Being-for-Itself as Freedom: A Preliminary Inquiry on Jean-Paul Sartre's Philosophy of the Human Person exposes the principles behind Sartre's assertion of the human person as condemned by his own freedom and as a useless passion. In pursuit of developing reasons and meaning of Sartrean concept of Human Person, the researcher employed qualitative-descriptive design guided by the method of hermeneutics. The findings manifest two essential points on Being and Nothingness. Sartre talks about essence and appearances which are the two aspects of Being. Essence and appearances are one. Essence is just a chain in the series of appearances. However, Sartre also speaks about Nothingness and affirms the permanent possibility of non-being. For him, non-being is the limitation of one's inquiry on what exists, and that is the realm beyond being. Hence, it is to say that nothingness is that which exists outside what is existent (i.e., Being), and conversely, 'Being is that and outside of that nothing. Indeed, Being and Nothingness are both what really exist. They imply the 'evident and 'non-evident'. Another point is that man is enmeshed into existence. He is related with his absurd world of muddling events. And since this world makes no sense, he finds no universal principles in it nor any moral standards. Upon his realization, he encounters his dreadful freedom because, as Sartre affirms, man's freedom is absolute and radical. It implies that man is completely free and his freedom is far-reaching.


The estimation accuracy of the stator flux and speed using open-loop integrators drops as the mechanical speed reduces in direct-torque-controlled (DTC) interior-permanent-magnet (IPM) synchronous motors. At lower speed, inaccurately estimated stator flux and stator resistance mismatch have significant influence on the steady-state and transient performance of the drive system. The robustness against parameter detuning and signal noises can be improved by deploying closed-loop observers with estimated stator flux and rotor speed. This paper presents a comparison of two stator-flux and speed observers for variable-structure DTC IPM motor drives: an adaptive sliding observer and an extended Kalman filter (EKF). The experimental comparison of the adaptive sliding observer and the EKF regards steady-state and dynamic performance, robustness against parameter uncertainties, stability, and computational complexity. Recommendations for observer selection and the effectiveness of the various schemes are concluded.


Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) is involved in the link between periodontal diseases and atherosclerosis worsening. In periodontal cells, Pg modifies IL-1β expression via the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway activation. Our aim was to investigate NLRP3 inflammasome activation in endothelial cells (ECs) after Pg infection and Pg-LPS stimulation. In both situations, RT-PCR experiments demonstrated an increase of the NLRP3 mRNA level that can be potentiated by pre-treatment of ECs with 5 mM ATP. However, Western blotting analysis revealed that Pg infection induced a proteolysis of NLRP3 protein and a major decrease of the native protein. After ATP pre-treatment and/or Pg-LPS stimulation, this proteolysis was not observed, while NLRP3 protein levels were increased. Proteolysis of the NLRP3 protein was not observed with heat-killed Pg and inhibition of ECs protein synthesis with cycloheximide did not abolish the NLRP3 protein degradation induced by Pg infection in ATP pre-treated cells. Additionally, significant increases of secreted IL-1β were measured after ATP pre-treatment and/or Pg-LPS stimulation, but not after Pg infection. These data showed that Pg and Pg-LPS differentially controlled the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway in ECs, and suggested a novel potential mechanism developed by Pg to reduce IL-1β secretion and to escape host immune response.


Bombinin and bombinin H are two antimicrobial peptide (AMP) families initially discovered from the skin secretion of Bombina that share the same biosynthetic precursor-encoding cDNAs, but have different structures and physicochemical properties. Insight into their possible existing relationship lead us to perform the combination investigations into their anti-infectious activities. In this work, we report the molecular cloning and functional characterization of two novel AMPs belonging to bombinin and bombinin H families from secretions of Bombina orientalis. Their mature peptides (BHL-bombinin and bombinin HL), coded by single ORF, were chemically synthesized along with an analogue peptide that replaced L-leucine with D-leucine from the second position of the N-terminus (bombinin HD). CD analysis revealed that all of them displayed well-defined α-helical structures in membrane mimicking environments. Furthermore, BHL-bombinin displayed broad-spectrum bactericidal activities on a wide range of microorganisms, while bombinin H only exhibited a mildly bacteriostatic effect on the Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. The combination potency of BHL-bombinin with either bombinin HL or bombinin HD showed the synergistic inhibition activities against S. aureus (fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI): 0.375). A synergistic effect has also been observed between bombinin H and ampicillin, which was further systematically evaluated and confirmed by in vitro time-killing investigations. Haemolytic and cytotoxic examinations exhibited a highly synergistic selectivity and low cytotoxicity on mammalian cells of these three peptides. Taken together, the discovery of the potent synergistic effect of AMPs in a single biosynthetic precursor with superior functional selectivity provides a promising strategy to combat multidrug-resistant pathogens in clinical therapy.


This report demonstrates that in vitro activation of human cells with the beta-galactoside-specific lectin from mistletoe (ML-I) or interleukin-2 (IL-2) results in different patterns of activation and function of cytotoxic cells. It is now well established that natural killer (NK) and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cytotoxicity is mainly mediated by resting (NK) and IL-2-activated (LAK) CD56-positive (+) cells respectively. Culture of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) for 3 days with ML-I led to expansion and activation of T cells which demonstrated NK- and LAK-like cytotoxicity. T lymphocyte subset analysis revealed that in total PBL, ML-I preferentially stimulated and expanded CD8+ T cells which mediated the cytotoxic effect. Incubation of highly purified CD8+ T cells alone with ML-I did not lead to induction of cytotoxicity, which required the presence of both CD4+ and CD14+ (monocytes) cells, suggesting that ML-I does not exert a direct effect on CD8+ T cells. Activation of PBL with both ML-I and IL-2 resulted in simultaneous induction of T and CD56+ cell-mediated NK and LAK cytotoxicity. These data suggest that treatment with ML-I and IL-2 might provide an approach to induce maximum cytotoxicity against tumors and to recruit both T and NK cells for tumor therapy.


The primary objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the immunodiagnostic significance and utility of anti-RA33 with anti-CCP, RF, and CRP in Saudi patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods. This was a prospective controlled clinical study conducted at King Abdul Aziz University Tertiary Medical Centre. The sera of 41 RA patients, 31 non-RA patients, and 29 healthy controls were collected. Anti-RA33 and anti-CCP were measured using commercially available ELISA principle kits. RF and CRP were measured using nephelometry. Results. Anti-RA33 antibodies had the lowest positive and negative predictive values and showed a sensitivity of 7.32% with 95.12% specificity. Of the other three markers (including anti-CCP antibodies, CRP, and RF), only anti-CCP showed specificity of 90.46% with sensitivity of 63.41% compared to non-RA patients + healthy control. There was a significant correlation with rheumatoid factor positivity with anti-CCP. With respect to CRP, a notable correlation was seen only with anti-RA33. Conclusion. Compared to rheumatoid factor, anti-CCP antibodies, and C-reactive proteins, the anti-RA33 autoantibodies seem to be not representing as an important additional immunodiagnostic marker in Saudi patients with established RA. RA33 may have more interest in early RA or less severe RA and other systemic connective tissue disorders.


GF120918A, the HCl salt of GF120918 (9,10-dihydro-5-methoxy-9-oxo-N-[4-[2-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6,7-dimethoxy-2-isoquinolinyl) ethyl]phenyl]-4-acridine-carboxamide), has been used both in vitro and in vivo as a tool inhibitor of P-glycoprotein (Pgp) to investigate the role of transporters in the disposition of various test molecules. However, to date, a detailed description of the preclinical pharmacokinetic properties of GF120918A has not been published. This investigation was performed to evaluate in vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetic properties of GF120918A in the mouse, rat, dog, and monkey and to evaluate the in vivo efficacy of GF120918A in modulating absorption and systemic exposure in the monkey. GF120918A demonstrated reasonable absorption and systemic exposure in each of the species studied, however, in rodents, administration of 300 mg/kg afforded a substantially less than linear increase in systemic exposure compared with 30 mg/kg. In accordance with its intestinal and hepatic exposure and potency against P-glycoprotein, GF120918A demonstrated marked modulation of erythromycin systemic exposure in the monkey, with no effect on propranolol, a negative control molecule. In vitro, GF120918A demonstrated high plasma protein binding across species, although a definitive protein binding evaluation was precluded by poor recovery, particularly in buffer and in mouse, rat, and dog plasma. GF120918A did not demonstrate potent inhibition of several human cytochrome P450 enzymes evaluated in vitro, with IC50 values well above concentrations anticipated to be achieved in vivo. Together, these data confirm the utility of GF120918A as a tool P-glycoprotein inhibitor in preclinical species and offer additional guidance on preclinical dose regimens likely to produce P-glycoprotein-mediated effects.


Logotherapy is a meaning-centered approach to psychotherapy, which is compatible with cognitive behavior therapy. Its basic tenets have the potential to increase both the efficacy and effectiveness of the therapeutic process. This article describes the main techniques of logotherapy and provides specific and practical examples of how they may be incorporated into a cognitive behavior framework. The article concludes with a proposal for future research to validate integrative treatment protocols, and to provide an empirical base for logotherapy-enhanced cognitive behavior therapy.


In this work, we have used numerical oscillatory compressibility simulations based on the quasi-static poroelastic equations to study the role played by fracture connectivity on the characteristics of seismic attenuation due to wave-induced fluid flow (WIFF). We verified that, in absence of fracture connectivity, mesoscale fractures oriented perpendicularly to the direction of seismic wave propagation generate important levels of attenuation, which are produced by WIFF between fractures and the embedding porous matrix. In addition, as soon as they are intersected by other fractures, the seismic signatures change rather dramatically. In particular, a decrease in the attenuation peak related to the unconnected scenario together with the appearance of an additional attenuation peak can be observed. The spatial distributions of the local energy dissipation allowed us to confirm that the additional manifestation of WIFF arising in presence of fracture connectivity is produced by fluid flow within fractures. We also corroborated that in presence of connectivity seismic attenuation is sensitive to key hydraulic parameters, namely permeabilities, lengths, aperture and intersection angle of the fractures, as well as to the connectivity degree of the fracture network. Correspondingly, a better understanding of this topic may allow to extract these key properties from seismic data.


