BACKGROUND
The fulcrum bending radiograph accurately predicts scoliosis curve correction in patients with thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who are managed with hooks. We assessed the predictive value of the fulcrum bending radiograph in the context of alternate-level pedicle screw fixation of the scoliotic spine.

METHODS
A prospective radiographic analysis of patients with thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who were managed operatively with alternate-level pedicle screw fixation at a single institution was performed. The Cobb angle was measured on posteroanterior standing coronal radiographs that were made preoperatively and one week postoperatively. The fulcrum flexibility percentage and the fulcrum bending correction index percentage were calculated.

RESULTS
Forty-two patients were assessed. The mean age at the time of surgery was 14.6 years, and the mean number of fused levels was 9.4. On the preoperative radiographs, the mean values for the standing Cobb angle, the fulcrum bending radiograph Cobb angle, and fulcrum flexibility were 57.9 degrees, 21.8 degrees, and 62.7%, respectively. On the one-week postoperative radiographs, the mean Cobb angle was 15.4 degrees, the mean curve correction was 73.4%, and the mean fulcrum bending correction index was 122.1%. A significant, positive correlation was noted between the fulcrum bending radiograph angle and the fulcrum bending correction index, indicating that the fulcrum bending radiograph could predict the correction of flexible curves; however, for stiff curves, pedicle screws could provide more correction than the fulcrum bending radiograph predicted.

CONCLUSIONS
To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the predictive value of the fulcrum bending radiograph in the context of alternate-level pedicle screw fixation in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Curve flexibility may dictate the degree of the fulcrum bending correction index, whereby a curve that is less flexible may achieve a greater fulcrum bending correction index. The fulcrum bending radiograph has potential predictive utility. In addition, pedicle screw constructs appear to have a better ability to correct scoliosis in comparison with hooks and hybrid constructs.


Kikuchi's disease is usually a self limiting illness characterised by pyrexia, neutropenia, and cervical lymphadenopathy particularly in young women of Asian descent. This often leads to an initial misdiagnosis of lymphoma. A case of a young Asian woman who presented with pyrexia of unknown origin is described.


We formulate an approach to the size effect problem in ferroelectric-electrode systems where ab initio calculations are combined with a phenomenological framework. The parameters of the model can be extracted from the calculations, while experimentally verifiable predictions can be made on thick films. We illustrate this approach by applying it to SrRuO3/BaTiO3/SrRuO3 heterostructures with different terminations of the metal-oxide electrodes.


Objective To assess the cardiovascular risk (CV risk) change following bilateral phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Methods We performed a retrospective observation cohort study on 112 selected patients who underwent uncomplicated bilateral cataract surgery at Centro Hospitalar de Entre o Douro e Vouga (CHEDV) between 2018 and 2019. This patient cohort was further subdivided in 2 different groups: Good VA – no to mild visual impairment, ≤0.48 LogMAR; Bad VA – moderate to severe visual impairment, >0.48 LogMAR. We compared the changes in the CV risk score components in our patient cohort and between subgroups Good VA and Bad VA, before and after surgery, using paired t-test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and repeated measures ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc tests, respectively. Visual Acuity (VA) before and after surgery was correlated with the patients' CV risk score. At last, linear regression models were built to explain changes in CV risk variables considering the change in VA. Results Cataract surgery resulted in improved VA. Notably, following surgery our patient cohort showed reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels after surgery, from 111.17±36.26 mg/dL to 104.22±37.53 mg/dL, and reduced systolic arterial pressure (SAP), from 139.1±15.0 mmHg to 133.7±12.0 mmHg. Ultimately, this translated to an improved CV risk score within 6 months of cataract surgery, from 17.39±11.44% to 16.51±11.27%. Of note, these improvements were mostly present in the Bad VA group of patients, where baseline VA and incidence of dyslipidemia were worse. Conclusion Our results suggest that phacoemulsification cataract surgery may be an important tool in addressing CV risk.


We study the Kuramoto-Sakaguchi system of phase oscillators with a delayed mean-field coupling. By applying the theory of large delay to the corresponding Ott–Antonsen equation, we explain fully analytically the mechanisms for the appearance of multiple coexisting partially locked states. Closely above the onset of synchronization, these states emerge in the Eckhaus scenario: with increasing coupling, more and more partially locked states appear unstable from the incoherent state, and gain stability for larger coupling at a modulational stability boundary. The partially locked states with strongly detuned frequencies are shown to emerge subcritical and gain stability only after a fold and a series of Hopf bifurcations. We also discuss the role of the Sakaguchi phase lag parameter. For small delays, it determines, together with the delay time, the attraction or repulsion to the central frequency, which leads to supercritical or subcritical behavior, respectively. For large delay, the Sakaguchi parameter does not influence the global dynamical scenario.


Professionals and entrepreneurs returning to developing countries from developed countries play key roles in the technological 'catch-up' of their home countries, but they are rarely well-conceptualized by the theories of globalization. This is especially the case in Asia. The American-trained Chinese engineers who returned to Taiwan were instrumental in creating Taiwan's excellent semiconductor industry during the 1980s and 1990s. In a similar vein, since the late 1990s, Chinese professionals returning to the mainland have also emerged as the most innovative industrial and capital agents in the technological industry. In this article we compare the roles and business strategies of transnational entrepreneurs on the two sides of Taiwan Strait in the information communication industry (ICT). While these Chinese returnees share striking similarities in their educational and personal trajectories, we identify major structural differences underlying their particular resources and commercial strategies. These empirical findings move beyond the assumptions of common behaviour by overseas Chinese, for they highlight the different political economic dynamics between mainland China, Taiwan and the United States in shaping the divergent engagements of these entrepreneurs in the emerging global technology industry.


This research analyzes the role university professors play in implementing an inclusive approach to education and the difficulties they encounter in their work to impart education and guidance. The sample used for the study was comprised of 111 university professors who served students with special educational needs during the 2012/2013 academic year. They answered a questionnaire structured around four basic aspects: 1) information and training; 2) support and resources; 3) classroom performance; and 4) performance in the tutorials. The results showed university professors are not prepared to offer an appropriate response to educational diversity. This necessitates training in the use of strategies and resources that would allow them offer all students personalized attention.


The paper is a contribution to the domain of computer tools for archaeological excavations and research. The present project described in this paper has been undertaken in close co-operation of specialists from two universities including archaeologists and architects from the CAAD unit. The project objective is to assess the suitability of new media offering an alternative to the traditional methods in archaeological practice.


I. Overview 1. Introduction, Leila Christenbury, Randy Bomer, and Peter Smagorinsky 2. Sociocultural Constructions of Adolescence and Young People's Literacies, Donna E. Alvermann 3. Who Are Adolescents Today?: Youth Voices and What They Tell Us, Sam M. Intrator and Robert KunzmanII. Literacy in School 4. Contexts for Adolescent Literacy, Judith A. Langer 5. Adolescents Who Struggle with Literacy, Larry R. Johannessen and Thomas M. McCann 6. Proficient Reading in School: Traditional Paradigms and New Textual Landscapes, David O'Brien, Roger Stewart, and Richard Beach 7. Fostering Adolescents' Engaged Academic Literacy, Ruth Schoenbach and Cynthia Greenleaf 8. Divided against Ourselves: Standards, Assessments, and Adolescent Literacy, James Marshall 9. Adolescent Second-Language Writing, Linda Harklau and Rachel Pinnow 10. Research on the Literacies of AAVE-Speaking Adolescents, Jamal Cooks and Arnetha F. Ball 11. Digital Literacies in the Classroom, Joan A. Rhodes and Valerie J. Robnolt 12. The Secondary English Curriculum and Adolescent Literacy, Robert Burroughs and Peter Smagorinsky 13. Visual Arts and Literacy, Michelle Zoss 14. Policy and Adolescent Literacy, Allan Luke and Annette Woods 15. Tracking and Ability Grouping, Jo Worthy, Holly Hungerford-Kresser, and Angela HamptonIII. Literacy Out of School 16. Preparing Adolescents for the Literacy Demands of the 21st-Century Workplace, Anne Beaufort 17. The Literacy Demands of Entering the University, Kathleen Blake Yancey 18. Literacy in Virtual Worlds, Rebecca W. Black and Constance Steinkuehler 19. Reading and Writing Video: Media Literacy and Adolescents, David L. BruceIV. Literacy and Culture 20. Literacy and Identity: Implications for Research and Practice, Cynthia Lewis and Antillana del Valle 21. Latina/o Youth Literacies: Hidden Funds of Knowledge, Carmen M. Martinez-Roldan and Maria E. Franquiz 22. Beyond Hip-Hop: A Cultural Context View of Literacy, Yolanda J. Majors, Jung Kim, and Sana Ansari 23. Boys and Literacy: Complexity and Multiplicity, Michael W. Smith and Jeffrey D. Wilhelm 24. Lessons on Literacy Learning and Teaching: Listening to Adolescent Girls, Barbara J. Guzzetti 25. Literacy Issues and GLBTQ Youth: Queer Interventions in English Education, Wayne Martino 26. The Literacies of New Immigrant Youth, Danling Fu and Jennifer M. Graff 27. American Indian Adolescent Literacy, Mary Jiron Belgarde, Richard K. LoRe, and Richard Meyer


Electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) offer a low temperature alternative for the ribbon interconnection of temperature sensitive silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. The main drawbacks of ECAs are their high costs. To overcome this problem the used ECA amount is reduced by changing the application pattern. Four different patterns are investigated in terms of ECA reduction and long-term stability in TC200. Two different ECAs are analyzed in terms of DSC, TGA, electrical properties and rheology and 1-cell-strings with the four patterns for each ECA are produced for peel test analysis. One of the ECAs is used for the production of 3-cell-modules in glassbacksheet configuration with each of the application patterns to analyze module performance via I-V-measurements and EL imaging. In addition, the modules are aged via TC200. For lower ECA amounts a slightly higher degradation is observed but relative losses in FF are below 5 %.


