Use your smartphone to scan this QR code and download this article ABSTRACT Energy loss straggling was found to be critical for evaluating the energy of the reactions using heavy-ion beams in the early stage of experiments at accelerator facilities. Despite significant attempts simulating this quantity using computer codes such as LISE++ and SRIM, there still exists a discrepancy between experimental data and computed results. In this study, we provide a greatly improved precision of estimations using the LISE++ code by evaluating the energy loss straggling of the alpha particles at 5.486 MeV in Tb, Ta, and Au materials. After comparing with the observables, it was found that the ratio of the energy loss straggling computed by the LISE++ code to that measured in experiments has a fairly large range of 1.5 3.0. For this reason, the so-called modified LISE++ calculation is constructed by adding the adjusting parameters into the original estimation to minimize the uncertainty of the straggling prediction. The modified calculation has shown dramatic improvements in the computation of the energy loss straggling, which are almost similar to those obtained from themeasurements, of 5.486-MeV alphas in the aforementionedmaterials with the atomic numbers in a range of Z = 65 – 79.


The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of binge drinking by regions in Spain and assess the effect of individual and contextual factors related to this drinking pattern in adolescents. A cross-sectional study was performed with data from the 2014 Spanish School Survey on Drug Use (ESTUDES) in students aged 14-18 years (N = 34,259). The outcome was binge drinking in adolescents during the last 30 days. Individual independent variables were socioeconomic variables and variables related to access to alcohol and its availability. Contextual variables consisted of adult alcohol consumption, public policies on alcohol, and socioeconomic factors. Multilevel Poisson regression models with robust variance were estimated, obtaining prevalence ratios (PR) and their 95% confidence intervals.  The results showed that the prevalence of youth binge drinking by region of residence was similar for both sexes (r = 0.72). At the individual level, binge drinking was mainly associated with the perception of easy access to alcohol (PR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.23-1.55), consumption in open areas [(PR: 3.82; 95% CI: 3.44-4.24) < once a month and (PR: 6.57; 95% CI: 5.85-7.37) ≥ once a month], at least one parent allowing alcohol consumption (PR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.37-1.47), and receiving >30 euros weekly (PR :1.51; 95% CI: 1.37-1.67). Contextual variables were not associated with youth binge drinking when individual variables were considered. In conclusion, youth binge drinking was associated with individual variables related to high alcohol accessibility and availability, regardless of contextual variables. These variables explained the variability in binge drinking among Spanish regions.


Tyrosyl‐DNA‐phosphodiesterase I (Tdp‐1) is part of the DNA repair complex that resolves irreversible topoisomerase I (Top1)‐DNA cleavage complexes by catalyzing the hydrolysis of 3′‐phosphotyrosyl bonds. A point mutation in the Tdp1 gene causes a neurological disorder called spinocerebellar ataxia with axonal neuropathy (SCAN1) (Takashima, 2002). SCAN1 cells display hypersensitivity to camptothecin (CPT), a potent Topoisomerase 1 inhibitor. Additionally, overexpression of a human Tdp1 fusion protein alleviates some of the effects of CPT treatment (Barthelmes, 2004). These observations suggest that inhibitors of Tdp1 could act synergistically with CPT in a combined therapeutic treatment for certain cancers. Despite attempts to identify synthetic small molecule inhibitors of Tdp‐1, there are few verified inhibitors of this enzyme activity and none currently in clinical trials. While previous screening efforts have focused mainly upon compounds of synthetic origin (Antony, 2007), little effort has been directed towards the discovery of natural product derived inhibitors. The Molecular Targets Development Program (MTDP) at NCI‐Frederick has developed a fluorescence‐based assay for the rapid identification and characterization of natural product derived inhibitors of Tdp1 enzyme activity. Initial high‐throughput screening work has identified several unique extracts showing potent inhibition of enzyme activity. Follow up work is currently underway to evaluate the molecular mechanism of isolated active natural compounds. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):A174.


I hire 2,700 workers for a transcription job, randomly assigning the gender of their (fictitious) manager and provision of performance feedback. While praise from a manager has no effect, criticism negatively impacts workers' job satisfaction and perception of the task's importance. When female managers, rather than male, deliver this feedback, the negative effects double in magnitude. Having a critical female manager does not affect effort provision but it does lower workers' interest in working for the firm in the future. These findings hold for both female and male workers. I show that results are consistent with gendered expectations of feedback among workers. By contrast, I find no evidence for the role of either attention discrimination or implicit gender bias.


Existing research has shown that disability is costly and can result in an increased risk of living in poverty and a decrease in living standards. In this paper, we expand a framework of equality budgeting, previously applied from a gender perspective, to the population of households affected by disability. Using a microsimulation model linked to data from the EU Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), we show how tax-benefit policy and other market income changes between 2007 and 2019 impacted households affected by disability and households not affected by disability. We find that disposable (or post-tax and transfer) income grew for both types of households but at a faster rate for households affected by disability than households not affected by disability. This income growth was driven by two counteracting forces. On the one hand, tax and welfare policy failed to keep pace with market income growth, reducing the living standards of households affected by disability by more than households not affected by disability. On the other hand, despite having lower average wage levels, wage growth for workers affected by disability outpaced wage growth for workers not affected by disability, while the labour supply of households affected by disability also increased. Future attempts to equality-proof budgetary policy should consider that changes to welfare disproportionally affect households with disabilities.


BACKGROUND
Fatigue is a common complaint in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Fatigability is well described in ambulatory SMA but the relationship to perceived fatigue has not been evaluated. Understanding this relationship has proven challenging for most disorders.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship of perceived fatigue to fatigability, function, and quality of life in SMA.

METHODS
Thirty-two participants with SMA (21.9% type 2, 78.1% type 3) were recruited. Perceived fatigue and fatigability, function, and quality of life were assessed using standardized questionnaires and assessments. Associations were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients (p = 0.05). Also, the effects of age, type, and ambulatory status were determined on perceived fatigue.

RESULTS
All SMA participants reported fatigue. Perceived fatigue was not associated with function, quality of life, or fatigability in ambulatory SMA patients. Neither age, type, nor ambulatory status influenced perceived fatigue.

CONCLUSIONS
Perceived fatigue can be quantified in SMA. Interestingly, perceived fatigue did not correlate with fatigability or function, suggesting that cognitive, homeostatic, or psychologic factors may be more relevant as co-morbid factors. Clinical trials targeting perceived fatigue in SMA should focus on these patient-reported assessments. A multilevel approach is required to separate the various mechanisms involved in perceived fatigue.


The official breeding goal for the Icelandic horse describes an ideal conformation that should facilitate multi-gaiting riding ability. The objective of the present study was to describe and evaluate the use of a three dimensional morphometric method to objectively quantify the conformation of the Icelandic horse and to determine the distribution of conformational parameters and their intercorrelations. Selected material of 72 potential breeding horses attending breeding field tests in Iceland in the years 2008–2010 were recorded while walking in a space which was defined in three dimensions. Four video cameras were used to provide images that allow the determination of 3-D co-ordinates of anatomical landmarks by manual tracking from two or more 2-D views. A set of four video frames was chosen for each horse for two reference images (forelimb/hind limb). The measurements consisted of heights of the anatomical landmarks, segments lengths, joint angles and inclines. Their repeatability was assessed by different repeatability tests. The study described the conformation of the Icelandic horse in terms of the selected anatomical landmarks. The 3D method provided objective, repeatable data and is suitable for further studies of the correlation between the conformation and other traits as riding qualities and soundness. The method can be applied in other horse breeds. It was confirmed that the Icelandic horse has grown taller in recent years and changed from a rectangular body format to a square one. Measurements of the joint angles of the limbs revealed carpal and tarsal valgus and fetlock valgus to be frequent findings in the breed. & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


The development of new, more effective ways of multivariate control of type 2 diabetes is currently the most important problem of endocrinology. This is caused by a high prevalence of this disease in the population, as well as a significant risk of complications leading to early morbidity and mortality of patients. Clinical management of patients with type 2 diabetes should be based on a thorough study of the mechanisms of this disease in order to correct the basic pathogenetic defects.


Abstract This paper presents a model of functional explanations as a species of ordinary causal explanation and argues that they are widespread for understandable reasons in the social sciences. The remainder of the paper then looks at specific functional explanations in the social research and examines the prospects and problems for those accounts.


Appreciation of learning styles can be of use to help both educators and students to enhance the effectiveness of an educational experience. It has been noticed that some students at this College are not very good at expressing themselves in either written or spoken English. Our study aimed to identify the student's learning styles; assess whether there is any correlation between learning style, baseline demographic data and self rated proficiency in English language; and assess their associations with the assessment performance. A group of third year medical students voluntarily participated in a questionnaire study to provide us with their learning styles, demographic information and self-rated proficiency in English language. This data was compared to the students' performance in the assessment at the end of their junior clinical rotations. This cohort of students (60% Malay, 35% Chinese and 5% Indian) who were mostly visual learners, considered themselves proficient in English. Students with predominantly Visual learning styles and those with poorer English, score significantly lower during their clinical long case examinations. These two predictors appear to be independent of each other. These results may suggest that our current teaching modalities may disadvantage students with predominant visual learning styles. It also suggests that the long case clinical examination may favour those with more verbal learning styles. IeJSME 2010: 4 (1): 7-13


In this study, complementary metabolomic and proteomic analyses were conducted on the solar- and indoor-withered oolong tea leaves, and freshly plucked leaves as the control, for the purpose to reveal the mechanisms underlying the initial formation of some flavor determinants during the early stage of oolong tea processing. As a result, a total of 978 non-volatile compounds and 152 volatile compounds were identified, the flavonoids and several esters were differently accumulated in various tea samples. In total, 7048 proteins were qualitatively and quantitatively determined, the analysis on pathway enrichment showed that phenylpropanoid, flavonoid metabolisms, and protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum were the major pathways discriminating the different tea samples. The joint protein–metabolite analysis showed that the multiple stresses such as dehydration, heat, and ultra-violet irradiation occurred during the withering step induced the dynamic and distinct changes in the biochemical network in the treated leaves compared to fresh leaves. The significant decreases in flavonoids, xanthine alkaloids, and several amino acids contributed to the alleviation of bitter or astringent taste of withered leaves, although the decomposition of L-theanine resulted in the loss of umami flavor over the solar-withering step. Moreover, the fruity or floral aromas, especially volatile terpenoids and phenylpropanoids/benzenoids, were retained or accumulated in the solar withered leaves, potentially aiding the formation of a better characteristic flavor of oolong tea made by indoor withered tea leaves. Distinct effects of solar- and indoor-withering methods on the flavor determinant formation provide a novel insight into the relationship between the metabolite accumulation and flavor formation during the withering step of oolong tea production.


