ABSTRACT The factors affecting the timing of nesting in tropical birds remain poorly understood. We investigated the phenology of White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta formosa) nesting in the dry forest of northwest Costa Rica, a region characterized by a severe 5-month dry season followed by a very rainy wet season. We examined whether nesting was associated with climate, diet, risk of parasite infection to nestlings, risk of nest predation, and opportunity to re-nest. Groups of White-throated Magpie-Jays nested repeatedly, initiating nests over a 7-month period that spanned the transition from the dry to early wet season. The diet of adults and the composition of food fed to broods varied seasonally in parallel with changes in vegetation condition and climate associated with the transition from dry to wet season. Fledgling transition to nutritional independence occurred exclusively in the wet season when caterpillars and other arthropods were a large component of the diet. The timing of groups' last nests was associated with an increase in nestling infections by Philornis botflies. We argue that progress at understanding tropical birds' nesting seasons will be made by looking beyond diet and climate at the time of nesting, to additional factors such as the conditions during the post-fledging period of offspring development, temporal patterns of risk of parasite and pathogen infection to nestlings, and temporal patterns of nest or fledgling predation risk.


Applying the idea of "intelligent testing" (Kaufman, 1979, 1994) to creativity assessment could broaden our understanding of creativity assessment and would be in accord with the vision of E. Paul Torrance. Such intelligent creativity testing would not seek a single creativity score. Testers would consider patterns of scores in different domains and interpret them for comparative strengths and weaknesses in various areas of creative activity. Specific suggestions on how this might be done are offered.


The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is investigating several clinical failures in syphilis patients treated with the macrolide antibiotic azithromycin. This report describes the use of azithromycin for syphilis treatment, recent treatment failures in San Francisco, and CDC recommendations for syphilis treatment. Clinicians should exercise caution in using azithromycin for treating incubating syphilis or syphilis infection until the risk and mechanism of failure are better understood.


Experimental photothermal modulated optical reflectance (PMOR) and photocurrent (PC) data from silicon and germanium samples have been obtained at high laser pump beam intensities and correlated with a theoretical model of nonlinear carrier recombination. In principle, the PMOR signal consists of both thermal and Drude (free-carrier) components; nonlinear recombination influences it through its direct effect on the modulated carrier density, and its indirect effect on the modulated sample temperature. All of the five samples discussed in this work showed evidence of nonlinear carrier recombination in their PC and PMOR behaviour. Although few of the PMOR data were indicative of a dominant Drude component, the effect of nonlinear recombination upon the carrier density was quite apparent in the PC data which were obtained to correlate with the PMOR data. The experimental results clearly indicate that the PMOR effect is sensitive to nonlinear recombination, albeit not to as large a degree as the transverse photocurrent.


This study reports on the correlation between crystal orientation and magnetic flux distribution of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the form of self-assembled rings. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that the nanoparticles were single-crystalline, highly monodispersed, (25 nm average diameter), and showed no appreciable lattice imperfections such as twins or stacking faults. Electron holography studies of these superparamagnetic nanoparticle rings indicated significant fluctuations in the magnetic flux lines, consistent with variations in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the nanoparticles. The observations provide useful information for a deeper understanding of the micromagnetics of ultrasmall nanoparticles, where the magnetic dipolar interaction competes with the magnetic anisotropy.


Background As audition also seems to contribute to balance control, additionally to visual, proprioceptive, and vestibular information, we hypothesize that hearing rehabilitation with active middle ear and bone conduction implants can influence postural control. Methods In a prospective explorative study, the impact of hearing rehabilitation with active middle ear [Vibrant Soundbrige (VSB), MED-EL, Innsbruck, Austria] and bone conduction implants [Bonebridge (BB), MED-EL, Innsbruck, Austria] on postural control in adults was examined in three experiments. Vestibulospinal control was measured by cranio-corpography (CCG), trunk sway velocity (°/s) by the Standard Balance Deficit Test (SBDT), and postural stability with a force plate system, each time in best aided (BA) and unaided (UA) condition with frontal-noise presentation (Fastl noise, 65 dB SPL), followed by subjective evaluation, respectively. Results In 26 subjects [age 55.0 ± 12.8 years; unilateral VSB/BB: n = 15; bilateral VSB/BB: n = 3, bimodal (VSB/BB + hearing aid): n = 8], CCG-analysis showed no difference between BA and UA conditions for the means of distance, angle of displacement, and angle of rotation, respectively. Trunk sway measurements revealed a relevant increase of sway in standing on foam (p = 0.01, r = 0.51) and a relevant sway reduction in walking (p = 0.026, r = 0.44, roll plane) in BA condition. Selective postural subsystem analysis revealed a relevant increase of the vestibular component in BA condition (p = 0.017, r = 0.47). As measured with the Interactive Balance System (IBS), 42% of the subjects improved stability (ST) in BA condition, 31% showed no difference, and 27% deteriorated, while no difference was seen in comparison of means. Subjectively, 4–7% of participants felt that noise improved their balance, 73–85% felt no difference, and 7–23% reported deterioration by noise. Furthermore, 46–50% reported a better task performance in BA condition; 35–46% felt no difference and 4–15% found the UA situation more helpful. Conclusions Subjectively, approximately half of the participants reported a benefit in task performance in BA condition. Objectively, this could only be shown in one mobile SBDT-task. Subsystem analysis of trunk sway provided insights in multisensory reweighting mechanisms.


The noise immunity of radio systems is one of the most important topics in military science. In this article, the methods for increasing the noise immunity of military-purpose radio systems in connection with increasing the accuracy and reliability requirements of transmitted and received information using modern information technologies has been investigated. A novel analysis method to increase the noise immunity of radio systems for military purposes has been presented.


The in-vitro activity of cefodizime was studied against respiratory pathogens and was compared with the activity of other beta-lactams, ciprofloxacin and erythromycin. Cefodizime displayed high activity against Haemophilus influenzae (MIC90 0.008 mg/l), Branhamella catarrhalis and Streptococcus pneumoniae (MIC90 0.5 mg/l). Klebsiella spp. were less susceptible (MIC90 2 mg/l). It was concluded that cefodizime should be a useful agent in the therapy of respiratory tract infections.


This article is devoted to the study of issues related to the study of formation, status and trends of legal support of relations that arise out of protection, use, and reproduction of flora objects listed in the Green Book of Ukraine for the period from 1990 till the present day.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect and possible mechanisms of diabetes control after small intestine exclusion surgery in Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat with non-obese type 2 diabetes mellitus.

METHODS
Forty GK rats with non-obese type 2 diabetes mellitus underwent duodenal bypass (Group A, n = 8), which creates a shortcut for ingested nutrients bypassing duodenum alone; duodenal-jejunal bypass (Group B, n = 8), a stomach-preserving RYGB that excludes the duodenum and proximal jejunum; duodenum and total jejunum exclusion (Group C, n = 8); sub-total small intestine exclusion (Group D, n = 8), which creates a shortcut for ingested nutrients bypassing duodenum, jejunum and sub-total ileum; controls were pair-fed (PF) sham-operated and untreated GK rats (Group SO, n = 8). The rats were observed for 24 weeks after surgery. Body weight, food intake and fasting blood glucose level were tested at 0, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 weeks after the operation in those groups. The concentrations of insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) concentrations were measured before (baseline) and then 30, 60, 120, and 180 minutes after OGTT at 0, 12, 24 weeks after the operation.

RESULTS
Mean operating time of all groups was similar. The mean body weight and food intake decreased significantly at 1 week after surgery (P < 0.01) and with no differences among the groups. Fasting blood glucose level decreased significantly after surgery in all the operation groups through the entire follow-up period (P < 0.05). No significant changes in fasting blood glucose level in SO group was found in 12 weeks after the operation, and it increased at 12 and 24 weeks after. Fasting blood glucose levels in group B decreased significantly compared with group A (P < 0.05), but no difference was found among group B, C and D (P > 0.05). Oral glucose-stimulated peak (30 min) levels of blood insulin and GLP-1 increased markedly in operation groups (A, B, C and D) after surgery (P < 0.01). Compared with group A, peak levels of blood insulin and GLP-1 in group B were strikingly higher (P < 0.05), but no difference was found when compared with group C or D (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
In spontaneously non-obese type 2 diabetes mellitus rats, small intestinal exclusion including proximal gut is effective in terms of glucose control and has no direct relation with body weight and food intake loss. Restoration of the first-phase insulin secretion and high secretion of GLP-1 in type 2 diabetic subjects after gastrointestinal bypass surgery seem to be helpful to diabetes control. Taking intestinal nutrient absorption into consideration, duodenal-jejunal bypass may be a better surgery for diabetes control.


Abstract Previous research has suggested that free-ranging mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) may ingest spent lead pellets, succumb to lead toxicosis, and die in a relatively short time (i.e., an acute lead toxicosis hypothesis). We tested this hypothesis by administering 157 captive mourning doves 2–24 lead pellets, monitoring pellet retention and short-term survival, and measuring related physiological characteristics. During the 19- to 21-day posttreatment period, 104 doves that received lead pellets died (deceased doves) and 53 survived (survivors); all 22 birds in a control group survived. Within 24-hr of treatment, blood lead levels increased almost twice as fast for deceased doves compared to survivors (F1,208 = 55.49; P < 0.001). During the first week, heterophil:lymphocyte (H:L) ratios increased twice as fast for deceased doves than with survivors (F1,198 = 23.14, P < 0.001). Posttreatment survival differed (χ2 = 37.4, P < 0.001) among the 5 groups of doves that retained different numbers of pellets, and survival ranged from 0.57 (95% CI: 0.44–0.74) for doves that retained ≤2 lead pellets 2 days posttreatment compared to 0.08 (95% CI: 0.022–0.31) for those doves that retained 13–19 lead pellets on 2 days posttreatment; significant differences existed among the 5 groups. After controlling for dove pretreatment body mass, each additional lead pellet increased the hazard of death by 18.0% (95% CI: 1.132–1.230, P < 0.001) and 25.7% (95% CI: 1.175–1.345, P < 0.001) for males and females, respectively. For each 1-g increase in pretreatment body mass, the hazard of death decreased 2.5% (P = 0.04) for males and 3.8% (P = 0.02) for females. Deceased doves had the highest lead levels in liver (49.20 ± 3.23 ppm) and kidney (258.16 ± 21.85 ppm) tissues, whereas controls showed the lowest levels (liver, 0.08 ± 0.041 ppm; kidney, 0.17 ± 0.10 ppm). For doves dosed with pellets, we observed simultaneous increases in blood lead levels and H:L ratios, whereas packed-cell volume (PCV) values declined. Our results support an acute lead toxicosis hypothesis. Although further research is necessary to investigate the magnitude of lead shot ingestion and toxicosis in mourning doves, we recommend that management agencies initiate development of a long-term strategic plan aimed at implementing a nontoxic shot regulation for mourning dove hunting.


Rationale: The dual-targeted drug delivery system was designed for enhancing permeation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and providing an anti-glioma effect. As transferrin receptor (TfR) is over-expressed by the brain capillary endothelial (hCMEC/D3) and glioma cells, a mouse monoclonal antibody, RI7217, with high affinity and selectivity for TfR, was used to study the brain targeted drug delivery system. Muscone, an ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) musk, was used as the "guide" drug to probe the permeability of the BBB for drug delivery into the cerebrospinal fluid. This study investigated the combined effects of TCM aromatic resuscitation and modern receptor-targeted technology by the use of muscone/RI7217 co-modified docetaxel (DTX) liposomes for enhanced drug delivery to the brain for anti-glioma effect. Methods: Cellular drug uptake from the formulations was determined using fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. The drug penetrating ability into tumor spheroids were visualized using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). In vivo glioma-targeting ability of formulations was evaluated using whole-body fluorescent imaging system. The survival curve study was performed to evaluate the anti-glioma effect of the formulations. Results: The results showed that muscone and RI7217 co-modified DTX liposomes enhanced uptake into both hCMEC/D3 and U87-MG cells, increased penetration to the deep region of U87-MG tumor spheroids, improved brain targeting in vivo and prolonged survival time of nude mice bearing tumor. Conclusion: Muscone and RI7217 co-modified DTX liposomes were found to show improved brain targeting and enhanced the efficacy of anti-glioma drug treatment in vivo.


Apologies are an integral part of human communication and can repair damaged relationships. Within the medical system, apologies remain controversial. Physicians often wish to apologize to patients harmed by medical errors, but they may not disclose errors to patients and their families because of the concern that disclosing errors could increase the likelihood of a malpractice claim. Yet physicians who apologize to patients may instead mitigate many of the communication problems known to prompt patients to pursue legal action. This idea has prompted many state governments to pass apology laws, legislation that aims to reduce rates of malpractice by encouraging physicians to apologize. These laws have not yet had their intended effect of reduced malpractice rates, likely because most apology laws protect expressions of regret but do not protect error disclosure. Apology laws therefore do not facilitate the type of communication that would improve physician transparency and overall patient satisfaction.


This paper addresses the problem of diagnosing the fault symptoms of power transformers with measurement originated uncertainties, which arise from the imprecision of samples (i.e. due to noises and outliers) and the effect of class imbalance (i.e. samples are unequally distributed between different fault types) in a training dataset used to identify different fault types. Two fuzzy support vector machine (FSVM) algorithms namely fuzzy c-means clustering-based FSVM (FCM-FSVM) and kernel fuzzy c-means clustering-based FSVM (KFCM-FSVM) have been applied in this paper to deal with any noises and outliers in training dataset. In order to reduce the effect of class imbalance in training dataset, two approaches including between-class weighting and random oversampling have been adopted and integrated with FCM-FSVM and KFCM-FSVM. The case studies show that KFCM-FSVM algorithm and its variants have consistent tendency to attain satisfied classification accuracy in transformer fault diagnosis using dissolved gas analysis (DGA) measurements.


This study tries to get a sense of the topography of the regional banking landscape. We focus on bank holding companies and banks with $10 billion to $50 billion in assets and look for factors that potentially explain regional bank health from 2008 to 2013. Our dataset is a combination of bank Call Report data and confidential supervisory data. Our analysis shows that regional banks are not a monolithic group, and different factors explain bank safety and soundness for different types of banks.


The topic of rich picture building exercise (RPBE) comes from the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) of P.B. Checkland in the early 80s. Since then, it has been studied and reported in the academic literature. The recent academic works inspires the writer to review this topic and argues that the mainstream study on RPBE can be considered as a conventional RPBE. The paper then points out that there is also an unconventional RPBE which has been neglected in the academic community. It reasons that the unconventional RPBE is also useful to express the problem situation, which is what stage 2 of the conventional SSM is all about. The unconventional RPBE can be conducted either solely or as a complementary exercise with the conventional RPBE. A number of RPBE options are identified in the discussion. The paper is intended to contribute to the theoretical development of the RPBE.


First-principles calculations of the reflection probabilities for Fermi-surface electrons at Cr/Fe interfaces are used to compute the strength of the oscillatory exchange coupling in Cr/Fe multilayers. These calculations show that critical spanning vectors across the N-centered ellipsoids of the Cr Fermi surface cause the long-period coupling for (001), (110), and (211) interfaces. The periods of these spanning vectors, when extracted from the experimental Fermi surface, agree with experimentally measured periods. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.


Background: Over the past decades, breast cancer survival has improved substantially and many patients die of other, non-breast cancer related causes. In South East Asia, where large ethnic differences exist in stage at presentation and overall survival, causes of death of breast cancer patients have been understudied. Aim: To examine cause-specific mortality among breast cancer patients in multi-ethnic Singapore and investigate effects of ethnicity, and age and tumor stage at diagnosis. Methods: Data of women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1990 and 2011 at the National University Hospital in Singapore were retrieved from the hospital-based breast cancer registry. Cause of death was categorized as breast cancer (ICD8 174; ICD9 174; ICD10 C50), cardio- and cerebrovascular disease (ICD8 390 to 459; ICD9 390 to 459; ICD10 I00 to I99), other malignancies (ICD8 140 to 239; ICD9 140 to 239; ICD10 C00 to D48 except codes for death resulting from breast cancer), and death from other causes (all ICD codes except those already listed). Patients with unknown cause of death (n=6) were classified as death from other cause. Chi square statistics were used to compare cause of death distributions. Results: Of 4108 patients, median age at diagnosis was 51 years (range 21- 98 years). The majority of women were Chinese (n=3223, 78%), followed by Malay (n=517, 12%), Indian (n=257, 6%) and other ethnicities (n=111, 3%). After a median follow-up of 7 years, 1125 (27%) patients died: 910 (81%) patients died of breast cancer, 70 (6%) of cardio- and cerebrovascular disease, 71 (6%) of other malignancies, and 83 (7%) of other causes. Compared with other ethnicities, Malay women most frequently died as a result of breast cancer (n=178, 90%). The highest percentage CVD deaths was observed among Indians (n=7, 11%). Breast cancer accounted for 92% of deaths in women younger than 50 years at diagnosis and for 60% in women older than 65. The proportion of deaths as a result of CVD, other cancer or other causes increased with age. Patients with higher tumor stages at diagnosis were more likely to die of breast cancer (96% of deaths of patients with TNM4 were breast cancer related). Conclusion: The present study showed that breast cancer is the most important cause of death in breast cancer patients among all ethnic groups, and ages and stages in South East Asia. The highest risk of death due to breast cancer in Malay women might be explained by their presentation at advanced stages and young age at diagnosis. Breast cancer is less likely to be the cause of death in women of Chinese ethnicity, older age at diagnosis and early tumor stage. In these groups more attention for competing causes of death, in particular CVD, should be a priority for the future. Citation Format: Ho P, Rijnberg N, Gernaat SAM, Emaus MJ, Grobbee RDE, Lee SC, Hartman M, Verkooijen HM. Competing causes of death among women with breast cancer in South East Asia: Effects of ethnicity, and age at diagnosis and stage at diagnosis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-08-46.


PURPOSE
To describe a case of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, presenting with multiple branch retinal artery occlusions, retinal ischemia, neovascularization, and vitreous hemorrhage after cerebral arteriovenous malformation embolization.

METHODS
The authors report a 7-year-old patient with decreased vision in his left eye after embolization of a pineal arteriovenous malformation secondary to hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Ophthalmic evaluation, fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, spectral domain optical coherence tomography, electroretinogram, examination under anesthesia, and pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) were performed.

RESULTS
Fundus examination of the left eye revealed extensive posterior segment ischemia, vascular tortuosity, and vitreous hemorrhage. Fluorescein angiography was remarkable for partial obstruction of retinal arteries, midperipheral nonperfusion, and associated leakage from multiple areas of neovascularization. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography was normal. Electroretinogram demonstrated decreased b-wave amplitude. The patient was subsequently treated with 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy, panretinal endophotocoagulation, and intravitreal bevacizumab. Five weeks after surgery, best-corrected visual acuity had improved to 20/40, and examination showed resolution of vitreous hemorrhage and neovascularization.

CONCLUSION
Retinal vascular abnormalities, posterior segment ischemia, and vitreous hemorrhage suggested a combination of retinal involvement of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia complicated by nontarget embolization.


Disclosed is a thermosetting resin composition characterized by containing a polyimide resin (A) having a phenolic hydroxyl group, preferably a polyimide resin (A) produced from an aminophenol (a), a diamino compound (b) and a tetrabasic acid dianhydride (c), and an epoxy resin (B). Also disclosed is a cured product of such a thermosetting resin composition. The resin composition is excellent in storage stability, and a cured product thereof is excellent in flame retardance and heat resistance. When the cured product has a film shape, it has sufficient flexibility and excellent bending resistance.


At a time when there is an abundance of medical meetings, journals and papers, some might argue that the last thing we need is even more material. What would justify an emphasis on a new and developing research field in medicine such as the prevention of injuries and diseases in high level athletes?1 First, it must ask important questions not answered by others. Second, the new research field should have the potential to create truly new knowledge; lead to new ways of thinking; and lay the foundation for improved health for our patients. And finally, research results from the new field should be publishable in respected journals, recognised and cited by peers, presentable at high-quality meetings and fundable on competitive grant review.

First, is injury prevention important? Epidemiological studies show that of injuries seen by a physician in Scandinavia, every sixth is sustained during sporting activity.2 Among children, every third hospital-treated injury is the result of sports participation. A research group …


A nanobody directed against angiopoietin-2 (Ang2; ANGPT2)- and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-derived peptides, with potential antiangiogenic and antineoplastic activities. Anti-VEGF/ANG2 nanobody BI 836880 binds to Ang2 and VEGF and inhibits receptor binding; this prevents Ang2- and VEGF-mediated signaling and inhibits both tumor angiogenesis and tumor cell proliferation. Both VEGF and Ang2 are upregulated in a variety of cancer cell types and play a crucial role in angiogenesis. The nanobody is based on functional fragments of single-chain antibodies.


There is a relatively large number of papers dealing with complexity and proof theory issues of infinitely-valued logics. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid so far to the development of efficient solvers for such logics. In this paper we show how the technology of Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) can be used to build efficient automated theorem provers for relevant infinitely-valued logics, including Lukasiewicz, Gödel and Product logics. Moreover, we define a test suite for those logics, and report on an experimental investigation that evaluates the practical complexity of Lukasiewicz and Gödel logics, and provides empirical evidence of the good performance of SMT technology for automated theorem proving on infinitely-valued logics.


The need to improve the efficiency of transport infrastructure, which is an important subsystem of urban services as a determinant of the quality of life of the city's population, has been substantiated. The factors that determine the quality of the urban transport system, the features of urban transport have been highlighted. Transport infrastructure development in Russia has been analysed. It has been proved that in the conditions of the formation of the digital economy, artificial intelligence systems are an effective tool for decision-making. In the formation of intelligent systems for managing urban transport flows, the use of network models has been proposed, for which mathematical methods are necessary to obtain not only point, but also interval estimates of the model parameters, taking into account a priori uncertainty.


Introduction Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection is intractable and endemic in many countries. Although a few individuals have severe symptoms, most patients remain asymptomatic throughout their lives and their infections may be unknown to many health professionals. HTLV-1 can be considered a neglected public health problem and there are not many studies specifically on patients' needs and emotional experiences. Objective To better understand how women and men living with HTLV-1 experience the disease and what issues exist in their healthcare processes. Methods A qualitative study using participant observation and life story interview methods was conducted with 13 symptomatic and asymptomatic patients, at the outpatient clinic of the Emilio Ribas Infectious Diseases Institute, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Results and Discussion The interviewees stated that HTLV-1 is a largely unknown infection to society and health professionals. Counseling is rare, but when it occurs, focuses on the low probability of developing HTLV-1 related diseases without adequately addressing the risk of infection transmission or reproductive decisions. The diagnosis of HTLV-1 can remain a stigmatized secret as patients deny their situations. As a consequence, the disease remains invisible and there are potentially negative implications for patient self-care and the identification of infected relatives. This perception seems to be shared by some health professionals who do not appear to understand the importance of preventing new infections. Conclusions Patients and medical staff referred that the main focus was the illness risk, but not the identification of infected relatives to prevent new infections. This biomedical model of care makes prevention difficult, contributes to the lack of care in public health for HTLV-1, and further perpetuates the infection among populations. Thus, HTLV-1 patients experience an "invisibility" of their complex demands and feel that their rights as citizens are ignored.


Objective: An evaluation of the safety and efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), for the treatment of patients with severe medical and neurological illness, was undertaken. Method: The English-language literature reporting the use of ECT in patients with neurological and somatic disease was reviewed. This review included reports describing ECT used for the treatment of affective disturbances and catatonia in patients with concurrent neurological or somatic disease, as well as reports dealing with the efficacy of ECT for the treatment of certain neurological conditions for which it has been reported to have some benefit independent of its psychiatric effect. Conclusions: ECT is safe and effective for the treatment of affective and catatonic disorders in patients with most neurological and medical diseases, including elderly and debilitated patients with multiple illnesses, if the specific medical risks are carefully evaluated in each case, and appropriate modifications of technique are used to reduce the risk of potential complications. Apart from its use in psychiatry, ECT has been reported to have therapeutic effects in Parkinson's disease, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, aggressive behavioral disorders following brain injury, certain forms of epilepsy, and some forms of delirium due to toxic or metabolic encephalopathies. The potential for ECT to play an active role in the clinical management of patients with these disorders, many of whom are presently refractory to maximal medical treatment, should be evaluated by systematic studies.


Orbit feedback system of the 1.5 GeV Taiwan Light Source (TLS) has been deployed for a decade. The loop bandwidth was limited by existing hardware. The system cannot remove orbit excursion caused by the perturbation due to fast operation of insertion devices. To improve orbit feedback performance, corrector power supply and BPM system are undergoing upgraded. New digital BPM electronics will enhance functionality of the BPM system as well. It is expected that the upgrade will significantly improve performance of the orbit stability. New fast orbit feedback system is designed to achieve a submicron stability of the electron beam working at a bandwidth of at least 60 Hz.


The mixture of Rice Husk Ash and Bone Powder were used as partial replacement for cement in concrete structures. In this paper, the replacement varied from 5% to 20% in a mix of 1:2:4. Cubes casted comprise the control and specimen samples with various test considered, and the results showed that workability were consistent within the described values for lightweight concrete. The compressive strength dropped with the mixed ash content, the value was found to be within the range acceptable for concrete; particularly light weight concrete. Substitution of the mixture should not be more than 10% for the best result in the concrete production for concrete structures. There is reduction in density of the concrete from 0 10% replacement of material, and an increase in 10% 20% which shows that the unit weight of concrete first reduced, which in turn leads to reduction in total self-weight of the structure. Keywords—Replacement, Concrete, Rice husk ash, Bone


This work is an investigation of the eect of temperature changes on the mixing and performance of ponds. The parameters tested for were: biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen, coliform, suspended solid, temperature and pH. Three metallic tanks were fed simultaneously by a plastic container under gravity. This was achieved by systems of hoses and pipelines with one plastic container supplying sewage to another. Each tank measured 2 x 0.5 x 0.4m while each plastic container measured 300litres. Aerobic conditions prevailed in both the plastic containers and the metallic tanks. There was a lighting system over each tank. Two tanks contained heating coils at the bottoms, thermostatically controlled. One tank was the control (without heating coils). Each tank also had control taps at both inlet and outlet. There was a sampling device for collecting sewage at every 0.1m depth of each tank. The results showed that mixing causes general uctuations in dissolved oxygen, suspended solid, biochemical oxygen demand and coliform with respect to depth, as the temperature varies.


The damage tolerance of delaminated composite panels under compressive load is usually numerically evaluated by means of computationally expensive non-linear approaches. In this study, an alternative numerical linear approach, able to mimic the delamination propagation initiation, is proposed. With the aim to exploit its benefits, in terms of computational costs reduction, the proposed linear methodology has been used in this study in conjunction with an optimization analysis to assess the damage tolerance of stiffened composite panels with an impact induced delamination under compression. Indeed, the optimization was aimed to find the minimum delamination growth initiation load for a delaminated stiffened panel with variable delamination size and position, providing indications on the damage tolerance capability of the stiffened panel with an arbitrary positioned and sized delamination induced (as an example) by a low energy impact.


The design of router discovery (RD) is a trust mechanism to confirm the legitimacy of the host and router. Fake router advertisement (RA) attacks have been made possible by this RD protocol design defect. Studies show that the standard RD protocol is vulnerable to a fake RA attack where the host will be denied a valid gateway. To cope with this problem, several prevention techniques have been proposed in the past to secure the RD process. Nevertheless, these methods have a significant temporal complexity as well as other flaws, including the bootstrapping issue and hash collision attacks. Thus, the SecMac-secure router discovery (SecMac-SRD) technique, which requires reduced processing time and may thwart fake RA assaults, is proposed in this study as an improved secure RD mechanism. SecMac-SRD is built based on a UMAC hashing algorithm with ElGamal public key distribution cryptosystem that hides the RD message exchange in the IPv6 link-local network. Based on the obtained expected results display that the SecMac-SRD mechanism achieved less processing time compared to the existing secure RD mechanism and can resist fake RA attacks. The outcome of the expected results clearly proves that the SecMac-SRD mechanism effectively copes with the fake RA attacks during the RD process.


increasing in the Netherlands. Intensive treatment for severe obesity in children is required, but evidence-based costeffective options are not yet available. Aim: To compare the cost-effectiveness of two intensive one-year inpatient interventions and outpatient treatment in severely obese children and adolescents. The two inpatient interventions are different with respect to the length of the hospitalization period. Design: A randomized clinical trial with three study arms. Setting and subjects: Eighty children aged 8–12 years and adolescents aged 12–18 years admitted to the KBCZ in Hilversum, the Netherlands, with therapy resistant severe obesity (SDS-BMI . 3?0 or SDS-BMI . 2?3 with obesity-related comorbidity). Interventions: Group A receives inpatient treatment for 6 months during weekdays. Group B receives inpatient treatment for 2 months, followed by biweekly hospital admissions for 2 d during 4 months. In the second half year there are six sessions of 2 d aimed at reinforcement of learned behaviour in both groups. Both intervention programs are intensive lifestyle programs with emphasis on nutrition, exercise and cognitive behavioural therapy. In both programs active participation of the parents is required. Group C receives usual care for a year after which they are randomized to treatment A or B. Preliminary results: Mean baseline SDS-BMI for adolescents was 3?4 and 3?3 for children. High triglycerides were observed in 6?7 % and 5 % of adolescents and children, respectively. Low HDL-cholesterol was observed in 56?7 % and 60 % of adolescents and children. Hypertension was more prevalent in adolescents (53?6 % v. 10?5 %, P , 0?01). Intensive treatment is warranted.


A laboratory simulation experiment to study the interaction between a cometary plasma and the solar wind has been performed using the UCR-Tl space simulation facility (dia. 1.3m, length llm). Intense plasma flow simulating the solar wind interacts with another light-emitting plasma composed of Ba, Sr, and/or C by a plasma emitter which simulates a cometary coma. The purposes of this experiment are to investigate how the solar wind parameters contribute to the formation of the cometary ion tail and to determine the magnetic field structure of a comet. In order to estimate the solar wind parameters by ground-based observations of actual comets, knowledges of such relationships are essential. Our experimental results show that the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) of the solar wind is very important in forming the cometary tail. The origin of the so-called "tail rays" and the magnetic field structure in a simulated cometary ion tail are introduced.


Introduction: The surgical treatment of intractable metatarsalgia has been traditionally been an intra-articular Weil9s type of metatarsal osteotomy. In such cases, we adopted the option of performing a minimally invasive distal metaphyseal metatarsal ostetomy (DMMO) to decompress the affected ray. The meta-tarsophalangeal joint was not jeopardised. We present our outcomes of Minimally Invasive Surgery for metatarsalgia performed at our teaching hospital. Material and methods: This is a multi-surgeon consecutive series of all the thirty patients who underwent DMMO. The sex ratio was M: F- 13:17. Average age of patients was 60 yrs. More than one metatarsal osteotomy was done in all cases. The aim was to try and decompress the affected rays but at the same time, restore the metatarsal parabola. It was performed under image-intensifier guidance, using burrs inserted via stab incisions. Patients were encouraged to walk on operated foot straight after the operation; the rationale being that the metatarsal length sets automatically upon weight bearing on the foot. Outcome was measured with Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire9s (MOXFQ9s) and visual analogue pain score (VAS). Minimum follow up was for six months. Results: The average MOXFQ score was 26. Average improvement in the visual analogue pain score was 3.5. VAS deteriorated in three patients9 whose pain got worse after surgery. Among these three, two had a further procedure on their toes. All of the patients experience prolonged forefoot swelling for at least 3 months. Discussion: The most common complication after intra-articular ostetomy of the metatarsal head is stiffness of the metatarsophalangeal joint. We believe that using minimally invasive surgery with an extra-articular osteotomy, reduces the soft tissue injury to the joint, and therefore the amount of post-operative stiffness. In our cohort of patients, DMMO is associated with good patient satisfaction and low complication rates in the vast majority of cases.


We report fundus autofluorescence and spectral optical coherence tomography (OCT/SLO) findings in acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE). Different autofluorescence patterns and OCT findings were observed during the acute and resolution phase of the disease. The combined use of new non-invasive technologies may put new insight to the explanation of the histopathology and etiology of APMPPE.


producing these superficial characteristics." 2 This account is motivated almost exclusively by its capacity to explain our judgment about XYZ. Since H2O and XYZ do not differ in their superficial characteristics, Twin Earth seems to show that natural kind terms are indexical and that natural kinds are individuated by their causally relevant deep structure. 3 These two claims constitute what I will call the Minimal Putnamian Account (MPA). There appears to be a general consensus that MPA must be true if our judgment about XYZ stems from overarching principles. It thus seems that an independent refutation of MPA and the many proposals that subsume it would suggest that whatever judgments we make about such contrived cases as Twin Earth should be taken as noise and not data to be explained. 4 Sharing in this impression, some have tried to undermine the externalist thesis by criticizing MPA on the basis of imaginative thought experiments that suggest that natural kinds are not individuated by their deep structure (for example, Bach [1987], Mellor


Premixed, commercially available scintillation fluids were used to reduce exposure time of tritium (3H) and iodine-125 (125I)-labeled whole cells, and of 3H-labeled Giemsa-banded chromosome preparations. Emulsion-coated slides were dipped into scintillator for no longer than 2 min and exposed in the dark at 4 degrees C. Maximal values for percentage of human diploid cell (WI-38) nuclei labeled with 3H-thymidine of moderate specific activity were obtained in 12 hr. Without scintillator the exposure time was 4 days. Exposure time for cells labeled with 125I-serum was reduced from over 90 days to 14 days. The shortened exposure time for banded chromosomes permitted successful prestaining with Giemsa, a sequence that is not possible without scintillator.


A full-wave numerical approach is proposed for analyzing rectangular waveguides with periodic slots. The approach is based on an aperture magnetic field integral equation in one unit cell. The presented technique can analyze both bound and leaky modes on rectangular waveguides with periodic slots that have a rather arbitrary shape on either the broad or narrow wall. Besides, the method can be used for a uniformly slit rectangular waveguide by taking the limit of the period. Using the proposed method, it is found that an air-filled rectangular waveguide with periodic longitudinal slots supports a leaky waveguide mode but no slot mode, while a uniformly slit rectangular waveguide (air-filled) can support a leaky waveguide mode as well as a slot mode. It is also found that an air-filled rectangular waveguide with cross slots supports a surface-wave mode in addition to a leaky waveguide mode.


The streamer inception voltage simulation method is described as implemented in the post processing of Ansys Maxwell electrostatic solver. Physical model-based streamer simulation demands tremendous simulation time and is hard to apply for real engineering cases. The streamer criteria approach described here provides a fast, accurate and easy to use method to evaluate the streamer inception voltage for gas insulation. The simulation is based on electrostatic simulation for 2D/3D models. From the electrostatic simulation results, the electric field line tracing is performed from defined starting points. Field line tracing has two methods: 1) insulation gas space 2) along the solid insulator surface. Based on the electric field value along this field line and the streamer inception criteria, the streamer inception voltage can be calculated, which is influenced by effective ionization coefficient properties of insulation gas, the streamer constant, the electric field distribution, the pressure of the insulation gas. Three validation simulations, Plate/Plate, Rod/Plate and Sphere/Sphere are made and compare the results from literature, all have good agreement with the results from literature. Apart from the above-mentioned three configurations, two industry application examples were simulated and compared with test results, the simulated and test results agreed with each other. It provides an easy accurate and fast way to calculate the streamer inception voltage which can support the design of high voltage devices in general.


© Copyright of Li Ka Shing Library Problem Based Learning (PBL) appears to be the way forward. Gen Z students seem to prefer discovery and a selfpaced learning environment (often using a variety of gadgets) rather than a more structured instruction module in a classroom setting. Kenney (2008) found that PBL provides the theoretical framework for a learner centered, active instructional experience that relies on collaboration, critical thinking and hands-on interaction with resources. Pelikan (2004) developed and delivered course-related library instruction using PBL over a period of two years in Penn State School of Information Sciences and Technology and concluded that PBL is a worth pursuing approach to library instruction. Kim (2012) found that game dynamics can raise library users' level of engagement with library resources, programs and services. They can help library users to solve problems more effectively and quickly by making the process fun. Furthering this idea, research librarians at the Li Ka Shing library at Singapore Management University designed an information literacy (IL) programme in the form of a scavenger hunt. The programme enabled the students to experience the thrill and excitement they commonly associate with a gaming environment. The hunt led them to myriad twists and turns – and each of these contained within them embedded IL learning outcomes – the same outcomes that have guided our previous IL programmes that utilized the more traditional hands-on classroom based learning model. In our presentation, we will provide the details of our scavenger hunt model which involves working in pairs, is friendly to gadget use, and combines the learning outcomes of both a traditional IL programme as well as a library tour in one engaging, exciting, fun filled activity. The process of creating LibQuest began with identifying 6 learning outcomes that needed to be met. The learning outcomes were intended to introduce students to the library, and included elements such a locating different library materials, becoming acquainted with the library's communication channels – including social media, being able to identify subject specialist research librarians, and getting to know the physical space of the Library. LibQuest also necessitated students approaching library staff for help – an important component that sets the tone of the relationship library staff hope to nurture with students. We will also present the results of a survey conducted with the participants, which shows overwhelming appreciation and support for LibQuest. Finally, we will discuss enhancements to the programme. References Kenney, B.F. (2008). Revitalizing the One-Shot Instruction Session Using Problem-Based Learning. Reference and User Services Quarterly, 47 (4), 386-391. Kim, B. (2012). Harnessing the Power of Game Dynamics. ACRL TechConnect, 465-469. Pelikan, M. (2004). Problem-based learning in the library: Evolving a realistic approach. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 4 (4), 509-519.


The proliferative potential of a spinal nephroblastoma was studied in a young dog. A 4-month-old, female golden retriever showed developing deterioration in her gait and subsequent paralysis of her hind legs. At necropsy, a well-demarcated grayish brown tumor mass was found in the lumbar spinal cord segments between L2 and L3. Histologically, a blastemal cell tumor with a tubule- or glomeruli-like structure was found to be infiltrating intradurally. Proliferating cells at the S-phase, assessed using the bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling method, were seen occasionally in the tubular cells and glomeruli-like structures and were frequently seen in the blastemal cells. Immunohistochemically, the tubular epithelial cells were positive for cytokeratin, and the blastemal cells were positive for vimentin. The present tumor showed a high potential for growth and invasion, which suggests that it the potential to expand into the adjacent spinal cord.


Neurorehabilitation constitutes to be the primary therapeutic approach to patients with spinal cord injury. Intense stimulation of the central nervous system is intended to maximize improvement in neurological function. Besides the neurological development, every attempt is made to achieve the highest possible level of motor function, verticalization and locomotion with the goal to secure maximum self-suffi ciency. The most serious motor impairment is the respiratory pattern disorder with limited ventilatory parameters. This is due to impairment of motor functions caused by thoracic but primarily cervical lesions. Strength of the trunk muscles determines the ability of verticalization to the sitting or standing position and is also infl uenced by the upper and lower limb function. Activity of the upper extremities predominantly determines the level of self-suffi ciency but also the level of mobility. Ability to recruit lower extremity function is crucial for locomotion though residual mobility may be useful e.g. during transfers. Rehabilitation is therefore focused on training the trunk as well as the limb muscles. The desired outcome is the return of muscle strength and inclusion of paretic muscles into functional movement patterns as well as respiratory pattern. To meet these goals, several diff erent physiotherapeutic methods may be utilized. These may be combined as needed and according to a therapist's creativity. The treatment is based on neurophysiological principles including those based on motor ontogenesis. The objective is to utilize predetermined motor targets and recruit the damaged segments into their physiologic function. To that end, it is possible to utilize methods that employ voluntary muscle control (e.g. Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization) as well as methods based on involuntary movement control (e.g. Vojta's refl ex locomotion). A specifi c therapeutic approach utilizes robotic systems that complete more conventional methods of physiotherapy and aff ord a greater variety of treatment. This also provides a signifi cant motivating element. Autoři deklarují, že v souvislosti s předmětem studie nemají žádné komerční zájmy. The authors declare they have no potential confl icts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. Redakční rada potvrzuje, že rukopis práce splnil ICMJE kritéria pro publikace zasílané do biomedicínských časopisů. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE "uniform requirements" for


In response to ambient light levels, many lower vertebrates darken or lighten their body colors by regulating dispersion or aggregation, respectively, of melanin granules (melanosomes) in the melanophore. This physiological reaction is mediated by photoreception in the eyes, the pineal gland, the deep brain and the melanophores themselves, depending on species and their developmental stages. In this study, we established a method for quantitative measurement of the light-induced body color change in zebrafish larvae. From 2 days post-fertilization (dpf), the dermal melanophores responded to light illumination, but the response patterns and temporal profiles changed across the developmental stages. At 2 dpf, light illumination on larvae induced a relatively fast dispersion of the pigments in the melanophores, whereas continuous illumination additionally caused a delayed pigment aggregation at 3 dpf or later stages. Removal of the eyes abolished the light-dependent pigment aggregation but not the pigment dispersion at 5 dpf, while the pigment dispersion at 2 dpf was retained even in the isolated tail. These results suggest that the pigment dispersion is triggered by photoreception intrinsic to the melanophores and that the pigment aggregation is mediated by photoreception in the eyes. The monitoring system developed in this study will be useful to understand the neural mechanisms underlying the body color change depending on the ocular system. We also discussed the putative role(s) of opsin-type photoreceptive molecules in the light-induced body color change of the larval zebrafish.


A case of
anatomical variation of the hyoid bone in a girl is presented. Over-extended
bending of the elongated and curved right side of the hyoid bone, may project
to the lumen of the supraglottic area as the patient presented. She had a
foreign body sensation in her throat, and on fiber optic laryngeal examination, a bulge's appearance as a "third arythenoid"
was seen. We present the clinical finding and the picture of a "third arythenoid" with literature review.


Background and purpose Retinoblastoma (RB) is a rare malignancy affecting the pediatric population. Intravenous chemotherapy is the longstanding delivery method, although intra-arterial (IA) chemotherapy is gaining popularity given the reduced side effects compared with systemic chemotherapy administration. Given the sensitivity of the target organ, patient age, and secondary tumor susceptibility, a premium has been placed on minimizing procedural related radiation exposure. Materials and methods To reduce patient x-ray dose during the IA infusion procedure, customized surgical methods and fluoroscopic techniques were employed. The routine fluoroscopic settings were changed from the standard 7.5 pulses/s and dose level to the detector of 36 nGy/pulse, to a pulse rate of 4 pulses/s and detector dose to 23 nGy/pulse. The angiographic dose indicators (reference point air kerma (Ka) and fluoroscopy time) for a cohort of 10 consecutive patients (12 eyes, 30 infusions) were analyzed. An additional four cases (five eyes, five infusions) were analyzed using dosimeters placed at anatomic locations to reflect scalp, eye, and thyroid dose. Results The mean Ka per treated eye was 20.1±11.9 mGy with a mean fluoroscopic time of 8.5±4.6 min. Dosimetric measurements demonstrated minimal dose to the lens (0.18±0.10 mGy). Measured entrance skin doses varied from 0.7 to 7.0 mGy and were 73.4±19.7% less than the indicated Ka value. Conclusions Ophthalmic arterial melphalan infusion is a safe and effective means to treat RB. Modification to contemporary fluoroscopic systems combined with parsimonious fluoroscopy can minimize radiation exposure.


Background Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a major STD causing pathogens, tends to pose high burden of morbidity that is borne disproportionately by women and infants with approximately 2/3rd of cases from developing countries. In the absence of appropriate vaccine and rapid, easy, economical test, antibiotic therapy is recommended for treatment on the basis of clinical symptoms. This has led to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains. Since increasing antimicrobial resistance makes Neisseria as super bug, we have tried to elucidate the mechanism of development of antibiotic resistance. Methods Mutational analysis of mtrR gene and its DNA binding site was carried out for 28 clinical isolates resistant to multiple drugs. Wild type and mutant mtrR were cloned, expressed and purified. Fluorescence assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) were carried out to study the effect of mutations in MtrR on its biological activity. Using discovery studio, structure of MtrR was modelled in-silico to understand how mutations affect its interaction with DNA. Results Mutations in DNA binding domain (G45D) and dimerization domain of MtrR (H105Y) as well as in promoter region of MtrR (A/T deletion) were observed in clinical isolates (n = 28). EMSA and fluorimetric results suggest decreased binding of mutant MtrR with its promoter. In silico modelled structure of wild type and mutant MtrR proteins suggest altered conformation of the mutant protein. Altered conformation leads to difference in the posture of homodimer formed and increased centre to centre distance of helix 1 and helix 1' in two monomers of mtrR. In silico analysis of protein-DNA complex suggest that this increased distance cause altered binding of the mutant with DNA. Conclusions Mutations in mtrR result is altered conformation of the protein leading to its decrease binding to DNA. This leads to enhanced expression of MtrCDE efflux pump resulting in increased efflux of drug.


Background: Though factors such as diet, oral hygiene, salivary flow and surface characteristics of the tooth enamel play a role in the causation of dental caries, genetic factors also contribute significantly in influencing the susceptibility or resistanance to the occurrence of caries. Aims and Objectives: To analyse the relationship between a single nucleotide polymorphism in the vitamin D receptor gene TaqI locus and associate its presence with dental caries in children. Materials and Methods: A case control study was conducted among 120 children in the age group of 6-12 years. 60 cases with a DMFT of >3 and 60 controls with a DMFT of 0 were selected. Genomic DNA was extracted from salivary samples collected from the patients and presence of polymorphism was analyzed by PCR-RFLP. Results: Pearson chi square test and Fisher exact tests were used for comparison of differences in genotypes or allele frequencies between groups. No significant difference between the cases and control was observed among the different genotypes and the alleles. However, there was an inclination in the incidence of caries with the genotype 'tt' and 'Tt' when compared with the genotype'TT'. Conclusion: In this study done to analyse the SNP in vitamin D receptor gene and its association with dental caries in children indicates a higher caries risk for a patient with't' allele and 'tt' genotype.


ABSTRACT The present study describes the purification and physicochemical and biochemical characterization of trypsin-like protease from green-seeded chickpea (Cicer arientum). The crude extract of chickpea trypsin (CpT) was obtained by homogenization followed by differential ammonium sulfate precipitation. The CpT was purified by ion-exchange chromatography on diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) column, pre-equilibrated with 20 mM tris-CaCl2 buffer (pH 8.2) with a flow rate of 0.5 mL min−1. The molecular weight and purity of ∼23 kDa of CpT were determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Activity of protease was determined using Nα-benzoyl-DL-arginine-p-nitroanilide as chromogenic substrate and CpT purified showed a specific inhibitor activity of 26978.7697 U mg−1, fold purity of 9.8, and the yield of 70.2%. The characterization was performed for thermal stability, pH profile, and effect of various inhibitors on enzymatic activity. The protein isolated showed stability in the neutral to mild alkaline pH range and thermostability up to 50°C. CpT confirmed its serine nature as it was appreciably inhibited by serine protease inhibitors (maximum 6%), whereas metalloprotease inhibitors barely affected the activity of the enzyme (85%). To the best of our knowledge, it is first reported on purification of protease with trypsin-like properties, from this source.


In addition to the stable silica polymorph quartz, several metastable silica phases are present in Yucca Mountain. The conversion of these phases to quartz is accompanied by volume reduction and a decrease in the aqueous silica activity, which may destabilize clinoptilolite and mordenite. The primary reaction sequence for the silica phases is from opal or glass to disordered opal-CT, followed by ordering of the opal-CT and finally by the crystallization of quartz. The ordering of opal-CT takes place in the solid state, whereas the conversion of opal-CT takes place through dissolution-reprecipitation involving the aqueous phase. It is proposed that the rate of conversion of opal-CT to quartz is controlled by diffusion of defects out of a disordered surface layer formed on the crystallizing quartz. The reaction rates are observed to be dependent on temperature, pressure, degree of supersaturation, and pH. Rate equations selected from the literature appear to be consistent with observations at Yucca Mountain.


