Human Cripto-1 (CR-1) is a membrane bound protein that belongs to the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-CFC family. CR-1 plays an important role in regulating embryonic development while also having significant implications in various forms of carcinogenesis. Previous studies have shown that germ cell nuclear factor (GCNF), a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily of transcription factors, inhibits CR-1 expression in human embryonal carcinoma NTERA-2 cells following retinoic acid-induced differentiation due to direct binding to a DR0 element within the CR-1 promoter. In the present study, we investigated the effects on CR-1 gene expression of another member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, liver receptor homologue-1 (LRH-1), which can bind to the same GCNF-binding site within the promoter of several genes. NTERA-2 cells transfected with a CR-1 promoter luciferase reporter vector showed substantially increased CR-1 promoter activity in the presence of LRH-1 and decreased CR-1 promoter activity in the presence of GCNF. Retinoic acid treatment of NTERA-2 cells induced downregulation of CR-1 and LRH-1 mRNA and protein expression. In contrast, a strong increase in GCNF was detected in NTERA-2 cells that have been treated with retinoic acid. Additionally, chromatin immunoprecipitation assay displayed direct binding of LRH-1 to the CR-1 promoter in NTERA-2 cells. Real-time PCR and Western blot analysis of NTERA-2 cells transfected with LRH-1 siRNA revealed a significant decrease in CR-1 mRNA and protein expression, suggesting that LRH-1 is required for mantaining high levels of CR-1 expression in embryonal carcinoma cells. Real time PCR analysis for GCNF and LRH-1 in human embryonal carcinoma cells and in a panel of human breast cancer cell lines, expressing very low levels of CR-1, revealed that GCNF is highly expressed in MCF7, T47D and ZR75-1 breast cancer cells as compared to NTERA-2 and NCCIT embryonal carcinoma cells. Since one of the mechanisms used by GCNF to repress gene expression is through promoter DNA methylation, we investigated the role of epigenetic modification of the CR-1 promoter in embryonal and breast carcinoma cells. While NTERA-2 and NCCIT cells showed very low levels of CR-1 promoter methylation, in human breast cancer cells CR-1 promoter was highly methylated in agreement with low levels of CR-1 expression in these cell lines. Finally, treatment of various breast cancer cell lines with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine alone or in combination with the histone deacetylase inhibitors trichostatin A or valproic acid induced a significant increase in CR-1 expression, thus overcoming the repressive effects of GCNF. Collectively, these findings offer promising insight into the transcriptional regulation of CR-1 gene expression and its critical role in the pathogenesis of human cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4943.


The mindless use of null-hypothesis significance testing – the significance test ritual (e.g., Salsburg, 1985) – has long been criticized. The main component of the ritual can be characterized as follows: Once you have collected your data, try to refute your null hypothesis (e.g., no mean difference, zero correlation, etc.) in an automatized manner. Often the ritual is complemented by the "star procedure": If p < .05, assign one star to your results (*), if p < .01 give two stars (**), and if p < .001 you have earned yourself three stars (***). If you have obtained at least one star, the ritual has been successfully performed; if not, your results are not worth much. The stars, or the corresponding numerical values, have been door-openers to prestigious psychology journals and, therefore, the ritual has received strong reinforcement. The ritual does not have a firm theoretical grounding; it seems to have arisen as a badly understood hybrid mixture of the approaches of Ronald A. Fisher, Jerzy Neyman, Egon S. Pearson, and (at least in some variations of the ritual) Thomas Bayes (see Acree, 1979; Gigerenzer & Murray, 1987; Spielman, 1974). For quite some time, there has been controversy over its usefulness. The debates arising from this controversy, however, have not been limited to discussions about the mindless procedure as sketched above, but have expanded to include the issues of experimental design and sampling procedures, assumptions about the size of population effects (leading to the specification of an alternative hypothesis), deliberations about statistical power before the data are collected, and decisions about Type I and Type II errors. There have been several such debates and the controversy is ongoing (for a summary see Balluerka, Gomez, & Hidalgo, 2005; Nickerson, 2000; Sedlmeier, 1999, Appendix C). Although there have been voices that argue for a ban on significance testing (e.g., Hunter, 1997), authors usually conclude that significance tests, if conducted properly, probably have some value (or at least do no harm) but should be complemented (or replaced) by other more informative ways of analyzing data (e.g., Abelson, 1995; Cohen, 1994; Howard, Maxwell, & Fleming, 2000; Loftus, 1993; Nickerson, 2000; Sedlmeier, 1996; Wilkinson & Task Force on Statistical Inference, 1999). Alternative data-analysis techniques have been wellknown among methodologists for decades but this knowledge, mainly collected in methods journals, seems to have had little impact on the practice of researchers to date. I see two main reasons for this unsatisfactory state of affairs. First, it appears that there is still a fair amount of misunderstanding about what the results of significance tests really mean (e.g., Gordon, 2001; Haller & Krauss, 2002; Mittag & Thompson, 2000; Monterde-i-Bort, Pascual Llobell, & Frias-Navarro, 2008). Second, although alternatives have been briefly mentioned in widely received summary articles (such as Wilkinson & Task Force on Statistical Inference, 1999), they have rarely been presented in a nontechnical and detailed manner to a nonspecialized audience. Thus, researchers might, in principle, be willing to change how they analyze data but the effort needed to learn about alternative methods might just be regarded as too great. The main aim of this special issue is to introduce a collection of these alternative data-analysis methods in a nontechnical way, described by experts in the field. Before introducing the contents of the special issue, I will briefly outline the ideal state of affairs in inference statistics and discuss the difference between mindless and mindful significance testing.


- This research work is focused on the failure analysis of Automatic Access Pedestrian Gate Turnstile using SolidWorks Simulation Model. Failure analysis was carried out on both static and dynamic failure of the system putting into consideration the yield stress, resultant displacement, failure cycle, percentage damage, maximum strain and most importantly factor of safety. The results of Von Mises stress analysis showed that a maximum value of 5.77Mpa yield strength was obtained. A displacement of 0.257737m and a strain value of 2.03989×10 -5 were obtained respectively. The fatigue simulation damage factor was not up to 100% though is up to 50%. At the endurance limit or fatigue limit, the SN curve flattens at 10 6 cycle. A safety of 61 was recorded with the system which is above 1, thus the system is safe and efficient and can be used for security check.


Simulect is a chimeric human/mouse antibody directed against interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor. A combined immuno- and receptor assay has been developed and validated to characterize the production of Simulect batches. This assay is based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology. In each experiment two successive interactions were monitored: the direct binding of Simulect to an anti-human IgG antibody, followed by the direct binding of IL-2-soluble receptor to the preformed anti-human IgG antibody/Simulect complex. Based on the first interaction a direct immunoassay for Simulect was optimized and validated. Based on the second interaction a direct receptor assay for Simulect biological activity was optimized and validated. The assays were validated by performing three independent assays on 3 different days. The intra- and interday variations of the immunoassay (expressed as % CV) were, respectively, 1.7 and 1.6%. The overall accuracy for the immunoassay was 98.5% +/- 1. The intra- and interday variations of the receptor assay (% CV) were, respectively, 1.6 and 3.7%. The overall accuracy of the receptor assay was 100% +/- 2. Four batches of Simulect were compared to a reference batch. The results did not show significant differences for the immunoreactivity. However, the results of the receptor assay showed accuracies which were apparently higher than 100%. This was explained by a slight degradation of the reference batch after few years of storage. These results demonstrate the advantage of this method combining evaluation of the immunological and biological integrity of the drug and a high reproducibility in accuracy and precision of the biosensor-based technology.


ABSTRACT The supply of child labour during Britain's industrial revolution conjures mental imagery of destitute children toiling in mines and mills, but in recent years, historians have demonstrated that children worked in many nooks and crannies of the economy, not just the highly visible new industries. The shipping industry was a vital component of Britain's commercial success in this period, yet the supply of boys has not received the same scrutiny as the children placed in the cotton industry. The Marine Society is best known for its pivotal role supplying the Royal Navy during manpower crises in the eighteenth century; this research highlights a lesser known aspect of its work, the recruitment of poor boys as apprentices to merchant ships. Using the Society's apprenticeship registers, information has been gathered on 25,000 boys. Quantitative analysis is brought to life by contemporary newspaper reports and the Society's treasure trove of correspondence, in order to develop not only a missing piece of maritime history, but also consider themes with wider significance to social and economic history. Individual tales of tragedy and triumph reveal what life was truly like for the boys who rode the crest of the wave, offering an empathetic element to the research.


This research work discussed the expression of love relationships in new media, particularly in a social networking platform; Facebook. Its objectives were achieved through the juxtaposition of this idea in line with further exploration as expressed in a Nigerian song titled Facebook Love, a seminal hip-hop song which expressed goings-on on the social networking site, Facebook. It noted that love relationships took two dimensions which are positive and negative. The study found that love relationships across new media platforms are easy to start up, interactive with chat and instant messaging facilities, and provide a wider array of networking possibilities. In contrast to these however, the kind of love proclaimed there is riddled with deceit, lies, addiction, and infatuation among some other things that people tend to avoid in face-to-face communication.


For a better exploitation of the area, the use of culture in intercropping can become a viable alternative to higher profitability, especially in small farms that have small area and can explore the family labor. With the intercropping maizebeans, corn can be used for consumption "in natura" and beans for own consumption or used as seed for the next sowing. Exploring this possibility, an experiment was conducted from May to October 2007, in Selviria-MS, the objective was to study the effects of intercropping systems involving plant arrangement and size of maize on the performance of four common bean cultivars. The experimental design was a randomized block design with four replications and a factorial 4 x 5 made up of four bean cultivars (Carioca Precoce, Colibri, Rubi, IAC Carioca Ete) and five cropping systems (Single, intercropping of a row of beans between rows of tall maize, a row of beans between the rows of short maize, two rows of beans between rows of tall maize and two rows of beans between the rows of small maize). It was concluded that the productivity was dependent on the intercropping system and also the only bean cultivars differed in yield when grown in the single system or a row of beans between maize stature. The cultivars Carioca Precoce and Rubi were among the best in both systems.


