Background: Understanding the soil reaction (pH) is relevant for improving crop productivity. Soil acidity is one of the restraining factors to crop production in the highlands of Ethiopia. This study was carried out on the nitisols of Burie District to examine the effect of integrated use of Calcite and Nitrogen fertilizer on soil physico-chemical properties. Treatments were two levels of lime (0 and 0. 50 t ha-1) and five-level of nitrogen (0,100, 200, 300, and 400 kg ha-1). The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with ten treatments replicated three times. Before and after harvest, both disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and bivariate correlations was employed using SAS statistical package program version 9.0. After harvesting thirty soil samples were collected from each treatment and then ten composite soil samples within a block were arranged for laboratory analysis. Result: The result indicated that among the soil properties before planting the crop soil bulk density (BD), pH, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), available P and CEC were 1.43g cm-3, 5.2 (strongly acidic), 1.32% (very low), 0.12% (low), 8.86 mg kg-1 (very low), and 19.57 cmolc kg-1 (medium), respectively. After harvesting, most of the surface physico-chemical properties except bulk density increased. The lowest soil BD was 1.21 g m-3 from plots treated with 0.5 t ha-1 lime and 400 kg ha-1 urea. The maximum soil pH (6.85) was obtained from plots treated with 400 kg ha-1 N and 0.5 t ha-1 lime. The maximum soil CEC (35.38 (cmolc kg-1) was obtained from plots treated with 400 kg ha-1 N and 0.5 t ha-1 lime. Level of lime, nitrogen fertilizer and interaction effects of lime and nitrogen fertilizer (L*N) significantly affected maize yield (p<0.001). Yield of maize have positive correlations with most soil physico-chemical properties but negative with BD (r=-0.543).The adjusted yield and net benefit was 6,410.20 kg ha-1 and 58,891.47 Ethiopian Birr (ETB), respectively.Conclusion: Inherent physicochemical properties of the soil is changed either by sole or combined use of lime and N fertilizer. Soils tilled with 0.5 t ha-1 lime and 138 kg ha-1 nitrogen was found in maximum net benefit. Residual long-term effects should be researched. Thus, liming should be given emphasis in acidic soil amelioration. Moreover, the government may facilitate the supply of calcite (CaCO3) and urea fertilizer to the farmers.


BACKGROUND : C.albicans is an opportunistic pathogen and its presence has been demonstrated in periodontal pockets. Periodontitis is an infectious disease that could increase the risk for colonization by Candida. Candidal infection could in turn lead to progression of periodontal disease. Hence, it is important to understand the relation between C.albicans and periodontitis.
AIM : To study the prevalence of C.albicans in subgingival plaque samples of patients with chronic periodontitis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS : This study included 108 chronic periodontitis subjects of age ranging from 30 to 55 years. Clinical parameters like plaque index (PlI), probing depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL) were measured and smoking status of the individuals assessed. Sabouraud's dextrose agar and the CHROMagar media were used to culture C.albicans from clinical plaque samples.
RESULTS : In this study, clinical parameters (PlI, PD, and CAL), disease severity and sex showed no significant relation with the presence of C.albicans. On the other hand smoking habits was significantly correlated with the presence of the pathogen.
CONCLUSION : The results of the present study showed that, C.albicans was present in higher amounts in the periodontal pockets of patients with severe chronic periodontitis. Smokers had greater chances of being of C.albicans positive than non smokers. The prevalence of C.albicans did not have a predilection for particular sexes.


Background: It have been revealed that lncRNAs had a critical role in human cancers, including HCC. Our previous study found a lncRNA SNHG5 related to the development of HCC. However, the role and exact mechanism of SNHG5 in HCC proliferation and the liver CSC-like properties is still unclear. Materials and Methods: We investigated the HCC cells proliferation and CSC-like properties in vitro and in vivo by knockdown or upregulate SNHG5, and detected underlying mechanisms by qRT-PCR, Western blotting, bioinformatic analysis, luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation. Results: Knockdown of SNHG5 repressed HCC cells proliferation and CSC-like properties, while overexpression of SNHG5 promoted cells growth. At the same time, CSCs markers ( CD44, CD133 and ALDH1) and related transcription factors (OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG) were downregulated when SNHG5 knockdown. Further investigations showed that SNHG5 regulated the proliferation and CSC-like properties of HCC by binding UPF1 and regulating Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Conclusions: SNHG5 plays critical role to promote HCC cells proliferation and cancer stem cell-like properties via UPF1 and Wnt/β-catenin pathway.


This research proposes the integration of a Geographic Information System (GIS) with the Arena Simulation software to model the transit of ocean-going vessels through the Panama Canal. The purpose of this integration is to initialize the simulation model with the vessels that are currently transiting the system and the ones ready to begin their transit taking into account waiting time in queue, booking status, navigation restrictions and their times through the locks. The interface process consists of gathering vessel location and attribute data, which is loaded in database format in the GIS where it is analyzed and displayed in a map containing the location of the locks, anchorage areas, tie-up stations and the transit route. Once analyzed, Arena reads the GIS data from the database and proceeds with the simulation considering navigation transit time, locks transit and lockage times.


In this paper, we achieve a semantic segmentation of aerial imagery based on the fusion of multi-modal data in an effective way. The multi-modal data contains a true orthophoto and the corresponding normalized Digital Surface Model (nDSM), which are stacked together before they are fed into a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). Though the two modalities are fused at the early stage, their features are learned independently with group convolutions firstly and then the learned features of different modalities are fused at multiple scales with standard convolutions. Therefore, the multi-scale fusion of multi-modal features is completed in a single-branch convolutional network. In this way, the computational cost is reduced while the experimental results reveal that we can still get promising results.


ABSTRACT Spontaneous rupture of the extensor pollicis longus (EPL) tendon at the wrist has been reported with predisposing factors to include distal radius fractures, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic or local steroids, and repetitive abnormal motion of the wrist joint. We present a case of an 18-year-old college lacrosse player without history of known predisposing factors who presented with an acute inability to extend the interphalangeal (IP) joint of his right thumb. Preoperative musculoskeletal ultrasound demonstrated rupture of the EPL tendon proximal to the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint of the thumb. A tendon transfer was therefore performed, where the extensor indicis proprius (EIP) was surgically rerouted to reconstruct the ruptured EPL. The athlete eventually returned to competition without sequela. We suggest that the tendon rupture was secondary to repetitive stick checking during play, causing microtrauma to his exposed dorsal wrist. Lacrosse team physicians, athletic trainers, and equipment managers should be aware of this injury mechanism and ensure that their players, and attackmen in particular, are equipped with gloves which adequately pad the dorsal wrist to decrease the risk of microtrauma to the EPL tendon.


This paper presents a new computer model for city skyline simulation. It works by shaping medium and high-rise buildings to their best performance. This new tool was conceived to simulate and analyze cities where tall buildings are emerging on pre-existing urban schemes with irregular geometry and where inter-building spacing is proportional to the height of built blocks. The model is based on two main inputs, namely: the description of the network formed by land subdivision of the actual or irregular urban schemes, and the building regulations quantitative parameters based on solar obstruction angles and maximum usability rates. By combining data from these inputs, the computer model presents the dimensions of the building envelop for maximum profitability of each plot. That way the architect will immediately know the number of floors that leads to the maximum built area, for certain plots. In addition to this, the built blocks images are presented in the screen, as well as corresponding tables and Cartesian graphs. Furthermore, this model can also be used for analyzing city skyline for large urban areas. This analysis can range from a mere visual inspection of the variety of images built blocks will take under different legal constraints, to a more intricate analysis of how city skyline and built area, amongst others, are affected by different the regulations.


This paper explores how looming planetary crises become present in the lived experiences of future female workers, and how such experiences condition performances of viable subjectivity. Drawing on interview data from a longitudinal study of young women's education and career aspirations, the paper zooms in on moments where concerns about planetary crises were felt in informants' everyday lives. We augment Judith Butler's writings on loss with Karen Barad's concept of "intra‐action" to theorize these moments as experiences of loss in which constitutive dependencies and entanglements—otherwise repressed and invisible—touch young women's lives. Against this theoretical backdrop, we trace how such experiences interrupt performances of neoliberal work subjectivity and thereby create a potential for alternative agencies grounded in an ethics of entanglement. The paper thus contributes new insights into young women's complex performances of viable work subjectivity, showing how more sustainable and collective ways of performing the self emerge. As such, we offer researchers and professionals working with and around young women a nuanced understanding of how young women contest and exceed notions of neoliberal individualism.


Active materials, and their subsequent use in adaptive structures, have been the subject of increasing attention recently. For example, the ability of shape memory polymers to switch between relatively low and high elastic moduli makes them attractive candidates for implementation in ambitious engineering designs requiring deformable components capable of withstanding various types of loading. However, numerous designs are hindered by the use of a thermal activation stimulus to initiate property change in SMPs. This thesis details the initial development and characterization of a new class of active materials with electrically controlled mechanical property altering characteristics. These "electroplastic elastomers" are polymer-based materials which emulate the property change features of SMPs via cross linking properties of counter ions with varying redox states. The use of an electric-based stimulus would not require a continuous supply of energy to hold state, allow for simpler stimulus control and delivery systems, and provide better user control over material state changes. Characterization tests are performed to determine the compressive properties of cubic-based and thin film electroplastic elastomer samples prepared by the synthesis team consisting of Dr. Tara Meyer and Tianqi Pan of the University of Pittsburgh Chemistry Department. This thesis details the experimental procedures, results, and interpretations of such tests. In addition, the foundations of a multi-scale model utilizing Rotational Isomeric State theory in conjunction with a Monte Carlo methodology are adapted to simulate the effects of increased cross link density characteristics pertaining to electroplastic elastomers. Modeling and simulation development, adaptation, and results are presented as well as methods to further adapt the model once the scope of material developmental parameters is narrowed.