This study focuses on the internal marketing and how it affects the complaints by companies' communication control. Our purpose with this subject is to increase the understanding of which components affects the relation between internal marketing, communication control and complaints. We have chosen the subject, internal marketing because it caught our interest in an earlier course. On the basis of the literature of costumer complaint there have not been so much research about it and that is why we have chosen this perspective on internal marketing. This study is based on a qualitative approach. The interviews we have done are with people from supermarkets in the food industry. We have chosen three employees from two different companies to get as important information as possible.


Projects using Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) are becoming of interest to all academic institutions World-wide. STILE (Students' and Teachers' Integrated Learning Environment) is one such project which included four universities in the United Kingdom. The Open University implentation of the project was called M205-STILE and it used a CMC environment with 110 students and nine tutors nationwide and in Europe. The participants were on-line from February to October 1995 and the provision of these facilities allowed distance learning students to avail themselves of better communication with both their tutor and with fellow students. This paper discusses, from both the tutor and student perspective, how computer science students made use of a CMC environment created especially for them. It illustrates that students used the system to learn more about the subject area and about each other, and to sustain or motivate themselves throughout the learning period.


Context Obesity is known to impact reproductive function in adults, but little is known about its effects on reproductive hormones during puberty or sex differences in these effects. Objective To assess sex differences in effects of obesity on reproductive hormones and their relationship to insulin sensitivity and secretion. Design Cross-sectional study including anthropometrics, serum and urine reproductive hormone concentrations, and intravenous glucose tolerance testing (IVGTT) to assess acute insulin response to glucose (AIRg) and insulin sensitivity (Si) Setting Outpatient academic clinical research center Patients Fifty-one normal weight (NW, BMI-Z=-0.11 ± 0.77, age=11.5 ± 1.7 years) and 53 obese (BMI-Z=2.22 ± 0.33, age=10.9 ± 1.5 years) girls (n=54) and boys (n=50), Tanner stage 2-3 Results Obese boys had lower total testosterone (p<0.0001) and higher concentrations of the urinary estradiol metabolite, E1c, (p=0.046) than NW boys. Obese girls had higher free androgen index (FAI, p=0.03) than NW girls. Both obese boys and girls had lower sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG, p<0.0001) than NW. AIRg was inversely related to SHBG in boys (R2= 0.36, p<0.0001) and girls (R2=0.29, p=0.0001). Insulin resistance correlated with lower SHBG in boys (R2=0.45, p<0.0001) and girls (R2=0.24, p=0.0003), lower total testosterone for boys (R2=0.15, p=0.01), and higher FAI for girls (R2=0.08, p=0.04). Conclusion Obese youth have lower SHBG than NW youth, but obesity has differential effects on reproductive hormones in girls vs. boys, which are apparent early in puberty. Ongoing longitudinal studies will evaluate the impact of obesity on reproductive hormones in girls and boys as puberty progresses.


The effect of cold stratification (CS) and gibberellic acid (GA3) alone and in combination on in vitro germination of Actinidia arguta and Actinidia chinensis seeds was studied. Sterile seeds of the two plant species were stratified at 4°C for 28 and 42 days. Batches of stratified and non-stratified (control) seeds from both plant species were germinated on plant growth regulator-free Murashige and Skoog (MS) media and also on sterile filter paper bridges moistened with dH2O and GA3 concentrations of 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 ppm. In the two plant species, seeds from the control and the CS treatments alone did not germinate on MS medium. However on filter paper bridges, seeds cold stratified for 28 days yielded only 8 and 20% germination percentage (GP) in A. arguta and A. chinensis, respectively, whereas CS for 42 days did not promote germination. In A. arguta, treatments of non-stratified seeds with GA3 resulted in 91% optimum GP at 1572 ppm GA3 and optimum 29 days mean germination time (MGT) at 1678 ppm GA3. In A. chinensis, 48% optimum GP and 24 days optimum MGT were achieved at 2225 and 2033 ppm GA3 concentrations, respectively. Cold stratification (28 days) followed by GA3 treatments of A. arguta resulted in optimum GP of 88% and 23 days optimum MGT at GA3 concentrations of 1435 and 1610 ppm, respectively. The same combined treatment of A. chinensis seeds yielded optimum GP of 80% and optimum 25 days MGT at GA3 concentrations of 1565 and 2050 ppm, respectively. In contrast, CS (42 days) followed by GA3 in A. arguta resulted in optimum GP of 99% and 27 days optimum MGT at GA3 concentrations of 1563 and 2120 ppm, respectively. Similar treatments in A. chinensis seeds yielded optimum GP of 45% and optimum 23 days MGT at GA3 of 998 and 1629 ppm, respectively. In conclusion, CS alone had little effect on germination, whereas CS (28 days) followed by GA3 significantly (p≤0.05) improved GP in both plant species. Treatments with GA3 alone and CS (42 days) followed by GA3 were more effective on germination of A. arguta than A. chinensis. Germinated seeds on moist filter paper can produce seedlings when sub-cultured on MS medium for seedling development.


Background: Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease that can affect any organ, the exact cause of which is uncertain. Currently, investigations of crystalline silica improve the mechanism how it works the course of autoimmune diseases and some hypothesis supports that it also can attribute to sarcoidosis. Case report: The patient was a 53-year-old male, who works as a stonemason for 30 years. Sarcoidosis was suspected based on his chest X-ray and CT(Computed tomography). A biopsy was performed and he was indeed diagnosed with sarcoidosis. Conclusion: It is thought that sarcoidosis is more prevalent in the people who work at places with a risk of exposure to crystalline silica. This case suggests that if a patient gets sarcoidosis after being exposed to crystalline silica, or after once being diagnosed with silicosis, his or her sarcoidosis may have occurred due to exposure to crystalline silica.


Heterodimeric capping protein (CP/CapZ) is an essential factor for the assembly of branched actin networks, which push against cellular membranes to drive a large variety of cellular processes. Aside from terminating filament growth, CP stimulates the nucleation of actin filaments by the Arp2/3 complex in branched actin networks through an unclear mechanism. Here, we report the structure of capped actin filament barbed ends, which reveals how CP not only prevents filament elongation, but also controls access to both terminal filament subunits. In addition to its primary binding site that blocks the penultimate subunit, we find that the CP sterically occludes the central interaction site of the terminal actin protomer through one of its C-terminal "tentacle" extensions. Deletion of this β tentacle only modestly impairs capping. However in the context of a growing branched actin network, its removal potently inhibits nucleation promoting factors (NPFs) by tethering them to capped filament ends. End tethering of NPFs prevents their loading with actin monomers required for activation of the Arp2/3 complex and thus strongly inhibits branched network assembly both in cells and reconstituted motility assays. Our results mechanistically explain how CP couples two opposed processes –capping and nucleation– in branched actin network assembly.


The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of various ceramic-based coatings on the performance of AISI M2 high-speed steel punch used in the nut piercing process. AISI M2 punches were coated with TiN, TiN/CrN, and CrAlN utilizing a physical vapour deposition method. The total stroke number of the punches was used to evaluate the tool life of TiN, CrAlN, and TiN/CrN coated AISI M2 punches. AISI M2 punch coated with TiN/CrN was able to work up to greater stroke numbers than punches coated with TiN and CrAlN. Hardness and wear tests were performed to study the wear resistance of TiN/CrN and CrAlN coatings under relatively normal load conditions compared to actual working conditions (impact loading conditions) in the piercing process. The hardness and wear resistance of the CrAlN coating were greater than those of the TiN/CrN coating. The wear performance of the CrAlN coating was higher at normal loads and sliding speeds while the tool life of the TiN/CrN-coated punch was better under impact loading conditions.


Although advances in treating early stage breast cancer have increased the overall survival rate, once the disease has metastasized treatment options become severely limited. Neural precursor cell expressed developmentally downregulated 9, NEDD9, is a pro-metastatic protein known to play a role during invasion and is increased in many tumor types including ductal breast carcinomas. The purpose of our study is to understand how NEDD9 contributes to the survival of metastatic disease and to establish via therapeutically relevant means the impact of reducing NEDD9 in metastatic breast cancer. Utilizing breast tumor xenograft models and in situ Zymography we were able to conclude that the reduction of NEDD9 led to a decrease in matrix metalloproteinase activity in the tumor cells in the primary site and distant lung metastasis thus reducing the number of invading cells. Additionally our study shows, via fluorescent immunohistochemistry analysis of lung metastasis, that by reducing the levels of NEDD9 in vivo the levels of active caspase 3 increased, along with decreasing Ki67 and phosphorylated Akt levels. These changes led to decreased proliferation and survival and increased cell death at distant metastatic sites and dramatically reduced number and size of lung metastasis. Finally, we have demonstrated that the application of NEDD9 Vivo-morpholinos is a valid method for targeting NEDD9 in a clinically relevant setting to reduce the levels of NEDD9 for treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Taken together our data suggests that not only does NEDD9 play a role in primary tumor invasion but is necessary for sustaining metastatic disease and can be reduced in a clinically viable manner resulting in less metastasis. Citation Format: Ryan J. Ice, Sricharan A. Mahavadi, Elena N. Pugacheva. The influence of pro-metastatic protein NEDD9 expression in supporting distant breast cancer metastasis. [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 A094.