OBJECTIVE
To study the induction of transforming growth factor-beta 1(TGF-beta 1) in reparative process of mouse experimental alveolar bone defect.

METHODS
Alveolar bone defect were made in 20 mice at 1/1 region. In twelve mice (experimental group), the defect was filled with gelatin sponge infiltrated by TGF-beta 1 solution; in eight mice (control group), the defect was filled with gelatin sponge. The peripheral tissue coating alveolar bone defect was harvested for histopathologic study after 1 week, 2 weeks and 1 month, 3 months.

RESULTS
The main histopathologic changes were: 1. experimental group: inflammatory cell infiltration (1W); inflammatory cell disappearance, fibroblast and capillary tachyauxesis, osteoid tissue and small amount neoformative bone tissue appearance (2 W); fibrous tissue decrease, neoformative bone tissue enlarging and maturity(1-3 M). 2. Control group; inflammatory cell infiltration (1W); inflammatory cell disappearance, fibroblast and capillary tachyauxesis (2W); osteoblast appearance around bone defect (1M); small amount neoformative bone tissue around bone defect.

CONCLUSION
TGF-beta 1 can induce alveolar bone regeneration.


Protein structural change underlies many signal transduction processes. Although end-state structures are known for various allosteric proteins, intermediates are difficult to observe. Recently, targeted molecular dynamics simulation (TMD) was used to examine the conformational transition and predict relevant intermediates for wild-type lactose repressor (LacI). A catalog of involved residues suggests that the transition of this homodimer is asymmetric and that K84 is a prominent participant in the dynamic N-subdomain interface. Previous experiments indicated that hydrophobic substitutions at position 84 engender slowed, biphasic inducer binding kinetics, which might reflect the same phenomena observed in TMD. Here, we report biochemical confirmation that DNA and inducer binding remain allosterically linked in K84A and K84L, albeit with a differential smaller than that found in wild-type LacI. Other features of these mutant proteins are consistent with an allosteric conformational shift that approximates that of the wild type. As a consequence, these repressors can be utilized to explore an unanswered question about LacI function: How many inducers (one or two per dimer) are required to diminish operator affinity? The biphasic natures of the K84L and K84A inducer association rates allow direct correlation between the two distinct inducer binding events and operator release. Indeed, the kinetics of operator release for the K84A and K84L closely parallel those for the second inducer binding event. Together with implications from previous equilibrium results for wild-type and mutant proteins, these kinetic data demonstrate that binding of two inducers per dimeric DNA binding unit is required to release the operator in these variant LacI proteins.


We report the development of a new ray-tracing simulation tool having the potential of the full characterization of a radio link through the accurate study of the propagation path of the signal from the transmitting to the receiving antennas across a perturbed atmosphere. The ray-tracing equations are solved, with controlled accuracy, in three dimensions (3D) and the propagation characteristics are obtained using various refractive index models. The launching of the rays, the atmospheric medium and its disturbances are characterized in 3D. The novelty in the approach stems from the use of special numerical techniques dealing with so called stiff differential equations without which no solution of the ray-tracing equations is possible. Starting with a given launching angle, the solution consists of the ray trajectory, the propagation time information at each point of the path, the beam spreading, the transmitted (resp. received) power taking account of the radiation pattern and orientation of the antennas and finally, the polarization state of the beam. Some previously known results are presented for comparative purposes and new results are presented as well as some of the capabilities of the software.


Endophytic bacteria, a rich source of bioactive secondary metabolites, are ideal candidates for environmentally benign agents. In this study, an endophytic strain, Streptomyces sp. AE170020, was isolated and selected for the purification of nematicidal substances based on its high nematicidal activity. Two highly active components, aureothin and alloaureothin, were identified, and their chemical structures were determined using spectroscopic analysis. Both compounds suppressed the growth, reproduction, and behavior of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. In in vivo experiments, the extracts of strain Streptomyces sp. AE170020 effectively suppressed the development of pine wilt disease in four-year-old plants of Pinus densiflora. The potency of secondary metabolites isolated from endophytic strains suggests applications in controlling Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and opens an avenue for further research on exploring bioactive substances against the pine wood nematode.


At present, the new technologies of DNA sequencing are rapidly developing allowing quick and efficient characterisation of organisms at the level of the genome structure. In this study, the whole genome sequencing of a human (Russian man) was performed using two technologies currently present on the market - Sequencing by Oligonucleotide Ligation and Detection (SOLiD™) (Applied Biosystems) and sequencing technologies of molecular clusters using fluorescently labeled precursors (Illumina). The total number of generated data resulted in 108.3 billion base pairs (60.2 billion from Illumina technology and 48.1 billion from SOLiD technology). Statistics performed on reads generated by GAII and SOLiD showed that they covered 75% and 96% of the genome respectively. Short polymorphic regions were detected with comparable accuracy however, the absolute amount of them revealed by SOLiD was several times less than by GAII. Optimal algorithm for using the latest methods of sequencing was established for the analysis of individual human genomes. The study is the first Russian effort towards whole human genome sequencing.


Decentralized optimization is an emerging paradigm in distributed learning in which agents achieve network-wide solutions by peer-to-peer communication without the central server. Since communication tends to be slower than computation, when each agent communicates with only a few neighboring agents per iteration, they can complete iterations faster than with more agents or a central server. However, the total number of iterations to reach a network-wide solution is affected by the speed at which the agents' information is ``mixed'' by communication. We found that popular communication topologies either have large maximum degrees (such as stars and complete graphs) or are ineffective at mixing information (such as rings and grids). To address this problem, we propose a new family of topologies, EquiTopo, which has an (almost) constant degree and a network-size-independent consensus rate that is used to measure the mixing efficiency. In the proposed family, EquiStatic has a degree of $\Theta(\ln(n))$, where $n$ is the network size, and a series of time-dependent one-peer topologies, EquiDyn, has a constant degree of 1. We generate EquiDyn through a certain random sampling procedure. Both of them achieve an $n$-independent consensus rate. We apply them to decentralized SGD and decentralized gradient tracking and obtain faster communication and better convergence, theoretically and empirically. Our code is implemented through BlueFog and available at \url{https://github.com/kexinjinnn/EquiTopo}


We present a spatially resolved method to determine the short-circuit current density of crystalline silicon solar cells by means of lock-in thermography. The method utilizes the property of crystalline silicon solar cells that the short-circuit current does not differ significantly from the illuminated current under moderate reverse bias. Since lock-in thermography images locally dissipated power density, this information is exploited to extract values of spatially resolved current density under short-circuit conditions. In order to obtain an accurate result, one or two illuminated lock-in thermography images and one dark lock-in thermography image need to be recorded. The method can be simplified in a way that only one image is required to generate a meaningful short-circuit current density map. The proposed method is theoretically motivated, and experimentally validated for monochromatic illumination in comparison to the reference method of light-beam induced current.


Stable isotope mixing models are increasingly used to quantify consumer diets, but may be misused and misinter- preted. We address major challenges to their effective application. Mixing models have increased rapidly in sophistication. Current models estimate probability distributions of source contributions, have user-friendly interfaces, and incorporate com- plexities such as variability in isotope signatures, discrimination factors, hierarchical variance structure, covariates, and con- centration dependence. For proper implementation of mixing models, we offer the following suggestions. First, mixing models can only be as good as the study and data. Studies should have clear questions, be informed by knowledge of the system, and have strong sampling designs to effectively characterize isotope variability of consumers and resources on proper spatio-temporal scales. Second, studies should use models appropriate for the question and recognize their assumptions and limitations. Decisions about source grouping or incorporation of concentration dependence can influence results. Third, studies should be careful about interpretation of model outputs. Mixing models generally estimate proportions of assimilated resources with substantial uncertainty distributions. Last, common sense, such as graphing data before analyzing, is essential to maximize usefulness of these tools. We hope these suggestions for effective implementation of stable isotope mixing models will aid continued development and application of this field.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on insomnia and other sleep disturbances in health care professionals.

METHODS
A survey was distributed using social media and organizational emails to Brazilian active health care professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak. We explored potential associated factors including age, gender, occupation, workplace, work hours, income, previous infection with COVID-19, recent/current contact with COVID-19 patients, regional number of incident deaths, anxiety, and burnout. We evaluated new-onset/ previous insomnia worsening episodes (primary outcome), new pharmacological treatments, sleep quality, duration, nightmares and snoring (secondary outcomes).

RESULTS
A total of 4,384 health professionals from all regions of the country were included in the analysis (44±12 years, 76% females, 53.8% physicians). Overall, 55.7% were assisting patients with COVID-19, and 9.2% had a previous COVID-19 infection. The primary outcome occurred in 32.9% of respondents in parallel to 13% new pharmacological treatments for insomnia. The sleep quality worsened for 61.4%, while 43.5% and 22.8% reported ≥1-hour sleep duration reduction and worsening or new-onset nightmares, respectively. Multivariate analyses showed that age (OR:1.008; 95% CI 1.001-1.015), females (OR:1.590; 95% CI 1.335-1.900), weight change (decrease: OR:1.772; 95% CI 1.453-2.161; increase: OR:1.468; 95% CI 1.249-1.728), prevalent anxiety (OR:3.414; 95% CI 2.954-3.948), new-onset burnout (OR:1.761; 95% CI 1.489-2.083), family income reduction >30% (OR:1.288; 95% CI 1.069-1.553) and assisting patients with COVID-19 (OR:1.275; 95% CI 1.081-1.506) were independently associated with new-onset or worsening of previous insomnia episodes.

