modal frequency 0)2. The method also predicts that the system can have internal resonance when o)2~3o)i. The response of the system was determined when the excitation frequency is near the first and the second modal frequency under noninternal resonance and internal resonance conditions.

The system exhibits the jump phenomena near the mode frequencies of the system. Unimodal response was also observed under internal resonance conditions when I©â‰ˆ~W2.


The supply of free arachidonic acid from phospholipids is generally regarded as the rate-limiting step for prostaglandin (PG) synthesis by tissues. Two enzymes involved in arachidonic acid uptake into, and release from, phospholipids are acyl-CoA:lysophospholipid acyltransferase (ACLAT) and phospholipase A2 (PLA2), respectively. PGF2 alpha produced by the endometrium induces luteolysis in several species including guinea-pigs. Thimerosal, an inhibitor of ACLAT, and aristolochic acid, an inhibitor of PLA2, both reduced, in a concentration-dependent manner, the output of PGF2 alpha from guinea-pig endometrium cultured for 24 h on days 7 and 15 of the oestrous cycle. This study showed that the continual production of PGF 2 alpha by guinea-pig endometrium is not only dependent upon the activity of PLA2 for releasing free arachidonic acid for PGF2 alpha synthesis, but also on the incorporation of arachidonic acid into the phospholipid pool by the activity of ACLAT. The inhibitory effects of thimerosal and aristolochic acid on the outputs of PGE2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha were less marked, particularly on day 7 when the low output of PGE2 was unaffected and the output of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha was increased at the lower concentrations of thimerosal. This finding indicates that there are different pools of arachidonic acid bound as phospholipid for the syntheses of PGF2 alpha and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha by guinea-pig endometrium.


Although high radon concentrations have been linked to increased risk of lung cancer by both experimental studies and investigations of underground miners, epidemiologic studies of residential radon exposure display inconsistencies. The authors therefore decided to conduct a population-based case-control study in northwest Spain to determine the risk of lung cancer associated with exposure to residential radon. The study covered a total of 163 subjects with incident lung cancer and a population sample of 241 cancer-free subjects since 1992-1994. Odds ratios for radon were estimated using logistic regression adjusted for sex, age, lifetime tobacco use, family history, and habitat. The adjusted odds ratios for the second, third, and fourth quartiles of radon (breakpoints: 37.0, 55.2, and 148.0 Bq/m(3)) were 2.73 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12, 5.48), 2.48 (95% CI: 1.29, 6.79), and 2.96 (95% CI: 1.29, 6.79), respectively. An additive synergic effect between radon and tobacco was found. The results from this study suggest that, even at concentrations far below official guideline levels, radon may lead to a 2.5-fold rise in the risk of lung cancer. Furthermore, the synergy found between smoking and radon may prove useful when it comes to drafting public health recommendations.


Canine necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME) is characterized by autoantibodies against glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in cerebrospinal fluids (CSFs). To clarify the time-course changes in autoantibodies, serial examinations were conducted in three dogs with NME (two Pugs and a Pomeranian) that were treated by immunosuppressive therapy. The Pugs retained high autoantibody titers throughout the observation periods (146 and 813 days) and died with neurological signs. On the other hand, the Pomeranian switched from being positive for autoantibody to negative after day 580, and its NME seemed to be in clinical remission until death on day 1238. Therefore, the anti-GFAP autoantibodies can be detected over time in canine NME even during immunosuppressive therapies. However, the autoantibodies can also disappear within a certain period after onset.


The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of culture and communication style (explicit versus implicit) on people's reactions on recommendations in intercultural collaboration. The experimental results from three intercultural collaboration teams were studied: Chinese-American, Chinese-German, and Chinese-Korean. The results indicate that Chinese participants showed more positive evaluations (i.e., higher trust, higher satisfaction, and more future collaboration intention) on the implicit advisor than American and German participants. Compared with Chinese participants, Korean participants accepted explicit recommendations more often and showed more positive evaluations on the explicit advisor. The results also show that when Chinese express recommendations in an explicit way, their recommendations were accepted more often and were more positively evaluated by cross-cultural partners.