Learning programs with numerical values is fundamental to many AI applications, including bio-informatics and drug design. However, current program synthesis approaches struggle to learn programs with numerical values.
An especially difficult problem is learning continuous values from multiple examples, such as intervals. To overcome this limitation, we introduce an inductive logic programming approach which combines relational learning with numerical reasoning. Our approach, which we call NumSynth, uses satisfiability modulo theories solvers to efficiently learn programs with numerical values. Our approach can identify numerical values in linear arithmetic fragments, such as real difference logic, and from infinite domains, such as real numbers or integers. Our experiments on four diverse domains, including game playing and program synthesis, show that our approach can (i) learn programs with numerical values from linear arithmetical reasoning, and (ii) outperform existing approaches in terms of predictive accuracies and learning times.


In the presence of cationic ligands, DNA molecules can become aggregated into larger particles in a process known as condensation. DNA condensates are of interest as models for the dense packing found in naturally occurring structures such as phage heads and chromatin. They have found extensive application in DNA transfection and also provide convenient models with which to study DNA damage by the direct effect of ionizing radiation. Further, conjugates of cationic peptides with fatty acids may represent a class of attractive ligands for these areas because of their simple synthesis. When plasmid pUC18 is used as the DNA target and N-caproyl-penta-arginine amide (Cap-R(5)-NH(2)) is used as the ligand, the physical properties of the resulting mixtures were characterized using static and dynamic light scattering, sedimentation, dye exclusion, circular dichroism, nanoparticle tracking, and atomic force microscopy. Their chemical properties were assayed using solvent extraction and protection against hydroxyl radical attack and nuclease digestion. Titration of the plasmid with the Cap-R(5)-NH(2) ligand produced sharply defined changes in both chemical and physical properties, which was associated with the formation of condensed DNA particles in the 100-2000 nm size range. The caproyl group at the ligand's N-terminus produced a large increase in the partitioning of the resulting condensate from water into chloroform and in its binding to the neutral detergent Pluronic F-127. Both the physical and chemical data were all consistent with condensation of the plasmid by the ligand where the presence in the ligand of the caproyl group conferred an extensive lipophilic character upon the condensate.


Triple-negative breast tumors do not offer many therapeutic opportunities beyond chemotherapy. Lately, new hope for the treatment of this type of cancer has been brought by anti-angiogenic agents. However, clinical trials showed that, although angiogenesis inhibitors increase progression-free survival of triple negative cancer patients, they do not improve overall survival, suggesting the occurrence of acquired resistance. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying resistance to angiogenesis inhibitors is an important step towards the development of therapies that prevent this process. Using a vital library of human primary breast cancers, we developed an orthotopic mouse model of triple negative carcinoma that allows studying acquired resistance to angiogenesis inhibitors in a controlled setting. This model unveiled that anti-angiogenic drugs reduce tumor growth on one hand but enhance metastasis on the other. FACS analysis of tumor cells revealed that angiogenesis inhibitors enrich for cells expressing CD44v6, a splice variant of the trans-membrane glycoprotein CD44. Expression of CD44v6 has been associated with tumor invasion and metastasis in a variety of human cancers, including breast. Furthermore, CD44v6 has been shown to be a co-receptor for Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) and to be essential for the activation of c-Met, a master regulator of invasive growth. Interestingly, treatment with HGF/Met inhibitors reduced tumor growth, prevented selection of CD44v6+ cells and suppressed angiogenesis inhibitor-induced metastasis. These results point at a causative role of CD44v6 in acquired resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy and suggest the opportunity of combining HGF/Met inhibitors with anti-angiogenic drugs. Note:This abstract was not presented at the conference. Citation Format: Virginia Morello, Christophe Ginestier, Emmanuelle Charafe-Jauffret, Paolo Michieli. Role of CD44v6 in acquired resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy of triple-negative breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Breast Cancer Research: Genetics, Biology, and Clinical Applications; Oct 3-6, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2013;11(10 Suppl):Abstract nr B082.


TS-1 was introduced into the treatment of advanced or recurrent gastric cancer cases. Along with independent administration of TS-1, a high antitumor effect has been reported in combination with various anticancer agents. We report a patient with gastric cancer successfully treated with TS-1 and low-dose CDDP as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The patient was a 46-year-old man who was diagnosed as type 3 gastric cancer with suspected invasion of the pancreas. Histopathological findings demonstrated the degeneration of cancer cells and fibrosis in the primary tumor. The changes against neoadjuvant chemotherapy were judged to be Grade 3. The treatment was completed without adverse events. TS-1 and low-dose CDDP therapy can be one of the effective methods as neoadjuvant chemotherapy without remarkable toxicity.


Short-nosed bandicoots, Isoodon, have undergone marked range contractions since European colonisation of Australia and are currently divided into many subspecies, the validity of which is debated. Discriminant function analysis of morphology and a phylogeny of Isoodon based on mtDNA control region sequences indicate a clear split between two of the three recognised species, I. macrourus and I. obesulus/auratus. However, while all previously recognised taxa within the I. obesulus/auratus group are morphologically distinct, I. auratus and I. obesulus are not phylogenetically distinct for mtDNA. The genetic divergence between I. obesulus and I. auratus (2.6%) is similar to that found among geographic isolates of the former (I. o. obesulus and I. o. peninsulae: 2.7%). Further, the divergence between geographically close populations of two different species (I. o. obesulus from Western Australia and I. a. barrowensis: 1.2%) is smaller than that among subspecies within I. auratus (I. a. barrowensis and I. auratus from northern Western Australia: 1.7%). A newly discovered population of Isoodon in the Lamb Range, far north Queensland, sympatric with a population of I. m. torosus, is shown to represent a range extension of I. o. peninsulae (350 km). It seems plausible that what is currently considered as two species, I. obesulus and I. auratus, was once one continuous species now represented by isolated populations that have diverged morphologically as a consequence of adaptation to the diverse environments that occur throughout their range. The taxonomy of these populations is discussed in relation to their morphological distinctiveness and genetic similarity.


Importance
Recent studies have demonstrated that people of color are more likely to be restrained in emergency department (ED) settings compared with other patients, but many of these studies are based at a single site or health care system, limiting their generalizability.

Objective
To synthesize existing literature on risk of physical restraint use in adult EDs, specifically in reference to patients of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Data Sources
A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and CINAHL was performed from database inception to February 8, 2022.

Study Selection
Included peer-reviewed studies met 3 criteria: (1) published in English, (2) original human participants research performed in an adult ED, and (3) reported an outcome of physical restraint use by patient race or ethnicity. Studies were excluded if they were conducted outside of the US, or if full text was unavailable.

Data Extraction and Synthesis
Four independent reviewers (V.E., M.M., D.D., and A.H.) abstracted data from selected articles following Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. A modified Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess quality. A meta-analysis of restraint outcomes among minoritized racial and ethnic groups was performed using a random-effects model in 2022.

Main Outcome(s) and Measure(s)
Risk of physical restraint use in adult ED patients by racial and ethnic background.

Results
The search yielded 1597 articles, of which 10 met inclusion criteria (0.63%). These studies represented 2 557 983 patient encounters and 24 030 events of physical restraint (0.94%). In the meta-analysis, Black patients were more likely to be restrained compared with White patients (RR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.19-1.43) and to all non-Black patients (RR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.23-1.31). With respect to ethnicity, Hispanic patients were less likely to be restrained compared with non-Hispanic patients (RR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.81-0.89).

Conclusions and Relevance
Physical restraint was uncommon, occurring in less than 1% of encounters, but adult Black patients experienced a significantly higher risk of physical restraint in ED settings compared with other racial groups. Hispanic patients were less likely to be restrained compared with non-Hispanic patients, though this observation may have occurred if Black patients, with a higher risk of restraint, were included in the non-Hispanic group. Further work, including qualitative studies, to explore and address mechanisms of racism at the interpersonal, institutional, and structural levels are needed.


This thesis contains four essays on technological and organizational change in health care. Although each chapter can be read independently, there is a central thread resumed in each chapter. The interaction of patient, physician and insurer in the health care market is analysed in different contexts. Chapter 2 studies the physician's decision to adopt new technologies in a situation where patients have control over the amount of health care consumed. This setup of ex-post moral hazard is complemented in chapter 3 by an analysis of supplier-induced demand. Providers' technology choice and adoption of innovations here depend on the profitability of treatment and patients' willingness to consent. A conclusion which may be drawn from these sections is a call for a more integrated provision of health care in the form of managed care. Chapter 4 contains an analysis which explains why physicians, particularly in Germany, are often very much opposed to such new organizational forms of provision of care. In chapter 5, it is shown that patients may not always want to make use of the opportunities offered by technological progress. Information on one's health status which may be acquired, for instance, by genetic tests, may be declined by individuals who fear a breakdown of will. This finding has important implications for the disclosure of information by physicians and for the information acquisition policy of insurers.


Urinary free cortisol (UFC) excretion over 24 h reflects the production rate of cortisol and is used commonly in the diagnosis of Cushing syndrome. We report on two patients evaluated for Cushing syndrome who had elevated UFC when analyzed by HPLC but normal values for the analysis performed by RIA and HPLC-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Other laboratory testing was inconsistent with the diagnosis of Cushing syndrome and raised doubts about the diagnosis. We identified a probable cause of analytical interference as coming from fenofibrate (Tricor), medication taken by the patients. Fenofibrate peak overlapped with the HPLC peak of cortisol and produced an MS/MS transition overlapping the major transition of cortisol. A second MS/MS transition was free from interference. In summary, fenofibrate administration may cause false elevation of UFC values determined by HPLC or HPLC-MS/MS in patients evaluated for Cushing syndrome. An HPLC-MS/MS method using multiple mass transitions, rather than a single transition, allows accurate quantitation of urinary cortisol in patients taking fenofibrate.


