Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3-K) is a heterodimeric enzyme involved in the regulation of mitogenesis, apoptosis, cell adhesion, and motility. PI3-K was suggested as a protooncogene in human cancer. To determine the expression of PI3-K during cancerogenesis and tumor invasion of HNSCC, we investigated normal and dysplastic epithelium of the oral cavity, squamous cell carcinoma and lymph node metastasis by immunohistochemistry. The strongest immunoreactivity for p85alpha and p110alpha was found in invasive tumors and their metastases. Carcinomas in situ showed a focal positivity. Dysplasias and normal epithelium reacted predominantly negatively. The PI3-K inhibitor LY294002 inhibited proliferation and invasion of the HNSCC cell line CAL-27 and induced apoptosis in vitro. Our data suggest PI3-K as a marker of malignancy and tumor invasion. We suggest including PI3-K in the multistep carcinogenesis model of HNSCC. In addition, PI3-K is a potential target for pharmacological intervention.


Several patients undergoing physical therapy have nutritional problems. Knowledge of nutrition is necessary for addressing nutritional problems, such as malnutrition, sarcopenia, frailty, and cachexia. However, the relationship between physical therapy and nutrition is not fully understood. Physical therapy plays an important role in nutritional management, and evaluations, such as muscle strength and muscle mass evaluations, play an important role in nutritional screening and diagnosis. Exercise, as the core of physical therapy, is essential for nutritional interventions. Several recent studies have suggested that a combination of nutrition and physical therapy interventions can maximize the function, activity, participation, and quality of life of patients. The combination of nutrition and physical therapy interventions is key to addressing the needs of modern and diverse populations. This position paper was developed by the Physical Therapist Section of the Japanese Association of Rehabilitation Nutrition in consultation with the Japanese Society of Nutrition and Swallowing Physical Therapy.


ABSTRACT Background Picture naming is a common tool in aphasia diagnosis and therapy. However, opinions differ as to which type of image (e.g., photographs, drawings) is most suitable for naming tasks and whether there is a difference on naming correctness and latencies based on image type. Moreover, recent studies have mainly analysed colour photographs and black-and-white line drawings leaving out image types like graphic representations that apply image features that can facilitate naming such as colour, controlled size, or texture. Aims To shed more light on appropriate image types for persons with aphasia, we created graphic representations depicting nouns and verbs and compared them to photographic stimuli in a naming task including persons with aphasia (PWA) and a control group (CG). Methods & Procedures 33 PWA and 33 age matched persons (CG) participated in the study. Naming correctness and latencies were measured in two different conditions: concepts depicted as coloured photographs vs. as graphic representations. 128 pictures of linguistically controlled German-language concepts (64 nouns, 64 verbs) had to be named. The designed graphic stimuli were developed by professional designers based on photographs. The photographs were selected from stock image databases according to a defined image concept. This image concept was based on empirical findings regarding image features that facilitate naming (e.g., colour, texture, shading) and was applied to the selection of the photographs as well as to the creation of the graphic representations. The images were presented in pseudo-randomized sequences on a tablet and all reactions of the participants were videotaped. The data from the main study was analysed using generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) and linear mixed models (LMM). Outcomes & Results Our analysis showed no significant difference in naming correctness and latencies between photographic and graphic stimuli. On average, PWA named terms presented as graphical representations more correctly than the photographs. But this difference was below the significance level. Conclusions In our study we showed that graphic representations, when including image features that facilitate naming like colour, texture, and shading, can evoke the same naming performance as photographs. Graphic representations can thus be used in combination with photographs in an image set, especially when depicting concepts that benefit from reduced representation, e.g., verbs. We therefore advocate the transparent and methodologically stringent implementation of image features that facilitate naming when creating image stimuli.


Despite the debates of the benefits of continuing mammography screening among elderly women, studies in Malaysia have shown that the prevalence of breast examination declines after age 45 years and for mammogram per se, the prevalence of examination increases until age of 64. This study aims to determine the prevalence of mammogram screening among elderly women in Hulu Langat, Selangor and its relationship with factors such as demographic factors, family history of breast cancer, perceived health status, perceived general psychological factor and lifestyle factors. Data used were from a cross sectional study of health status among community in Hulu Langat area by the Department of Community Health, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia carried out from the year 1998 till 2002. However this paper focused on the database involving elderly women age 60 and above. The sample population was 652. The mean (standard deviation) age was 67.17 (5.995). Only 8.3% of the elderly women claimed to ever had mammogram screening done. Hence, the prevalence of mammogram screening is still low among elderly women in Hulu Langat. Having family history of breast cancer (p < 0.001) and perceived positive psychological status (p=0.003) had shown significant associations with mammogram screening among them. It is therefore important for researcher to further look into the reasons behind this and qualitative exploration is highly recommended.


This paper details out the application of a predictive analysis tool to 'S' Field's commingled production, aiming to enhance production allocation and reservoir understanding without the need of well intervention and a reduced frequency of zonal rate tests and data acquisition.
 Allocation of the production data to its respective reservoirs is performed via a novel Multi-Phase Allocation method (MPA), taking into account the water production trending evolution derived from relative permeability behavior of oil-water in each reservoir to compute flow rates for liquid phases over time. The precision of the derived rates is constrained by actual zonal rates tests through Inflow Control Valves (ICVs). This method will be cross referenced against 'S' Field's existing zonal rate calculation algorithm, utilizing input data from well tests results and real time pressure and temperature data.
 The MPA method demonstrates improvement in the allocation of production data as compared to the conventional KH-methodology as MPA takes into account the water cut trending between reservoirs. Leveraging on ICVs to obtain actual zonal rate measurements, this greatly reduces the range of uncertainty in the allocation process. MPA derived production split ratios closely match the split ratios derived from the 'S' Field's existing zonal rate calculation algorithm, which utilizes input data from well tests results and real time pressure and temperature data from down hole gauges.
 It is observed that the usage of actual measured zonal rate tests reduces the range of uncertainty of the MPA data.
 A combination of novel multi-phase deliverability models coupled with smart field technologies such as intelligent completions and real-time surveillance and analysis tools will increase the accuracy of the back allocation of multi-phase production data in commingled reservoirs.


Summary
A work procedure for virtual product and manufacturing engineering has been developed at the Volvo Car Corporation. For the first time this was fully adhered to during the development of the P28/XC90 car model. The working methods comprise both virtual and physical analysis of different aspects of the product and production process, such as packing, assembly ability and ergonomics. A decision was taken in January 2001 to make an evaluation of the virtual working methods, for which a research team from the National Institute for Working Life and Chalmers University of Technology was engaged.
The purpose was to evaluate how well the virtual working methods functioned with regard to ergonomics aspects of assembly work - and to what degree they could be applied for early identification of ergonomics problems. About 30 interviews with members of different development teams (module teams) were carried out for the evaluation. Evaluations of the assembly work for a selected number of PIIs1 for P28 were also made, starting with virtual series2 5 (VS5) in February 2001 ending with the pre-series PTO1 (Pre try-out 13) in November 2001. The overall results showed that the virtual participative working methods worked well in general and the members of the module teams (project teams) were very positive to the usage of virtual tools. A large number of ergonomic problems were identified and corrected but the number of ergonomic simulations was lower than expected. The reason for this was said to be a lack of ergonomics competence. Nevertheless the module teams believed that there was a greater potential for identifying and solving several ergonomic problems in early project phases than was the case in this study. An overall important outcome was the recommendations to the company for how to improve virtual working procedures, follow-ups of simulation results and virtual tools for the future.


Abuse of process-this is the "use of the law against the Law" [5]. "The letters of the law is used against its goals and spirit"[5]. Numerous legislation are adopted in order to better ensure the rights of a patient. A variety of authorities supervise it. However, the complexity of the legislative and the great number of regulatory institutions creates a lot of opportunities for abuse of the law. It is , first of all, the opportunity for a party to "play for time", when the outcome of the case seems to be undesirable for this party it misu- ses the law to postpone the final conclusion of the court. Second, the law is abused to exhaust the opponent, to cause him to spend a great deal of money and time and this way to urge him to refuse persecuting his just aims. Third, the law can be misused to "punish" the opponent for his pursuit of the truth in the case. Most of agencies proceeding the case duplicate the same supervisory body to hear the case, neither one of which is able to take the final conclusion. The case presented in this article the typical traits of the abuse are outlined. They are, first, the obvious groundlessness of the patient's complaint. The patient complains of side effects of the drug. He was worned on this side effect, this drug was used only after more save ones probed to be ineffective. medicinal product in respect of which it was notified, and which has been used only where there are other inefficiency. Second, the complaint consistently pass a number of identical checks, all accessing the same conclusions. Third,a myriad of health-care workers were involved into this case distracting them from their main duties.


The limitations of the diagnostic imaging methods in determining lymph node involvement in pelvic tumors (prostatic cancer) and the high incidence of false negatives in the intraoperative frozen biopsies done during open lymphadenectomy have prompted us to develop laparoscopic staging lymphadenectomy since November, 1990. The different imaging and invasive diagnostic methods are briefly analyzed in the present article. The laparoscopic lymphadenectomy procedure is described in detail and a summary of our series is presented.


ABSTRACT Objectives: This study examined how different quantifications of pain (average vs. day-to-day inconsistency) are related to sleep in older adults beyond known predictors. Methods: Baseline measures from the Active Adult Mentoring Project were used for secondary analyses. Participants included 82 adults in mid- to late-life. Depression was assessed with the BDI-II. Pain intensity was assessed over seven days on a 11-point Likert-scale, while sleep efficiency (SE), total sleep time (TST), and total wake time (TWT) were assessed using a self-report diary. Results: Regression analyses revealed that pain inconsistency was associated with both SE and TWT and accounted for significant variance over age, gender, and depression. In contrast, average pain was not associated with SE, TST, or TWT. Conclusions: The findings indicate that pain inconsistency may be a more meaningful predictor of sleep disturbance than average pain level, suggesting that one's ability to regulate pain may be related to one's ability to engage in optimal sleep in mid- to late-life. Clinical Implications: Pain inconsistency appears to contribute more to sleep disturbance than average pain. Pain inconsistency in late-life warrants greater attention and may be an area of clinical intervention through activity-pacing or coping skills training.