Current deep learning models often achieve excellent results on benchmark image-to-text datasets but fail to generate texts that are useful in practice. We argue that to close this gap, it is vital to distinguish descriptions from captions based on their distinct communicative roles. Descriptions focus on visual features and are meant to replace an image (often to increase accessibility), whereas captions appear alongside an image to supply additional information. To motivate this distinction and help people put it into practice, we introduce the publicly available Wikipedia-based dataset Concadia consisting of 96,918 images with corresponding English-language descriptions, captions, and surrounding context. Using insights from Concadia, models trained on it, and a preregistered human-subjects experiment with human- and model-generated texts, we characterize the commonalities and differences between descriptions and captions. In addition, we show that, for generating both descriptions and captions, it is useful to augment image-to-text models with representations of the textual context in which the image appeared.


This study aimed at estimating models to predict the growth and feed intake of Bonsmara bulls and heifers in backgrounding or pasture-based production systems (Ethical clearance number A16-SCI-AGR-001). Growth and intake data were collected from the Kromme Rhee Bonsmara stud in the Stellenbosch region. The growth curves of steers and heifers were modelled using the Gompertz function. Parameter estimates of the function showed that the mature weight (A) parameter was greater (P <0.05) for bulls than heifers (ca. 878.4 vs 562.1 kg, respectively). The maturation rates (parameter B) did not differ between the sexes, while the days at maximum growth (parameter C) was higher for bulls (291.5 days) than for heifers (182.4 days). Linear functions were used to describe the average feed intakes, as well as cumulative intakes, with body weights from growing bulls and heifers from the ages 6-20 months reared on lucerne hay and protein supplement. On average, it was observed that on the lucerne hay-based diet, Bonsmara bulls and heifers consumed about 2.43% of body weight daily throughout the study period. These models can be used in precision beef rearing systems to predict the production and market weights of Bonsmara calves that are either reared on hay or pasture.


1. The tracheal pouch, a surgical preparation designed to demonstrate non-adrenergic non-cholinergic inhibition, was prepared in chloralose/urethane-anaesthetized and positively ventilated guinea-pigs. The animals were given atropine and propranolol intraperitoneally to block cholinergic and adrenergic divisions of the autonomic innervation. The cervical vagi and sympathetic trunks were isolated bilaterally and cut cranially. 2. The relaxation responses of the pouch to graded concentrations of VIP (10(-11) M to 10(-6) M) were determined. Two consecutive dose-response curves at 20 min apart were determined in the control group. The VIP dose-response curves in the control group were reproducible and failed to show statistical significance upon paired Student's t-test. 3. [Ac-Tyr1,D-Phe2]-GRF(1-29)-amide, a VIP antagonist hereby referred to as antagonist-1 was tested for its ability to inhibit the VIP-induced pouch relaxation. Separate groups of animals were used for each concentration (10(-8) M, 10(-6) M or 10(-5) M) of the antagonist. VIP dose-response curves were determined before and after the pouch was incubated with the antagonist for 10 min. The second curve was determined after rinsing the pouch gently with saline and allowing 5 min for the pouch to stabilize. Statistical analysis showed that only 10(-5) M of the antagonist significantly blocked the VIP-induced tracheal pouch relaxation. 4. [4-C1-D-Phe6,Leu17]-VIP, another VIP antagonist hereby referred to as antagonist-2 was tested similarly for its ability to block the VIP-induced pouch relaxation. The significant blockade of the VIP-induced pouch relaxation was obtained with this antagonist at a concentration of 10(-6) M.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The discovery of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 has provided the rationale for the development of a new class of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), the selective COX-2 inhibitors (denominated coxibs), with the aim of reducing the gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity associated with the administration of NSAIDs by virtue of COX-1 sparing. Rofecoxib and celecoxib are the first selective COX-2 inhibitors approved by the FDA and EMEA for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA) and for relief of acute pain. Rofecoxib has been shown to spare COX-1 activity ex vivo, in platelets and gastric mucosa, when administered at therapeutic doses or above. In a large clinical trial, COX-2 inhibitors have been demonstrated to halve the incidence of serious upper GI events vs a nonselective NSAID. Recently, other selective COX-2 inhibitors with different COX-1/COX-2 selectivity and pharmacokinetic features have been developed, i.e. valdecoxib, parecoxib, etoricoxib and lumiracoxib. The improved biochemical selectivity of valdecoxib vs celecoxib in vitro (COX-1/COX-2 ratio: 60 vs 30, respectively) may be clinically relevant leading to an improved GI safety. Interestingly, parecoxib, a pro-drug of valdecoxib, is the only injectable coxib. Etoricoxib, showing only a slightly higher COX-2 selectivity than rofecoxib in vitro (COX-1/COX-2 ratio: 344 vs 272, respectively), has been reported to cause a similar specific COX-2 inhibition ex vivo that should translate into comparable GI safety. Lumiracoxib, the most selective COX-2 inhibitor in vitro (COX-1/COX-2 ratio: 400), is the only acidic coxib. It has been hypothesized that this pecular chemical feature may lead to an enhanced concentration in inflammatory sites that may translate into an improved clinical efficacy. The results of clinical trials have shown that coxibs have a comparable clinical efficacy and renal toxicity and an improved GI safety vs nonselective NSAIDs. Whether the different pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetics features of the various coxibs will produce detectable differences in efficacy and toxicity remains to be evaluated in appropriate comparative randomized clinical studies.