Tourism is one of the most significant contributors to the Indonesia growth of economy, based on data from the Indonesia Central Bureau of Statistics in 2012, the share of national tourism to GDP is 13.9 percent and of course the contribution of the sector to be helpful for the growth of the national economy, through foreign exchange earnings as revenue from tourist consumption. Besides that, it has provided a multiplier effect to other sectors which related to the sectors. Therefore, the increasing of tourism investment and trade will be focus in the tourism development program to improve the contribution. Meanwhile, the Indonesia Coordinating Board (BKPM) stated the average national investment for the tourism sector is Rp. 2.73 billion or 6 percent from total investment during 2006-2012, in other words an investment in tourism sector has not been able to provide optimal contribution to the national economy development considering to its potential. The purpose of this study was to analyze the determinants of investment, demand and supply of Indonesian tourism sector. Regarding to answer the problems, this research used series data from 1990 - 2012 periods; by using simultaneous model (2SLS) the model analyzed impact of investment, and international trade of Indonesia tourism sector to the national economic growth. Based on the Two Stages Least Squares method on simultaneous model, the results of the analysis gives some conclusions including: (1) tourism arrivals, tourism expenditure, investment, consumption price index, total consumption, government spending, export and import tourism affected the national tourism demand, (2) Current investment and investment on previous year, total consumption on previous year, and travel warning have positive impact to national tourism supply, (3) GDP was the most influenced variable beside Indonesia tourism price and neighbor countries' tourism price as competitors of Indonesia tourism. Finally, the simulations showed the fiscal and monetary policy impact to the national economic tourism sector. Keyword: Impact, investment, international trade, supply and demand tourism, and economic growth


Mixed anion materials and anion doping are very
promising strategies to improve solid-state electrolyte properties by enabling
an optimized balance between good electrochemical stability and high ionic
conductivity. In this work, we present the discovery of a novel lithium aluminum
sulfide-chloride phase. The structure is strongly affected by the presence of
chloride anions on the sulfur site, as this stabilizes a higher symmetry phase
presenting a large degree of cationic site disorder, as well as disordered
octahedral lithium vacancies, in comparison with Li-Al-S ternaries. The effect
of disorder on the lithium conductivity properties was assessed by a combined
experimental-theoretical approach. In particular, the conductivity is increased
by a factor 103 compared to the pure sulfide phases. Although it
remains moderate (10−6 S·cm-1),
Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics and Maximum Entropy (applied to neutron
diffraction data) methods show that disorder leads to a 3D diffusion pathway,
where Li atoms move thanks to a concerted mechanism. An understanding of the
structure-property relationships is developed to determine the limiting factor
governing lithium ion conductivity. This analysis, added to the strong step
forward obtained in the determination of the dimensionality of diffusion paves
the way for accessing even higher conductivity in materials comprising an hcp anion arrangement.


Environmental regulation has been widely applied in Asia, with many governments introducing command and control (CAC) policies to control the levels of industry emissions. This paper first examines the effectiveness of different environmental regulations in Asia. It then examines the cost effectiveness of CAC regulations compared to market-based instruments (MBIs) by evaluating the cost differences between regulation strategies currently employed and the least-cost solution for air and water pollution regulation in the People's Republic of China, India, Pakistan, and Philippines. The paper concludes that MBIs have a clear cost advantage over CAC regulations and that there are considerable gains to be made from moving to a least-cost solution. Finally, the institutional reforms needed to facilitate the implementation of market-based instruments are discussed.


Significant advances have been made on this important research topic in the last few years because of Giannakou et al., who have faced, in urgent terms, the matter of whether inclined piles have a beneficial or detrimental role. The discusser agreeswith the authors on the fact that the horizontal drift of a superstructure supported on a group of batter piles is generally smaller than with the exclusively vertical pile group; however, it could not really be generalized that this reduction is appreciable only with tall structures. The discusser has carried out work in his Ph.D. thesis about the inclined piles, studying the behavior of a couple of piles supporting a tall superstructure (hstr 5 10m) and a short superstructure (hstr 5 2m), in different geometrical conditions and seismic excitations than those of the authors, reaching quite different results. Specifically, from results obtained performing FEM three-dimensional analysis with the computer program ADINA (ADINA 2010), and using the base of the model with two real acceleration time histories (El Centro component NS 1940 [amax 5 0:318g]; Bagnoli Irpino Earthquake 1980 [amax 5 0:358g]), the following can be concluded. The reduction of horizontal drift because of inclined piles with regard to vertical piles was more important in short superstructures than tall ones (Figs. 1 and 2). To explain these results, it is useful to keep in mind that under seismic excitation, the horizontal drift of the superstructure mass, um, is made of three parts: horizontal translation of the cap, horizontal translation because of rotation cap, and horizontal deflection of the column. The discusser has found out that the cap's horizontal translation founded on vertical piles tends to be higher than the one with the inclined piles. Instead, the contribution because of the cap rotation can increase or reduce the horizontal drift depending on the sign of the rotation. In the case of the short superstructure, Fig. 3 shows the horizontal displacement of the cap on the inclined piles, uc, the vertical displacement of the pile on the left, vcl, and the vertical displacement of the pile on the right, vcr . For better understanding of the figures, the time considered was limited to the first 3 s. Once the vertical displacements are confirmed, the rotation is obtained by dividing the difference in the vertical displacement at the head of the piles by the distance between the two piles. In Fig. 3, the horizontal oscillation frequency of the cap is quite lower than the one in the vertical direction; the vertical displacement, vcl, also has the opposite sign and basically the same amplitude of vcr. The difference in frequency


Abstract In the present paper, we establish an existence theorem for non-homogeneous differential inclusions in Sobolev spaces. This theorem extends the results of Müller and Sychev [S. Müller and M. A. Sychev, Optimal existence theorems for nonhomogeneous differential inclusions, J. Funct. Anal. 181 2001, 2, 447–475; M. A. Sychev, Comparing various methods of resolving differential inclusions, J. Convex Anal. 18 2011, 4, 1025–1045] obtained in the setting of Lipschitz functions. We also show that solutions can be selected with the property of higher regularity.


This chapter introduces another popular method that deals with distance matrices. This method is called Multidimensional Scaling. It is a dimensionality reduction technique that represents distances between objects in a low-dimensional space. You will learn how to perform different types of metric and non-metric scaling and carry out the diagnostics of solutions by using the scree plot, the Shepard plot and goodness-of-fit measures. The chapter also shows how one can use R for creation of geographical maps with points and text labels. Finally, you will learn how to measure the correlation between two distance matrices with the help of the Mantel test. The case studies are based on geographic coordinates and several linguistic features of varieties of English all over the world.


Loss of antigenicity or epitope instability, especially after tissue sections have been prepared, may affect immunohistochemical staining results. To obtain insight into the magnitude of this problem, we conducted a systematic investigation. A total of 20 monoclonal and 12 polyclonal antibodies were used for immunohistochemistry using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections that were stored for periods ranging from 15 to 360 days at temperatures of 4 degrees C, 21 degrees C, and 37 degrees C. After 1 year of storage. immunohistochemical results appeared to be impaired with four antibodies at 4 degrees C, 11 antibodies at 21 degrees, and 16 antibodies at 37 degrees C. It was found that staining results using polyclonal antisera are affected to the same extent by this phenomenon compared to antibodies of monoclonal origin. No indication was found that antigen retrieval could restore the effect of epitope instability. An additional experiment, in which the influence of section adhesives on epitope instability was investigated, revealed that none of the applied adhesives hampers immunohistochemical reactivity for a storage time of up to 6 months.


MYCN is a well-known oncogene over-expressed in different human malignancies including neuroblastoma (NB), rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma, astrocytoma, Wilms' tumor, and small cell lung cancer. In the case of NB, MYCN amplification is an established biomarker of poor-prognosis. MYCN belongs to a family of transcription factors (the most important of which is C-MYC) that show a high degree of homology. Down-regulation of MYC protein expression leads to tumor regression in animal models, indicating that MYC proteins represent interesting therapeutic targets. Pre-requisites for a candidate tumor-associated antigen (TAA) to be targeted by immunotherapeutic approaches are the following, (i) expression should be tumor-restricted, (ii) the putative TAA should be up-regulated in cancer cells, and (iii) protein should be processed into immunogenic peptides capable of associating to major histocompatibility complex molecules with high affinity. Indeed, the MYCN protein is not expressed in human adult tissues and up-regulated variably in NB cells, and MYCN peptides capable of associating to HLA-A1 or HLA-A2 molecules with high affinity have been identified. Thus the MYCN protein qualifies as putative TAA in NB. Additional issues that determine the feasibility of targeting a putative TAA with cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and will be here discussed are the following, (i) the inadequacy of tumor cells per se to act as antigen-presenting cells witnessed, in the case of NB cells, by the low to absent expression of HLA class I molecules, the lack of co-stimulatory molecules and multiple defects in the HLA class I related antigen processing machinery, and (ii) the immune evasion mechanisms operated by cancer cells to fool the host immune system, such as up-regulation of soluble immunosuppressive molecules (e.g., soluble MICA and HLA-G in the case of NB) or generation of immunosuppressive cells in the tumor microenvironment. A final issue that deserves consideration is the strategy used to generate CTL.