The epidemiometric model of leprosy, built on Polambakkam, India, data, is used to compare the impact on incidence of dapsone and different multidrug therapy (MDT) strategies. The simulations show that generalization of MDT could have a dramatic impact on transmission of the disease. Relapses after MDT, although important from an individual point of view, have a negligible influence on the incidence. Introduction of MDT requires investments that, during the first few years of the program, are much greater than for dapsone monotherapy. These are, however, rapidly absorbed due to the rapidly declining number of new cases, particularly when MDT is not limited to multibacillary cases but is administered to all patients.


OBJECTIVES: The elite of Russian power and Russian society have never come to terms with the collapse of the Soviet Union. They also did not accept ta world order with the United States in the primary role. The purpose of this article is to examine the policy of the Russian Federation, which is aimed at rebuilding its superpower position, and to identify the reasons that clearly define Russia's determination in this respect. METHODS: Achieving the formulated goal will be possible by answering the question: Why does Russia strive to rebuild its status of global superpower and what actions does it undertake as part of its policy? This question is the main research problem, taken up by the authors. In order to solve the indicated problem, theoretical methods will be used in the form of: source and literature criticism, analysis, synthesis and inference. RESULTS: Nobody denies that Russia is still one of the largest countries in the world. Nonetheless, it is much smaller and weaker than the USSR. By means of assertive, not to say aggressive and anti-western politics it demands to be recognised as a superpower eligible to decide on the international order. However, in the contemporary world, superpower status is to a much smaller extent decided by territory. CONCLUSIONS: The foundations of the Russian superpower status are weak, and the popular anti-western narrative is not conducive to strengthening the Kremlin's position internationally.

https://securityanddefence.pl/pdf-110335-42554?filename=Russias return to the.pdf


PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Bipartite scaphoid has long been debated, and is of traumatic origin for some authors or congenital for others. The aim of the study is to distinguish clinical and radiographic criteria for the diagnosis of congenital bipartite scaphoid. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A case of bilateral bipartite scaphoid is presented. To distinguish pseudarthrosis from congenital bipartite scaphoid we used, the revised carpal height ratio of Nattrass, the CT, and magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: These examinations showed no collapse and they revealed evidence of articular cartilage around the fragments with the same thickness in all the carpus. CONCLUSION: We believe that congenital origin is more probable but we recommend to follow the patient, with yearly standard wrist radiograph and use, the revised carpal height ratio of Nattrass to research a carpal shift or collapse.


Plasmonic nanostructures fabricated from self-assembled patterns of block copolymers (BCPs) were applied for organic solar cells (OSCs). A thin film of a cylinder-forming polystrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) copolymer (PS-b-P2VP) was spin-coated on the transparent electrode of the OSCs, where nanostructures such as dot, dot with mixed line, and line patterns emerged during different solvent annealing processes. Selective conversion of hydrogen tetrachloroaurate (III) (HAuCl4) in P2VP blocks yielded gold (Au) nanostructures, which were used to trigger the localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) effect at the OSCs. Plasmonic nanostructures with almost similar scales of BCP patterns were formed at the anode/buffer interface at the OSC, showing no-table enhancements of the short circuit current (Jsc) and the power conversion efficiency (3.57% for the reference compared to 4.35% for the optimum LSPR-OSC) as the size and the anisotropy of Au patterns changed from a simple dot through an integrated dot-line pattern to a line pattern. Based on the experimental analyses of the light absorption, photoluminescence, and exciton lifetime of OSC, such an enhancement would be mainly attributed to size-dependent LSPR-induced scattering and absorption at the OSC's active layer, which is not in intimate contact with the Au nanostructures. Up to a 26% increase in the power conversion efficiency could be observed at the plasmonic structures from BCP template, providing an accurately tuning and powerful tailoring of the LSPR-enhancing patterns for the OSCs.


: Calcium hydroxide is generally accepted as the material of choice for pulp capping. Histologically there is a complete dentinal bridging with healthy radicular pulp under calcium hydroxide dressings. When calcium hydroxide is applied directly to pulp tissue there is necrosis of adjacent pulp tissue and an inflammation of contiguous tissue. Dentinal bridge formation occurs at the junction of necrotic tissue and vital inflamed tissue. Beneath the region of necrosis, cells of underlying pulp tissue differentiate into odontoblasts and elaborate dentin matrix. The aim of the study is to get a brief review about the properties and clinical applications of calcium hydroxide and Mineral Trioxide Aggregate in conservative dentistry including its antibacterial effect activity for protection of the dental pulp. Therefore, in latest years, the use of calcium hydroxide or mineral trioxide aggregate in indirect and direct pulp capping was one of the most popular lining materials for protection of the pulp in dentistry. Both materials showed a high success rate for reparative dentin when used as pulp capping. In general, the priority the procedure of placement material for pulp protection as pulp capping, indirect or direct must be clinically no pain, no radiographic exchange in pre-apical area and vital tissue of the pulp.


The combination of gas chromatography (GC) and laser-based resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (REMPI-TOFMS) represents a three-dimensional analytical method, using the gas chromatographic retention time, the wavelength of the ionization laser for REMPI, and the molecular mass as analytical parameters. In this work, a novel analytical scheme for detection of chlorinated aromatic compounds, including isomeric ensembles, by GC/REMPI-TOFMS is presented. The concept uses an in-line hydrodechlorination catalyst for post- or precolumn derivatization of chlorinated aromatic compounds. The chlorinated aromatics are quantitatively reduced, forming their respective aromatic skeletons. These aromatic skeletons are detected selectively by REMPI-TOFMS. The first results for substance class selective detection of chlorinated benzene isomers are given, and potential applications in the field of the analysis of compounds such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and -furans are discussed.


Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a massive impact worldwide. Clinical symptoms vary in different countries. In addition, a wide range of symptoms involve most of the body systems including the respiratory system. However, COVID-19 has no classical presenting signs. Objective: This study aimed to describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of hospitalized and nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients in Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in Anbar Governorate, Iraq. The study covered the period from May 1 to June 30, 2020. All cases were confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Data concerning the age, gender, residence, occupation, clinical symptoms, smoking, history of systemic diseases, and disease fate were collected from patients' records. Results: Of 481 patients, 259 (53.8%) were male. The patient age ranged from 12 to 104 years with a mean age of 45.7 ± 16.11. Majority of the patients aged 36–58 years (n = 204, 42.4%) and were urban dwellers (n = 318, 66.1%), non-healthcare workers (n = 447, 92.9%), and nonsmokers (n = 440, 91.5%). The chief complaint was fever (n = 300, 64.2%). The mortality rate was 5.6% (n = 27). The increasing age, male gender, and a history of systemic illnesses showed an increased effect on the mortality rate (p < 0.05). Residence, occupation, and smoking status did not show significant difference (p>0.05). Conclusion: The mortality rate was 5.6%. Fever was the main feature of COVID-19. Male, older individuals with systemic diseases showed higher mortality rate.


Statement of purpose Sexual Violence is a significant problem in the United States. Nearly 1 in 5 women (19.3%) and 1 in 59 men (1.7%) in the United States have been raped at some time in their lives. In a study of undergraduate women, 19% experienced attempted or completed sexual assault since entering college. As part of the White House initiative to prevent campus sexual assault, CDC will convene a panel of experts (e.g., sexual violence prevention practitioners and college and university staff and leadership) in early 2015 to identify emerging, promising practices to prevent sexual assault on campus and make recommendations. Methods/Approach CDC will share updates on activities related to the White House Campus Sexual Assault Task Force, highlight CDC's work to prevent campus sexual assault, and offer experiences from states and universities working on this issue. The CDC presenters will cover the background, epidemiology, potential interventions, and tools and resources to support rape prevention on campus. Partners (sexual violence prevention practitioners or university partners) will discuss efforts implemented at universities and future directions for campus sexual assault prevention. The session will include time for discussion with panellists/presenters to hear more about experiences and efforts by universities and CDC. Results Session attendees will learn about emerging, promising practices to prevent sexual assault on campuses and how those can be incorporated into their violence prevention programs. Conclusions Emerging strategies can be used to address the issue of campus sexual assault. By understanding the best available evidence, universities and other partners can collaborate to prevent sexual assault. Significance and contribution to the field Universities and their partners across the country are working to address and prevent campus sexual assault. This presentation will provide information on the best available evidence regarding strategies and practices to prevent sexual assault and help the broader injury prevention audience better understand the issue and potential steps to address it.


Abstract A greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the herbicidal activity of five aliphatic (ethyl, propyl, butyl, allyl, and 3-methylthiopropyl) and three aromatic (phenyl, benzyl, and 2-phenylethyl) isothiocyanates (ITCs) on Palmer amaranth, pitted morningglory, and yellow nutsedge. All ITCs were applied to soil at 0, 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000 nmol g−1 of soil and incorporated. All ITCs had a deleterious effect on Palmer amaranth and pitted morningglory emergence. LC50 values for Palmer amaranth emergence inhibition from aliphatic and aromatic ITCs ranged from a low of 32 nmol g−1 of soil for phenyl ITC to a high of 941 nmol g−1 of soil for propyl ITC. Pitted morningglory was slightly more tolerant than Palmer amaranth to each of the ITCs, with LC50 values for emergence ranging from 347 to 2,855 nmol g−1 of soil for 3-methylthiopropyl and butyl ITC, respectively. Yellow nutsedge was the most tolerant of the three species, with LC50 values for ethyl, butyl, benzyl, and 2-phenylethyl being greater than the highest evaluated concentration of 10,000 nmol g−1 of soil. Phenyl and 3-methylthiopropyl at 10,000 nmol g−1 of soil were the most effective ITCs against yellow nutsedge, reducing emergence by 92%. Effectiveness of the ITCs varied across structure and species, but 3-methylthiopropyl and phenyl ITC were generally the most efficacious for the three species evaluated. Nomenclature: Palmer amaranth, Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats. AMAPA; pitted morningglory, Ipomoea lacunosa L. IPOLA; yellow nutsedge, Cyperus esculentus L. CYPES.