Ganoderma lucidum is a famous medicinal mushroom that is rich in antioxidants. The content of antioxidant components of grains can be effectively improved by G. lucidum as the fermenting strain. Optimization of the solid-state fermentation medium and optimization of the fermentation conditions were studied. The optimal fermentation substrate combination of G. lucidum TS (GL-TS) was 46.79% buckwheat, 53.21% rice; the optimal fermentation substrate combination of G. lucidum Am (GL-Am) was 4.17% soybean, 95.83% rice. The optimal fermentation conditions of GL-TS and GL-Am were as follows: inoculum amounts of 4.5% and 7.5%, temperatures of 30°C and 32°C, medium moisture content of 70% for both media, material granularities of 0.212-0.355 mm and 0.500-0.710 mm, and optimal fermentation time of 12.0 d and 10.5 d, respectively. Results of the analysis of antioxidant components in the fermentation substrates indicated that the antioxidant components were rich in antioxidant varieties and high in content. The contents of the antioxidant components (triterpenoids, total polyphenols, reducing sugars, anthocyanins, superoxide dismutase, glutathione, vitamin C, and vitamin E) in the full-fermentation substrates were greater than those in the nonfennentation substrates (except for flavonoids in the full-fermentation substrates, which were less than in the nonfennentation substrates). Glutathione was the major antioxidant component in the fermentation substrates, and the glutathione content was the highest. Therefore, the fermentation substrates of G. lucidum can be used to make antioxidant foods. This research contributes to the foundation for developing antioxidant foods based on G. lucidum.


The objective of this study was to establish a protocol for isolating, culturing, proliferating cavernosal endothelial cells, and to obtain large number of autologous cavernosal endothelial cells for tissue-engineered substitutes. Cavernosal tissues were either minced into 1 to 2 mm3 pieces and incubated with 0.02% collagenase IV for 2h or first minced into 20 mm3 then incubated with 0.05% elastase for 1h, 2h or 3h, respectively; the undigested tissue blocks were repeatedly squeezed with a spatula for 2 min. Cells were collected and cultured with supplemented endothelial cell growth medium. Morphology and expansion of the cells were observed. Cell-type specific proteins CD31 and vWF were analyzed by immunohistochemical methods. The results revealed that cell isolation with 0.05% elastase for 2h followed by additional squeezing of residual tissue was effective not only for cell isolation, but also for preventing the tissue from getting contaminated by stromal cells, which was better than cell isolation with collagenase IV. Cavernosal endothelial cells were found with a typical cobblestone morphology and could be passaged 7 passages. Immunohistochemistry showed that endothelial specific proteins CD31 and vWF were positive. These results suggest that the isolation of cavernosal endothelial cells is simple and effective, the cells proliferate rapidly and they can be passaged easily. This method of new cultures will be of benefit to penile tissue engineering.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the intra subject variability of progesterone 200 mg soft capsules of Test product with Prometrium ® (Progesterone USP) capsules 200 mg (Reference) marketed by Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc., Marietta, GA in healthy adult, human, post-menopausal female volunteers. This study was an open label, randomized, balanced, single-dose, two sequence two period, crossover oral bioequivalence study was conducted in 12 healthy adult, human, post-menopausal female volunteers under fasting conditions. Subjects received progesterone 200 mg of either test or reference formulation with a washout period of 10 days. After study drug administration, serial blood samples were collected over a period of 36 hours post dose. The plasma concentrations of progesterone were determined by a validated method using LC/MS/MS. Pharmacokinetic parameters C max , T max , AUC 0-t , AUC0-∞, Kel and T 1/2 were determined for both the formulations. The formulations were to be considered bioequivalent if the geometric least square mean ratio of test and reference of C max , AUC 0-t and AUC 0-∞ were within the predetermined bioequivalence range of 80% to 125%. A total of 12 subjects were enrolled. No significant differences were found based on analysis of variance. The 90% confidence intervals (CI) of C max , AUC 0-t and AUC 0-∞ , of progesterone were 52.10-148.80%, 52.66-164.84%, and 56.05-152.68% respectively. The test formulation in this study fails to show the bioequivalence with that of reference formulation for progesterone. The intra subject variability (%) for C max , AUC 0-t and AUC 0-∞ were found to be 68.2, 75.6 and 64.6 respectively. There was significant intra subject variability was observed for progesterone under fed conditions.


This paper presents a soft-switching boost converter with a flyback snubber for high power applications. The proposed converter configuration can achieve both near zero-voltage and zero-current soft-switching features, while it can reduce the current and voltage stresses of the main switch. In this paper, several passive and active snubbers associated with boost converters are first reviewed, and their limitations are then addressed. One of the boost converters with a flyback snubber is proposed and analyzed in detail to explain the discussed features. Experimental results obtained from a 5-kW boost converter have confirmed that the proposed converter configuration is attractive and feasible for high power applications.


Background and purpose: Physical assault (PA) is a common cause of mortality and morbidity throughout the world and the prevalence is still very high in underdeveloped and developing countries. With the objective to see the spectrum of injury following PA from the medico legal point of view, this study was design in a tertiary care centre at far eastern part of Nepal. Material and method: This is a prospective analytical study with nonprobability consecutive sampling of physical assault cases presented in the emergency department over the duration of 4 months. All the patients who meet the inclusion criteria were collected in preformed proforma. Gender, types of weapons used for PA, location of external and internal injuries, various treatment strategies, and severity of injuries were presented in frequencies and percentage. Association of different age categories, gender and types of weapons used with severity of injuries were analysed using Chi square/ Fisher's exact test wherever applicable. Result: There were total 99 patients presented with physical assault during the study period with mean age of presentation 31.69 (SD 13.38) Years with male (70%) predominance. Among various types of weapons used for PA; punches/ kicks were used in 50% of assaults followed by blunt heavy objects (35%) and sharp heavy weapons (14%). Location of the external injuries were more common in head and neck area . Obvious internal injuries were seen in 14% of the assaulted patients. Among all the case of PA, 42% patients needed some sort of surgical intervention during hospital stay. There were 9% cases of grievous injury and 6% had life threatening injuries Conclusion: Physical assault is a common mode of injuries in eastern Nepal, where young males are more prone to such injuries. Violence are commonly carried out using fists, kicks and blunt objects. Severity of injuries is similar with all the types of weapons used.


This study is the first demonstration of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-immunoreactivity in the retina of the lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis. This immunoreactivity is expressed on one hand, in radial processes and somata which belong to Müller cells and, on the other hand, in horizontal fibers in the intermediate plexus between horizontal cells. The tracing of these fibers to Müller cells or horizontal cells is discussed.


Nitric acid, hydrochloric acid and water can form stable aggregates with atmospheric implications, for instance at the surface of polar stratospheric clouds. The structure, stability and chemical properties of these ternary complexes are studied by means of high level theoretical calculations (hybrid DFT B3LYP method along with aug-cc-pVQZ basis set). From the many possible systems that these molecules could form, only 15 are found to yield stable structures, well characterized by a minimum in their potential energy surfaces. These aggregates are studied in detail. They can be collected in three families, according to the role played by each species in the different hydrogen bonding links that result and provide the basis for the stabilization of the clusters. Water and HCl can be H-donors to almost every O atom of HNO(3), which in turn can donate its H atom to the other two molecules. Two special cases are found, one in which H(2)O plays a central role, and another with a three-dimensional structure, in contrast to the basically planar frame of the other clusters. Bonding properties are investigated for the whole series using AIM methods. The elongation of the H-Cl bond as a consequence of the aggregate creation is inspected in detail, as it may provide a clue to the lability of this molecule with implications in atmospheric processes. The Gibbs free energy calculated for these clusters shows that some of them could form spontaneously in the range of temperatures of the stratosphere.


The enablement doctrine restricts the scope of an inventor's patent claim so that it remains commensurate with the contribution to technological progress that the inventor has disclosed in her specification. When the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (Federal Circuit) brings enablement to bear on claims that encompass after-arising technology (AAT), the resulting doctrine is chaotic. Distinct lines of cases recite different doctrines, and the choice among the doctrines determines whether claims encompassing AAT are enabled. This Article searches for order in the chaos. It proposes that there are three rules that explain what the Federal Circuit does when grappling with the enablement of AAT: the foreseeability rule, the identity rule, and the complementarity rule. Courts and commentators have discussed the first two of these rules, but their effects are poorly understood and their policy justifications have not been clearly explained. The third represents an original contribution to scholarly literature on enablement. In addition, this Article examines the most plausible normative justification for each of the rules. Where the complementarity rule makes claims more commensurate with contributions to technological contributions, the foreseeability and identity rules are "second best" rules that undermine the commensurability of peripheral claims and disclosures in order to achieve other goals.


Intrinsic tumour radioresistance limits the benefit of radiotherapy. Targeted treatment modalities that are singly effective for triple-negative breast cancer are lacking, partly due to paucity of relevant targets as they are devoid of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2), progesterone receptor (PR), and oestrogen receptor (ER); or to resistance to single-target therapies as a consequence of cellular heterogeneity. Concomitant targeting of cell signaling entities other than HER-2, PR and ER may sensitise triple-negative tumours to radiotherapy. In this study, we investigated the effect of an HER-2 inhibitor (TAK-165) and a dual inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and mammalian target for rapamycin (mTOR) (NVP-BEZ235) in three human breast cancer cell lines. The potential of simultaneous inhibition of HER-2, PI3K and mTOR with a cocktail of the specific inhibitors TAK-165 and NVP-BEZ235, to radiosensitise human breast cancer cells in vitro was examined using the colony forming assay. Combined inhibition of HER-2, PI3K, and mTOR resulted in significant radiosensitisation in all cell lines, independent of HER-2, ER, or PR status. Radiosensitisation was more prominent in ERand PR-negative cells expressing higher levels of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). These data suggest that a cocktail of TAK-165 and NVP-BEZ235 could potentially be effective in the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.