Background & Purpose
It is assumed that after adopting competencies based curriculum the medical education has changed tremendously, however it needs more researches to assess the impact of this curriculum. Nevertheless, An important part of the success of a competency-based curriculum is that all stakeholders are aware of the competencies and rationale behind them. As of now there are only a few studies, which have addressed understanding of competencies among medical students especially in non-western medical schools. Therefore, we designed this survey to assess the understanding in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Methods
A cross sectional survey was designed based on questionnaire developed by Delphi technique. The questionnaire focussed to assess the perception about understanding of competencies (mainly the CanMEDS competencies) based on a five-point Likert rating scale. The college of medicine has adopted a problem-based learning curriculum from Groningen University, Netherlands in 2012. At present the college has two parallel curriculums, with the old curriculum being followed by previous students ( 4th and 5th years having traditional subject-based learning curriculum)and the newer students following the new PBL curriculum with effect from year 2012.
Results
The results showed that selected competencies were similar for both males and females groups as well as PBL and SBL and didn't find statistical significant difference (>0.05). However less number has strongly agreed that they are competent enough to portray all competencies from both gender and curricula. The reasons raised as to why there was no adequate understanding about competencies by PBL students included: no clear understandings of objectives, lack of training of staff, first year of study, high school does not produce competent students and language (English) problems.
Conclusion
The results showed no significant difference in students following PBL or SBL with regard to understanding of competencies. However in PBL, students are in their earlier years and understand competencies that are required from them superior from SBL students.


Intestinal transplantation is being increasingly performed to treat patients with irreversible intestinal failure. The major cause of intestinal graft failure is graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) that represents a life-threatening complication after small bowel transplantation (Itx). The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic and prognostic value of skin biopsy histological changes for acute GVHD after Itx in pigs. Thirty-four Large White pigs were divided into three groups: Group 1 with Itx only, Group 2 with Itx and donor bone marrow infusion (Itx BM) and Group 3 (control group - before the operation). Animals received tacrolimus-based immunosuppression from day 0 to day 30 postoperatively. Skin and small bowel biopsies were histologically assessed, analysed and classified from grade 1 to 4 on postoperative days 15, 30, 45 and 60. There was a strong correlation between the histological grading values of skin biopsy changes and the histological grading values of small bowel biopsy changes (Kendall's tau_b is 0.855 for the Itx group and 0.730 for the Itx BM group). The significant correlation found between skin and small bowel histological changes suggests the prognostic value of skin biopsies after Itx. In conclusion, our findings emphasise the diagnostic and prognostic value of skin biopsy analysis for acute GVHD after Itx.


Abstract Many metrics used to evaluate brick and mortar channels have equivalents online, but there are also some new metrics that marketers should monitor. Distribution breadth and depth refer to how easily a consumer can find a store that stocks the brand and find the brand within the store. Being findable online where and when consumers search for the category is just as crucial. In a successful cooperation, neither distribution partner can afford to focus only on ist own performance at the expense of the other—at least not for too long. The partnership must be profitable for both, so both perspectives require monitoring. Suppliers need to understand where their target market searches and when, why and where it buys to decide where they should expand and who they should reward.


Recent experiments suggest a universality of constants appearing as amplitudes in the scaling laws for the correlation length and the radius of gyration in the semi-dilute regime of polymer solutions in good solvents. We discuss how these amplitudes can be estimated from the direct renormalization theory of polymer solutions. The obtained values are in good agreement with recent experimental measurements.


BACKGROUND
Similar to other animal viruses, HIV-1 relies on the contributions of the cellular machinery to ensure efficient virus propagation. However, human cells have evolved refined mechanisms to block key steps of the virus life-cycle, thereby suppressing viral replication. These cellular proteins are generally known as restriction factors, and they provide an early antiviral defense. So far, five potent restriction factors have been shown to effectively block HIV and/or SIV replication. These are TRIM5 proteins, SAMHD-1, members of the APOBEC3 (A3) family, Mx2 and Tetherin/BST-2.

RESULTS
Here, we review the antiviral mechanisms of these and other antiviral factors, their interaction with the innate immune responses, and how their functions might be exploited to clear and prevent HIV infection.

CONCLUSION
Since the majority of vaccine approaches against HIV have failed so far, it is imperative to start looking at alternative strategies for vaccine and therapy development. By better understanding how HIV hijacks the cellular machinery for its own benefit in completing its life-cycle, and how the virus adapts to circumvent our intrinsic immunity, we will be better equipped to design compounds that specifically interrupt virus replication and spread.


PURPOSE
Benign and malignant tumors can be classified by using texture analysis of the ultrasound B-scan image to describe the variation in the echogenicity of scatterers. The recently proposed ultrasonic Nakagami parametric image has also been used to detect the concentrations and arrangements of scatterers for tumor characterization applications. B-scan-based texture analysis and the Nakagami parametric image are functionally complementary in ultrasonic tissue characterizations and this study aimed to combine these methods in order to improve the ability to characterize breast tumors.

METHODS
To validate this concept, radio-frequency data obtained from 130 clinical cases were used to construct the texture-feature parametric image and the Nakagami parametric image. Four texture-feature parameters based on a gray-level co-occurrence matrix (homogeneity, contrast, energy, and variance) and the Nakagami parameters of the benign and malignant tumors were calculated. The usefulness of an individual parameter was determined and scatter graphs indicated the relationship between two selected texture-feature parameters. Fisher's linear discriminant analysis was used to combine the selected texture-feature parameters with the Nakagami parameter. The performance in classifying tumors was evaluated based on the receiver operating characteristic curve.

RESULTS
The results indicated that there is a trade-off between sensitivity and specificity when using an individual texture-feature parameter or when combining two such correlated parameters to discriminate benign and malignant cases. However, the best performance was obtained when combining selected texture-feature parameters with the Nakagami parameter.

CONCLUSIONS
The study findings suggest that combining B-scan-based texture analysis and the Nakagami parametric image could improve the ability to classify benign and malignant breast tumors.


The translation of certain toponyms that had not yet been assimilated to the Romanian language at the beginning of the 19th century represented a real challenge for translators at that time. A first aspect to be considered here is the linguistic status as proper names and the possible translation options that could not be correlated to any tradition. A second aspect is the precarious stage of Romanian geographical terminology, reflected by the terminological variation for the same concept and the lack of semantic affinity, either real or related to the actual terminology. This article addresses mainly the first aspect mentioned above. The issues addressed are as follows: a concise presentation of the concept of proper names translation, the distinction between untranslatable and translatable or partially translatable proper names, the factors motivating the option of translating or not the translatable terms from a toponymic collocation. Our corpus reflects the incipient stage of the translation of translatable or partially translatable toponyms in Romanian, a stage in which the translator is free to decide upon translatability. Compared to the actual norm, the different choices from one translator to another or even those opted for by the same translator—especially the option of not translating toponyms that are nowadays translated in most languages—reveal the lack of importance of linguistic meaning (that is the lexical meaning of the etymon) of the proper name as far as its functioning was concerned, as well as the role of this non-functionality in identifying the linguistic status of a proper name.


The use of traffic monitoring techniques based on image processing algorithms for supervising urban vehicle flows could be very useful. Classical inductive loops can only compute traffic density on a single lane but are unable to estimate, for example, the behaviour of the vehicle flow at a crossroad. In this paper a system that estimates the turning rates at an urban crossroad by processing the sequence of images taken by a videocamera is presented. Block matching motion estimation, segmentation, and moving object tracking techniques are used. The good results obtained are presented and their relation to the camera position is discussed.


The goal of this research is to investigate what happens when artefacts mediate interaction. To do this we investigated nurse's interaction during the bandaging process in order to understand better how an artefact enhances user's experiences.
To maintain research rigour we applied a triangulation approach that links observations of current procedures, talk-aloud protocol during interaction and retrospective interviews. Using software to aid our analysis of the videos we produced diagrammatic maps of their interaction. The maps allowed us to see that some nurses bandage more intuitively than others. Nurses who bandage intuitively assemble long sequences of bandaging actions while nurses who bandage less intuitively "focus-shift" in between bandaging actions. We argue that nurses who bandage intuitively demonstrate greater expertise than nurses who do not. We discuss these differences and explore how different levels of expertise can influence how mediated interaction takes place. Finally, we introduced how knowledge generated from this research can be transferred to the design domain, interaction and interface design in particular, and contribute to the design process as a whole.
 Keywords:
Expertise; Focus-Shift; Tacit Knowledge; Interaction Design; Interface Design; Nursing


To evaluate the intracellular accumulation of norfloxacin in mycobacteria, two methods were used with Mycobacterium smegmatis. A radiometric method (K. V. Cundy, C. E. Fasching, K. E. Willard, and L. R. Peterson, J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 28:491-497, 1991) was used without great modification, but the fluorometric method (P. G. S. Mortimer and L. J. V. Piddock, J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 28:639-653, 1991) was changed considerably. Indeed, adsorption of the quinolone to the bacterial surface was characterized by measuring the level of accumulation of 0 degree C. Taking into account the adsorption, the pH of the washing buffer was increased from 7.0 to 9.0 to improve the desorption of norfloxacin from the cell surface. Both the fluorometric method, with the technical improvement, and the radiometric method could be used to estimate the intracellular accumulation of norfloxacin, which resulted from the difference between the whole uptake measured at 37 degrees C and the adsorption measured at 0 degrees C. A total of 35 ng of norfloxacin per mg of cells (dry weight) penetrated into the M. smegmatis cell, and the steady state was achieved in 5 min. Use of inhibitors of the proton motive force revealed that transport of norfloxacin was energy independent. Thus, the same mechanisms of quinolone accumulation that occur in eubacteria seem to occur in mycobacteria, at least in M. smegmatis.