Abstract Over the past two decades, the share of individuals claiming Social Security at the Early Eligibility Age has dropped and the average retirement age has increased. At the same time, Social Security rules have changed substantially, employer-sponsored retirement plans have shifted from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC), health has improved, and mortality has decreased. In theory, all of these changes could lead to a trend toward later claiming. Disentangling the effect of any one change is difficult because they have been occurring simultaneously. This paper uses the Gustman and Steinmeier structural model of retirement timing to investigate which of these changes matter most by simulating their effects on the original cohort (1931–1941) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The predicted behavior is then compared with the actual retirements of the Early Boomer cohort (1948–1953) to see how much of the later cohort's delayed claiming and retirement can be explained by these changes. The Early Boomer cohort was less likely to be fully retired than the HRS cohort at both age 62 (36.7% vs. 44.0%) and age 64 (49.5% vs. 53.9%). The model suggests that the shift from DB toward DC plans was the biggest contributor to these declines, followed by better health. Social Security rules and improvements in mortality played smaller roles.


Open optical networks present a variety of benefits to service providers and enterprise network operators, such as freedom from single-vendor dependence and the potential to select best-in-class solutions for each individual network role (e.g., line system or optical terminals). In this paper, we discuss two open optical network models: one enables transponder–line system interoperability, whereas the other goes a step further and enables line system–line system interoperability. We examine these models in more detail in the context of an open optical system already deployed at scale. We present real-world experiences and lessons learned with respect to optical link design, software and controls, deployment, and operation, as well as recommendations for future evolution of the network.


The paper deals with crack propagation in ceramic laminates. Assumptions of linear elastic fracture mechanics and small scale yielding are considered. Crack behaviour in a ceramic laminate body under external loading is investigated. Strong residual stresses due to different coefficients of thermal expansion of individual material layers are taken into account in finite element calculations. The change of crack propagation direction at the material interface is estimated on the base of the strain energy density factor and maximum tangential stress criteria. The influence of thickness of laminate layers on crack propagation direction is estimated. The stepwise crack propagation through the Al2O3-ZrO2 ceramic laminate is numerically estimated. It can be concluded that good agreement between the estimated crack path and experimental data was found.


In Reply.— I have read the previous letters and then reread my own article. Each correspondent expresses opinions, just as I expressed mine. I have no quarrel with any of their remarks. The fundamental truth is that American medicine, in all variations—practice, research, academics, administration—is no longer to be an essentially male environment. I remain comfortable with my own reasoned opinions. However, the correspondents and myself are treading in subjective, emotional areas. There is a bit of truth in all our remarks—and a bit of individual bias. For 13 years, I have been able to see and be a part of this unfolding experience, since my own medical school has averaged more than 40% women medical students during this entire period. I therefore make a certain claim to both experience and an active role in bringing women into medicine. Those are objective facts; I accept all else as subjective and


Recently the hypothesis of N. Brunov, who reconstructed some of the preserved Middle Byzantine churches of Constantinople as five-aisled, has been approved by some additional archeological evidence. The new data confirm the existence of additional structures flanking the main core of the churches. The architectural composition of the monuments and, especially, their triple arcades in the arms of the cross provide the necessary unity in the interior for the whole five-aisled structure.


A total of 214 Fusarium graminearum isolates were obtained from corn and barley which were collected from Kangwon province and the southern part of Korea, respectively, and were tested for 8-ketotrichothecenes and zearalenone (ZEA) production on rice grains. The incidences of trichothecene production by 105 isolates of E graminearum from corn were 59.0% for deoxynivalenol (DON), 37.1% for 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON), 13.3 % for 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3 -ADON), 7.6% for 3,15-diacetyldeoxynivalenol (3,15-DADON), 20.0% for nivalenol (NIV), 6.7% for 4-acetylnivalenol (4-ANIV), and 1.0% for 4,15-diacetylnivalenol (4,15-DANIV). DON chemotypes frequently produced 15-ADON as the major isomer rather than 3-ADON and 9 of the 61 DON chemotypes produced low levels of NIV. On the other hand, the incidences of trichothecene production of 109 isolates by E graminearum from barley were 24.8% for DON, 72.5% for NIV, 62.4% for 4-ANIV, and 10.1% for 4,15-DANIV. Of these isolates, 78 were NIV chemotypes and only one isolate produced DON and 3-ADON as major toxins. In addition, 26 of the 78 NIV chemotypes produced low levels of DON. ZEA was frequently produced by the trichothecene-producing isolates and the incidences of ZEA were 51.4% and 31.2% for the isolates from com and barley, respectively. There was a great regional difference in trichothecene production by E graminearum isolates between cornand barley-producing areas in Korea.


In the recent years, project scheduling and management has been challenging many researchers and has become an intriguing field of study. There are many factors such as personnel, budget, time, materials,etc. that need to be taken into account before running a project. Practical situations have been successfully modeled in mathematical formulations and many problem test cases have been introduced to deal with project scheduling problems. However, having been proved as NP-hard problem, only projects with small numbers of activities can be solved using linear or integer programming approaches while a real project may involve hundreds or even thousands of tasks or activities to be completed. This study proposes an efficient algorithm based on Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) to deal with large-scale project scheduling problems, where an activity can be performed in different modes under precedence relations and resource constraints.


ABSTRACT The objective of this work was to study the effect of ecophysiological factors on fumonisin gene expression and growth in Fusarium verticillioides. The effects of ionic and nonionic solute water potentials, matric potential, and temperature on in vitro mycelial growth rates and on expression of the FUM1 gene, involved in fumonisin biosynthesis, were examined. FUM1 transcript levels were quantified using a specific real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) protocol. Low temperature and water stress reduced fungal growth. Water stress increased FUM1 transcript levels, especially in the case of stress caused by nonionic solute. The temporal kinetic assays showed that water stress had opposite effects on fungal growth versus FUM1 expression. These results indicate that water stress may be an important factor for fumonisin accumulation, particularly in the later phases of maize colonization when water availability decreases. The quantitative RT-PCR methods described here provide a valuable tool for investigating the ecophysiological basis for fumonisin gene expression and ultimately may lead to more effective control strategies for this important mycotoxigenic pathogen.


Various semen extender formulas are in use to maintain sperm longevity and quality whilst acting against bacterial contamination in liquid sperm preservation. Aminoglycosides are commonly supplemented to aid in the control of bacteria. As bacterial resistance is increasing worldwide, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) received lively interest as alternatives to overcome multi-drug resistant bacteria. We investigated, whether synthetic cationic AMPs might be a suitable alternative for conventional antibiotics in liquid boar sperm preservation. The antibacterial activity of two cyclic AMPs (c-WWW, c-WFW) and a helical magainin II amide analog (MK5E) was studied in vitro against two Gram-positive and eleven Gram-negative bacteria. Isolates included ATCC reference strains, multi-resistant E. coli and bacteria cultured from boar semen. Using broth microdilution, minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined for all AMPs. All AMPs revealed activity towards the majority of bacteria but not against Proteus spp. (all AMPs) and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 (MK5E). We could also demonstrate that c-WWW and c-WFW were effective against bacterial growth in liquid preserved boar semen in situ, especially when combined with a small amount of gentamicin. Our results suggest that albeit not offering a complete alternative to traditional antibiotics, the use of AMPs offers a promising solution to decrease the use of conventional antibiotics and thereby limit the selection of multi-resistant strains.


Smart manufacturing has the objective of creating highly flexible and resource optimized industrial plants. Furthermore, the improvement of product quality is another important target. These requirements implicate more complex control algorithms. Processing these algorithms may exceed the capabilities of resource constrained devices, such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs). In this case, the necessity for computation offloading is given. Due to the fact that industrial plants are currently designed for a life-cycle-time of more than ten years, in a realistic smart manufacturing scenario, these devices have to be considered. Therefore, we investigate the impact of complex algorithms on conventional PLCs by simulating them with a load generator. In addition, we propose a realistic factory scenario including benchmarks for both wireline and wireless communication systems. Thus, their round-trip time (RTT) is measured with and without additional load on the network. With the help of these investigations, break-even points for the application of computation offloading of two typical PLCs of Siemens S7 series can be calculated.


Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are two chronic inflammatory bowel conditions. Current approved biologic therapies are limited to blocking tumor necrosis factor alpha. Unfortunately, some patients are primary nonresponders, experiencing a loss of response, intolerance, or side effects. This defines an unmet need for novel therapeutic strategies. The rapid recruitment and inappropriate retention of leukocytes is a hallmark of chronic inflammation and a potentially promising therapeutic target. Here we discuss the clinical trial results of vedolizumab (anti-α4β7, LDP-02, MLN-02, and MLN0002) and its impact on future management of inflammatory bowel disease.


The purpose of the present study was to investigate differences in the sensitizing potential of Rhus Veniciflua(Rhus-II), when tested by the guinea pig maximization test(GPMT) and Freund's complete adjuvant test(FCAT) with an identical, intradermal induction concentration. A new grading classification of the sensitization potential is proposed. The GPMT was conducted according to OECD guideline , using a multiple-dose design and test results were analysed with logistic regression analysis. During the induction stage, we injected intradermally each three site 0.1 ml(l mg/animal) test material, 0.1 ml complete Freund's adjuvant and 0.lml the test agent emulsified in the adjuvant. 7 days later, we induced weak sensitization with sodium lauryl sulfate(SLS) and applide 1ml(l0mg/animal) test agent topically on the same site and made a tight occlusion. 14 days later we challenged with 1 ml(l 0mg/animal) of test material on the flank and observed ant 24 hours and 48 hours later. The results were also observed at 24 hours challenge. The results observed 48 hours after challenge were the identical. These data indicated that, although Rhus-II is a no contact allergen. It was reported that the skin sensitization by Rhus-II was not detected the skin sensitization in the guinea pig maximization test (GPMT). Consequently, it was confirmed that Rhus-II had no contact allergic sensitization in guinea pig maximization test.


