Abstract Although recent thermodynamic models predict a low-temperature miscibility gap in the pyropealmandine- grossular garnet solid-solution series, coexistence of two immiscible garnets consistent with the calculated miscibility gap has not been demonstrated previously. Here we report the discovery of such a coexistence in nature, which provides direct evidence for immiscibility in the pyropealmandine- grossular system. Garnet inclusions were found near solidified fluid/melt inclusions in a single pyrope crystal collected from the ultramafic diatreme at Garnet Ridge, Arizona. Microprobe analyses close to the contact between the pyrope host and one garnet inclusion yield formulae of (Mg1.98Ca0.52Fe0.50Mn0.02)(Al1.89Cr0.09)Si3O12 for the host and (Mg1.28Ca1.31Fe0.41Mn0.02)(Al1.93Cr0.07)Si3O12 for the inclusion. High-resolution analytical traverses across the two-garnet boundary reveal that the compositional difference between the inclusion and the host increases as the contact is approached, implying that the two garnet grains represent an immiscible pair rather than a disequilibrium coexistence. The compositions of the coexisting garnets are in good agreement with those predicted from recent thermodynamic mixing models for pyrope-almandine-grossular garnet.


Local variations in the reactivity of NO on the Ru s0001d-s1 3 1dH surface have been probed with a supersonic molecular beam. The presence of adsorbed hydrogen atoms creates an elastic scatteri channel in the specular direction, concomitant with a suppression of the initial sticking probability. Argon is scattered in a qualitatively similar, but instrumentally limited, specular peak from the same surface. The well characterized position of the hydrogen atoms allows the scattering to be related to collisions at the threefold hollow sites within the surface unit cell. [S0031-9007(97)03398-X]


The supramembrane layer of cells in various parts of renal nephron in rats and dogs was determined with the help of colloid ferrum. The study of the chemical composition of the supramembrane layer of podocytes, epithelium of the distal tubules, thin segment, collecting tubules and endothelia of blood capillaries revealed in it the presence of carboxyl groups referring to sialic acid, the latter being bound with protein, not with lipids.


[1] Two 3He/SF6 dual-gas tracer injections were conducted during the Southern Ocean Gas Exchange Experiment (SO GasEx) to determine gas transfer velocities. During the experiment, wind speeds of up to 16.4 m s−1 were encountered. A total of 360 3He and 598 SF6 samples were collected at 40 conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) rosette casts and two pumped stations. The gas transfer velocity k was calculated from the decrease in the observed 3He/SF6 ratio using three different approaches. Discrete points of wind speed and corresponding k were obtained from the change in 3He/SF6 ratio over three time intervals. The results were also evaluated using an analytical model and a 1-D numerical model. The results from the three approaches agreed within the error of the estimates of about ±13%–15% for Patch 1 and ±4% for Patch 2. Moreover, 3He/SF6 dual-tracer results from SO GasEx are similar to those from other areas in both the coastal and open ocean and are in agreement with existing parameterizations between wind speed and gas exchange. This suggests that wind forcing is the major driver of gas exchange for slightly soluble gases in the ocean and that other known impacts are either intrinsically related to wind or have a small effect (<20% on average) on time scales of the order of days to weeks. The functionality of the wind speed dependence (quadratic or cubic) cannot be unequivocally determined from SO GasEx results.


and Co ions and subsequent reduction with sodium tetrahydroborate. The sulfonic group, as a cation exchange group, was introduced onto the polyimide resin surface through 16 M H2SO4/0.05% H2O2/1 M (CH3CO)2O mixed solution treatment. The amount of Ni +2 and Co ions adsorbed increased with increase of sulfuric acid concentration. Adsorption of 1200 nmol/cm of Ni and 1000 nmol/cm of Co adsorption was observed when the surface was treated with 16 M sulfuric acid. The average thickness of Ni and Co alloy thin film after the reduction process was estimated to be about 150 nm. The maximum conductivity obtained was 0.042 S/sq(11.9 Ω/sq) when the ions-adsorbed surface is treated with 0.007 M sodium tetrahydroborate and, under this condition, it gave a bright metallic Ni-Co alloy appearance. After reduction, each test sample permitted direct copper electroplating at cathode current density of 2 A/dm.


Abstract. Controls on nitrate leaching from upland moorland catchments are not yet fully understood and yet, despite agreements on emission reductions, increased surface water nitrate concentrations may affect significantly the acidity status of these waters in the future. At Lochnagar, an upland moorland catchment in N.E. Scotland, 12 years of surface water chemistry observations have identified a steady increase in nitrate concentration despite no measured change in inorganic nitrogen deposition. The MAGIC model has been applied to simulate a "best case" situation assuming nitrate in surface water represents "hydrological" contributions (direct run-off) and a 'worst case' assuming a nitrogen saturation mechanism in the catchment soil. Only the 'saturation' model is capable of matching the 12 years of observation for nitrate but both model structures match the pH and acid neutralising capacity record. Future predictions to 2040, in response to the agreed emission reductions under the Gothenburg Protocol, are markedly different. The worst case predicts continued surface water acidification whilst the best case predicts a steady recovery. Keywords: nitrogen saturation, modelling, Lochnagar, Gothenburg Protocol


Recently, as a new perspective to view the architecture in relation to global environmental problems, interest in environmental architecture that conforms to the surrounding environment and nature with nature has been expanded as a part of the natural ecosystem, rather than seeing the building as an independent entity. Traditional Korean architecture creates a comfortable indoor environment by appropriately using the natural energy around, ranging from the arrangement of the building and the space composition to the use of detailed materials and to harmonize the artificial architectural environment without harming the natural ecosystem. The purpose of this study is to propose a method to apply the environmental control techniques of traditional buildings to modern buildings. As a research method, the characteristics of Korean traditional buildings according to the climatic characteristics of Korea were recognized through existing literature data and when applied to methods of traditional buildings, ventilation systems, control through eaves, and humidity control using Hanji the effect of energy load control on traditional buildings was analyzed and identified through existing literature. After analyzing the problems of modern architecture, we analyzed the effect of the environmental control system of traditional architecture on modern architecture. Simulation results show that the application of the environmental control system of traditional buildings to modern buildings reduces the cooling and heating load of modern buildings and has an effect on humidity control. This study suggests that quantitative energy saving will be possible if the environmental control techniques of traditional buildings are appropriately applied to modern buildings.


Adaptation and reaction-time techniques were used to examine the role of different spatial-frequency channels in the perception of local and global structure. Subjects were shown figures consisting of a large C composed of smaller Cs and asked to identify the orientation of either the global C or its local elements. Prior to performing the task subjects were adapted to different spatial frequencies and the effect on subsequent performance was assessed. Two main results were found. First, the adapting frequency that most affected the global task was often lower than that most affecting the local task, suggesting that high and low frequencies independently code the structure of an image. Second, reaction time to global figures was often faster than to local figures at all levels of detectability, again suggesting a role of low-frequency channels in global processing.


Introduction: The non-invasive diagnosis of liver lesions is usually achieved with contrast material-enhanced computed tomography and Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging. Dynamic three dimensional gradient-recalled-echo MR imaging provides dynamic contrast-enhanced thin-section images with fat saturation and a high signal-to-noise ratio and is excellent for the evaluation of various focal hepatic lesions. Aim: To explore the effectiveness and hence the clinical utility of plain and contrast MR characterisation of focal hepatic lesions in patients and their correlation with the histopathological findings. Materials and Methods: The present study was a multicenteric study done on both Inpatients and Outpatients of Department of Radiology of Tertiary care hospitals in Bengaluru, from January 2020 to August 2020. A total of 42 patients diagnosed with focal liver lesions by Ultrasonography were included in this study. Plain MRI study was done by using spin echo technique and contrast MRI study was done after rapid bolus injection (0.1 mmol/kg body weight) of gadolinium dimeglumine. Pathological and post-operative histopathological findings were noted. Microsoft excel software was used for data analysis and tables were prepared for comparison of collected data. Specificity and sensitivity were calculated for diagnostic accuracy of MRI. Results: This study included forty-two patients in total, twenty-five male and seventeen female patients, in age group of 15 to 84 years with a mean age of 48 years. Metastasis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) were most common malignant lesions in liver while Hemangiomas were most common benign lesions followed by simple and complex cysts and hepatic adenoma. The present study calculated the specificity and sensitivity of MRI of focal hepatic lesions and correlated the findings clinically, pathologically and histopathologically. The specificity of MRI for characterisation of focal liver disease was high (90.4%). Specificity of MRI for HCC was found to be 96.7 % and that for metastasis was 97% while sensitivity for Haemangiomas is found to be 100%.MRI is superior compared to other modalities like ultrasound and CT in having high spatial resolution. Multiple sequences like T1, T2 and fat suppression techniques like IN PHASE, OUT OF PHASE helps in demonstrating lesion characters like architecture, margin, haemorrhage, fat component and vascular invasion of the lesions. Conclusion: MRI is valuable for the characterization of focal liver lesions detected on Ultrasonography. Basic MRI sequences along with chemical shift imaging sequences and dynamic contrast imaging has significant role in characterising the focal liver lesions. Despite that, It should be the modality choice for the lesions which are undetected or doubtful on ultrasound and CT examinations.


Suturing of different layers, such as deep lacerations, is a challenging clinical skill for residents. Currently, there is a lack of general suturing instructions and practice in undergraduate medicine curricula which would add to the education required during residency and could be impactful to patient safety. Therefore, in order to adequately prepare trainees for clinical practice, training in suturing needs to be made more robust and executable. One way to facilitate this is to provide easy access to equipment that can offer good educational value while allowing for adequate repetition of suturing deep lacerations outside of clinical settings, similar to how it has been done for superficial lacerations. Simulation-based medical education addresses this by training residents in healthcare skills in a safe and controlled environment. Our technical report aims to describe the development and initial evaluation of a deep laceration simulator designed to train residents in suturing. The simulator was made using additive manufacturing techniques such as three-dimensional printing and silicone. Feedback on the simulator was provided by Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal clinicians from various specialties and residents. The simulator was assessed mainly as being easy to use, durable, and having anatomically accurate characteristics. The main improvements suggested were to make the skin thinner, divide the epidermis and dermis, add a fascia, and create a looser and friable layer of fat. Overall, the respondents rated the simulator as a good educational tool with a few minor adjustments.