Audiological data are presented for an 11-year-old aphasic girl with confirmed left-hemisphere damage. Pure-tone audiometry, impedance measurement, and speech discrimination testing were completed. Discrimination testing included presentation of the Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification (WIPI) test at 0 and 60% time compression. Results indicated significantly poorer speech discrimination in the ear contralateral to the site of lesion at 60% time compression. This case study supports the use of time-compressed speech discrimination testing in the assessment of central auditory function of children and as a diagnostic tool for determination of site of lesion.


We study the Bishop-Phelps-Bollobás property for numerical radius (in short, BPBp-nu) and find sufficient conditions for Banach spaces to ensure the BPBp-nu. Among other results, we show that L1(μ)-spaces have this property for every measure μ. On the other hand, we show that every infinite-dimensional separable Banach space can be renormed to fail the BPBp-nu. In particular, this shows that the Radon-Nikodým property (even reflexivity) is not enough to get BPBp-nu.


In the last few years a significant growth of three-dimensional printing has been noticed. Although 3D printers have been around for about 30 years, they were very expensive, that is why they were available in the industry only in the majority . In recent years, prices of 3D printers have fallen more than tenfold, owing to the fact they are used not only in large enterprises but also in all kinds of educational institutions, small businesses or in do-it-yourself men's houses. They are, inter alia, used to construct physical models, so much needed in education. Nowadays, one of the most popular 3D printing technologies is FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling). Relatively low prices of printers in this technology make them available for almost everyone. The paper discusses the technology of rapid prototyping, with particular emphasis on the use of 3D printing and appropriately matched printer to designed laboratory stand.


Background: In Cameroon, most peoples use traditional medicine treating infectious diseases. To verify the scientific bases of these locally used medicinal plants, an ethnobotanical survey was carried out in some villages of Vina and Mayo-Louti Divisions . Materials and Methods: Interviews were conducted through structured questionnaires among 31 traditional healers living in these divisions. With the medicinal plants revealed, a literature investigation on their therapeutic effects, as well as in vitro antimicrobial activity of these plants were conducted. The agar diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial activities of the methanol extracts against the pathogens while the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) was determined using the Broth dilution method. Result: A total of 15 medicinal plants species belonging to 12 families are being used in the treatment of numerous infectious diseases in the Vina and Mayo-Louti Divisions. Khaya senegalensis (Meliaceae), Terminalia glaucescens (Combretaceae), Flacourtia flavescens wild (Salicaceae), Pterocarpus erinaceus (Fabaceae) and Boswellia dalzielii (Burseraceae) were the mostly used plants for the treatment of infectious diseases in the study areas. Maceration (43.75%) was the common mode of preparation, followed by infusion (31.25%) and decoction (25.00%). Bioassay showed that crude methanol extract of Pterocarpus erinaceus and Flacourtia flavescens were the most active plant extract with a MIC of 0.8 mg/ml on many tested bacteria. The antibacterial activity of Boswellia dalzeilii from Cameroon are reported here for the first time. Conclusion: Many herbals remedies are used in these divisions for the treatment infectious diseases. The plants can be used as source of antibacterial drugs to treat infections caused by susceptible bacteria


ABSTRACT The combined effects of subzero temperature and high pressure on the inactivation of Escherichia coli K12TG1 were investigated. Cells of this bacterial strain were exposed to high pressure (50 to 450 MPa, 10-min holding time) at two temperatures (−20°C without freezing and 25°C) and three water activity levels (aw) (0.850, 0.992, and ca. 1.000) achieved with the addition of glycerol. There was a synergistic interaction between subzero temperature and high pressure in their effects on microbial inactivation. Indeed, to achieve the same inactivation rate, the pressures required at −20°C (in the liquid state) were more than 100 MPa less than those required at 25°C, at pressures in the range of 100 to 300 MPa with an aw of 0.992. However, at pressures greater than 300 MPa, this trend was reversed, and subzero temperature counteracted the inactivation effect of pressure. When the amount of water in the bacterial suspension was increased, the synergistic effect was enhanced. Conversely, when the aw was decreased by the addition of solute to the bacterial suspension, the baroprotective effect of subzero temperature increased sharply. These results support the argument that water compression is involved in the antimicrobial effect of high pressure. From a thermodynamic point of view, the mechanical energy transferred to the cell during the pressure treatment can be characterized by the change in volume of the system. The amount of mechanical energy transferred to the cell system is strongly related to cell compressibility, which depends on the water quantity in the cytoplasm.


Previous radio and infrared observations have revealed an obscured region of high-mass star formation in Cygnus known as Onsala 2 (ON2). Within this region lies the optically revealed young stellar cluster Berkeley 87, which contains several OB stars and the rare oxygen-type Wolf–Rayet star WR 142. Previous radio studies of ON2 have also discovered masers and several H ii regions excited by embedded OB stars. Radio and Gaia parallaxes have now shown that the H ii regions are more distant than Berkeley 87. We summarize two Chandra X-ray observations of ON2, which detected more than 300 X-ray sources. Several optically identified stars in Berkeley 87 were detected, including massive OB stars and WR 142, the latter being a faint hard source whose X-ray emission likely arises in hot thermal plasma. Intense X-ray emission was detected near the compact H ii regions G75.77+0.34 and G75.84+0.40, consisting of numerous point sources and diffuse emission. Heavily absorbed X-ray sources and their near-IR counterparts that may be associated with the exciting OB stars of the H ii regions are identified. Shocked winds from embedded massive stars offer a plausible explanation of the diffuse emission. Young stellar object candidates in the ON2 region are identified using near-IR colors, but surprisingly few counterparts of X-ray sources have near-IR excesses typical of classical T Tauri stars.


Grazing on Microcystis by the flagellate Monas guttula causes simultaneous degradation of microcystins (MCs) produced by Microcystis in culture. Although the MC-degrading bacterial strains that co-exist with M. guttula have been isolated, it is still unknown if the MC-degrading bacteria can degrade MCs within the indigenous bacterial community co-existing with M. guttula . To investigate this, we separated two indigenous bacterial communities (free-living and cell-bound) from M. guttula culture to test the ability of each community to degrade MCs. Results showed that MCs were rapidly degraded to undetectable level, and earlier MC exhaustion due to biodegradation was evident after re-spiking with MCs in both communities. These findings show that the MC-degrading bacteria are distributed over both communities, and can degrade MCs within the indigenous bacterial community co-existing with M. guttula . Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) revealed differences in species diversity and structure between the two communities. Cluster analysis for DGGE patterns indicated that cell-bound community structures responded more sensitively than free-living community during degradation, and the two community structures evolved closer genetically with each other along the degradation period.


Macroscopic aggregates (marine snow) contribute to new production and nutrient dynamics in the upper ocean and vertical fluxes of organic matter to the deep ocean. To test whether microorganisms play a significant role in phytoplankton aggregate formation we studied particle abundance and size as well as abundance, colonization behaviour, and community composition of bacteria during the growth of 2 marine diatoms (Thalassiosira weissflogii and Navicula sp.) under axenic and non-axenic conditions. Community composition of free-living and attached bacteria during phytoplankton growth and aggregation was studied by amplification of 16S rRNA gene frag- ments and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Our results show that the presence of bacteria was a prerequisite for aggregation of T. weissflogii but not of Navicula sp. Occurrences of distinct populations of free-living and attached bacteria depended on phytoplankton growth and aggregation dynamics. The community composition of especially attached bacteria significantly differed between the 2 algal cultures. Our study suggests that phytoplankton aggregation and verti- cal fluxes are closely linked to interactions between the marine phytoplankton and the ambient microbial community.


The Weibel instability is investigated using relativistic intense short laser pulses. A relativistic short laser pulse can generate a sub-relativistic high-density collisionless plasma. By irradiating double parallel planar targets with two relativistic laser pulses, sub-relativistic collisionless counterstreaming plasmas are created. Since the growth rate of the Weibel instability is proportional to the plasma density and velocity, the spatial and temporal scales of the Weibel instability can be much smaller than that from nanosecond large laser facilities. Recent theoretical and numerical studies have revealed that astrophysical collisionless shocks in sub-relativistic regimes in the absence and presence of an ambient magnetic field play essential roles in cosmic ray acceleration. With experimental verification in mind, we discuss the possible experimental models on the Weibel instability with intense short laser pulses. In order to show the experimental feasibility, we perform 2D particle-in-cell simulations in the absence of an external magnetic field as the first step and discuss the optimum conditions to realize the nonlinear evolutions of the Weibel instability in laboratories.


We developed a multichannel wireless quartz-crystal-microbalance (QCM) biosensor for mechanically studying the on-surface aggregation reaction of α-synuclein (α-syn). We find a quite unusual change in the resonant frequency that eventually exceeds the baseline, which has never been observed during seeding aggregation reaction. By incorporating a growth-to-percolation theory for fibril elongation reaction, we have favorably reproduced this unusual response and found that it can be explained only with formation of an ultrastiff fibril network. We also find that the stiffness of the fibril network grown from artificially prepared twist-type seeds is significantly higher than that from rod-type seeds. Furthermore, the stiffnesses of fibril networks grown from seeds derived from brain tissues of Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) patients show a very similar trend to those of rod and twist seeds, respectively, indicating that fibrils from MSA patients are stiffer than those from PD.


Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) represent 15% and 20%, respectively, of all lymphoma types. The aim of this study was to identify and compare circulating serum miRNA (c-miRNA) and peripheral whole blood miRNA (wb-miRNA) profiles in patients with these lymphomas. Serum samples (20 HL, 21 DLBCL, and 30 healthy controls) and whole blood samples (21 HL, 17 DLBCL patients, and 30 healthy controls) were collected at the time of diagnosis. Serum and whole blood were also collected from 18 HL/17 DLBCL and eight HL/nine DLBCL patients, respectively, after treatment. Pairwise comparisons identified 125 c-miRNAs (adjusted P value < 0.05) showing significant dysregulation between 30 healthy controls and patients; of these, 47 and 55 differentiated controls from pretherapeutic HL and DLBCL patients, respectively. In addition, 60 and 16 c-miRNAs differentiated controls from posttherapeutic HL and DLBCL, respectively. Pairwise comparisons identified 292 wb-miRNAs (adjusted P value < 0.05) showing significant dysregulation between 30 controls and patients; of these, 103 and 169 differentiated controls from pretherapeutic HL and DLBCL, respectively, and 142 and 151 wb-miRNAs differentiated controls from posttherapeutic HL and DLBCL, respectively. Thus, lymphoma-associated miRNAs may be a better source of noninvasive candidate biomarkers than miRNAs in serum. It is unclear whether miRNA alterations in lymphoma cells are similar to those observed in white blood cells.


Mobile cloud computing (MCC) improves the computational capabilities of resource-constrained mobile devices. On the other hand, the mobile users demand a certain level of quality-of-service (QoS) provisioning while they use services from the cloud, even if the interfacing gateway changes due to the mobility of the users. In this paper, we identify, formulate, and address the problem of QoS-guaranteed bandwidth shifting and redistribution among the interfacing gateways for maximizing their utility. Due to node mobility, bandwidth shifting is required for providing QoS-guarantee to the mobile nodes. However, shifting alone is not always sufficient for maintaining QoS-guarantee because of varying spectral efficiency across the associated channels, coupled with the corresponding protocol overhead involved with the computation of utility. We formulate bandwidth redistribution as a utility maximization problem, and solve it using a modified descending bid auction. In the proposed scheme, named as AQUM, each gateway aggregates the demands of all the connecting mobile nodes and makes a bid for the required amount of bandwidth. We investigate the existence of Nash equilibrium (NE) in the proposed solution. Theoretically, we deduce the maximum and minimum selling prices of bandwidth, and prove the convergence of AQUM. Simulation results establish the correctness of the proposed algorithm.


A simple purification approach of the recombinant hirudin variant 3 from the Bacillus subtilis was established, by which the hirudin could be purified to the purity of 95% through one-step chromatography with the total recovery rate of 83.9%. A modified Markwardt thrombin titration method for measuring hirudin activity was also set up. Briefly, a series of concentrations of thrombin was prepared and titrated to hirudin sample, respectively and the anti-thrombin activity-range of hirudin was narrowed down by several thrombin solutions at high or low concentration and the optimum group of thrombin concentrations was determined for titration of the hirudin sample. In this modified method, the hirudin activity was determined more accurately, concisely and promptly than the classic Markwardt method.


Analysis with (15) N NMR revealed that alanine, a universal cellular stress signal, accumulates in etiolated duckweed plants exposed to 15-min pulsed UV light, but not in the absence of UV irradiation. The addition of 10 mm vitamin C, a radical scavenger, reduced alanine levels to zero, indicating the involvement of free radicals. Free D-alanine was detected in (15) N NMR analysis of the chiral amino acid content, using D-tartaric acid as solvent. The accumulation of D-alanine under stress conditions presents a new perspective on the biochemical processes taking place in prokaryote and eukaryote cells.


The Wess-Zumino term is constructed for supersymmetric QCD with two colors and flavors and is shown to correctly reproduce the anomalous Ward identities. Supersymmetric QCD is also shown not to have topologically stable Skyrmion solutions because of baryon flat directions, which allow them to unwind. The generalization of these results to other supersymmetric theories with quantum modified constraints is discussed. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society }


This document presents the development of potato production in the period 2006-2012 in Romania. The study is based on the statistical data taken from the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, APIA and FAO website. As indicators for this study were: area planted with potatoes in Romania, Potato production obtained in Romania, consumption potatoes, potatoes price. In the analyzed period the area under potatoes has decreased from 283 ha in 2006 to 229 ha in 2012, a decrease of 18% compared to the base year; Potato production is also down from 14.18 kg / ha in 2006 to 10.76 kg / ha in 2012, representing a decrease of 24%; consumption is 98.3 kg / capita in 2006 and 92 kg / person in 2012 (decrease of 6.4%); the price of potatoes is up from 1.2 lei / kg in 2006 to 1.6 lei / kg in 2012, growth of 33% reflected in decline of production and exploitation of the obtained. In conclusion, the potato crop in Romania is found both in households, small and large farms, as a culture relatively easy to care for, the weather is favorable, farmers are open to contribute to the expansion of cultivated areas, but that the state must help intensify its financial support.


"[M]any observers agree that the Commission has been 'leaking like a sieve'". Leaks have become a major element of European Union politics. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) leak in early May 2016 is neither the first of its kind nor will it be the last. Transparency by leaks – or "transleakancy" as the series of publications of confidential TTIP negotiation documents has already been coined – is one element of the political game that different interest groups, governmental and non–governmental, play on both sides of the Atlantic. And yet, leaked EU documents have been shared in wider policy-networks all along, independent of whether they have received media attention or not. The difference is that leaks similar to those that we see on TTIP have reached a new level of importance. Here, themere fact of their existence makes them newsworthy. The impact of these leaks on public debates is seen as amajor risk for negotiators.


A person experiencing more than one medical condition may have ambiguous clinical presentation. ITP is a serious autoimmune disease with little epidemiological evidence on its burden, risk factors, and comorbidities. Using the United Kingdom general practice research database, we conducted a 14 years population-based case control-type study to explore medical conditions more likely to cooccur with ITP and their temporal relationship in association with ITP. ITP patients were matched to non-ITP on practice, age, gender, and follow-up period. Potential comorbidities were represented by patients' medical information at the preferred term level of the MedDRA international classification. As well as death (OR = 60.0; 95% CI [4.47–806.0]) and known clinical signs and symptoms of ITP, ITP is associated with considerable number of medical conditions. The association between ITP and some of these conditions is apparent both before and after ITP diagnosis. Specific targeted studies can now be setup to reexamine observed associations.


Species richness has classically been thought to increase from the poles towards the Equator, and from high elevations down to sea-level. However, the largest radiation of butterflies in Madagascar, the subtribe Mycalesina (c. 67 spp.) does not exhibit such a monotonic pattern, either for empirical records or for interpolated species ranges. Instead, summation of mycalesine ranges generates a domed curve of species richness values approximately symmetric around mid latitudes within the island, a pattern most smoothly exhibited by the wider ranging and better known species, and a less symmetric curve peaking near mid elevations. Hotspots for the summation of 1183 species ranges and seven out of the ten groups of insects and vertebrates analysed (butterflies, cicindelid and enariine melonthid beetles, ctenuchiine moths, chameleons, frogs, birds, lemurs, tenrecs, and rodents) also occur at both mid latitudes and elevations. The most strongly parabolic pattern is shown by animals (637 spp.) whose ranges are confined to the highly linear rainforest biome. This rainforest species richness curve is resilient in shape even after controlling for particular effects of area and irregular sample effort. In sharp contrast, at least eight different environmental parameters for the rainforest biome tend to increase monotonically towards the northern, more tropical, boundary, a trend evident only in species richness gradients of more narrow-ranging species. The one-dimensional latitudinal species richness curves and hotspots observed in fact best reflect overall the geometric predictions of a null model for ranked range size partitions of the regional species pool. This analytical model is based on the uniform probability distribution, and assumes that species ranges are constrained by the position of biome or island boundaries. The same logarithmic equations applied iteratively to longitude also accurately predict hotspots for more realistic species ranges containing gaps, as shown for two-dimensional species richness patterns for the Madagascan rainforest dataset. Biogeographic and conservation implications of the bounded range overlap concept are discussed.


The purpose of this journal is to describe and analyse both the corporate leader's and the brand's visibility in order to understand the different types of alignment between corporate leaders and brands. The research has a qualitative and inductive approach and is conducted through a multiple-case study where four leaders and their respective brands were described and analysed. The four cases in this research are Elon Musk & Tesla, Kurt Hellstrom & Ericsson, Bert Karlsson & Jokarjo and Ake Bengtsson & Haldex. To illustrate the findings of the different alignments between leaders and brands, a matrix has been developed. The main finding of this journal is the different alignments between leaders and brands, which can be seen as a result of the degree of leadership- and brand visibility. The matrix presented can function both as a managerial tool in order to categorise the alignment between a leader and a brand, but also as a theoretical tool in order to address the research gap concerning visibility among these two research areas.


Abstract The horizontal momentum balance in the marine atmospheric boundary layer during the Coastal Ocean Dynamics Experiment (CODE) is analyzed, using meteorological data from an array of surface moorings. Previous studies have indicated the presence of orographically generated mesoscale features that are induced by strong southward flow around Point Arena. The present analysis demonstrates that during periods of strong southward flow, the cross-shore momentum equation is dominated by a balance between the ageostrophic acceleration associated with the flow curvature around Point Arena, and the cross-shore pressure gradient, while the along-shore momentum equation is dominated by a balance between vertical stress divergence and alongshore pressure gradient. These balances are consistent with results from a shallow water model of the marine layer. The calculations provide evidence for orographic modification of the horizontal structure of the boundary layer under a broader range of southward flow conditio...