The paper extends Samuelson's Ricardo-Marshall specific-factors model (Samuelson, 1971b) by allowing the accumulation of capital. As in the original model, the utility function is quasi-linear, with the linear component attached to "leisure". On the production side, however, we consider the technology to be of a polyhedral type. Although we use a discounted dynamic optimization problem of the Ramsey-type to describe the behaviour of the system, the dynamics of the optimal programs cannot be characterized by means of the standard tools. Indeed, the two above assumptions imply that the model is neither strictly concave nor differentiable. Nevertheless, for the case in which there is a single methods of production, we prove that an optimal path from a given initial condition is unique and has the "turnpike" property. We point out, however, that both the above dynamic properties depend on the assumption that there is no problem of choice of technique and that they do not hold in more general settings.


Background Stapled hemorrhoidopexy for prolapsing hemorrhoids has been found to be associated with lesser postoperative pain and consequently earlier mobilization and return to work, in comparison to conventional hemorrhoidectomy. Purse string application remains a crucial step to ensure adequate lifting of the anal mucosa and this step is technically tedious in the presence of large hemorrhoids obscuring the vision using the standard purse string applicator. The proposed method in our technique makes this crucial step more reliable, easier, and safe in the hands of the beginner and the experienced surgeon alike. Methods Thirty healthy adults (21 males and 9 females) with grade 3 or 4 hemorrhoids underwent stapled hemorrhoidopexy at a large university referral hospital in New Delhi. Purse string application was the first step in the entire procedure even before the application of the circular anal dilator. The purse string was applied using authors' method herein after referred to as Maulana Azad Medical College "(MAMC) technique" after the name of the institution. Rest of the procedure was completed as described by Longo et al. Results The mean operative time was 26 minutes (range 16 to 40 min). The mean visual analog scale (VAS) pain score on day 1 was 1.6 (range 0 to 3). The mean hospital stay was 1.1 days (range 1 to 2 d). There was no major intraoperative complication and one case each of postoperative urinary retention and residual hemorrhoid, there was no recurrence, anal stenosis, or anal incontinence after a mean follow up of 15 months (range 3 to 24 mo). Conclusions The procedure described is safe, easy to learn, and technically sound, enabling the application of the crucial purse string at the desired distance from the dentate line, in the correct submucosal plane with closely placed bites and at the same transverse level.