The derived category of a hypersurface has an action
by "cohomology operations" k[[beta]], deg[beta] = 2, underlying the
2-periodic structure on its category of singularities (as matrix
factorizations). We prove a Thom-Sebastiani type Theorem,
identifying the k[[beta]]-linear tensor products of these dg
categories with coherent complexes on the zero locus of the sum
potential on the product (with a support condition), and identify
the dg category of colimit-preserving k[[beta]]-linear functors
between Ind-completions with Ind-coherent complexes on the zero
locus of the difference potential (with a support condition). These
results imply the analogous statements for the 2-periodic dg
categories of matrix factorizations. We also present a viewpoint on
matrix factorizations in terms of (formal) groups actions on
categories that is conducive to formulating functorial statements
and in particular to the computation of higher algebraic structures
on Hochschild invariants. Some applications include: we refine and
establish the expected computation of 2-periodic Hochschild
invariants of matrix factorizations; we show that the category of
matrix factorizations is smooth, and is proper when the critical
locus is proper; we show how Calabi-Yau structures on matrix
factorizations arise from volume forms on the total space; we
establish a version of Knorrer Periodicity for eliminating
metabolic quadratic bundles over a base.


Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a dicotyledonous annual herb of Family Amaranthaceae and Subfamily Chenopodiaceae. It has high nutritional and economic value. Phosphorus (P) is an essential plant macronutrient, a component of many biomolecules, and vital to growth, development, and metabolism. We analyzed the transcriptomes and metabolomes of Dianli–1299 and Dianli–71 quinoa seedlings, compared their phenotypes, and elucidated the mechanisms of their responses to the phosphorus treatments. Phenotypes significantly varied with phosphorus level. The plants responded to changes in available phosphorus by modulating metabolites and genes implicated in glycerophospholipid, glycerolipid and glycolysis, and glyconeogenesis metabolism. We detected 1057 metabolites, of which 149 were differentially expressed (DEMs) and common to the control (CK) vs. the low-phosphorus (LP) treatment samples, while two DEMs were common to CK vs. the high-phosphorus (HP) treatment samples. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) annotated 29,232 genes, of which 231 were differentially expressed (DEGs) and common to CK vs. LP, while one was common to CK vs. HP. A total of 15 DEMs and 11 DEGs might account for the observed differences in the responses of the quinoa seedlings to the various phosphorus levels. The foregoing results may provide a theoretical basis for improving the phosphorus utilization efficiency in quinoa.


An overview is given of practices for "retrospective" dosimetry based on extraction and counting of niobium and manganese present in typical pressure vessel materials. The main problem of counting structural materials is the overwhelming presence of the nuclide 60Co in the gamma-ray spectra of irradiated materials. Chemical separation of niobium and manganese is needed to determine the induced 93Nbm and 54Mn activities. Procedures have been developed for retrospective dosimetry applicable at normally equipped radiochemical laboratories. Chemical separation procedures have been applied followed by determination of the amount of niobium in dissolution after separation. Special attention has been given to the accurate counting of the very weak X rays of 93Nbm. Different techniques have been applied. Advantages, disadvantages, and the accuracy that can be achieved are discussed. Special attention has been given to the maximum accuracy that can be reached and the minimum amount of niobium that has to be collected to reach this accuracy.


Lightning arresters are expected to protect equipment against damage and outage from lightning, and to have an economical life. In order to accomplish these ends effectively, arresters should be able to discharge all surge currents whose probability of occurrence is such that the average life of the arresters will be in an economic balance with their cost. In this paper existing data have been assembled and analyzed in an effort to determine the magnitude of these impulses and the probable frequency of their occurrence.


High-visibility multi-photon interference is usually considered as a signature of nonclassical light. We show, theoretically and experimentally, that three-photon interference visibility can be as high as 81.8% for coherent light and 60% for thermal light.


Optical neural networks (ONNs) have demonstrated promising potentials for next-generation artificial intelligence acceleration with ultra-low latency, high bandwidth, and low energy consumption. However, due to high area cost and lack of efficient sparsity exploitation, previous ONN designs fail to provide scalable and efficient neuromorphic computing, which hinders the practical implementation of photonic neural accelerators. In this work, we propose a novel design methodology to enable a more scalable ONN architecture. We propose a nonlinear optical neuron based on multi-operand ring resonators to achieve neuromorphic computing with a compact footprint, low wavelength usage, learnable neuron balancing, and built-in nonlinearity. The structured sparsity is exploited to support more efficient ONN engines via a fine-grained structured pruning technique. A robustness-aware learning method is adopted to guarantee the variation-tolerance of our ONN. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed ONN achieves one-order-of-magnitude improvement in compactness and efficiency over previous designs with high fidelity and robustness.


In the days when the nuclear ghosts of Khrushchev and Kennedy are poised to rise again, the contrast between these two visions makes, to my mind, the strongest case for literary scholarship in which realism, objectivity, and rationality are refugees no longer. --Peter Swirski, Of Literature and Knowledge Prisoner's Dilemma is about avoiding exploitation, but in a Chicken game one person or the other must compromise to avoid a mutual disaster. Each player wants to convince the other that he or she will not back down, and the person who does is "chicken." --Barry O'Neill, Honor, Symbols, and War But the confessions, though they answered questions of how and why, failed to satisfy his sense of meaningful design. --Truman Capote, In Cold Blood To which genre of literature does Truman Capote's (1924-84) In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences (1966) belong? (1) According to Capote, his volume exemplifies a new literary class, the nonfiction novel. "What I wanted to do," he explains, "was bring to journalism the technique of fiction" (Conversations 120). The apparently motiveless murder of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, on the night of November 15-16, 1959, provided Capote with an opportunity to put his theory into practice. Capote's subject matter was "controversial," notes Jim Willis, "but there is no denying the story's popularity with the reading public, and In Cold Blood became an instant success and long-lasting best-seller" (94). This vindication assured Capote that "the credibility of fact, the immediacy of film, the depth and freedom of prose, and the precision of poetry" displayed by In Cold Blood gave the affirmative answer to his "greatest creative quandary" (Music xiv): whether a full-scale journalistic novel could be accurate, aesthetic, and accessible. "The novelistic techniques generate an excitement, intensity and emotive power that orthodox reporting or historiography do not aspire to," David Lodge elucidates, "while for the reader the guarantee that the story is 'true' gives it a compulsion that no fiction can quite equal" (203). The "nonfiction novel" is certainly Capote's neologism, continues Lodge, but "it has in fact been around for quite a long time in various guises" (203). J. A. Cuddon identifies the generic archetype as the "documentary novel." "This form of fiction," he writes, "was invented by the Goncourt brothers, Edmond and Jules, in the 1860s" under the appellation of the " roman documentaire." During the twentieth century, adds Cuddon, "such a novel has become a form of fiction which, like documentary drama, is based on documentary evidence in the shape of newspaper articles, legal reports, archives, and recent official papers." Notable examples "have been Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy (1925) and Truman Capote's In Cold Blood' (255). Barbara Foley, who remains the leading authority on documentary fiction, not only repeats the assertion that this genre "is a species of fiction" (41), but also agrees with Lodge's sense that the documentary novel adheres to referential strategies associated with nonfictional modes of discourse. Documentary fiction, she believes, locates itself near the border between factual discourse and fictive discourse, but it does not propose an eradication of that border. Rather, it purports to represent reality by means of agreed-upon conventions of fictionality, while grafting onto its fictive pact some kind of additional claim to empirical validation. (25) Lodge and Foley, however, attribute documentary fiction with a longer provenance than Cuddon does. Lodge cites Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) as the generic archetype, while Foley places Thomas Nashe's The Unfortunate Traveller (1594) at the forefront of the genre. Lodge's cursory article must then cede the academic field to Foley's detailed monograph, which ascribes three distinct phases to the evolution of documentary fiction, with each new stage emerging gradually from its antecedent. …


Depending on the final application envisaged for a given biomaterial, many surfaces must be modified before use. The material performance in a biological environment is mainly mediated by its surface properties that can be improved using suitable modification methods. The aim of this work was to coat poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) surfaces with biosurfactants (BSs) and to evaluate how these compounds affect the PDMS surface properties. BSs isolated from four probiotic strains (Lactococcus lactis, Lactobacillus paracasei, Streptococcus thermophilus A, and Streptococcus thermophilus B) were used. Bare PDMS and PDMS coated with BSs were characterized by contact angle measurements, infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The influence of the surface modifications on the materials blood compatibility was studied through thrombosis and hemolysis assays. The cytotoxicity of these materials was tested against rat peritoneal macrophages. AFM results demonstrated the successful coating of the surfaces. Also, by contact angle measurements, an increase of the coated surfaces hydrophilicity was seen. Furthermore, XPS analysis indicated a decrease of the silicon content at the surface, and ATR-FTIR results showed the presence of BS characteristic groups as a consequence of the modification. All the studied materials revealed no toxicity and were found to be nonhemolytic. The proposed approach for the modification of PDMS surfaces was found to be effective and opens new possibilities for the application of these surfaces in the biomedical field.