The reported anomalous acceleration acting on the Pioneers space-crafts could be seen as a consequence of the existence of some local curvature in light geodesics when using the coordinate speed of light in an expanding space-time. We will show that, as a matter of fact, what has been detected in the experiments is just the cosmic expansion rate-the Hubble parameter H-, a feature of light signals. A relation for the reported annual term is obtained which depends on orbital parameters, leading to suggesting an analogy between the effect and Foucault's experiment, light rays playing a similar rôle in the expanding space than Foucault's Pendulum does while determining Earth's rotation. Pioneer effect. A careful analysis of orbital data from Pioneer 10/11 spacecrafts has been reported[1],[2],[3] which indicates the existence of a very weak acceleration-approximately a p ≃ 8.5 · 10 −8 cm/s 2-apparently directed toward the Sun. The most conservative (or less adventurous) hypothesis is that these sorts of effects on the Pioneers's tracking data do not entail new physics and that the detected misfit must be due to some sophisticated (technological) reason having to do with the spacecraft configuration. However , the analysis in[1]-[3] seems to have ruled out many (perhaps all) of such technical reasons and the authors even claim having taken into account the accepted values of the errors in the planetary ephemeris, Earth's orientation, precession, and nutation. Thus, in principle, a new effect seems to have unexpectedly entered the phenomenology of physics. On the other hand, if such an effect really exists (i.e., it can not be eliminated by data reanalysis) it would represent a


Several lines of evidence suggest that low-rate repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the motor cortex at 1 Hz reduces the excitability of the motor cortex and produces metabolic changes under and at a distance from the stimulated side. Therefore, it has been suggested that rTMS may have beneficial effects on motor performance in patients with movement disorders. However, it is still unknown in what way these effects can be produced. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether rTMS of the motor cortex (15 min at 1 Hz) is able to modify the voluntary movement related cortical activity, as reflected in the Beretischaftspotential (BP), and if these changes are functionally relevant for the final motor performance. The cortical movement-related activity in a typical BP paradigm of five healthy volunteers has been recorded using 61 scalp electrodes, while subjects performed self-paced right thumb oppositions every 8-20 s. After a basal recording, the BP was recorded in three different conditions, counterbalanced across subjects: after rTMS stimulation of the left primary motor area (M1) (15 min, 1 Hz, 10% above motor threshold), after 15 min of sham rTMS stimulation and following 15 min of voluntary movements performed with spatio-temporal characteristics similar to those induced by TMS. The tapping test was used to assess motor performance before and after each condition. Only movement-related trials with similar electromyographic (onset from muscular 'silence') and accelerometric patterns (same initial direction and similar amplitudes) were selected for computing BP waveforms. TMS- evoked and self-paced thumb movements had the same directional accelerometric pattern but different amplitudes. In all subjects, the real rTMS, but neither sham stimulation nor prolonged voluntary movements, produced a significant amplitude decrement of the negative slope of the BP; there was also a shortening of the BP onset time in four subjects. The effect was topographically restricted to cortical areas which were active in the basal condition, irrespective of the basal degree of activation at every single electrode. No changes in the tapping test occurred. These findings suggest that rTMS of the motor cortex at 1 Hz may interfere with the movement related brain activity, probably through influence on cortical inhibitory networks.


During recent decades, stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, chronic tension headache, and migraine have established their stronghold in the lives of a vast number of people worldwide. In order to address this global phenomenon, intensive studies have been carried out leading to the advancement of drugs like anti-depressants, anxiolytics, and analgesics which although help in combating the symptoms of such disorders but also create long-term side effects. Thus, as an alternative to such clinical practices, various complementary therapies such as yoga and meditation have been proved to be effective in alleviating the causes and symptoms of different neuropsychiatric disorders. The role of altered brain waves in this context has been recognized and needs to be pursued at the highest level. Thus, the current study provides a review focused on describing the effects of yoga and meditation on anxiety and depression as well as exploring brain waves as a tool for assessing the potential of these complementary therapies for such disorders.


The symptoms of lifetime post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid diagnoses were compared among 502 combat-experienced soldiers under examination for compensation-related purposes to confirm or deny the diagnosis of PTSD and 196 soldiers with combat experience without any psychiatric disorder. The two groups were matched with regard to duration of combat experience, time between combat experience and the study, age, marital status, and education. PTSD was diagnosed by psychiatrists with a structured clinical interview according to the research version of the International Classification of Diseases and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The psychologists applied the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, Watson's criteria for PTSD, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory version 201, and the Trauma Questionnaire. Also, a very detailed heteroanemnestic questionnaire was completed by social workers. Medical documentation and data from the combat services were provided during the examination for compensation-related purposes. After psychiatric and psychological assessment, 20% of the combat-experienced soldiers under examination for compensation-related purposes were diagnosed with lifetime PTSD, 47% were diagnosed with PTSD and comorbid disorders, 6% were diagnosed with PTSD and enduring personality change, and 5% were diagnosed with adjustment disorder. Twelve percent did not fulfill any diagnostic psychiatric criteria, and 10% fulfilled diagnostic criteria for other psychiatric disorders, although they had previous medical documentation confirming PTSD diagnoses. Correlation coefficients between psychiatric and psychological assessment were significant, indicating their complementarity in reaching the final diagnosis. It is necessary to include many different assessment methods in the examination for forensic or compensation-related purposes to obtain a more objective assessment.


Routing decisions are initially based on minimizing travel time. Nevertheless, eco-routing considers the environmental aspect (e.g. emissions, fuel, and exposure) and was introduced to replace the initial routing concept to mitigate the undesirable impact of transportation systems on the environment. This review paper aims to provide a four level taxonomy and map eco-routing studies to the proposed taxonomy. Furthermore, the strengths and weaknesses of the presented models are summarized. In the literature reviewed, special emphasis was given to the role of vehicle connectivity in eco-routing. The main findings include: the microscopic level of aggregation of the flow and emission/fuel models was rarely employed for large case studies due to the associated complexity; one objective was optimized at a time for a majority of the studies; and all of the reviewed studies were applied in a centralized routing system environment.


A recent individual patient data meta-analysis has shown that beta-blockers reduce mortality in patients with heart failure and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF) who are in sinus rhythm but not in those who are in atrial fibrillation. Similar results applied also to cardiovascular death or first hospitalization for heart failure. The European Society of Cardiology guidelines recommend beta-blockers in patients with HFrEF regardless of baseline rhythm. However, despite improving symptoms, the prognostic benefits of beta-blockers have now been questioned by these authors in patients with HFrEF and atrial fibrillation. In this review we comment the findings of this study.


ABSTRACT Slow-growing bacteria and biofilms are notoriously tolerant to antibiotics. Oritavancin is a lipoglycopeptide with multiple mechanisms of action that contribute to its bactericidal action against exponentially growing gram-positive pathogens, including the inhibition of cell wall synthesis and perturbation of membrane barrier function. We sought to determine whether oritavancin could eradicate cells known to be tolerant to many antimicrobial agents, that is, stationary-phase and biofilm cultures of Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. Oritavancin exhibited concentration-dependent bactericidal activity against stationary-phase inocula of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) ATCC 29213, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) ATCC 33591, and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) VRS5 inoculated into nutrient-depleted cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth. As has been described for exponential-phase cells, oritavancin induced membrane depolarization, increased membrane permeability, and caused ultrastructural defects including a loss of nascent septal cross walls in stationary-phase MSSA. Furthermore, oritavancin sterilized biofilms of MSSA, MRSA, and VRSA at minimal biofilm eradication concentrations (MBECs) of between 0.5 and 8 μg/ml. Importantly, MBECs for oritavancin were within 1 doubling dilution of their respective planktonic broth MICs, highlighting the potency of oritavancin against biofilms. These results demonstrate a significant activity of oritavancin against S. aureus in phases of growth that exhibit tolerance to other antimicrobial agents.


Conjugation of an anthracycline to a triplex-forming oligonucleotide (TFO) allows delivery of this drug to a specific DNA site, preserving the intercalation geometry of this class of anticancer agents. Conjugate 11, in which the TFO is linked via a hexamethylene bridge to the O-4 on the D ring of the anthraquinone moiety, affords the most stable triple helix, through intercalation of the planar chromophore between DNA bases and binding of both the TFO and the amino sugar to the major and the minor groove respectively.


Letter Is Photodecomposition More Important Than Metabolic Activation for the Antitumor Activity of Dacarbazine? Lev et al . (1) clearly demonstrate that the antitumor agent dacarbazine (DTIC) causes melanoma cells to secrete interleukin (IL)-8 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The authors suggest that cytokine overexpression might render tumor cells resistant to DTIC, which is presently considered the reference drug for the treatment of malignant melanoma. The study has been entirely conducted using lightactivated DTIC without considering that DTIC requires metabolic activation by liver microsomes to generate 5-(3-methyltriazen-1-yl)imidazole-4-carboxamide (MTIC), which is responsible for the alkylation of nucleic acids (2). In particular, O-methylguanine is regarded as the major cytotoxic lesion produced by the active metabolite of DTIC (2). In fact, tumor cells expressing high levels of the O-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) are resistant to DTIC and to temozolomide, which spontaneously decomposes in aqueous solution to generate the methylating species MTIC (3, 4). Although the importance of light protection for DTIC, to avoid toxicity due to photodecomposition products, is still controversial, it is instead well established that the antitumor activity of DTIC is mainly the result of DNA methylation. Therefore, to assess whether IL-8 and VEGF expression in melanoma cells might limit the efficacy of DTIC, it would have been certainly more interesting to evaluate the influence of MTIC-induced DNA methylation rather than analyzing the effects of photodecomposition products, which might not substantially contribute to the antitumor effects of DTIC.