We propose a new calibration scheme to determine the instrumental polarization (IP) and crosstalk induced by either the telescope or an instrument at Nasmyth focus. We measure the polarized blue sky at zenith with VLT/UT4/NaCo for different NaCo derotator and telescope azimuth angles. Taking multiple measurements after rotating both the instrument and the telescope with angles of 90° allows use to determine the IP and most crosstalk components separately for the telescope and the instrument. This separation of the Mueller matrices of UT4 and the NaCo is especially important for measurements taken in the conventional polarimetric mode (field stabilized), because the rotation of the instrument with respect to M3 causes a variation in the IP and crosstalk throughout the measurement. The technique allows us to determine the IP with an accuracy of 0.4%, and constrain or determine lower or upper limits for most crosstalk components. Most notably, the UT4 U → V crosstalk is substantially larger than theory predicts. An angular offset in NaCo's half wave plate orientation is a possible source of systematic errors. We measure this offset to be 1.8° ± 0.5°.


This article examines literary works of bilingual authors in Nigeria, who create their own national cultural worldviews through the language in which they write, thereby explaining why English in Nigeria is influenced by Nigerian culture. Nigeria is a country that has witnessed a cross-flow of linguistic change due to its inherent multilingualism combined with colonial experiences under British rule, a country where ethnic minorities were referred to as "oil minorities". Although only two languages are recognized as official languages in Nigeria — Yoruba and English –the problem of multilingualism in Nigeria today remains unexplored, and where there is language contact, there must be a language conflict. Indeed, contiguous languages are often competitive languages and there is no language contact without language conflict. Moreover, the problem of linguistic contact and linguistic conflict exists at three different but interrelated levels: social, psychological and linguistic. The social aspect is related to such issues as the choice of language and its use, the psychological — to the attitude towards language, ethnicity, while the linguistic aspects are focused on the code switching, the donor language intervention, which the English language is. The language conflict has influenced the literary work of Nigerian writers writing in English, which has become an exoglossic language, superimposed on the indigenous languages of the Nigerian peoples. Thus, bilingualism in Nigeria can be considered semi-exoglossic, including English coupled with language mixing.


Absence seizures are caused by abnormal synchronized oscillations in the thalamocortical (TC) circuit, which result in widespread spike-and-wave discharges (SWDs) on electroencephalography (EEG) as well as impairment of consciousness. Thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) and TC neurons are known to interact dynamically to generate TC circuitry oscillations during SWDs. Clinical studies have suggested the association of Plcβ1 with early-onset epilepsy, including absence seizures. However, the brain regions and circuit mechanisms related to the generation of absence seizures with Plcβ1 deficiency are unknown. In this study, we found that loss of Plcβ1 in mice caused spontaneous complex-type seizures, including convulsive and absence seizures. Importantly, TRN-specific deletion of Plcβ1 led to the development of only spontaneous SWDs, and no other types of seizures were observed. Ex vivo slice patch recording demonstrated that the number of spikes, an intrinsic TRN neuronal property, was significantly reduced in both tonic and burst firing modes in the absence of Plcβ1. We conclude that the loss of Plcβ1 in the TRN leads to decreased excitability and impairs normal inhibitory neuronal function, thereby disrupting feedforward inhibition of the TC circuitry, which is sufficient to cause hypersynchrony of the TC system and eventually leads to spontaneous absence seizures. Our study not only provides a novel mechanism for the induction of SWDs in Plcβ1-deficient patients but also offers guidance for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic tools for absence epilepsy.


Compatibilization of a polypropylene (PP)/polybutylacrylate (PBuA) blend was studied, with the aim of achieving better adhesion at the interphase through modification of both the PP and PBuA phases. The compatibilization involved two separate stages: First, a small amount (2 and 5 mol %) of functional monomer copolymerizable with and soluble in BuA was added to the BuA initiator solution. Then, this solution was impregnated into PP pellets and polymerized inside the pellets by free-radical polymerization in a water suspension. The resulting blend was a thermoplastic elastomer consisting of PP as the matrix and functionalized PBuA as the partly crosslinked dispersed rubbery phase. The functionalities of the monomers were epoxy, oxazoline, hydroxyl, secondary amine, and carboxyl. In the second stage, two commercial graft copolymers of PP (PP grafted with either acrylic acid or maleic acid anhydride) were blended at the melt stage with the PP/functionalized PBuA blend. Here, the compatibilizing reactions took place between the functionalized components of the blend. The compatilization reactions were detected by FTIR analysis and by changes in mechanical or thermomechanical behavior of the blends. Morphology studies were carried out. As a result, the tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break, and tear strength of the final product were improved by about 15, 20, 160, and 50%, respectively, compared with the unfunctionalized blend. The hardness of the material remained unchanged in the compatibilization. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


This study aims to examine the effect of leverage, profitability, employee productivity and size on the intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) of the transportation company. Type of causal research (causal study) with sampling using the method of Purposive Sampling. Sampling is conducting at transportation company listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange for the period 2014-2017. The research method used is linear regression analysis with SPSS version 21 as a statistical test tool. The test results show leverage, profitability, employee productivity does not affect intellectual capital disclosure (ICD). Partially, the size company effect on intellectual capital disclosure (ICD).


Communicating emotional experiences effectively is critical for adaptive functioning and personal and interpersonal well-being. Here, we investigated whether variability in depression symptoms undermines people's ability to express their emotions to others ("emotional expressive accuracy") and how those communication dynamics influence other's impressions. In Phase 1, 49 "targets" were videotaped describing significant autobiographical events; they then watched their videos and continuously rated how positive/negative they were feeling throughout the narrative. In Phase 2, 171 "perceivers" watched subsets of videos from targets and similarly rated each target's affect. Results from 1,645 unique target–perceiver observations indicate a link between target's depressive symptoms and impaired emotional expressive accuracy for positive events, B = −0.002, t(1,501) = −3.152, p = .002. Likewise, more depressive targets were rated less favorably by perceivers, again when sharing positive events, B = −0.012, t(1,511) = −10.145, p < .001. Given the beneficial effects of "capitalization"—sharing positive experiences with others—these findings may illustrate one link between depressive symptoms and impoverished relationships.


Ecotourism development is one of the important assets to promote conservation and sustainable economic development in the tourist destinations. The implementation of ecotourism can be initiated through Community-based Ecotourism (CBET). CBET promotes participation in natural and cultural resource management as well as to seek benefits for the economic development of the local community in which ecotourism takes place. However, the implication of CBET in several places is far from the target to achieve sustainability. It was identified that the sustainability was caused by mutual symbiotic and benefits among local economic livelihood, cultural preservation, and environmental conservation. One of the main hindering factors for the implementation of CBET to create mutual symbiotic among those aspects is insufficient social capital. This finding is based on reviews of related literature particularly about social capital in CBET. In addition, social capital and CBET's main issues in economic, culture and environment were analysed. The result shows that social capital was found important and worthy to be given special attention because it includes basic social features i.e. norms, social trust and networks. For example, the success of CBET can be seen in the case study conducted in Tumani Tenda Camp Village-Gambia, West Africa. It was showed that social capital has created positive impact on economic development, environmental management and cultural preservation. By setting up structured social capital, local people currently have less relied on other villages to provide poultry for the camp and even can sell the surplus. For a high level of social capital, this village has become the first village winning the National Environmental Agency's competition for ecocamp development in forest program. In terms of cultural preservation, social capital helped villagers in building trust and participation in several rituals or village's activities. However, conformity and restriction on the norms and rules in the village will be negative consequences of social capital in Tumani Tenda Camp Village. Thus, social capital in CBET should be put into account for its important roles in supporting economic development, environmental management and cultural activities in many other tourism sites.


In this paper, the global asymptotic stability for a class of uncertain delayed cellular neural networks with discrete and distributed time-varying delays (DCNNs) is considered. Based on the Lyapunov functional stability analysis for differential equations and the linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization approach, a new criterion is derived to guarantee global asymptotic stability. A numerical example is illustrated to show the effectiveness of our results.


A review of fabric studies of clays suggests the need for relating those fabric characteristics which are revealed at the two levels of magnification provided by optical and electron microscopy, and a technique to achieve this has been developed and is described within the context of the initial stages of a long term study of the interrelation between fabric and engineering behaviour. Two kaolinitic clays with contrived fabrics were prepared by controlling particle size, moisture content and pH of suspension, and consolidation load and were subjected to shear loading to failure. Resin impregnation techniques which permit the kaolinite to be cut into thin sections for transmission electron microscopy have been optimized with the object of minimizing fabric strain and damage during ultratomy. The fabrics of the hard and soft ambient material are qualitatively compared by means of electron micrographs and are explained in terms of the preparatory procedures adopted for fabric control. The fabrics of the two types of shear induced structures are also qualitatively compared and explained in terms of the original fabrics and the subsequent shear loading.


In this issue of the journal we present a forum on a current topic of key sociolinguistic interest to both linguists and the wider population in Europe and elsewhere, that is, the expected future of the English language in a reconfigured Europe after the impending British exit (or 'Brexit') from Europe. The key document discussed in this forum is a position paper from Marko Modiano, which has drawn a number of responses from leading linguists across the field of world Englishes. We are sincerely thankful to Modiano for initiating this forum, and grateful also to all those that have contributed their responses to his article, which has resulted, we believe, in an insightful and lively discussion of the sociolinguistics of English and multilingualism in contemporary Europe.