The discovery that expression of the membrane-bound, high affinity folate receptor (FR) occurs in a significant number of human malignancies has led to the development of many folate-targeted therapeutic agents. Studies in FR-positive tumor models have demonstrated remarkable anti-tumor activity of various folate-drug conjugates under conditions that do not appreciably cause toxicity. The ability to chemically link a variety of drugs to folate offers an array of choices for targeting different proteins and biochemical pathways within the FR-positive cell. For example, it is known that aberrations in mTOR pathway signaling can lead to the development and progression of many cancers and inflammatory diseases. Likewise, mTOR inhibitors, such as rapamycin and everolimus, have been studied extensively and have been clinically shown to exhibit immunosuppressive and anti-neoplastic effects. Here, we have investigated the ability of a novel folate-everolimus conjugate, named EC0565, to reduce the levels of phospho-ribosomal protein S6 (p-RPS6, a translation-regulating protein downstream of mTOR) in a panel of cell lines. The results of our studies demonstrated that EC0565 potently inhibited p-RPS6 (EC50 = 8.2 nM) in the high FR-expressing KB cell line; further, the activity of EC0565 was completely blocked at each dose level with a co-incubated excess of a benign folate analog, thus indicating that EC0565\#8217;s activity was FR-specific. We also observed a strong correlation between the level of FR expression and the ability of EC0565 to inhibit p-RPS6. For example, whereas 100 nM EC0565 caused near complete abrogation of p-RPS6 in KB cells, and substantial or measurable activity in IGROV and SKOV3 cell lines, levels of p-RPS6 were unaffected in the FR-negative A549 cell line. Importantly, when A549 cells were treated with untargeted everolimus, p-RPS6 was completely inhibited indicating that lack of activity with EC0565 was not due to lack of base drug activity against A549 cells. Kinetically, EC0565 activity lagged behind that of everolimus (t1/2 = 1.3 h and 0.48 h, respectively), which is in concordance with a FR-mediated, endocytic delivery mechanism. Despite the significant FR-specific activity observed at the molecular level, proliferative activity of KB cells was unaffected by either EC0565 or everolimus in vitro. However, some modest anti-tumor activity (i.e. tumor growth delay) was observed with a 3 \#956;mol/kg qdx5 dosing regimen against the KB xenograft tumor model in nude mice. Collectively, these data demonstrate that EC0565 blocks mTOR pathway activity by a FR-dependent mechanism, and they support further study with other FR-expressing cell/tumor models, especially in those that are proliferation-sensitive towards mTOR inhibition. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 1683.


We have developed a facility for measuring the transmittance of optical filters at a wavelength of 1064 nm, using a Nd:YAG laser, a power stabilizer, and linear photodiode detectors. A direct measurement method was used for filters with optical densities (OD's) less than or equal to 4, and a reference substitution technique was used for filters with OD's as great as 10. The apparatus and data-acquisition system are described. Measurement results for a set of filters are presented. The expanded uncertainties for the measured OD and deduced absorption coefficient are determined through a detailed analysis of all the uncertainty components.


A 59-year-old woman without underlying disease was admitted to a local hospital because of lung abscess, cytopenias and renal failure. 3 days before admission, she was diagnosed as influenza infection and was under antiviral therapy. Blood cultures were positive for methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). She was transferred to our hospital on the 15th day at the local hospital because the clinical manifestations could not improve even though she was treated with multiple intravenous antibiotics directed against MSSA. Sputum cultures yielded methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) producing toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) and serologic test indicated hypercytokinemia. She was diagnosed as rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and hemophagocytic syndrome associated with staphylococcal infection. The pulmonary lesions, cytopenias and renal dysfunction improved as a result of long-term antimicrobial treatment including vancomycin, hemodialysis, short-term administration of corticosteroid and other supportive cares. She was finally weaned from hemodialysis on the 73rd hospital day. In recent years, the number of cases of S. aureus producing TSST-1 and enterotoxin has been increasing and in cases of staphylococcal infections, close attention should be given to toxin-mediated as well as non-toxin-mediated clinical manifestations.


I read with great interest the article by Emmens and colleagues published in the European Journal of Heart Failure.1 The authors purposed to examine whether changes in the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) proteome of heart failure patients relate to a worse prognosis. Certainly, Emmens et al. have conducted a very interesting and valuable study, but some methodological issues need to be considered. Because of differences in HDL isolation techniques and poor purification of the isolated HDL fractions, the total 'list' of HDL proteins unfortunately varies dramatically from study to study, and it is not clear what proteins truly associate with HDL. When studying the HDL proteome, it requires highly purified fractions of HDL, using a two-step protocol, consisting of density gradient ultracentrifugation (d= 1.063–1.21 g/mL) or immunoprecipitation, followed by size exclusion chromatography to minimize contamination with low density lipoproteins and other lipidated plasma proteins that are co-isolated with HDL.2,3 Emmens et al. used a calcium silicate matrix to separate lipoproteins from other plasma proteins, which is not sufficient to yield highly purified fractions of HDL. In addition, no quantitative raw data were provided, making it impossible for the reader to judge the quality of lipoprotein preparations and the abundance of the individual proteins. Therefore, it is not clear whether the identified proteins are HDL-associated.


The suitability of replacing mineral aggregate with carbon-negative ones mainly depends on the properties of the aggregates produced from waste recycling, reducing CO2 emissions. This study aimed to investigate the predictive approaches adapted to concrete mixtures where mineral aggregates are replaced by carbonated aggregates (at different substitution rates from 25 to 100% with aggregates of various origins). A large experimental campaign of aggregates and carbonated aggregate concretes highlighted their physical, mechanical, thermal and hygric properties and the influence of density and porosity of aggregates on these properties. Thanks to these results, predictive approaches were formulated to establish the main engineering properties: mechanical compressive strength, elasticity modulus, thermal conductivity, thermal mass capacity and hygric diffusivity. These empirical and analytical models were based on the density of aggregates. Maximum deviations of around 15% were obtained with the experimental data, highlighting the influence of grain density on carbonated aggregate concretes. These models could then be used to optimize the formulation of concrete mixtures with carbonated aggregates, replacing international standards adapted to mineral aggregates.


Abstract IgA nephropathy (IgAN) has become the most common form of primary glomerular disease worldwide. So far, it is still not very clear about the exact pathogenesis of IgAN, thus has no specific therapy. Generally mesangial deposition of IgA, especially polymeric IgA1 (pIgA1), suggests to be the initiating event in the pathogenesis of IgAN. In addition to decreased IgA clearance, IgA over production may also participate in the pathogenesis of IgAN. IgA class switching recombination (CSR) played key role during the process of IgA production. Stimulated with hemolytic streptococcus, tonsillar mononuclear cells (TMCs) of patients with IgAN presented with increased levels of Ia-Ca and activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which are significant for IgA CSR. Human B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells express Toll-like receptor (TLR)-9, whose natural ligands are unmethylated cytosine–guanine dinucleotide (CpG) motifs characteristic of bacterial DNA (CpG-DNA). Unmethylated deoxycytidylic-deoxyguanosine oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG-ODN) is able to mimic the immunostimulatory activity of microbial DNA. Study found a significant increase in B cell activation factor (BAFF) production when tonsillar mononuclear cells stimulated with CpG-ODN in patients with IgAN. BAFF can induce germline Cα gene expression, AID expression, and IgA class switching in a CD40-independent manner. Therefore, it could be hypothesized that in IgAN there may exist TLR9-BAFF-IgA CSR axis, which induces excessive IgA production. If the hypothesis is correct, it could be of great significance for pathogenesis of IgAN elucidate and IgAN treatment.


The thesis is focused on municipal waste characterization, sampling and analysis. It presents the methodology, techniques, and practice of sampling and analysis of the mixed municipal waste in a selected area of Novo mesto and its surroundings. The first part of the thesis contains the theoretical background with demography and waste statistics from the selected area. Legislation of the characterization of mixed municipal waste focused on sorting analysis in European Union and the Republic of Slovenia is presented. The thesis also presents the sustainable development of the Republic of Slovenia in the field of waste treatment, which should comply with the European union criteria. The second part presents experimental work where the results of sorting analysis are shown and discussed. Also, the comparisons of individual fractions of municipal waste with emphasis on the biodegradable fraction are presented. Measures for reduction of the mixed municipal waste and biodegradable waste in landfills are proposed, with specific examples of successful good practices in some other countries.


The Blue Gene®/L compute chip contains two PowerPC® 440 processor cores, private L2 prefetch caches, a shared L3 cache and double-data-rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM) memory controller, a collective network interface, a torus network interface, a physical network interface, an interrupt controller, and a bridge interface to slower devices. System-on-a-chip verification problems require a multilevel verification strategy in which the strengths of each layer offset the weaknesses of another layer. The verification strategy we adopted relies on the combined strengths of random simulation, directed simulation, and code-driven simulation at the unit and system levels. The strengths and weaknesses of the various techniques and our reasons for choosing them are discussed. The verification platform is based on event simulation and cycle simulation running on a farm of Intel-processor-based machines, several PowerPC-processor-based machines, and the internally developed hardware accelerator Awan. The cost/performance tradeoffs of the different platforms are analyzed. The success of the first Blue Gene/L nodes, which worked within days of receiving them and had only a small number of undetected bugs (none fatal), reflects both careful design and a comprehensive verification strategy.


The research shows that a very important part of initial teacher education is to reformulate the beliefs that student teachers bring with them from their school experience. These beliefs, which are intuitive in nature, deal with different educational topics and one area that is currently of great importance, due to the emotional turn that the educational system is experiencing, are the beliefs that student teachers hold about the role of emotions in educational processes. In a world full of views that portray emotions as discrete states that are separate from cognitive processes, it is a priority for initial teacher development to train future teachers to hold conceptions that consider the deep emotional-cognitive integration that exists in the human brain. At the same time, this process requires teacher educators (hereafter referred to as TEs) who hold conceptions on this topic that are aligned with the most current scientific knowledge on the subject. However, we do not know how the conceptions that TEs maintain on this topic are, since, until now, research on conceptions has focused on other types of educational topics. Considering the foregoing, this study aimed to evaluate the conceptions that TEs have on this topic, using a questionnaire of dilemmas that was applied to 68 TEs from different universities. The results obtained show that the TEs maintain perspectives on the role of emotions in the teaching and learning processes that oscillate between dualism and emotional-cognitive integration. In addition, it was found that TEs' perspectives tend to be more integrative when considering attitudinal learning than when considering verbal learning. Finally, the study shows that maintaining integrative perspectives is more difficult when educational situations involve emotions of positive valence that may constitute an obstacle for teaching and learning. The results are discussed, and a series of reflections are elaborated in order to analyze to what extent the beliefs held by TEs are adequate as a cognitive basis for reformulating the conceptions held by student teachers on this issue.