Since 2006, an increasing number of French vineyards have chosen to convert to organic farming. One major change in vineyard practices includes replacing chemical pesticides with copper and sulfur-based products in line with Council Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007. This change can make overall management and pest and disease control more difficult and potentially lead to yield losses. From 2013 to 2016, a network of 48 vineyard plots, in southern France, under conventional management and in conversion to organic farming were monitored throughout the three-year conversion phase to investigate the grapevine phytosanitary management of four major pests and diseases and variations in control efficiency. The severity of downy and powdery mildew, grape berry moths, and Botrytis bunch rot were assessed and linked to the protection strategy. The findings showed that pests and diseases were controlled in the third year of conversion at similar efficiency levels as in conventional farming. However, the first two years of conversion were a transitional and less successful period during which higher incidences of cryptogamic diseases were observed. This demonstrates a need for winegrowers to receive more in-depth technical advice and support, especially on pest and disease control, during this critical transition period.


Formative assessment or assessment for learning is one of the most emphasized educational innovations around the world. Two of the common strategies that could be used in formative assessment are use of summative tests for formative purposes and comment only marking. We utilized these strategies in the form of formative quizzes in a general chemistry course and measured its effect on students' learning. The results of our weak-experimental design, which was conducted with 124 pre-service elementary school teachers in an undergraduate level general chemistry class, showed that formative assessment alone may not be enough to improve students' learning. The classroom context and background and attitude of students should be taken into account, which are important factors that influence student learning and achievement. In the study, two instruments and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data.


A preliminary study of Numerical Controlled Electrochemical Turning (NC-ECT) technology was presented in this paper. NC-ECT is suitable for machining revolving workpieces which are made of difficult-to-cut materials or have low rigidity, and it is difficult or expensive for machining these workpieces by use of traditional turning or traditional Electrochemical Machining (ECM) method. To carry out the study, an experimental setup was developed on the basis of a common lathe, and a kind of inner-spraying cathode with rectangle section outlet was designed according to the process of machining cylindrical surface. First, the NC-ECT method was simply described. Then, considering the structure of the cathode and the process of machining, the method for calculating the inter-electrode gap in machining the cylindrical surface was given. Finally, the experiments of machining the cylindrical surface were carried out. Experiments showed that the calculated inter-electrode gaps are well consistent with the actual value of the machining process, which decreases with the increase of the rotational speed of workpiece and increases almost linearly with the increase of the working voltage. Experiments also showed that the inter-electrode gap keeps a certain relationship with the working current, the inter-electrode gap can be controlled according to working current in the machining process.


The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system mediates stress responses. Extrahypothalamic CRF1 receptor activation has anxiogenic-like properties, but anxiety-related functions of CRF2 receptors remain unclear. The present study determined the effects of intracerebroventricular administration of a CRF2 agonist, urocortin 3, on behavior of male Wistar rats in the shock-probe, social interaction, and defensive withdrawal tests of anxiety-like behavior. Equimolar doses of stressin1-A, a novel CRF1 agonist, were administered to separate rats. The effects of pyrazolo[1,5-a]-1,3,5-triazin-4-amine,8-[4-(bromo)-2-chlorophenyl]-N, N-bis(2-methoxyethyl)-2,7-dimethyl-(9Cl) (MJL-1-109-2), a CRF1 antagonist, on behavior in the shock-probe test also were studied. Stressin1-A increased anxiety-like behavior in the social interaction and shock-probe tests. Stressin1-A elicited behavioral activation and defensive burying at lower doses (0.04 nmol), but it increased freezing, grooming, and mounting at 25-fold higher (1-nmol) doses. Conversely, systemic administration of MJL-1-109-2 (10 mg/kg) had anxiolytic-like effects in the shock-probe test. Unlike stressin1-A or MJL-1-109-2, i.c.v. urocortin 3 infusion did not alter anxiety-like behavior in the shock-probe test across a range of doses that reduced locomotion and rearing and increased grooming. Urocortin 3 also did not decrease social interaction, but it decreased anxiety-like behavior in the defensive withdrawal test at a 2-nmol dose. Thus, i.c.v. administration of CRF1 and CRF2 agonists produced differential, but not opposite, effects on anxiety-like behavior. Urocortin 3 (i.c.v.) did not consistently decrease or increase anxiety-like behavior, the latter unlike effects seen previously after local microinjection of CRF2 agonists into the septum or raphe. With increasing CRF1 activation, however, the behavioral expression of anxiety qualitatively changes from "coping" to "noncoping" and offensive, agonistic behaviors.


The invention discloses an automatic align mechanical device for integrated photon chip and arrayed fibers, wherein a bottom plate (100) is provided with a central platform (200) and is provided with two six-dimension high accuracy movable platforms symmetrically at the left and right of the central platform (200). The invention is provided with two six-dimension high accuracy movable platforms and a compact and reasonable structure, thus is suitable for abutting and packing various plane waveguides demanding high accuracy aligning and is easy to fit external devices as IR-CCD, machine vision, adhesive deposit device, UV solidifier and the like. The invention has simple operation, large motion range and high accuracy.


The fabrication of power transistors and thyristors involves the etching of deep grooves (30-100μm) into the Si wafers. These grooves separate electrically the individual devices from one another, and they are the site where the high collector field meets the surface and where the passivating glass and oxide layers have to be applied. Therefore, the groove depth has to be monitored and controlled in manufacturing to ∓5%. Since the dimensions are large compared to the wavelength of light, and since the surfaces can be rough (etch pits) the usual interference techniques can not be used. The light section microscope technique, used up to now, is slow, inaccurate and operator dependent. We describe an optical profilometer essentially consisting of a high-power microscope equipped with a laser attachment which automatically steers and holds the microscope focussed to the sample surface. The automatic focussing uses the beam of a He-Ne laser, which is coupled into the microscope by beam splitters and goes through the objective lens to form a fine spot (0.5)μm) on the sample surface. From there it is reflected back through the objective and projected into a focus outside the microscope. The position of this focus is a function of the sample surface height, and it is sensed by an arrangement of apertures and photodiodes, which drive a feedback servo-motor for microscope focussing. An electronic depth gauge (LVDT) resting on the shoulder of the microscope measures the vertical excursions of the microscope, which follow the sample contour. This instrument is fast, accurate (+ lμm) with a range of well over 100 humand can be connected directly to a data terminal.


Abstract A rigorous modal analysis of lamellar gratings, i.e. gratings having rectangular grooves, in conical mountings is presented. It is an extension of the analysis of Botten et al. which considered non-conical mountings. A key step in the extension is a decomposition of the electromagnetic field in the grating region into two orthogonal components. A computer program implementing this extended modal analysis is capable of dealing with plane wave diffraction by dielectric and metallic gratings with deep grooves, at arbitrary angles of incidence, and having arbitrary incident polarizations. Some numerical examples are included.


In this paper, we analyzed pulse profiles of Swift J1626.6+5156 using the lightcurves from RXTE‐PCA observations between MJD 53724 (just after the outburst) and MJD 55113 and a Chandra‐ACIS dataset on MJD 54897 with a 20 ks exposure. We found that pulse profiles show morphological variations and pulsations do not cease even ∼1200 days after the outburst. Despite these variations, we did not find any significant variation in the pulsed fraction with decreasing X‐ray flux.


For endangered languages, data collection campaigns have to accommodate the challenge that many of them are from oral tradition, and producing transcriptions is costly. Therefore, it is fundamental to translate them into a widely spoken language to ensure interpretability of the recordings. In this paper we investigate how the choice of translation language affects the posterior documentation work and potential automatic approaches which will work on top of the produced bilingual corpus. For answering this question, we use the MaSS multilingual speech corpus (Boito et al., 2020) for creating 56 bilingual pairs that we apply to the task of low-resource unsupervised word segmentation and alignment. Our results highlight that the choice of language for translation influences the word segmentation performance, and that different lexicons are learned by using different aligned translations. Lastly, this paper proposes a hybrid approach for bilingual word segmentation, combining boundary clues extracted from a non-parametric Bayesian model (Goldwater et al., 2009a) with the attentional word segmentation neural model from Godard et al. (2018). Our results suggest that incorporating these clues into the neural models' input representation increases their translation and alignment quality, specially for challenging language pairs.


Enhanced Vitreous Imaging Technique With Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography for Evaluation of Posterior Vitreous Detachment Vitreous degeneration, gradual separation of the posterior vitreous cortex (PVC), and eventual development of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) are important in vitreoretinal interface diseases. However, determination of the stages of PVD with biomicroscopy or ultrasonography is not sufficiently sensitive and specific.1,2 Since the advent of spectraldomain (SD) optical coherence tomography (OCT), PVD detection has improved and new concepts regarding the evolution of PVD have emerged.2,3 However, SD-OCT remains underused, possibly owing to general low awareness of its potential to image the vitreoretinal interface and the vitreous itself.4,5 We aim to demonstrate the usefulness of an enhanced vitreous imaging (EVI) OCT technique in evaluating PVD.


Physical and electrical properties of screen-printed Ag thick-film contacts were studied and correlated to understand and achieve good-quality ohmic contacts to high-sheet-resistance emitters for solar cells. Analytical microscopy and surface analysis techniques were used to study the Ag-Si contact interface of three different screen-printed Ag pastes (A, B, and PV168) subjected to high (∼835°C) and conventional (740-750°C) temperature firing conditions. At ∼750°C firing, all three pastes failed on a 100 Ω/□ emitter because of incomplete etching of the silicon nitride film (PV168), an irregular small distribution of regrown Ag crystallites (paste A), or an excessive diffusion of Ag into the p-n junction (paste B). At a firing temperature of ∼835°C, paste A gave a lower open-circuit voltage because of the diffusion of Al from the glass frit into the emitter region. Paste B failed because of the formation of very large (0.3-1 μm) Ag crystallites that shunted the p-n junction. Of the three pastes, the PV168 paste from DuPont gave the best contact quality on a 100 Ω/□ emitter with a solar cell fill factor of 0.782 only after annealing in a hydrogen atmosphere.