Supercomputers have greatly influenced the studies of biological cells and cellular networks. Electrophysiological properties of the cells are now known in great detail. Therefore, computer models are constructed to simulate the electrical activity of single heart cells and networks of coupled heart cells. These simulations are used to mimic the rhythms of the heart, including arrhythmias such as ventricular fibrillation (VF). Computer simulations require very large scale computational resources, with parallel or vector architectures offering distinct benefits in terms of the ease of coding the algorithms and in terms of computational performance. Three models, one implemented on a personal computer, the second on a Connection Machine and the third on a Cray C90, are reported. The computer simulations reveal the mechanism of generation of VF-like rhythms in the form of wavelets and spiral waves and suggest novel strategies for terminating these arrhythmias.


Inclusion has been recognised as an ongoing process, reflecting changes
in political positions, values, policies and practice. As inclusion in the UK
develops from focusing upon children with Special Educational Needs to
recognising all children in order to resolve inequalities in society, inclusion
in government policy is being equated with educational outcomes rather
than the process by which it is achieved.
Within a constructivist paradigm, the research utilises a case study
methodological approach carried out in one school, sampled for its
uniqueness. Shakespeare School, a pseudonym, successfully supports a
group of children who are considered to be at risk of underachievement
to make outstanding educational progress. Located within an inner city
and currently situated near the bottom of the national educational league
tables, this school is rated within the top 5% for academic progress within
the country. Therefore, it is of significant interest for this research to detail
the systematic inquiry undertaken into the relationship between inclusion
and progress within this school.
The findings of the research demonstrate that Shakespeare School is a
transformational organisation, where all children and staff are welcomed,
empowered and valued as members of a creative, academic, social and
emotional learning collective. The research provides new knowledge
challenging the way inclusion is currently understood and identifying
a holistic model of inclusion and progress that is characterised by the
school's philosophy, creative curriculum and leadership in practice. As a
result, the research provides holistic, practical contributions in the detailing
of the school's bespoke and creative approach in support of positive
learning experiences for both the inclusion and progress of all its children.


Experimental right ventricular pressure-overload hypertrophy in small mammals is associated with early muscle dysfunction, even before the onset of overt pump failure. Experimental results are quite heterogeneous regarding muscle function of the pressure hypertrophied left ventricle. Muscle dysfunction of the right or left ventricle, when found, may be causally related to alterations of myosin ATPase activity and isozyme type. However, the effect of a gradual pressure overload, analogous to that which occurs in human aortic stenosis, on myocardial contractile function and myosin ATPase activity has not been studied in a large animal whose normal myosin isozyme pattern resembles that of man. We therefore studied pump performance, myocardial contractile function, and myosin ATPase activity and isozyme pattern in pigs with severe, gradually applied left ventricular pressure overload. Thirteen weeks after supravalvular aortic banding, 10 pigs grew more than 7-fold in body weight and were found to have an aortic stenosis area of 0.5 ±0.1 cm2 with a gradient of 93 ± 12 mm Hg. Compared with nine control animals, the banded animals had a 67% increase in left ventricular mass relative to body weight without overt pump failure as measured by cardiac index and pulmonary artery wedge pressure. Left ventricular ejection performance, measured as shortening fraction, was maintained except in three animals with extreme hypertrophy, in which depressed ejection performance may have been due to an afterload mismatch, myocardial dysfunction, or both. Myocardial contractile function, determined from the end-systolic stress-diameter relationship, was normal except in two pigs in which ejection performance was depressed and left ventricular mass was more than doubled. Only the slow V3 isozyme of myosin ATPase was found in both normal and hypertrophied pig myocardium, and the ATPase activity was normal in pigs with all degrees of hypertrophy. Thus, in a large animal model of severe, gradual left ventricular pressure overload, in which myosin isozyme pattern remains apparently unaltered, moderate hypertrophy can be associated with normal myosin ATPase activity and contractile function that is normal by current methods of evaluation.


Conjugated gradients on the normal equation (CGNE) is a popular method to regularise linear inverse problems. The idea of the method can be summarised as minimising the residuum over a suitable Krylov subspace. It is shown that using the same idea for the shift-and-invert rational Krylov subspace yields an order-optimal regularisation scheme.


Web 2.0 studies position new social media as creating relational connections, yielding new geographies based on increased awareness. YouTube exemplifies these media, fostering relations between geographically and politically disparate people. Moving beyond the dichotomy between space and cyberspace, this paper expands upon Wellman's (2001) description of cyberplace, and argues that place and cyberplace form a continuum upon which filmed events can be located. Invisible Children, a non-governmental organization concerned with raising awareness about Ugandan child soldiers, illustrates the role of new media in this continuum through disseminating their videos of protests on YouTube. This analysis expands our understanding of both the links between the generation of awareness and movement participation, and media's contribution to geographies of collective action.


This paper proposes effective ways to reduce the complexity of computing the distance spectrum of space-time trellis codes. First the notion of Voronoi neighborhood is extended to space-time trellis codes. Next, only simple error events are used, then a stack algorithm is used to further reduce complexity. The obtained reduced spectra are then used in conjunction with some previously proposed upper bounds to predict the performance of some published codes over quasi-static fading channels. Of interest are published space-time codes for which only tentative performance characterization has been proposed so far. The numerical results show that indeed the performance of these codes only depends on their distance spectrum and that remarkably tight bounds can be obtained.


Contents §1. Introduction §2. Complex hyperbolic and Heisenberg manifolds §3. Discrete actions on nilpotent groups and Heisenberg manifolds §4. Geometrical finiteness in complex hyperbolic geometry §5. Complex homology cobordisms and the boundary at infinity §6. Homeomorphisms induced by group isomorphisms §7. Deformations of complex hyperbolic and CR-structures: flexibility versus rigidity Bibliography


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the association of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) implemented in 2011 with caregiver health and health care use.

DATA SOURCES
VHA claims and electronic health records from May 2009-May 2018.

STUDY DESIGN
Using a retrospective, pre-post study design with inverse probability of treatment weights to address selection into treatment, we examine the association of PCAFC on caregivers who are Veterans: (1) outpatient primary, specialty, and mental health care visits; (2) probability of uncontrolled hypertension and anxiety/depression; and, (3) VHA health care costs. We compare outcomes for caregivers approved for PCAFC (treatment) to caregivers denied PCAFC (comparison).

DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS
n/a PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the year pre-application, we observe similar probabilities of having any VHA primary care (~36%), VHA specialty care (~24%), and VHA or VHA-purchased mental health care (~22%) for treatment and comparison caregivers. In year post-application, treated caregivers had a 5.89 percentage point larger probability of any outpatient VHA primary care (p=0.002) and 4.34 percentage points larger probability of any outpatient mental health care use (p=0.014). Post-application, probabilities of having uncontrolled hypertension or diagnosed anxiety/depression was higher for both treated and comparison groups. In the second year post-application, treated caregivers had a 1.88 percentage points larger probability of uncontrolled hypertension (p=0.019) and 4.68 percentage points larger probability of diagnosed anxiety/depression (predicted probabilities: treated=0.30; comparison = 0.25; p=0.005). We find no evidence of differences in VHA total costs by PCAFC status.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings that PCAFC enrollment is associated with increased health care diagnosis and service use may reflect improved access for previously unmet needs in the population of Veteran caregivers for Veterans in PCAFC. The costs and value of these increases can be weighed against other effects of the program to inform national policies supporting caregivers.


The most precious resource in a computer system is no longer its processor, memory, disk, or network, but rather human attention. Aura aims to minimize distractions on a user's attention, creating an environment that adapts to the user's context and needs. Aura is specifically intended for pervasive computing environments involving wireless communication, wearable or handheld computers, and smart spaces. Human attention is an especially scarce resource in such environments, because the user is often preoccupied with walking, driving, or other real-world interactions. In addition, mobile computing poses difficult challenges such as intermittent and variable-bandwidth connectivity, concern for battery life, and the client resource constraints that weight and size considerations impose. To accomplish its ambitious goals, research in Aura spans every system level: from the hardware, through the operating system, to applications and end users. Underlying this diversity of concerns, Aura applies two broad concepts. First, it uses proactivity, which is a system layer's ability to anticipate requests from a higher layer. In today's systems, each layer merely reacts to the layer above it. Second, Aura is self-tuning: layers adapt by observing the demands made on them and adjusting their performance and resource usage characteristics accordingly. Currently, system-layer behavior is relatively static. Both of these techniques will help lower demand for human attention.


Aim: To assess the effect of respiratory maneuvers on hepatic vein waveforms and flow velocity in patients without liver or cardiac disease. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the Radiology Department of Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Center, Lahore (PKLI & RC) after approval from Institutional Review Board (IRB). The sample size of 70 patients was selected using the WHO sample size calculator, after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Doppler waveforms and maximum velocities (Vmax) of the middle hepatic vein were recorded during normal respiration, after quiet expiration, and following breath-hold after deep inspiration. The waveforms were classified as triphasic, biphasic, or monophasic. Results: The maximum velocities (Vmax) during normal respiration, after quiet expiration, and following deep inspiration were 26.67±9.41, 24.08±6.77 and 19.31±.61 respectively. During normal breathing, the middle hepatic vein waveforms were triphasic, biphasic and monophasic in 80%, 6%, and 14% of the patients respectively. After quiet expiration, these percentages were 82%, 4% & 14% respectively and following breath-hold after deep inspiration, these percentages were 41%, 14% and 45%, respectively (p<0.05). Conclusion: The hepatic venous velocities were lower after deep inspiration. Their waveforms showed significant change from triphasic pattern to monophasic pattern following deep inspiration. Therefore, the respiratory variations must be considered during hepatic vein Doppler ultrasound assessment. Keywords MeSH: Hepatic veins, velocities, waveforms, inspiration, expiration.