Abstract The present study was aimed to investigate the relationship of the upper airway size and craniofacial structures in 3 dimensions in growing children of skeletal Class III. Forty-seven children (19 boys and 28 girls, 9.6 ± 1.3 years of age, range 8.0–12.4 years) were selected. Twenty-three children with normal vertical development were divided into groups of insufficient maxilla and overdeveloped mandible for the airway comparison between different sagittal skeletal patterns. Thirty-two children with the same sagittal development were divided into groups of low angle, normal angle, and high angle for the comparison between different vertical skeletal developments. The upper airway and craniofacial structures were measured in cone beam computed tomography images using DOLPHIN 11.7 software. Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test were used to analyze the airway differences between groups. Spearman correlated analysis was done between the upper airway size and the craniofacial pattern in the transverse dimension. The results showed that the nasopharynx was the only affected airway part between groups of insufficient maxilla and overdeveloped mandible (P <0.05). The high angle group showed smaller upper airway compared with the groups of normal angle and low angle (P <0.05). The skeletal transverse dimension was correlated with the height of velopharynx, hypopharynx, and total airway with small gender differences.


We examined to what extend the rate and direction of changes in unmanaged grassland depend on fluctuations in climatic conditions. Vegetation data from permanent plots in a semi-natural grassland in southern Poland collected over 12 years were used. Relations between weather variables, time, and the cover of 41 more frequent species and 14 plant functional groups were analysed. The greatest effect on the dynamics of species and functional groups had precipitation in spring and/or early summer, particularly in the current year. The majority of plant groups were significantly affected also by the temperature in spring and early summer in one of the three previous years. During 12 years, the cover of annuals and biennials, short plants, and plants with small leaves decreased, while the cover of taller plants, plants with larger leaves, and with vegetative spread increased. The analyses suggest that these successional changes were not directly associated with climatic conditions but were affected by them indirectly through interspecific competition. The fluctuations in climatic conditions, chiefly precipitation, had a significant effect on both the composition and the rate of changes in abandoned grassland. The increase in the cover of tall perennial species with broad leaves hindered succession towards woodland despite of the presence of woods in the closed vicinity. It can be expected that during drier periods colonisation of grassland by later successional species could be easier.


Background and Objective: Unsaturated fatty acids such as turpentine oil can decrease serum leptin level. In regard to this effect and the key role of thyroid hormones and leptin in metabolism. This study was designed to investigate the impact of dietary wild pistachio oil on serum leptin concentration and its relationship with thyroid hormones in experimental hyperthyroidism in male rat. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study thirty white Sprague Dawely adult male rats were divided randomly into the five groups with six rats in each. The first group as a natural control I received only ordinary diet and water during the study period. The second group as a control II received ordinary diet in addition to administration of 12mg Sigma levothyroxine in one liter of water daily for one month. Third, fourth and fifth groups with administration of considered dosage of levothyroxine were received respectively 5%, 10% and 20% concentrations of wild pistachio oil for one month. Blood samples were obtained at 10-day intervals. T4, T3, fT4, fT3 and leptin were measured by RIA and ELISA methods. Serum lipid profiles were measured by enzymatic method. Results: Thyroidal hormones, lipids and leptin level did not show any statistically significant differences between experimental days in the rats of control group I.The serum concentrations of T4, T3, fT4, fT3 in third, T4 in fourth and fifth groups showed significant differences(P<0.05). The serum leptin concentration decreased significantly during the experiment in the third, fourth and fifth groups (P<0.05), but serum lipids did not show any significant differences between various days of experiment. Conclusion: This study showed that the level of T4, T3, fT4, fT3 and HDLc / LDLc ratio at 30 day of study in case groups compaing to controls were decreased and increased, respectively.


Objective: Malignant melanoma of the genital tract comprises 3% of all melanomas afflicting females. They are characterized by poor prognosis with 5-year survival of 0-25% and high incidence for distant metastasis. This study was performed to assess various clinical features, treatment options, and thre management of genital melanomas. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis where records of patients with genital melanomas between 2005 to 2018 were reviewed to obtain demographic and clinical information, including age of diagnosis, presenting symptoms, performance status, pathology reports, treatment, follow-up, and survival. Results: Between 2005 and 2018, 31 women were analyzed. The median age was 53.5 (range: 28.5-85) years. Vaginal bleeding was the most common presenting symptom (80.6%), followed by discharge (29%), mass in the vagina/perineum (19.3%), pain (16.1%), and difficulty in micturition (9.6%). The most common site of origin was the vagina (67.7%), followed by that vulva (19.3%) and cervix (12.9%). Tumor diameter was more than 3 cm in 74.2% (23/31). Out of 31 patients, only 16 opted for treatment. Four patients underwent surgery, 10 received primary chemotherapy, and two needed palliative radiotherapy for heavy bleeding. The median survival in the treatment group was 5 (range: 2.5-28) months, almost similar to patients not receiving any treatment (5 months, range: 2-11). Conclusion: Genital melanoma are rare but aggressive tumors. Diagnosis is usually made with biopsy. No effective treatment strategy is yet available. However, surgery is the preferred first- line treatment, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have been used in adjuvant settings.


My task has been to collect some impressions from the conference, from the lectures, the seminars and all the discussions going on every where. I have interviewed some of you and I thank you for telling me about your impressions. But, I would like to borrow the words from Donata Elsenbroich, to remind you that these are my impressions. "We cannot experience everything but all of us can at least take part of something."


In September 1990, 74 sporocarps of Battarrea stevenii were observed on the floodplain of the ephemeral Kuiseb River in western Namibia. Herein we report subsequent studies of the distribution, abundance, nutritional role, phenology, and sporocarp development of this fungus in the hyper-arid Namib Desert. Included are full descriptions of developing and mature sporocarps. B. stevenii is a common associate of riparian forests on silty floodplain terraces, but does not form mycorrhizal associations with the dominant woody species, Faidherbia albida or Tamarix usneoides. Rather, clamped mycelium extends throughout floodplain soils decomposing coarse and fine particulate organic material (4—7% of soil dry weight). Sporocarp production occurs 4.5—12 mo post-flooding in response to soil desiccation at depths of 20—35 cm. The extensive mycelium, duration of vegetative growth post-flooding, and large size and abundance of B. stevenii sporocarps suggest that it is an important component of the subsurface decomposer community in the Namib's ephemeral rivers. Given that the fungus has also been recorded from floodplain soils of Angola, Hungary, and New Mexico (U.S.A.), and is known to have a world-wide distribution, we predict that further biogeographical studies will reveal that B. stevenii is a characteristic element of the riparian biota in dryland rivers, which drain approximately one-third of the earth's land surface.


This paper presents the design of 3kW axial flux permanent magnet generator considering wind turbine characteristics. The machine has ironless stator to produce sinusoidal voltage with less harmonic contents by completely eliminating the cogging torque of the machine. The machine performance is analyzed by finite element analysis since it reduces the time consumption and it used to validate the analytical design of the proposed axial flux permanent magnet generator. The airgap between stator and rotor are optimized, so as to determine the magnet dimensions and stator coil designs. The simulation results of proposed generator prove the reliability of the system for low speed direct drive wind turbine applications.


This paper proposes a zero-shot learning approach for audio classification based on the textual information about class labels without any audio samples from target classes. We propose an audio classification system built on the bilinear model, which takes audio feature embeddings and semantic class label embeddings as input, and measures the compatibility between an audio feature embedding and a class label embedding. We use VGGish to extract audio feature embeddings from audio recordings. We treat textual labels as semantic side information of audio classes, and use Word2Vec to generate class label embeddings. Results on the ESC-50 dataset show that the proposed system can perform zero-shot audio classification with small training dataset. It can achieve accuracy (26 % on average) better than random guess (10 %) on each audio category. Particularly, it reaches up to 39.7 % for the category of natural audio classes.


The aim of this study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of hope Theory on achievement motivationin boys senior of work and knowledge schools in baharestan county. This study was a preposttest experimental design. BySingle-stage cluster sampling between work and knowledge schools in Baharestan County, one school was selected randomly. Conducting Achievement Motivation Questionnaire, 30 students were selected and assigned to two groups randomly. 10 sessions of hope therapy were implemented for one group the control group received no intervention. ANCOVA was applied to analyze data. ANCOVA showed significant difference in studied groups (P<0.01). The results showed that hope therapy have increased the achievement motivation.


The review provides a comprehensive survey of compounds influencing perception of organoleptic properties or flavor/taste modifiers in the context of the diversity of natural compounds and materials used in food industry. The article proposes a new definition of flavor (or contact-perception) modifier as a compound or mixture of compounds which is not perceived intensively by taste, smell or touch but which substantially changes (masks), enhances or diminishes taste, smell or tactile perceptions of the material to which it is added.


Alpha-defensins inhibit HIV infection of macrophages through upregulation of CC-chemokines The possible involvement of Æ-defensins in CD8 Tcell-mediated anti-HIV activities has been the subject of recent investigations [1–3]. HIV host defence mechanisms are partly mediated by CD8 T-cell noncytotoxic antiviral responses [4]. Walker et al. [5] first demonstrated that this anti-HIV activity involves a soluble factor(s) designated as CD8 cell antiviral factor (CAF) whose identity remains unknown [4]. Zhang et al. [1] proposed that Æ-defensins are produced by CD8 T cells and contribute to CAF-mediated antiHIV activities. In contrast, the recent studies by Mackewicz et al. [2] and Chang et al. [3] demonstrated that the Æ-defensins are not produced by CD8 T cells but unexpectedly were found to be expressed by monocytes [2]. As CAF-mediated anti-HIV activity is also observed for macrophages [6,7] and monocytes express Æ-defensins [2], we investigated the capacity of Æ-defensins to suppress HIV infection of macrophages. The addition


The use of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) on a meat product is described in this report. The aim of the study was to develop calibration equations to predict the chemical composition of goose fatty liver (foie gras) with lipid contents greater than 40% of the fresh pate. Spectra of 52 foie gras samples were collected in the visible and NIR region (400 to 2,498 nm). Calibration equations were computed for DM, CP, lipids and fatty acids using modified partial least-squares regression. R2 values were high for the total lipid content (0.805) and DM (0.908) but were low for ash (0.151) and relatively low for protein content (0.255). For the major fatty acids, R2 ranged from 0.886 for palmitic acid to 0.988 for oleic acid. Oleic acid, the main fatty acid of the liver, and the stearic acid had higher R2 values than the less represented fatty acids. This study suggests that the NIRS technique can be used to predict lipid content and the fatty acid composition of goose fatty livers, but calibration must be built on a larger number of samples to generate accurate predictions.