The corrosion inhibition efficiencies of 39 Schiff's bases of series from aniline, ethylendiamine, cyclohexylamine and 4,4-benzidine in the 1M and 2M HCl solutions on the steel (CT-3) and aluminium (D16) have been studied. It seems that the azomethine compounds with aldehyde moieties of 3-indolyl group (B8, C8 and H8) strongly inhibited the corrosion on aluminium but the corrosion inhibition effects on steel are relatively low. The azomethine compounds with aldehyde moieties of p-nitrophenyl group (B1, C1 and H1) inhibited highly the corrosion of both steel and aluminium in HCl solution. The bis-(4-nitrobenzylidene) diethylamine (B1) compound can be used as a good corrosion inhibitor for low carbon steel and aluminium in HCl acid solution.


The observation of flame figures in some other diseases with tissue eosinophilia called in question the existence of Wells' syndrome as a distinct entity. But several clinical and histopathological studies has proved the Wells' syndrome as a distinct entity. It is defined by the following criteria: sudden onset of annular erythemato-edematous and bullous lesions, in a later stage morphea-like blue-slate-colored plaques; a histological picture usually characterized by the presence of flame figures; non-constant blood hypereosinophilia. We report the cases of two patients with this rare eosinophilic dermatosis with an uncertain etiopathogenesis that was diagnosed because of the typical clinical picture, the blood hypereosinophilia and the histological features. Potential precipitating events were in our first patient an insect bite, in the other patient a polychemotherapy because of breast carcinoma.


Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

Malignant melanoma is highly metastatic and resistant to conventional therapies. Although numerous clinical approaches for treating melanoma have been adopted, none led to a remarkable therapeutic effect. Recently new drugs have been developed for treatment of metastatic melanoma, and hold great promise; however complete effects are still distant dream because of resistance. We have learnt that the most aggressive melanomas are generally resistant to strategies which target one signaling pathway. Thus an agent targeting multiple signaling pathways would maximize therapeutic outcome. We have identified one such agent named as gambogic acid (GA) that is natural and derived from medicinal plant Garcinia hanburyi (also called mangosteen or kokum). Moreover this agent has a potential to target several pathways responsible for survival and chemoresistance of several cancers including melanoma. Stromal cell-derived factor 1α (SDF-1α) and its receptor, CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), has been associated with inferior survival, poor prognosis, chemoresistance and metastasis of malignant melanoma. We, therefore, investigated whether GA could inhibit CXCR4 signaling and suppress invasion of malignant melanoma cells. Through docking studies we predicted that GA directly interacts with CXCR4. This xanthone down-regulates the expression of CXCR4 on melanoma cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Suppression of CXCR4 expression by GA correlated with both inhibition of SDF-1α-induced invasion of melanoma cells. GA also inhibited expression of MMP-9, VEGF, c-Myc and phosphorylation of Erk1/2 in melanoma cells. Importantly, GA markedly enhances the efficacy of PLX-4032 and dacarbazine against melanoma cells.

Citation Format: Manoj K. Pandey, Deepkamal Karelia, Vijay P. Kale, Krishne Gowda, Arun K. Sharma, Rogerio I. Neves, Shantu G. Amin. Targeting of chemokine receptor CXCR4 inhibits invasion and sensitizes melanoma cells to chemotherapeutic agents. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 4467. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-4467


Gamification captured the attention of both marketing researchers and practitioners about a decade ago. Despite the established conceptualization of gamification as a driver of intrinsic motivation and a range of empirical research on the topic, there is still uncertainty about its place as a marketing tool. Some researchers argue that gamification acts as a driver of customer engagement, others consider it as an outcome of the process. Such dual nature raises the question of the role which gamification plays in customer relationship management. This study aims to analyze gamification through the lenses of customer engagement theory in order to identify the features of the relationship between these concepts. To achieve that a bibliometric analysis was conducted and the existing knowledge on the topic of customer engagement was systematized. The findings were divided into four clusters and the content of those clusters was analyzed in details. Gamification was compared with the key customer engagement practices. Which allowed to identify four types of customers in terms of engagement in gamification: supporters, spectators, super fans, and fun seekers. The proposed classification may be used by both academics and practitioners for estimating potential outcomes of using gamification for engagement purposes among different types of customers.


Mobile telepresence robots (MTRs) allow people to navigate and interact with a remote environment that is in a place other than the person's true location. Thanks to the recent advances in 360° vision, many MTRs are now equipped with an all-degree visual perception capability. However, people's visual field horizontally spans only about 120° of the visual field captured by the robot. To bridge this observability gap toward human-MTR shared autonomy, we have developed a framework, called GHAL360, to enable the MTR to learn a goal-oriented policy from reinforcements for guiding human attention using visual indicators. Three telepresence environments were constructed using datasets that are extracted from Matterport3D and collected from a real robot respectively. Experimental results show that GHAL360 outperformed the baselines from the literature in the efficiency of a human-MTR team completing target search tasks. A demo video is available: https://youtu.be/aGbTxCGJSDM


Ynones or α,β-acetylenic ketones are useful synthetic intermediates for the preparation of many biologically-active compounds and heterocyclic derivatives such as pyrroles, furanes, furanones, pyrazoles, and isoxazoles.1 Different methodologies for the preparation of α,β-acetylenic ketones have been reported in which various metals have been employed as catalysts.2 Unfortunately, there are several disadvantages that confine the utility of the given protocols. Namely, copper salts which are very much likely to form diynes have been used as a co-catalyst in many studies. Moreover, phosphorous containing ligands have made the reaction conditions harsher owing to the need of inert atmosphere such as argon and nitrogen. The use of hazardous organic solvents and high temperatures are also unfavorable. In this study, we have successfully demonstrated a solvent-, copper- and phosphorous-free cross-coupling reaction of terminal alkynes with acyl halides catalyzed by Pd-Cryptand-22 as catalyst. This catalyst was simply prepared and showed air and moisture stability. The reaction was performed at room temperature and under aerial conditions using triethylamine as base. The simple, mild and green procedure, short reaction times and moderate to excellent yields make this method well-suited for ynone synthesis. References: [1] (a) Zora, M.; Kivrak, A.; Yazici, C. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76, 6726; (b) Karpov, A. S.;Merkul, E.; Oeser, T.;Muller, T. J. J. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2006, 13, 2991. [2] Perrone, S.; Bona, F.; Troisi, L. Tetrahedron 2011, 67, 738.


Phenomenological models of the "colossal magnetoresistance" manganites have emphasized a local picture for the Mn ion, and little attention has been given to the effects of Mn d-O p hybridization. We present self-consistent local spin-density electronic-structure studies that properly account for hybridization, and find that the very different structural and antiferromagnetic symmetries of the ground states of CaMnO3 and LaMnO3 are obtained. In the CMR regime ferromagnetic coupling is preferred, as observed, and strongly hybridized bands leading to a partially open-shell oxygen ion in the majority channel accounts for good metallic conduction at low temperature. Strong local environment effects on the Mn ion arising from cation charge differences (La3+, Ca2+) suggest Anderson localization of the low density of minority carriers, leading to half-metallic regions. This feature, together with strong spin dependence of covalent hybridization, may provide the mechanism for the semiconducting behavior at high temperature.


Married, cohabiting, and divorced men in Sweden earn more than single men. The wage premium earned by married men has declined since 1968, mainly due to decreasing productivity differences between married and single men. During this period, reforms have been undertaken to induce spouses to share labor market and housework more equally. If this wage differential reflects specialization within households, we would expect it to decline. Using longitudinal data, the results indicate that the wage premiums mainly reflect gains from partnership. Selection based on unobserved productivity into partnership can only partly explain the wage differentials by marital status. However, I do not find that the marriage premium increases with time married as also implied by the specialization hypothesis.


Experiments on a group of 39 Wistar albino male rats showed that, 2 and 5 days after a model acute stress procedure, the total amount of erythrocytes is increased. This process is accompanied by a hypochromia of red cells and by a decrease in the concentration of serum iron. Single administration of mexidol (100 mg/kg) before stress induction prevents changes in the amount of blood erythrocytes, as well as in their saturation with hemoglobin. Mexidol also prevents a decrease in the level of serum iron. The drug does not influence the hematological parameters and iron concentration in blood serum of intact animals 2 and 5 days after injection.


The impact of pre-existing common cold coronavirus (CCCoV) antibodies (Abs) on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immune responses and pathogenesis remains poorly defined. We evaluated these associations in a cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and respiratory failure of varying severity. Patients with respiratory failure from other causes (non-COVID-19) were evaluated as controls. We demonstrated a positive correlation between levels of CCCoV and SARS-CoV-2 Abs using CCCoV and SARS-CoV-2 N and S protein peptide-specific ELISA. Consistent with the above, moderately increased levels of CCCoV-specific Abs in non-COVID-19 vs. COVID-19 patients suggest potential protective effects. Further, higher SARS-CoV-2 N protein-specific and CCCoV Ab levels were observed among surviving vs. non-surviving COVID-19 positive patients. However, the highest SARS-CoV-2 N and S protein-specific IgG and IgA Ab levels were noted in the patients with the most severe clinical disease. Finally, advanced age, cancer and immunosuppression were associated with significantly higher mortality and reduced SARS-CoV-2 and CCCoV Ab levels. Thus, our data highlight that sufficient SARS-CoV-2 N protein-specific Ab responses improve clinical outcomes in severely ill COVID-19 patients. We also confirmed that pre-existing CCCoV-specific Abs do not inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 Ab response and may further reduce the prevalence and/or severity of COVID-19.