High-power free electron lasers (FEL's) can be realized using induction linear accelerators as the source of the electron beam. These accelerators are currently capable of producing intense currents (102-104A) at moderately high energy (1-50 MeV). Experiments using a 500 A, 3.3 MeV beam have produced 80 MW of radiation at 34.6 GHz and are in good agreement with theoretical analysis. Future experiments include a high-gain, high-efficiency FEL operating at 10.6 μm using a 50 MeV beam.


Previous studies have identified high nonnormality in the form of skewness and kurtosis in highway construction data (hot-mix asphalt, portland cement concrete pavement, and aggregate materials) on the basis of analysis of field quality assurance data. [The authors use "nonnormality," rather than "abnormality," and define it as a term used in any discipline that involves statistical data analysis. —Ed.] The presence of high nonnormality in lot data is a significant finding because such nonnormality violates most state transportation agencies' normality assumption for quality assurance data analysis (e.g., F-test and t-test) and quality measure calculation (e.g., percent within limits). High nonnormality can have several adverse effects, such as increased variability in lot data and decreased efficiency of statistical verification tests in finding differences between contractor's and agency's data sets. Most important, however, nonnormal lot data tend to misdirect contractor payment; such misdirection can manifest in incorrectly penalizing contractors that deliver acceptable construction and rewarding contractors that deliver poor construction. A modified Box–Cox transformation using the golden section search algorithm is proposed: it can substantially reduce pay biases due to nonnormality even when lot sample size is small. The method is efficient and ensures fair and equitable payment to state agencies and contractors.


Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) plays an important role in treating younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Reduced-intensity conditioning regimens allow increased use of allogeneic HSCT for older patients. Current HSCT decisions in patients with AML are being made according to cytogenetic analysis results. A more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the genetic and epigenetic changes that are related to the pathogenesis of AML is required for better classification of risk and for improving approaches to therapy as they pertain to future HSCT decisions.


This report is part one of a series of articles that describe the existing classic methods and new perspective methods of sensor signal processing. The first part introduces smart sensor systems, especially sensor arrays. It characterizes in short smart sensor systems, describes their basic properties and presents an overview of them as well. The article also deals with classic methods of sensor signal processing that are appropriate for scene or object status identification. The article is concerned with the correlation method in detail and an example is given for it.


Au/TiO2/MoS2 plasmonic composite photocatalysts were synthesized via deposition-precipitation with urea. The photocatalytic activities of the prepared samples were evaluated by performing hydrogen production experiments under Xe lamp irradiation with a 10% ( , volume fraction) glycerol aqueous solution as the sacrificial agent. The results showed that the optimal content of MoS2 in the Au/TiO2/MoS2 composite is 0.1% (w, mass fraction) and the corresponding H2 production rate was 708.85 mol·h 1, which was almost 11 times higher than that of TM6.0 with the strongest photocatalytic activity in the all binary TiO2/MoS2 composites. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the ternary Au/TiO2/MoS2 composites is mainly due to the surface plasmon resonance of the supported Au nanoparticles absorbed on the TiO2/MoS2 layered composite, which show an intense absorption maximum centered around 550–560 nm and induce the photoexcitation of electrons. Meanwhile, the electrons excited by surface plasmon resonance of Au could be injected into the conduction band of TiO2, and they were then transferred to the edges of MoS2 for catalyzing the production of H2.


RV reducer is the important component of industrial robot joint arm, and dynamic characteristics is the core of its design. In the field of static mechanics, scholars have done a lot of research, the requirements of the robot joint arm on the high accuracy and vibration level are very strictly. Therefore, the dynamic research of the RV reducer is very necessary. The influence of system stiffness on the vibration characteristics is considered. The dynamic model of the system is established by using the centralized mass method for the RV320E reducer model. The natural frequency of the system is obtained by solving the free vibration equation, and use the induction method to sum up the vibration mode of first 8 natural frequency which provides the theoretical basis for the design and application of the RV reducer and guiding significance.


This study aimed to evaluate the influence of follicular diameter on the quality of oocytes from ovaries of female sheep and goats. The ovaries of sheep (156 units) and goats (105 units) from slaughterhouse were used. The follicles were measured, aspirated and divided into three classes of follicular diameter: class 1 (CI) – 2 to 3 mm, class 2 (CII) – 4 to 5 mm and class 3 (CIII) – 6 mm. The recovered oocytes were evaluated and classified according to morphological aspect in 5 quality groups: grade 1 (GI), grade 2 (GII), grade 3 (GIII), naked (N) and atresia (A). Of the 468 follicles aspirated from sheep, 327 CI, 84 CII, CIII 57 and 83 GI, 78 GII, GIII 95, 119 N, 93 A were found, and from the 422 follicles aspirated from goats 197 CI, 132 CII, 92 CIII  and 64 GI, 70 GII, 91 GIII, 123 N, 74 A were found. The data did not show significant correlation between quality of oocytes and diameter of follicles (P > 0.05). Under the conditions observed in this study it was concluded that the follicular diameter has no influence on the quality of cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) recovered from the ovaries of female sheep and goats. KEYWORDS: Aspirated follicle, cumulus cells, oocyte quality.


The development of a synthetic approach to the novel pyrrolo[2, 1-b][1,3]benzothiazepine and its derivatives and their biological evaluation as potential antipsychotic drugs are described. In binding studies these compounds proved to be potent 5-HT2, D2, and D3 receptor ligands. The more potent benzothiazepine (+/-)-3b was resolved into its enantiomers by using HPLC techniques. In vitro testing confirmed that (-)-3b is a more potent D2 receptor ligand, maintaining high affinity for 5-HT2 receptors. In contrast, the (+)-3b enantiomer presents a 35 times higher affinity for 5-HT2 than for dopamine D2 receptors with a similar dopamine D1 receptor affinity to that of (-)-3b. Overall, (+)-3b shows an "atypical" neuroleptic binding profile, while (-)-3b has a more "classical" profile. Furthermore pharmacological and biochemical testing displayed that the novel benzothiazepine (+/-)-3b is able to increase the extracellular levels of dopamine in the rat striatum and causes a dose-related suppression of apomorphine-induced locomotor activity. At low doses (+/-)-3b does not induce catalepsy, showing atypical antipsychotic properties similar to those of olanzapine. These heterocyclic compouds represent new leads for the development of novel antipsychotic drugs with atypical properties.


Abstract Abundance is one of the primary factors believed to influence extinction yet little is known about its relationship to extinction rates over geologic time. Using data from the Paleobiology Database we show that abundance was an important factor in the extinction dynamics of marine bivalve genera over the post-Paleozoic. Contrary to expectations, our analyses reveal a nonlinear relationship between abundance and extinction rates, with rare and abundant genera exhibiting rates elevated over those of genera of moderate abundance. This U-shaped pattern is a persistent feature of the post-Paleozoic history of marine bivalves and provides one possible explanation for why we find strong support for heterogeneous extinction rates among genera grouped by similarity in abundance yet effectively no net relationship among these rates when using models of directional selection on abundance.


The performance of two commercial simulation codes, Ansys Fluent and Comsol Multiphysics, is thoroughly examined for a recently established two-phase flow benchmark test case. In addition, the commercial codes are directly compared with the newly developed academic code, FeatFlow TP2D. The results from this study show that the commercial codes, failing to converge and produce accurate results, leave much to be desired with respect to direct numerical simulation of flows with free interfaces. The academic code on the other hand was computationally efficient, produced very accurate results, and outperformed the commercial codes by a magnitude or more.


The solution of non-stationary temperature field determination problem in a hollow double-layer thick-walled cylinder is given in an article. The solution is obtained by the variable separation method and makes it possible to determine temperature regime of underground structures at a different modes of operation of equipment.


Using the quantitative measures of precision, repeatability and reproducibility, the study reviewes the obtainable precision of the polarimetric determination of sugar content of beet. The same measures are used to estimate the influence of homogeneity of beet material on the analytical result or on the representativity of sampling respectively. It is concluded, that the analysis of untopped beet can principly not be recommended, because of the significant loss of precision. Based on the good agreement of precision data within individual companies as well as in comparisons between different companies, it can be concluded, that - in spite of minor differences - the process of beet analysis in the German sugar industry is so well defined and fixed that comparable results are generally achieved. Systematic differences between the results of different beet laboratories are not to be found.


Abstract This article is a case study of how an African American family that includes a social worker, responded when three members received an HIV/AIDS diagnosis; two of whom are now deceased. It provides a retrospective look at a family's response to the diagnosis and resilience in the face of terminal illness. This is a personal story presented originally at the HIV/AIDS conference titled "A Social Work Response," held in Los Angeles, California in 1997. The article provides insight to practitioners as well as offers a comparative experience for those who have also passed along on a similar journey. This family faced terminal illness many times, but until one of the matriarchs was diagnosed with AIDS in 1989, this was always an illness that happened to someone else's family.


Nutritional needs during adolescence are increased because of the increased growth rate and changes in body composition associated with puberty. The dramatic increase in energy and nutrient requirements coincides with other factors that may affect adolescents' food choices and nutrient intake, and thus nutritional status. These factors, including the quest for independence and acceptance by peers, increased mobility, and greater time spent at school or work activities, and preoccupation with self-image, contribute to the erratic and unhealthy eating behaviors that are common during adolescence. This topic discusses characteristic adolescent eating habits, including skipping meals, fast food consumption, and dieting behaviors. The present study was taken up to understand food consumption pattern of 300 adolescent girls of 12 to 18 years age group sampled from selected government colleges and girls' schools within the jurisdiction of Patna Municipal area. 82 per cent and 93 per cent girls were found taking regular lunch and dinner, respectively and 38 per cent of the adolescent girls indicated that they skipped morning breakfast and 69 per cent skipped evening snack. Modern trend of consumption behavior among girls is alarming and hence, there is need to make effort to educate girls on the importance of proper food habits and nutritional needs.