A case of a solid and cystic tumor of the pancreas is presented. The immunohistochemical study of the resected tumor revealed alpha 1-antitrypsin and neuron specific enolase positive malignant cells proliferating pseudopapillary around fibrovascular stroma. Prominent calcification was characteristic in the present case.


To investigate the pathophysiology of patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases, we measured serum thyroid stimulating antibody (TSAb) activity and thyroid stimulation blocking antibody (TSBAb) activity by determining the radioiodine (125I) uptake into FRTL-5 cells. FRTL-5 cells were pre-incubated for seven days with 5H medium and then incubated for 48 hours with patients' crude IgG prepared by polyethylene glycol precipitation. In order to measure TSBAb, 10 microU/ml TSH was also added. 125I was added one hour before the end of the 48 hour incubation period. After the incubation, the medium was aspirated, and the radioactivity in the cells was counted. In patients with untreated hyperthyroid Graves' disease, TSAb was detectable in 18 of 20 patients, the detectability being 90%, and activity showed a statistically significant positive correlation with TSAb activity determined by c-AMP accumulation. Out of 41 patients with hypothyroidism, TSBAb determined by 125I uptake was positive in six cases, the detectability being 14.6%. The inhibition of 125I uptake by one of these six IgGs was suggested to be at the TSH receptor level because it inhibited TSH induced c-AMP accumulation and showed positive thyrotropin binding inhibitor immunoglobulin (TBI I) activity, but did not inhibit the forskolin- and (Bu)2cAMP-induced 125I uptake. Inhibition of another IgG was suggested at the post-receptor level because it did not inhibit TSH induced cAMP accumulation and showed negative TBI I activity, but inhibited forskolin- and (Bu)2cAMP-induced 125I uptake.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Much conflict and confusion surrounds the title and role of the specialist nurse, leading in some instances to disharmony between general and specialist nurses. It has been suggested that too many highly specialized nurses in a general area may lead to a deskilled workforce and fragmented care. Attempts to define the key concepts of specialist practice as described by the UKCC has resulted in elitism, conflict and abuse of the title. One suggestion to eliminate this conflict is for specialist nurses to achieve key competencies that encompass the role of the clinical expert. These key competencies should be devised by specialist nurses, in the absence of national guidelines, and be agreed by employers. They should incorporate the key roles of: change agent, expert clinician, educator, researcher and coordinator. It is contended that if all concerned have a clearer definition of the title, role and what is expected from the specialist nurse then this will result in reduced conflict and improved quality of care.


Recently emerging spintronic terahertz (THz) emitters, featuring many appreciable merits such as low-cost, high efficiency, ultrabroadband, and ease of integration, offer multifaceted capabilities not only in understanding the fundamental ultrafast magnetism physics but also for exploring multifarious practical applications. Integration of various flexible and tunable functions at the source such as polarization manipulation, amplitude tailoring, phase modulation, and radiation beam steering with the spintronic THz emitters and their derivatives can yield more compact and elegant devices. Here, we demonstrate a monolithic metamaterial integrated onto a W/CoFeB/Pt THz nanoemitter for a purpose-designed functionality of the electromagnetically induced transparency analog. Through elaborate engineering the asymmetry degree and geometric parameters of the metamaterial structure, we successfully verified the feasibility of monolithic modulations for the radiated THz waves. The integrated device was eventually compared with a set of stand-alone metamaterial positioning scenarios, and the negligible frequency difference between two of the positioning schemes further manifests almost an ideal realization of the proposed monolithic integrated metamaterial device with a spintronic THz emitter. We believe that such adaptable and scalable devices may make valuable contributions to the designable spintronic THz devices with pre-shaping THz waves and enable chip-scale spintronic THz optics, sensing, and imaging.


The paper presents a comprehensive survey of contemporary methods, technologies and systems for localization and tracking of moving objects in an indoor environment and gives their comparison according to various criteria, such as accuracy, privacy, scalability and type of location data. Some representative examples of indoor LBS applications available on the market are presented based on the reviewed localization technologies. Prominent research directions in this domain are categorized and discussed.


OBJECTIVES
To study the changes of mechanical allodynia and temperature hyperalgesia, as well as the expression of the spinal macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and its receptor CSF-1R during the development of complicated regional pain symptom I(CRPS I).

METHODS
The animal model of CRPS I was established using prolonged ischemia-reperfusion injury of rodent left hindpaw. The mechanical allodynia and temperature hyperalgesia of ipsilateral hindpaw were continuously measured for 14 d after reperfusion, and the expressions of spinal M-CSF and CSF-1R in ipsilateral spinal cord horn were measured with immunofluorescence technique on day 3, day 7 and day 14 after reperfusion.

RESULTS
The thresholds of mechanical allodynia and temperature hyperalgesia of ipsilateral hindpaw were significantly decreased (P<0.05). M-CSF was secreted by the astrocytes. CSF-1R was primarily distributed on the microglia. The immunofluorescence intensities of M-CSF and CSF-1R in ipsilateral spinal cord horn were significantly increased on day 7 and day 14 after reperfusion (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The ischemia-reperfusion injury simulated pain syndrome in CRPS I and increased the expressions of spinal M-CSF and CSF-1R.


This article examines Andrea Riccio's design of the Della Torre tomb monument in Verona – one of Riccio's major commissions that long merited further study. In this design the artist challenged the modes of contemporary funerary art. Although the absence of Christian iconography and the strict all'antica visual language may appear to break with the decorum of Christian funerary art, I argue that Riccio drew on an overtly Christian design – the tombs of saints. By drawing upon the typology of the tombs of saints, the structure of the Della Torre monument signalled to the viewer the didactic nature of Riccio's narrative programme. Understanding the design of the monument casts greater light on the tomb's programme and the sophisticated nature of Riccio's work.


The statistical picture of the solution space for a binary perceptron is studied. The binary perceptron learns a random classification of input random patterns by a set of binary synaptic weights. The learning of this network is difficult especially when the pattern (constraint) density is close to the capacity, which is supposed to be intimately related to the structure of the solution space. The geometrical organization is elucidated by the entropy landscape from a reference configuration and of solution-pairs separated by a given Hamming distance in the solution space. We evaluate the entropy at the annealed level as well as replica symmetric level and the mean field result is confirmed by the numerical simulations on single instances using the proposed message passing algorithms. From the first landscape (a random configuration as a reference), we see clearly how the solution space shrinks as more constraints are added. From the second landscape of solution-pairs, we deduce the coexistence of clustering and freezing in the solution space.


Naxos disease is a recessively inherited condition characterised by woolly hair, palmoplantar keratosis
and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). A rare syndrome with similar clinical picture and predominantly involving left ventricle has been termed as Carvajal Syndrome. We report two cases of a Saudi family admitted in our PICU.


Since the fall of Communism in 1991, Albania's aspiration is to become a member of the European Union. However, to become a member of the 'European family', countries have to go through a long process of transformation of domestic structures. This process could bring along important structural changes in potential candidate states, which are without membership perspective hardly to reach. This book explores whether the EU has an influence on political and economic domestic developments through membership conditionality in a potential candidate state. Moreover, the role of domestic characteristics and actors in the process is taken into consideration. It seems that the political elite, characterized by short term interest, polarisation and corruption, withholds Albania from further progress on the political and economic Copenhagen criteria. Identification with the European Union seems to be the main driver for transformation. However, national interests of political elites, based on a rational choice, undermine the domestic developments in Albania. These national interests do not only affect the integration process, but also the development of Albania itself.


The theory of embodied music cognition states that the perception and cognition of music is firmly, although not exclusively, linked to action patterns associated with that music. In this regard, the focus lies mostly on how music promotes certain action tendencies (i.e., dance, entrainment, etc.). Only recently, studies have started to devote attention to the reciprocal effects that people's body movements may exert on how people perceive certain aspects of music and sound (e.g., pitch, meter, musical preference, etc.). The present study positions itself in this line of research. The central research question is whether expressive body movements, which are systematically paired with music, can modulate children's perception of musical expressiveness. We present a behavioral experiment in which different groups of children (7–8 years, N = 46) either repetitively performed a happy or a sad choreography in response to expressively ambiguous music or merely listened to that music. The results of our study show indeed that children's perception of musical expressiveness is modulated in accordance with the expressive character of the dance choreography performed to the music. This finding supports theories that claim a strong connection between action and perception, although further research is needed to uncover the details of this connection.


This study comes from the Catholic University of America, and naturally shows signs of the special attitude of mind, both of psychiatrists and of patients, which is inseparable from the profession of the Roman Catholic religion. In the author's view mental disorder is essentially a psychological problem, and in his introductory chapters he is inclined to deny any relationship 'with the anatomy and physiology of the central nervous system, though later he refers to physiological changes in the hypothalamic area causing emotional expression and even changes of mood, and suggests that such physiological changes may explain the inappropriateness of much psychotic emotion. It is shown that Kraepelin's contention that definite clin'cal syndromes of mental disease may be described can be mathematically confirmed. The author next considers the factors on which psychoses depend, and the theories of Freud, Jung, Adler, and Alexander are briefly described and examined. He then shows how emotional states can start and maintain organic changes through the autonomic system. He instances isolated emotional shocks apparently determining psychotic breakdown, but considers that there is always a pre-existing disposition, and points out that there is usually an interval of "brooding" between the emotional incident and the onset of the psychosis. He considers that chronic emotional stresses may determine mental disorders, but does not believe that direct sexual factors such as celibacy, continence, or masturbation themselves contribute. He takes the " phobia " as a useful field of study. He points out that these are not always sexually determined. Childish fears do not always develop into phobias, and may be dissipated by wise home handling. Even phobias may spontaneously disappear in fortunate circumstances, but examples are given in which phobias are retained because they are consciously or unconsciously useful to the patient. Under the section on treatment the successful analytic treatment of a case is described, and the success of simple free association is recorded in another case. The author illustrates the usefulness of psychotherapy in psychosomatic diseases,. and points out how religion (Catholicism) and simple talks may be of great service, quoting as examples cases of marital disharmony and the problems of the unwanted and overprotected child. He refers to the usefulness of play therapy, the reorgan zation of the family and school relationship, drawing attention to emotional retardation as opposed to backwardness. He thinks that " bibliotherapy "-the choice of appropriate books for the patient to read-may be of great use. He illustrates how the rapid elimination of hysterical symptoms in children by counter-suggestion may clear up the whole psychoneurotic situation. Since emotional states can be induced by physiological changes in the hypothalamus, he maintains that drug treatment may well be useful, and refers especially to convulsive therapy by insulin, metrazol, and electrical methods, to hyperpyrexia and the administration of adrenal cortex and pituitary hormones. There is an appendix on the classification and definition of the clinical entit es of psychiatry. This work is well illustrated by case records, but contains nothing very new or original, and the up-to-date British psychiatrist will find the book interesting reading but will probably conclude that he has heard it all before.