The last 20 years have seen an increase in agricultural technology and information systems intended to improve yields, reduce costs, and environmental sustainability production. However, these technologies haven't delivered to practical farmer yet. This research looks at the challenges of creating step changes for precision agriculture, how to make big data which obtains from agriculture machinery for young farmer. This presentation focused on the importance of big data solution for inheriting farm management. Smart rice transplanter, smart 2nd fertilizer applicator and yield monitoring combine harvester (i.e. smart agricultural machinery systems (SAMS)) have been employed in order to monitor spatial temporal variability of topsoil depth, soil fertility and crop status for variable rate fertilizer application. As a result of field experiment indicated that 7,000,000 dataset of soil information, 65,000 dataset of crop status and 10,000,000 dataset of yield dataset were observed from the SAMAS. Variable fertilization design based on the experience of professional farmers also result in 20% fertilizer cut than conventional way and 30% harvest efficiency was improved. We concluded that the determination of variable setting values in field management with big data, the algorithm can be reflected the judgment of professional farmers. We should not apply only from the scientific aspect.


Recent theoretical developments have generated a strong interest in the "brane-world" picture, which assumes that ordinary matter is trapped in a three-dimensional submanifold, usually called brane, embedded in a higher dimensional space. The purpose of this review is to introduce some basic results concerning gravity in these models and then to present various aspects of the cosmology in a brane-universe.


In recent years there has been a great interest in topological materials and in their fascinating properties. Topological band theory was initially developed for condensed matter systems, but it can be readily applied to arbitrary wave platforms with few modifications. Thus, the topological classification of optical systems is usually regarded as being mathematically equivalent to that of condensed matter systems. Surprisingly, here we find that both the particle-hole symmetry and the dispersive nature of nonreciprocal photonic materials may lead to situations where the usual topological methods break down and the Chern topology becomes ill defined. It is shown that due to the divergence of the density of photonic states in plasmonic systems the gap Chern numbers can be noninteger notwithstanding that the relevant parametric space is compact. In order that the topology of a dispersive photonic crystal is well defined, it is essential to take into account the nonlocal effects in the bulk materials. We propose two different regularization methods to fix the encountered problems. Our results highlight that the regularized topologies may depend critically on the response of the bulk materials for large k.


ICH S7B recommends screening for hERG channel block using patch clamp recordings to assess a drug's proarrhythmic risk. Block of the hERG channel has been associated with clinical QTC prolongation as well as the rare, but potentially fatal ventricular tachyarrhythmia Torsade de Pointes (TdP). During recording, drug concentrations perfused to the cells can deviate from nominal concentrations due to molecule-specific properties (such as non-specific binding), thereby introducing error when assessing drug potency. To account for this potential source of error, both the original ICH S7B and the newly released ICH E14/S7B Q&As guidelines call for verifying drug solutions' concentrations. Dofetilide, cisapride, terfenadine, sotalol and E-4031 are hERG blockers commonly used as positive controls to illustrate hERG assay sensitivity. The first four compounds are also clinical drugs associated with high TdP risk; therefore, their safety margins may be useful comparators to better understand an investigational product's TdP risk. Having analytical methods to quantify these five compounds in the hERG external solution that will be used for patch clamp recordings is important from a regulatory science research perspective. However, a literature search revealed no analytical methods or stability information for these molecules in the high salt, serum-free matrix that constitutes the hERG external solution. This study was conducted to develop and validate LC-MS/MS methods to quantify these 5 molecules in hERG external solution. The bioanalytical methods for these positive controls were validated as per the FDA's bioanalytical method validation guidance along with various stabilities.


The effects of cadmium exposure on the protein secretory functions of cultured neonatal rat hepatocytes were analyzed by both two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) and electron microscopy. [35S]Methionine-labelled protein secretion was significantly depressed by cadmium exposure in a dose-dependent manner (1, 10 and 100 microM). Protein secretory patterns resolved by 2D-PAGE and analyzed by autoradiography showed that besides albumin and transferrin, three polypeptide spots decreased their radiolabelling intensities, whereas four spots appeared due to cadmium exposure. Ultrastructural alterations in cultured neonatal rat hepatocytes induced by cadmium exposure were characterized by condensation of the nuclear chromatin, appearance of intra-nuclear inclusions, decrease in number of microvilli, increase in number of intra-mitochondrial granules and transformation of rough endoplasmic reticulum to cytoplasmic vesicles in a dose-dependent manner. Both biochemical and ultrastructural findings indicate that cadmium adversely affects the protein secretory functions of cultured neonatal rat hepatocytes.


Background: Physical activity is an effective non-pharmacological treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the reproductive outcomes which may have implications on telomere biology. Objective: To observe the effects of continuous (CAT) and intermittent (IAT) aerobic training on telomere length, inflammatory biomarkers, and its correlation with metabolic, hormonal, and anthropometric parameters of PCOS.Design and Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial study included 87 PCOS women randomly stratified according to body mass index (BMI) in the continuous (CAT, n = 28) and intermittent aerobic training (IAT, n = 29) and non-training control group (CG, n = 30). The exercises were carried out on a treadmill, three times per week for 16 weeks. The participants' anthropometric characteristics and biochemical and hormonal concentrations were measured before and after aerobic training or observation period, as the telomere length that was evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR. Results: Four months of aerobic exercises (CAT or IAT) did not alter telomere length and inflammatory biomarkers in PCOS women. Obesity index as BMI and waist circumference (WC), and inflammatory biomarkers negatively affect telomeres. The hyperandrogenism measured by testosterone levels was reduced after both exercises (CAT, p≤0.001; IAT, p=0.019). In particular, the CAT reduced WC (p=0.045), hip circumference (p= .032), serum cholesterol (p≤0.001), low-density lipoprotein (p=0.030). Whereas, the IAT decreased WC (p=0.014), waist-to-hip ratio (p=0.012), free androgen index (FAI) (p=0.037). WC (p=0.049) and body fat (p=0.015) increased in the non-training group while total cholesterol was reduced (p=0.010). Conclusions: Booth exercises reduced obesity indices and hyperandrogenism on PCOS women without changes in telomere length or inflammatory biomarkers. Clinical trial registration: Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry (ReBec; RBR-78qtwy, August 20, 2015), and the International Controlled Randomized Trial Registry (ISRCTN10416750, July 24, 2018), retrospectively registered.


SUMMARY In vivo growth rates of Gongrosira [probably G. incrustans (Reinsch) Schmidle], a cushion-forming fresh-water green alga (Chaetophorales) are reported for the first time. The annual radial growth rate averaged 0-42 mm in a mountain stream from northern England and was positively correlated with water temperature (r = + 0-919, P < 0 05). The colonies were heavily incrusted with calcium carbonate (calcite). Photosynthetic activity probably promotes calcification between the closely packed basal filaments, but most of the precipitation appears to be abiogenic from supersaturated stream waters. Calcified Gongrosira bioherms are also described from a subtropical site in Mexico. The survival period for Gongrosira at the English site was approximately one year, and at both sites Gongrosira was a permanent and significant component of the epilithtc algal flora.


Who owns a patient's medical information? The patient, the provider, or the insurer? All of the above? None of the above? In the emerging era of electronic medical records, no other legal question is more critical, more contested, or more poorly understood. Ownership was never much in doubt in an age of paper-based records, but now that information content can be easily digitized and freed from any particular storage medium, confusion reigns. How this issue is resolved can have huge impacts on how or whether massive anticipated developments in electronic and personal health records will take shape. The respective property rights of patients, providers and insurers will strongly influence, if not determine, what form of electronic health informatics ends up predominating. And, whether rights to access and use medical information can be commercialized may determine whether effective, comprehensive medical information networks can emerge at all, absent overt government mandate. This paper analyzes optimal property rights in medical information from the perspective of network economics. It proposes that patients be allowed to monetize their access and control rights by assigning them to a trusted intermediary who may then place these rights in a stream of commerce that determines their value and best use. The funds generated can then be distributed both to patients and providers to encourage their adoption and use of interconnected electronic records.


A novel lead-free solder alloy 90.6Sn3.2Ag0.7Cu5.5Sb, designated as Indalloy276, was developed targeting for high reliability with a wide service temperature capability. The alloy exhibited a melting temperature range of 223 to 232°C, reflowable at profile with peak temperature 245°C and 255C, with ambient temperature Yield stress 60MPa, UTS 77 MPa, and ductility 28%, and a higher stress than both SAC305 and Innolot, the latter two alloys were used as controls. When tested at 140°C and 165°C, the die shear stress was comparable with Innolot but higher than SAC305, and the ductility was higher than both Innolot and SAC305, with Innolot exhibited distinct brittle behavior. When aged at 125°C and 175°C, the die shear strength was comparable or higher than both controls. When pretreated with a harsh condition, TST −55°C/155°C for 3000 cycles, the die shear strength of 276 was 8 times of that of Innolot and SAC305. When pre-conditioned at TCT (−40°C/175°C) for 3000 cycles, the die shear strength of 276 was 11 to 20 times of Innolot and SAC305, depending on the flux type used. For SMT assembled BGA solder joints with both ball and paste using the same alloy, 276 showed higher Eta value than Innolot and SAC305 when tested at TCT with −55°C/125°C and − 40°C/150°C. For 1% failure, 276 was 2 to 3 times higher in cycling life than Innolot, mainly due to the Beta value of 276 being much higher than Innolot. SAC305 performed the poorest in these two tests. Both 276 and Innolot are alloys based on SnAgCu, but reinforced with precipitate hardening and solution hardening, with the use of additives including Sb, Ni, and Bi. 276 exhibited a finer microstructure with less particles dispersed, while Innolot exhibited more particles with some blocky Ag3Sn plates or rods. 276 is rigid and ductile, while Innolot is rigid but brittle, Under the harsh test condition where ΔT was high, the dimension mismatch between parts and substrate became very significant due to CTE mismatch. This significant dimension mismatch would cause a brittle joint to crack quickly, as seen on Innolot. The challenge was more tolerable for a ductile joint, as shown by 276. Accordingly 276 showed a much better reliability than Innolot under harsh condition, including high testing temperature and large ΔT. Overall, to achieve high reliability under a wide service temperature environment, a balanced ductility and rigidity for solder alloy is critical for success.