This short paper presents the sufficient conditions of stability of the linear systems with delays in such a form that they enable evaluation of the exponential upper bound of the transients of the system in question. Next, the paper yields a method of evaluation of a loss of the value of a quadratic performance index due to the delays in the system. Furthermore, the paper gives a proposal of an improvement of the system performance by use of the simple state variables extrapolator which anticipates the current stste on the basis of the delayed state observation. The numerical examples presented illustrate the theoretical considerations contained in the paper.


Power system networks are becoming interconnected for the purpose of power delivery to decrease the overall power generation cost. With insufficient control, the power systems become more complicated to function and less secure. The economics of AC power transmission have always forced the planning engineers to transmit as much power as possible through a given transmission line. The smaller and thermally limited lines are crowded in many networks while other higher capacity lines run well below their thermal maximum. When series capacitors are introduced in the higher voltage cables, power may be transferred from the overloaded lines, maximizing the use of the existing line as well as complementing the performance of the power system. In this paper, a three-line meshed power system network with different thermal line limits is considered for the purpose of showing effective utilization of line network for maximum power flow through the intended line with series capacitor compensation. The simulations are performed by using PowerWorld simulator confirms the addition of series capacitor increases the power transfer through the line up to its thermal limit


Abstract 1666

NF-κB activation has been linked to the promotion of an assortment of malignancies. While in vitro studies have supported a tumor-promoting role for NF-κB in leukemias, in vivo evidence has not been collected. NF-κB has also been proposed as a therapeutic target for Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemias including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). In this study, we investigate the role the Nfkb1 gene plays in CML and B-ALL using mouse models for these leukemias induced by the BCR-ABL oncogene. Contrary to conventional thinking, we find a tumor-suppressing role for Nfkb1 in BCR-ABL leukemias. To induced CML, we transduced bone marrow cells from 5-FU-primed wild type or Nfkb1 −/− mice with BCR-ABL-GFP retrovirus, followed by transplantation of the transduced cells into lethally irradiated recipient mice. We show that recipients of BCR-ABL-transduced Nfkb1 −/− donor cells developed CML more rapidly than the wild type recipients, correlating to elevated percentages (82.3% vs 38.5%) and total numbers of Gr-1+GFP+ cells in peripheral blood of the mice. We next tested whether the loss of Nfkb1 also accelerated B-ALL development under the B-ALL-inducing conditions, and show that recipients of BCR-ABL-transduced Nfkb1 −/− donor cells succumbed to B-ALL more quickly than the wild type recipients. These results suggest that Nfkb1 does not stimulate leukemia growth, and instead, it plays a tumor-suppressing role in CML and B-ALL. Because these findings are opposite from what people believe in the field, we confirmed our findings by conducting a rescue experiment. The Nfkb1 gene encodes the p105 protein; roughly half of p105 product is selectively proteolyzed to yield the p50 transcription factor. In this rescue experiment, we transduced Nfkb1 −/− donor cells with BCR-ABL alone or BCR-ABL and p50 of Nfkb1 to induce leukemia, and we show that acceleration of leukemia development caused by the Nfkb1 loss is partially reversed by p50. To study the underlying mechanism, we focused on CARD11, because it plays a critical role in mediating NF-κB signaling in lymphocytes. We find that CARD11 expression is induced in myeloid and increased in lymphoid cell lines expressing BCR-ABL. Furthermore, we induced B-ALL using Card1 −/− mice. We find that similar to the loss of Nfkb1 , the loss of Card11 expression also accelerates the development of B-ALL. To increase human relevance of our findings, we overexpressed p50 in human K562 cells by retroviral transduction with p50-IRES-GFP or empty vector, and find that FACS-sorted p50/GFP K562 cells grow significantly slower than empty vector-transduced cells. These findings support an idea that Nfkb1 signaling suppresses BCR-ABL-induce leukemia at least partially through a CARD11-dependent mechanism. In summary, our results demonstrate that Nfkb1 plays a tumor-suppressing role in BCR-ABL-induced leukemias, arguing that we should be careful when targeting of Nfkb1 in leukemia treatment.

Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


ABSTRACT There is a high burden of human papillomavirus (HPV) associated cancers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Reducing the recommended dosing schedule from two doses to one makes the vaccine schedule logistically simpler and lowers the cost. This could make the distribution of the current vaccine supply more equitable and lead to the protection of more people. However, the clinical trials studying the efficacy of a single-dose schedule have not yet delivered final results. Against this background, the question is whether a single-dose HPV vaccine recommendation is appropriate now, and if so, what are the ethical considerations of such a recommendation? We developed three ethical recommendations: (1) adopt a holistic view of evidence to justify policy decisions; (2) prioritize the reduction in global disparities in decision-making at all levels; and (3) be transparent in the reporting of how key stakeholder interests have shaped the collection and interpretation of the evidence, and ultimate decisions. The complex discussion regarding the HPV single-dose vaccine schedule highlights the need for in-depth engagement globally to improve our understanding of country-specific contexts, and how those contexts influence decisions regarding the HPV vaccine single-dose recommendation.


Gail Finney, University of California, Davis. "Introduction"Part I. Questions of Methodology and AestheticsCh. 1. Questions of Methodology in Visual Studies, Nora M. Alter Ch. 2. The Interarts Experiment in Early German Film, Ingeborg Hoesterey Ch. 3. From Dance to Film: The Cinematic Art of Leni Riefenstahl and Dorothy Arzner, Dagmar von Hoff Ch. 4. The Photographic Comportment of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Blake Stimson Ch. 5. Ready, Set, Made! Joseph Beuys and the Critique of Silence, Jan Mieszkowski Ch. 6. Las Vegas on the Spree: The Americanization of the New Berlin, Janet WardPart II. Gender And SexualityCh. 7. Magnus Hirschfeld and the Photographic (Re)Invention of the 'Third Sex,' David James Prickett Ch. 8. (Un)Fashioning Identities: Ernst Lubitsch's Early Comedies of Mistaken Identity, Valerie Weinstein Ch. 9. Cigarettes, Advertising, and the Weimar Republic's Modern Woman, Barbara Kosta Ch. 10. Brecht, Fassbinder, and Queer Montage, Patrick Greaney Ch. 11. Activism, Alterity, Alex & Ali: Writing Germany's First Gay Sitcom, Thomas J. D. Armbrecht Ch. 12. Gender, Imperialism, and the Encounter with Islam: Ruth Beckermann's Film A Fleeting Passage to the Orient, Dagmar C. G. LorenzPart III. Political DimensionsCh. 13. Cartographic Claims: Colonial Mappings of Poland in German Territorial Revisionism, Kristin Kopp Ch. 14. Face/Off: Hitler and Weimar Political Photography, Lutz Koepnick Ch. 15. 'Send in the Clowns': Carnivalizing the Heil-Hitler Salute in German Visual Culture, Peter Arnds Ch. 16. Visual Signaling Systems in East German Political Cabaret: The Case of Berlin's Distel, Michele Ricci Ch. 17. Reframing Celan in the Paintings of Anselm Kiefer, Eric Kligerman


The relationship between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and executive function (EF) has recently attracted attention within psychology, following reports of substantial SES disparities in children's EF. Adding to the importance of this relationship, EF has been proposed as a mediator of socioeconomic disparities in lifelong achievement and health. However, evidence about the relationship between childhood SES and EF is mixed, and there has been no systematic attempt to evaluate this relationship across studies. This meta-analysis systematically reviewed the literature for studies in which samples of children varying in SES were evaluated on EF, including studies with and without primary hypotheses about SES. The analysis included 8760 children between the ages of 2 and 18 gathered from 25 independent samples. Analyses showed a small but statistically significant correlation between SES and EF across all studies (rrandom  = .16, 95% CI [.12, .21]) without correcting for attenuation owing to range restriction or measurement unreliability. Substantial heterogeneity was observed among studies, and a number of factors, including the amount of SES variability in the sample and the number of EF measures used, emerged as moderators. Using only the 15 studies with meaningful SES variability in the sample, the average correlation between SES and EF was small-to-medium in size (rrandom  = .22, 95% CI [.17, .27]). Using only the six studies with multiple measures of EF, the relationship was medium in size (rrandom  = .28, 95% CI [.18, .37]). In sum, this meta-analysis supports the presence of SES disparities in EF and suggests that they are between small and medium in size, depending on the methods used to measure them.


Introduction: Soil-transmitted helminth infection is a major contributor to anemia which is associated with morbidity and mortality during pregnancy in endemic regions like Nigeria. This study assessed the predictors of helminthic infections among pregnant women attending Antenatal clinics in the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Abeokuta, Ogun State. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women attending the Antenatal (ANC) of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, FMC, Abeokuta. Systematic random sampling was used for selecting study participants and semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was employed for data collection. Stool samples were collected from the participants and formol-ether concentration technique was used for stool examination. Besides, eggs of helminths were identified and quantified. Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22. Associations were tested using the Chi-square test. Predictors of helminths infection were determined using the logistic regression analysis. Level of significance was set at 5%. Result: One hundred and seventy-four (174) women participated in the study. The mean age (SD) of the pregnant women was 30.44 (4.87) years. The majority (81.6%) had a tertiary level of education. The prevalence of intestinal helminth infection among the respondents was 21.8%. Ascaris lumbricoides (9.2%) was the most prevalent helminth, followed by hookworm infestation (7.5%) and Trichuris trichuria infestation (3.4%). The predictors for helminthic infestation among the respondents were aged 30 years and below (1.000; 0.23–1.20), pregnant women who had primary education and below (1.74; 0.72–3.06), and use of pit latrine and bush as waste disposal method (2.31; 0.86–6.21. Respondents who practiced handwash were less likely to have a helminthic infection (0.98; 0.11–9.08). Conclusion:Ascaris lumbricoides is the most commonly found helminth among the study population. Low education and poor hygiene were significant risk factors for helminthic infection among pregnant women.