A study was established to evaluate herbicides registered for barnyardgrass control in rice for activity on creeping rivergrass. Treatments included 208 g ai/ha cyhalofop early POST (EPOST) followed by (fb) 315 g/ha cyhalofop late POST (LPOST), 22 g ai/ha bispyribac EPOST fb 22 g/ha bispyribac LPOST, 66 g ai/ha fenoxaprop EPOST fb 86 g/ha fenoxaprop LPOST, 70 g ai/ha imazethapyr EPOST fb 70 g/ha imazethapyr LPOST and 50 g ai/ha penoxsulam mid-POST (MPOST). Each POST program was evaluated with and without 448 g ai/ha clomazone PRE. Barnyardgrass control, averaged over days after treatment (DAT), was 88 to 92% with the addition of clomazone PRE. Clomazone applied PRE followed by two applications of cyhalofop controlled creeping rivergrass at 91%. Creeping rivergrass control was less than 75% at 35 to 49 DAT. This response indicates only suppression of creeping rivergrass is achieved with the herbicide programs evaluated in this study. Nomenclature: Bispyribac, clomazone, cyhalofop, fenoxaprop, imazethapyr, penoxsulam, barnyardgrass, Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv, creeping rivergrass, Echinochloa polystachya (Kunth) A.S. Hitchc, rice, Oryza sativa L


Feature-based imaging spectroscopy methods are effective for identifying materials that exhibit specific well-defined spectral absorption features. As long as a pixel contains a sufficient amount of material so that the absorption retains its predominant shape, a feature-based method can work well. However, there are occasions when a background material can mix with a material of interest, and significantly distort and maybe even remove the absorption. In such cases, the material identification capabilities of these methods are likely to be degraded. This effort proposes an approach to accommodate these conditions. The parameter values to determine fit of an absorption feature are selected to be more tolerant of distortions and the signal contributions of any detected sub-pixel backgrounds are removed by making use of a physically-constrained linear mixing model. This mixing model is used to remove any detected background spectra from the image spectra within the bounding locations of the spectral features. However, an expected consequence of loosening the parameter values and performing sub-pixel subtraction is an increase in false alarms. A statistically-based spectral matched filter is proposed as to reduce these false alarms. We test the individual and combined approaches for identifying full-pixel and sub-pixel Tyvek panels in an experiment using a HyMAP hyperspectral scene with ground truth collected over Waimanalo Bay, Oahu, Hawaii.


In this paper, we develop a constant-quality rate control algorithm for a surveillance system that consists of one "base encoder" for encoding a down-sampled full-view version of the input video sequence and one "region of interest (ROI) encoder" for encoding the region of interest of the input video at the original resolution. Exploiting the inter-relationship between these two independent encoders, the bits for the ROI encoder are allocated according to the distortion obtained from the base encoder. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm significantly reduces the image quality variation. The overall quality is improved and the bit-rate is saved as compared to the rate control algorithm in JM 8.4


In this paper, we present our investigation of the 2D Hand Gesture Recognition (HGR) which may be suitable for the control of the Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV). In real conditions, we deal with, among others, a complex background, changing lighting conditions, and different distances of the operator from the AGV. For this reason, in the article, we describe the database of 2D images created during the research. We tested classic algorithms and modified them by us ResNet50 and MobileNetV2 which were retrained partially using the transfer learning approach, as well as proposed a simple and effective Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). As part of our work, we used a closed engineering environment for rapid prototyping of vision algorithms, i.e., Adaptive Vision Studio (AVS), currently Zebra Aurora Vision, as well as an open Python programming environment. In addition, we shortly discuss the results of preliminary work on 3D HGR, which seems to be very promising for future work. The results show that, in our case, from the point of view of implementing the gesture recognition methods in AGVs, better results may be expected for RGB images than grayscale ones. Also using 3D imaging and a depth map may give better results.


HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS
A 63-year-old woman was admitted because of abdominal pain for 12 months, associated with an increasing abdominal distension. One month before a gastroscopy had revealed mild gastritis. The taking of proton pump inhibitors did not improve her symptoms. There was no relevant neurological or psychiatric past history.

INVESTIGATIONS
Ultrasound and laboratory tests demonstrated a fatty liver and increased serum levels of lipoproteins. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an increase in subcutaneous and intraperitoneal adipose tissue. Endoscopy did not show any additional significant findings.

DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
The patient had adiposis dolorosa. Initially she was given daily a combination of mexiletine 400 mg and 75 mg Amitriptyline. After a few days the ailment decreased and had disappeared completely after one week. Three months later the dosage was reduced to 100 mg mexiletine and 25 mg Amitriptyline daily. After another two months all medication was discontinued. At follow-up after 12 months the symptoms had not recurred.

CONCLUSION
This case demonstrates that abdominal pain is not always caused by diseases of the visceral hollow organs. It must also be borne in mind that abdominal pain may be associated with adipose tissue, as is the case in adiposis dolorosa. The disease can be successfully treated, as in this case, using a combination of mexiletine and Amitriptyline.


Corneal dystrophies are rare autosomal dominant genetic diseases with diverse anatomic classification. The complexity of this disease reflects both the heterogeneity of causative gene mutations and the diversity of clinical presentations. Here, we studied and report a four-generation Chinese pedigree with corneal dystrophy, in which the clinical symptoms resemble Meesmann corneal dystrophy without the characteristic gene mutations of either KRT3 or KRT12. Targeted exon sequencing with PCR methods identified an Arg124Cys mutation in the TGFBI gene that concordant with phenotype in all affected individuals. This TGFBI mutation has been associated with multiple subtypes of corneal dystrophy. We reviewed the global reported TGFBI mutations in different ethnic groups and geographically mapped TGFBI mutations previously reported in China. The distribution of TGFBI allelic mutations may assist the clinical diagnosis of the heterogeneous, autosomal dominant corneal dystrophies.


In August, 2006, a two-day symposium was held at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, on "The Paleontology, Geology, and Stratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway: A tribute to the life of W.A. 'Bill' Cobban." This symposium was attended by nearly 100 participants and featured 25 oral and poster presentations. Several of the papers that grew out of this symposium are published in the present issue of Rocky Mountain Geology (see following articles by N. H. Landman and W. A. Cobban; E. A. Merewether, W. A. Cobban, and J. D. Obradovich; and J. W. Grier, J. C. Grier, N. L. Larson, and J. G. Peterson.

W. A. "Bill" Cobban in the field.

This symposium celebrated Bill's extraordinary and prodigious contributions to our knowledge of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior, so much so, that his name is synonymous with the subject. Bill's career has spanned nearly 60 years and has resulted in more than 300 publications, many of them monographs. His research has fundamentally changed our understanding of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior and produced one of the most refined biostratigraphic zonations known anywhere in the world. …


Noble metal doping can achieve an increase in mass activity (MA) without sacrificing catalysis efficiency and stability, so that alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance of the catalyst can be optimized to the maximum degree. However, its excessively large ionic radius makes it difficult to achieve either interstitial doping or substitutional doping under mild conditions. Herein, a hierarchical nanostructured electrocatalyst with enriched amorphous/crystalline interfaces for high-efficiency alkaline HER is reported, which is composed of amorphous/crystalline (Co, Ni)11 (HPO3 )8 (OH)6 homogeneous hierarchical structure with an ultra-low doped Pt (Pt-a/c-NiHPi). Benefiting from the structural flexibility of the amorphous component, extremely low Pt (0.21 wt.%, totally 3.31 µg Pt on 1 cm-2 NF) are stably doped on it via a simple two-phase hydrothermal method. The DFT calculations show that due to the strongly electron transfer between the crystalline/amorphous components at the interfaces, electrons finally concentrate toward Pt and Ni in the amorphous components, thus the electrocatalyst has near-optimal energy barriers and adsorption energy for H2 O* and H* . With the above benefits, the obtained catalyst exhibits an exceptionally high MA (39.1 mA µg-1 Pt ) at 70 mV, which is almost the highest level among the reported Pt-based electrocatalysts for alkaline HER.


Accelerated testing of mechanical products offers great potential for development in reliability life testing. Unfortunately, difficulties met in accelerated life testing have limited its applications and acceptance. This paper presents a discussion of the different approaches to accelerate life of mechanical materials. The importance of failure mechanism models and the separate treatment of failure mechanisms during accelerated life tests are discussed. We formulate a new mechanical accelerated testing life model called Mecha-Statistical model. This model, considered as parametric, is constructed on the base of an appropriate mechanical damaging, model (fatigue). Like most traditional accelerated testing models, the Mecha-Statistical model consists of a life distribution that describes the lifetimes of components and relationships between the parameters of this distribution and stress. We suggest a method to construct the lognormal distribution based on the Basquin model that describes fatigue data and integrates mechanical characteristics of the product. The appropriate stress parameters and their limits are determined and studied for the failure mechanism under consideration (fatigue). They are selected so that the failure mode and mechanism generated under nominal stress are also generated under the accelerating stress. Assuming that number of cycles to failure has a lognormal distribution, the relationship between reliability and mechanical characteristics were modeled and used to estimate reliability. Optimum parameters of accelerated testing models were determined by optimization methods. These parameters were used to make comparison between our Mecha-Statistical model and the other parametric and semi parametric accelerated life models. The results obtained reveal that theses models do not fit the fatigue data better and that our model is useful and beneficial. The Mecha-Statistical model describes perfectly the lifetime testing data of fatigue tests because it depends on the product, the test method and the accelerating stress.