Decomposition-based multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) decompose a multiobjective optimization problem into a set of scalar objective subproblems and solve them in a collaborative way. A naïve way to distribute computational effort is to treat all the subproblems equally and assign the same computational resource to each subproblem. This paper proposes a generalized resource allocation (GRA) strategy for decomposition-based MOEAs by using a probability of improvement vector. Each subproblem is chosen to invest according to this vector. An offline measurement and an online measurement of the subproblem hardness are used to maintain and update this vector. Utility functions are proposed and studied for implementing a reasonable and stable online resource allocation strategy. Extensive experimental studies on the proposed GRA strategy have been conducted.


The study examined the status of information literacy in Nigerian libraries by surveying librarians who subscribed to the Nigerian Library Association (NLA) online forum. Seventy three librarians responded to the multi-item, self-developed questionnaire designed for the study. The survey revealed that information literacy was still at the formative stage and that it was more commonly taught in academic libraries than in other types of libraries. Similarly, the study discovered that information literacy was not regularly implemented in the libraries. Stemming from the findings of the study, recommendations were suggested to improve the status of the programme in Nigerian libraries.


Background: Nursing professionals are parts of the human resources in the hospital that provide health service and have direct interactions with patients. The health condition of patients demands nurses to provide quality health service. So it is very likely that they are frequently exposed to environment with various ilnesses and are at risk of contamination. The use of personal protective equipment is an effort to create occupational safety and health for nurses in patientwards. Method: This was a quantitative correlational with cross sectional design. Samples were sellected through total sampling technique, resulting in 35 respondents. Result: Based on the result of Fisher's Exact Statistical test showed a significant relationship of motivation with nurse compliance in using personal protective equipment in patient wards of Wirasakti hospital Kupang (ρ=0.003). Based on this research, it is expected that nurses can raise their awareness to adhere to the use of personal protective equipment in accordance with the standard operational procedure. Wirasakti hospitalKupang need to hold presentation/seminar/training regularly to all nurses about the use of personal protective equipment and healthcare associated infections(HAIs).
Key word: Motivation, Compliance, Personal Protective Equipment


Summary
An investigation was made of the entomological aspects of the 1959 epidemic and epizootic of EE in New Jersey. Extremely heavy rainfall during July resulted in a record production of mosquitoes, the three most abundant species being Aedes sollicitans, Aedes vexans, and Culiseta melanura. Change in the average wind direction from southwest to south probably increased the contact of salt marsh mosquitoes with humans in the epidemic area. A serum survey of 22 farm chicken flocks indicated that about ⅔ had HAI antibodies to EE and that high rates of EE transmission occurred in both the coastal and inland areas of southern New Jersey. About ⅓ of 92 wild bird sera also had HAI antibodies to EE.
All available information supports the hypothesis that: (1) The swamp mosquito, C. melanura, served as the primary sylvan vector which carried EE virus from enzootic swamp foci to peridomestic wild and domestic avian reservoir hosts in both the epidemic (coastal) and episootic (inland) areas; (2) A. sollicitans served as the primary epidemic vector in the coastal area where most of the human cases occurred, obtaining its infection from peridomestic avian reservoir hosts (including chickens) and subsequently transmitting the infection to man; (3) A. vexans served as the primary epizootic vector in the inland area of the equine outbreak, obtaining its infection from peridomestic avian hosts and subeequently transmitting the infection to horses; and (4) A. vexans may also have served as a vector for occasional human cases that occurred in the inland area.


1. Intravascular agglutination can occur, and is the probable cause of occasional untoward symptoms, or even death, following transfusion of agglutinative blood. In the majority of cases, however, it does not occur, or if it does, it causes no symptoms. This is dependent on the influence of three factors: (1) concentration of the agglutinin; (2) absorption of the agglutinin by an excess of agglutinable cells; (3) interference with agglutination by an excess of non-agglutinable cells, so that when clumps occur they are microscopic in size. 2. If, for a given transfusion, a non-agglutinative donor, i. e., a donor whose blood is of the same agglutinative class as the patient's, can not be obtained, then it is safer to use a person whose serum is agglutinative toward the patient's cells than one whose cells are agglutinated by the patient's serum. 3. Tests for agglutination, as well as for hemolysis, ought to be made before transfusion. When time does not permit this, one has to weigh the possible dangers of agglutination or hemolysis against the dangers of letting the patient go without transfusion. 4. Agglutinable cells when transfused are taken up by the phagocytes in the patient's blood; and, for this reason) the transfusion of agglutinable blood, even when no accident happens, can be expected to do little permanent good.


Productivity and quality of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit largely depend on the quantity and composition of its metabolites. Recent development of mass spectrometry technology has facilitated the simultaneous detection of a large number of metabolites. This opens the possibility of investigating the mechanisms of metabolic regulation that affect fruit productivity and quality, in conjunction with genetic and omics approaches. In this article, we review recent progress in the analysis of tomato fruit metabolites based on comprehensive metabolic profiling and the identification of genes and quantitative trait loci that alter tomato fruit metabolite profiles.


The observed irreversibility of radiation processes is traced to the asymmetry in time of the expanding universe. A similar idea has recently been proposed by Hogarth (1962), who applied the Wheeler-Feynman (1945) theory to various world-models in an attempt to discriminate between advanced and retarded potentials. Hogarth found that, while the steady-state model leads to the required retarded potentials, the Einstein-de Sitter model leads to advanced potentials. In addition to disagreeing with observation, this latter result implies that a uniform distribution of galaxies can give rise to an infinite intensity of radiation. By contrast, we work with the conventional Maxwell theory. By using Kirchhoff's boundary-value formulation of this theory, the boundary conditions appropriate to nonstatic world-models can be introduced. Among the consequences of these boundary conditions are: (i) In the Einstein-de Sitter model there exist distributions of sources for which Maxwell's theory leads to retarded potentials (but, in addition, to an arbitrary amount of source-free radiation). In these cases the Wheeler-Feynman theory breaks down. The actual galaxies may constitute such a distribution. (ii) In the steady-state model Maxwell's theory is equivalent to the Wheeler-Feynman theory, and leads to retarded potentials. In this case there is no source-free radiation, in agreement with the (somewhat crude) observational data.


Being still in its early stages, operational risk modeling has, so far, mainly been concentrated on the marginal distributions of frequencies and severities within the context of the Loss Distribution Approach (LDA). A realistic quantitative model, however, should be capable of modeling the characteristics of the loss distribution while providing stable estimates, incorporating dependencies and overcoming the overly simplistic assumption of a perfect positive correlation among operational losses. The scarcity of available real-world data has prevented the development of best-practice guidelines among practitioners. In this study, drawing on a fairly large real-world data set, we analyze the effects of competing state-of-art strategies in univariate and multivariate modeling for estimating aggregate risk capital.


Erythema multiforme is usually an episodic eruption triggered by a variety of agents, with herpes simplex and mycoplasma infections being the most common cause. Rarely, it occurs in a chronic form with near continuous occurrence of new lesions; this form of the disease can result in considerable disability. Chronic erythema multiforme is usually treated with immunosuppressive agents and these, even though successful in controlling this disease, can also have marked adverse effects. We report a case of chronic erythema multiforme successfully cleared and maintained in a controlled state with a course of oral psoralen plus UV-A (PUVA) therapy. Report of a Case. A 49-year-old black woman presented with painful lesions on the soles of both feet. The lesions had been present continuously for 2 years. Her mobility was greatly restricted because she usually required crutches to assist with walking and her condition had caused numerous absences from her work as


Introduction: The aim of this report was to perform a cost-comparison between liver resection (LR) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Method: Patients with colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM)⩽3 cm, who underwent LR or laparoscopic RFA between 2006 and 2015 were included in the study. Using a prospectively maintained CRLM database, clinical, oncologic, and financial parameters were compared. Results: Sixty-three patients underwent open or laparoscopic LR, and 25 patients underwent laparoscopic RFA. No significant difference was noted in postoperative complications, readmission rate, and local recurrence rate. With a median follow-up of 40 months for RFA, and 36 months for LR (P=0.61), mean cancer-specific overall survival was 51 months for RFA and 63 months for LR (P=0.64). The median disease-free survival was 14 months for RFA, and 21 months for LR (P=0.59). The mean operating room and hospital costs were 51% and 55% higher in the LR (P<0.001, each). Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that in selected patients with small solitary CRLM, laparoscopic tumor ablation might offer opportunities for cost-savings compared with resection as the primary treatment. This model may suggest possible equivalent oncologic outcomes between the 2 modalities.


AQMODL is an analytical mathematical aquifer modeling program for the HP-41C handheld programmable calculator. It does not require any written instructions for its use. It guides the operator through its use and prevents operator error. It is designed so that it can be used by anyone only basically familiar with the operation of the HP-41C calculator, and with aquifer modeling. There are no special key assignments, and no special data preparation or storage operations or any other prior preparation necessary before running AQMODL, simply XEQ AQMODL and follow the calculator'guidance. AQMODL can be used to model simple or complex single aquifer situations. It considers any regional change (rising or falling) in water level not necessarily associated with the development being modeled. It also models the aquifer's water-level gradient. Sixty pumping and/or recharge wells can be entered into the model, and the resultant change in water level and water-level elevation determined at an unlimited number of observation points in the aquifer.


Objective
To evaluate the effectiveness of total scapular arthroplasty after total scapulectomy for scapular tumors.