We explore whether the pattern of international equity returns, equity portfolio flows, and exchange rate returns are consistent with the hypothesis that (unhedged) global investors rebalance their portfolio in order to limit their exchange rate exposure when there are (1) relative equity return and (2) exchange rate shocks. We also explore whether (3) equity flow shocks influence the exchange rates and relative equity prices. In the estimation of the VAR system we do not impose any causal ordering upon the primitive shocks, but instead identify the system based on theoretical priors about the contemporaneous conditional correlations between the three variables. International data for the five largest equity markets are consistent with a theory in which equity returns and portfolio rebalancing are an important source of exchange rate dynamics.


In many sensor networks the nodes are static and node connectivity is matter to changes because of disturbance in wireless communication, transmission power varies, or loss of synchronization between neighbouring nodes. Hence, the immediate neighbours is aware of its next sensor, it must continuously maintain its view, we call this process as continuous neighbour discovery. In this work we distinguish between neighbour discovery during sensor network initialization and as well as in it's network life time. We focus on the latter and view it as a joint task of all the nodes in every connected segment. Each sensor employs a simple protocol in a coordinate effort to reduce power consumption without increasing the delay required to detect hidden sensors in the network.


Meningococcal arthritis is a recognized manifestation of Neisseria meningitidis infection, the presentation of which may be confusing. Although arthritis occurs in the setting of meningococcal meningitis, it may also be seen as a primary event without neurological involvement and with or without cutaneous manifestations. We describe a patient with primary meningococcal arthritis and review the literature relating to the clinical types and pathogenic mechanisms. Comparisons of patient series from 1980 to the present with those reported before 1980 are described.


Abstract Pyrethroids are a class of synthetic insecticides that are used widely in and around households to control the pest. Concerns about exposure to this group of pesticides are now mainly related to their neurotoxicity and nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurodegeneration seen in Parkinson's disease. The main neurotoxic mechanisms include oxidative stress, inflammation, neuronal cell loss, and mitochondrial dysfunction. The main neurodegeneration targets are ion channels. However, other receptors, enzymes, and several signalling pathways can also participate in disorders induced by pyrethroids. The aim of this review is to elucidate the main mechanisms involved in neurotoxicity caused by pyrethroids deltamethrin, permethrin, and cypermethrin. We also review common targets and pathways of Parkinson's disease therapy, including Nrf2, Nurr1, and PPARγ, and how they are affected by exposure to pyrethroids. We conclude with possibilities to be addressed by future research of novel methods of protection against neurological disorders caused by pesticides that may also find their use in the management/treatment of Parkinson's disease.


BACKGROUND
The IFCC Reference Measurement System for hemoglobin (Hb)A(1c) (IFCC-RM) has been developed within the framework of metrologic traceability and is embedded in a network of 14 reference laboratories. This paper describes the outcome of 12 intercomparison studies (periodic evaluations to control essential elements of the IFCC-RM).

METHODS
Each study included: unknown samples (to test individual network laboratories); known samples (controls); recently manufactured calibrators (to check calculated assigned value); stored calibrators (to test stability) and a calibration-set (to calibrate the IFCC-RM). The unknown samples are measured by use of the IFCC-RM and the designated comparison methods [DCMs; the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP) in the US, Japanese Diabetes Society/Japanese Society for Clinical Chemistry (JDS/JSCC) in Japan, and Mono-S in Sweden] are used to investigate the stability of the Master Equation (ME), the relationship between IFCC-RM and DCMs.

RESULTS
A total of 105 IFCC-RM data sets were evaluated: 95 were approved, 5 were not, and for 5 no data were submitted. Trend analysis of the MEs, expressed as change in percentage HbA(1c) per year, revealed 0.000% (NGSP, not significant), -0.030%, (JDS/JSCC; significant) and -0.016% (Mono-S; not significant). Evaluation of long-term performance revealed no systematic change over time; 2 laboratories showed significant bias, 1 poor reproducibility. The mean HbA(1c) determined by laboratories performing mass spectrometry (MS) was the same as the mean determined by laboratories using capillary electrophoresis (CE), but the reproducibility at laboratories using CE was better. One batch of new calibrators was not approved. All stored calibrators were stable.

CONCLUSION
A sound reference system is in place to ensure continuity and stability of the analytical anchor for HbA(1c).


Abstract : Our approach has focused on exploring the physical characteristics of the coronal heating mechanisms, as manifested in coronal holes, quiet regions and active regions, using different data sets, data analysis techniques and image processing tools. The main results from these studies can be summarized as follows: (1) Temperature inferences in different coronal structures rely on the spectral lines used. Their judicious choice is particularly crucial for reliable inferences in coronal holes. (2) Limits on the helium abundance in the inner corona can be inferred from knowledge of the temperature and density, and their gradients in that region. (3) There exists a characteristic spatial separation of 10"-15" between the substructures within coronal holes, that is independent of the temperature of the emitting plasma, or the large scale overlying magnetic field. (4) Different temperature plasmas coexist at coronal heights regardless of the overlying large scale structure, such as active regions, quiet regions or coronal holes, and within these structures. (5) The spatial distribution of the temporal variability of the coronal emission has a very distinct temperature dependence, with a peak at 100,000 K, and is independent of the structure of the overlying large scale magnetic field. (6) In regard to some of the most spectacular forms of dynamic magnetic events, namely corona mass ejections, nonthermal emission as manifested in the form of type I noise storms observed at 90 cm, can serve as predictors for the occurrence of these events.


The tumor suppressor protein p53 is a sequence-specific transcription factor that has crucial roles in apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, cellular senescence, and DNA repair. Following exposure to a variety of stresses, p53 becomes post-translationally modified with concomitant increases in activity and stability. To better understand the role of acetylation of Lys-317 in mouse p53, the effect of ionizing radiation (IR) on the thymocytes of p53K317R knock-in mice was studied at the global level. Using cleavable ICAT quantitative mass spectrometry, the effect of IR on protein levels in either the wild type or p53K317R thymocytes was determined. We found 102 proteins to be significantly affected by IR in the wild type thymocytes, including several whose expression has been shown to be directly regulated by p53. When the effects of IR in the wild type and p53K317R samples were compared, 46 proteins were found to be differently affected (p < 0.05). The p53K317R mutation has widespread effects on specific protein levels following IR, including the levels of proteins involved in apoptosis, transcription, and translation. Pathway analysis of the differently regulated proteins suggests an increase in p53 activity in the p53K317R thymocytes as well as a decrease in tumor necrosis factor α signaling. These results suggest that acetylation of Lys-317 modulates the functions of p53 and influences the cross-talk between the DNA damage response and other signaling pathways.


A method is proposed for the determination of nitroxide-reducing capacity (NRC) of erythrocytes, and other cells, based on measurements of reduction of a nitroxide stable free radical in cell suspensions by ESR spectroscopy. Comparison of different age fractions of bovine erythrocytes by this method demonstrates a decrease in NRC during cell aging in vivo.


We analyze and evaluate a generative process for multiple-instance learning (MIL) in which bags are distributions over instances. We show that our generative process contains as special cases generative models explored in prior work, while excluding scenarios known to be hard for MIL. Further, under the mild assumption that every negative instance is observed with nonzero probability in some negative bag, we show that it is possible to learn concepts that accurately label instances from MI data in this setting. Finally, we show that standard supervised approaches can learn concepts with low area-under-ROC error from MI data in this setting. We validate this surprising result with experiments using several synthetic and real-world MI datasets that have been annotated with instance labels.


Background Huntington's disease (HD) is characterised by involuntary movements, cognitive decline and psychiatric symptoms such as aggressiveness, and depression. In most cases involuntary movements and psychiatric symptoms are controlled by antipsychotic drugs, but sometimes side effects as parkinsonism or worsening of depression and apathy can reduce the therapeutic window of these drugs. Aims To evaluate the beneficial effect of Valproic Acid on psychiatric symptoms such as agitation and aggressiveness as well as depression in HD. Methods 10 symptomatic genetically confirmed HD patients (mean CAG repeat 40±2), mean disease duration (8±2 years) on antipsychotics, all with aggressiveness defined as disabling by the patients along with the care giver, were included in an open unblinded trial. Clinical evaluation including motor (UHDRS), psychiatric (NPI) and cognitive scales (MMSE) was performed at baseline and after 6 and 12 months of Valproic Acid (from 300 up to 1000 mg die). Results In our cases we reported a reduction of 10 points of NPI score in each patient persisting 1 year after the introduction of Valproate without any side effect reported. Conclusions The beneficial effect of Valproic Acid on aggressive patients is well documented since 19971 and, to our knowledge, there are only two case reports2 3 that support this effect in such psychiatric disturbance in HD. However no systematic study was done so far in this topic. Moreover, the successful use of Valproic acid in controlling aggressiveness allowed us not to increase the daily dose of neuroleptic, so preventing motor and psychiatric side effects. References 1. Haas S, Vincent K, Holt J, et al. Divalproex: a possible treatment alternative for demented, elderly aggressive patients. Ann Clin Psychiatry 1997;9:145–7. 2. Grove VE Jr, Quintanilla J, DeVaney GT. Improvement of Huntington's disease with olanzapine and valproate. N Engl J Med 2000;343:973–4. 3. Rask G, Anderson C. Good effect of valproate against aggression in Huntington disease. Only two cases reported earlier. Lakartidningen 2010;107:3060–1.