CONCLUSIONS
We observed a huge burden of insomnia episodes and other sleep disturbances in health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.


This study determines the gastrointestinal parasite species and their associated gross lesions in local chickens and guinea fowls in the Kumasi Metropolis in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. A total of 213 intestinal tracts (178 from guinea fowls and 35 from local chickens) were obtained from two slaughter points within the Kumasi Metropolis. Faecal samples were analyzed using the  McMaster technique to estimate the parasite burden. Adult worms were identified and gross lesions within the intestinal tract were also evaluated. In this study, 21 helminth parasites were identified in the guinea fowls and 19 were identified in the local chickens.  Trematodes were rarely encountered in the study and coccidian parasites were not differentiated. Overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites was 98.8% in the guinea fowls and 91.4% in the local chickens. Ascaridia sp. was the most prevalent helminth in both animals (79.2% and 54.3% respectively). Gross lesions occurred more in the small intestines and in various combinations of haemorrhage,  thickening, nodules and necrosis were characteristics of the parasites identified in the study. Histologically, there was villous atrophy and necrotising enteritis. Given the economic and immunological cost of  endo-parasitism, tackling the problem of gastrointestinal parasitism can significantly reduce the productivity losses in the family poultry sector.Keywords: Diagnosis; gastrointestinal parasites; poultry; Ghana.


Active queue management (AQM) policies provide an early indication of incipient congestion to the source. In this paper, we propose a new AQM policy that predicts the instantaneous queue length at the next time instant using adaptive filtering technique. To use this algorithm in fast routers, we have reduced its computational complexity. The proposed method uses a simple linear function as adaptive rule. We show that this adaptive congestion control method is able to control the oscillations in the instantaneous queue length. We compare the performance of our method with the other well-known AQM methods such as RED and PI which are also simulated by MATLAB. We also compare the computational complexity of these algorithms with each other.


Pressure-induced phase transition of cubic Eu2O3 is studied by angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction (ADXD) up to 42.3 GPa at room temperature. A structural transformation from a cubic phase to a hexagonal phase is observed, which starts at 5.0 GPa and finishes at about 13.1 GPa. The phase transition leads to a volume collapse of 9.0% at 8.6 GPa. The hexagonal phase of Eu2O3 maintains stable up to the highest experiment pressure. After release of pressure, the high-pressure phase transforms to a monoclinic phase. The pressure-volume data are fitted with the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state. The bulk moduli obtained upon compression from the fitting are 145(2) GPa and 151(6) GPa for the cubic and hexagonal phases, respectively, when their first pressure derivatives are fixed at 4.


New types of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalyst Re-Ni-Mo/ γ-Al2O3 was prepared and tested separately with two prepared conventional HDS catalysts (Ni-Mo/ γ-Al2O3 and Co-Mo//γ-Al2O3) by using a pilot plant hydrotreatment unit. Activities of three prepared hydrodesulfurization catalysts were examined in hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of atmospheric gas oil at different temperatures 275 to 350 °C and LHSV 1 to 4 h-1, the reactions conducted under constant pressure 40 bar and H2/HC ratio 500 ml/ml .Moreover, the hydrogenation of aromatic (HAD) in gas oil has been studied. HDS was much improved by adding promoter Re to the Ni-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst. The results showed that Re-Ni-Mo/ γ-Al2O3 have more activity in desulfurization than Ni-Mo//γ-Al2O3 and Co-Mo/ γ-Al2O3 catalysts. The efficiency of hydrodesulfurization was markedly reduced over the Co -Mo/ γ-Al2O3.Also the result showed that Ni-Mo//γ-Al2O3 have a minimum aromatic content 15.44 %.


Apoptosis is a major cause of reduced podocyte numbers, which leads to proteinuria and/or glomerulosclerosis. Emerging evidence has indicated that deSUMOylation, a dynamic post-translational modification that reverses SUMOylation, is involved in the apoptosis of Burkitt's lymphoma cells and cardiomyocytes; however, the impact of deSUMOylation on podocyte apoptosis remains unexplored. The p53 protein plays a major role in the pathogenesis of podocyte apoptosis, and p53 can be SUMOylated. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated the effect of p53 deSUMOylation, which is regulated by sentrin/SUMO-specific protease 1 (SENP1), on podocyte apoptosis. Our results showed that SENP1 deficiency significantly increases puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN)-induced podocyte apoptosis. Moreover, SENP1 knockdown results in the accumulation of SUMOylated p53 protein and the increased expression of the p53 target pro-apoptotic genes, BAX, Noxa and PUMA, in podocytes during PAN stimulation. Thus, SENP1 may be essential for preventing podocyte apoptosis, at least partly through regulating the functions of p53 protein via deSUMOylation. The regulation of deSUMOylation may provide a novel strategy for the treatment of glomerular disorders that involve podocyte apoptosis.


We analyze the existing solar neutrino experiment data and show the allowed regions. The result from SNO's salt phase itself restricts quite a lot the allowed region's area. Reactor neutrinos play an important role in determining oscillation parameters. KamLAND gives decisive conclusion on the solution to the solar neutrino puzzle, in particular, the spectral distortion in the 766.3 Ty KamLAND data gives another new improvement in the constraint of solar MSW-LMA solutions. We confirm that at 99.73% C.L. the high-LMA solution is excluded.


In this work, computationally efficient design optimization of frequency selective surface (FSS)-loaded ultra-wideband Vivaldi antenna via the use of data-driven surrogate model is studied. The proposed design methodology consists of a multi-layer FSS structure aimed for performance improvement of the Vivaldi design, which makes the design a multi-objective multi-dimensional optimization problem. For having a fast and accurate optimization process, a data-driven surrogate model alongside the metaheuristic optimizer honeybee mating optimization (HBMO) had been used. The optimally designed antenna had been prototyped and its performance characteristics had been measured. The obtained experimental results are compared with the simulated results of the proposed method. Results show that the obtained FSS-loaded structure has enhanced directivity compared with the design without FSS structure, without any performance losses in the return loss characteristics. The FSS-loaded Vivaldi antenna operates at 2–12 GHz band with a maximum gain of 10 dBi at 10 GHz which makes the design a good solution for RADAR applications.


I. The Administrative State, Democratic Constitutionalism, and the Rule of Law The Problem: Retrofitting the American Administrative State into the Constitutional Scheme Public Administration and American Constitutionalism The American Public Administrative "Orthodoxy" "Reinvented" Public Administration: Toward a New Public Management US Constitutionalism Controlling Administrative Discretion: The Role of Law Judicial Responses to the Administrative State Conclusion: "Retrofitting" as an Incremental Project Administrative Law and the Judiciary Today The Commerce Clause Delegated Power The Federal Government's Administrative Law Framework Judicial Review of Agency Action Review of Informational Activity Adjudications Rulemaking Review of Executive Orders Alternatives to Litigation Regulatory Negotiation Environmental Law: Changing Public Administration Practices Judicial Review of Agency Actions Interpretation of Environmental Laws The Growth of Environmental Conflict Resolution II. The Constitutionalization of Public Administrative Action The Individual as Client and Customer of Public Agencies The Public Administration of Services Constraining Clients: The Problem of Conditional Benefits Clients and Customers in Court: The Traditional Response The Demise of the Doctrine of Privilege A Constitutional Limit to Clients' and Customers' Interests in Public Benefits The Case Law in Sum Impact on Public Administration Street-Level Encounters The Need for Street-Level Intuition versus the Fear of Arbitrary or Discriminatory Administration and Law Enforcement The Fourth Amendment Impact on Public Administration The Individual as Government Employee or Contractor Public Administrative Values and Public Employment Constitutional Values in Public Employment Considering Whether the Constitution Should Apply to Public Employment Judicial Doctrines The Structure of Public Employees' Constitutional Rights Today Conclusion: The Courts, Public Personnel Management, and Contracting The Individual as Inmate in Administrative Institutions Administrative Values and Practices Total Institutions and Public Administrative Values Theory and Practice in Public Total Institutions Prior to Reform in the 1970s Transformational Cases Subsequent Developments: The Right to Treatment and Prisoners' Rights Today Implementation and Impact Conclusion: Consequences for Public Administrators The Individual as Antagonist of the Administrative State The Antagonist of the Administrative State The Antagonist in Court: Traditional Approaches Public Administrators' Liability and Immunity Suing States and Their Employees Failure to Train of to Warn Public Law Litigation and Remedial Law Standing State Action Doctrine, Outsourcing, and Private Entities' Liability for Constitutional Torts Law, Courts, and Public Administration Judicial Supervision of Public Administration Administrative Values and Constitutional Democracy Assessing the Impact of Judicial Supervision on Public Administration The Next Steps: Public Service Education and Training in Law


Groundwater has always been considered as an unsustainable resource, provided abstraction is balanced by recharge. Intensive groundwater exploitation, it's considerable withdrawal for various purposes and drainage measures, selfish human activities have crucially high-lighted to work out scientific bases and techniques to find out ways for a viable groundwater management. Thus, this paper attempts for a hydrological study of the soil and to determine
the hydraulic parameters of soil like the infiltration rate, hydraulic conductivity, sorptivity, and porosity using double ring infiltrometer which is an efficient concern for the ground-water recharge purpose. For the already-stated critique, the field infiltration tests were implemented at ten distinct sites of NIT Rourkela campus encompassing around 150-200 observations by using double ring infiltrometer which incorporates two types of cylindrical
diameters 30cm and 60cm to prevent wastage of water. Data is collected until the soil turns out to be saturated and a steady state infiltration rate is gained. The novelty in this research work resides in the fact of finding out the saturation point of the soils and concluding the best-suited soil for the use in groundwater recharge. Thus, the results of the so-mentioned performance analysis proved to be an efficient method to determine the infiltration rate and
the hydraulic properties of the locally available soils for the effective use in groundwater recharge.