Methods
A clinical data of 17 patients with scapular tumors treated with total scapulectomy and total scapular arthroplasty between January 2010 and December 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. There were 9 males and 8 females with an average age of 34.4 years (range, 13-64 years). Seven patients were diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, 3 with osteosarcoma, 2 with Ewing's sarcoma, 1 with high-grade sarcoma, 1 with polymorphic dedifferentiated sarcoma, 1 with fibrosarcoma, 1 with plasmacytoma, and 1 with bone giant cell tumor. According to the surgical staging system described by Enneking et al, 1 patient was rated as stage 3, 8 as stageⅠB, 8 as stageⅡB. According to the classifications of shoulder girdle resections of Malawer et al, 11 patients were type ⅢB, 5 were type ⅣB, 1 was type ⅥB. The disease duration ranged from 0.5 to 8.0 months (mean, 3.2 months) and tumor size ranged from 11.0 cm×7.5 cm×6.0 cm to 18.5 cm×18.0 cm×12.5 cm. The 1993 Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) upper limb function scoring system and shoulder mobility were used to evaluate postoperative shoulder joint function. Tumor recurrence and metastases were monitored by radiograph.

Results
Poor superficial incision healing occurred in 1 patient, the rest incisions achieved healing by first intention. All patients were followed up 20-72 months (mean, 45.4 months). Two of the 17 patients died of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome caused by tumor metastases; 3 patients suffered from pulmonary metastases and were alive with disease. No local recurrence occurred in all patients. The overall survival rate was 88.2% (15/17) and the disease-free survival rate was 70.6% (12/17). Rib fracture after trauma, aseptic loosening, and atrophy of the deltoid muscle occurred in 1, 1, and 1 case, respectively. The other related complication was not observed. At last follow-up, the MSTS score was 26.1±1.4, and the flexion, extension, and abduction range of motion of shoulder joint were (70.0±7.5), (31.2±11.3), and (54.4 ±12.5) °, respectively.

Conclusion
Reconstruction with total scapular arthroplasty after total scapulectomy can obtain a satisfactory shoulder contour and an acceptable functional outcomes in patients with scapular tumors.


Introduction: Solatnum eriatnthum is medicinal plant used by folklore all over the world. There is no studies conducted on the toxicological effect of the plant. The present study aims to evaluate the toxicological effect of methanol extract of the leaf of the plant. Results: The fruit pulp extracts were effective against the organism at 475 and 485 mg/ml in the aqueous and ethanolic extract respectively. The same concentration served as the Minimum Inhibi-tory and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MIC and MCC) in both extracts. The extracts were also subjected to qualitative and quantitative phyto-chemical analysis. Alkaloids, tannins and reducing sugars were found in the ethanol extract while in the aqueous extract glycosides, saponins and re-ducing sugars were discovered to be present. Conclusions: The study indicated that aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the fruit pulp of T. indica can be a potential source of antimycotic agent to com-bat the challenge of the emergence of drug-resistance in Candida albicans and the need to produce more effective antimicrobial agents.


KEYNOTE SPEECH.
The world of today may be viewed as networked, both socially and technologically, with characteristics such as globalization, mobility of people across contexts, bottom-up user involvement, interweaving of physical and virtual contexts, and general pervasiveness of ICT.
In her talk, Nina analyzes the competence demands which are posed on citizens in a networked world. She argues for a view of knowledge as a unity of experiential, practical, and propositional aspects, realized concretely in relation to the demands of the situation, yet points out that in a networked world, people are continuously required to use knowledge, learned in one setting, in new contexts. This raises the question of how people transform and resituate knowledge across contexts.
Finally, Nina discusses implications of her talk for design for learning the knowledge and competence required. Throughout the talk, she will engage in discussion with participants about the way her  heoretical points plays out in library practice and which roles libraries and librarians can have as facilitators of others' development of knowledge and competence for a networked world.


Reliable estimation of freshwater inflow to the ocean from large tidal rivers is vital for water resources management and climate analyses. Discharge gauging stations are typically located beyond the tidal intrusion reach, such that inputs and losses occurring closer to the ocean are not included. Here, we develop a method of estimating river discharge using multiple gauges and time-dependent tidal statistics determined via wavelet analysis. The Multiple-gauge Tidal Discharge Estimate (MTDE) method is developed using data from the Columbia River and Fraser River estuaries and calibrated against river discharge. Next, we evaluate the general applicability of MTDE by testing an idealized two-dimensional numerical model, with a convergent cross-sectional profile, for eighty-one cases in which nondimensional numbers for friction, river flow, and convergence length scale are varied. The simulations suggest that MTDE is applicable to a variety of tidal systems. Model results and data analyses together suggest that MTDE works best with at least three gauges: a reference station near the river mouth, and two upstream gauges that respond strongly to distinct portions of the observed range of flow. The balance between tidal damping and amplifying factors determines the favorable location of the gauges. Compared to previous studies, the MTDE method improves the time resolution of estimates (from 2.5 to <1 week) and is applicable to systems with mixed diurnal/semidiurnal tides. However, model results suggest that tide-induced residual flows such as the Stokes drift may still affect the accuracy of MTDE at seaward locations during periods of low river discharge.


Measured as elapsed time from first use to dependence syndrome onset, the estimated "induction interval" for cocaine is thought to be short relative to the cannabis interval, but little is known about risk of becoming dependent during first months after onset of use. Virtually all published estimates for this facet of drug dependence epidemiology are from life histories elicited years after first use. To improve estimation, we turn to new month‐wise data from nationally representative samples of newly incident drug users identified via probability sampling and confidential computer‐assisted self‐interviews for the United States National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, 2004–2013. Standardized modules assessed first and most recent use, and dependence syndromes, for each drug subtype. A four‐parameter Hill function depicts the drug dependence transition for subgroups defined by units of elapsed time from first to most recent use, with an expectation of greater cocaine dependence transitions for cocaine versus cannabis. This study's novel estimates for cocaine users one month after first use show 2–4% with cocaine dependence; 12–17% are dependent when use has persisted. Corresponding cannabis estimates are 0–1% after one month, but 10–23% when use persists. Duration or persistence of cannabis smoking beyond an initial interval of a few months of use seems to be a signal of noteworthy risk for, or co‐occurrence of, rapid‐onset cannabis dependence, not too distant from cocaine estimates, when we sort newly incident users into subgroups defined by elapsed time from first to most recent use. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Detailed kinetic studies of the binding of the calcium channel antagonist (+)-[3H]PN200-110 to membrane preparations from rabbit skeletal muscle have demonstrated that, in addition to the high-affinity sites (Kd = 0.30 +/- 0.05 nM) that are readily measured in equilibrium and kinetic experiments, there are also dihydropyridine binding sites with much lower affinities. These sites were detected by the ability of micromolar concentrations of several dihydropyridines to accelerate the rate of dissociation of (+)-[3H]-PN200-110 from its high-affinity sites. The observed increase in rate was dependent on the concentration of competing ligand, and half-maximal effects occurred at approximately 10 microM for the agonist (+/-)-Bay K8644 and for the antagonists nifedipine, (+/-)-nitrendipine, and (+)-PN200-110. The low-affinity sites appear to be stereospecific since (-)-PN200-110 (1-200 microM) did not affect the dissociation rate. The possible involvement of guanine nucleotide binding proteins in dihydropyridine binding has been investigated by studying the effects of guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S) and guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (GDP beta S) on binding parameters. At a concentration of 10 microM, neither GTP gamma S nor GDP beta S significantly affected the binding of dihydropyridines to their high-affinity sites. GTP gamma S did, however, increase the ability of (+/-)-Bay K8644, but not of (+/-)-nitrendipine, to accelerate the rate of dissociation of tightly bound (+)-[3H]PN200-110. GDP beta S did not affect the dose dependence of either the agonist or the antagonist.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." (Genesis 1.4). We could start this paper producing some outrageous statements; the sort of statements that in Middle Ages would call the attention and anger of Torquemada and would take us to open fire; and, as a matter of fact, some centuries latter Rudolf Carnap would probably do as much. The first would do so because of the statement itself; the latter because of its consequences. Indulge us for a while. The very first line of this paper, its title in fact and the weird formatting is not an accident or a misunderstanding of the rules of proper academic writing. They are part of the argument we are planning to deliver: in short, religion and science come together when it comes to light and basically light is, either way you look at it, the sacred essence of the universe. Today's science considers the cosmological theory the best explanation for the universe.


The compression process is one of the most energy-consuming stages of the entire cycle of the carbon dioxide capture and storage. a reduction in the energy consumption of this process may have a significant impact on the overall net eciency of electricity generation. One method to improve the eciency of the compression process is to introduce inter-stage cooling, which makes it possible to cause compression to resemble an isothermal process. This paper presents an analysis of the operation of a cooling system of an eight-stage integrally geared compressor working for a 900 MW coal-fired power plant equipped with a CCS system. The research conducted enables rational values of the heat transfer coecient to be determined for individual inter-stage coolers. a series of calculations is performed in this analysis for dierent assumptions and for an assumed geometry of the inter-stage coolers. The results obtained allow one to determine both the heat exchange surface area and the pressure drops on the "hot" and "cold" agent sides for individual coolers. Moreover, the presented analysis identifies a number of problems that arise when selecting the configuration and the appropriate parameters of the cooling system.


Reflecting the emphasis of recent work in the field of trade and the environment, this review focuses on empirical issues, primarily econometric estimates of the pollution haven effect and simulation-based calculations of carbon leakage. A brief discussion of the theory explains why intuition from partial equilibrium models may not carry over to a general equilibrium setting.