Low explosion limits of flammable liquid mixtures can be calculated with the appropriate use of the fundamental laws of Raoult, Dalton, Le Chatelier and activity coefficient models. In this paper, Raoult's law, van Laar equation and Wilson equation are shown to be applicable for the prediction of the lower explosion limits for ethylacetate+ethanol and ethanol+toluene systems. The calculated values based on Raoult's law were found to be better than those based on van Laar and Wilson equations.


Laser diode ignition experiments were conducted in an effort to characterize the effects of scale and heating rate on micro-scale explosive ignition criteria. Over forty experiments were conducted with various laser power densities and laser spot sizes. In addition, relatively simple analytical and numerical calculations were performed to assist with interpretation of the experimental data and characterization of the explosive ignition criteria.


Polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene (PE), along with their reactive counterparts, i.e., polystyrene having oxazoline reactive groups (OPS) and polyethylene with carboxylic acid groups (CPE), were melt blended in a Rheomix mixer. These blends were prepared by mixing these polymers in various proportions under a variety of conditions. In an alternate procedure the OPS, CPE graft polymer (OPS-g-CPE) was prepared by melt blending these two polymers beforehand, and subsequently this grafted polymer was used as a compatibilizer for PS–PE blends. The effects of the addition of OPS and CPE, on the one hand, and OPS-g-CPE, on the other hand, on the compatibility of PS–PE blends were investigated. The morphology of these blends was examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and related to their tensile properties. The PS–PE blends are found to have the typical coarse morphology of incompatible blends and poor tensile properties while their reactive counterparts, OPS-CPE blends, have fine grain microstructure and show improved tensile strength throughout the range and improved elongation in the PE-rich blends. Relatively low concentrations of the reactive pair, oxazoline and carboxylic acid, are shown to be necessary to produce improved compatibility. The preblended graft copolymer OPS-g-CPE imparts compatibility to PS–PE blends also but not as effectively. This suggests that the addition of OPS and CPE during melt mixing of PS and PE forms OPS-g-CPE polymer at the interface and that these ingredients act as "in situ reactive compatibilizers" which improve physical properties.


mhurdle is a package for R enabling the estimation of a wide set of regression models where the dependent variable is left censored at zero, which is typically the case in household expenditure surveys. These models are of particular interest to explain the presence of a large proportion of zero observations for the dependent variable by means of up to three censoring mechanisms, called hurdles. For the analysis of censored household expenditure data, these hurdles express a good selection mechanism, a desired consumption mechanism and a purchasing mechanism, respectively. mhurdle models are specified in a fully parametric form and estimated using the maximum likelihood method for random samples. Model evaluation and selection are tackled by means of goodness of fit measures and Vuong tests. Software rationale and user's guidelines are presented and illustrated with a real-world example.


The Through Life Capability Management (TLCM) construct, currently being embraced by defense departments across the globe, is a commercial and social endeavor that requires a multitude of socio-technical systems to work together effectively in a system of systems. TLCM demands changes in the organization and culture of the defense supply chain in ways that fly in the face of traditional commercial wisdom. This paper reports on an on going enterprise model that is being created as part of a wider research project into the management and sharing of knowledge across the TLCM enterprise. The model describes the UK MoD TLCM enterprise as a set of responsibilities that agents execute by accessing identified resources, in this instance limited to information and knowledge. Preliminary results indicate changes in the structure of the supply chain organization that raises significant challenges in the areas of decision making, knowledge sharing, organizational learning, culture and behavior.


Estrogen treatment prevents early postmenopausal bone loss. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of estrogen-progestogen therapy on bone mass in elderly osteopenic postmenopausal women. Fifteen women with a mean age of 58 +/- 6 (mean +/- SD) years and 12 +/- 7 (5-31) years from menopause were evaluated. Bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed by dual X-ray absoptiometry (DXA) with 1.7% variation coefficient at lumbar spine (L2-4) and 1.9% at femur neck. Measurements were done at both sites before and after a 12 month treatment. At the beginning of the study lumbar spine BMD (LS BMD) was low: < 0.9 grs/cm2; z-score: -1.4 +/- 0.17 (mean +/- SEM). Treatment consisted in transdermal 17 beta estradiol (50 micrograms/day) (n = 10) or an equivalent natural estrogen oral dose (n = 5). Variable doses of medroxiprogesterone acetate were added on an individualized basis to women with an intact uterus (n = 12). Calcium intake was increased up to a median of 1200 mg/day (800-1600). After a one year treatment LS BMD was increased by 8.4 +/- 1.1% (mean +/- SEM) (95% CI: 6-10.8), from 0.748 +/- 0.02 to 0.810 +/- 0.02 gr/cm2 (p < 0.0001). A less marked gain in femur neck bone mineral density (FN BMD) was also noticed: 3.9 +/- 1.5% (95% CI: 0.6-7.2); 0.671 +/- 0.02 vs 0.697 +/- 0.02 gr/cm2 (p < 0.05). Patients treated with transdermal and oral routes showed similar results. Percentage variations in LS BMD and FN BMD were positively correlated (r: 0.53; p < 0.05). Six patients were treated for 2 years; LS BMD continued to rise, the additional gain being 5.1 +/- 2.2% (p < 0.05), while a non significant increase in FN BMD was observed (7.5 +/- 3.5%; p = 0.06). In the early postmenopausal period, hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) produces either a stabilization or a slight increase (2-4%) in BMD. In contrast, a significant augmentation of bone mass (especially at the spine) seems to occur in osteopenic women when THR is administered in the late postmenopausal period. This suggests that HRT could be used for the prevention as well as for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Further studies should be done to evaluate whether HRT reduces the incidence of osteoporotic fractures in elderly osteopenic women.


This study was carried out to assess the probable effects of the herbal extract ( Winniecure ), used in our institute for the treatment of Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) infection, on liver and renal functions of individuals undergoing therapy. A total of 100 asymptomatic Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV) seropositive volunteers were randomized into two groups - study group Y; and the control group X. The control subjects were placed on a placebo. Their blood samples were collected before and after therapy and assessed for liver and renal functions using specific laboratory tests as indicators. Post-treatment results of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, β-glutamyl transferase, bilirubin, albumin, and globulin were found to be within the reference range and did not vary significantly (p > 0.05) from pretreatment values. Serum electrolytes, creatinine, urea and uric acid were also within the reference range and did not change significantly (p > 0.05) after therapy. A similar outcome was also observed for liver and renal functions of HIV - positive individuals on placebo. The findings suggest that no abnormal effects may occur in the liver and renal functions of HIV-positive individuals on Winniecure herbal therapy. Key words: antiretroviral therapy, Winniecure herbal extract, liver functions Journal of Medical Laboratory Science Vol.12(2) 2003: 36 - 41


This paper outlines the theoretical rationale behind a doctoral research project currently in progress. Through a multi-method approach, the project examines spontaneously-emerging communities of learning in and around massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) within the context of social learning theory, social networks, self-organisation, online communities and emergence.


SUMMARY. 1. We tested Krecker's model (1939) which states that the abundance of invertebrates per unit macrophyte biomass varies with plant species and is higher on plants with finely dissected leaves than on plants with broad leaves. The abundance of invertebrates was measured in thirteen lacustrine macrophyte beds in southern Quebec, Canada. The model was tested for the total abundance of invertebrates and for the abundances of Chironomidae, Cladocera, Cyclopoida, Gastropoda, Hydracarina, Ostracoda and Trichoptera.

2. More epiphytic invertebrates were found on the dissected Myriophyllum spp. than on the broad-leaved Potamogeton amplifolius Tuckerm, P. robbinsii Oakes and Vallisneria americana Michx. (P<0.01). More invertebrates were also found on P. amplifolius than on P. robbinsii or V. americana (P<0.01). The total abundance of invertebrates was not systematically related to the degree of plant dissection.

3. The abundances of Chironomidae, Cladocera, Cyclopoida, Gastropoda, Hydracarina, Ostracoda and Trichoptera varied on different plant species (P<0.01). Contrary to Krecker's hypothesis, however, macrophytes with finely dissected leaves (Ceratophyllum demersum and Myriophyllum spp.) did not in general support more invertebrates per unit plant biomass than plants with large leaves (Potamogeton amplifolius, P. robbinsii and Vallisneria americana).


The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) guidance for industry on dissolution testing of immediate-release solid oral dosage forms describes that drug dissolution may be the rate limiting step for drug absorption in the case of low solubility/high permeability drugs (BCS class II drugs). US FDA Guidance describes the model-independent mathematical approach proposed by Moore and Flanner for calculating a similarity factor (f2) of dissolution across a suitable time interval. In the present study, the similarity factor was calculated on dissolution data of two marketed aceclofenac tablets (a BCS class II drug) using various weighing approaches proposed by Gohel et al. The proposed approaches were compared with a conventional approach (W = 1). On the basis of consideration of variability, preference is given in the order of approach 3 > approach 2 > approach 1 as approach 3 considers batch-to-batch as well as within-samples variability and shows best similarity profile. Approach 2 considers batch-to batch variability with higher specificity than approach 1.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate factors contributing to internet addiction in 4th, 5th, and 6th graders from low income families. Methods: Participants for this study were 201 4th, 5th, and 6th graders from low income families living in Taegu. Data were collected from March, 2 to May, 29, 2013 using self-report structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS/Win 20.0 programme. Results: Among the students, 78.6% were regular users, 14.4% were potential users, and 7.0% were high-risk users. The factors influencing internet addiction, in order of importance, were; conversation with family, followed by depression. Conclusion: These results suggest that efforts should make to monitor use of internet by elementary school children from low income families, and preventive strategies should be developed taking into consideration factors that influence internet addiction.