Objectives. This study was designed to examine the effects of socioeconomic status and oral health behaviors on periodontal diseases in the elderly Korean population, to determine whether any inequalities in oral health status exist depending on socioeconomic status, and ultimately to provide essential data for national healthcare policies intended to effectively reduce the inequalities. Methods. The raw data collected from 'The Fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2007' was analyzed in this study. The subjects included in this study were seven hundred and seventy eight (778) elderly people, aged 65 years or older and who had completed the oral examination, health questionnaires and nutrition examination. Results. First, analyses of differences in the prevalence of periodontal diseases depending on socioeconomic status showed that the prevalence of periodontal diseases increases with age and also the prevalence of periodontal diseases is relatively higher in the residents of rural communities such as Eup or Myeon. Second, analyses of differences in the prevalence of periodontal diseases depending on oral health behaviors indicated that a lower frequency of eating between meals leads to a higher prevalence of periodontal diseases. Finally, regarding the magnitude of effects of socioeconomic status and oral health behaviors on periodontal diseases, it was found that both these factors (i.e., socioeconomic status and oral health behaviors) have significant effects on periodontal diseases. However, specifically socioeconomic status has more significant effects on periodontal diseases. Conclusions. In conclusion, it was revealed that considerable inequalities exist in the prevalence of periodontal diseases depending on socioeconomic status in the elderly population, and both the factors of socioeconomic status and oral health behaviors correlate with the prevalence of periodontal diseases. Specifically, the results of this study suggest that the effects of socioeconomic status on periodontal diseases are more significant than the effects of oral health behaviors, and oral health behaviors by themselves closely correlate with socioeconomic status.


Four commercial solvents and o-xylene have been tested for their effectiveness in remediating paraffin (wax) depositions from three different dead oils. The dead oils were sampled from the North Sea, Alberta and Gulf of Mexico, respectively. Representative field solvent/oil concentrations of 2000 and 4000 ppm (vol) were prepared for each oil and solvent considered in this work. Two state-of-the-art techniques, namely a cross polar microscopy (CPM) and a rheometrics mechanical spectrometer (RMS 800), were used to study paraffin crystal habits and/or morphologies at 32°F, wax dissolution temperatures (WDT), and pour point temperatures of the three dead oils with and without solvents. It is found that in almost all cases, the 2000 pm (vol) solvent concentration yielded similar or better remediation results than mixtures with 4000 ppm (vol) solvents. More importantly, it is shown that the remediation of wax deposition depends not only on the solvent concentration but also the type oil and, in turn, waxes being treated (i.e., case specific). In some cases, the relatively cheap solvents outperform the more expensive o-xylene in dissolving wax deposits. Finally, a laser based solids detection system (SDS) was used to study the effect of o-xylene on the wax appearance temperature (WAT) of a second live fluid from the Gulf of Mexico.


Background Low socioeconomic position (SEP) has been associated with increased risks of morbidity and mortality from many diseases. We investigated the associations between gastric cancer incidence and education, occupation and income as indicators for SEP. Methods We searched the PubMed and EMBASE databases for studies on SEP and gastric cancer incidence published from 1966 through February 2013. We used a random-effect model to pool the risk estimates from the individual studies. The relative indexes of inequality (RIIs) with their 95% CIs were used as summary estimates. We stratified the analysis by SEP indicators, sex, country's income group, geographical area, level of adjustment for an established risk factor, publication year, study design, type of control and length of follow-up. Results Of 1549 citations, 36 studies met our inclusion criteria. We observed an increased risk of gastric cancer among the lowest SEP categories in education (RII=2.97; 95% CI 1.923 to 4.58), occupation (RII=4.33; 95% CI 2.57 to 7.29) and combined SEP (RII=2.64; 95% CI 1.05 to 6.63) compared with the highest SEP categories. Although the association between the incidence of gastric cancer and the level of income is evident, it did not reach a statistically significant level (RII=1.25; 95% CI 0.93 to 1.68). Conclusions We found that the risk of gastric cancer incidence is higher among low SEP groups.


The question whether global financial integration is beneficial for everyone remains highly disputed. It is often assumed that financial globalization involves threshold effects, where integration is worthwhile only when certain preconditions are met. However, it has also been noted that financial account liberalization also brings about considerable additional indirect benefits. These indirect benefits are often the same as the preconditions, such that there exists a complex two-way relationship between financial globalization and the preconditions/additional benefits. Such a relationship can lead to financial globalization traps, where some economies are trapped at a low level stable equilibrium, while others enjoy ever increasing financial integration. In this paper, we use de facto indicators of international financial integration to investigate if the dynamics of financial integration exhibit signs of such thresholds and traps. We present a parametric way of estimating these important parameters, based on recently developed sample splitting and threshold estimation methods. We find that there are indeed signs of multiple equilibriums if we look at the growth rates of total assets and liabilities. We also find that a group of countries are apparently caught in a high debt stock trap.


In this paper the uniform nanopowders of La0.5Ca0.5CoO3– and La0.5Ca0.5NiO3– (LCCO and LCNO) were synthesized from nitrates of the constituent metal ion, citric acid (CA), and ethylene glycol (EG) by the combined citrate-ethylene glycol (EG) method. These nanopowders were also characterized by differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), SEM-EDX analysis and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. XRD results show that single perovskite phase was completely formed after calcination at 750 °C. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra were measured for the xerogels and powder samples after calcination. In addition, the TEM images show that the average particle size of nanoparticles is approximately 25–32 nm in diameter. The ultraviolet (UV) spectrum was used to calculate the absorption coefficient ( ) as a function of photon energy (h ) and the obtained results indicate that the optical band gap energy (Eg) for LCNO sample is smaller than that of LCCO. Finally, the temperature dependence of the specific resistivity of LCCO and LCNO sintered at 1100 °C was compared and revealed that the resistivity of both compounds decreases exponentially by increasing the temperature.


Interactive learning environment is the key support for education decision making, the corresponding analytics and methodology are the important part of educational technology research and development. As an important part and the research challenge, learning behaviors are uncertain and produce complex data relationships, which makes the learning analysis process more difficult. This chapter studies the feasibility of Eclat framework applying in educational decision making and get the corresponding the data analysis results. We take probabilistic frequent itemsets and association rules as research objectives, extract and standardize multiple data subsets; Based on Eclat framework, using data vertical format, we design and improve the models and algorithms in the process of data management and processing. The results show that the improved models and algorithms are effective and feasible. On the premise of ensuring robustness and stability, the mining quality of probabilistic frequent itemsets and association rules is guaranteed, which is conducive to the construction of key execution topology of learning behaviors, and improves the accuracy and reliability of data association analysis and decision prediction. The whole analysis methods and demonstration processes can provide references for the study of interactive learning environment, as well as decision suggestions and predictive feedback.


Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus-ES (ToLCNDV-ES), a high threat to cucurbits in the Mediterranean Basin, is listed as a different strain from the Asian ToLCNDV isolates. In this study, the infectivity of two clones previously isolated from Italy and Pakistan were compared in cucumbers, which resulted in the opposite symptom appearance. The swapping subgenome was processed; however, the mechanisms related to the disease phenotype remain unclear. To identify the disease-associated genes that could contribute to symptom development under the two ToLCNDV infections, the transcriptomes of ToLCNDV-infected and mock-inoculated cucumber plants were compared 21 days postinoculation. The number of differentially expressed genes in ToLCNDV-India-infected plants was 10 times higher than in ToLCNDV-ES-infected samples. The gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment were analyzed using the Cucurbits Genomics Database. The flavonoid pathway-related genes were upregulated in ToLCNDV-ES, but some were downregulated in ToLCNDV-India infection, suggesting their role in resistance to the two ToLCNDV infections. The relative expression levels of the selected candidate genes were validated by qRT-PCR under two ToLCNDV-infected conditions. Our results reveal the different infectivity of the two ToLCNDVs in cucumber and also provide primary information based on RNA-seq for further analysis related to different ToLCNDV infections.


This paper reports on corrosion of reinforcing steel bars in strain hardening cement-based composites (SHCC) under chloride attack. As part of a continued research project on durability of SHCC, the main focus here is on flexurally induced cracks in reinforced SHCC (R/SHCC) specimens with different cover depths. After unloading from the flexural test, these specimens are subjected to chloride attack, while monitoring steel corrosion. The R/SHCC specimens comprised series manufactured with two different types of sand, reinforced with single and double tensile steel bars with three different cover depths, in order to relate the crack patterns, cover depth and rebar corrosion. Crack widths of below 50 μm are found to allow chloride penetration to the rebar within hours. Corrosion potential and corrosion rate measurements, following a Coulostatic method, are reported. By removal of rebars from a number of specimens after more than a year of chloride exposure, corrosion damage is studied by visual observation, pitting depth measurements and tensile testing of the rebars. Chloride profiles are also determined through XRF in cracked and uncracked regions of the specimens. Relation of corrosion damage calculated from corrosion rate measurements, with observed corrosion damage is complicated by localised corrosion.


The roles of momentum transport on the toroidal rotation velocity (Vt) profile and the properties of transport coefficients are found by transient momentum transport analysis. The perturbation technique enables us to evaluate the momentum diffusivity (χφ) and the convection velocity (Vconv), and to calculate Vt profiles driven by external torque input by neutral beams (NBs). The measured Vt profiles with and without the external torque input are almost reproduced by χφ and Vconv in low-β (βN < 0.4) plasmas. At higher β, the local pressure gradient plays a role in determining the local value of intrinsic rotation velocity. Concerning the momentum transport, χφ increases with increasing heating power, and decreases with increasing plasma current (Ip). In H-mode plasmas, χφ is smaller than that in L-mode plasmas under similar experimental conditions. It is found that χφ, which is separated from the non-diffusive term increases with increasing heat diffusivity (χi), χφ/χi ∼ 1-3, and −Vconv increases with increasing χφ, Vconv/χφ ∼ −2.5 to −0.7 m−1, in H-mode plasmas.