Copyright: © 2020. Authors. Licensee: Die SuidAfrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attibution License. Grewia lasiocarpa E. Mey. ex Harv is commonly known as the forest raisin(s) due to its edible red-brown 4-lobed fruit(s), which turn black as they age. The genus is easily recognised by its distinctive morphology (edible fruits, crystals, trichomes) and abundant medicinal properties (antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant). In order to distinguish this species from other Grewia species, this study aimed to describe the morphology, ultrastructure of the leaves, stem bark and secretory structures of G. lasiocarpa using microscopic techniques and histochemical tests. he morphological and anatomical studies revealed the presence of glandular trichomes. One type of peltate, three types of capitate and non-glandular (simple, stellate, multangulate-stellate) trichomes were found on the leaves and stem bark of G. lasiocarpa. The histochemical investigation revealed that certain primary and secondary metabolites such as starch, protein, mucilage, lignin (polyphenols) and alkaloids are present in the leaves, stem bark and indumentum. This is the first report on the morphological, ultrastructure and histochemical studies of leaves and stem bark of Grewia lasiocarpa. This structural characterisation of the leaves and stem bark would help to distinguish this species from others in this genus, its ascertain authenticity, contribute to the pharmacognostic usage and general knowledge.


Behavioral economics, a field that has received major contributions from Kahneman and Tversky, the former also having received a Nobel prize, is an approach that has focused on a number of aspects of behavior in human decisions, defining their outcomes as not being fully rational. Its main contribution was conquered by questioning the so far very well established Utility Theory, a very important basis in economics. This article aims to verify how decisions concerning the adoption and use of information technology are potentially affected by the factors described in Kahneman and Tversky's theory. This was done by means of an experiment adapted to the context of the mobile communications sector, which was chosen due to its economic and social relevance in recent years in Brazil. The data were analyzed by means of categorical group comparison techniques. The results provided evidence of non-rational behavior amongst decision makers as proposed by original authors, mainly those regarding aspects of the Prospect Theory. With this evidence, it is possible to question a number of aspects of individual and organizational decisions involving the use of information technology use, with important implications at the managerial levels.


Nondestructive evaluation of material damage can contribute to continued safe, reliable, and economical operation of nuclear power plants through their current and renewed license period. The aging mechanisms active in the major light water reactor components are radiation embrittlement, thermal aging, stress corrosion cracking, flow-accelerated corrosion, and fatigue, which reduce fracture toughness, structural strength, or fatigue resistance of the components and challenge structural integrity of the pressure boundary. This paper reviews four nondestructive evaluation methods with the potential for in situ assessment of damage caused by these mechanisms: stress-strain microprobe for determining mechanical properties of reactor pressure vessel and cast stainless materials, magnetic methods for estimating thermal aging damage in cast stainless steel, positron annihilation measurements for estimating early fatigue damage in reactor coolant system piping, and ultrasonic guided wave technique for detecting cracks and wall thinning in tubes and pipes and corrosion damage to embedded portion of metal containments.


The purpose of this study is to identify the market segmentation of festival visitors according to their experience realms. The study of experience realms for festival visitors was previously by researchers Pine & Gilmore (1999). With the goal of adding further contribution to this approach, a surveys conducted at the Hampyeong Butterfly Festival reveals three main segments which can be categorized as entertainment experience group, education experience group and escapism experience group. Demographic characteristics by each segment reflect strong differences pertaining to age difference and age and identified marital status. As for the festival experience characteristic differences were also found significantly depending on the number of participation programs, travelling companions type and expenditure. And the festival satisfaction of each cluster was found significantly different. In conclusion, this study provides the opportunity to observe and target the experience realms for different market segments. Suggested in the recommendations is that festivals and events such as the Hanpyeong Butterfly festival should consider and pay careful attention to the specific needs and requirements of the different market segments.


The introduction of COVID-19 vaccines is viewed by many as an important milestone in controlling the spread of COVID-19 and a critical step toward attaining the required threshold for head immunity. However, accepting a vaccine is key to a successful rollout of any vaccination programme. Using the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) framework on vaccine acceptance and hesitancy as an analytical framework, this study examines COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and its associated factors in rural and urban settlements in the Yilo Krobo Municipality in Ghana. Data for the study were drawn from a cross-sectional survey conducted in an urban and three rural settlements in the Yilo Krobo Municipality. The findings showed that about 97% of residents were aware of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout exercise in the country; however, only 46% were willing to take the vaccine. The results from the binary logistic regression show that the sex of respondents (p<0.01), safety considerations (p<0.001), level of information on the vaccine (p<0.05), and perceived risk concerns (p<0.01) were the key factors that significantly influenced vaccine acceptance in the municipality. The study recommends more public education and sensitization to reduce misconceptions and increase trust in the vaccine rollout exercise.


Background: Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is present in the endothelial cells of all vascular beds. There are, however, many reports of converting enzyme activity in blood vessels not associated with the endothelium. Methods: ACE was localized in large blood vessels of a number of mammals by in vitro autoradiography using the radioligand 125I-351A. To characterize this binding further, immunohistochemistry was performed on rabbit aorta using polyclonal antisera raised to two different preparations of rabbit lung ACE. Results: In all of the blood vessels studied, which included the rabbit pulmonary artery, rabbit, dog and sheep aorta, human internal mammary artery and human saphenous vein, high levels of radioligand binding were found in endothelial cells, as expected. In addition, a very high density of punctate binding was observed interspersed between diffuse moderate labelling in the adventitia. Immunoreactivity was confined to the endothelium of both the intima and the vasa vasorum of the adventitia. The immunostaining correlated well with the autoradiography. The ACE inhibitors lisinopril and perindoprilat displayed similar high affinities in competing for the binding of 125I-351A to the endothelium and adventitia of the sheep aorta, suggesting that at these two sites the radioligand was binding to ACE. Conclusions: We find that ACE in the adventitia of large blood vessels is confined to the vaso vasorum. The results of this study help to explain the findings of many studies that ACE activity persists in endothelium-denuded blood vessels and also reveals a source of ACE distant from the luminal endothelial surface.


Several potential biomarkers of response to targeted therapies are being evaluated in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) to improve drug development and to determine which patient may benefit the most from the different treatment options. Stauffer's syndrome is a paraneoplastic syndrome that presents with the elevation of hepatic enzymes without hepatic metastases in patients with renal cell carcinoma. Hereby we report the case of our patient who suffered from multiple peritoneal metastases of renal cell cancer accompanied by Stauffer's syndrome. During his course of disease, the change in the serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels correlated well with the extent of metastatic spread. Hypertension, grade 2 hand-foot syndrome and hypothyreosis also developed in relation to the successful sunitinib treatment. These side effects are predictive biomarkers in patients responding well to sunitinib. As other potential causes of increased GGT and ALP were excluded, the elevation of these enzymes were attributed to Stauffer's syndrome. During treatment, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-up showed complete regression, while the serum GGT and ALP levels halved. In this case, besides the known biomarkers, changes in serum GGT and ALP levels correlated well with the regression of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. To our knowledge, this is the first case published in the medical literature to show GGT and ALP levels in Stauffer's syndrome as potential biomarkers.


Prehispanopolis is the result of a pedagogical, dynamic and innovative proposal for teaching, learning and evaluation of students through the creation of a board game developed between teacher and students. As part of the activities of evaluation, the students are proposed to create a game that involves the subjects and concepts of the course, and it can later be used as an evaluation tool.The pilot test was conducted in the subject called Arquitectura Hispanoamericana (Hispano-American Architecture) of the Architecture program and limited to pre-Hispanic architecture and urbanism, hence the origin of the name of the game.The main objective in the proposal of the creation of this game is to generate greater motivation and interest in students for learning in classes that have high theoretical content and are passive, monotonous and dense both in its content and in its class methodology. History of architecture meets these characteristics among students, for this reason it was decided to start with the project in this class.Results show a high motivation and participation of the students, both in the development of the game and at the time of being used as an evaluation tool. Likewise, the academic results corresponding to the subjects evaluated with the game were improved.Keywords: Boardgame, game-based learning, gamification, motivation, methodology.


The world is facing a pandemic creating a health crisis and affecting people's life in unimaginable ways. COVID-19 has increased the depth of our preexisting differences and exposed the faults in our systems, thereby amplifying the effects of pandemic. The layered effects of Covid-19 have created a plethora of problems for women and girls.


The term "local food " is a buzzword in the food industry for consumers. However, when consumers make food-purchasing decisions, do they look for the specif ic growing locations and consider the seasonality of the product? In this study, researchers used focus groups to determine the impact growing location and months of availability have on consumers' purchasing decisions in order to identify effective communication strategies when communicating about local food. The theoretical framework of framing and cognitive dissonance informed this study. The findings from this research indicated consumers defined local food as grown in a certain area, state, or region. Additionally, results indicated consumers make food-buying decisions based on personal preference, versatility, health benef its, preparation, and seasonal cooking. Overall, consumers' decisions to buy produce were not impacted by growing season, but rather by their preference for a specific product. Participants noted most produce is available year round nationally. The researchers recommend communicators focus on developing message strategies framed toward the purchasing attributes identified by the participants instead of growing location and availability. Future research should continue to examine the impact of different frames on consumer food-purchasing decisions and how consumers perceive specific


OBJECTIVE
To examine the expressive level of enhancer of zesle homolog 2 (EZH2) and phosphatase and tension homolog (PTEN), and to explore its clinicopathological significance in benign and malignant lesion of gallbladder.

METHODS
EnVision immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expressive levels of EZH2 and PTEN in routinely paraffin-embedded sections in the resected specimens of gallbladder adenocarcinoma (n = 108), peritumoral tissues (n = 46), adenomatous polyp(n = 15), and chronic cholecystitis (n = 35).

RESULTS
The positive rate of EZH2 was significantly higher in gallbladder adenocarcinoma than that in peritumoral tissues (chi(2) = 24.49, P < 0.01), adenomatous polyp(chi(2) = 11.68, P < 0.01), and chronic cholecystitis (chi(2) = 31.62, P < 0.01). The benign lesions in the positive cases of EZH2 and (or) the negative ones of PTEN showed the moderately- or severely- atypical hyperplasia of gallbladder epithelium. The positive rate of PTEN was significantly lower in gallbladder adenocarcinoma than that in peritumoral tissues(n = 20.20, P < 0.01), adenomatous polyp(chi(2)=10.81, P<0.01), and chronic cholecystitis (n = 29.83, P < 0.01).The positive rates of EZH2 were significantly lower in the highly-differentiated adenocarcinoma, the maximal diameter of mass < 2 cm, non-metastasis of lymphnodes, and non-infiltration of regional tissues than those in the moderately or low-differentiated adenocarcinoma, the maximal diameter > or = 2 cm, metastasis of lymphnode, and infiltration of regional tissues (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). High inconsistency was found between the expression of EZH2 and PTEN in gallbladder adenocarcinoma (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
Expression of EZH2 and/or PTEN might be important biological markers in the carcinogenesis, progression, biological behaviors and prognosis of gallbladder adenocarcinoma.


We present results of validating the algorithms used to estimate sea surface solar radiation at 400-700 nm, photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), from satellite ocean color data and an appropriate validation procedure when data are collected using a moving ship. The validation was performed using field measurements of PAR during a transit cruise from the Baltic to the White Sea during the summer of 2014. The PAR was measured at 10-minute intervals using a deck radiometer throughout the daylight hours. The satellite estimate of daily surface PAR with an acceptable error, on the scale of 1 day-102 km, is shown.


Background: One of important goals of any health system is to reduce healthcare inequalities in its jurisdiction. We aimed to track economic inequality in outpatient health care utilization after the healthcare transformation plan in Iran. Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: The data obtained from the Iranian healthcare utilization household survey conducted in 2015. The inequality in health care utilization was assessed through concentrating index, concentration curve, and odds ratio. GIS analysis also was used to show provincial concentration index in the map of Iran. The analysis was performed on more than 14000 subjects aged 15 yr or higher reported outpatient health care service's needs. Results: The richest to poorest odds ratio of outpatient health care utilization was 1.14 (95%CI: 1.11, 1.17). The concentration index of outpatient healthcare utilization was obtained 0.094 (95%CI: 0.77, 0.11). Although the concentration indices of rural and urban residents were significantly different, there was no significant difference between male and female subject. Provincial and GIS analysis showed that inequality in outpatient healthcare utilization was spatially distributed in Iran. Conclusions: Findings of current study indicate that after the healthcare transformation plan, economic inequality in outpatient healthcare utilization still were pro-rich in Iran as a whole and in some of its provinces.


Microemulsion-based animal oils, alone or associated with polymers have been extensively used in pharmacy, medicine and cosmetics, since the major lipid constituents of the oils show several biological activities. Despite showing antimicrobial activity, there are no reports in the literature regarding the effects of bullfrog oil on cytotoxic activity against tumor cells. The aim of the present study was to synthesize, characterise and evaluate the in vitro effects on melanoma cell line (B16F10) of bullfrog oil microemulsions associated or not with chitosan, surfactant and bullfrog oil (CSBO) and surfactant and bullfrog oil (SBO), respectively. The microemulsions were developed and their physical-chemical characteristics were evaluated by light microscopy, dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy and zeta potential. The microemulsions showed regular spherical shapes, high polydispersity and excellent (+82.2 ± 1.0 mV) to low (-16.0 ± 0.5 mV), colloidal stability. The systems significantly decreased the in vitro cell viability of melanoma skin cancer by up to 90.2% (CSBO) and 91.8% (SBO); while free bullfrog oil showed no effects. The results obtained from microemulsions of bullfrog oil indicate the potential of the microemulsions developed, alone or in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents, for future use in biomedical approaches aiming towards cancer therapy.


The controversy regarding total versus partial pancreatectomy for ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head remains unsettled. Proponents of total pancreatectomy claim wider margins of resection, avoidance of a troublesome pancreaticoenterostomy, and removal of a potentially multicentric disease. Advocates of partial pancreatectomy highlight the retention of exocrine and endocrine pancreatic function, the maintenance of splenic function, and a lower risk of marginal ulceration without sacrificing curative potential. Analysis of the current surgical literature with focus on the facets of each procedure that may differ (operative mortality, long-term survival, and the six factors mentioned above), may help to resolve the controversy. The data reviewed would suggest that 1) wider resection margins have not transferred into longer postoperative survival, 2) the risk of multicen-tricity is probably low and of questionable significance, and 3) the morbidity and mortality of pancreaticoenterostomy is currently less problematic. The additional benefits of retaining pancreatic endocrine and exocrine function, maintaining splenic immune competence, and a lower risk of marginal ulceration convinces us to advocate partial pancreatectomy over total pancreatectomy for the majority of patients with a resectable ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


A unilateral finline-the asymmetrical structure finline-is discussed. In addition to providing better electromagnetic isolation, this structure solves problems of mechanical and thermal resistance encountered with the traditional line. It provides better electromagnetic performances than the traditional line, while leaving an additional degree of freedom to obtain the characteristic parameters. Calculation software is used to simulate this type of structure, with results close to experimental measurements. The study was completed by producing two circuits: a 20 GHz bandpass filter and a balanced mixer. >


We wish to pay tribute to Neil Hudson, who died aged 65 in November 2012 after a short illness. Neil was a leading academic geologist in metamorphic petrology and structural geology; a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He was also a member of the Edinburgh Geological Society, the East Midlands Geological Society and the Institute of Learning and Teaching (ILT). He sat on the councils and committees of several of these bodies, and was Chair of the Metamorphic Studies Group (2003–2006).

Born in Edinburgh in 1947, Neil completed his early education at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and read Geology at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1970. He continued as a research student at Edinburgh, where one of us (BH) had the pleasure of being his supervisor. He was awarded a PhD in 1975, at which time he moved to Derbyshire with his first wife Elspeth, and began a distinguished teaching and research career at Derby College (subsequently University of Derby). He spent the rest of his career at Derby and in 2001 became Professor of Metamorphic Petrology. In 1983 Neil married his second wife Jean, and they lived in Ashbourne until his death. He is survived by: his mother Peggy; both Elspeth and Jean; two children, Pauline and Steven (from his marriage to Elspeth); and three step children …


©The Korean Association of Child Studies This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Corresponding Author: Ha Young Min, Professor, Department of Child Studies, Daegu Catholic University, Hayang-Ro 13-13, Hayang-Eup, Gyeongsan-Si, Gyeongbuk, Korea E-mail: email@example.com Professor, Department of Child Studies, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongbuk, Korea Ha Young Min


We have previously shown that capacitively coupled
electrical stimulation of either normal bovine articular chondrocytes or
osteoarthritic human articular cartilage explants resulted in up-regulation of
cartilage matrix gene expression and down-regulation of metalloproteinase gene
expression. In addition, collagen and proteoglycan protein levels were also
elevated. To determine visually the effect of specific electric fields on
modifying cartilage structure, freshly harvested human full-thickness
osteoarthritic cartilage explants were stimulated in the absence or presence of
interleukin-1β, an inflammatory
cytokine, and were examined photographically and spectrophotometrically.
Hexosamine and hydroxyproline contents were also determined. Spectrophotometric
analysis was used to quantify any changes in the depth of defects in the
cartilage ranging from surface level (red-colored) to the deepest affected
layer (blue-colored). Interleukin-1β treatment alone caused significant additional cartilage erosion. Electrical
stimulation alone resulted in significant decreases in the cartilage defects. Electrical
stimulation in the presence of interleukin-1β resulted in a small, but significant, surface improvement. Meta-analysis also
confirmed a significant increase in the hexosamine and hydroxyproline contents
(indicating matrix deposition). It was concluded that an appropriate electric
field could modify osteoarthritic lesions in full-thickness cartilage plugs by
increasing matrix production and/or by decreasing matrix destruction.
Furthermore, it appears that spectrophotometric analysis is a relatively easy
method for quantifying the "filling in" or healing of articular cartilage
defects.