Aim of the study To analyse the impact of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) on selected markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, as well as assessment of the degree of fibrosis in antiretroviral patients who had HIV/HBV co-infection. Material and methods Analysis of HBs antigen (HBsAg), anti-HBs, HBsAg levels, anti-HDV, anti-HCV, as well as assessment of HBV DNA viraemia and liver fibrosis by elastography in people with HIV/HBV co-infection. Results Among 515 people under the care of the Lodz Centre at the time of treatment initiation 28 people (5.4%) HBsAg was detected. In HIV/HBV coinfected patients 14 people (50%) had anti-HCV and 6 (21.6%) had anti-HDV. In the group of 23 people treated with antiretroviral therapy for more than 12 months, all but one patient achieved HBV viraemia below the detection threshold. Six (26.1%) eliminated HBsAg, 3 (13%) produced anti-HBs. In the group we examined, four patients has fibrosis at level F4 on the Metavir scale – 3 patients were treated for more than 12 months and one patient was treated for less than 12 months. Conclusions Antiretroviral treatment of patients co-infected with HIV/HBV based on tenofovir (in the form of disoproxil or alafenamide) with emtricitabine or lamivudine leads to virological control of HBV infection.


Due to the location at the ring of fire, Indonesia has 252 geothermal potentials distributed in various regions, from Java to Nusa Tenggara, together with Sulawesi and Maluku. Geothermal points are found in North Maluku in Idamdehe Village, West Halmahera. Research on the usage of geothermal energy for fish processing in Indonesia, especially North Maluku, is very limited. Therefore, this study was aimed to use geothermal energy for fish processing using a modified oven. The sample used was the yellowstripe scad (Selaroides leptolepis). In situ measurement was done to obtain the geothermal steam temperature which is 70°C to 130°C. The experiments wewe done in 4 hours for the fish drying processed with three sets of temperature including 0°C, 50°C and 100°C. The results suggest geothermal as a promising energy souce for fish processing.


Resistance heat aided friction stir welding (RFSW) was utilized in this experiment with the combined effects of friction heating and resistance heating by adding the direct electric current (0-160 A) to the AZ31B magnesium alloy butt joint. The welded joints were described by optical microscope observations. Analysis of the grain boundary character distribution by optical microscope showed that the weld zone defects decreased, and smoother and more compact joint appearance was accessed by combining the direct electric current with the conventional FSW. In addition, raising the value of electric current promoted the joint quality and refined the grain size in the weld nugget zone (WNZ) and thermo mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) dramatically. However, since there are more grain growth and secondary recrystallization in HAZ of RFSW joints, the average grain size is larger than that of conventional FSW joints. The travel speed of 30 mm/min and the current value of 160A were optimum options within the parameters investigated in this work.


BACKGROUND
Considering the low ocular bioavailability of conventional formulations used for ocular bacterial infection treatment, there's a need for designing efficient novel drug delivery systems that may enhance of precorneal retention time and corneal permeability.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE
The current research focuses on developing nanosized and non-toxic Eudragit® RL 100 and Kollidon® SR nanoparticles loaded with moxifloxacin hydrochloride (MOX) for its prolonged release to be promising for effective ocular delivery.

METHODS
In this study, MOX was incorporation was carried out by spray drying method aiming ocular delivery. In vitro characteristics were evaluated in detail with different methods.

RESULTS
MOX was successfully incorporated into Eudragit® RL 100 and Kollidon® SR polymeric nanoparticles by spray-drying process. Particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, particle morphology, thermal, FTIR, XRD and NMR analyses and MOX quantification using HPLC method were carried out to evaluate the nanoparticles prepared. MOX loaded nanoparticles demonstrated nanosized and spherical shape while in vitro release studies demonstrated modified release pattern which followed Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetic model. Following successful incorporation of MOX into the nanoparticles, the formulation (MOX: Eudragit® RL 100, 1:5) (ERL-MOX 2) was selected for further studies by the reason of its better characteristics like cationic zeta potential, smaller particle size, narrow size distribution and more uniform prolonged release pattern. Moreover, ERL-MOX 2 formulation remained stable for 3 months and demonstrated higher cell viability values for MOX.

CONCLUSION
In vitro characterization analyses showed that non-toxic, nano-sized and cationic ERLMOX 2 formulation has the potential of enhancing ocular bioavailability.


The phenomenon of polymorphism, inherent in many biologically active substances, including drugs, is an extremely serious problem that requires close attention and comprehensive study. Various crystalline modifications of biologically active compounds, as well as excipients can dramatically change the biopharmaceutical properties and pharmacological characteristics of already known drugs. The bioactive compound N(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-4-methyl-2.2-dioxo-1H-2λ6.1-benzothiazine-3-carboxamide was obtained by bioisosterical substitution in the molecule of known non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs of the oxycam group in the form of three polymorphic modifications of the crystal. sticks (form A), plates (form B) and blocks (form C) with varying degrees of analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of the study was to investigate the pharmacokinetic profile of these polymorphic forms of benzothiazine3-carboxamide derivative by their oral administration in vivo. The concentration of compounds in the blood of mice was determined by HPLC and the main pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. It was found that the polymorphic form in the form of plates (form B), in particular, having the largest surface area of crystals, has differences mainly at the stage of absorption with corresponding changes in absorption values, maximum concentration and time of its achievement, has the highest bioavailability and rapid elimination which correlates with the most optimal pharmacological and toxicological characteristics of this compound in comparison with other crystalline forms. This makes it possible to recommend the most active and safe polymorphic form of the compound (form B) for in-depth preclinical study and possible clinical trials as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent.


SYL‐927, a novel and selective S1P1 agonist, is transferred to its active phosphate for the regulation of lymphocyte recirculation. This in vitro metabolism study is to elucidate the P450‐mediated oxidation pathway of SYL‐927 in human liver microsomes (HLMs). The results demonstrated that the ω‐1 hydroxylated metabolite SYL‐927‐M was formed after incubation of SYL‐927 with HLMs. Recombinant human CYP1A1 and CYP2J2 can efficiently catalyse SYL‐927‐M formation, followed by markedly less substrate conversion with CYP1A2, CYP2C19 and CYP2D6. Inhibition studies with chemical inhibitors and antibodies suggested that arachidonic acid, the substrate of CYP2J2, and CYP2J2‐specific antibody effectively inhibited the formation of SYL‐927‐M in HLMs whereas no significant inhibition was observed with the inhibitors for CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1 and CYP3A4, demonstrating that CYP2J2 was primarily responsible for the formation of SYL‐927‐M.


In this paper, we prove the global second derivative estimates for the second boundary value problem of the prescribed affine mean curvature equation, where the affine mean curvature is only assumed to be in L p . Our result extends previous result by Trudinger and Wang in the case of globally bounded affine mean curvature and also covers Abreu's equation.


INTRODUCTION
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide and is associated with mortality rates as high as 30%. Patients with TBI are at high risk for secondary injury and need to be transported to definitive care expeditiously. However, the physiologic effects of aeromedical evacuation are not well understood and may compound these risks. Combat TBI patients may benefit from delayed aeromedical evacuation. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of transport timing out of theater via Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATT) to a higher level facility on the clinical outcomes of combat casualties with TBI.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We performed a retrospective review of patients with TBI who were evacuated out of theater by CCATT from January 2007 to May 2014. Data abstractors collected flight information, vital signs, procedures, in-flight assessments, and outcomes. Time to transport was defined as the time from injury to CCATT evacuation out of combat theater. We calculated descriptive statistics and constructed regression models to determine the association between time to transport and clinical outcomes. This study was approved by the U.S. Air Force 59th Medical Wing Institutional Review Board.

RESULTS
We analyzed the records of 438 patients evacuated out of theater via CCATT and categorized them into three groups: patients who were transported in one day or less (n = 165), two days (n = 163), and three or more days (n = 110). We used logistic regression models to compare outcomes among patients who were evacuated in two days or three or more days to those who were transported within one day while adjusting for demographics, injury severity, and injury type. Patients who were evacuated in two days or three or more days had 50% lower odds of being discharged on a ventilator and were twice as likely to return to duty or be discharged home than those who were evacuated within one day. Additionally, patients transported in three or more days were 70% less likely to be ventilated at discharge with a GCS of 8 or lower and had 30% lower odds of mortality than those transported within one day.

CONCLUSIONS
In patients with moderate to severe TBI, a delay in aeromedical evacuation out of the combat theater was associated with improved mortality rates and a higher likelihood of discharge to home and return to duty dispositions. This study is correlational in nature and focused on CCATT transports from Role III to Role IV facilities; as such, care must be taken in interpreting our findings and future studies are needed to establish a causal link between delayed evacuation and improved discharge disposition. Our study suggests that delaying aeromedical evacuation of TBI patients when feasible may confer benefit.


Successive development of millipede and terrestrial isopod assemblages in colliery spoil heaps in the Sokolov region (northwest Bohemia, Czech Republic) was studied during the years 1993–1998. Younger colliery spoil heaps were characterized by a lower number and low density of millipede species. The millipedes Polydesmus inconstans, Polydesmus testaceus, and Craspedosoma rawlinsii represented the main pioneer species. Alder afforestation proved to be more suitable for the recolonization of millipede populations, especially for the predominant Julus scandinavius. Terrestrial isopods colonized all parts of the heaps, including the youngest open plots. The most frequent isopod, Trachelipus rathkii, is a colonizing species with an apparently high adaptability to different environmental conditions. The isolated character of the extensive heap areas, together with existing extreme soil conditions, resulted in slow recolonization and a successional development of stable populations of these animals. However, the relatively high densities of millipede and isopod assemblages in suitable alder afforestation can represent further potential sources for colonization of other open‐heap areas.