As more individuals whose lives are affected by acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) begin to need psychiatric hospitalization, psychiatric staffs must be prepared to handle the strong feelings aroused by the disease. The authors present case vignettes of four patients with AIDS-related problems admitted to a voluntary acute-stay ward of a teaching hospital. They then discuss the largely indifferent reaction of the other ward patients to the AIDS-related patients, the tense and fearful reaction of the staff, and the subsequent interruption of the usual functioning of the therapeutic milieu. To develop an optimal management plan, the authors recommend attention to specific principles of patient and milieu assessment.


"Offshoring" has become increasing attractive for European engineering consulting firms, either through the use of external resources (outsourcing) or by relocating internal activities (the captive arrangement of foreign direct investment). Consulting companies may experience lack of skilled personnel and or an increasing pressure on costs. Moreover countries like China and India provide highly qualified engineers at a relative low level of remuneration compared with their Western counterparts. The aim of this paper is to investigate the experiences of Scandinavian based consulting engineers concerning offshoring, which often begins with a single project, but early positive results and the production flexibility of many developing countries can quickly lead to a more profound collaboration and even to a strategic transformation of the Scandinavian firm. For its theoretical foundations the paper builds on international business and strategic management approaches. The empirical research uses desk research investigations of companies in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. An exploratory study focuses on a single case supplemented with a preliminary evaluation of the 30 largest consulting engineering companies in Scandinavia.


We show that fetuin, a fetal glycoprotein present in fetal plasma in concentrations substantially higher than in the adult, can exert a protective function against ill-effects of the bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), in pregnancy. The concentration of fetuin in plasma of pregnant rats (E17 gestation) was artificially increased by repeated intraperitoneal administration of this protein. This was followed by an injection of a standard dose of LPS, a dose that produced in control animals (no additional fetuin) nearly 50% abortions and 40% maternal deaths. None of the females exposed to increased fetuin died following LPS injection. Nine out of 10 multigravida animals carried their pregnancy to full term but all primagravidas aborted.


BACKGROUND
In thoracic aortic surgery, fluid replacement and blood transfusion during extracorporeal circulation (ECC) are associated with increased coagulopathy, elevated inflammatory response, and end-organ dysfunction. The optimal strategy has not been established in this regard. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the fluid balance during ECC in thoracic aortic dissection surgery on outcome.

METHODS
Between 2009 and 2020, 358 patients suffering from acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) underwent aortic surgery at our heart center. In-hospital mortality, major complications (postoperative stroke, respiratory failure, heart failure, acute renal failure), and follow-up mortality were assessed. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify whether fluid balance and blood transfusion during ECC were risk factors for occurring adverse events.

RESULTS
The in-hospital mortality amounted to 20.4%. Major complications included temporary neurologic deficit in 13.4%, permanent neurologic deficit in 6.1%, acute renal failure in 32.7%, prolonged ventilation for respiratory failure in 17.9%, and acute heart failure in 10.9% of cases. At a mean of 42 months after discharge of 285 survivors, follow-up mortality was 13.3%. Multivariate analysis revealed major complications as well as the risk of in-hospital and follow-up mortality to increase with fluid balance and blood transfusion during ECC.

CONCLUSIONS
Fluid balance and blood transfusion during ECC present with predictive potential concerning the risk of postoperative adverse events.


This work focuses on Cr(VI) sorption by Calcareous and nZVI/Calcareous was investigated. The purpose of this study is to understand the mechanisms that govern the elimination of Cr (VI) and to find a suitable kinetics model of removal. Spectroscopic studies including FTIR, (TG-DSC), SEM, Methylene blue and Iodine number were used for its characterization. Equilibrium data was examined using a comparison of linear Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm models. The Freundlich isotherm provided the best fit to the experimental data for Cr(VI) ions as indicated by the values of the regression coefficient. The kinetic rates were modeled by using the Lagergren-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich and Intraparticle diffusion model. The Elovich model was found to explain the adsorption kinetics most effectively. The presence of intra-particle diffusion mechanism was prominent, although it was not the sole rate-determining step. The results showed that Calcareous and nZVI/Calcareous, can be effective for removing Cr(VI) ions from solution .


Three-dimensional object recognition has recently achieved great progress thanks to the development of effective point cloud-based learning frameworks, such as PointNet and its extensions. However, existing methods rely heavily on fully connected layers, which introduce a significant amount of parameters, making the network harder to train and prone to overfitting problems. In this paper, we propose a simple yet effective framework for point set feature learning by leveraging a nonlinear activation layer encoded by Radial Basis Function (RBF) kernels. Unlike PointNet variants, that fail to recognize local point patterns, our approach explicitly models the spatial distribution of point clouds by aggregating features from sparsely distributed RBF kernels. A typical RBF kernel, e.g. Gaussian function, naturally penalizes long-distance response and is only activated by neighboring points. Such localized response generates highly discriminative features given different point distributions. In addition, our framework allows the joint optimization of kernel distribution and its receptive field, automatically evolving kernel configurations in an end-to-end manner. We demonstrate that the proposed network with a single RBF layer can outperform the state-of-the-art Pointnet++ in terms of classification accuracy for 3D object recognition tasks. Moreover, the introduction of nonlinear mappings significantly reduces the number of network parameters and computational cost, enabling significantly faster training and a deployable point cloud recognition solution on portable devices with limited resources.


Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a dietary polyphenol (flavanol) from green tea, possesses leishmanicidal and antitrypanosomal activity. Mitochondrial damage was observed in Leishmania treated with EGCG, and it contributed to the lethal effect. However, the molecular target has not been defined. In this study, EGCG, (+)-catechin and (−)-epicatechin were tested against recombinant arginase from Leishmania amazonensis (ARG-L) and rat liver arginase (ARG-1). The compounds inhibit ARG-L and ARG-1 but are more active against the parasite enzyme. Enzyme kinetics reveal that EGCG is a mixed inhibitor of the ARG-L while (+)-catechin and (−)-epicatechin are competitive inhibitors. The most potent arginase inhibitor is (+)-catechin (IC50 = 0.8 µM) followed by (−)-epicatechin (IC50 = 1.8 µM), gallic acid (IC50 = 2.2 µM) and EGCG (IC50 = 3.8 µM). Docking analyses showed different modes of interaction of the compounds with the active sites of ARG-L and ARG-1. Due to the low IC50 values obtained for ARG-L, flavanols can be used as a supplement for leishmaniasis treatment.


Background: The autophagy pathway within the tumour microenvironment can be regulated to inhibit or promote tumour development. In the fight against tumour growth, immunotherapy induces an anti-tumour immune response, whereas autophagy modulates this immune response. A key protein in the autophagy pathway, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (MAP1LC3), has recently become a hotspot for tumour research. As a relatively novel member, the function of MAP1LC3C in tumours still need to be investigated. Therefore, the goal of this study was to look into the possible link between MAP1LC3C and immunotherapy for 33 kinds of human malignancies by using pan-cancer analysis. Methods: High-throughput sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Genotype-Tissue Expression Project and Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia databases, combined with clinical data, were used to analyze the expression of MAP1LC3C in 33 types of cancer, as well as patient prognosis and neoplasm staging. Activity scores were calculated using ssGSEA to assess the MAP1LC3C activity in pan-cancer. Associations between MAP1LC3C and the tumour microenvironment, including immune cell infiltration and immunomodulators, were analyzed. Moreover, tumour tissue ImmuneScores and StromalScores were analyzed using the ESTIMATE algorithm. Additionally, associations between MAP1LC3C and tumour mutational burden/microsatellite instability, were investigated. Finally, based on the expression and structure of MAP1LC3C, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs, were screened by virtual screening, molecular docking and NCI-60 drug sensitivity analysis. Results: Our study found that MAP1LC3C was differentially expressed in tumour and normal tissues in 23 of 33 human cancer types, among which MAP1LC3C had prognostic effects in 12 cancer types, and MAP1LC3C expression was significantly correlated with tumour stage in four cancer types. In addition, MAP1LC3C activity in 14 cancer types was consistent with changes in transcription levels. Moreover, MAP1LC3C strongly correlated with immune infiltration, immune modulators and immune markers. Finally, a number of FDA-approved drugs were identified via virtual screening and drug sensitivity analysis. Conclusion: Our study investigated the prognostic and immunotherapeutic value of MAP1LC3C in 33 types of cancer, and several FDA-approved drugs were identified to be highly related to MAP1LC3C and can be potential cancer therapeutic candidates.


In a context of major development-driven change in Tottenham, this project offered a complete picture of the High Road's economy, recorded through a survey of its 700 or so workspaces. It exposed a rich and varied small-scale economy and the range of unique products from Tottenham, as well as the stories of the people and places that produce them, offering a stark and deeply significant contrast to proposed development-driven change. In collecting this information, the research team collaborated in an ongoing art/research project the Tottenham Living Market (supported by LYST, Create and the GLA) which was intended to expose the findings to the public, politicians, planning community and press [this project did not receive funding, so did not go ahead]. The project also added hard information to evidence-base for planning policy-making in Tottenham, developed and tested norms of practice for clear presentation of information to community groups and professionals and was the seed for a much more ambitious project that pictured the whole economy of the Lea Valley far beyond the high street (a research project was carried out for the Lea Valley by Cass Cities students in 2014/15 (see Chapter 2, section 2.1), and another in 2015/16 of the Old Kent Road and beyond, see http://www.casscities.co.uk/Cass-Cities-audit-book). It showed the high value of what is already there in Tottenham, and what can easily be destroyed with the wrong kind of development.