Background: The standard treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer involves chemo-radiation followed by brachytherapy. However, some patients are unable to undergo brachytherapy intensification. Recent advancements in radiation technology have provided several techniques, with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) theoretically able to mimic the dose distribution of brachytherapy with a high dose gradient. Methods: We analyzed 20 high-dose-rate intra-cavity brachytherapy plans for women with cervical cancer and simulated an adjunctive stereotactic radiotherapy plan at the same doses used for brachytherapy (21 Gray [Gy] in three fractions). No planning tumoral volume (PTV) margin was added for SBRT dosimetry. We used the dose constraints for brachytherapy from the EMBRACE trial and the dose constraints for SBRT in three fractions. Dose distribution, maximum dose points on target volumes, bladder, rectum, and dose-volume histograms were compared between the two techniques. Results: The mean volume of the high-risk clinical tumoral volume (CTV) was 64 cm3, and the mean volume of the intermediate-risk CTV was 93 cm3. The mean minimum dose received by 90% of the high-risk CTV (D90 CTV HR) was 17 Gy for brachytherapy versus 8.3 Gy for SBRT. The average minimum dose received by 90% of the intermediate-risk CTV (D90 CTV IR) was 7.5 Gy for brachytherapy versus 8.9 Gy for SBRT. The mean minimum dose delivered to 2cc of the bladder was 74.6 Gy for brachytherapy versus 84.7 Gy for SBRT. The mean minimum dose delivered to 2cc of the rectum was 71.8 Gy for brachytherapy versus 74.7 Gy for SBRT. Conclusion: We confirmed the dosimetric superiority of brachytherapy over SBRT in terms of target volume coverage and organ-at-risk sparing. Therefore, pending the results of further clinical studies, no current radiotherapy technique can replace brachytherapy for cervical cancer boost after external radiotherapy.


Lactoferrin is a member of the transferrin family of multifunctional iron binding glycoproteins. While numerous physiological functions have been described for lactoferrin, the mechanisms underlying these functions are not clear. To further study the functions and mechanisms of lactoferrin, we modified the lactoferrin promoter of mice using the CRISPR/Cas9 system to reduce or eliminate lactoferrin expression. Seven mice with lactoferrin promoter mutations were obtained with an efficiency of 24% (7/29) by injecting the plasmid pX330, expressing a small guide RNA and human codon- optimized SpCas9, into fertilized eggs of mice. Plasmid integration and off-targeting of pX330 were not detected. These results confirmed that pronuclear injection of a circular plasmid is a feasible and efficient method for targeted mutagenesis in mice.


ABSTRACT I have been asked in this essay to review two recent books of Thomas Hylland Eriksen and to place them in the context of contemporary debates in anthropology. The first two sections of this review essay discuss the recent Eriksen book Overheating, and the co-edited book Identity Destabilised, outlining the books' core arguments. Bracketing these reviews, the essay examines the larger issue of anthropologists and the general public. It asks, now that many anthropologists have realised the importance of reaching a larger audience, why are they not being more widely read? It considers various reasons for this, and suggests that since the most fundamental ideas of the discipline have been superseded by more sophisticated and diverse modes of analysis, anthropological explications of the world may no longer have much appeal to a larger audience.


transmitted infections in teenagers attending a genitourinary clinic in south east London. Sex Transm Infect 2002;78:349-51 5 Andersson-Ellstrom A, Forssman L, Milsom I. The relationship between knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases and actual sexual behaviour in a group of teenage girls. Genitourin Med 1996;72:32-6 6. Shain RN, Piper JM, Newton ER, Perdue ST, Ramos R, Champion JD, et al. A randomised controlled trial of a behavioural intervention to prevent sexually transmitted disease among minority women. N Engl J Med 1999;340:93-100 Sarah Creighton Department of Genitourinary Medicine, Camden Primary Care Trust Rob Miller Department of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Royal Free and University College Medical School


Departing from a system of two nonautonomous amplitude equations, demonstrating hyperbolic chaotic dynamics, we construct a one-dimensional medium as an ensemble of such local elements introducing spatial coupling via diffusion. When length of the medium is small, all spatial cells oscillate synchronously, reproducing the local hyperbolic dynamics. This regime is characterized by a single positive Lyapunov exponent. The hyperbolicity survives when the system gets larger in length so that the second Lyapunov exponent passes zero and the oscillations become inhomogeneous in space. However, at a point where the third Lyapunov exponent becomes positive, some bifurcation occur that results in violation of the hyperbolicity due to the emergence of one-dimensional intersections of contracting and expanding tangent subspaces along trajectories on the attractor. Further growth of the length results in the two-dimensional intersections of expanding and contracting subspaces that we classify as a stronger type of the violation. Beyond the point of the hyperbolicity loss, the system demonstrates an extensive spatiotemporal chaos typical for extended chaotic systems: when the length of the system increases the Kaplan-Yorke dimension, the number of positive Lyapunov exponents and the upper estimate for Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy grow linearly, while the Lyapunov spectrum tends to a limiting curve.


CONTEXT
New generations of hematology analyzers have made the routine automated quantification of immature granulocytes (IGs) in peripheral blood samples accessible as a powerful clinical parameter.

OBJECTIVE
The use of IGs has previously been studied mostly in hospitalized patients with sepsis. We investigated the use of IGs in the outpatient setting. Establishment of precise normal outpatient IG reference ranges is a prerequisite for clinically meaningful interpretation of the parameter.

DESIGN
We analyzed a large outpatient population comprising more than 2400 samples to determine age-stratified normal reference ranges for IGs.

RESULTS
Using nonparametric statistical approaches, we show that 1-tailed 95th percentile estimates for relative and absolute IG concentrations up to the age of 10 years are 0.30% and 30.0 µL(-1), respectively. For individuals above the age of 10 years, the respective 95th percentile estimates are approximately twice as large at 0.74% and 60.0 µL(-1). No differences were seen between male and female reference ranges. Taking nonparametric 90% confidence intervals for each estimate into account, we recommend the following IG upper reference range limits for routine outpatient use: 0.30%/40.0 µL(-1) (≤10 years) and 0.90%/70.0 µL(-1) (>10 years). Up to the age of 10 years, the most common pathologies associated with elevated IG counts in outpatients were infections, in particular, otitis media, upper and lower respiratory infections, and gastroenteritis. By contrast, above the age of 10 years, the most common causes were hematologic malignancies, drug therapy (glucocorticoids, chemotherapy), severe infections, and pregnancy (young females).

CONCLUSIONS
The use of appropriate reference ranges makes IGs a powerful hematologic parameter for outpatient care that is associated with differential diagnoses that are distinctly characteristic of that setting.


The authors make an analysis of surgical treatment of 24 patients with right hemicolectomy and the formation of ileotransversoanastomosis. Depending on the method of the formation of interintestinal anastomosis the patients were divided into 2 groups: in the first group of 8 (33.3%) patients the ileotransversoanastomosis was formed by a traditional method using double row seams; in the second group of 16 (66.7%) the ileotransversoanastomosis was formed using a modified method of invagination using a single row seams. The authors based on the investigation performed make a conclusion that the results of right hemicolectomy depend on the method of forming the interintestinal anastomosis, the formation of ileotransversoanastomosis by a "classical" variant is fraught by the development of reflux enteritis. The authors propose a technique of formation of ileotransversoanastomosis by the method of invagination using a 1 row seam, performing the function of the valve, prevents regurgitation of the intestinal contents and is a measure of prophylactics of reflux-enteritis.


BACKGROUND
 Aging of the global population is slowly paving the way for new markets for care products and services. The desire of older people to maintain their independence while remaining at home is boosting the development of ambient assisted living (AAL) solutions. Lack of user awareness of AAL solutions paired with an insufficient use of user-centered and participatory design approaches in the development of these products has hindered the uptake of these solutions by end users.

 OBJECTIVE
 This study aims to describe the usability and users' experiences within a novel platform, ActiveAdvice, aimed at offering advice and a holistic market overview of AAL products and services.

 METHODS
 Usability tests were performed on the developed platform among identified prospective end users, with 32 older adults and informal carers from 4 European countries being part of the user tests. The usability and appeal of the web interface design, information flow, and information architecture were analyzed by collecting both objective and subjective measures. These would include pretest and posttest surveys, along with a series of think-aloud tasks to be performed within the platform.

 RESULTS
 The outcomes suggest that the ActiveAdvice platform's objectives and functionalities are mostly aligned with the needs and expectations of end users, who demonstrated interest in using it, stressing its purpose along with its simple and intuitive interaction. Task completion rates were high, and participants had good satisfaction rates when navigating the platform. However, the tests still advocate for an improved design at some points and better disclosure of information.

 CONCLUSIONS
 Our findings shed light on a few peculiarities of interface design, information architecture, user needs, and preferred functionalities, which should be applied to future developments of similar platforms with related services. The AAL field could benefit from tools supporting the dissemination of available AAL solutions and how they can improve one's quality of life. These tools may benefit not only older adults but also caregivers, business owners, and governmental employees.


Research on sex-specific aspects of cardiovascular disease and its prevention has been hampered on many fronts. In the past, women were excluded from clinical research studies as a result of efforts to protect them from risk. In 1985, the US Public Health Service Task Force on Women's Health Issues concluded that this exclusion of women from clinical trials had led to a lack of sufficient knowledge about women's biology and that this had compromised the health of women.1 The National Institutes of Health (NIH) changed its policy on the inclusion of women of childbearing age in clinical research in 1986.2 In 1990, a General Accounting Office (GAO) report examined change in the inclusion of women in NIH-sponsored research and found that the NIH guidelines were not being followed as the number of women included had not appreciably improved.3 The report also noted that even in those studies that included women, sex-specific analysis was rarely undertaken or reported. The GAO report led to the establishment of the NIH Office on Research on Women's Health to ensure that women are included in NIH-funded clinical studies unless a clear justification existed for their exclusion. Guidelines established stated that the NIH would ensure that trials were designed and performed in such a manner that sex-specific results could be validly analyzed and that progress reports be required.4 The passage of the NIH Revitalization Act in 1993 turned these guidelines into law.5 In addition to requiring the inclusion of women and minorities in clinical trials, the Act stipulated that cost could not be used as an excuse for excluding these groups and that outreach efforts be put in place for recruitment.


3D lithium vanadium phosphate/reduced graphene oxide porous structures are prepared using a facile lyophilization process. The 3D porous nature of these lyophilized electrodes along with their high surface area lead to high rate capability and specific capacity. A high specific discharge capacity of ≈192 mAh g−1 is observed at 0.5 C. The cycling performance is noteworthy, as these lyophilized samples at 0.5 and 1 C do not show any fading, even after 1000 and 5000 cycles, respectively. Capacity retention of ≈96.2% is observed at the end of 10 000 cycles at 20 C. This remarkable cycling performance is attributed to the structural stability of the 3D porous network and is confirmed using scanning electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction after 10 000 cycles of consecutive charging and discharging at 20 C.


A temporal (constraint) language is a relational structure with a first-order definition in the rational numbers with the order. We study here the complexity of the Quantified Constraint Satisfaction Problem (QCSP) for temporal constraint languages. Our main contribution is a dichotomy for the restricted class of duallyclosed temporal languages. We prove that QCSP for such a language is either solvable in polynomial time or it is hard for NP or coNP. Our result generalizes a similar dichotomy of QCSPs for equality languages [BC10], which are relational structures definable by Boolean combinations of equalities.


Purpose Because caffeine and endocrine-disrupting compounds are present in the human diet, the goal of this study was to assess the embryonic effects of low doses of caffeine and 17-beta estradiol (E2) via oral exposure in the mother. As endpoints of effects, we examined whether or not embryonic exposure to caffeine and E2 produced hypospadias, an endocrine-linked abnormality of the male genitalia, and we also assessed fetal mass. Exposure to androgens during development is thought to result in larger male offspring. Caffeine exposure is known to result in smaller offspring, and it served as a real-time control for mass effects with E2. Materials and Methods Timed-pregnant CD1 mice were treated with caffeine in a water vehicle or E2 in a sesame oil vehicle via oral gavage. Mice received caffeine in doses of 5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, or 15 mg/kg or vehicle only or E2 in doses of 10 μg/kg, 100 μg/kg, or 200 μg/kg, or vehicle only on embryonic days 12 through 17. On embryonic day 19 the embryos were collected and weighed. Genital tubercles of the treated embryos were microdissected and sectioned for histological analysis. Treated and control embryonic urethral casts were also examined for developmental differences. Liquid plastic in the ratio of 1 mL:1 drop:1 drop Base Solution:Catalyst:Promotor was injected into the embryonic bladder to form a urethral cast. The liquid plastic was allowed to set at room temperature for 1 hour before the tissue was fixed in formalin overnight. The tissue was digested in 20% KOH in order to visualize the cast. Results Caffeine-treated mice demonstrated a dose-dependent reduction in mass in both male and female fetuses. In contrast, E2-treated mice demonstrated a sex-specific reduction in mass. E2 dose was inversely correlated with mass overall. Male fetuses from the two highest E2 dosage groups were significantly smaller than their control male counterparts, and males from the highest E2 dosage group were significantly smaller than control females. E2 control males were significantly larger than all females, and there was no difference in mass among control and treated females. Serial histological sections and urethral cast data demonstrated no difference in development of the genital tubercle between caffeine-treated mice and controls or E2-treated mice and controls. Conclusions Our results indicate a dose-dependent reduction in mass with administration of caffeine. We found a sex-specific fetal effect from low-dose orally administered E2, which appears to exert androgen-inhibiting effects on mass in males.


Single and double asymmetric inductions were achieved by the sodium borohydride reduction of α-ketoesters in the presence of chirai phase transfer catalysts. The quaternary ammonium salts with hydroxyl group in the substituent moiety showed the effective catalytic activity. The reduction of (–)-(3R)-menthyl benzoylformate gave (3R)-menthyl (S)-mandelate in contrast to the prediction by the Prelog rule.


These are the notes from the first half of a course in behavioral economics offered in Uruguay in November 2014. This part of the course, entirely verbal, was aimed at outlining the essentials of behavioral economics. The principal assignments were from the second edition of Edward Cartwright's Behavioral Economics. The second part of the course, taught by Dr. Martin Egozcue, is not included. It emphasized prospect theory, mental accounts and inter-temporal decision making, and featured substantial mathematical input.


A germinoma is described which was confirmed histologically by a stereotactic biopsy, and which had not been adequately demonstrated by CT. By means of NMR the pathological changes were shown in their entire extent, corresponding with the complex clinical situation.


When discussing disaster education, the usual focus in more on the school or family or community education. Very little focus has been given so far to higher education. However, higher education (college and university) is the key to professional development in the subject. Higher education in disasters is still lacking in most countries and regions. In this context, the lessons of environment or the field of sustainable development can provide useful tips. Of equal importance to higher education is not only the curriculum, but the approach or mode of delivery. To develop an appropriate higher education, a system of educational governance is important (COE, 2005). Given the role education has for overall societal and economic development, it is necessary to ensure the responsiveness of higher education to the changing needs and expectations of society. In this respect, it is important to ensure participation of external actors in the governance of higher education and to allow the flexibility to accommodate the continually change needs and requirements over time. COE (2005) made several recommendations for higher education that can be considered as the base of disaster education in colleges and universities. These include: serving the needs and expectations of the society, having appropriate academic freedom, having a process of setting up long-terms goals and developing appropriate strategies for achieving them, providing reasonable scope of innovation and flexibility in research, promoting good educational governance through regional and international networks, and ensuring quality control of teachers and students.


The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how, in response to that critical readings in the Biblical studies, historical criticism, formalism, new criticism, structuralism, feminism etc have been later arisen on the agenda of Qur'anic hermeneutics – parallel to the developments in literary theory. The material which I have looked at is theoretical debates on how to interpret the Bible and the Qur'ān in contemporary world. In this regard, Biblical studies, in the twentieth century, have tended to be in dialogue with various contemporary literary critical theories which are concerned with such questions as the cultural and historical context of the Bible, the meaning and significance of the sacred text, its structure, the relations between the reader and the way of reading the sacred text. This study has examined some of the crucial applications of critical methods to Biblical studies around the concepts of author, text and reader.


This study presents design, fabrication, and measurement of a metamaterial absorber (MA) based on discontinuous cross-wire-strip (CWS) resonators. This suggested that MA has a simple geometry configuration and introduces perfect absorption approximately 99.79% at 3.42 GHz for simulation and 99.72% at 3.44 GHz for experiment. In addition, the designed model can be used to realize the broadband absorber for desired frequency ranges. Besides, numerical simulations validate that the MA could achieve very high absorptions at wide angles of incidence for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic waves. The experimental results are in good agreement with the numerical simulations. Moreover, this study presents a numerical analysis in order to explain physical interpretation of MA mechanisms in detail. The proposed model and its variations enable myriad potential applications such as stealth and radar technologies.


Enantiomers of nine arylglycine amides synthesized were successfully separated by capillary electrophoresis (CE) using highly sulfated beta-cyclodextrin (HS-beta-CD) as a chiral selector. Baseline enantioseparation of the analytes was obtained within 6 min at neutral pH but not the commonly used acidic condition. HS-beta-CD content, buffer type and concentration, and non-chiral additive were studied and optimized for high resolution and fast speed. A reproducible running buffer system composed of 15 g/L HS-beta-CD, 0 or 10% (volume fraction) methanol and 20 mmol/L 3-(N-morpholino) propane sulfonic acid at pH 6.5 was obtained. The D-enantiomer always migrated ahead of the L-enantiomer for all the 9 pairs of arylglycine amides. The migration order was found to be dependent on the structure of the solutes.


Social media provides a mechanism for people to engage with social causes across a range of issues. It also provides a strategic tool to those looking to advance a cause to exchange, promote or publicize their ideas. In such instances, AI can be either an asset if used appropriately or a barrier. One of the key issues for a workforce diversity campaign is to understand in real-time who is participating - specifically, whether the participants are individuals or organizations, and in case of individuals, whether they are male or female. In this paper, we present a study to demonstrate a case for AI for social good that develops a model to infer in real-time the different user types participating in a cause-driven hashtag campaign on Twitter, ILookLikeAnEngineer (ILLAE). A generic framework is devised to classify a Twitter user into three classes: organization, male and female in a real-time manner. The framework is tested against two datasets (ILLAE and a general dataset) and outperforms the baseline binary classifiers for categorizing organization/individual and male/female. The proposed model can be applied to future social cause-driven campaigns to get real-time insights on the macro-level social behavior of participants.


The alteration of climate is driven not only by anthropogenic activities, but also by biosphere processes that change in conjunction with climate. Emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from vegetation may be particularly sensitive to changes in climate and may play an important role in climate forcing through their in ̄uence on the atmospheric oxidative balance, greenhouse gas concentration, and the formation of aerosols. Using the VEMAP vegetation database and associated vegetation responses to climate change, this study examined the independent and combined effects of simulated changes in temperature, CO2 concentration, and vegetation distribution on annual emissions of isoprene, monoterpenes, and other reactive VOCs (ORVOCs) from potential vegetation of the continental United States. Temperature effects were modelled according to the direct in ̄uence of temperature on enzymatic isoprene production and the vapour pressure of monoterpenes and ORVOCs. The effect of elevated CO2 concentration was modelled according to increases in foliar biomass per unit of emitting surface area. The effects of vegetation distribution re ̄ects simulated changes in species spatial distribution and areal coverage by 21 different vegetation classes. Simulated climate warming associated with a doubled atmospheric CO2 concentration enhanced total modelled VOC emission by 81.8% (isoprene + 82.1%, monoterpenes + 81.6%, ORVOC + 81.1%), whereas a simulated doubled CO2 alone enhanced total modelled VOC emission by only + 11.8% (isoprene + 13.7%, monoterpenes + 4.1%, ORVOC + 11.7%). A simulated redistribution of vegetation in response to altered temperatures and precipitation patterns caused total modelled VOC emission to decline by 10.4% (isoprene ± 11.7%, monoterpenes ± 18.6%, ORVOC 0.0%) driven by a decline in area covered by vegetation classes emitting VOCs at high rates. Thus, the positive effect of leaf-level adjustments to elevated CO2 (i.e. increases in foliar biomass) is balanced by the negative effect of ecosystem-level adjustments to climate (i.e. decreases in areal coverage of species emitting VOC at high rates).


Objective: Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) are widely researched as contrast agents in clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). SPIONs are frequently coated with anti-biofouling substances such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to prevent protein deposition and improve circulation time in vivo. The aim of this study is to optimize SPION MR properties with respect to physicochemical properties of the core SPION and the polymeric coating to better understand the interaction of these parameters and the efficacy of the designed agent. Methods: We used different methods of chemical attachment of a polymer, polymer chain length, and polymer coating density and examined their effects on the MR relaxivities of SPIONs. Results: These studies indicate that the chemical composition and, in particular, the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of the chemical group linking PEG chains to a SPION core may play a larger role in the resulting MR relaxivities than other variable properties such as SPION core size and PEG chain length. Conclusions: The method of SPION fabrication and chemical composition of the coating play a significant role in the MR relaxivities of the resulting particles. These results should be considered in the fabrication of particles for clinical purposes, particularly when optimization of the MR relaxivities is desired.


The discovery of the lithium superionic conductor Li10GeP2S12 (LGPS) has led to significant research activity on solid electrolytes for high-performance and safe solid-state batteries. LGPS exhibits a remarkably high room-temperature Li-ion conductivity of 12 mS/cm, comparable tothat of the liquid electrolytes used in current Li-ion batteries. Here, we predict that nanosizing of LGPS can be used to further enhance its already outstanding Li-ion conductivity. By utilizing state-of-the-art nanoscale molecular dynamics techniques, we are able to simulate the Li-ion conductivities of nanocrystalline LGPS systems with average grain sizes from 10 to 2 nm. Our results reveal that the Li-ion conductivity of LGPS increases with decreasing grain volume. For the smallest nanometric grain size, the Li-ion conductivity at room temperature is three times higher that of the bulk system. These findings reveal that nanosizing LGPS and related solid electrolytes could be an effective approach for enhancing their Li-ion conductivity.


It is well known that badly managed tourism leads to serious environmental and socio-cultural problems throughout the world if not managed responsibly. Mass tourism is accepted as "the construction of large-scale tourism facilities and infrastructures on natural and cultural resources, leading to a depletion, fragmentation or degradation of the environmental resource base with other environmental-social problems" in the scope of this study. Worldwide, a significant proportion of natural lands and forests has been used for the construction of mass tourist facilities. Similar to many parts of the world, natural resource depletion-land use change characterised by deforestation or forest fragmentation, environmental degradation and pollution-related problems are major environmental impacts of mass tourism development on forests in Turkey. This study examines the impacts of mass tourism development on forests and focuses on deforestation and forest fragmentation as the most critical impacts with specific reference to Turkey and Belek, a popular destination in the Mediterranean region. The study also handles the conceptual framework of mass tourism and forest-tourism relations in terms of forest policy.


The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the use of donor human milk in infants when mother's own milk is not available. Our objective was to analyze whether the use of donor human milk in preterm, very-low-birth-weight (VLBW, <1500 g) infants affected the rates of necrotizing enterocolitis, duration of parenteral nutrition (PN), growth, culture-positive sepsis, length of hospital stay, and mortality in an urban NICU population with low exclusive breast-feeding rates. A retrospective cohort study was conducted comparing two 2-year epochs of VLBW neonates before and after the introduction of donor breast milk in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). With the introduction of donor human milk, there was a significant reduction in the rate of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) (5% vs. 13%; p = 0.04) and less severe NEC as defined by Stage III based on the Modified Bell Staging Criteria (10% to 3%; p = 0.04). In the donor milk era, there was earlier initiation of enteral feeding (2.69 days vs. 3.84; p = 0.006) and a more rapid return to birthweight (9.5 days. 10.9 days; p = 0.006). In this study, a change in practice to the use of donor breast milk in a population with low rates of human milk provision was associated with earlier initiation of enteral feeding, faster return to birth weight, and a reduced incidence of NEC.


ABSTRACT Degradative strains of fast-growing Mycobacteriumspp. are commonly isolated from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated soils. Little is known, however, about the ecology and diversity of indigenous populations of these fast-growing mycobacteria in contaminated environments. In the present study 16S rRNA genes were PCR amplified usingMycobacterium-specific primers and separated by temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE), and prominent bands were sequenced to compare the indigenous Mycobacteriumcommunity structures in four pairs of soil samples taken from heavily contaminated and less contaminated areas at four different sites. Overall, TGGE profiles obtained from heavily contaminated soils were less diverse than those from less contaminated soils. This decrease in diversity may be due to toxicity, since significantly fewerMycobacterium phylotypes were detected in soils determined to be toxic by the Microtox assay than in nontoxic soils. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of prominent TGGE bands indicated that novel strains dominated the soil Mycobacteriumcommunity. Mineralization studies using [14C]pyrene added to four petroleum-contaminated soils, with and without the addition of the known pyrene degrader Mycobacterium sp. strain RJGII-135, indicated that inoculation increased the level of degradation in three of the four soils. Mineralization results obtained from a sterilized soil inoculated with strain RJGII-135 suggested that competition with indigenous microorganisms may be a significant factor affecting biodegradation of PAHs. Pyrene-amended soils, with and without inoculation with strain RJGII-135, experienced both increases and decreases in the population sizes of the inoculated strain and indigenous Mycobacterium populations during incubation.


This historical retrospective explores the history of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis from its initial observations to the first surgical approaches to modern understandings of pathogenesis. The important work of Hirschsprung, Fredet, and Ramstedt remains a foundational part of management for this complex condition.


Objectives Patients are increasingly reporting about their healthcare experiences online and NHS Trusts are adopting different approaches to responding. However, the sociocultural contexts underpinning these organisational approaches remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the sociocultural contexts underpinning three organisations who adopted different approaches to responding to online patient feedback. Methods Recruitment of three NHS Trusts was theoretically guided, and determined based on their different approaches to responding to online patient feedback (a nonresponding organisation, a generic responding organisation and an organisation providing transparent, conversational responses). Ethnographic methods were used during a year of fieldwork involving staff interviews, observations of practice and documentary analysis. Three in-depth case studies are presented. Findings The first organisation did not respond to or use online patient feedback as staff were busy firefighting volumes of concerns received in other ways. The second organisation adopted a generic responding style due to resource constraints, fears of public engagement and focus on resolving known issues raised via more traditional feedback sources. The final organisation provided transparent, conversational responses to patients online and described a 10-year journey enabling their desired culture to be embedded. Conclusions We identified a range of barriers facing organisations who ignore or provide generic responses to patient feedback online. We also demonstrated the sociocultural context in which online interactions between staff and patients can be embraced to inform improvement. However, this represented a slow and difficult organisational journey. Further research is needed to better establish how organisations can recognise and overcome barriers to engaging with online patient feedback, and at pace.


An acute decrease in cardiac performance can result from a reduced free triiodothyronine (FT3) level following (i) brain death (euthyroid sick syndrome), (ii) a period of cardiopulmonary bypass, and possibly (iii) regional or global myocardial ischemia. The two major pathophysiologic effects of brain death are (i) vascular injury associated with the hemodynamic consequences of the autonomic 'storm', and (ii) a generalized inhibition of mitochondrial function, which results in diminished organ function from the loss of energy stores from a rapid loss of circulating FT3. Deterioration of donor organ function can be reversed by hormonal replacement therapy, in which T3 plays a critical role. This results in (i) an increased number of organs being functionally acceptable, and (ii) increased early and intermediate graft survival. Cardiopulmonary bypass is associated with a reduction in the circulating level of FT3, and this can be associated with deterioration in cardiac function. The administration of T3 at the time of discontinuation of cardiopulmonary bypass reverses this state. In patients undergoing heart transplantation, T3 therapy to both donor and recipient is beneficial.


Objectives To report on the incidence of unintentional firearm discharge and injury across the UK Armed Forces and present several cases of this wounding phenomenon. Method Munitions Incidents and Defects (MID) Cell data on UK Military Negligent Discharges and unintentional firearm injuries from 01 Jan 03 to 31 Dec 07 was categorised according to cause of injury, wound, service affiliation, incident context and weapon type. The injuries of three patients are described. Results Over the 5 year period there were 1158 Unintentional firearm discharges, forty three (4%) of which resulted in injury. Fifty five military personnel sustained unintentional firearm injuries during the review period, more than half of which were gunshot wounds and this included one fatality. The Regular Army suffers an average of 7.7 unintentional firearm injuries per 100 000 Regular Army person years. Conclusion Unintentional firearm injury is well recognised across the civilian and police sectors worldwide. Despite the recent tempo of high grade training and operations that currently engage UK Armed Forces this form of injury remains uncommon. We hope to facilitate discussion with the chain of command to manage the risk of these injuries.


We undertook a systematic study of Grignard reactions using cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) as a reaction solvent. Diisobutylaluminum hydride was found to be the most appropriate activator of magnesium and a number of Grignard reagents could be prepared as homogeneous or heterogeneous solutions in CPME. The CPME used in the Grignard reaction was efficiently recycled without affecting the reaction yield of the second experiment. GC–MS analysis of the recovered solvent revealed that CPME was stable under the Grignard conditions. Some of the Grignard reagents in CPME were stable for at least several months and therefore these solutions could replace existing commercial reagents. Tramadol hydrochloride, an analgesic that is used worldwide, and tamoxifen, an anti-estrogenic drug for estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer were synthesized using Grignard reactions in CPME.


Aberrant NOTCH1 signaling plays a major role in the pathogenesis of over 60% of T-ALLs harboring activating mutations in the NOTCH1 gene. Most notably, oncogenic NOTCH1 has been proposed as a therapeutic target in NOTCH1 -mutant leukemias and small molecule γ-secretase inhibitors (GSIs), which effectively block NOTCH activation via inhibition of a critical intramembrane proteolytic cleavage required for NOTCH signaling. However, the clinical development of anti-NOTCH1 therapies in T-ALL has been hampered by the limited and delayed therapeutic response to these drugs, making the identification of highly effective and synergistic drug combinations capable of delivering strong antileukemic responses a top priority in the field. Here we identify glutaminolysis as a critical pathway for leukemia cell growth downstream of NOTCH1 and a key determinant of clinical response to anti-NOTCH1 therapies. Mechanistically, inhibition of NOTCH1 signaling in T-ALL induces a metabolic shutdown with prominent inhibition of glutaminolysis and triggers autophagy as a salvage pathway supporting leukemia cell metabolism. Consequently, both inhibition of glutaminolysis and inhibition of autophagy strongly and synergistically enhance the antileukemic effects of anti-NOTCH1 therapies. Moreover, Pten loss and consequent activation of the PI3K pathway induces increased glycolysis and consequently rescues leukemic cell metabolism abrogating the antileukemic effects of NOTCH1 inhibition. Overall, these results identify glutaminolysis as a major node in cancer metabolism controlled by NOTCH1 and as therapeutic target for the treatment of T-ALL. These results highlight the fundamental importance of NOTCH1 signaling in the control of leukemia cell metabolism, extend our understanding of the prominent role of PTEN and the PI3K pathway in the control of oncogenic cell growth and provide the basis for the design of new therapeutic strategies targeting cell metabolism for the treatment of T-ALL. Citation Format: Adolfo Ferrando. Oncogenic signaling pathways and resistance to therapy in T-ALL. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Pediatric Cancer Research: From Mechanisms and Models to Treatment and Survivorship; 2015 Nov 9-12; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(5 Suppl):Abstract nr IA05.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to systematically examine and organize the literature that has explored the effects of several environmental conditions (ECs) on mergers and acquisitions (M&As), in particular highlighting the increasing role of protectionism.

Design/methodology/approach
The systematic literature review methodology was applied for the purpose of identifying, analyzing and interrelating specific ECs that affect M&As, thereby underlining and elucidating the requisite role of protectionism. Specifically, this research is based on 51 methodically selected peer-reviewed articles published from 1991 to 2020.

Findings
The research summarizes and assesses the current state of relevant literature through comprehensive and coherent descriptive and thematic analysis. The proposed conceptual framework allows us to recognize the connections between M&As and external conditions, highlighting varying degrees of study and in-depth analysis across the different areas under consideration.

Originality/value
This study contributes to original and significant knowledge, by developing a conceptual framework that descriptively classifies existing knowledge; by defining refining and explicating the theoretical foundations for scholars to build on; by identifying the research gaps and proposing effective avenues for impactful further research; and by presenting practitioners and policymakers with a practical guide to implementation.


—Robots require the ability to autonomously and continuously react to unexpected online changes in the task definition and in the environment, especially those cohabited with humans. To react to these changes, the task, from the current state up to the finish, must instantly be re-considered. This implies a prohibitive re-computation cost. This paper proposes a modular control architecture based on Model Predictive Control, that offers a good compromise between optimally achieving the task and the required computation time, by only re-considering the near future. This framework offers a generic way to formulate task-related objectives and constraints that dissociates the planning from the execution, which depends mainly on the robot dynamics. The proposal exploits a linear formalization of the MPC in SE(3) to implement this architecture in a high-frequency closed-loop controller, achieving task re-planning at the control rate. The pertinence of the proposed control architecture is demonstrated using experiments with the Franka Emika robots in scenarios where the task to be achieved is modified on the fly.


Treatment effects of RU 23908 antiandrogen (Anandron®) and estrogen in low doses on hormone‐dependent rat prostatic adenocarcinoma (R3327‐H) were investigated. Tumorbearing Copenhagen rats were treated for 6 weeks with 8 μg Anandron and 1 μg estradiol‐17β every two days. Reduction and counteraction of androgen synthesis and action was established by an observed decline in serum testosterone level and by changes in both histology and weight of androgen target organs. Prostate tumor growth rate was significantly retarded in rats treated with Anandron/Estradiol combination compared to untreated intact control and was equal to the slow growth rate in castrate tumor‐bearing animals. Tumor histology changes during treatment correlated with the observed growth rate retardation. Areas of necrosis, metaplasia. and acellularity were more frequently observed in tumors of Anandron/Estradiol‐treated compared to castrated rats. These results suggest that low doses of Anandron and estrogen can effectively be combined as a complete androgen counteracting therapy for hormone‐dependent prostatic carcinoma with minimal undesired side effects.


This paper examines the acoustic and articulatory aspects of vowel production in Ningbo Chinese. Frequency results show that ten normal-length vowels can be well distinguished by four levels of vowel height and two levels of vowel backness in an acoustic F1/F2 plane. Acquired EMA data show that there is no clear correlation between vowel height and articulatory parameters. Results from a PARAFAC modeling of measured tongue articulators show that the complicated tongue shape data can be successfully decomposed into two underlying lingual movement mechanisms, namely the "front raising" and the "retraction and back raising". And both vowel height and vowel backness can be well interpreted in terms of these two underlying tongue movement mechanisms. 1 NTRODUCTION


Creativity is a dimension of child ability in developing science, technological, and artistic. Appropriate parent's care pattern will optimize child's creativity. The purpose of this research was to analyze correlation between parent's care patterns and child creativity's level at Dharma Wanita Kindergarten Kelurahan Bangsal Kediri. The research's design was correlation analytic. The populations were all children and parents at Dharma Wanita Kindergarten Kelurahan Bangsal Kediri. Using Total Sampling, it was obtained 132 respondents who fulfilled inclusion criteria. The independent variable was parent's care patterns while the dependent variable was child creativity's level. The data were collected by the structure interview and questioners. Those were analyzed using the statistical test of lambda with level of significance ρ = 0.05. The result showed significance ρ = 0,028, it meant Ho refused, so that there was correlation between the level of child's creativity and parent's care pattern at Dharma Wanita Kindergarten Kelurahan Bangsal Kota Kediri. Authoritative parent's care pattern optimizes child creativity's level. Further studies are suggested to analyze the other factors that influence the level of child creativity's level which is not yet studied in the recent research. Those are age, the parent's education, the availability of facility, and time spent.


Nuclei were isolated from mouse lymphoma L5178Y cells in the exponential growth phase, and chromatin was prepared by mechanical treatment of the nuclei. The nuclei and the chromatin were then digested to various extents with micrococcal nuclease and the resulting mono- and dinucleosome fractions of the two preparations were compared. During progressive digestion mononucleosomes from chromatin retained H1 histone and a DNA length of 165 base pairs, whereas those from nuclei released H1 histone and the length of their DNA decreased to 140 base pairs at an early stage of digestion. These nucleosomal preparations were always associated with nonhistone proteins. The dinucleosomes from nuclei contained larger amounts of nonhistone proteins than those from chromatin, but half of these proteins was released during the process of cleavage into mononucleosomes. The final mononucleosome preparation from nuclei retained 20% less nonhistone proteins than that from chromatin. The contents of nonhistone proteins in mono- and dinucleosomes from chromatin were the same. The electrophoretical distributions of molecular species of nonhistone proteins in mononucleosomes from nuclei and chromatin were different from each other: during digestion the profile of the former changed, whereas that of the latter remained constant. It is tentatively concluded that both H1 histone and nonhistone proteins were bound to nucleosomes more or less loosely in intact nuclei in situ, but that when the nuclear structure was disrupted these proteins became more tightly bound.


Economic load dispatch (ELD) is one of most fundamental issue for energy generation and distribution in power systems. For this purpose, different optimization techniques are developed and applied to ELD problem. In this paper, vortex search algorithm (VSA) is proposed and used for solving ELD problem. VSA method was developed from nature by observing the state of stirring liquids. Transmission losses, valve point loading effect, ramp rate limits and prohibited operating zone constraints are considered to solve ELD problem with VSA method. The feasibility and effectivity of this method is demonstrated for different cases. Obtained results are compared with different developed algorithms and these results clearly point out that proposed VSA method gives successfully outputs.


Long-term mortality after ablation of typical atrial flutter has been found to be increased two fold in comparison to atrial fibrillation ablations through a period of five years with unclear mechanism.

 We analysed 189 consecutive patients who underwent ablation for typical atrial flutter (AFL), in which the incidence of atrial flutter was the first manifestation of cardiac disease.
 According to clinical standards of our center, the routine recommendation was to evaluate for CAD by invasive angiogram or CT-scan.
 We compared the AFL patients to 141 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AFIB) without known structural heart disease who underwent ablation in the same period and who had routine coronary angiograms performed.

 Out of 189 patients who presented with AFL, coronary status was available in 152 patients (80.4%). Both groups were balanced for mean age (64.9 years in AFL vs. 63.2 years in AFIB; p=0.15), body-mass-index (BMI; 28.8 vs. 28.5 kg/m2; p=0.15), CHA2DS2-VASc-Score (2.20 vs. 2.04; p=0.35), smoking status (22.2% smokers vs. 28.4%; p=0.23) and renal function (GFR >60 ml/min in 96.7% of all patients vs. 95.7%; p=0.76). There were significantly lower values for left-ventricular ejection fraction (52.5% vs. 59.7%; p<0.001), female sex (17.0% vs. 47.5%; p<0.001), hyperlipidemia (37.9% vs. 58.9%; p<0.001) and family history of cardiovascular disease (15.0 vs. 31.9%; p=0.001) in the AFL vs. AFIB cohorts.
 CAD with stenoses >50% was found in 26.3% of all patients with available coronary status in AFL and in 7.0% in AFIB (p<0.001). CAD with stenoses >75% in 16.4% in AFL whereas only in 1.4% in AFIB (p<0.001). Multivessel disease was detected in 10.5% in AFL and 0.7% in AFIB (p<0.001).
 After correction for age, LVEF, BMI, CHA2DS2-VASc-Score and it's individual components, smoking status, hyperlipidemia and family history of cardiovascular disease, there was a more than five-fold increase in the likelihood of CAD with stenosis >50% in AFL as compared to AFIB (OR 5.26).
 A multivariate analysis was performed in the AFL group. Patients with clinically relevant stenoses (>75%) were older (70.6 years vs. 63.8 years; p=0.001), had a higher number of risk factors (3.08 vs. 2.24; p≤0.0016) and a higher CHA2DS2-VASc-Score (3.20 vs 2.00; p<0.0001). With logistic regression, significant CAD could be predicted by higher values for CHA2DS2-VASc-Score with an exponential rise to a pretest-probability of 42.1% at a value of 4 points.
 Odds ratios of CAD with AFL vs AFIB

 This data suggests that typical atrial flutter constitutes a manifestation for previously asymptomatic CAD. Due to the inclusion criteria, CAD has to be considered silent and stable in most of the patients. Therefore, the presence of typical atrial flutter in formerly healthy patients should raise suspicion of otherwise silent CAD and initiate further investigations and risk-stratification with particular emphasis on the individual CHA2DS2-VASc-Scores.


This paper describes an interactive computer-based method for quantifying embryonic chick heart blood pool volumes that have been recorded as digitized image sequences. The primary motivation for the development of such a system is to be able to extract measurement data that is useful for evaluating potential drug-induced effects on intracardiac blood flow while minimizing variabilities in the measurements that typically occur when human evaluators extract the measurements visually from photographs. The processing that is used to achieve this goal can be divided into four basic steps: enhancing the contrast of the digitized embryonic chick heart image, extracting the shape of the blood pool in the embryonic chick heart ventricle from the enhanced image, quantifying the axial dimensions of the blood pool and calculating the required cardiac blood flow data. The technical details and the basic theory motivating each processing step are provided as well as an analysis of the results obtained by applying the method to actual image data.


We carry out a series of local, shearing-box simulations of the outer regions of protoplanetary disks, where ambipolar diffusion is important due to low ionization levels, to better characterize the nature of turbulence and angular momentum transport in these disks. These simulations are divided into two groups, one with far-ultraviolet (FUV) ionization included, and one without FUV. In both cases, we explore a large range in diffusivity values. We find that in the simulations without FUV, the properties of the turbulence are similar to the unstratified simulations of Bai & Stone; for a given diffusivity, the magnetorotational instability (MRI) can still be present so long as the magnetic field is sufficiently weak. Furthermore, the dynamics of the midplane in these simulations are primarily controlled by the MRI. In the FUV simulations on the other hand, the MRI-active FUV layers transport strong toroidal magnetic flux to the midplane, which shuts off the MRI. Instead, angular momentum transport at the midplane is dominated by laminar magnetic fields, resulting in lower levels of turbulent Maxwell stress compared to the no-FUV simulations. Finally, we perform a temporal correlation analysis on the FUV simulations, confirming our result that the dynamics in the midplane region is strongly controlled by the FUV-ionized layers.


A 27-year-old man presented to the emergency department (ED) with a complaint of left eye pain and redness for three days. The eye was initially watery and pruritic and a day later had become completely red and painful. He had no vision changes or antecedent trauma and denied any constitutional or upper respiratory symptoms. Vital signs were normal. The left upper eyelid showed ecchymosis. Pupils were equal and reactive. Visual acuity was 20/25 in both eyes. There was no fluorescein uptake and the remainder of the slit lamp exam was unremarkable.


Macaque monkeys are widely used to study the neural basis of cognition. In the traditional approach, the monkey is brought into a lab to perform tasks while it is restrained to obtain stable gaze tracking and neural recordings. This unnatural setting prevents studying brain activity during natural, social and complex behaviors. Here, we designed a naturalistic environment with an integrated behavioral workstation that enables complex task training with viable gaze tracking in freely moving monkeys. We used this facility to train monkeys on a challenging same-different task. Remarkably, this facility enabled a naïve monkey to learn the task merely by observing trained monkeys. This social training was faster primarily because the naïve monkey first learned the task structure and then the same-different rule. We propose that such hybrid environments can be used to study brain activity during natural behaviors as well as during controlled cognitive tasks.


Solid waste generation rate and characteristics such as density and composition are very important factors in solid waste management planning. Waste generation rate determines the volume required for on-site storage, transportation, transfer facilities and disposal of solid wastes while waste characterization determines the appropriate methods for collection and disposal and the identification of the recycling and resource recovery potential of solid wastes. This paper discusses the solid waste generation and characterization studies in Yangon, Myanmar in 200S. Seventy five (75) households from different income levels in South Okkalapa Township were randomly selected for sampling.The wastes generated were collected once a day at a fixed time for eight successive days to allow variation in waste generation over a week. The total quantity of solid wastes generated in Yangon is about 1,912 tons/dayor 0.465 kg/capita/day. In terms of the solid waste characteristics, the bulk density is 0.25 kg/l or 250 kg/m' that is composed mainly of kitchen wastes and garden trimmings (65 percent); plastics, papers and cardboards (18 percent). and; glass, cans. leather and rubber, and textile (17 percent). This information serves as input to the formulation of the strategic solid waste management plan for Y3I1gon City.


More people are surviving cancer than ever, with nearly 14.5 million cancer survivors currently living in the United States, according to federal statistics. That number is expected to reach 19 million by 2024, largely due to increases in cancer diagnoses in an aging population and advances in cancer treatment and early detection. In 2005, the Institute of Medicine released From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Translation , a landmark report that highlighted a lack of best practices in caring for survivors. Since that report, several initiatives have been implemented to address the needs of the growing survivor population. However, the cancer survivorship experience isn9t the same in all populations. Within medically underserved racial/ethnic populations there are several factors that impact the survivorship experience and quality of life during the survivor period. This presentation will serve as an introduction into the survivorship experiences of different racial/ethnic groups as well as some of the challenges around measuring health related quality of life within these groups. Citation Format: Amelie G. Ramirez. The changing landscape of U.S. cancer survivorship. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Seventh AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 9-12, 2014; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2015;24(10 Suppl):Abstract nr IA27.


In an attempt to construct an analytic theory of anisotropic random flight, the need has arisen to construct phase-functions for which the expansion in spherical harmonics has only a limited number of terms, but which have a high value for the asymmetry parameter g. The authors describe the procedure to find the phase-function which has a maximum value of g for given N, where N is the number of spherical components of the phase-function. It appears that in order to attain g = 0.9, one needs a phase-function composed of at least nine spherical components, or equivalently a polynomial of degree nine.


Introduction: Patients at an advanced stage of heart failure (AHF), specifically chronic severe symptomatic heart failure defined as New York Heart Association III/IV with hospitalization in the year prior, have high mortality, healthcare utilization, and low palliative care involvement. Objectives: The primary objectives were to determine the feasibility of recruiting patients and engaging cardiology and palliative healthcare providers in a program of integrated care for AHF (HeartFull); the proportion of patients who died in non-acute care settings. Secondary objectives were to describe patient-reported outcomes and pre-post comparison of healthcare utilization. Methods: Patients were recruited from an urban academic hospital with expert heart failure care and a 24/7 inpatient and home palliative service. Utilization, disposition, and surveys were collected monthly for up to 20 months. Results: Of 46 patients referred, 30 (65%) agreed to participate, 27 died during the study period, 19 (70%) died in non-acute care settings, while 8 (30%) died in hospital. We found no significant difference in pre- and post-intervention rates of hospitalization (RR .715; CI .360, 1.388; P = .3180), nor emergency visits (RR .678; CI .333, 1.338; P = .2590), but both trended downward. No significant changes were observed in patient-reported outcomes. Conclusion: In an urban academic hospital with palliative care, it was feasible to implement an integrated program for AHF. Patients died at home or in a palliative care unit at rates similar to palliative oncology patients and at higher rates than the general AHF population. HeartFull is now part of clinical practice.


Over the past few years attention has been focused on the automatic detection of spoofing in the context of automatic speaker verification (ASV) systems. However, little is known about how well humans perform at detecting spoofed speech, particularly under degraded conditions. Using the latest synthesis technologies from ASVspoof 2019, this paper explores human judgements of speech authenticity by considering three common channel degradations – a GSM network, a VoIP network, and background noise – in conjunction with varying synthesis quality. The results reveal that channel degradation reduces the size of the perceptual difference between genuine and spoofed speech, and overall participants correctly identified human and spoofed speech only 56% of the time. In background noise and GSM transmission, lower-quality synthetic speech was judged as more human, and in VoIP transmission all speech, including genuine recordings, was judged as less human. Under all conditions, state-of-the-art synthetic speech was judged as human, or more human than, genuine recorded speech. The paper also considers the listener factors which may contribute to an individual's spoofing detection performance, and finds that a listener's familiarity with the accents involved, their age, and the audio equipment used for playback, have an effect on their spoofing detection performance.


An attractive approach to architecture-based design is to structure the development process into two tiers. The top tier represents the abstract design (or architecture) of a system in terms of abstract components. The bottom tier refines that design by making specific implementation decisions, such as platform, middleware, and component implementations. While attractive in principle, there has been relatively little industrial-based experience to shed light on problems and solutions involved in such an approach. In this paper we describe our experience in developing tools to introduce a two-tiered model-based approach to the design of Ford Motor Company's automotive control systems, highlighting the principle challenges, and evaluating the effectiveness of our solutions for them.