This paper presents the physical model testing results of a floating oscillating water column (OWC) array wave energy converter (WEC) and the power smoothing ability inherent in the OWC chamber arrangement in the structure. The device can be categorised as a very large floating structure (VLFS) with structure dynamics which may make it a suitable device on which to mount wind turbines. It incorporates 32 individual OWC chambers in a "V" shaped arrangement such that there is a phase-lag between successive wave crests in the OWC chambers as an individual wave passes the structure. This OWC array was tested in both monochromatic and panchromatic unidirectional wave fields and the motion response amplitude operators (RAO) have been calculated. The time series of absorbed power from panchromatic waves was then used as input to a simple Well's turbine power take-off (PTO) Simulink model to estimate the electrical power produced by each chamber and the additive power produced by the 32 OWC's. A simple control law of optimum speed of the generator was used for these simulations. The time series of total electrical power from the 32 chambers was compared to the time series of an individual chamber and the standard deviation of the signals were also compared. The OWC array achieved a much smoother power output signal than a device with one chamber. Further smoothing of the output signal is possible by increasing the inertia of the turbine however, this may have implications for the mean efficiency of the power train. A preliminary design of the Well's turbine is included, both in terms of mechanical parts and generator rating.This paper focusses on the power absorption and motion performance of the device and discusses the potential for the addition of wind turbines.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


This novel vertically and horizontally symmetric slotted-sector design aims to realize an angle- and polarization-insensitive metamaterial absorber. The unit-cell symmetries achieve polarization insensitivity, while an optimized slotted-sector inner angle enables angle insensitivity. Because the absorptivity of a metamaterial absorber depends on the incident angle and polarization, many researchers have studied angle- and polarization-insensitive unit cells. In this work, a novel vertically and horizontally symmetric slotted sector is proposed in order to realize an angle- and polarization-insensitive metamaterial absorber. The absorber performance is demonstrated with full-wave simulation and measurements. Angular sensitivity is studied for different slotted-sector inner angles. For an 85° inner angle, the simulated absorptivity exceeds 90% and the frequency variation is less than 1.2% up to 70° incidence. The measured absorptivity at 10.34 GHz is close to 98.5% for all polarization angles at normal incidence. As the incidence angle varies from 0° to 70°, the measured absorptivity at 10.34 GHz remains above 90% in the transverse electric mode.


In the third through seventh cervical vertebrae, the lateral one-quarter of the body is originally part of the neural arch and is formed slightly cephalad to the rest of the vertebral body. After excavation of the superior vertebral notch, the osseous prominence that remains is the uncus. The intervertebral disc is limited to the area between the anlagen of the vertebral bodies, and the portion of the intervertebral space that is lateral to the disc is occupied by loose fibrous tissue. When this tissue is resorbed it leaves a space that constitutes Luschka's joint. These anatomical findings are based on dissections of forty-five specimens comprising human fetuses and autopsy material from individuals who ranged in age from eight days to eighty-nine years.


The durability of concrete, both reinforced and non- reinforced, is a matter requiring greater attention by design engineers. Old rules of thumb and materials which, by experience, were known to work have given way to modern cement, admixtures and construction techniques which have led to a spate of ever increasing corrosion problems. The cost of repair bills within Australia alone runs into many millions of dollars annually. An understanding of the chemical processes involved is essential for the engineer to design durable structures in all situations, and to prepare suitable repair procedures for those showing signs of deterioration. This paper very briefly outlines the scope of the problem. It will deal with causes of corrosion and how concrete can be designed and placed to minimise the damaging effects of the environment in which it is placed (Author/TRRL)


Environmental factors such as relative humidity and rainfall generally have been found to increase the incidence, rate of spread and severity of diseases thereby reducing yield of crops. Study was conducted on five cotton varieties, which were artificially inoculated with bacterial blight pathogen to determine the effects of rainfall and relative humidity on incidence and severity of angular leaf spot (ALS) and yield of seed cotton in Yola and Mubi. Results showed that the severity of ALS was higher in Yola (58.65%) at 13 WAS assumed to be due to higher relative humidity range of 76% - 87% and low rainfall of 2 - 40.6 mm. This is assumed to have favoured disease development as against that of Mubi location which recorded lower severity (51.11%) due to lower relative humidity (42% - 55%) and rainfall (37 - 73 mm). Results further revealed that at 13 WAS, SAMCOT-8 had low incidence (66%) and severity (39%) in Yola. This was against the much higher corresponding incidence and severity of 82% and 42% respectively that was observed in Mubi during the same period. SAMCOT-10 and SAMCOT-9 varieties were found to be highly susceptible to the disease at the same period. SAMCOT-8 recorded the highest yield of 390.00 kg?ha?1 in Yola and 868.09 kg?ha?1 in Mubi while the lowest yields of 227.17 kg?ha?1 was observed on SAMCOT-10 in Yola while 461.61 kg?ha?1 was obtained on SAMCOT-9 in Mubi. The variation in yield among these varieties might be due to the differences in their reactions to the disease. There is a need to conduct further trials in these locations to confirm the level of resistance or other aspects of these varieties to the disease.


Background: The efficacy and safety of prostacyclin (PGI2) and citrate (ACD) anticoagulation were observed and compared during continuous haemodiafiltration. Methods: Mechanically ventilated patients received either the PGI2 analogue epoprostenol (group A, n = 17) in escalating doses of 4.5–10.0 ng·kg–1·min–1 in combination with heparin (6 IU·kg–1·h–1) or 2.2% ACD (group B, n = 15). Blood flow was set to match the circuit-filling volume per unit time equal to the intravascular half-life of PGI2. Results: Median filter lifetimes were 26 h (interquartile range 16–37) in group A (39 filters) and 36.5 h (interquartile range 23–50) in group B (56 filters; p < 0.01). In group A, 4 patients (23.5%, p < 0.05) had the dose reduced due to hypotension. The final mean dose of PGI2 was 8.7 ± 2.4 ng·kg–1·min–1. Four patients in group A (23.5%, p < 0.05) were switched to ACD due to a decrease in platelet count. No bleeding episodes, decrease in platelet count or adverse haemodynamic effects were encountered in group B. The cost of epoprostenol plus low dose heparin (EUR 204.73 ± 53.04) was significantly higher than the cost of ACD-based anticoagulation (EUR 93.92 ± 45.2, p < 0.05). Conclusion: ACD offers longer filter survival, has no impact on platelet count and is less expensive. Increasing the dose of PGI2 up to the average of 8.7 ng·kg–1·min–1 did not increase the haemodynamic side effects.


? Insulin glulisine is a rapid-acting human insulin analogue that has a faster onset of action and shorter duration of action than regular human insulin (RHI) in patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus and is efficacious in controlling prandial blood glucose levels in these patients. ? In large, well designed trials in patients with type 1 diabetes, insulin glulisine demonstrated a similar degree of glycaemic control, as measured by glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA 1c ) levels, to RHI after 12 weeks and insulin lispro after 26 weeks. ? Pre-meal insulin glulisine was also more effective than RHI at controlling 2-hour post-prandial glucose excursions in patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes over a period of 12 weeks. ? In patients with type 2 diabetes, insulin glulisine induced significantly greater reductions in HbA 1c levels and 2-hour post-breakfast and post-dinner blood glucose levels than RHI over a period of 26 weeks. ? Insulin glulisine was generally well tolerated by patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes and had a similar safety profile to insulin lispro or RHI. Severe hypoglycaemia was experienced by similar proportions of insulin glulisine or comparator insulin (insulin lispro or RHI) recipients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the possible benefits of coenzyme Q10 and selenium supplementation administered to patients with statin-associated myopathy (SAM). Sixty eligible patients entered the pilot study. Laboratory examination (CoQ10, selenium, creatin kinase) and intensity of SAM (visual scale) were performed at baseline, after 1 month, and at the end of study at month 3. Plasma levels of CoQ10 increased from 0.81 ± 0.39 to 3.31 ± 1.72 μmol/L in the active group of patients treated by CoQ10, compared with the placebo (p = 0.001). Also, the symptoms of SAM significantly improved in the active group (p < 0.001): the intensity of muscle pain decreased from 6.7 ± 1.72 to 3.2 ± 2.1 (p < 0.01, -53.4 ± 28.2%); muscle weakness decreased from 7.0 ± 1.63 to 2.8 ± 2.34 (p < 0.01, -60 ± 24.0%); muscle cramps decreased from 5.33 ± 2.06 to 1.86 ± 2.42, p < 0.01, -65 ± 28%); tiredness decreased from the initial 6.7 ± 1.34 to 1.2 ± 1.32 (p < 0.01, -82 ± 22%). We did not observe any significant changes in the placebo group. In conclusion, supplementation of statin-treated patients with CoQ10 resulted in a decrease in the symptoms of SAM, both in absolute numbers and intensity. Additional selenium supplementation was not associated with any statistically significant decrease of SAM. However, it is not possible to draw any definite conclusions, even though this study was carried out in double-blind fashion, because it involved a small number of patients.


In this letter, we propose efficient multi-hypothesis prediction (MHP) algorithms for high performance video codec. First, candidate MHPs are generated by combining the seed predictors around the initial predictor which is obtained by motion estimation. Among candidate MHPs, we select the optimal MHP predictor which have the lowest rate-distortion (RD) cost and signal the index as side information. We also propose directional MHP (DMH), which combines only two predictors along the predefined direction to minimize both encoding complexity and signaling overhead. In the experimental results, proposed MHP algorithms show better performance than H.264/AVC. Specifically, the average bit saving of DMH over H.264/AVC is up to 9.55%. The results also indicate that the performance is better at the high bit rate.


Using data that, to our knowledge, have not been used before for this purpose, we examined 9,231 opposite-sex intimate partner violence (IPV) calls for law enforcement assistance recorded in the Compstat system of a large U.S. city. Although women were the predominant victims, injuries were documented more often for men. Only about 1% of incidents were considered a restraining order violation, although many orders were active in the city at the time. The data appeared to be of good quality and just a few changes in recording procedures would increase Compstat's usefulness for public health in U.S. cities.