Two of three brothers (the second and third brothers) and their uncle (their mother's brother) presented acrogigantism without multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1). An invasive macroadenoma was found in the second brother, and it was histologically confirmed as a sparsely granulated GH cell adenoma. Two distinct microadenomas were found in the third brother, and these were histologically diagnosed as a mixed GH cell and PRL cell adenoma and a sparsely granulated GH cell adenoma, respectively. The loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was analyzed in two adenomas (GH cell adenoma from the second brother and a mixed GH cell and PRL cell adenoma from the third brother) by determining microsatellite polymorphisms of DNAs from tumors and patients' leukocytes. The LOH was found on the chromosome 11q13, whereas LOH was not detected on 1p31-36, 2p, 3p, 4, 5, 6p, 7, 8, 9p21-22, 12p, and 19q13 in both pituitary adenomas examined. The haplotype analysis showed that the same haplotype on 11q13 was found in their mother and the unaffected first brother as well as in the affected uncle and two brothers. The deleted alleles on chromosome 11q13 in the tumors of two affected brothers were, however, restricted to those transmitted from their unaffected father. These data suggest that inactivation of the MEN 1 gene or other tumor suppressor genes on chromosome 11q13 plays an important role for the development of our familial acrogigantism without MEN 1.


We installed two electromagnetic (EM) monitoring systems in the im- mediate aftermath of the 16 October 1999 Hector Mine earthquake to search for possible continuing ultralow-frequency (ULF) EM activity due to the mainshock as well as for any precursory or coseismic EM signals that might be associated with large aftershocks. We installed the first portable monitoring system 2.5 days after the M 7.1 Hector Mine earthquake at a location 16 km southeast of the epicenter and 2 km east of the surface rupture. A second system was installed on 29 October 1999, 10 km northwest of the epicenter and within 100 m of the surface rupture. Our continuous measurements of multiple-component magnetic field, electric field, and ground motion span the low frequencies appropriate for recording possible EM sig- nals generated at seismogenic depths and were carried out during 3 months following the mainshock. Continuous magnetic-field measurements at observatory EM stations operating in California are used as remote-reference sites to remove global atmo- spheric signals, which helps isolate local terrestrial sources of interest. Our analysis of preseismic ULF-EM variations, the coseismic response, the 2-month-long magnetic-field power spectra, and electric-field polarization shows no anomalous behavior clearly associated with seismic activity.


The late Dr. C. Jeff Miller began his presidential address (1) before the American College of Surgeons by saying, as he tried to thank the Fellows for the honor they had done him, that he found himself lacking completely what Kipling once called "the magic of the necessary word." I hope that you will understand me when I tell you that, finding myself in similar circumstances today, I also find myself lacking that magic. Since this Society was founded 45 years ago, it has held fast to its chief objective, to promote and advance knowledge of tropical medicine. I hope that in my three and one half years of service as its secretary, and during this past year as its president, I have had some small share in the accomplishment of this task. It has been a high privilege to serve this Society, and I am grateful for the honors its membership has bestowed upon me.


Choice tests are commonly used to measure animals' preferences, and the results of such tests are used to make recommendations regarding animal husbandry. An implicit assumption underlying the majority of choice tests is that the preferences obtained are independent of the set of options available in the test. This follows from two assumptions about the mechanisms of choice: first, that animals use absolute evaluation mechanisms to assign value to options, and second, that the probability of choosing an option is proportional to the ratio between the value of that option and the sum of the values of the other options available. However, if either of these assumptions is incorrect then preferences can differ depending on the composition of the choice set. In support of this concern, evidence from foraging animals shows that preferences can change when a third, less preferred option is added to a binary choice. These findings have implications for the design and interpretation of choice tests.


Abstract Researchers need probability samples to collect representative survey data about the behaviors and attitudes of agricultural producers they study in relation to the natural resources that they manage, yet obtaining accurate and complete sampling frames is challenging. We extract data from a publication database to identify the most commonly used sampling frame sources in survey research of agricultural producers in the U.S., finding that government program participant lists are used most often, while private vendor samples are increasingly being purchased. Based on our research experience, we find that for many projects, private vendors can provide the most rigorous samples. Given that survey methods remain a useful and popular method for studying the behaviors and attitudes of producers on a variety of topics, such an assessment and guide is needed for researchers and practitioners.


Congenital hyperinsulinism of infancy (CHI) can be caused by inactivating mutations in the gene encoding short-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (SCHAD), a ubiquitously expressed enzyme involved in fatty acid oxidation. The hypersecretion of insulin may be explained by a loss of interaction between SCHAD and glutamate dehydrogenase in the pancreatic β-cells. However, there is also a general accumulation of metabolites specific for the enzymatic defect in affected individuals. It remains to be explored whether hypoglycemia in SCHAD CHI can be uncoupled from the systemic effect on fatty acid oxidation. We therefore transplanted islets from global SCHAD knockout (SCHADKO) mice into mice with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. After transplantation, SCHADKO islet recipients exhibited significantly lower random and fasting blood glucose compared with mice transplanted with normal islets or nondiabetic, nontransplanted controls. Furthermore, intraperitoneal glucose tolerance was improved in animals receiving SCHADKO islets compared with those receiving normal islets. Graft β-cell proliferation and apoptosis rates were similar in the two transplantation groups. We conclude that hypoglycemia in SCHAD-CHI is islet cell–autonomous.


• Although children with mild handicaps are referred for special education services most often because of reading problems, research has demonstrated that many of these students also have difficulty in mathematics. Mcleod and Armstrong (1982), questioned teachers of learning disabled children about why their students were receiving services. They found that (a) nearly two out of three were receiving help in mathematics and (b) more than one in four had been assigned to special education primarily because of learning disabilities and mathematics.


Though studies on the relationship between worldly asceticism and economic progress is an old thing, this study presents a re-visit of Boeke's Indonesia dual economy as a result of the presence of a mixture of such a duality performed by Santri-entrepreneurs at Laweyan, Solo, Indonesia.   Industrialism as a way of life is commonly linked to the transformation from agricultural societies into industrial in modern West nations, with the crucial roles of industrial entrepreneurs who were among the few in the respective societies having distinctive personal qualities. The most well-known thesis was Weber's thesis on the relationship between the Protestant ethic and economic development by the few entrepreneurs possessing worldly asceticism—homo economicus who were working hard for achieving material well-being but at the same time develop religious ascetic life. The paper makes an account of Islam-based Santri-entrepreneurs in Kampung Batik Laweyan (KBL), Solo, Indonesia, employing a critically theoretical perspective of Max Weber and Boeke; the study takes into account political context and socio-cultural setting. It is our findings that Santri-entrepreneurs at KBL developed worldly asceticism, but political context has made the unstable growth of the business; contemporary steady growth has been made possible by the provision of the concept KBL as Cultural Heritage and facilitation by the local government, especially the establishment of deliberation forum among several parties that gives ample room for their steady growth.


Many situations arise when it is desired to recover from a noisy mixture of data both an estimate of a propagating source signal as well as its angular position. Accordingly, the problem of source separation and tracking for time-varying systems of moving sources is studied. Using techniques borrowed from independent component analysis (ICA) and numerical linear algebra, a processing solution is formulated. The ULV decomposition (ULVD), a member of the complete orthogonal decompositions (CODs) family is used to normalize and decorrelate the data. Since the ULVD is known to stably update and downdate with time-varying data, this step is named ULVD adaptive whitening. The ICA-based EASI (equivariant adaptive separation based on independence) algorithm is adapted to provide not only separated sources but direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimates. Developed improvements to this technique are an adaptive filter method for estimating the mixing matrix from the newly estimated signals as well as a simple cross-over detection scheme. Finally, the developed solutions are tested in simulation examples using meaningful performance measures.


Lysine is the first limiting essential amino acid in cereals for humans and monogastric animals, although its content is generally low. A chemically induced high-lysine barley mutant, M98, has an agronomically undesirable shrunken endosperm trait. In order to obtain detailed insight into the atypical traits of M98 grains, we characterized amino acid composition and protein profiles of M98 and its parent cultivar Chalssalbori. Among a total of 16 amino acids, the percentage of each of the 7 amino acids, including lysine, was 1.2∼1.8 times higher in M98, comparing to Chalssalbori. The percentage of proline and its precursor, glutamic acid, in M98 was about the half of that of the amino acids in Chalssalbori, but arginine synthesized from glutamic acid was 1.8 times higher in M98, compared that in the parent cultivar. Theses results indicated that the mutation in M98 grains might alter the proportion of amino acids linked to each other in a biosynthetic pathway. A comparison of grain proteome profiles between Chalssalbori and M98 revealed 70 differentially expressed protein spots, where 45 protein spots were up-regulated and 25 protein spots down-regulated in M98 compared to those in Chalssalbori. Of these changed protein spots, 53 were identified using nano-electrospray ionization liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Most of these identified proteins were involved in various biological processes. In particular, 28 protein spots such as β-amylase, serpins and B3-hordein were identified as proteins associated with the atypical traits of M98. It was thought that a genetic study on the unique protein profile of M98 would be needed to develop an agronomically feasible barley cultivar with high-lysine trait.


The article proposes a model for rapidly re-establishing a functioning justice system in societies shattered by crisis. The front-line justice system is based on the quick deployment of "justice shelters" in communities, in which trained local jurists give legal information and advice, and local judges issue emergency safeguard orders and mediate disputes between parties. The mandate of the justice shelters is broad, and comprises civil, family, and administrative as well as criminal matters. The shelters are designed to rebuild confidence in the administration of justice by addressing all the justice needs of the local population, rather than limiting themselves to criminal matters or transitional justice issues. As such, the front-line justice system builds on other initiatives, particularly those growing out of the United Nations Brahimi Report, and offers a way to address emergency justice issues, but also to move forward towards the re-establishment of working and accepted permanent institutions of justice.