Deposits of Wadi gravel are available in many parts of the Gulf region, but not widely utilized as aggregate for concrete, mainly due to the possibility of internal sulfate attack, plus the perceived risk of alkali aggregate reactivity (AAR). This paper describes the investigations for AAR of the Wadi gravel in this case, as part of the wider study described in Part 1 of this paper. Wadi gravel from the Mekaines site in Qatar was subjected to petrographic analysis, plus the gel-pat and accelerated mortar-bar test methods. The AAR potential was found to be low to normal. The accelerated mortar-bar test exhibited 'innocuous' behaviour after 14 days of immersion in alkali solution. When separately testing the constituent rock types of the Wadi gravel, limestone and quartz returned innocuous results, while rhyolite, granite and quartzite returned potentially alkali silica reactive (ASR) results and some reaction was confirmed using post-expansion petrographic examination. Wadi gravel was classified as potentially reactive in the RILEM AAR-4.1 accelerated concrete prism test, but of 'low reactivity' in the BS 812-123 test over the longer period of 12 months. Overcoming the potential problems of gypsum content and AAR successfully provides a valuable local resource of Wadi gravel aggregate for concrete.


We investigate the [X/Mg] abundances of 16 elements for 82,910 Galactic disk stars from GALAH+ DR3. We fit the median trends of low-Ia and high-Ia populations with a two-process model, which describes stellar abundances in terms of a prompt core-collapse and delayed Type-Ia supernova component. For each sample star, we fit the amplitudes of these two components and compute the residual Δ[X/H] abundances from this two-parameter fit. We find rms residuals ≲0.07 dex for well-measured elements and correlated residuals among some elements (such as Ba, Y, and Zn) that indicate common enrichment sources. From a detailed investigation of stars with large residuals, we infer that roughly 40% of the large deviations are physical and 60% are caused by problematic data such as unflagged binarity, poor wavelength solutions, and poor telluric subtraction. As one example of a population with distinctive abundance patterns, we identify 15 stars that have 0.3–0.6 dex enhancements of Na but normal abundances of other elements from O to Ni and positive average residuals of Cu, Zn, Y, and Ba. We measure the median elemental residuals of 14 open clusters, finding systematic ∼0.1–0.4 dex enhancements of O, Ca, K, Y, and Ba and ∼0.2 dex depletion of Cu in young clusters. Finally, we present a restricted three-process model where we add an asymptotic giant branch star (AGB) component to better fit Ba and Y. With the addition of the third process, we identify a population of stars, preferentially young, that have much higher AGB enrichment than expected from their SNIa enrichment.


Food security is a growing global concern. To meet the needs of an ever-growing population, food production practices will need to evolve to maximize food quantity and quality. Controlled-environment food production has increased significantly in the United States over the past 5 years, and a component of that production includes hydroponic food crops. In an effort to better prepare a workforce with knowledge of hydroponic crop production, a new course was added to an existing greenhouse curriculum. A service-learning project was integrated in the course that allowed students to experience both growing crops hydroponically and volunteering at a local food bank with a free meal program. Self-assessment showed a significant increase in student confidence in understanding food security by the end of the course. There was also a significant knowledge gained in defining terminology, factors, and the impact of food security in a community. The three guided reflections students completed during the course identified four common themes relative to the course content and service-learning project including the following: community benefits, value of volunteering, local and global effects of food insecurity, and personal growth.


This study was designed to examine the effects of an intervention program aimed at improving reading, spelling, and vocabulary skills through linguistically explicit instruction in morphological awareness. Sixteen children, diagnosed with language impairment, participated in this study. Instruction for the experimental group focused on increasing their knowledge of the morphological structure of words and teaching them to apply this information to reading, spelling, and vocabulary tasks. The control group was exposed to the same treatment stimuli, but no attention was given to the semantic or orthographic changes associated with the use of the affixes. Participants in the experimental group made significantly greater gains in both spelling and vocabulary skills than did the control group with large effect sizes noted on the experimental measures. The participants also demonstrated the ability to generalize this information to untaught words as well. The results suggest that linguistically explicit instruction in morphological awareness is beneficial for improving the literacy and language skills of children with language impairment.


In this paper, I outline how the "piracy panic narrative" (Arditi, 2015) has repositioned the fan/musician dynamic in the digital era, from one between maker and listener to one between labourer and thief. The paper questions if the press has fairly assessed the fan/musician dynamic in the digital era and examines who has directly benefited from the reorganization of the relations between producer and consumer. The article provides a contemporary history of the American and Canadian music industries' response to file sharing, crisis and piracy. Drawing on data from the 2017 Music Canada report on the Value Gap, the essay ultimately concludes that those most affected by the repositioning of the producer/consumer dynamic are not the various stakeholders whose voices are most frequently heard, but actually the musicians. The piracy panic narrative is thus nothing but an exercise in creating smoke and mirrors; music industries depict themselves as victims, all the while quietly rearranging their business practices to maintain a long-held position as gatekeeper.


A measurement technique based on the simultaneous implementation of Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF), Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) has been applied to the study of wavy liquid falling film flows characterized by low Reynolds (Re) and Kapitza (Ka) numbers. The presently examined Re number range was 2.2 – 8.2, while the Ka number range was 28.6 – 41.4. The experimental methodology was developed with the ultimate aim of allowing for the evaluation of the local and instantaneous film thickness, interfacial velocity and velocity field from within the illuminated liquid volume underneath the wavy interface. The major challenges associated with the simultaneous implementation of the two optical diagnostic techniques were, firstly, the development of a refractive index correction approach allowing for liquids of different properties (surface tension and viscosity) to be tested, secondly, the identification of the location of the two liquid boundaries (solid-liquid and gasliquid) in the LIF images, and lastly, the isolation of out-of-plane reflections from primary scattering regions in the raw PIV images. Following a detailed account of the novel practices formulated and utilized in tackling the aforementioned challenges, the efficacy of the proposed methodology is demonstrated through comparisons between laser-based measurements conducted in flat films, film thickness measurements performed with a micrometer, and the solution to the Navier-Stokes equation based on the assumptions of one-dimensional (1-D), steady and fully developed flow. In addition, sample film topology results are presented for a range of flow pulsation frequencies (1 – 8 Hz), while film thickness and interfacial velocity time traces were reconstructed and are presented along with film thickness and interfacial velocity statistical results for select flow conditions.


Four feline renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) were examined using histopathological and immunohistochemical procedures. Specimens were classified by predominant histological pattern according to WHO criteria. A panel of antibodies including β-catenin, C-KIT, VEGF and VEGF-R2 and double immunostaining for vimentin/cytokeratin and for E-cadherin/CD10 was selected to characterize the tumors. Neoplasms were classified as tubular (3/4) and papillary (1/4). Neoplastic epithelial cells were cytokeratin, vimentin, E-cadherin, VEGF-R2 positive and C-KIT negative; 3 cases were β-catenin positive, whereas only 2 tumors were CD10 and VEGF positive. No correlation with histotype was evident. Our results confirm the low frequency of RCCs in cats and suggest a histological pattern similar to canine RCCs. In contrast, a peculiar immunohistochemical profile different from both canine and human RCCs is identified.


The purpose of this study was to better understand the role obesity plays in the inflammatory response during sepsis, specifically regarding the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway in the liver. We hypothesized that inhibiting STAT3 would lead to an increase in the inflammatory response and that obesity would amplify this effect. To investigate this, we inhibited STAT3 in two ways: pharmacological systemic inhibition and genetic hepatic-specific inhibition. In pharmacological inhibition studies, male C57BL/6 mice were randomized to a high-fat (60% kcal fat) or normal (16% kcal fat) diet for 6-7 wk and pretreated with Stattic before inducing sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture. In genetic inhibition studies, mice were randomized by genotype before induction of sepsis. To investigate obesity in mice with hepatic-specific STAT3 inhibition, we randomized mice to a high-fat or normal diet as described above for 6 mo before induction of sepsis. Body composition was analyzed using EchoMRI. We found that systemic STAT3 inhibition by Stattic resulted in an increased inflammatory response and that obesity amplified this effect. We also found that genetically inhibiting STAT3 in the liver resulted in higher mortality, increased inflammation, and liver injury. High-fat-fed mice with hepatic STAT3 inhibition gained more weight and had more fat than control mice on the same diet, and obesity increased neutrophil infiltration to the liver of these mice during sepsis. In conclusion, STAT3 plays an important regulatory role in the inflammatory response during sepsis, and obesity contributes to the dysregulated response observed when STAT3 is inhibited.


A look at the history of female beauty and how it has been perceived since the end of the Vctorian era. The text highligts the major changes in the female image over the years. Each chapter covers one decade outlining the current look at the time. Within each decade, the particular reasons for that look are then examined, such as the developments in corsetry and underwear, make-up, fabrics, hair styling and accessories. The social issues and political events that affected the way women were perceived, and the key personalities and innovators of feminine style are also outlined.


An efficient implementation of the MPI_BCAST operation is crucial for many parallel scientific applications. The hardware multicast operation seems to be applicable to switch-based infiniband cluster systems. Several approaches have been implemented so far, however there has been no production-ready code available yet. This makes optimal algorithms to a subject of active research. Some problems still need to be solved in order to bridge the semantic gap between the unreliable multicast and MPI_BCAST. The biggest of those problems is to ensure the reliable data transmission in a scalable way. Acknowledgement-based methods that scale logarithmically with the number of participating MPI processes exist, but they do not meet the supernormal demand of high-performance computing. We propose a new algorithm that performs the MPI_BCAST operation in a practically constant time, independent of the communicator size. This method is well suited for large communicators and (especially) small messages due to its good scaling and its ability to prevent parallel process skew. We implemented our algorithm as a collective component for the Open MPI framework using native infiniband multicast and we show its scalability on a cluster with 116 compute nodes, where it saves up to 41% MPI_BCAST latency in comparison to the "TUNED" OpenMPl collective.