The purpose of this thesis is to illuminate the tensions between women's liberation and class warfare through the perspectives of several prominent female leaders in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and also to push further to attempt to provide insight into how these women themselves reconciled these tensions. It has generally been argued that the discrepancy between the reality of gender equality and the policy goals of the CCP were due to prioritization of party agenda and the avoidance of alienating poor rural men who served the party's base. Traditionally, it is argued that this is what estranged female CCP members. Therefore, women within the party, it is often assumed, were in direct opposition to this prioritization. However, while this is a factor, my research demonstrates that this relationship was much more nuanced than is often presented. In fact, many female members decided to remain within the party and supported its goals despite gender equality being consistently compromised. To ignore this reality and the decisions many women within the CCP made would silence their voices and paint an over-simplified picture of their experiences. Each of the women discussed in this thesis reconciled gender equality with their own decisions in different ways. This thesis works to illuminate the nuanced relationships each of these women had with the tensions of CCP


Cardamonin, a chalcone isolated from the fruits of a local plant Alpinia rafflesiana, has demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity in cellular models of inflammation. In this report, we evaluated the ability of cardamonin to suppress both NO and PGE2 synthesis, iNOS and COX-2 expression and enzymatic activity, and key molecules in the NF-kappaB pathway in order to determine its molecular target. Cardamonin suppressed the production of NO and PGE2 in interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 cells. This inhibition was demonstrated to be caused by a dose-dependent down-regulation of both inducible enzymes, iNOS and COX-2, without direct effect upon iNOS or COX-2 enzyme activity. Subsequently we determined that the inhibition of inducible enzyme expression was due to a dose-dependent inhibition of phosphorylation and degradation of I-kappaBalpha, which resulted in a reduction of p65NF-kappaB nuclear translocation. We conclude that cardamonin is a potential anti-inflammatory drug lead that targets the NF-kappaB pathway.


We examine how tax avoidance in the form of trade in well-functioning asset markets affects the basic labor supply model. We show that tax arbitrge has dramatic implications for positive, normative and econometric analysis of how taxes affect work incentives.


Museum directors are often faced with the challenge of engaging users in the museum experience while preserving the intentions of exhibit content. Designing exhibits for children can heighten the tension between these sometimes competing goals. Working with the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, we designed and implemented Metamorphosis, a system for an engaging, educational butterfly exhibit. The exhibit employs augmented reality and full-body interaction to guide users through critical phases of a butterfly's metamorphosis process. In Metamorphosis, we incorporated participatory design methods in order to leverage engaging ubiquitous technologies while supporting an educational narrative aligned with the museum's goals.


The debate over ABM Treaty interpretation and reinterpretation into which Professor Koplow ventures is part and parcel of two much broader and dramatic confrontations: the struggle currently being waged over the direction of United States nuclear strategy and a battle between the Executive and the Congress over the formulation and implementation of American foreign policy.' Unfortunately, this broad policy context for treaty power disputes, far from helping to illuminate the underlying constitutional issues, appears to have injected passion, partisanship,2 and strongly held doctrinal predilections into the discus-


We report on a patient suffering from primary retroperitoneal fibrosis with histologically proven involvement of the right kidney. The problems in making the correct diagnosis, for which in this case a laparotomy and histological examination were also necessary, are discussed.


The thesis takes its starting point in the question of how damages for violation of crime is determined. This type of non-pecuniary damages to crime victims has a fundamental uncertainty regarding the computation of damages and what is really meant by "violation" in the meaning of the law. There is also a gliding between the violation and the suffering, as to which the compensation is related. The violation-dimension has a more "objective" connotation as a sanction in the sense of an attack on a protected interest within the rule of law. Whereas the suffering-dimension focuses more on the "subjective", individualized injury as the object of attack. According to law, damages for violation should be determined such that it reflects the present social norms within society. Therefore, the compensation must be seen in relation to the context of criminal law, levels of punishment, the proportionality of the compensation in relation to the punishment and the crimes' penal value. Thus before the empirical study, two central suppositions were: (1) if the applicator of the law "succeeds" in this task and (2) if it is possible to say something about if the application of the law, for instance the compensation levels, influences the satisfaction among the victims. The general object of the thesis is: to investigate how the application of the law reflects the sense of justice and how empirical knowledge can contribute to the legal field in question.

The study includes two surveys, one involving the public and the other involving crime victims that had received compensation for criminal injuries from the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority. The surveys consist of vignette questions selected from legal usage and questions about the victims' experience of the compensation. The legal rule, about a victim's right to compensation for the violation, opens up for different interpretations and several possible applications because of its vagueness. It is reminiscent of what H.L.A. Hart describes as "the open texture of law". If the interpretation and the application of the rule is too standardised, or made from the "external" point of view according to Hart, it can be difficult for the crime victims to get satisfaction by way of the compensation. But if there is no internal point here, or put in another way, if there are merely different personal opinions on and expressions of how the rule is to be applied, it is hard to say that the compensation really can function according to the law. The research topic is therefore linked to the problem of incommensurability and a version of what it means to follow a vague rule in an individual way. Therefore it was interesting that the respondents in general had no difficulty valuing this type of non-pecuniary damage. The main point is that the application of a rule goes beyond the rule and the meaning of the rule is to be understood in reflection of a broader practice. The dissatisfaction among victims can therefore be understood as a consequence of a too narrow understanding of what it means to follow a rule.

The subject and the analysis of the results from the empirical study, show how several dichotomies between formal and informal norms and between the internal and external view of law is put in question and under stress. But this is not meant as a critique, to show a "gap problem" or between "law in books" vis a vis "law in action", but rather to illustrate that what can be described as leaking law is a central dimension of a normative system that deals with values, languages and the application of general rules through interpretation in a certain context. So the question is rather how its leaks rather than if, moreover, according to the legislator, the estimation of the compensation shall leak.


The development of high-temperature heavy-duty turbine disk materials is critical for improving the overall efficiency of combined cycle power plants. An alloy development strategy to this end involves superalloys strengthened by 'compact' γ′-γ″ coprecipitates. Compact morphology of coprecipitates consists of a cuboidal γ′ precipitate such that γ″ discs coat its six {001} faces. The present work is an attempt to investigate the microstructure and creep behavior of a fully aged alloy exhibiting compact coprecipitates. We conducted heat treatments, detailed microstructural characterization, and creep testing at 1200 °F (649 °C) on an IN718-variant alloy. Our results indicate that aged IN718-27 samples exhibit a relatively uniform distribution of compact coprecipitates, irrespective of the cooling rate. However, the alloy ruptured at low strains during creep tests at 1200 °F (649 °C). At 100 ksi (689 MPa) load, the alloy fails around 0.1% strain, and 75 ksi (517 MPa) loading causes rupture at 0.3% strain. We also report extensive intergranular failure in all the tested samples, which is attributed to cracking along grain boundary precipitates. The results suggest that while the compact coprecipitates are indeed thermally stable during thermomechanical processing, the microstructure of the alloy needs to be optimized for better creep strength and rupture life.


Stochastic processes are mathematical objects that offer a probabilistic representation of
how some quantities evolve in time. In this thesis we focus on estimating the trajectory and
parameters of dynamical systems in cases where only indirect observations of the driving
stochastic process are available. We have first explored means to use weekly recorded
numbers of cases of Influenza to capture how the frequency and nature of contacts made
with infected individuals evolved in time. The latter was modelled with diffusions and
can be used to quantify the impact of varying drivers of epidemics as holidays, climate,
or prevention interventions. Following this idea, we have estimated how the frequency of
condom use has evolved during the intervention of the Gates Foundation against HIV in
India. In this setting, the available estimates of the proportion of individuals infected with
HIV were not only indirect but also very scarce observations, leading to specific difficulties. At last, we developed a methodology for fractional Brownian motions (fBM), here a
fractional stochastic volatility model, indirectly observed through market prices.
The intractability of the likelihood function, requiring augmentation of the parameter
space with the diffusion path, is ubiquitous in this thesis. We aimed for inference methods
robust to refinements in time discretisations, made necessary to enforce accuracy of Euler
schemes. The particle Marginal Metropolis Hastings (PMMH) algorithm exhibits this mesh
free property. We propose the use of fast approximate filters as a pre-exploration tool to
estimate the shape of the target density, for a quicker and more robust adaptation phase
of the asymptotically exact algorithm. The fBM problem could not be treated with the
PMMH, which required an alternative methodology based on reparameterisation and advanced Hamiltonian Monte Carlo techniques on the diffusion pathspace, that would also
be applicable in the Markovian setting.


Monogenic forms of diabetes present opportunities for precision medicine as identification of the underlying genetic cause has implications for treatment and prognosis. However, genetic testing remains inconsistent across countries and health providers, often resulting in both missed diagnosis and misclassification of diabetes type. One of the barriers to deploying genetic testing is uncertainty over whom to test as the clinical features for monogenic diabetes overlap with those for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In this review, we perform a systematic evaluation of the evidence for the clinical and biochemical criteria used to guide selection of individuals with diabetes for genetic testing and review the evidence for the optimal methods for variant detection in genes involved in monogenic diabetes. In parallel we revisit the current clinical guidelines for genetic testing for monogenic diabetes and provide expert opinion on the interpretation and reporting of genetic tests. We provide a series of recommendations for the field informed by our systematic review, synthesizing evidence, and expert opinion. Finally, we identify major challenges for the field and highlight areas for future research and investment to support wider implementation of precision diagnostics for monogenic diabetes.


Telescopes for observing the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) usually have shields and baffle structures in order to reduce the pickup from the ground. These structures may introduce unwanted sidelobes. We present a method to measure and model baffling structures of large aperture telescope optics to predict the sidelobe pattern.


117 Background: Neratinib is an irreversible pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor with clinical efficacy in trastuzumab pre-treated HER2-positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer (BC). ExteNET is an ongoing multicenter randomized placebo-controlled phase III trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of a 1-year course of neratinib in patients with early-stage HER2+ BC after trastuzumab-based adjuvant therapy (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00878709).

METHODS
Women with locally-confirmed early-stage HER2+ BC were randomly assigned to oral neratinib 240mg/day or matching placebo for 1 year. Archived diagnostic tumor samples were submitted for HER2 gene amplification testing at a central laboratory. Primary endpoint: invasive disease-free survival (iDFS). Secondary endpoints: DFS including ductal carcinoma in situ (DFS+DCIS); distant disease-free survival (DDFS); time to distant recurrence (TDR). Stratified Cox proportional-hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for the ITT and amended ITT (aITT) populations; unstratified models were used for the centrally confirmed HER2 population. Treatment groups were compared using 2-sided log-rank tests.

RESULTS
The ITT population included 2840 patients (neratinib, N=1420; placebo, N=1420). The higher-risk aITT population (i.e. node-positive disease and randomized ≤1 year of completing prior trastuzumab) included 1873 patients (neratinib, N=938; placebo, N=935). Of the tumor samples analyzed, 1463 (86%) were centrally confirmed (neratinib, N=741; placebo, N=722).

CONCLUSIONS
Neratinib significantly improves iDFS in trastuzumab-treated early-stage HER2+ BC patients. An enhanced treatment effect is observed with neratinib in women with centrally confirmed HER2+ tumors.

CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION
NCT00878709. [Table: see text].


&NA; In Morocco, injuries account for 11% of total burden of disease. Better organization of emergency care can improve the outcome of trauma patients. In Morocco, these services have been reorganized recently, but were never evaluated. The objective was to assess actual structure and processes of emergency trauma care in a Moroccan region. This comparative qualitative study was carried out in the region of Fez. The process and structure of contacting emergency care and prehospital emergency care were compared with the French 2002 standards. Emergency care at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) was compared with World Health Organization 2005 Essential Trauma Care guidelines. Predefined care items were categorized as conforming to the standards or not. An emergency call center with a dedicated dial–up number has been established in the region since January 2007. Compared with the standards, this center was not protected by any legislation and was run by interns only. The center was underutilized during triage to help transportation of severe trauma patients. At the prehospital care level, only 3 out of 15 ambulances were equipped with resuscitation equipment and were used rarely. Only one of the ambulance staff out of three was trained in required skills. At the UTH, emergency care equipment and staff was nearly adequate. This study identified several opportunities for improvement in organizing trauma care in Fez particularly at emergency call center and ambulance service. A quality assurance program would be useful to further identifying improvements in this system.


ABSTRACT In this study, we explored participants' experiences of a unique form of resilience training. The aims of this study were to obtain rich information about the participants' experience of the resilience intervention based on adaptive self-reflection, their ability to report the private stress experience and coping efforts when faced with a stressor, their perceptions of training applicability to other contexts, and whether the training was able to encourage the reappraisal of stressors as growth opportunities. A qualitative design was employed with a sample of 21 investigator trainees from the Australian Defence Force School of Policing. Following implementation of the program, trainees provided written responses to seven open ended questions and participated in one focus group designed to embellish understanding of the survey answers. The analysis identified both strengths and limitations in the way respondents were able to recall and report on their private stress experience and coping efforts and several domains where the resilience training seemed to have its effects. Moreover, the respondents reported increased confidence in their ability to manage stressors in the future, recognition of stress in others and the potential to assist them, and a changed view of stress as an opportunity for personal development. Based on these findings, potential improvements in the training materials are recommended. Moreover, the findings suggest coping and emotion regulatory self-reflection may encourage the application of useful strategies and reinforce personal resilient capacities and coping self-efficacy.


An inhibitor(s) for post-proline cleaving enzyme was checked by using a fluorogenic substrate, Z-Gly-Pro-4-methyl coumarinamide, and was found to be distributed widely in rat and porcine organs. The highest inhibitory activity on the enzyme was observed in pancreas and the inhibitor was partially purified from porcine pancreas extract by heat treatment, chromatographies on DEAE-Sephadex and Sephadex G-50 and affinity chromatography on trypsin-Sepharose. This inhibitor was very stable against temperature, pH and trichloroacetic acid treatment. The molecular weight was estimated to be 6500 by gel filtration. This inhibitor was highly specific for prolyl endopeptidases from mammals and Flavobacterium and inhibited the enzyme competitively. It acted neither on proline specific exopeptidases such as dipeptidyl aminopeptidase IV, proline aminopeptidase, prolidase, nor usual endopeptidases such as trypsin and alpha-chymotrypsin.


Abstract Temporal and spatial characteristics of the Antarctic specific surface mass balance (SSMB) are presented, including its components solid precipitation, sublimation/deposition and melt. For this purpose, we use the output of a regional atmospheric climate model (RACMO2/ANT, horizontal resolution of ~55 km) for the period 1958–2002. RACMO2/ANT uses European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 40 year re-analysis (ERA-40) fields as forcing at the lateral boundaries. RACMO2/ANT underestimates SSMB in the high interior of East and West Antarctica and overestimates SSMB on the steep coastal slopes. Otherwise, the modeled spatial pattern of SSMB is in good qualitative agreement with recent compilations of in situ observations. Large-scale patterns, like the precipitation shadow effect of the Antarctic Peninsula, are well reproduced, and mesoscale SSMB patterns, such as the strong precipitation gradients on Law Dome, are well represented in the model. The integrated SSMB over the grounded ice sheet is 153mmw.e. a–1 for the period 1958–2002, which agrees within 5% with the latest measurement compilations. Sublimation and melt remove 7% and <1% respectively of the solid precipitation. We found significant seasonality of solid precipitation, with a maximum in autumn and a minimum in summer. No meaningful trend was identified for the SSMB, because the time series of solid precipitation and SSMB are affected by an inhomogeneity in 1980 within the ERA-40 fields that drive RACMO2/ANT. Sublimation, melt and liquid precipitation increase in time, which is related to a modeled increase in 2m temperature.


In early T-cell development, single cells dynamically shift expression of multiple transcription factors (TFs) during transition from multipotentiality to T-lineage commitment, but the functional roles of many TFs have been obscure. Here, synchronized in vitro differentiation systems, scRNA-seq with batch indexing, and controlled gene-disruption strategies have unraveled single-cell impacts of perturbing individual TFs at two stages in early T-cell development. Single-cell CRISPR perturbation revealed that early-acting TFs Bcl11a, Erg, Spi1 (PU.1), Gata3, and Tcf7 (TCF1) each play individualized roles promoting or retarding T-lineage progression and suppressing alternative trajectories, collectively determining population dynamics and path topologies. Later, during T-lineage commitment, cells prevented from expressing TF Bcl11b 'realized' this abnormality not with a developmental block, but by shifting into a divergent path via bZIP and Sox TF activation as well as E protein antagonism, finally exiting the T-lineage trajectory. These TFs thus exert a network of impacts to control progression kinetics, trajectories, and differentiation outcomes of early pro-T cells.


Two main problems in Cross-language Information Retrieval are translation selection and the treatment of out-of-vocabulary terms. In this paper, we will be focusing on the problem concerning the translation selection. Structured queries and target co-occurrence-based methods seem to be the most appropriate approaches when parallel corpora are not available. However, there is no comparative study. In this paper we compare the results obtained using each of the aforementioned methods, we specify the weaknesses of each method, and finally we propose a hybrid method to combine both. In terms of mean average precision, results for Basque-English cross-lingual retrieval show that structured queries are the best approach both with long queries and short queries.


The structural and ferroelectric properties of NaNO2: PVF composite film prepared by hot press method have been studied and analyzed. The x-ray diffraction study revealed that the strain is reduced in the composite film. The image of field emission scanning electron microscope shows uniform distribution of NaNO2 grains of 150 nm size in the composite film. The differential scanning calorimetric curve supports the presence of ferroelectric phase. The polarization reversal characteristics were studied with the bipolar square pulse. The application of Ishibashi and Shur's theory to the experimental switching transients supports needle like domain growth (1D) during switching process. The remanent polarization obtained from the polarization reversal is in agreement with the hysteresis loop value. The composite film shows faster switching time compared to pure NaNO2 film and may be attributed to the reduced strain.


Home polysomnography (PSG) by means of ambulatory monitoring systems has distinct advantages over sleep laboratory recordings, especially for children. However, normative data have been lacking. Norms for conventional PSG variables were compiled for 60 children age 5-16 years using the Oxford Medilog ambulatory monitoring system. Recordings were confined to a single night in view of previous demonstrations that the sleep on the first night is not significantly affected by the recording procedure. The results are presented in 5 age subgroups. Broad comparisons with published laboratory PSG norms for children of the same ages suggest that in home recordings sleep duration is longer, and slow wave sleep is much more pronounced with a commensurate reduction in stage 2 NREM sleep. That is, sleep quality and quantity appears better at home even when adaptation to the laboratory situation has been promoted. These new normative data are considered valuable for both clinical and research purposes where physiological sleep studies in children are required.


Repeated late abortions and high-risk, low-chance premature births are among the problems of obstetrics and perinatal medicine still to be solved. It seems that a solution is on its way, through the early total occlusion of the os uteri introduced by us - a solution for at least some of these highly problematic cases. The special advantage of this measure is considered to be the avoidance of an infection ascending to the cervix and to the lower egg-pole resulting in abortion or premature birth. Early total occlusion of the os uteri has been performed on ten women; three have since been delivered of healthy children approximately at term. Six further pregnancies are proceeding normally, five without any phenomena worth reporting, so that further successes can be expected. In one case the external os uteri has become recanalized, and there are premature contractions. In one patient premature delivery occurred after 24/5 weeks of pregnancy with subsequent death of the highly immature newborn post partum.