PURPOSE
To assess in vitro, using an infrared (IR) thermometer, temperature changes generated at implant sites by osteotomies involving two different drilling methods (with multiple drills versus only one) and to measure the influence of irrigation on the temperature variation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty bone samples (from bovine rib) were divided into two groups of 20. Osteotomies were performed in group A with four drills, using the standard method (Leone Dental Implant System, final diameter 3.5 mm), and in group B with a single drill (Zero1 Drill, Leone Dental Implant System 3.5 mm diameter). In each group, half of the osteotomies were performed with irrigation (subgroups A1 and B1) and the other half without irrigation (subgroups A2 and B2). Two osteotomies were performed on each sample, using four different-sized drills according to the standard technique on one side and using a single drill on the other side. The starting temperature (T0 ) and the maximum temperature (Tmax ) reached in the bone were measured. Comparisons of ΔT were drawn between subgroups A1 and B1 and between subgroups A2 and B2. The data were analyzed using Student's t-test (with 95% confidence interval).

RESULTS
The mean difference identified between the temperature produced with the last drill used in the traditional technique and that produced with the single drill was 0.3150 ± 1.0194°C when irrigation was used (group A1 vs group B1; not statistically significant). The mean difference between the temperature produced with the last drill of the traditional technique and that produced with the single drill was -0.3526 ± 0.5232°C when irrigation was not used (group A2 vs group B2; statistically significant).

CONCLUSIONS
The single-drill method induced a significantly greater variation in temperature than the traditional method, but only when irrigation was used; without any irrigation, the difference in the temperature variation generated by the two methods was not statistically significant. In any case, bone heating during the osteotomy never exceeded 2°C and was clinically irrelevant, as thermal damage to bone has only been reported in the literature for temperatures beyond 47°C persisting for more than one minute.


Vehicle automation technology advances at rapid pace and the market entry of automated vehicles (AV) can be expected within the next years. Vehicle automation technology transitions gradually through different levels of automation (level 1 through level 4). However, substantial impact on travel choices only seem likely once drivers do not need to attend to the driving task anymore for most of a trip; i.e. drivers can take their "brain off" and engage in other activities such as work or entertainment. This is likely to impact on travel choices such as destination and mode choice because drivers might be willing to spend more time in the car or because the car is more attractive relative to other modes. At the moment, the future outlook in terms of AV regulation does not include the prospect of AVs being allowed to move without a driver; i.e. there must be a driver on board able to take over the driving task. This prospect rules out autonomous shared vehicle systems (autonomous car sharing, autonomous ride sharing) to a large degree, making privately owned AVs a likely scenario. The paper presents results from modelling travel behavior impacts of introducing AVs into the private car fleet. In order to model such a 2035 scenario, we combined a vehicle technology diffusion model and an aspatial travel demand model and applied this to Germany and the USA. Differentiating by passenger car segment, we introduce AVs among the newly registered vehicles from 2021 onward assuming an s-shaped market-take-up until 2035. By then, 50% of the new vehicles and 25% of the passenger car fleet are projected to be AVs. Again differentiating by segment and age, the AVs can be found among specific driver groups. In addition we assume that AVs are owned by mobility impaired travelers who did not have the option to drive previously. Subsequently, we use a travel demand model consisting of trip generation, distance choice and mode choice to forecast travel by different traveler groups and by car availability (no car, conventional car, AV). For modelling the impact of AVs compared to conventional cars, we reduced access/egress times due to quicker parking / valet parking and we reduced values of car travel time savings for travelers with AVs. While the model results overall conform to expectation the impact of AVs on travel behavior are not large: There is a ~5% increase in VMT for both Germany and the USA, resulting from somewhat longer trips combined with slight modal shifts from other modes towards the car. These results have important implications: If the regulatory framework for AVs is such that a private AV scenario is the most likely development, AVs are not likely to revolutionize travel. AVs will change travel behavior – but their impact might be marginal compared to other external factors.


Visits to science museums can provide a complement to the science learning carried out in schools. However, science museums are informal learning environments where teachers usually have very little control over the ideas being implicated or the experiments that the students carry out. It is necessary to design educational materials for the visit to the museum which integrate learning in schools and in museums, and which stimulate the interest and curiosity of the students by promoting independent learning via working in a group guided by the teacher. This article explains how we have designed these educational materials and their main characteristics.


Managing castration pain on US sow farms is hindered by the lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved products for mitigating pain. Previous work assessing flunixin meglumine (FM) efficacy in mitigating castration pain has shown the drug to be effective in pigs, meanwhile, results from previous work evaluating lidocaine efficacy are contradictory. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the efficacy of inguinal buffered lidocaine (BL) and FM in mitigating castration pain in piglets. This study was divided into Part I (physiological response) and Part II (behavioral response). For part I piglets were randomly assigned to the following treatments: T1: (C) Castration plus physiological saline; T2: (S) Sham plus physiological saline; T3: (CL) Castration plus BL; T4: (SL) Sham plus BL; T5: (CF) Castration plus FM; T6: (SF) Sham plus FM; T7: (CLF) Castration plus BL and FM; T8: (SLF) Sham plus BL and FM. Blood was collected 24 h prior to castration, 1 h, and 24 h post castration for cortisol quantification. For Part II another cohort of piglets was enrolled and randomly assign to the following treatments: T1: (C) Castration plus physiological saline and T7: (CLF) Castration plus BL and FM. Behavior scoring was obtained in real-time by observing each piglet for 4-min continuously using Unesp-Botucatu pig acute pain scale (UPAPS) at the following timepoints: 1 h before castration (−1 h), immediately post-castration (0 h), and 3 h post-castration (+3 h). Average cortisol concentrations did not differ at −24 h (P > 0.05) or at 24 h post-castration (P > 0.05) between treatments. At 1 h post-castration, castrated piglets (C and CL) demonstrated greater cortisol concentrations (P < 0.05). Castrated piglets in the CF and CLF group had lower cortisol concentrations compared to C and CL-treated pigs (P < 0.05). For behavioral response, there were no differences between treatments on total UPAPS scores (C and CLF, P > 0.05). Intranasal FM was able to effectively reduce the physiological piglet's response immediately post-castration. Inguinal buffered lidocaine had no effect on the either physiological or behavioral response to pain. Long-term research should focus on refining injection techniques for inguinal BL and consider administration frequency and dosing of intranasal FM to control pain for a longer period post-castration.


abstract:Best practices for graduate student education and training has been under recent scrutiny, especially as universities are looking for methods of improving their programs. A method of demonstrating proficient and successful programs is providing evidence of successful alumni. This study will provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of an alumni survey of a criminology doctoral program from a mid-sized university in the Northeast. With the results, we intend to highlight not only the successes of the alumni, but also potential lessons that other doctoral programs can apply to enhance future successes with their graduates.


We present a family of MDS array codes of size (p - 1) x ( p - 1), p a prime number,
and minimum criss-cross distance 3, i.e., the code is capable of correcting any row
or column in error, without apriori knowledge of what type of error occurred. The
complexity of the encoding and decoding algorithms is lower than that of known codes
with the same error-correcting power, since our algorithms are based on exclusive-
OR operations over lines of different slopes. as opposed to algebraic operations over a
finite field. Tl'e also provide efficient encoding and decoding algorithms for errors and
erasures.


PURPOSE
The Perinatal Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire (PPQ) was designed to measure post-traumatic symptoms related to childbirth and symptoms during postnatal period. The purpose of this study was to develop a translated Korean version of the PPQ and to evaluate reliability and validity of the Korean PPQ.

METHODS
Participants were 196 mothers at one to 18 months after giving childbirth and data were collected through e-mails. The PPQ was translated into Korean using translation guideline from World Health Organization. For this study Cronbach's alpha and split-half reliability were used to evaluate the reliability of the PPQ. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and known-group validity were conducted to examine construct validity. Correlations of the PPQ with Impact of Event Scale (IES), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were used to test a criterion validity of the PPQ.

RESULTS
Cronbach's alpha and Spearman-Brown split-half correlation coefficient were 0.91 and 0.77, respectively. EFA identified a 3-factor solution including arousal, avoidance, and intrusion factors and CFA revealed the strongest support for the 3-factor model. The correlations of the PPQ with IES, BDI-II, and BAI were .99, .60, and .72, respectively, pointing to criterion validity of a high level.

CONCLUSION
The Korean version PPQ is a useful tool for screening and assessing mothers' experiencing emotional distress related to child birth and during the postnatal period. The PPQ also reflects Post Traumatic Stress Disorder's diagnostic standards well.


Dental caries is biofilm induced disease throughout life and is recognized significant oral health problem. This article reviewed new trends in dental caries management by risk assessment, including history, protocol/guideline, and collaborated model. Dental caries prevention and treatment according to caries management by risk assessment (CAMBRA) model is patient-centered, risk-based, evidence-based practice. Team approach is necessary and clinician need to integrate science, practice and product. Dental hygienist take a important role in implementing CAMBRA. CAMBRA model could be incorporated into clinical dental hygiene education based on dental hygiene process of care as standard of dental hygiene practice and education. Dentist and dental hygienist able to provide scientific and ethical care managing dental caries by risk assessment.


PURPOSE
This study aimed to (a) test the hypothesized model for hospital nurses' voluntariness of incident reporting (VIR) and (b) determine the extent to which reporting culture factors, nursing safety practices and perceptions of work predict VIR.

DESIGN AND METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was applied to 1,380 frontline nurses recruited from six teaching hospitals in Taiwan. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Correlation analyses and path analyses using structured equation modelling were used.

FINDINGS
More than half of the nurses did not display a voluntary attitude towards reporting. VIR was correlated with factors of reporting culture, nursing safety practices and perceptions of work. Through path analyses, the safety practices mediated on the relationship between the reporting culture and VIR.