Histone deacetylases (HDAC) shift the balance towards chromatin condensation and silence gene expression. Aberrant recruitment of HDACs to alter transcription suggests the use of HDAC inhibitors (HDAC-Is) as potential therapeutic candidates for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Post mortem studies of PD, characterised by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurones in the substantia nigra, have linked α-synuclein toxicity and oxidative stress to the pathogenesis of the disorder. Interestingly HDAC-Is have been shown to prevent αsynuclein and 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP)-induced cellular toxicity in vitro, but there is limited reports on the inhibition HDACs in in vitro and in vivo models of PD. For this reason, the effects of the HDAC-Is, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) and valproic acid (VPA) were investigated in in vitro and in vivo models of PD. Neither inhibitors protected dopaminergic cell lines, SH-SY5Y and N1E-115, against hydrogen-peroxide (H2O2) and MPP induced toxicity. Except, at the highest concentrations (10M), where SAHA tended to decrease cell death. However, in the more complex rat ventral mesencephalic cultures, although HDAC-Is did not protect dopaminergic neurones against MPPor Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced toxicity, interestingly, they reduced the number of astrocytes and activated microglia suggesting a positive anti-inflammatory effect. The effects of the HDAC-Is were then assessed in the 6hydroxydopamineand LPS-lesioned mouse models of PD. Both SAHA and VPA protected dopaminergic neurones and decreased the number of astrocytes in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), although the number of active microglial cells were not reduced except at the highest dose of VPA. The results suggest that although the HDAC-Is, SAHA and VPA, are toxic to the immortalised dopaminergic cells in vitro, they protect nigral dopamine cells from toxin-induced cell loss in vivo. The reduction in astrocyte and microglia activation induced by the HDAC-Is suggest they may exert their protective effects by reducing inflammation associated with PD.


Background Kidney transplantation is the therapy of choice for end-stage kidney disease. Graft's life span is shorter than expected due in part to the delayed diagnosis of various complications, specifically those related to silent progression. It is recognized that serum creatinine levels and proteinuria are poor markers of mild kidney lesions, which results in delayed clinical information. There are many investigation looking for early markers of graft damage. Decreasing kidney graft cortical microcirculation has been related to poor prognosis in kidney transplantation. Cortical capillary blood flow (CCBF) can be measured by real-time contrast-enhanced sonography (RT-CES). Our aim was to describe the natural history of CCBF over time under diverse conditions of kidney transplantation, to explore the influence of donor conditions and recipient events, and to determine the capacity of CCBF for predicting renal function in medium term. Patients and Methods RT-CES was performed in 79 consecutive kidney transplant recipients during the first year under regular clinical practice. Cortical capillary blood flow was measured. Clinical variables were analyzed. The influence of CCBF has been determined by univariate and multivariate analysis using mixed regression models based on sequential measurements for each patient over time. We used a first-order autoregression model as the structure of the covariation between measures. The post-hoc comparisons were considered using the Bonferroni correction. Results The CCBF values varied significantly over the study periods and were significantly lower at 48 h and day 7. Brain-death donor age and CCBF levels showed an inverse relationship (r: -0.62, p<0.001). Living donors showed higher mean CCBF levels than brain-death donors at each point in the study. These significant differences persisted at month 12 (54.5 ± 28.2 vs 33.7 ± 30 dB/sec, living vs brain-death donor, respectively, p = 0.004) despite similar serum creatinine levels (1.5 ± 0.3 and 1.5 ± 0.5 mg/dL). A sole rejection episode was associated with lower overall CCBF values over the first year. CCBF defined better than level of serum creatinine the graft function status at medium-term. Conclusion RT-CES is a non-invasive tool that can quantify and iteratively estimate cortical microcirculation. We have described the natural history of cortical capillary blood flow under regular clinical conditions.


Objective: There are a few data regarding the long-term clinical outcomes of durable polymer (DP) drug-eluting stents (DES) versus bio absorbable polymer (BP) drug-eluting stents treatment in patients with right coronary artery (RCA) chronic total occlusion (CTO). The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of these stents according to their polymer-based difference. Methods: Between June 2013 and August 2016, 66 RCA CTO patients enrolled in the study. Fortyseven patients with successful CTO recanalization of RCA via ante grade or retrograde approach using either DP (n=25) and BP (n=22) were scheduled for 6, 12, and 18 months clinical follow-up. Primary clinical outcomes were cardiac death and major adverse cardiac events (MACE). Results: RCA CTO success rate was 71%. There was no difference in Japanese-CTO (JCTO) scores between two groups. Total stent length was longer in BP group, and it was statistically significant (p=0.015). The incidence of cardiac death was not significant between the two groups. After propensity score matching, TVR rates were 12.0% for DP group and 9.1% for BP group at the end of the 18th month (hazard ratio [HR]=0.815; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.123–5.418; p=0.832) and composite MACE rates were 16.0% for DP group and 15.0% for BP group (hazard ratio [HR]=0.926; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.182–4.718; p=0.927). Conclusion: This study shows that the efficacy of BP-DES is comparable to that second-generation DP-DES treatment for RCA CTO over 18-month follow-up.


Two experiments were conducted to examine the influence of protein and virginiamycin (VM) supplementation on feedlot growth performance, digestion, and metabolizable AA (MAA) supply of calf-fed Holstein steers. Growth performance and dietary energetics were evaluated in 120 Holstein steers (127 ± 9 kg). During the initial 112-d feeding period, a steam-flaked corn-based diet was balanced to meet either 100% (MAB) or 87% (UREA) of MAA requirements. Diets were supplemented with or without 22.5 mg/kg VM in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Subsequently (d 112 to 308), all steers received the UREA diet with or without VM. During the initial 112-d, MAB increased ADG, G:F, and dietary NE ( < 0.01). Thereafter, when all steers received the UREA diet, ADG, G:F, and dietary NE were not different ( > 0.10) across initial supplementation treatments. Overall (d 1 to 308), MAB did not affect ADG ( > 0.10) but enhanced G:F efficiency ( = 0.03) and dietary NE ( = 0.05). During the initial 112-d period and through the remainder of the experiment, VM increased G:F ( < 0.01) and dietary NE ( < 0.01). Four Holstein steers (146 ± 4 kg) with cannulas in the rumen and proximal duodenum were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design to evaluate initial 112-d treatment effects on digestive function. There were no treatment effects ( > 0.10) on ruminal digestion of OM, NDF, starch, microbial efficiency, or total tract digestion of OM and NDF. The MAB increased indispensable AA flow to the small intestine ( < 0.01) and total tract digestion of N ( < 0.01) and starch ( = 0.04). Observed AA supply to small intestine was in agreement with expected supply ( = 0.96). Virginiamycin decreased ( = 0.04) nonammonia N flow to the small intestine and did not affect ( > 0.10) total tract N digestion. Extrapolating from AA supplies in the metabolism study, MAB satisfied indispensable AA requirements during the initial 112-d period, whereas the UREA diet met 73.5% and 79.2% of methionine and lysine requirements, respectively. During the subsequent periods (d 112 to 308) indispensable AA supplies exceeded theoretical requirements. We conclude that enhancements in energy utilization when diets are balanced to meet MAA requirements of calf-fed Holstein steers during the initial 112-d feedlot period remain appreciable throughout time on feed. Virginiamycin enhanced efficiency of energy utilization throughout the feedlot growing-finishing period.


In this article, we review the controversies regarding how representative Japanese psychological patterns are of an interdependent orientation and discuss understanding these controversies in the context of seeing Japanese youth as being marginalized in their own society. We review specific studies on shifting values and motivational patterns at the individual level and incorporate a sociological perspective to understand the causes of these patterns at the social-structural level. We argue that traditional cultural practices are maintained to protect the senior elites of Japan at a cost of increasing the rift between culture, society, and post-industrial trends. The unsustainability of this rift then ends up asymmetrically marginalizing Japanese youth who bear the brunt of the cost of institutional resistance to globalization pressures. Therefore, the "demotivation" and psychological distancing from interdependent norms among marginalized Japanese youth are not the causes of marginalization, but rather, are an outcome of it. Thus, we argue that psychology of globalization and the psychology of marginalization can go hand-in-hand, especially for societies with dominant institutions that are interdependent, relatively inflexible, seniority-based, and are entering a post-industrial economy due to globalization demands.


This paper exploits a quasi-natural experiment to study the role of information in determining take-up patterns of social benefits in a non-stigma environment. We find that take-up rate of households who have the incentive to search for information for a longer period of time is between 8 and 13 percentage points higher as compared to a control group of households. This result is robust to the inclusion of various household characteristics. Our finding provides strong empirical support for information as an important explanation for low take-up rates.


A Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ cross-whiskers junction has been successfully discovered as a novel intrinsic Josephson junction without using any technique for micro-fabrication. Two Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ whisker crystals were placed crosswise on a MgO substrate and heated at 850 °C for 30 min. They were electrically connected at their c-planes. The measurement terminals were made at the four ends of the whiskers. The I-V characteristics of the cross-whiskers junction at 5 K were found to show a clear multiple-branch structure with a spacing of approximately 15 mV, which is a feature of an intrinsic Josephson junction. The critical current density JC was estimated to be 1170 A cm-2. The branch structure was strongly suppressed by a magnetic field above 1 kOe.


Nitric oxide (NO) regulates platelet activation by cGMP-dependent mechanisms and by mechanisms that are not completely defined. Platelet activation includes exocytosis of platelet granules, releasing mediators that regulate interactions between platelets, leukocytes, and endothelial cells. Exocytosis is mediated in part by N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF), an ATPase that disassembles complexes of soluble NSF attachment protein receptors. We now demonstrate that NO inhibits exocytosis of dense granules, lysosomal granules, and alpha-granules from human platelets by S-nitrosylation of NSF. Platelets lacking endothelial NO synthase show increased rolling on venules, increased thrombosis in arterioles, and increased exocytosis in vivo. Regulation of exocytosis is thus a mechanism by which NO regulates thrombosis.