[1] We examine the local nature of the dynamic stress field in the vicinity of the tip of a semi-infinite sub-Rayleigh (slower than the Rayleigh wave speed, cR) mode II crack with a velocity-weakening cohesive zone. We constrain the model using results from dynamic photoelastic experiments, in which shear ruptures were nucleated spontaneously in Homalite-100 plates along a bonded, precut, and inclined interface subject to a far-field uniaxial prestress. During the experiments, tensile cracks grew periodically along one side of the shear rupture interface at a roughly constant angle relative to the shear rupture interface. The occurrence and inclination of the tensile cracks are explained by our analytical model. With slight modifications, the model can be scaled to natural faults, providing diagnostic criteria for interpreting velocity, directivity, and static prestress state associated with past earthquakes on exhumed faults. Indirectly, this method also allows one to constrain the velocity-weakening nature of natural ruptures, providing an important link between field geology, laboratory experiments, and seismology.


OBJECTIVE
Receptor activity-modifying proteins (RAMPs) determine the ligand specificity of the calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CRLR); co-expression of RAMP1 and CRLR results in a calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) receptor, whereas the association of RAMP2 or RAMP3 with CRLR gives an adrenomedullin(ADM) receptor. As CGRP and ADM may play a beneficial role in heart failure, this study aimed at the question whether RAMPs mRNAs are changed in heart failure.

METHODS
Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) was used to detect and quantify the mRNAs of RAMP1 and RAMP3 in the atria of heart failing patients.

RESULTS
It was found that the expressions of RAMP1, RAMP2 and RAMP3 mRNAs increased with the worsening of heart function, but the expressions of RAMP1 and RAMP2 mRNA decreased at level IV of heart failure.

CONCLUSION
The above results demonstrated in the atria of heart failure patients an up-regulation of CGRP receptor by an increase of RAMP1 in association with CRLR and an up-regulation of ADM receptor by an increase of RAMP2 expression in association with CRLR, thus suggesting that CGRP and ADM receptors be playing a functional role in compensating the chronic heart failure in human.


Industrial and air-borne gas turbine hot components suffer from creep, oxidation, corrosion and microstructural degradation if not shielded from the hot and aggressive combustion gases. Two major strategies commercially available are adopted; film cooling by pressurised air and application of protective coatings. Protective coatings form a slow-growing oxide that protects from oxidation and corrosion. By application of a thermal insulator, a thermal barrier coating, the material will be protected from high temperature through good insulation properties of the coating system.If thermal barrier coatings are to be used in situations where capabilities and possibilities for inspections are limited, better knowledge of the fatigue properties of the coatings is also needed. Therefore development of a reliable fatigue life model is needed. The present work aims at serving as a basis from which a general physically founded thermal barrier coating life model can be formulated. The effects of exposure to high temperatures and mechanical loads on thermal barrier coatings under service like conditions have been investigated in the present thesis. Emphasis is put on the coupling between materials science and solid mechanics approaches in order to establish a better knowledge concerning degradation mechanisms and fatigue life issues than what is common if only one discipline is explored.Investigations of material exposed to isothermal oxidation and thermal cyclic fatigue were performed on plasma-sprayed systems with NiCoCrAIY or NiCrAIY bond coats and yttria partially stabilised zirconia top coats. It has been shown that the thermally grown oxide that will form upon high temperature exposure influences the failure behaviour. If the oxide is composed mainly of alumina, the fatigue properties are good since the adhesion between the ceramic top coat and the metallic bond coat is good. This is also shown in a comparison between different plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating systems. If the oxide formed is based on alurnina and spinel is avoided the fatigue properties benefit from a relatively flat interface where out-of plane stresses are low in comparison to a rough interface between top- and bond coat. These findings indicate that the bonding in air-plasma sprayed systems is dependent on so called chemical bonding if the thermally grown oxide is not voluminous with high growth stresses.It is possible to establish a fatigue life model for thermal barrier coatings. This has been shown with a model based on a modified Paris law formulation. The formulation needs to be modified with regards to mode rnixity of growth. Results achieved in the present project show that it is possible to extract crack growth data for interfacial crack growth. However a combination of mechanical testing and finite element modelling is needed since the load situation in critical areas cannot be measured. Crack growth results are presented and crack growth data are compared to predictions with good agreement.


Given the increasing demand for integrated wireless systems in system-on-chip technology, narrow-band low noise amplifier (LNA) designs must be robust against variations in device parameters and passive component values to improve manufacturing yield for high volume applications. In this paper, we develop two design techniques for reducing the impact of component variations on narrow-band LNA performance. The results demonstrate that by increasing the bandwidth of the narrow-band LNA and applying more conservative design constraints, we can mitigate the reliability implications of process variations on impedance matching, gain, and power consumption to significantly increase yield in integrated wireless applications.


The Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is a transport
protocol originally defined to run on top of the network protocols
IPv4 or IPv6. This document specifies how SCTP can be used on top of
the Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) protocol. Using the
encapsulation method described in this document, SCTP is unaware of
the protocols being used below DTLS; hence, explicit IP addresses
cannot be used in the SCTP control chunks. As a consequence, the SCTP
associations carried over DTLS can only be single-homed.


The generalized gradient approximation to density functional theory is benchmarked for the calculation of formation enthalpies of lanthanide perovskite-type oxides LaMO3 (M = Sc–Cu). Three different reaction pathways (from elements, mono and sesquioxides) have been investigated and the systematic errors associated with electron correlation due to overbinding of the oxygen molecule, electron self-interaction within localized 3d states, and geometrical relaxations are analyzed by critical comparison with a large number of experimental data. Calculated formation enthalpies from elements and sesquioxides are in good agreement with experiment when the overbinding of O2 is corrected for using the Wang ad hoc factor of 131 kJ mol−1 O2. By contrast, the calculated formation enthalpies from monoxides are systematically too low which are attributable to strong self-interactions due to localized 3d states in MO. The effects of relaxation and choice of magnetic structure on the enthalpies of formation are analyzed.


A profound split is evident during the period 1670–1730 in the way European scholars and commentators attempted to understand and describe classical Chinese thought. For some, Confucianism acknowledged divine creation and divine governance of the world, immortality of the soul and other elements of Natural Theology. The Radical Enlightenment thinkers, however, and also some Christian scholars denied that Confucianism was based on Natural Theology or pervaded by belief in divine providence, characterizing it rather as monist, naturalist and Spinozist. The disagreement proved fundamental in several respects and proved divisive for the Church, as well as European thought more generally, producing a series of lively disputes that continued over several decades.


Many manufacturing firms have opened up their product innovation processes and actively transfer knowledge with external partners in the markets for technology. However, the markets for technological knowledge have remained inefficient in comparison with the markets for most products. To reduce some of the market inefficiencies, manufacturing firms may collaborate with innovation intermediaries, which are defined as organizations that act as agents or brokers in the innovation process between two or more parties. These innovation intermediaries comprise different service providers ranging from consulting companies to Internet marketplaces for technology. In light of an increasing importance of intermediary services in the context of open innovation, this paper specifically focuses on the collaboration of manufacturing firms and innovation intermediaries, which may be critical for the success of intermediary services. Based on new interview data from 30 innovation intermediaries and 30 European manufacturing firms, this paper examines the question of how innovation intermediaries and manufacturing firms collaborate concerning the following issues, which emerged as the key themes from the interviews: potential of intermediation, roles of intermediaries, types of intermediation, drivers of intermediation, complementarity of intermediation, compensation of intermediation, and the importance of repeated collaborations. The findings indicate how manufacturing firms may reduce their transaction costs in technology markets by collaborating with intermediaries. However, intermediary services can only be regarded as a complement rather than a substitute of manufacturing firms' internal activities of managing technology transfer. Thus, manufacturing firms need sufficient internal capabilities for managing technology transfer, such as absorptive capacity and desorptive capacity.


SIGNIFICANCE Recent studies have established the safety of subconjunctival steroids for anterior scleritis, refuting scleral necrosis as a potential complication. However, presently, we report a rare case of scleral necrosis associated with subconjunctival triamcinolone acetate. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to report a case of scleral necrosis after subconjunctival triamcinolone acetate administration for nonresponsive anterior nodular scleritis. CASE REPORT A 45-year-old man diagnosed with nodular anterior scleritis was administered subconjunctival triamcinolone acetate (4 mg) adjacent to the nodule after noting nonresponse for 4 months. Worsening of congestion was noted 3 weeks after the injection. Slit-lamp examination revealed diffuse congestion, 10 clock hours of anterior scleral necrosis, superior whitish depot of subconjunctival triamcinolone acetate, anterior segment flare, and few posterior synechiae. Ultrasound biomicroscopic imaging and contrast-enhanced computerized tomography showed a localized outpouching of sclera and buckling of anterior scleral wall superiorly. The result of the comprehensive blood profile and systemic evaluation undertaken to rule out any underlying autoimmune disorders and herpes zoster ophthalmicus was found negative. A diagnosis of subconjunctival triamcinolone acetate–associated scleral necrosis was made, and the patient was managed conservatively. Gradual improvement with dissolution of subconjunctival triamcinolone acetate and no recurrences till 2 years of follow-up were noted. CONCLUSIONS Scleral necrosis is a potential complication of subconjunctival triamcinolone acetate. Judicious and cautious use of subconjunctival triamcinolone acetate is advocated for nonresolving anterior scleritis.


All his life Martin Luther experienced what he calls his Anfechtungen , his struggles with spiritual despair and guilt. As is well known, these struggles yielded his "Reformation Discovery" that the righteousness of God in Rom. 1:17 is not the punitive righteousness by which a wrathful God punishes sinners, but the gift of his own righteousness through faith in Christ to all who believe. In recent decades, following the influential lead given by the work of Krister Stendahl, Pauline scholars have often assumed that Luther is guilty of simple anachronism, projecting back onto Paul his own guilty conscience. This article subjects that assumption to careful scrutiny, tracing Luther's reading of Philippians 3 across various texts. Although Luther does not discuss Paul's conscience as an issue in its own right, he in fact repeatedly assumes that Paul's pre-conversion conscience was robust. The article moves on to consider how this finding coheres with Luther's overall reading of Paul, the manner in which he thinks about Paul's post-conversion Christian conscience, and the parallels that Luther does draw between his own biography and that of Paul. These parallels are significant, but do not include a guilty conscience. Luther does not project his own introspective struggles back onto Paul. The paper concludes with an exploration of the origins of the idea that Paul had an introspective conscience and a consideration of the implications of its findings for current "new perspective" debates.


Intestinal mucus layer plays a crucial role in protecting the epithelium layer and acts as a barrier to separate the epithelium layer from pathogenic microorganisms. The mucus is synthesized by the goblet cells located in the epithelium layer. The production of mucus inside the goblet cells is regulated by the expression of mucin gene family, such as MUC2 for the mucus production in jejunum, ileum, and colon. Recent studies had suggested the influence of macronutrient intake, such as carbohydrate and fat, in mucus production. High fiber diet and resistant starch consumption were found to positively affect mucus production through upregulating mucin gene expression. Meanwhile, high saturated fat diet was found to negatively affect mucus production by promoting ER stress and downregulating epithelial differentiation transcription factor (KLF4). Nonetheless, a low saturated fat diet was found to upregulate mucin expression. Unsaturated fat diet (oleic acid, linoleic acid, EPA, and DHA), on the other hand, decreased mucin expression by disrupting epithelial differentiation transcription factors (HATH1 and TLR4). Studies on the effect of dietary intake on mucus production are still limited, especially in the underlying molecular pathway. Therefore, further research on the molecular pathway on the effect of dietary intake on mucus production needs to be performed.


INTRODUCTION
Testicular tumors most frequently metastasize to regional lymph nodes. Non-seminomatous tumor metastasis of testicle (NSGCTT) to the eyeball is rare.

CASE REPORT
We presented a 24-year old man, referred to the ophthalmologist due to acute pain and abrupt loss of sight in the left eye accompanied by its enlargement. Orbital and endocranial computerized tomography (CT) was carried out, indicating the tumor in the left eye. His previous medical history provided the information that the right testicle was painlessly enlarged for 8 months. Ultrasonography showed a completely tumorously altered testis. Abdominal and chest CT failed to reveal any secondary deposits in visceral organs and lymph glands. Tumor markers (AFP - alpha-fetoproteins, beta hCG - human choronic gonadotropin beta) were elevated. Right radical orchiactomy was performed (showed NSGCTT), followed by polychemotherapy with cisplatinum 100 mg/m2, etoposide 120 mg/m2, bleomycin 15 mg/m2 (PEB x 4), resulting in normalization of tumor marker values and significant regression of the left eyeball. Next, the left eye enucleation and ocular prosthesis implantation was carried out. Pathohistological evaluation indicated fibrosis and necrosis only. In a 5-year follow-up period, the patient was free of recurrence.

CONCLUSION
Isolated hematogenous metastasis of the NSGCTT to the eye is rare. In our case, the left eye was the only metastatic localization. After chemotherapy and eye enucleation the patient was in a 4-year follow-up period free of the recurrence.


Abstract Objectives  Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are high-flow, aggressive lesions that cause systemic effects and may pose a risk to life. These lesions are difficult to treat as they have a tendency to recur aggressively after excision or embolization. So, it requires a regulating free flap with robust vascular flow averting the postexcisional ischemia-induced collateralization, parasitization, and recruitment of neovessels from the surrounding mesenchyme—a phenomenon precipitating and perpetuating the recurrence of AVM. Materials and Methods  Sixteen patients (12 males and 4 females) with AVMs Schobinger type 4 involving face were treated from March 2015 to March 2021 with various free flaps: three free rectus abdominis flaps, one free radial forearm flap, and twelve free anterolateral thigh flaps were used for reconstruction following the wide local excision of Schobinger type 4 facial AVM. The records of these patients were analyzed retrospectively. The average follow-up period was 18.5 months. The functional and aesthetic outcomes were analyzed with institutional assessment scores. Results  The average size of the flap harvested was 113.43 cm 2 . Fourteen patients (87.5%) had good-to-excellent score ( p  = 0.035) with institutional aesthetic and functional assessment system. The remaining two patients (12.5%) had only fair results. There was no recurrence (0%) in the free flap group versus 64% recurrence in the pedicled flap and skin grafting groups ( p  = 0.035). Conclusion  Free flaps with their robust and homogenized blood supply provide a good avenue for void filling and an excellent regulating effect in inhibiting any locoregional recurrences of AVMs


Philip S. Hench, MD, the first Mayo Clinic rheumatologist, came to Mayo Clinic in 1921. Because of his efforts in patient care, education, and research, and those of his colleagues, Mayo Clinic has been considered the first academic rheumatology center established in the United States. An early, popular lecture he gave to the internal medicine residents was an important and unique part of the rheumatology education program and was entitled "Axiomatic Generalizations Useful in the Diagnosis of Rheumatic Diseases." We review the axioms in light of the status of rheumatology in the 1920s and 1930s when they were written, and assess their relevance today, 70 to 80 years later.


Metabolic reactions in the body transform the administered drug into metabolites. These metabolites exhibit diverse biological activities. Drug metabolism is the major underlying cause of drug overdose-related toxicity, adversative drug effects and the drug's reduced efficacy. Though metabolic reactions deactivate a drug, drug metabolites are often considered pivotal agents for off-target effects or toxicity. On the other side, in combination drug therapy, one drug may influence another drug's metabolism and clearance and is thus considered one of the primary causes of drug-drug interactions. Today with the advancement of machine learning, the metabolic fate of a drug candidate can be comprehensively studied throughout the drug development procedure. Naïve Bayes, Logistic Regression, k-Nearest Neighbours, Decision Trees, different Boosting and Ensemble methods, Support Vector Machines and Artificial Neural Network boosted Deep Learning are some machine learning algorithms which are being extensively used in such studies. Such tools are covering several attributes of drug metabolism, with an emphasis on the prediction of drug-drug interactions, drug-target-interactions, clinical drug responses, metabolite predictions, sites of metabolism, etc. These reports are crucial for evaluating metabolic stability and predicting prospective drug-drug interactions, and can help pharmaceutical companies accelerate the drug development process in a less resource-demanding manner than what in vitro studies offer. It could also help medical practitioners to use combinatorial drug therapy in a more resourceful manner. Also, with the help of the enormous growth of deep learning, traditional fields of computational drug development like molecular interaction fields, molecular docking, quantitative structure-to-activity relationship (QSAR) studies and quantum mechanical simulations are producing results which were unimaginable couple of years back. This review provides a glimpse of a few contextually relevant machine learning algorithms and then focuses on their outcomes in different studies.


Synchronous esophageal and gastric cancers with the pathologic features of a squamous cell carcinoma are extremely rare. A 57-year-old male visited our hospital with a history of hematemesis and was diagnosed with a synchronous cancer. He underwent a staging work-up, and the resectable lesion in the stomach was operated on following radiologic and endoscopic evaluations. The pathologic examination revealed a synchronous cancer consisting of squamous cell carcinoma in the distal esophagus and the cardia of the stomach. We report a case of a synchronous cancer that was successfully treated by surgical resection followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy. We also discuss the hypothesis regarding the origin and presentation of the synchronous cancer and highlight the importance of careful surveillance by physicians at the time of diagnosis.


Inclusion in the diet of concentrations of vitamin E and selenium (Se) above requirement is associated with variable improvements in animal performance and immune function. At the cellular and molecular level, research in the last decade has produced a clearer understanding of the mechanisms underlying the multiple functions of vitamin E and Se and it is apparent that these functions extend beyond antioxidant protection. This paper reviews recent research relating to the functionality of vitamin E and Se in relation to the ewe and her lambs and attempts to relate this understanding to the whole animal level. Important aspects of this improved understanding are descriptions of three groups of seleno-proteins and the appreciation that there is a hierarchy in both the distribution of selenium between tissues and in the synthesis of different enzymes within tissues. In addition, there is diversity in the effects of vitamin E and Se derivatives on immune cell function. Given this heterogeneity in function it is not surprising that published responses for the production and health of ewes and lambs to supplementary vitamin E and selenium are variable and not always positive. Coupled with information on factors influencing variability in supply of vitamin E and Se from fresh and conserved forages and concentrate supplements, this review highlights the need for greater awareness of the importance of adequate supplementation of ewe and lamb diets with vitamin E and Se.


A common factor V gene haplotype, the FVR2 haplotype (FVHR2), has been associated with a reduced cofactor activity in activated protein C-mediated activated factor VIII inactivation. Our aim was to investigate the role of FVHR2 as a possible determinant of factor VIII levels in a population study. A total of 516 individuals (401 men, 115 women; mean age 58.4 ± 10.8 years) were enrolled within the frame of a regional cardiovascular survey, characterized for factor VIII coagulant activity (FVIII:c) and factor V coagulant activity (FV:c) levels, and genotyped for factor V polymorphisms. In men without signs of overt inflammation, FVHR2 carriers had higher levels of FVIII:c than noncarriers (154 IU/dl, 95% confidence interval = 143–166 versus 142 IU/dl, 95% confidence interval = 138–147; P = 0.045) and were more represented in individuals with high (≥ 150 IU/dl) FVIII:c levels (21.2 versus 10.8%; odds ratio = 2.27, 95% confidence interval = 1.17–4.39 after adjustment for age, blood group and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels). In conclusion, this clinical report suggests the common FVHR2 as a possible independent determinant of FVIII:c levels. The report concomitantly addresses the relationship between factor V and factor VIII levels and supports the hypothesis of a mild prothrombotic role of FVHR2 by means of increased factor VIII levels.


This paper is almost an attempt to highlight the importance of literature teaching, particularly, different genres to our EFL learners, in an Algerian context. The purpose is to argue the effectiveness of instruction, in hope to assist teachers to develop their learners' strategic knowledge to enhance their language skills and thus, asses their learners' attitude, in terms of how our EFL students may have distorted views about English in general, and literature in particular.


Abstract While an extensive part of the conflict transformation literature stresses the importance of transforming the identities of conflict parties through recognition, it fails to recognise the propensity of such transformations to generate ontological insecurity and dissonance, and consequently a possible backlash towards antagonistic identities. Drawing on agonistic thought, we develop a conception of agonistic recognition, premised on non-finalism, pluralist multilogue and disaggregated recognition. We suggest that these elements of agonistic recognition may guard against the development of ontological insecurity and dissonance in recognition processes. We comparatively analyse the connections and tensions between recognition, ontological insecurity/dissonance and identity backlash experienced during the transformation of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the context of the Oslo Peace Process in the 1990s and Turkey's 'rapprochement' with Greece in the context of its EU accession process in the 2000s. We also assess the presence of the elements of agonistic recognition in these two conflict transformation processes. Our contribution constitutes an important step towards the specification of agonistic peace in terms of its underlying recognition processes and in developing the empirical study of agonistic elements in actual conflict transformation processes.


The currently distinctive thermal spray applications in the surface modifying technology in Japan are introduced. Applying inventive combinations of coating materials and spraying processes have developed many unique applications. In terms of thermal spraying processes, in particular, low pressure plasma spray, atmospheric plasma spray, and high velocity oxy/fuel flame spray are employed. The profiles of industrial applications that are performed mainly by coating contract job shops are presented. For the typical coating materials, alumina, and zirconia as oxides, tungsten or chromium carbide cermet as composite materials, and special alloys were selected. The performance of coatings includes wide range field such as electrical insulation, erosion resistance, corrosion, wear resistance and so on. The current status of thermal spray market in Japan is also introduced.


Purpose of review Subarachnoid neurocysticercosis (SUBNCC) is caused by a morphologically unique proliferative form of Taenia solium involving the subarachnoid spaces. Prolonged therapy based upon the pathophysiology of SUBNCC and long-term follow-up have shed light on the course of disease and led to highly improved outcomes. Recent findings SUBNCC has a prolonged incubation period of between 10 and 25 years characterized by cyst proliferation and growth and invasion of contiguous spaces leading to mass effect (Stage 1). With induction of the host-immune responses, cysts degenerate leading to a predominately inflammatory arachnoiditis (Stage 2) causing hydrocephalus, infarcts, and other inflammatory based neurological manifestations. Inactive disease (Stage 3) may occur naturally but mostly is a result of successful treatment, which generally requires prolonged intensive anthelminthic and antiinflammatory treatments. Cerebral spinal fluid cestode antigen or cestode DNA falling to nondetectable levels predicts effective treatment. Prolonged treatment with extended follow-up has resulted in moderate disability and no mortality. Repeated short intensive 8–14-day courses of treatment are also used, but long-term outcomes and safety using this strategy are not reported. Summary SUBNCC gives rise to a chronic arachnoiditis. Its unique ability to proliferate and induce inflammatory responses requires long-term anthelmintic and antiinflammatory medications.


Several existing reinforced concrete structures all over the entire world are in critical need of repair and rehabilitation because of deterioration due to various factors like venerable, improper maintenance, corrosion of steel reinforcement, marginal design, poor construction, use of inferior material, design demands due to increased service loads, exposure to harmful environments and damage in case of seismic events like earthquakes and improvement in design guidelines. The latest developments in the use of the superior composites in the construction industry for concrete structures in strengthening and rehabilitation are growing on the basis of requirements. The requirement for efficient strengthening and rehabilitation techniques of existing structures has resulted in the research and development of composite strengthening systems. Fiberreinforced polymer (FRP) Composite application is an extremely efficient method in repairing and strengthening of structures which has become structurally weak over their life span. FRP composites systems of strengthening provide an economically viable substitute to conventional repair systems and materials. In the present study experimental investigation is carried out to study the flexural and shear behavior of Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams by using Glass Fiber Reinforced polymer laminate. Beams were strengthened with 1.2 mm Epoxy Bonded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer ((GFRP)) lamination using epoxy resins and tested to fail using a symmetrical two-point loading system. Strengthening of beam is done with different combinations of (GFRP) laminate. Total 9 beams of size 150 mm X 150 mm X 1000mm were casted initially out of which 3 beams were controlled beams and the rest 6 beams were strengthened with different combinations of (GFRP) laminate such as U-wrap, Bottom Wrap and Side U-wrap. The corresponding load and the corresponding deflection for each beams were recorded and the load deflection behavior of each beam was compared with that of their respective control beams. IndexTerms—(GFRP), Epoxy material, Strengthening, rehabilitation. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________


Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed in order to assess the most valuable clinical features that were associated with the overall survival of 169 patients who underwent surgery for stage IV colorectal cancer (CRC). Univariate analyses demonstrated that tumor pathology (other/tub1, 2), the proportion of neutrophils and lymphocytes, serum level of C-reactive protein and albumin, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, and intraoperative bleeding volume were associated with overall survival. Multivariate analysis using these seven selected features disclosed that only tumor pathology was associated with the overall survival (p<0.001). In addition, tumor pathology was able to divide not only the patients as a whole (p<0.001), but also both patients with stage IVa (p=0.007) and IVb (p=0.007), into two groups for overall survival, respectively. Tumor pathology is not only associated with the overall survival but is also able to divide both patients as a whole and those sub-classified by stage, into two independent groups before surgery.


Currently the main goal of Russian agricultural industry is to provide the citizens with high-quality competitive domestic production. This goal can be also achieved with the help of dairy husbandry development. Production of high-quality dairy products depends on many factors: fodder supply, housing, climate factors and the genetic potential of animals. Improvement of cattle gene pool in farms of Primorsky Krai is provided by import of foreign highly-productive Holstein cattle from Northern America, Canada, Europe (Germany, Hungary, Holland). The experience of working with foreign dairy cattle in Khankaysky agro-industrial complex "GreenAgro" is represented in the article. The analysis of "GreenAgro"`s work let make a number of recommendations for farm enterprises and other forms of agricultural enterprises, which plan to run dairying. These recommendations are development of homegrown fodder supply for high-yielding dairy cows, using the semen of Holstein breeding bulls for insemination of local cattle for the purpose of getting offspring with 50 % chance of being pure blood and improvement of breed characteristics of local cattle.


Adult carp weighing about 100g were kept on an α-tocopherol deficient diet for 17 months in order to examine the influence of α-tocopherol deficiency on different tissues with special emphasis on the reproductive organs and on fatty acid and triglyceride distributions. The pattern of fatty acid changes due to the tocopherol deficiency was found to be very similar to that seen in essential fatty acid deficiency in both fish and mammals. The most marked change in fatty acid composition was the decrease of 18:2ω6 level in both triglyceride and polar lipid fractions in most of the deficient tissues. In the deficient ovaries there were decreases in 20:4ω6, 50:5ω3 and 22:6ω3 along with 18:2ω6 and increases in 18:1ω9 and 20:3ω9. The general pattern of changes in triglyceride distribution was the increase in the deficient carp of the low molecular weight triglycerides and decrease of the usually dominant C-52 to C-56 triglycerides. The tocopherol deficiency in adult carp also revealed basically the same histological changes as those recognized in carp fingerlings. The depletion of tocopherol from the diet exerted significant effects on the pituitary-ovarian system and this clearly indicated that α-tocopherol plays an important role in reproductive physiology in carp on the same basis as in higher animals.


Translator's introduction Introduction Study 1/Between Rhetoric and Poetics: Aristotle 1. Rhetoric and Poetics 2. The intersection of the Poetics and the Rhetorics: 'Epiphora of the name' 3. An enigma: metaphor and simile (eikon) 4. The place of exis in rhetoric 5. The place of lexis in poetics Study 2/The decline of rhetoric: Tropology 1. The rhetorical 'model' of tropology Fontainer: the primacy of idea and of word 3. Trope and figure 4. Metonymy, synecdoche, metaphor 5. The family of metaphor 6. Forced metaphor and newly invented metaphorStudy 3/Metaphor and the semantics of Discourse 1. The debate between semantics and semiotics 2. Semantics and rhetoric of metaphor 3. Logical grammar and semantics 4. Literary criticism and semantics Study 4/Metaphor and the Semantics of the word 1. Monism of the sign and primacy of the word 2. Logic and linguistics of denomination 3. Metaphor as 'change of meaning' 4. Metaphor and the Saussurean postulates 5. Between sentence and word: the interplay of meaning Study 5/Metaphor and the new rhetoric 1. Deviation and rhetoric degree zone 2. The space of the figure 3. Deviation and reduction of deviation 4. The functioning of figures: 'semic' analysis Study 6/The work of resemblance 1. Substitution and resemblance 2. The 'iconic' moment of metaphor 3. The case against resemblance 5. Psycholinguistics of metaphor 6. Icon and image Study 7/Metaphor and reference 1. The postulates of reference 2. The case against reference 3. A generalized theory of denotation 4. Model and metaphor 5. Towards the concept of 'metaphorical truth' Study 8/Metaphor and Philosophical Discourse 1. Metaphor and the equivocalness of being: Aristotle 2. Metaphor and analogia entis: onto-theology 3. Meta-phor and meta-physics 4. The intersection of spheres of discourse 5. Ontological clarification of the postulate reference Appendix Notes Works cited Index of authors


Objective. Accurate and efficient detection of steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) in electroencephalogram (EEG) is essential for the related brain–computer interface (BCI) applications. Approach. Although the canonical correlation analysis (CCA) has been applied extensively and successfully to SSVEP recognition, the spontaneous EEG activities and artifacts that often occur during data recording can deteriorate the recognition performance. Therefore, it is meaningful to extract a few frequency sub-bands of interest to avoid or reduce the influence of unrelated brain activity and artifacts. This paper presents an improved method to detect the frequency component associated with SSVEP using multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) and CCA (MEMD-CCA). EEG signals from nine healthy volunteers were recorded to evaluate the performance of the proposed method for SSVEP recognition. Main results. We compared our method with CCA and temporally local multivariate synchronization index (TMSI). The results suggest that the MEMD-CCA achieved significantly higher accuracy in contrast to standard CCA and TMSI. It gave the improvements of 1.34%, 3.11%, 3.33%, 10.45%, 15.78%, 18.45%, 15.00% and 14.22% on average over CCA at time windows from 0.5 s to 5 s and 0.55%, 1.56%, 7.78%, 14.67%, 13.67%, 7.33% and 7.78% over TMSI from 0.75 s to 5 s. The method outperformed the filter-based decomposition (FB), empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and wavelet decomposition (WT) based CCA for SSVEP recognition. Significance. The results demonstrate the ability of our proposed MEMD-CCA to improve the performance of SSVEP-based BCI.


Ontology based Data Integration (ONDINE) is an approach to integrate web data from heterogeneous resources with the help of ontologies. The ONDINE system is enhanced for querying the data warehouse opened in the web and updating the data. Using the ontological and terminological resources (OTR) we can load and query the data from the data warehouse. Especially, the system extracts the tables from multiple web pages and annotates the symbols and numeric constants in separated columns. The output in XML/RDF formats represents the fuzzy annotation of the integrated data tables. Using SPARQL, the fuzzy sets from the fuzzy RDF annotations are retrieved. In the proposed SEFOS system, fuzzy DL is used for querying. Thus the time to finish the task would be reduced and a decent precision rate is obtained on using fuzzy DL.


The write endurance and the 1/f noise of electrical origin were characterized in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) for spin transfer torque or thermally assisted magnetic random access memories. A statistical study carried out on a set of 60 nominally identical patterned junctions of 200 nm diameter revealed a correlation trend between the electrical 1/f noise power in the unexercised MTJs and the number of write cycles that these MTJs can withstand before electrical breakdown. The junctions showing the largest 1/f noise power before the write endurance test (successive 30 ns pulses of 1.73 V) have the lowest endurance. In contrast, MTJs initially exhibiting lower 1/f noise tend to have a better electrical reliability, i.e., much longer write endurance. This correlation is explained by the presence of electron trapping sites in the MgO barrier and the role of electron trapping/detrapping phenomena in both MTJ reliability and its 1/f electrical noise power. These results suggest that 1/f noise could be used as a predictive characterization of the MTJ endurance.


Results from tests on the Multicentre Evaluation of In Vitro Cytotoxicity (MEIC) reference chemicals 31–50 in 67 different in vitro toxicity assays are presented in this paper as a prerequisite to in vitro/in vivo comparisons for all MEIC in vitro toxicity data in forthcoming papers, i.e. the final MEIC evaluation of the relevance of the tests. With the aim of increasing knowledge about the relative significance of some in vitro methodological factors, the strategies and methods of the preceding parts in the MEIC series (Parts II and III) were again employed to enable comparative cytotoxicity analysis of the new in vitro results presented in this paper. A principal components analysis (PCA) of the results from tests of the 20 chemicals in 67 assays demonstrated a dominating first component describing as much as 74% of the variance in the toxicity data, indicating a similar ranking of the cytotoxicities of the chemicals in most of the tests. The influence on the general variability of the results of a few, key methodological factors was also evaluated by using linear regression comparisons of the results of all pairs of methods available in the study, i.e. methods which were similar in all respects except for the factor being analysed. Results from this "random probe" analysis were: a) the cytotoxicities of 11 of the 20 chemicals increased considerably with exposure time (> 10 times over 4–168 hours); b) in general, human cell line toxicity was well predicted by cytotoxicity in animal cells; c) prediction of human cell line toxicity by most ecotoxicological tests was only fairly good; d) 14 comparisons of similar assays with different cell lines showed similar toxicities (mean R2 = 0.83); e) nine comparisons of similar assays employing different primary cultures and cell lines shared similar toxicities (mean R2 = 0.71); and f) 16 comparisons of similar assays with different growth/viability endpoints showed similar toxicities (mean R2 = 0.71). Results b, d, e and f must contribute to the PCA-documented high general similarity of the in vitro toxicity data. Results a and c, together with factors which were not analysed, such as different protocols and inter-laboratory variability of tests, could explain the 26% dissimilarity. To provide background information to the planned final MEIC evaluation of the relevance of the 61 methods in which all 50 chemicals have been tested, an additional PCA was made of the 50 chemical-61 assay in vitro database (from Parts II and III and the present paper). This supplementary PCA demonstrated an 80% similarity of results. Compared with the previous analysis of the tests of the first 30 MEIC reference chemicals (MEIC Part III), the present analysis of the tests of the last 20 MEIC chemicals indicates a somewhat higher variation in the results. Correspondingly, some deviating endpoint measurements and cell line responses were demonstrated by the pairwise comparisons in the present study. As a result, the analysis revealed a high correlation (R2 = 0.73) between the average human cell line toxicity and the results from a new protein denaturation test. These preliminary results suggest that intracellular protein denaturation may be a frequently occurring mechanism in basal cytotoxicity.


Abstract The paper aimed to explore and describe the perceptions of the Vhavenda people regarding the significance of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) rituals and customs in promoting Women's Health. Indigenous knowledge should be given a platform to add to our understanding of the world and advance philosophies that inform research approaches and interventions that sustain and acknowledge the role played by IKS in promoting women's health. The HIV epidemic, disproportionately affecting sub-Saharan African women and their families, has put an academic spotlight on African beliefs systems and IKS. Most of the academic studies are based on western approaches, which are built predominantly around individualistic western beliefs and cultures that perceives IKS as the 'other' form of knowledge that can pose a threat to African women's health. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted. In depth interviews were held with key informants who were knowledgeable about Vhavenda cultures. The findings demonstrate that beliefs about polygamy, widow inheritance and initiation schools are more complicated as participants perceived these customs as having benefits and risks to women's health. The paper recommends adopting the African philosophy of ubuntu to assist in harmonizing the Vhavenda IKS to assist in addressing women, s health challenges.


Twelve isolates of Serratia marcescens 32.4% were obtained out of 37 soil samples. One isolate (Serratia marcescens N3) was selected according to high lipase production. Lipase of this isolate was produced in liquid medium, extracted and purified by two stages included: CM-cellulose and DEAE-cellulose column, the fold of purification for the enzyme eluted from DEAE column was 19.33 with 61.15% recovery. The optimum pH and temperature for enzyme activity was 8 at 35°c, but it lost most of its activity (62%) at pH 10 and (78%) at 65°c. The effect of some metal ions and surfactant on lipase activity was also studied, since the presence of Ca+2 was more effective than that of Mg+2 in increasing lipase activity, and this indicate that lipase is a metalloenzyme. Surfactant like Tween 80 induced lipase activity (110%) followed by tween 20 (102%) while α –naphtholrin inhibited it to 21%. The activity of Serratia marcescens N3 lipase to hydrolyse different kinds of edible oils was determined, maximum activity appeared with Gingily oil followed by olive oil, coconut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower were (122, 112, 104, 93, 92 and 82) U/ml respectively.


Background
Sex selection of sperm by separating X- and Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa is critical for efficiently obtaining the desired sex of animal offspring in the livestock industry. The purpose of this study was to produce a goat polyclonal antibody (pAb) against the bovine Sex Determining Region Y chromosome (bSRY) to separate female- and male-bearing spermatozoa.

Methods
To produce a goat polyclonal antibody against bSRY, a female goat was subcutaneously immunized with 27 kDa of recombinant bSRY (rbSRY) protein as the antigen. The anti-bSRY pAb was purified by ion-exchange chromatography. The purity of the pAb was determined using the SDS-PAGE method. The biological activity of the anti-bSRY pAb was examined using PCR to assess the binding affinity of pAb for the bSRY antigen and commercially sexed bull sperm.

Results
The total amount of purified anti-bSRY pAb was approximately 650 mg/goat serum (13 mg/mL). Interestingly, our data showed that the binding affinity of our pAb to the Y bearing was high, while the binding affinity of that to the X-chromosome bearing sperm was similar to the negative control.

Conclusion
In conclusion, our findings show that the goat anti-SRY pAb specifically binds to Y-chromosome bearing sperm that suggesting its potential use for sex selection.


The Sjögren-Larsson syndrome (SLS) is a severe neurocutaneous disorder due to fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH) deficiency. The recent discovery of the role of FALDH in the degradation of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) opened the way to the development of a new therapeutic strategy for SLS, i.e. 5-lipoxygenase inhibition. We treated one SLS patient with zileuton during five weeks. During the treatment period we found decreased values of LTB4 and omega-OH-LTB4. The severity of the pruritus diminished, and favorable changes in the child's behavior were observed. The height of the prominent "lipid peak" of cerebral white matter (that is characteristically found on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in SLS patients) decreased during treatment, and increased again when treatment was stopped. In conclusion, the beneficial effects of 5-lipoxygenase inhibition in SLS are very promising and encourage further research.


Like cats being gifted with a new life every time they just miss their demise, buildings are constantly propelled towards change and reinvention in order to sustain their existence. Here Jill Stoner, Director of the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton University in Ottawa, and Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, for 28 years, identifies and reflects upon nine possible future lives for buildings.


Objectives The aims of this study were to know the opinion and general knowledge of patients about the informed consent (IC), and their participation in the decision-making (DM) process. Material and methods A descriptive, transversal, observational, qualitative and quantitative study was designed with 120 patients randomly surveyed at the 8 University Hospital Complexes of Galicia, Spain. Results and discussion The mean age was 52.14 years, with 50% of men. 84.21% of the ICs provided by non-medical personnel were limited to delivering and reading it. 90% of patients after signing the IC, trust their doctor. Only 50% of the professionals tried to involve the patient in DM. 53.33% of the patients participated in DM. 45.83% patients signed for having understood and accepted the explanation, being completely satisfied 95 of the patients surveyed (79.17%). Conclusions It is essential to change the attitude of non-medical health professionals involved in the DM process, because their involvement is not being promoted. Although less than half of the respondents have signed the IC for having understood, the degree of satisfaction and confidence in the doctor was not compromised.


We study the effects of a varying cross-section on the performance of Rosen piezoelectric transformers operating with length extensional modes of rods. A theoretical analysis is performed using an extended version of a one- dimensional model developed in a previous paper. Numerical results based on the theoretical analysis are presented.


The objective of this study was to assess and compare the morphologic and permeability
characteristics of SIRC rabbit corneal cells grown on two filter types, polycarbonatebased
Costar Transwell and polyester-based Costar Transwell Clear using pilocarpine in
presence and absence of benzalkonium chloride. Technically, the microwell inserts were
seeded with SIRC rabbit corneal cells and suspended in growth medium. The inserts were
covered and kept in a humidified incubator for 10 days. The inserts were rinsed with
Dulbecco's phosphate buffered saline at pH 7.3 and placed into microwell plates
containing buffer at the same pH. Formulations containing pilocarpine with and without
benzalkonium chloride were inoculated into each insert. The inserts were covered and
incubated for the predetermined time period. The cell lines were examined with a light
microscope using hematoxylin and eosin-stained cross-sections. The permeabilities ofpilocarpine across the SIRC cell layers grown on the two filters were quantitatively
determined. The results of these experiments show no significant differences in the
morphological characteristics between the two filters exposed to either pilocarpine alone
or to pilocarpine with benzalkonium chloride. The apparent permeability coefficient
values for pilocarpine from both formulations across Costar Transwell-grown SIRC cell
layers were relatively higher than that with Costar Transwell Clear-grown layers, and the
flux enhancement ratios in the presence of benzalkonium chloride across the two filter
types were comparable. These results revealed that the morphologic and the permeability
data of SIRC rabbit corneal cells grown on the two filters are comparable for the
compounds tested, suggesting their interchangeable use in assessment of the in vitro
corneal drug transport and toxicity screening studies for ophthalmic drugs and additives


Chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia (FN) is a medical emergency that causes severe adverse effects and death. Respiratory infections are one of the main causes of fever in patients with FN. We studied whether infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance for coronavirus 2019 disease reduced the incidence of FN. We reviewed female patients with breast cancer treated with adjuvant docetaxel, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide with prophylactic pegfilgrastim between 2019 and 2021. IPC guidance was implemented in April 2020. There was no difference in the incidence of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia between patients with and without IPC. In patients with IPC, the incidence of FN (9.5%) was lower than that of patients without IPC (27.9%). The hospitalization duration (0.7 ± 1.5 days) and total hospital cost (279.6 ± 42.6 USD) of the IPC group were significantly lower than that of the non-IPC group (2.0 ± 3.8 days and 364.7 ± 271.6 USD, respectively). IPC guidance should be implemented to prevent FN in high-risk patients with breast cancer.


When identifying the correct atom types to occupy the specific atomic locations within newly observed structures or when assessing the plausibility of new suggested structures with specific locations for specific types of atoms, any information quantifying geometrically the local environments around those locations is valuable, provided known characteristic differences exist, with respect to this geometric information, between the different atom types. A powerful tool for quantifying such geometries is the Voronoi tessellation; this has been used in a pilot study of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. It has been found that perfect identification of all C and H atoms may be achieved through the examination of polyhedral volumes and surface areas. The use of a weighted face-area average is also found to be a useful measure of local structure. Simple neural network models that may be used for atom-type prediction are given in the paper. It is expected that the present approach will be useful in distinguishing between atoms that have close scattering curves whilst displaying similar crystallographic behaviour.


To the Editor: Long-term carriage of Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) can greatly affect the social and work lives of infected patients. We describe the use of whole-genome sequencing to assess the risk from long-term STEC carriage in a patient who had been denied surgery because of the infection.

On August 18, 2013, a 64-year-old woman reporting to be a carrier of STEC since March 2013 contacted the University Medical Center Lubeck, Lubeck, Germany, seeking decolonization therapy that had been provided to long-term STEC carriers during the 2011 STEC O104:H4 outbreak (1). STEC had initially been identified in the patient during an episode of watery diarrhea. She currently had gonarthrosis grade III, indicating the need for a total knee endoprosthesis; however, the responsible orthopedic department had denied surgery because of the potential risk for development of STEC-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by the perioperative use of antimicrobial drug prophylaxis. The patient was also rejected for surgery at another orthopedic clinic. Because of this STEC-associated restriction, the patient requested decolonization therapy.

Before responding to the request, we asked the patient to provide a fecal sample for STEC strain typing. A sample provided on August 22, 2013, was confirmed positive for STEC by culturing an STEC strain on MacConkey agar (bioMerieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) that did not grow on selective agar (CHROMagar STEC, Mast Diagnostika, Reinfeld, Germany) optimized for the detection of classical enterohemorrhagic E. coli strains. Total DNA was extracted from the isolate, and a sequencing library was generated by using the Nextera XT Sample Preparation Kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). Sequencing was performed (MiSeq Benchtop Sequencer, Illumina) in 2 batches of paired 250-bp sequencing runs. Sequencing reads were further analyzed by using the CLC Genomics Workbench software package (CLC bio, Aarhus, Denmark). De novo assembly resulted in 120 contigs with an average length of 44,331 bp (N50 = 126,317 bp). A predefined dataset of 2,456 sequences was aligned with the generated contigs in a single step by using BLAST (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi) to determine the alleles and subtypes of genes usually used for E. coli and STEC strain typing and for seropathotype detection.

Presence of a Shiga toxin subtype 1a with >99.9% and 100% identity to the stx1aA and stx1aB subunit genes, respectively (GenBank accession no {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"M19473.1","term_id":"215072"}}M19473.1), was confirmed. The STEC strain carried genes with high homology to the O91 antigen–encoding operon (GenBank accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"AY035396.1","term_id":"24527246"}}AY035396.1) and the H14-flagellin gene (GenBank accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"AY249998.1","term_id":"30059867"}}AY249998.1). This observation was confirmed by a 100% sequence identity of a 643-bp fragment of the gnd gene of the sequenced strain with that of a gnd reference sequence of STEC O91:H14 (www.corefacility.ca/ecoli_typer). These 2 sequences are different from the gnd sequence of reference strain STEC O91:H21. In vitro multilocus sequence typing (2) identified sequence type (ST) 33. These data were used for risk assessment.

Only strains displaying serotype O91:H21 and a single O91:H10 isolate have been associated with HUS in humans (3,4). ST33, identified in the patient in this study, has not been associated with HUS in humans despite being the most frequently identified ST of O91 STEC strains in humans (3). In addition, the identified strain carried only Shiga toxin 1a, whereas the HUS-associated strain HUSEC034 of serotype O91:H21 carried Shiga toxins 1a, 2a, and 2d (5). This data indicated the patient strain was a seropathotype D strain (6) with a relative low risk for HUS development in the patient.

The assumption that the patient strain had low pathogenicity was further corroborated by the analysis of additional marker genes (6–9) indicating the lack of pathogenicity islands associated with high virulence of STEC in humans. None of the 25 marker genes suggested for the LEE locus or pathogenicity islands OI-36, OI-43, OI-44, OI-48, OI-50, OI-57, OI-71 or OI-122 were identified in the patient strain, whereas most of these markers could be detected in highly pathogenic STEC/enterohemorrhagic E. coli strains used to establish the method for identifying markers (Technical Appendix Table).

After completing the STEC risk assessment, we advised the patient's general practitioner that antimicrobial drug prophylaxis could be administered for surgery with a low calculated risk for HUS development, as observed for other non-O157 strains (1,10). In addition, we described our experience with 4 long-term carriers of STEC O91:H14 strains; the patients had been decolonized of STEC by the use of azithromycin decolonization therapy (data not shown).

The patient was added to a waiting list for surgery, and she elected to receive azithromycin as experimental decolonization therapy while awaiting surgery. Azithromycin was administered orally for 3 days (500 mg/day); fecal specimens on post-treatment days 7, 14, and 21 were negative by Shiga toxin ELISA. In addition, an stx-specific PCR using enrichment broth confirmed the sustainable eradication of the STEC infection. Our findings show that whole-genome sequencing can be used in the diagnostic process for long-term STEC carriers and might extend or replace other methods used for risk assessment (6–8,10) and treatment decision guidance.

Technical Appendix:
Marker genes identified in clinical strains and the patient strain during whole-genome sequencing assessment of the risk for development of Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC)–associated hemolytic uremic syndrome in long-term Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli infection.

Click here to view.(19K, pdf)


This paper presents an analytical study on optimization of a laminated composite wing structure for achieving a maximum flutter speed and a minimum weight without strength penalty. The investigation is carried out within the range of incompressible airflow and subsonic speed. In the first stage of the optimization, attention has been paid mainly to the effect on flutter speed of the bending, torsion and, more importantly, the bending-torsional coupling rigidity, which is usually associated with asymmetric laminate lay-up. The study has shown that the torsional rigidity plays a dominant role, while the coupling rigidity has also quite a significant effect on the flutter speed. In the second stage of the optimization, attention has been paid to the weight and laminate strength of the wing structure, which is affected by the variation in laminate lay-up in the first stage. Results from a thin-walled wing box made of laminated composite material show that up to 18 per cent increase in flutter speed and 13 per cent reduction in weight can be achieved without compromising the strength. The investigation has shown that a careful choice of initial lay-up and design variables leads to a desirable bending, torsional and coupling rigidities, with the provision of an efficient approach when achieving a maximum flutter speed with a minimum mass of a composite wing.


Information Technology (I. T) forms an important part of the healthcare solution. Accurate and up-to-date information is essential to continuous quality improvement in any organization, and particularly in an area as complex as healthcare. Therefore, diverse information systems must he integrated across the healthcare enterprise. The knowledge base in the medical field is large, complex, and growing rapidly. It includes scientific knowledge, as well as familiarity with the day-to-day business of provid ing healthcare. It is crucial to identify the processes in the healthcare sector that would he benefitted.from the support of Information Technology. The paper is focused on the use of Comprehensive Patient Healthcare System (CPHS) comprising two large subsystems, Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) and Mobile Computing Clinical System (MC.C.S) as an application of state-of-the-art information and mobile computing technologies in Saudi Arabia hospitals as part of an ongoing research project. Significantly, the use of such technologies with highly efficient techniques for essential information gathering in a timely and cost effective manner in hospital sites is critical in order to understand how to enhance quality health care services to improve the life of patients and rapid decision making. It would therefore be expected that the project would facilitate optimal hospital resource utilization for medical purposes in Saudi Arabia. This development would therefore pave the way for opening new venues in which such highly advanced information and mobile computing technologies are employed in the hospitals and other sectors beyond the field of medical care. PAPER TYPE: Research Paper KEYWORDS : Comprehensive Patient Healthcare System (CPHS); Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS); Mobile Computing Clinical System (MCCS); Information Communication Technology (ICT); Mobile Technology


We introduce a van der Waals material that exhibits a very high electronic mobility and antiferromagnetism and can be exfoliated. Van der Waals (vdW) materials with magnetic order have been heavily pursued for fundamental physics as well as for device design. Despite the rapid advances, so far, they are mainly insulating or semiconducting, and none of them has a high electronic mobility—a property that is rare in layered vdW materials in general. The realization of a high-mobility vdW material that also exhibits magnetic order would open the possibility for novel magnetic twistronic or spintronic devices. Here, we report very high carrier mobility in the layered vdW antiferromagnet GdTe3. The electron mobility is beyond 60,000 cm2 V−1 s−1, which is the highest among all known layered magnetic materials, to the best of our knowledge. Among all known vdW materials, the mobility of bulk GdTe3 is comparable to that of black phosphorus. By mechanical exfoliation, we further demonstrate that GdTe3 can be exfoliated to ultrathin flakes of three monolayers.


Kernel methods have been widely applied to machine learning and other questions of approximating an unknown function from its finite sample data. To ensure arbitrary accuracy of such an approximation, various denseness conditions are imposed on the selected kernel. This note contributes to the study of universal, characteristic, and -universal kernels. We first give a simple and direct description of the difference and relation among these three kinds of universalities of kernels. We then focus on translation-invariant and Hilbert–Schmidt kernels formed by polynomials. A simple and shorter proof of the known characterization of characteristic translation-invariant kernels will be presented. The main purpose of the note is to give a delicate discussion on the universalities of Hilbert–Schmidt kernels formed by weighted polynomials.


Background Home blood pressure monitoring is recommended to achieve controlled blood pressure. This study evaluated home blood pressure monitoring-improvement of office blood pressure control and treatment compliance among hypertensive patients. Methods A randomized controlled trial was conducted from December 2014 to April 2015. The home blood pressure monitoring group used an automatic blood pressure device along with standard hypertension outpatient care. Patients were seen at baseline and after 2 months. Medication adherence was measured using a novel validated Medication Adherence Scale (MAS) questionnaire. Office blood pressure and MAS were recorded at both visits. The primary outcomes included evaluation of mean office blood pressure and MAS within groups and between groups at baseline and after 2 months. Results Mean changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and MAS differed significantly within groups. The home blood pressure monitoring group showed greater mean changes (SBP 17.6 mm Hg, DBP 9.5 mm Hg, MAS 1.5 vs. SBP 14.3 mm Hg, DBP 6.4 mm Hg, MAS 1.3), while between group comparisons showed no significant differences across all variables. The adjusted mean difference for mean SBP was 4.74 (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.65 to 10.13 mm Hg; P=0.084), mean DBP was 1.41 (95% CI, -2.01 to 4.82 mm Hg; P=0.415), and mean MAS was 0.05 (95% CI, -0.29 to 0.40 mm Hg; P=0.768). Conclusion Short-term home blood pressure monitoring significantly reduced office blood pressure and improved medication adherence, albeit similarly to standard care.


Literature routes to di(imidazol-4-yl)methanol (1a) dinitrate and tri(imidazol-4-yl)methanol (2a) trihydrochloride were improved to give 32 and 16% overall yields, respectively; but we failed to synthesize bis-(1b) and tris-(1-methylimidazol-4-yl)methanol (2b) by the methylation of the corresponding N-methoxymethyl compounds (3; X= 2 and X= 3). Attempted 4-lithiation of the 1,2,5-protected imidazole (4a) with BuLi–TMEDA failed, giving after hydrolysis 1-methyl-5-trimethylsilylimidazole (4b); similar failures were observed for 2,5-dicarboxy-1-methylimidazole, which after metallation with BuLi–TMEDA and hydrolysis afforded 1-methylimidazole-5-carboxylic acid (5). Our attempts to obtain 4-bromo-1-methylimidazole (10a) and 4-bromo-1-ethylimidazole suitable for a halogen–lithium exchange or for Grignard reaction also failed. Attempted selective lithiation of 2-phenylthio-1-tritylimidazole (16) at the 4-position, then treatment with ethyl formate, led only to a mixture of 4- and 5-substituted products in very low yield, and 1-diethoxymethyl-2-phenylthioimidazole (18) was unstable and difficult to purify.4-Bromoimidazole with two mol equiv. of t-butyl-lithium gives 1,4-dilithioimidazole, which is now shown to provide a general route to 4-substituted imidazoles.


Depositing monolayer graphene on a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductor substrate has been shown to change the dynamics of the electronic states in graphene, inducing spin orbit coupling (SOC) and staggered potential effects. Theoretical studies on commensurate supercells have demonstrated the appearance of interesting phases, as different materials and relative gate voltages are applied. Here we address the effects of the real incommensurability between lattices by implementing a continuum model approach that does not require small-period supercells. The approach allows us to study the role of possible relative twists of the layers, and verify that the SOC transfer is robust to twists, in agreement with observations. We characterize the nature of the different phases by studying an effective Hamiltonian that fully describes the graphene-TMD heterostructure. We find the system supports topologically non-trivial phases over a wide range of parameter ranges, which require the dominance of the intrinsic SOC over the staggered and Rashba potentials. This tantalizing result suggests the possible experimental realization of a tunable quantum spin Hall phase under suitable conditions. We estimate that most TMDs used to date likely result in weak intrinsic SOC that would not drive the heterostructure into topologically non-trivial phases. Additional means to induce a larger intrinsic SOC, such as strain fields or heavy metal intercalation may be required.


Many reports demonstrated that antibiotics like cefazoline, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprime-sulfamethoxazole and others have the ability to inhibit growth of various cell lines. Thus, this study was designed to investigate whether or not ceftriaxone may possess cell growth inhibition using In vitro study and utilizing two cell lines (human rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) and rat embryo fibroblasts (REF). Various concentrations of Ceftriaxone (62.5, 125, 250, 500 and 1000 mcg/ml) were utilized in this study. The drug relatively caused concentration-dependent inhibition on growth of the intended cell lines used in this study, where, the growth inhibition induced by the drug was statistically significant at 125mcg/ml and above. The results obtained from this work encourage further study of the possibility of clinical application of ceftriaxone to prevent the occurrence of different tumors.


THE AIM of the study – to assess the state of endothelial function and indices of aggregation of platelet function, coagulation hemostasis and anticoagulant activity in patients on program hemodialysis treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS . Examined 89 patients on hemodialysis. All patients measured the concentration of stable metabolites in blood serum (nitrites, nitrates, total metabolites of nitric oxide), indicators of lipid profile, homocysteine levels. The aggregation of platelets, coagulation hemostasis, anticoagulation activity, activation of blood coagulation tests were studied. RESULTS . Mean concentrations of homocysteine, von Willebrand factor in hemodialysis patients were higher than in the comparison group. The concentration of stable metabolites of nitric oxide in the studied group was significantly lower than in healthy individuals. Significant improvement of atherogenic lipoproteins in patients on hemodialysis was discovered. The changes in hemostasis indicate the presence of signs of activation of intravascular coagulation. According to the correlation analysis, multivariate regression analysis indicated the existence of a relationship between homocysteine concentration, indicators of atherogenic lipid profile, von Willebrand factor and indicators hemostaziogrammy. CONCLUSION . In patients receiving hemodialysis treatment there is activation of intravascular coagulation of blood does not reveal the routine coagulation studies. In patients on hemodialysis was revealed endothelial dysfunction. According to the correlation analysis, multivariate regression analysis there is an interrelation between indices of endothelial function and hemostasiogramma.


This study clarifies the pattern of fracture lines and facilitates diagnosis of transverse sacral fracture on plain radiographic images. Eight cadaveric sacra were used in this study. A U-shaped transverse sacral fracture at the S2-S3 level was created in all specimens. The fracture line was marked by painting with radio-opaque material and solder metal wires. The following radiographic views were taken: anteroposterior, lateral, AP with 35 degrees cephalad orientation, and inlet view. A double shadow in the upper sacral area can be identified in the plain AP view. As a consequence of the fracture, there are changes in the orientation of the planes of the foramina from the coronal to, more or less, axial plane. Anteroposterior with 35 degrees cephalad orientation radiographs provide good assessment for evaluation of the transverse sacral fracture.