CONCLUSIONS
Nurses still have modest willingness of reporting. The factors of reporting culture and nursing safety practices are critical determinants of VIR. Within more behavioural involvement in the safety practices, the reporting culture can support nurses to report voluntarily.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT
Strengthening nurses' engagement in safety practices can advance the reporting voluntariness and agreement with reporting culture concurrently. Nurse leaders should continue to optimize workload management and job satisfaction, which is advantageous to the safety practices enacted.


In Indonesia, English is the first foreign language taught as a compulsory subject at Elementary school, Junior and Senior high schools and university level. In teaching English at Elementary school, the use of teaching media is suggested since it can make teaching learning process easier. The use of teaching media in teaching learning process is to come up the motivation and stimulate students to learn. In teaching learning English, especially to young learner, teaching media are important thing because the students can be more easily catch the lesson and more active in joining the class. It also can motivate and arouse the student's interest in learning English. The problems of this study were what are the media used by the teacher in teaching English at SDN Langkap 2 Burneh – Bangkalan, what are the media is uses by the teacher, what problems are faced by the teacher in using media, and how the English teacher cope with those problems.
The design of this study was descriptive research design. The subject of this study was the English teacher at SDN Langkap 2 Burneh – Bangkalan. She was the only English teacher at SDN Langkap 2 Burneh – Bangkalan. The instruments used in this study were observation and interview.
The results of this study showed that the English teacher in SDN Langkap 2 Burneh – Bangkalan used two kinds of media in teaching English. They were visual media and audio media. Visual media used were: pictures, blackboard, and real objects. Tape recorder was one of audio media but it was rarely used.
The teacher's problems dealing with the media were: time allotment in preparing media, lack of ability to make the media more interesting for the students, lack of good cooperation between the English teacher and the staff institutions, and the number of the students in the class. The problems can be solved by preparing the media before starting the lesson, the teacher joined some courses or training to increase her knowledge on how to make more interesting media, cooperation among the staff of institution and the other teachers, and adding facilities in every class to support the teaching and learning process, the last problem could not be solved this year. The proposed solution for the next academic year the teachers and the headmaster will make some agreement that the class size should be smaller, it was about 25-30 students per class.


ABSTRACT Target date funds (TDFs) are becoming increasingly popular investment choices among investors with long-term prospects. Examples include members of superannuation funds seeking to save for retirement at a given age. TDFs provide efficient risk exposures to a diversified range of asset classes that dynamically match the risk profile of the investment payoff as the investors age. This is often achieved by making increasingly conservative asset allocations over time as the retirement date approaches. Such dynamically evolving allocation strategies for TDFs are often referred to as glide paths. We propose a systematic approach to the design of optimal TDF glide paths implied by retirement dates and risk preferences and construct the corresponding dynamic asset allocation strategy that delivers the optimal payoffs at minimal costs. The TDF strategies we propose are dynamic portfolios consisting of units of the growth-optimal portfolio (GP) and the risk-free asset. Here, the GP is often approximated by a well-diversified index of multiple risky assets. We backtest the TDF strategies with the historical returns of the S&P500 total return index serving as the GP approximation.


Mares with complicated pregnancies (illness, problems at parturition or delivery of an abnormal foal, n = 30) were scanned transabdominally from 298 days gestation to term in order to measure fetal size, evaluate fetal well-being and characterise the intrauterine environment. The results of the last scan obtained prior to parturition were compared to normal data obtained from fetuses of comparable gestational age to develop a biophysical profile specific for the equine fetus. Twelve mares produced a normal foal (positive outcome) and 18 mares delivered 19 abnormal foals (negative outcome). Both fetuses that were inactive throughout the entire scan and 4 of 5 fetuses with heart rate abnormalities were abnormal at birth. Three of 4 fetuses surrounded by decreased allantoic fluid quantities had a negative outcome. All mares with large anechoic spaces between the uterus and placenta (n = 3) and/or thickened uteroplacental units (n = 5) delivered abnormal foals. There was a significant correlation between fetal aortic diameter and neonatal foal weight in these complicated pregnancies (P<0.0001, r = 0.85). Fetal aortic diameters were predicted from maternal weight and 6 fetuses had smaller than predicted aortic diameters, all with negative outcomes. A biophysical profile of the equine fetus from 298 days gestational age to term was developed that included 6 factors related to pregnancy outcome: fetal heart rate, fetal aortic diameter, maximal fetal fluid depths, uteroplacental contact, uteroplacental thickness and fetal activity. The profile proved informative about fetal well-being, perinatal morbidity and perinatal mortality. A low score was a definite indication of an impending negative outcome; however, a high score was not assurance of a positive outcome. The utility of such a biophysical profile and future directions for research are discussed.


Building an accurate and large digital terrain model (DTM) of the seabed is a key issue in various applications, especially for covert rapid environment assessment using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). New AUV generations are capable of acquiring bathymetry with multiple acoustic sensors: single-beam echosounder, Doppler velocity log, multibeam echosounder (MBES), interferometric sidescan sonar (ISSS), etc. As these sensors acquire the seabed with different geometries, they can be combined to produce a DTM in shorter time. For example, ISSS can reach a wide swath in shallow water but it shows an information gap at nadir, which is usually covered by completing an additional track. Simultaneously using the MBES to acquire the nadir removes the need for this additional track and reduces the energy consumption of the whole survey. This paper focuses on fusion algorithms to extract best information of the two sensors (MBES and ISSS) to feed DTM production software with optimal bathymetric information. This problem may be solved by taking into account the average information of the two sensors. However, the sensors do not always give accurate information and the average information therefore becomes biased. Another way to tackle the problem is to select a priori information given by the better of the two sensors based on a given geometric parameter (e.g., grazing angle). In this case, when the assumed best sensor fails, the information produced by the second sensor cannot be used to compensate for the erroneous information. Our approach consists in using all the available information and fuses it ahead of producing the DTM. Based on the theory of belief functions, this paper presents a framework to fuse the information coming from the two swath bathymetric sensors (MBES and ISSS). The belief theory, applied successfully to other fields, has been extended to handle the bathymetric information. The reliability and the uncertainty of each sonar are introduced in the fusion process to improve the estimation and the accuracy of the final terrain model. First, simulated sonar data, with perfectly known ground truth, are used to quantitatively assess the performance of the fusion process by comparing DTM obtained with and without fusion. Then, the experimental validation is conducted on actual data, acquired simultaneously by the two sonars systems (Klein K5000 ISSS, Reson 8125 MBES) mounted on the DAURADE AUV. Our evaluation of the fusion method shows significant quantitative and qualitative improvement in the production of the final DTM.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated proteins and their prognostic value in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). The expression of six EMT-associated proteins, including E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (Snail), Snail family transcriptional repressor 2 (Slug) and S100 calcium binding protein A4 (S100A4) was determined by immunohistochemistry in 109 patients with ICC who had received surgery. Survival analysis showed that patients with low E-cadherin expression (P<0.001) or high S100A4 (P<0.001) or Snail (P<0.001) expression had a reduced survival time. Based on the numbers of alterations in the expression of EMT-associated proteins as determined by immunohistochemical analysis, the patients were categorized as low (score, 0-3; n=75) or high (score, ≥4; n=34) EMT expression groups. The high EMT expression group was significantly associated with positive lymph node metastasis (P=0.023) and late Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) stage (P<0.001). Furthermore, patients in the high EMT expression group had a significantly poorer overall survival time than those in the low EMT expression group (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that EMT status was a significant independent predictor for overall survival time (P=0.004), and was linked to surgical margin (P=0.013) and TNM stage (P<0.001). In conclusion, the reduced expression of E-cadherin and high expression of Snail and S100A4 were significantly associated with the poor survival of patients with ICC after surgery. The EMT protein expression status was associated with ICC progression, and may be considered as an independent prognostic indicator for patients with ICC.


Objective Patients diagnosed with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatic cirrhosis have the potential for progression to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) even while undergoing long-term nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy. This study investigated the predictors for the progression of hepatic cirrhosis to HCC under long-term NA therapy. Methods This retrospective study enrolled 898 patients diagnosed with HBV-related hepatic cirrhosis. They received NA therapy between January 2012 and January 2015. The values for the liver stiffness measurement (LSM), laboratory tests, and disease history were collected. The diagnostic specificity of the serum, was assessed with a receiver operating characteristic curve. Results The overall 2- and 3-year cumulative incidence of HCC was 6.8% and 15.15%, respectively. The LSM values were higher in the patients who had progressed to HCC. The serum PIVKA-II levels were more efficient than the serum AFP levels for the diagnosis of early HCC as the larger area under curve (0.866 vs. 0.687). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that HCC occurrence was significantly associated with the baseline LSM value (odds ratio = 1.035). At the end of the study, the death rate for the patients with larger LSM values was higher than that for those with lower LSM values (67.88% vs. 39.90%). Conclusion Patients with HBV-related cirrhosis have the potential for progression to HCC even under long-term NA therapy. The LSM value and the serum PIVKA-II level are significant predictors of HCC occurrence.


BACKGROUND Angiosarcoma (AS) is a rare, invasive malignancy originating from endothelial cells caused by many different clinical situations. AS following radiotherapy for breast cancer after conservative surgery is a rare but well-known association. OBJECTIVE The aim of this article is to describe a case of AS after breast conserving surgery and to review the literature to date. RESULTS We report the case of an 84-year-old woman who developed AS four years after she was subjected to quadrantectomy for invasive ductal cancer, followed by 30 tangent field radiotherapy sessions. She presented with a one-month history or red papular skin eruptions on the operated breast. Skin lesions were submitted for biopsy, and they were positive for AS. The patients was subjected to surgical excision of the remaining breast including all AS lesions. She is alive with no evidence of disease after 10 months follow-up. CONCLUSION Post-radiotherapy AS is rare neoplasm, but it should be considered in the case of patients with red lesions after breast conserving surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy.