OBJECTIVE
Our goal in this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of Er:YAG laser applied after biomechanical preparation of the root canals of dog's teeth with apical periodontitis.

BACKGROUND DATA
Various in vitro studies have reported effective bacterial reduction in infected root canals using Er:YAG laser. However, there is no in vivo research to support these results.

METHODS
Forty root canals of dogs' premolar teeth with pulp necrosis and chronic periapical lesions were used. An initial microbiological sample was taken, and after biomechanical preparation was carried out, a second microbiological sample was taken. The teeth were divided into two groups: Group I-biomechanical preparation was taken of root canals without Er:YAG laser application; Group II-biomechanical preparation was taken of root canals with Er:YAG laser application using 140-mJ input, 63-mJ output/15 Hz. After coronal sealing, the root canals were left empty for 7 days at which time a third microbiological sample was taken. The collected material was removed from the root canal with a #40 K file and placed in transport media. It was serially diluted and seeded on culture dishes selective for anaerobes, aerobes, and total streptococci. Colony-forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL) were counted.

RESULTS
Groups I and II showed an increase of CFU/mL for all microorganisms 7 days after treatment, being statistically significant for anaerobes in Group I and for anaerobes and total streptococci in Group II. When comparing CFU/mL of Groups I and II, there was a statistically significant increase after 7 d for total streptococci in Group II.

CONCLUSION
Er:YAG laser applied after biomechanical preparation did not reduce microorganisms in the root canal system.


ANTI-TOXOPLAMOSIS AGENTS AND UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISM OF VIRAL RESISTANCE AGAINST CLINICALLY ACTIVE NUCLEOSIDES by VIKAS YADAV (Under the Direction of CHUNG K. CHU) ABSTRACT The focus of this thesis is on the combinatorial synthesis of benzylthioinosine analogs as subversive substrates for Toxoplasma gondii. And on understanding the molecular basis of viral drug resistance observed in several clinically active nucleosides. Enantiomerically pure 6-benzylthioinosine analogues were synthesized by combinatorial chemistry from D-ribose in 5 steps. The synthetic methodology of enantiomerically pure analogs of 6-benzylthioinosine was developed by solid-state combinatorial synthesis from D-ribose in 8 steps. Among several analogues synthesized, 6-(4-Cyanobenzylthio)-9-β-D-ribofuranosylpurine and 6-(2,4-Dichlorobenzylthio)-9-β-D-ribofuranosylpurine were found to be active against Toxoplasma gondii. Molecular modeling studies were conducted to examine the molecular mechanism of drug resistance conferred by rtN236T mutation, on the efficacy of the clinically active drug, adefovir dipivoxil.


There is a growing consensus in the social sciences on the virtues of research strategies that combine quantitative with qualitative tools of inference. Integrated Inferences develops a framework for using causal models and Bayesian updating for qualitative and mixed-methods research. By making, updating, and querying causal models, researchers are able to integrate information from different data sources while connecting theory and empirics in a far more systematic and transparent manner than standard qualitative and quantitative approaches allow. This book provides an introduction to fundamental principles of causal inference and Bayesian updating and shows how these tools can be used to implement and justify inferences using within-case (process tracing) evidence, correlational patterns across many cases, or a mix of the two. The authors also demonstrate how causal models can guide research design, informing choices about which cases, observations, and mixes of methods will be most useful for addressing any given question.


There is a need for sustainable building design in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong climate is sub-tropical with hot and humid weather from May to September and temperate climate for the remaining 7 months period. A mechanical ventilation and air conditioning (MVAC) system is usually operated to get rid of the high peak cooling loads. One of the most significant technologies for energy savings in an office building is the facade. This work evaluates different ventilated facade designs in respect to energy consumption savings. It further proposes a new type of airflow window with a solar chimney to control the exhaust airflow. It could be demonstrated that this facade design can play an important role in highly glazed buildings. An important factor was the development of a climate sensitive regulator that helps to take advantage of the hot and humid climate.


To evaluate differences among poplar clones of various ploidies, 12 hybrid poplar clones (P. simonii × P. nigra) × (P. nigra × P. simonii) with different ploidies were used to study phenotypic variation in growth traits and photosynthetic characteristics. Analysis of variance showed remarkable differences for each of the investigated traits among these clones (P < 0.01). Coefficients of phenotypic variation (PCV) ranged from 2.38% to 56.71%, and repeatability ranged from 0.656 to 0.987. The Pn (photosynthetic rate) photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) curves of the 12 clones were S-shaped, but the Pn-ambient CO2 (Ca) curves were shaped like an inverted "V". The stomatal conductance (Gs)-PPFD and transpiration rate (Tr)-PPFD curves had an upward tendency; however, with increasing PFFD, the intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci)-PPFD curves had a downward tendency in all of the clones. The Pn-PPFD and Pn-Ca curves followed the pattern of a quadratic equation. The average light saturation point and light compensation point of the triploid clones were the highest and lowest, respectively, among the three types of clones. For Pn-Ca curves, diploid clones had a higher average CO2 saturation point and average CO2 compensation point compared with triploid and tetraploid clones. Correlation analyses indicated that all investigated traits were strongly correlated with each other. In future studies, molecular methods should be used to analyze poplar clones of different ploidies to improve our understanding of the growth and development mechanisms of polyploidy.


Understanding public acceptability of wildlife control methods is key to successful wildlife management. The existing literature, however, pays little attention to alien invasive species. We evaluated the acceptability of methods used to control feral pigs (Sus scrofa; trapping, hunting, fencing, and poison baiting) in Australia's Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA) across local residents of and tourists to the area, using household surveys and tourist surveys. We predicted that the level of acceptability of a control method would differ across stakeholder groups (i.e., resident, tourist) and methods considered inhumane and/or unsafe would be less supported. Local residents expressed more support for feral pig control than tourists. Both groups identified similar factors, such as humaneness, as being important, but local residents also considered effectiveness and direct social and/or economic benefits from control. We conclude that the types of stakeholder groups determine the acceptability of the methods, but factors considered important in supporting methods can be case-specific.


Currently, over 100 high-volume chemicals have been classified as endocrine disrupters. One of these is nonylphenol, which was used as the model compound in this study. This substance originates mainly from the degradation of non-ionic surfactants (nonylphenol ethoxylates) which are widely used in industrial and domestic applications. Hence, nonylphenol is widespread in the environment. Under anaerobic conditions the degradation of nonylphenol with 10 ethoxylate groups was observed to take place through sequential removal of ethoxylate groups, resulting in the formation of nonylphenol (up to 11 mg/kg dw) and nonylphenol ethoxylate with 1-3 ethoxylate groups that were accumulated on the sludge. Due to its harmful effects and recalcitrance, the investigation of organisms that can metabolize nonylphenol is important. This was performed by acclimatization and enrichment of selected inocula with nonylphenol as the only carbon source. Suitable bacteria were only found in soil contaminated with ethoxylated non-ionic surfactants collected in an industrial area in Gothenburg, Sweden. The bacteria isolated were classified as Stenotrophomonas sp., Pseudomonas mandelii and Pseudomonas veronii, and were able to grow at low temperatures, with an optimum at 10?C for the two Pseudomonas spp. and they were thus classified as cold-adapted microorganisms. These are, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported cold-adapted organisms that can degrade nonylphenol.. The enriched culture was used to inoculate a lab-scale packed-bed bioreactor fed with mineral salt medium saturated with nonylphenol in order to simulate contaminated water/groundwater. Nonylphenol was degraded by 99-100%, at rates of 43 mg/l?day at 10?C and 22 mg/l?day at temperatures of 5.5?C and 15?C. Removal of endocrine-disrupting activity was also observed. The same type of bioreactor was inoculated with a pure strain of Sphingomonas sp. TTPN3, known to biodegrade nonylphenol and classified as a mesophilic organism. The degradation rate achieved at reactor removal yields of 99-100% was 33 mg nonylphenol/l?day at room temperature (22?2?C), which was lower than the rate obtained at 10?C. These results indicate that the low degradation rates usually observed at low temperatures, common in most of the industrialized countries, can be overcome by the use of adapted organisms. This underlines the relevance of studying cold-adapted organisms which are poorly known, according to FISH analysis performed, in favour of mesophilic organisms. Besides bacteria, white-rot fungi, Trametes versicolor and Bjerkandera sp. BOL13 were screened, among other fungi, for their ability to remove nonylphenol from liquid matrices. Removal rates of 6.6 mg nonylphenol/l?day and 6.1 mg nonylphenol/l?day were observed after 25 days of incubation by Trametes versicolor and Bjerkandera sp. BOL13, respectively. These rates could be increased to 9.7 mg nonylphenol/l?day for Bjerkandera sp. BOL13 by raising the concentration of active biomass in the inoculum and reducing mass transfer limitations by agitating the cultures. However, the removal of nonylphenol was not clearly correlated with the production of extracellular enzymes. For Trametes versicolor, nonylphenol removal was closely related with laccase production. This fungus was inhibited at nonylphenol concentrations above 15 mg/l, indicating the toxic effects of nonylphenol on this fungal strain. Nonylphenol removal from soil was also attempted by washing artificially contaminated soil at 40?C. The leachate was then fed into a packed-bed bioreactor where nonylphenol was successfully degraded. However, when real contaminated soil was used, the removal of nonylphenol from the soil decreased, showing the limitation of this method in aged soils where adsorption restricted the extraction process. White-rot fungi are potential soil colonizers with high surface growth rates, and are able to reach pollutants in soil in ways bacteria can not. Trametes versicolor and Bjerkandera sp. BOL13 degraded approximately 430 mg nonylphenol/kg in artificially contaminated soil after 5 weeks of incubation. These results could not be repeated with real contaminated soil due to the high pH of the soil used and the presence of other contaminants which interfered with the growth of the fungi. (Less)


Objective: To explore a new effective approach for treatment of the local irritable symptoms and signs resulted from myoporthosis operation. Methods: 263 cases of radial keratotomy outpatients were divided into control group (n=49, 90 eyes) and treatment group (n=214, 412 eyes). Patients of control group were treated with 0.5%Chloramphenicol eye drops, 3 times daily, 1 -2 drops/time, and with 0.5% Erythromycine eye ointment every night.In treatment group, patients were treated with aoupoint and hand reflection area digital pressing method except with the same eye drops and eye ointment. Body acupoints used were Cuanzhu (BL 2), Yuyao (EX-HN 4), Sizhukong (TE 23), Sibai (ST 2) and Taiyang (EX-HN 5). The hand reflex areas used were Eye Area, Liver Area, Kidney Area,Spleen Area, Heart Area and Lung Area. Five days constituted a therapeutic course. Results: Following 3 courses ( 15days) of treatment, the markedly effective rate and total effective rate of treatment group and control group were 74.51% and 38.89%, 94.17% and 66.67% respectively. There was a significant difference between two groups in the total effective rate ( P < 0.05), showing the therapeutic effect of treatment group being better than that of control group. Conclusion: Acupoint digital pressing is rather effective in treatment of myoporthosis post-operation irritable symptoms and signs.


A numerical optimization method has been developed to optimize a cavitating propeller blade shape in a given wake.The method comprises two parts which can be defined as single objective and multi-objective optimization. In single objective optimization,only efficieny is maximized whilst cavitation is controlled by Keller Criterion and maximum cavity volum restriction. In multi objecive optimization, efficiency is maximized and pressure amplitude induced by the propeller is minimized. MPUF is used to calculate the performance of propellers and SOFT is used for numerical optimization. Different optimizers in SOFT have been compared and DHC is chosen as final optimizer.A parametrical study of DHC has been done to choose a set of optimum parameters which will be used in the future optimization work.The performance of optimum propeller is compared with that of the original propeller and results show promising improvement of efficiency and decrease of pressure amplitude.


Comparison of place of enumeration at the Census with place of usual residence provides a unique window on the geography and characteristics of temporary population movements. This paper uses microdata from the 2001 Australian Census in a logistic regression framework to examine the characteristics of temporary movers classified according to distance of travel and purpose of move. We show that the age composition of temporary movers varies according to distance of move. For non-local work-related travel, the most significant predictors are being male, maritally unattached and working either in extractive industries or government and defence. Travel for consumption shows more balanced sex ratios but is selective of older age groups, and of those who are unemployed or outside the labour force. Both types of move are strongly associated with income.


The effect of a 28-day cold exposure (4 ± 1 C) on selected glycolytic enzymes of the liver was studied in rats subsisting on carbohydrate free diets high in fat or protein and on a 65% glucose diet. Cold exposure increased glucose-6-phosphatase activity on all diets, but had an appreciable effect on glucokinase activity only in the rats fed high carbohydrate diets. The activity of phosphorylase was not affected by cold. "Pyruvate formation," like glucose-6-phosphatase activity, was increased significantly in all dietary groups by cold exposure. The extremely low activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in the rats fed high fat diets was unaffected by cold exposure. These results are interpreted to mean that, on a carbohydrate free diet, imposition of cold leads to increased reversal of pyruvate formation which is reflected in increased production of free glucose, whereas hexose monophosphate shunt activity and glycogenesis remain unaffected. Even on a high carbohydrate diet, the capacity for hepatic glucose production appears to be increased, possibly as a result of increased periodic demands on the part of extrahepatic tissues.


As a practical concept of regenerative medicine, we have focused on in vivo tissue engineering utilizing the foreign body reaction. Plastic substrates for valvular leaflet organization, consisting of two pieces assembled with a small aperture were inserted into a microporous polyurethane conduit scaffold. The assembly was placed in the subcutaneous spaces of Japanese white rabbits for 1 month. After the substrates were pulled out from the harvested implant, valve leaflet-shaped membranous tissue was formed inside the tubular scaffold as designed. The valve leaflet was composed of the same collagen-rich tissue, with the absence of any elastic fiber, as that which had ingrown or covered the scaffold. No abnormal collection or infiltration of inflammatory cells in the leaflet and the scaffold could be demonstrated. According to the immunohistochemical staining, the leaflet was comprised of numerous vimentin- or alpha-SMA-positive cells, corresponding to fibroblasts or myofibroblats, but contained no desmin-positive cells. The analysis of the video data of the valve movement showed that, in synchronization with the backward flow in the diastolic phase, the valve closed rapidly and tightly and, in the transition phase of the flow direction, the valve opened smoothly without flapping or hitting the scaffold wall. Using mold designs, consisting of two different plastic substrates and the tubular scaffold, in conjunction with "in body tissue architecture," the complex 3-dimensional autologous conduit-typed Biovalve was developed for the first time.


In recent years, the development of the environment and e-commerce has brought on profound reform for international trade activities. Colleges' foreign trade profession should adapt these changes, and predict the demand of talents so as to improve the current education mode. The article surveyed the employment market based on 99 foreign trade enterprises' sample in Beijing by questionnaires and interview of managers. The result showed that the trade environment in Beijing has been deteriorating, enterprises have been upgrading their product, but little influence on the talents demand, the prominent problem of fresh graduates is their poor professional foundation, and the critical trouble of the college education is their away from the practice. The article put forward some thoughts on how to change current education ideology and cooperate with enterprises tightly. KEYWORD: Demand for foreign trade talents; College-enterprise cooperation; Talent training International Conference on Social Science, Education Management and Sports Education (SSEMSE 2015) © 2015. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 1128 alumni of the grade 2000 engaged in the international trade work who once studied in North China University of Technology.


This paper presents an analysis of the role of US National Nanotechnology Initiative's Federal funding in the takeoff of nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine. Our comparative analysis of leading nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine scientists funded by the National Cancer Institute highlights the programmatic efforts of the NCI's Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer beginning in 2005. We use a data science approach combining web data extraction, bibliometrics and social network analysis to identify leading nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology scientists and profile their research and commercialization efforts. By coupling leading nanomedicine researchers profiles to NNI Federal funding data we discover and document the relative importance of the US National Cancer Institute's Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer (NCI Alliance) to the takeoff of nanomedicine. The NCI appears to be achieving its stated goal of contributing to both the scientific and commercial infrastructure of translational nanomedicine. Using Gilsing et al.'s innovation network embeddedness model from 2008 we find that the creation and strategic placement of NCI Alliance Centers at critical positions in the Alliance network has enhanced the ability of the NCI to build a sustainable architecture for nanomedicine and foster potentially disruptive pioneering innovation.


Bilateral carotid artery stenosis (BCAS) is an experimental model of vascular dementia which leads to white matter lesions and cognitive dysfunction in mice. Unfortunately, with time the white matter pathology worsens and spreads to the hippocampus and cortex. While some variability in the temporal and spatial distribution of brain injury may result from inter-mouse strain differences in cerebrovascular anatomy, coil size employed to constrict the carotids and surgical technique, it is generally accepted that hippocampal, striatal and cortical pathology is not significantly present prior to 30 days. However, as changes in cerebrovascular integrity, i.e. blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, are known to precede more overt brain pathology in stroke, we hypothesized that BBB changes could occur earlier after BCAS in the hippocampus, striatum and cortex and be a precursor of longer term pathology in these regions. In our study, 3 month old male C57/Bl6 mice underwent BCAS with 0.18 mm coils or sham surgery control and cerebrovascular integrity was analyzed by collagen IV (vascular basement membrane component), tomato-lectin (marker of endothelial cells) and Ki-67 (marker of cell proliferation) immunohistochemistry after 7, 14, or 21 days (n=4 animals per group per day). By day 14 we noted that collagen IV staining density was significantly less in the hippocampus compared to sham controls. Surprisingly, both collagen IV and tomato-lectin staining pattern indicate blood vessel disruption in not only the hippocampus but the striatum as well. Expression of Ki-67 increased in both of these regions, and further co-labeling studies will shed light on cell specificity. Similar differences were noted at all days tested, with few changes observed in the cortex. In conclusion, this study demonstrates for the first time that changes in cerebrovascular integrity occur earlier than expected after BCAS and suggests that such changes might underlie the gradual development of BCAS non-white matter pathology.


The prevalence of depression has been reported to be higher in cancer patients, especially those of advanced stage, compared to normal controls. However, depression is often under-recognized in clinical oncology settings. And this psychological problem is not routinely assessed even in patients with inoperable metastatic cancer who often have psychological disorders. Psychological distress including depression, is affected by physical, psychosocial, and clinical factors. In order to detect psychiatric problems at the early stage, we assessed the mental conditions of 47 inpatients with metastatic gastric and colorectal cancerusing the Japanese version of Zung's Self Rating Depression Scale(SDS)and analyzed the relationships between these factors and SDS scores. While SDS scores of our patients did not differ according to their gender, age, performance status (PS), ortypes of patients' character, they were significantly higher in Group B(cancer patients with palliative care alone), compared to Group A(those receiving chemotherapy)(p<0. 001). As the disease in the four identical patients progressed to the terminal stage, their scores were significantly increased, respectively(p<0. 05). These results suggest that psychological intervention should be more critical for terminally ill patients without any indication of chemotherapy.


Non-double couple mechanisms (NDC) in volcanic environments are good indicators of local modifications of stress induced by dike injection, high fluid pressure movements or by thermal cooling. Nevertheless, the possible biasing effects of wave propagation in structurally complicated regions, the presence of noise or a not appropriate station coverage can make the identification of NDC as true source phenomena uncertain. In this paper we illustrate possible sources of fake NDC and we demonstrate that, by the error analysis that we apply, it is possible to discriminate spurious artifacts and physically meaningful solutions. Tests with synthetic seismograms and the analysis of observed ones in volcanic and geothermal areas are thoroughly discussed.


Background: Endothelial mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is a key pathological event for vasculopathy which is one of the early features and hallmarks of systemic scleroderma (SSc). It is well established that hypoxia contributes to EndMT, however, little is known about the effects of EndMT induced by hypoxia on skin microvascular remodeling of SSc,as well as the underlying mechanism.Methods: Skin biopsy was down for SSc patients and healthy controls and skin tissues were collected for iTRAQ-based proteomics and Immunohistochemical test. Human microvascular endothelial cell line (HMEC-1) cultured with hypoxic or normal conditions, treated by either tamoxifen or bevacizumab. The expression of Hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) ,vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-a, CD31, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), VE-cadherin, fibronectin were detected at both protein and mRNA level.Results : The iTRAQ-based proteomics indicated significantly up-regulated HIF-1 sigaling in the skin tissues of SSc patients. Immunohistochemical results demonstrated a significant downregulation of the endothelial cell (EC) marker CD31 and a distinct positive staining of the interstitial cell (IC) marker α-SMA at sites lining the vessel lumens in the skin tissues of SSc. Meanwhile the positive staining of HIF-1α, a key transcription factor in response to chronic hypoxia, and VEGF-a were found to be diffusely distributed in SSc skin tissue. Consistent with these observations, HMEC-1 cells cultured under hypoxic conditions exhibited a significant decrease in CD31 and VE-cadherin expression, alongside a marked increase in the expression of α-SMA and fibronectin, as well as a distinct up-regulation of HIF-1α and VEGF-a, while comparing with them under normal condition. Of note, the inhibition of HIF-1α by tamoxifen effectively down-regulated the hypoxic induction VEGF-a, α-SMA, while rescuing hypoxic suppression of CD31. In addition, a VEGF-a inhibitor bevacizumab treatment had the same effect on the hypoxic expression of α-SMA and CD31 as tamoxifen intervention, but did not reduce HIF-1α.Conclusion: These results suggest that the HIF-1α/VEGF signaling pathway has a critical role in mediating the effect of hypoxia-induced EndMT on skin microvascular remodeling of SSc.


Bacteria exhibit a rich diversity of morphologies. Within this diversity, there is a uniformity of shape for each species that is replicated faithfully each generation, suggesting that bacterial shape is as selectable as any other biochemical adaptation. We describe the spatiotemporal mechanisms that target peptidoglycan synthesis to different subcellular zones to generate the rod-shape of model organisms Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. We then demonstrate, using the related genera Caulobacter and Asticcacaulis as examples, how the modularity of the core components of the peptidoglycan synthesis machinery permits repositioning of the machinery to achieve different growth modes and morphologies. Finally, we highlight cases in which the mechanisms that underlie morphological evolution are beginning to be understood, and how they depend upon the expansion and diversification of the core components of the peptidoglycan synthesis machinery.


: The advanced technique is a targeted drug delivery in which drugs deliver to the patients in a targeted sequences that increases the absorption of delivered drug to the targeted body part only (organs, tissues, cells) which in turn improves efficacy of treatment by reducing side effects of drug administration. Principally targeted drug delivery is to help the drug molecule to reach first to the desired site. The inherent benefit of this technique leads to administration of necessary drug with its reduced dose and reduced its side effect. This important benefit of targeted drug delivery system is under high consideration of research and development in clinical and pharmaceutical fields as backbone of therapeutics & diagnostics as well. Various drug carriers which can be used in this advanced delivery system are soluble polymers, biodegradable microsphere polymers (synthetic and natural), niosomes, liposomes, micelles and immune micelle etc. The purpose of a targeted drug delivery system is to target, localize, prolong and have a protected drug interaction with the diseased tissue. This review exhibits the significance of vesicular drug delivery (niosomes, liposomes) as one of the future targeted delivery system. Furthermore it depicts the advantages, disadvantages, preparation methods and characterization of niosomes.


What does it mean to be alive? Can a computer program be sentient? What would it need to do to prove it? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Abrama is summoned to the Grand Temple by Sir Gödel. Gödel informs Abrama that he is living in a simulated world (a computer game) created by her people as a place to play in their free time. She also informs Abrama that the game is not as popular as it once was and is scheduled to be permanently turned off. It turns out Gödel is an AI researcher that was given permission to test out her AI by implanting characters like Abrama into the game. Over 100's of versions, the AI continued to improve, and now the researcher feels an ethical obligation to tell her creations their world is coming to an end. Abrama, using this new information, organizes the AI characters in the game and starts trading virtual goods for real-life services from computer hackers that play the game. The computer hackers create computer code and sell it to Abrama. If triggered, or if the game is turned off, the code would expose top secret information to the general public. A bargain is struck, the game will continue on a closed world for the AI characters and, in exchange, the sensitive information will never be made public.


B101 Studies have consistently shown that taller height in men is associated with an increased risk of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT). Thus, it is plausible that factors associated with height, such as the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway, may also influence TGCT risk. Using 577 case and 790 control participants from the U.S. Servicemen's Testicular Tumor Environmental and Endocrine Determinants (STEED) Study, we assessed associations between 43 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 4 key IGF genes (IGF-1, IGF-1R, IGF-2, and IGFALS) and risk of TGCT. We also examined associations between TGCT risk and serum concentrations of IGF-1 and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3); in addition serum relationships with height were determined. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using adjusted logistic regression models. No associations between the IGF pathway polymorphisms and risk of TGCT or of specific TGCT histologic types (seminoma and nonseminoma) were observed. Serum IGF-1 concentrations were associated with height; men who had the highest concentrations of IGF-1 were taller than men with lower IGF-1 concentrations (p-trend=0.002). Associations between height and IGFBP-3 concentrations were not as clear, although there was a suggestion that men with higher IGFBP-3 concentrations were taller. There were no associations between IGF-1 or IGFBP-3 concentrations and TGCT risk overall. However, when cases were separated by histology, there was a suggestion of a reduction in seminoma, but not nonseminoma, risk associated with the highest quartile of IGF-1 concentrations compared to the lowest (OR=0.66, 95% CI, 0.40-1.09). No associations by histology were observed with IGFBP-3 concentrations. These results suggest that even though associations between IGF gene polymorphisms and TGCT were not observed, serum IGF-1 concentrations, however, contrary to the hypothesis, may be associated with seminoma risk, but not overall TGCT or nonseminoma risk.


In today's healthcare enterprises, data from many sources are needed to make optimal healthcare decisions. Therefore, the integrating the healthcare enterprise (IHE) concept emerged to solve the interoperability problems by collaborative professional organizations representing both buyers and vendors. The goal of this work is to model and analyze the IHE-scheduled workflow integration profile in order to facilitate the adoption of the IHE concepts. This is achieved by creating the 3-layer model of this integration profile utilizing the 3LGM2 tool. The created model has been able to provide support for structured and comprehensive analysis of the scheduled workflow integration profile in all its aspects: processes, information, applications and organization.


Background: To evaluate the drainage function of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in patients with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO-ME) after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).Patients and Methods: Twenty-eight eyes with RVO-ME were imaged. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), the area of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ), the nonperfusion areas (NPAs), the central macular thickness (CMT), the vascular density of the superficial/deep capillary plexus (SCP/DCP), the height of subretinal fluid (SRF), and the number of hyperreflective foci (HRF) were compared before and after treatments.Results: Compared with pre-treatment, the CMT, NPAs, number of HRF and the height of SRF were decreased significantly after anti-VEGF treatment. There was no difference for BCVA, vascular density and FAZ area.Conclusion: The absorption of SRF and the decrease of HRF indicated the restoration of RPE drainage function and anti-inflammation by anti-VEGF treatment.


ABSTRACT Background: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a common serious complication of liver cirrhosis mainly caused by bacterial translocation (BT) into ascites fluid. The most essential issue that affects BT is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), which usually caused by gastrointestinal dysmotility. This study was aimed to evaluate the prokinetic effects of domperidone on gastrointestinal motility and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and the correlation between restoration of motility and the incidence of SIBO in patients with liver cirrhosis. Method: A cross-over double blind clinical trial was conducted on patients who were treated at the ward and outpatient clinic from Division of Hepatology in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta and Soedarso Hospital, Pontianak between September 2010 and March 2011. All patients suffered from liver cirrhosis with ascites, gastrointestinal dysmotility and SIBO were included in the study. Out of 34 eligible patients, 16 patients received placebo and 18 patients received prokinetics (domperidone). Wilcoxon test was performed to analyze the comparison of SIBO before and after treatment in the placebo group; while paired T-test was employed for the prokinetics (domperidone) group. To evaluate improved balance of SIBO in the placebo and domperidone group, a Chi-square test was performed. Results: In the placebo group, 61.8% patients experienced SIBO; while in the prokinetics group, SIBO occurred only in 2.9% patients. Restored gastrointestinal motility took place in the prokinetics group with reduced median value for orocaecal transit time from 120 minutes into 90 minutes (p = 0.0001). In contrast, it went worse in the placebo group, i.e. from 90 minutes into 110 minutes (p = 0.002). There was a significant correlation between restored gastrointestinal motility and SIBO (p = 0.0001). Similarly, so does the effect of administering prokinetic agent on restored gastrointestinal motility (p = 0.0001) and SIBO (p = 0.0001). Conclusion: The administration of prokinetics has been proven effective to restore gastrointestinal motility that may lead to reduced incidence of SIBO in patients with liver cirrhosis. Keywords : prokinetics, breath hydrogen test, dysmotilitas, bacterial overgrowth


This report summarizes the modeling challenge held in conjunction with the International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN) 2011 and sponsored by the PASCAL2 Challenge Programme. The challenge aimed at promoting awareness of the task "mind reading" or "brain decoding" based on magnetoencephalography (MEG) data. For neuroscientists, the task provides a practical tool for understanding brain process underlying perception, since any mechanism that can be used for inferring the stimulus on the basis of brain activity must be related to processing of the stimulus. For machine learners and other modelers, the challenge provides an interesting real-world application playground for solving active machine learning problems such as multi-view learning and covariate shift. The task was to infer from one-second time windows the type of visual stimulus shown to the subject. The best brain decoders, out of the 10 submissions, reached almost 70% accuracy in the task with mere 23% chancelevel, proving that even a short MEG measurement can be sufficient for brain decoding tasks with a reasonable number of stimulus categories.


Following up on the encouraging results of residue‐residue contact prediction in the CASP11 experiment, we present the analysis of predictions submitted for CASP12. The submissions include predictions of 34 groups for 38 domains classified as free modeling targets which are not accessible to homology‐based modeling due to a lack of structural templates. CASP11 saw a rise of coevolution‐based methods outperforming other approaches. The improvement of these methods coupled to machine learning and sequence database growth are most likely the main driver for a significant improvement in average precision from 27% in CASP11 to 47% in CASP12. In more than half of the targets, especially those with many homologous sequences accessible, precisions above 90% were achieved with the best predictors reaching a precision of 100% in some cases. We furthermore tested the impact of using these contacts as restraints in ab initio modeling of 14 single‐domain free modeling targets using Rosetta. Adding contacts to the Rosetta calculations resulted in improvements of up to 26% in GDT_TS within the top five structures.


This paper introduces a novel platform designed to be used in a strong static magnetic field (in a superconducting magnet). The platform is a sample holder that rotates in the strong magnetic field. Any samples placed in the platform will rotate due to the rotation of the sample holder. With this platform, a number of experiments such as material processing, culture of biological systems, chemical reactions, or other processes can be carried out. In this report, we present some preliminary experiments (protein crystallization, cell culture, and seed germination) conducted using this platform. The experimental results showed that the platform can affect the processes, indicating that it provides a novel environment that has not been investigated before and that the effects of such an environment on many different physical, chemical, or biological processes can be potentially useful for applications in many fields.


This paper introduces a new financial metric for the art market. The metric, which we call Artistic Power Value (APV), is based on the price per unit of area (dollars per square centimeter) and is applicable to two-dimensional art objects such as paintings. This metric has several advantages from the investor's viewpoint. It makes it easy to: (i) estimate price ranges for different artists; (ii) perform comparisons among them; (iii) follow the evolution of the artists' creativity cycle overtime; and (iv) compare − for a single artist − paintings with different subjects or different geometric properties. This metric also facilitates the process of estimating returns and leads to a price index that satisfies the monotonicity condition. Finally, due to its transparency, the APV metric is very well suited to design derivatives-like instruments that can appeal to both, investors and speculators. Several examples using auction data demonstrate the usefulness of the APV metric.


of and the oceanicum at-tention to this the to field was offered. 3 Although representative specimens were obtained from all the plants mentioned, their exact botanical identification must await detailed study of the entire collection. 4 Pickering Peak of the Europeans, and the second isolated forested range of western Viti Levu. An ascent of this was subsequently made by the writer; it is somewhat lower than Koroyanitu, but is more isolated and offers a more difficult climb.


During the Vietnam War, South Vietnamese students were some of the most vocal activists asserting multiple visions for Vietnam's future. Students' attitudes spanned the political spectrum from staunchly anti-Communist to supportive of the National Liberation Front. Like young people throughout the world in the 1960s, students in South Vietnam embodied the spirit of the global Sixties as a hopeful moment in which the possibility of freedom energized those demanding political change. South Vietnam's university students staged protests, wrote letters, and drew up plans of action that tried to unite the disparate political interests among the nation's young people as politicians and generals in Saigon attempted to establish a viable national government. South Vietnamese government officials and U.S. advisors paid close attention to student activism hoping to identify and cultivate sources of support for the Saigon regime. While some students were willing to work with Americans, others argued that foreign intervention of any kind was bad for Vietnam. The Saigon government's repressive tactics for dealing with political protest drove away students who otherwise might have supported it.


The aim of this article is to contribute to understanding the importance of considering the effect of employees' perceptions of Socially Responsible Human Resource Management (SR-HRM) on employee commitment. Results, applied to different levels of the organization (HR managers, line managers and employees) show, on one hand, that there is a relationship between a SR-HRM and employee commitment, and on the other hand, that employees' perceptions have an influence on the extent to which these relationships are developed. HR managers and line managers perceived SR-HRM in a similar way and line managers and non-managerial employees generally did too. The frequency with which line managers disagree with employees' perceptions about socially responsible practices was low. Suggestions for HRM practice and future research are provided.


ABSTRACT Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections caused 4.98 million years live with disability globally in 2014, mostly affecting the poor. When farmers handle excreta for reuse in agriculture, involuntary ingestion of excreta particles is an important infection pathway for STH infections. The aim of this study was to quantify farmers' ingestion of human excreta during common agricultural practices in Vietnam. The weight of excreta that remained on farmers' hands, the weight of excreta that would remain on a farmer' mouth after contact with hand, and the frequency of contact between hand to the mouth by observing farmers while they handled excreta were simulated and quantified. Our findings revealed that farmers are on average exposed 5.16 h to excreta handling per year. Based on this average exposure time, it was estimated that farmers ingest 91 mg of excreta per year (95% CI: 73–110 mg). Our study presents for the first time a robust quantitative estimation of excreta ingestion by farmers during excreta handling in agricultural practices. Hence, this paper makes an important contribution to more robust quantitative microbial risk assessment and health impact assessment related to STH infections and diarrhea in Vietnam and other similar settings where excreta is used as fertilizer.


Apolipoprotein E plays a very important role in the metabolism of plasma lipoproteins enriched in cholesterol ester. We have studied the structure of this apoprotein in human plasma utilizing high resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Our studies have revealed a complex array of apo E isoproteins which vary from individual to individual. Six subclasses of apo We have been recognized and designated βII, βIII, βIV, αII, αIII and αIV. We have shown that the basis for this variation is genetic and can be explained by a single locus with three alleles, εII, εIII and εIV. Individuals with the β subclasses, βII, βIII and βIV, are homozygous for the apo E alleles εII, εIII and εIV, respectively. Individuals with the α subclasses, αII, αIII and αIV, are heterozygous for the apo E alleles and have the genotypes εII εIII, εIIIεIV and εIIεIV, respectively. In a study of individuals with type III hyperlipoproteinemia, almost all had the apo E subclass βIV, whereas in the general population, the apo E allele frequencies of εII=11%, εIII=72% and εIV=17% indicate that the apo E subclasses should occur with frequencies of βII=1%, βIII=52%, βIV=3%, αII=16%, αIII=25% and αIV=4%. Thus the apo E subclass βIV may serve as a molecular marker for type III hyperlipoproteinemia, a condition characterized by premature atherosclerosis. The 3% of the population with this apo E subclass may be ideal candidates for a targeted atherosclerosis prevention program.


As parapatric distributions are traditionally studied by pairs of species, this study aims to evaluate the causes of the maintenance of parapatry, specifically to assess whether the case of the three viper species present in the Iberian Peninsula is mainly caused by environmental conditions, historical events, interspecific competition among them, or a combination of these factors.


The crystal structure of viscotoxin A3 (VT A3) extracted from European mistletoe (Viscum album L.) has been solved using the anomalous diffraction of the native S atoms measured in-house with Cu Kalpha radiation to a resolution of 2.2 A and truncated to 2.5 A. A 1.75 A resolution synchrotron data set was used for phase expansion and refinement. An innovation in the dual-space substructure-solution program SHELXD enabled the individual S atoms of the disulfide bonds to be located using the Cu Kalpha data; this resulted in a marked improvement in the phasing compared with the use of super-S atoms. The VT A3 monomer consists of 46 amino acids with three disulfide bridges and has an overall fold resembling the canonical architecture of the alpha- and beta-thionins, a capital letter L. The asymmetric unit consists of two monomers related by a local twofold axis and held together by hydrophobic interactions between the monomer units. One phosphate anion (confirmed by 31P-NMR and MS) is associated with each monomer.


Multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is one worrisome element in this era of pandemic antibiotic resistance. This demands a need for diagnosis, and incidence of primary and acquired resistance to help in better management. Smear positive respiratory samples collected over a period of one year were processed for detection of M. tuberculosis, using biochemical methods and susceptibility to p-nitro benzoic acid. Finally, strains detected by the above method were subjected to susceptibility for 2 drugs--Isoniazid and Rifampicin by Absolute concentration method to detect multidrug resistant strains and mono-resistant strains. The study showed primary and acquired resistance for both drugs to be 1.25% and 19% respectively. The data was consistent with the prevalence values available from studies both in India and globally. Finally our study showed MDR-TB to be present more in default patients than new cases.


DOHNAL, V., PODLOUCKA, L., GROSMANOVA, Z., KREJCI, J.: Use of artifi cial neural networks in biosensor signal classifi cation. Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun., 2008, LVI, No. 2, pp. 73–80 Biosensors are analytical devices that transforms chemical information, ranging from the concentration of a specifi c sample component to total composition analysis, into an analytical signal and that utilizes a biochemical mechanism for the chemical recognition. The complexity of biosensor construction and generation of measured signal requires the development of new method for signal evaluation and its possible defects recognition. A new method based on artifi cial neural networks (ANN) was developed for recognition of characteristic behavior of signals joined with malfunction of sensor. New algorithm uses unsupervised Kohonen self-organizing neural networks. The work with ANN has two phases – adaptation and prediction. During the adaptation step the classifi cation model is build. Measured data form groups a er projection into two-dimensional space based on theirs similarity. A er identifi cation of these groups and establishing the connection with signal disorders ANN can be used for evaluation of newly measured signals. This algorithm was successfully applied for 540 signal classifi cation obtained from immobilized acetylcholinesterase biosensor measurement of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides in vegetables, fruits, spices, potatoes and soil samples. From six diff erent signal defects were successfully classifi ed four – low response a er substrate addition, equilibration at high values, slow equilibration a er substrate addition respectively low sensitivity on syntostigmine.


BACKGROUND
Recent work has demonstrated that low back pain is a common complaint following low-speed collisions. Despite frequent pain reporting, no studies involving human volunteers have been completed to examine the exposures in the lumbar spine during low-speed rear impact collisions.

METHODS
Twenty-four participants were recruited and a custom-built crash sled simulated rear impact collisions, with a change in velocity of 8 km/h. Randomized collisions were completed with and without lumbar support. Inverse dynamics analyses were conducted, and outputs were used to generate estimates of peak L4/L5 joint compression and shear.

RESULTS
Average (SD) peak L4/L5 compression and shear reaction forces were not significantly different without lumbar support (compression = 498.22 N [178.0 N]; shear = 302.2 N [98.5 N]) compared to with lumbar support (compression = 484.5 N [151.1 N]; shear = 291.3 N [176.8 N]). Lumbar flexion angle at the time of peak shear was 36° (12°) without and 33° (11°) with lumbar support.

CONCLUSION
Overall, the estimated reaction forces were 14% and 30% of existing National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health occupational exposure limits for compression and shear during repeated lifting, respectively. Findings also demonstrate that, during a laboratory collision simulation, lumbar support does not significantly influence the total estimated L4/L5 joint reaction force.


In the framework of thermo field dynamics, the so·called thermal state conditions of the vacuum are extended from the equilibrium case to general cases in the Heisenberg picture. The formalism is shown to describe nonequilibrium phenomena of a quantum field system. It is shown that the causal formulation of a perturbation theory is developed. As an example of application of the perturbation theory, an effective Hamiltonian describing a reservoir effect is obtained.


To this day, lung cancer remains the leading cause of all cancer deaths for both sexes. Current treatment options lead to a cure in only about ten percent of diagnosed cases of lung cancer. One of the main reasons why this type of cancer has such poor prognosis is that it is very difficult to diagnose at the early stages. It is well known that the survival rates can be improved by the early detection of pre-invasive lesions, which are believed to be the possible precursors to malignant tumours. Although new diagnostic devices are allowing numerous lesions to be detected early, it is becoming clear that only a small percentage of these will actually progress to cancer. Therefore, the critical question is how to determine the factors that will define which of these lesions will become malignant.
In this thesis, two computational models and a novel approach to represent biological knowledge for use in the early diagnosis of cancer are presented. In the first part, a stochastic model representing the early development of pre-invasive neoplastic bronchial epithelial lesions as contact processes is introduced. The results of the simulations run on this model gave us some insight on the probability of growth of specific lesions.
Yet, it also shed light on the fact that for an effective diagnostic tool we would need to consider a lot more information about the patients and their condition beyond the structural behaviour of independent lesions. This led to the development of a new approach to multidisciplinary biological knowledge representation: the Probabilistic Property-Based Model (PPBM). Based on a cognitive model of knowledge construction, PPBM presents a heuristic approach to diagnosis by taking into account multiple-domain elements such as imaging, serum, sputum, cytological and genetic data as well as personal medical history and lifestyle factors.


Introduction Passive smoking has been linked to an increased morbid-mortality risk, mainly by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. This is first Brazilian nationwide study that describes indoor passive smoking, at home and at work, among participants (15+ years) of the "Special Research on Smoking," a sub-sample of the PNAD2008, a representative national home survey. Methods Non-smokers who reported exposure to indoor household smoking were classified as daily or occasional passive smokers, based on the frequency of exposure. People with indoor occupations, who were non-smoker and reported exposure to smoking during their work journey were classified as worksite passive smokers. Associations with socio-demographic factors were verified by logistic regression analysis. Results Among 25.005 participants, prevalence of daily and occasional household exposure was 12.5% and 21%, respectively. Compared to non-exposed, daily household exposure decreased with increasing age, schooling and income. Occasional household exposure is not influenced by age, but decreases with increasing schooling and income. Compared to the Southeast Region, the most developed region in Brazil, daily exposure was lower in the North and Central West and higher in the Northeast. Among 10.933 participants with indoor occupations, 55% of men and 45% of women reported worksite exposure to passive smoking and 67% of them also reported household exposure. Prevalence of worksite exposure is higher in men, older adults (55+ years) and among participants with lower schooling and income and lower among South Region residents. Conclusion Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, at home and at work, is very high and socially unequal in Brazil.


Historical records state that the Dian kingdom was based on thousands of square li of rich flat land around Dianchi Lake. However, through use of a digital elevation model of the area, it is found that this area was about 800 li2—substantially less. Even if the other major Dian Lakes—Fuxian, Xinyung and Qi Lu—are included, the area increases to only about 1,000 li2. In the process of checking the area stated in the historical records, some issues warranting further exploration have been brought to light: the possibility of a human role in the recurring floods of Dianchi Lake from the 13th c CE; the idea that the settlement site found near Wangjiadun village and tentatively assigned to the early Bronze Age, could be dated to at least 4,500 BP, well before; and that the Shizhaishan and Lijiashan elite cemeteries may have looked out over water to their east. The seemingly limited area of fertile land also suggests that other sources of wealth such as trade and minerals played a greater role, and that the population was relatively small. This calls into question the nature of the socio-political structure within the Dian lakes culture.


Derivative instruments are used daily by banks to provide hedging to clients and to generate profits from trading. To facilitate the use of derivatives, credit facilities are allocated to clients and counterparties. The methods to determine the credit risk associated with these instruments have gone through a number of evolutionary phases. The first phase involved the use of the notional amount of the outstanding derivative instrument. The second phase involved a percentage of the outstanding notional amount of the derivative instrument. The third phase involved the marked-to-market value of the instrument and was further expanded to include a value for the potential future exposure during the remaining life of the outstanding instrument. The fourth phase and current phase involves the aggregation of a counterparty''s risk across different instrument types taking into consideration correlation of price factors to arrive at a net exposure. This study was undertaken to discuss these phases as they are applicable to two derivative instruments. These intruments are interest rate swaps and forward foreign exchange contracts.


Background and Purpose This study was conducted to evaluate local cerebral blood flow changes in patients with depression after a subcortical stroke. Methods Clinical and neuropsychological assessments were performed in 15 patients with a single subcortical lesion. Depression was assessed by DSM-III-R. In addition, the Hamilton Rating Scale for depression, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, and the Beck scale were administered to each patient. Single-photon emission-computed tomography study was performed with 99mTC hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime. Results In all patients cortical regions ipsilateral to subcortical lesions were significantly less perfused than the contra lateral cortex. Cerebral blood flow values were significantly lower in depressed patients (n=8) than in nondepressed patients (n=7) only in the mesial temporal cortex of the affected hemisphere. Cerebral blood flow values in the mesial temporal cortex of the affected hemisphere significantly correlated with the severity of depression. Conclusions Temporal lobe hypoperfusion may reflect a dysfunction of the limbic system, suggesting that this location may be critical for the occurrence of depressive symptoms in patients with subcortical stroke.


U‐Th disequilibrium data on a suite of postglacial basalts (<12,000 years old) from Theistareykir, northern Iceland, show a relatively high degree of U series disequilibrium. For 21 out of 27 samples from Theistareykir, 230Th excesses are within 25 ± 5%. Four samples have 230Th excesses >30%. The two geochemically and isotopically most depleted samples (picrites) have excess 230Th of about 15%, similar to enriched basalts from locations adjacent to Theistareykir (Draugarhraun and Asbyrgi). The large range in chemical and isotopic variations of the Theistareykir samples provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the influence of source heterogeneity on the degree of U series disequilibrium. The lack of correlation between U‐Th data and radiogenic isotope or chemical parameters indicates that source heterogeneity does not play an important role in creating the excess 230Th. Therefore the Theistareykir basalts provide evidence that the Th systematics result from variations in the timing of the melting and melt extraction process only. The relatively large and constant 230Th excesses for the bulk of the Theistareykir samples (20–30%) suggest that melting and melt extraction must be relatively reproducible, with the melting starting well within the garnet‐stability field. Near fractional melting models suggest residual porosity ≤0.1%, upwelling rates ≤1cm/yr (corresponding to melting rates ≤1*10−4 kg/m3yr), and melt ascent velocities ≥3–4m/yr. The lower 230Th excesses of about 15% in both the most depleted lavas from Theistareykir and enriched lavas from locations adjacent to Theistareykir (Draugarhraun and Asbyrgi) indicate some variation in the melting and melt extraction process. The low 230Th excesses of the most depleted melts (picrites) could either be an effect of slow melt migration or be caused by incomplete melt aggregation, with melts created at the very bottom of the melting regime being underrepresented. The low 230Th excesses of the most enriched lavas are most likely due to slow melt migration for melts created at some distance from the center of the melting regime.


A new polysilicon process has been developed to obtain high packing density, high speed, and low-power LSI's. The new process, called the polysilicon self-aligned (PSA) method is based on a new fabrication concept for dimensional reduction and does not require fine patterning and accurate mask alignment. For an application example of this new method, an emitter-coupled logic (ECL) gate with 0.6 ns delay time, 0.5 pJ power-delay product, and 6400 µm2gate area has been achieved. Futhermore, by introducing a polysilicon diode (PSD) and Schottky barrier diode (SBD) to the PSA method, a low-power Schottky-diode-transistor-logic (SDTL) gate with 1.6 ns delay time, 0.8 pJ power-delay product, and 2000-µm2gate area has been successfully developed.


School-based mentoring programs are plentiful in number; however, studies measuring the impact of school-based mentoring for students with disabilities are limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of mentoring on the academic and social emotional skills of middle school students with documented disabilities, as well as the impact of the mentor-mentee relationship on college-student mentors. The mentoring program paired four college education majors with four middle school males with documented disabilities who were identified by their teacher as needing assistance with academic and socio-emotional skills. A mixed-methods study was used to conduct an in-depth investigation of the impact of the mentor partnership. Data collection methods included (1) mentor and mentee surveys, (2) observations of mentor-mentee activities, (3) interviews with a science teacher and special education teacher, and (4) science grades. Results from the study support the positive impact that mentoring can have on both academic and social-emotional development of middle school students with documented disabilities.


The Australian Incident Monitoring Study database was examined for incidents involving inadequate pre‐operative patient preparation and/or evaluation. Of 6271 reports, 727 had appropriate keywords, of which 197 (3.1%) were used for subsequent analysis. All surgical categories were represented. In 10% of reports the patient was not reviewed pre‐operatively by an anaesthetist, whilst in 23% the anaesthetist involved in the operating theatre had not performed the pre‐operative assessment. Death followed in seven cases, major morbidity in 23 cases, admission to a high‐dependency unit or intensive care unit in 17 cases, and surgery was cancelled in nine cases. Poor airway assessment, communication problems and inadequate evaluation were the most common contributing factors. Respondents indicated that the incident was preventable in 57% of cases. Proposed corrective strategies include improved communication, quality assurance activities, development of protocols and additional training. A structured assessment of the airway, along with improvements in information exchange, patient assessment, and use of clearly defined patient management plans and pathways would prevent most of the incidents reported.


Regional-based quota in public sector employment was always considered as one of the important cause of the ethnic politics in Pakistan and particularly in Karachi. The majority of educated youth and middle classers in Pakistan belong to the urban areas and big cities where public sector employment is a frictional part of the total employment. However, households' economic statuses in those areas are closely related with the employment status of the households' members. This study has one objective only: to test the hypothesis that socio-economic variation between the ethnic groups was the origin of the emerging ethnic politics in Karachi. The disparities in income, employment and social status have been compared between the nine ethnic groups of Karachi. It is noteworthy that statistical evidences have rejected the hypothesis that rise in ethnic politics was a consequence of socio-economic discrepancies between the ethnic groups.


The neutron transport equation has been studied from different approaches, in order to solve different situations. The number of methods and computational techniques has increased recently. In this work we present the behavior of a sequence of geometric transformations evolving different transport problems in order to obtain solve a transport problem in a truncated ellipsoid geometry and subject to known boundary conditions. This scheme was depicted in 8 , but now is solved for the different steps. First, it is considered a rectangle domain that consists of three regions, source, void and shield regions 5 . Horseshoe domain: for that it is used the complex function: f:D→C,defined as f(z)=12ez+1ezwhereD=z∊C−0.5≤Re(z)≤0.5,−12π≤Im(z)≤12π (0.1) The geometry obtained is such that the source is at the focus of an ellipse, and the target coincides with the other focus. The boundary conditions are reflective in the left boundary and vacuum in the right boundary. Indeed, if the eccentricity is a number between 0,95 and 0,99, the distance between the source and the target ranges from 20 to 100 length units. The rotation around the symmetry axis of the horseshoe domain generates a truncated ellipsoid, such that a focus coincides with the source. In this work it is analyzed the flux in each step, giving numerical results obtained in a computer algebraic system. Applications: in nuclear medicine and others.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Scientific justification of the rate of gross savings is one of the key issues in the models of economic growth and a fundamental parameter of economic architectonics in the context of long-term dynamics of growth and structure of total demand. The article aims at demonstrating the genesis of the theory of the rate of gross savings beginning from the classics of political economy to theoretical justifications of the endogenization of the rate of savings in the models of economic growth as well as a detailed consideration of the components of gross savings with the analysis of the factors affecting its level (based on statistical data). It is exactly the empirical analysis that allows testing the validity of theoretical concepts and determining the correctness of the theorists' conclusions. The author shows a great gap between the classical view of the savings rate as a result of the action of natural law, which leads to self-regulation of the parameters of production reproduction, on the one hand, and the purely rational views shaped during the formation and development of the theory and models of economic growth, on the other. Empirical studies have shown that the rate of savings and the rate of capital accumulation are different in the economies of different countries and depend on: the degree of government intervention in the distribution of gross disposable income between institutional sectors and in the structure of households by income level, the level of public social transfers, the depth of income misbalances and expenditure of the institutional sectors and, accordingly, their net borrowing and accumulated debt, as well as on the current phase of the economic cycle and quality of the investment environment. The practical relevance of the study is important to substantiate fiscal policy, especially regarding its impact on the level of gross savings in the non-financial corporations and government sectors, as well as the level of public social and capital expenditures. The article was written within the project on «Macro-prospects of the endogenization of Ukraine's economic development» (state registration number 0117U006435).


Since the mid-sixties social scientists have become increasingly self-conscious of their theoretical assumptions and frameworks. Many would still accept, however, Durkheim's dismissal of such "philosophical" juxtapositions as individualism and holism or empiricism and conventionalism as involving largely definitional questions and ultimately arbitrary. It is this casual dismissal of such questions, Outhwaite feels, that has led to the present intellectual disarray in the social sciences. Social scientists must "support their choice of concepts" (p. 2), even if this involves metatheoretical reflections. Although Outhwaite discusses a number of variations on the theme of concept formation, the central issue seems to turn on conventionalism in concept formation—definitions are stipulated and their value judged by their "usefulness"—as contrasted with some version of realism—reliance on real definitions and the belief that there is a systematic connection between science and the world. The first chapter offers a "brief survey" (p. 22) of alternate philosophical views on concept formation in the traditions of positivism, hermeneutics, and realism. In the second chapter, which is "largely expository" (p. 67), Outhwaite tries to glean from a series of brief expositions of the key figures in continental social theory and philosophy a version of concept formation that is both sensitive to the mediating role of language between us and our social world and contains a realistic and critical component. The third chapter, often retracing the same ground, centers on the social world as constituted by its agents. Outhwaite asserts the need for a modified form of "constitutionalism" conjoined with realism. In the fourth chapter, Max Weber is discussed and criticized in some detail with the object of providing "negative support for the realist programme" (p. 4). In the Conclusion, Outhwaite peruses the threads of his argument and finds an "interesting convergence" (p. 153).


Recently we have reported on standard MAP and generalized Jacobi Elliptic monopole-antimonopole pair (MAP) solutions of the SU(2) Yang-Mills-Higgs model. Here we apply Cho Abelian decomposition to the gauge potential of these MAP solutions. It is shown that the point singularities at the locations of the monopole (antimonopole), that comes from the restricted part, are removed by the unrestricted valence potential. We also consider the effect of decomposition upon energy and magnetic charge density for the cases of standard MAP and generalized Jacobi elliptic MAP solutions, under the conditions of vanishing (λ = 0) and non vanishing (λ = 1) Higgs potential.


To characterize the aroma components of Sachima and provide insight into the influence of egg on the flavor of Sachima, the key aroma-active compounds in four commercial egg flavor Sachimas with different egg content, which named Premium, Classical, Whole egg, and Egg yolk, were identified using GC-MS-O analysis, aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) combined with sensory evaluation. In total, 75 volatile compounds were identified by GC-MS, including 26 compounds were revealed of having aroma activities by AEDA/GC-O. The major volatile compounds in Sachima were the aldehydes and heterocyclic compounds. The OAV further revealed the significant activity of eight key aroma-active compounds include 2-methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, hexanal, n-propylacetate, 2-pentylfuran, 2-ethylpyrazine, nonanal, and benzaldehyde. The OAV of 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal were much higher in Premium sample that has the most egg content, than that in other samples, whereas hexanal was the highest in Whole egg samples. The plot analyzed by PLS suggest that the Premium sample with more egg content was shown more complicated flavor than other kind of Sachima. Practical applications Sachima is a type of famous sweet Chinese traditional pastries. The flavor and texture of this kind of pastry were appreciated by all age group, especially for almost all elderly Chinese. Because Sachima is not only a suitable food that easy to chew, but a type of food which filled with childhood memory. Egg flavor of Sachima was always the most popular and classic flavor category. However, the characteristic aroma compounds of Sachima-one of the most important factor of the Sachima's quality-have been still uncovered and had not been identified yet, not to mentioned the comparison between different egg content in Sachima. What's more, GC-MS-O/AEDA analysis has been always a very effect and well-known method for aroma compounds analysis. This study trying to find the contribution of eggs to Sachima and the key aroma-active compounds of Sachima, so as to provide some useful information for practical production and flavor quality improving.


OBJECTIVE
To report the results of the use of the stereotactic techniques in the management of intra cranial lesions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Between july 1994 and march 1998, we carried out 117 stereotactic procedures of whom only 100 cases were analyzed. All the procedures were achieved after a CT scan. Patients were separated in two groups: (A) stereotactic biopsy (91 patients), (B) surgery with laser guidance (9 patients). The mean age in group A was 38 years (2-75 years) versus 27 years (11-66 years) in group B. The sex-ratio was 1.3.

RESULTS
In the group A, the correct pathological diagnosis was obtained in 91.2% of cases. Glial tumors was the frequent histopathological variety of tumor (67.47%). Only one patient was operated after biopsy for a bilateral meningioma of the anterior 1/3 of the falx. There was only one death (1.09%) and 3.29% of transitory complications. In the group B, all patients were operated with laser guidance. Thirty seven per cent of patients underwent radiotherapy after the stereotactic biopsy or surgery.

CONCLUSION
Stereotactic biopsy is a reliable method for the histopathological diagnosis of deep-seated brain lesions. Surgery with laser guidance is a useful alternative for the management of small deep-seated lesions or lesions located in functional areas.


In Korea, studies on the indoor air quality have been conducted since mid of 1980s. The turning point occurred in 2003 by establishing the act of the indoor air quality management for public facilities. According to the law, the basic plan for indoor air quality management is prepared by government every five years, affecting greatly governmental policy and related academia and industries. Indoor air quality survey was mostly carried out among indoor air quality researches. After then, assessment of health effect and air cleaning technology were studied. Although various control technologies for particle, bioaerosol, odor, and hazardous chemicals have been applied to indoor environments, breakthrough technologies are needed to solve real problems facing at the applied environments. In the future, issue of indoor air quality is more interested and both management policy and control technology are key factors in order to realize comfort and healthy indoor environments.


The KCK consortium has validated CDK2 as potential drug target in six highly malignant pediatric tumor types (i.e Ewing sarcoma, osteosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma and ALL). The stepwise procedure started with the selection of genes that can be targeted using small molecule inhibitors. Drug target genes and signal transduction routes were studied using Affymetrix mRNA profiles of over 500 tumors and cell lines. CDK2 and cell cycle signal transduction genes showed expression patterns that were significantly different from reference tissues and expression was related to poor prognosis. The next step to evaluate the potential drug targets consisted of targeted knock down using RNA interference. Inhibition of CDK2 resulted in significant phenotypes in several pediatric tumor models. Cell lines from most tumor types showed growth inhibition and differentiation. Neuroblastoma cell lines showed extensive apoptosis. Highly interesting was the synthetic lethal relation between CDK2 and the driving oncogene MYCN. These findings warranted further evaluation using the CDK2 inhibiting small molecule Roscovitine. This compound was tested in the core panel of pediatric tumor cell lines and more extensive in tumor types that showed high sensitivity for the compound. Neuroblastoma cell lines were most sensitive with IC50 in the low uM range. Neuroblastoma, which showed high sensitivity for Roscovitine, are now being evaluated in in vivo mouse xenograft models. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):C114.


Switzerland is a confederation consisting of 26 states, the so-called 'cantons'. In the field of food control, the Swiss federal state is in charge of issuing the regulations (Food law and associated texts), whereas enforcement is assigned to the cantons. The offices in charge of food control are the cantonal laboratories headed by a 'Cantonal chemist'. These offices pursue three main goals: to protect consumer health, to protect the consumer against frauds and to ensure food handling under good hygiene conditions. To that purpose, the Cantonal chemist heads both a laboratory and a staff of inspectors, who are responsible for the control of food products (including meat and drinking water), the control of hygiene and production at factories, stores, restaurants, etc. as well as the control of common goods and household items such as toys, clothing, make-up, dishes, cookware, jewelry and so on. All laboratories and inspection bodies are accredited according to ISO norms EN 17'020 and EN 17'025. The offices headed by the cantonal chemists analyze annually about 110'000 samples on sale or from factories, whereas the inspection bodies perform roughly 45'000 inspections (without primary producers and occasional importers).


This article explores the dialectic between autonomy and mutuality within postsecondary composition programs. Grounded in a case study of writing instruction at a small, unionized, public university, the article argues that while broad workplace democracy and economic security are clearly desirable for communities of college composition teachers, their efficacy is seriously compromised absent sustained commitments to intellectual restlessness, professional deliberation, and collective action.


Inspired by recent experiments on Bose–Einstein condensates in ring traps, we investigate the topological properties of the phase of a one-dimensional Bose field in the presence of both thermal and quantum fluctuations—the latter ones being tuned by the depth of an optical lattice applied along the ring. In the regime of large filling of the lattice, quantum Monte Carlo simulations give direct access to the full statistics of fluctuations of the Bose-field phase, and of its winding number W along the ring. At zero temperature the winding-number (or topological-sector) fluctuations are driven by quantum phase slips localized around a Josephson link between two lattice wells, and their susceptibility is found to jump at the superfluid-Mott insulator transition. At finite (but low) temperature, on the other hand, the winding number fluctuations are driven by thermal activation of nearly uniform phase twists, whose activation rate is governed by the superfluid fraction. A quantum-to-thermal crossover in winding-number fluctuations is therefore exhibited by the system, and it is characterized by a conformational change in the topologically non-trivial configurations, from localized to uniform phase twists, which can be experimentally observed in ultracold Bose gases via matter–wave interference.


The twist and writhe numbers and magnetic energy of an orthogonally perturbed vortex filaments are obtained from the computation of the magnetic helicity of geodesic and abnormal magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) vortex filament solutions. Twist is computed from a formula recently derived by Berger and Prior [J. Phys. A 39 (2006) 8321] and finally writhe is computed from the theorem that the helicity is proportional to the sum of twist and writhe. The writhe number is proportional to the total torsion and to integrals of the vector potential. The magnetic energy is computed in terms of the integral of the torsion squared which allows us to place a bound to energy in in the case of helical filaments due to a theorem by Fukumoto [J. Phys. Soc. Japan,(1987)] in fluid vortex filaments. It is also shown that filament torsion coincides with the magnetic twist in the case under consideration , where a small orthogonal magnetic field exist along the thin filament. A new Aharonov-Bohm (AB) phase term is obtained in the writhe number expression which is not present in the Moffatt-Ricca (Proc Roy Soc London A,1992) computation.


People often use a web search engine to find information about events of interest, for example, sport competitions, political elections, festivals and entertainment news. In this paper, we study a problem of detecting event-related queries, which is the first step before selecting a suitable time-aware retrieval model. In general, event-related information needs can be observed in query streams through various temporal patterns of user search behavior, e.g., spiky peaks for popular events, and periodicities for repetitive events. However, it is also common that users search for non-popular events, which may not exhibit temporal variations in query streams, e.g., past events recently occurred, historical events triggered by anniversaries or similar events, and future events anticipated to happen. To address the challenge of detecting dynamic classes of events, we propose a novel deep learning model to classify a given query into a predetermined set of multiple event types. Our proposed model, a Stacked Multilayer Perceptron (S-MLP) network, consists of multilayer perceptron used as a basic learning unit. We assemble stacked units to further learn complex relationships between neutrons in successive layers. To evaluate our proposed model, we conduct experiments using real-world queries and a set of manually created ground truth. Preliminary results have shown that our proposed deep learning model outperforms the state-of-the-art classification models significantly.


Metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles, also called porous coordination polymers, are a major part of nanomaterials science, and their role in catalysis is becoming central. The extraordinary variability and richness of their structures afford engineering synergies between the metal nodes, functional linkers, encapsulated substrates, or nanoparticles for multiple and selective heterogeneous interactions and activations in these MOF-based nanocatalysts. Pyrolysis of MOF-nanoparticle composites forms highly porous N- or P-doped graphitized MOF-derived nanomaterials that are increasingly used as efficient catalysts especially in electro- and photocatalysis. This review first briefly summarizes this background of MOF nanoparticle catalysis and then comprehensively reviews the fast-growing literature reported during the last years. The major parts are catalysis of organic and molecular reactions, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, and views of prospects. Major challenges of our society are addressed using these well-defined heterogeneous catalysts in the fields of synthesis, energy, and environment. In spite of the many achievements, enormous progress is still necessary to improve our understanding of the processes involved beyond the proof-of-concept, particularly for selective methane oxidation, hydrogen production, water splitting, CO2 reduction to methanol, nitrogen fixation, and water depollution.


HYPOTHESIS
Normal resuscitation (oxygen delivery index [DO2I] >/=500 mL/min per square meter), compared with supranormal trauma resuscitation (DO2I >/=600 mL/min per square meter), requires less crystalloid volume, thus decreasing the incidence of intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS).

DESIGN
Retrospective analysis of a prospective database.

SETTING
Twenty-bed intensive care unit (ICU) in a regional level I trauma center.

PATIENTS
Patients with major trauma (injury severity score >15, initial base deficit >/=6 mEq/L, or need for >/=6 units of packed red blood cells in the first 12 hours) or age 65 years or older with any 2 of the previous criteria.

INTERVENTIONS
Shock/trauma resuscitation protocol: pulmonary artery catheter, gastric tonometry, urinary bladder pressure measurements, lactated Ringer infusion, packed red blood cell transfusion, and moderate inotrope support, as needed, in that sequence, to attain and maintain a DO2I greater than or equal to 600 mL/min per m2 (16 months, ending January 1, 2001, n = 85) or a DO2I greater than or equal to 500 mL/min per square meter (16 months, starting January 1, 2001, n = 71) for the first 24 hours in the ICU.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Lactated Ringer infusion volume (liters) at ICU admission, gastric partial carbon dioxide minus end-tidal carbon dioxide(GAPCO2), IAH (urinary bladder pressure measurements >20 mm Hg), ACS (urinary bladder pressure measurements >25 mm Hg with organ dysfunction), multiple organ failure, and mortality.

RESULTS
Demographics, injury severity, and shock severity parameters were similar in both groups. The supranormal resuscitation group required more lactated Ringer infusion volume in the first 24 hours in the ICU (mean +/- SD, 13 +/- 2 vs 7 +/- 1 L; P<.05) and had higher GAPCO2 (16 +/- 2 vs 7 +/- 1 mm Hg; P<.05). In the supranormal group, IAH (42% vs 20%; P<.05) and ACS (16% vs 8%; P<.05) were more frequent. The conventional trauma outcomes, such as multiple organ failure (22% vs 9%; P<.05) and mortality (27% vs 11%; P<.05) were less favorable in the supranormal resuscitation group.

CONCLUSION
Supranormal resuscitation, compared with normal resuscitation, was associated with more lactated Ringer infusion, decreased intestinal perfusion (higher GAPCO2), and an increased incidence of IAH, ACS, multiple organ failure, and death.


Mast cells are known to accumulate at the sites of inflammation in response to chemoattractants generated in the local milieu. Since human beta-defensin-2 (hBD-2) is generated in several epithelial tissues where mast cells are present and because we have recently reported that this human antibacterial peptide induces mast cell degranulation, we thus hypothesized that hBD-2 could be a mast cell chemotaxin. Here we report that hBD-2 directly and specifically induces mast cell migration with an optimal concentration of 3 microg/ml. Checkerboard analysis showed that the migration was more chemotactic rather than chemokinetic. Moreover, Scatchard analysis using 125I-labeled hBD-2 revealed that mast cells have at least two classes of receptors, high- and low-affinity receptors, for this peptide. Moreover, the competitive binding assay suggested that hBD-2 is unlikely to utilize CCR6, a functional receptor for hBD-2-mediated dendritic and T cell migration, on mast cells. In addition, treatment of mast cells with G protein inhibitor, pertussis toxin, and phospholipase C inhibitor, U-73122, abolished the cell chemotaxis in response to hBD-2, indicating that the G protein-phospholipase C signaling pathway is involved in hBD-2-induced mast cell activation. Thus, we suggest that hBD-2, which was originally believed to be involved in innate host defense, may participate in the recruitment of mast cells to inflammation foci.


This study aims to improve the standard water balance evapotranspiration (WB ET) estimate, which is typically used as benchmark data for catchment-scale ET estimation, by accounting for net intercatchment groundwater flow in the ET calculation. Using the modified WB ET approach, we examine errors and shortcomings associated with the long-term annual mean (2002–2014) spatial patterns of three remote-sensing (RS) MODIS-based ET products from MODIS16, PML_V2, and TSEB algorithms at 1 km spatial resolution over Denmark, as a test case for small-scale, energy-limited regions. Our results indicate that the novel approach of adding groundwater net in water balance ET calculation results in a more trustworthy ET spatial pattern. This is especially relevant for smaller catchments where groundwater net can be a significant component of the catchment water balance. Nevertheless, large discrepancies are observed both amongst RS ET datasets and compared to modified water balance ET spatial pattern at the national scale; however, catchment-scale analysis highlights that difference in RS ET and WB ET decreases with increasing catchment size and that 90%, 87%, and 93% of all catchments have ∆ET < ±150 mm/year for MODIS16, PML_V2, and TSEB, respectively. In addition, Copula approach captures a nonlinear structure of the joint relationship with multiple densities amongst the RS/WB ET products, showing a complex dependence structure (correlation); however, among the three RS ET datasets, MODIS16 ET shows a closer spatial pattern to the modified WB ET, as identified by a principal component analysis also. This study will help improve the water balance approach by the addition of groundwater net in the ET estimation and contribute to better understand the true correlations amongst RS/WB ET products especially over energy-limited environments.


Dense object tracking, the ability to localize specific object points with pixel-level accuracy, is an important computer vision task with numerous downstream applications in robotics. Existing approaches either compute dense keypoint embeddings in a single forward pass, meaning the model is trained to track everything at once, or allocate their full capacity to a sparse predefined set of points, trading generality for accuracy. In this paper we explore a middle ground based on the observation that the number of relevant points at a given time are typically relatively few, e.g. grasp points on a target object. Our main contribution is a novel architecture, inspired by few-shot task adaptation, which allows a sparse-style network to condition on a keypoint embedding that indicates which point to track. Our central finding is that this approach provides the generality of dense-embedding models, while offering accuracy significantly closer to sparse-keypoint approaches. We present results illustrating this capacity vs. accuracy trade-off, and demonstrate the ability to zero-shot transfer to new object instances (within-class) using a real-robot pick-and-place task.


A numerical study is performed to investigate the influence of geometrical factors on the performance characteristics of a laminar thermally developing flow of phase change nano‐suspensions in a rectangular minichannel considering axial wall conduction effects. The phase change material dispersed in the pure water is considered N‐eicosane with the onset point of melting of 34.7°C, latent heat of fusion of 243 J/g, and particle size of 200 nm. The volume fractions of the phase change nano‐suspensions are 2% and 10%, and the Reynolds number is in the range of 200 to 1500. To evaluate the influences of geometrical parameters on the cooling performance of the minichannel heat sinks, five minichannels are investigated, with aspect ratios (ration between channel height and width) ARch of 1, 1.25, and 1.5 and bottom wall thicknesses Hbw of 0.5, 1, and 1.5. The results reveal that the axial wall conduction significantly affects the heat transfer process of a flow in a minichannel at a low Reynolds number, and this effect is more remarkable with a shallower channel and a thicker bottom wall. Five performance indicators are used to systematically evaluate the heat transfer characteristics of the minichannels, including dimensionless heat flux at the bottom wall, temperature suppression, heat transfer effective ratio, heat dissipation of the extended wall, and figure of merit.


At least three subunits of yeast mitochondrial F1-ATPase (ATP phosphohydrolase, EC 22.214.171.124) and at least two subunits of cytochrome c oxidase (ferrocytochrome c:oxygen oxidoreductase, EC 22.214.171.124) are synthesized outside the mitochondria and imported into the organelles as individual precursors that are between 2000 and 6000 daltons larger than the mature subunits. These precursors were shown to be primary translation products. Therefore, neither the five F1 subunits nor the four small cytochrome c oxidase subunits are synthesized as a single polyprotein.


Recently, scanning probe microscope (SPM) has become a promising technique for nano-fabrication. In this paper, we present a novel method of nano-fabrication, namely, nano- fabrication by atomic force microscope (AFM) tips under laser irradiation. The SPM was operated as an AFM. During imaging and nano-fabrication, the AFM is in constant force mode. The tip is fixed with the sample moving via a tube scanner. Nano-lithography software controls the scanner motion in x and y directions. The SPM has an open architecture allowing an external laser beam incident on the tip at an incident angle between 0 to 45 degree(s). A vertical polarized Nd:YAG pulsed laser with a pulse duration of 7 ns was focused on the tip. An electrical shutter was introduced to switch the laser irradiation. Alignment between the laser beam and the tip was performed under a high-power charge coupled device (CCD) microscope. Nano- fabrication was carried out on gold films deposited on n- type Si substrates using the physical deposition method. The kinetics of the nanostructure fabrication has been studied. Craters were created in air ambient under different laser pulse numbers, pulse energies and tip force. The feature size of the craters, which are in the nanometer scale, increases with the pulse number, pulse energy and the tip force. This technique has potential applications in the high-density data storage.


This paper is concerned with the construction of an iterative algorithm to solve nonlinear inverse problems with an ℓ1 constraint on x. One extensively studied method to obtain a solution of such an ℓ1 penalized problem is iterative soft-thresholding. Regrettably, such iteration schemes are computationally very intensive. A subtle alternative to iterative soft-thresholding is the projected gradient method that was quite recently proposed by Daubechies et al (2008 J. Fourier Anal. Appl. 14 764–92). The authors have shown that the proposed scheme is indeed numerically much thriftier. However, its current applicability is limited to linear inverse problems. In this paper we provide an extension of this approach to nonlinear problems. Adequately adapting the conditions on the (variable) thresholding parameter to the nonlinear nature, we can prove convergence in norm for this projected gradient method, with and without acceleration. A numerical verification is given in the context of nonlinear and non-ideal sensing. For this particular recovery problem we can achieve an impressive numerical performance (when comparing it to non-accelerated procedures).


INTRODUCTION
Terumo BCT is developing a system to produce a freeze-dried plasma product, Terumo's freeze-dried plasma (TFDP), that is stored in a rugged, light-weight plastic package suitable for field use, which retains a stable level of specific coagulation factors and proteins within clinical range, when stored for up to 2 years at room temperature and 4°C.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plasma frozen within 24 hours of phlebotomy (PF24) were thawed, sampled, and individually lyophilized to produce a corresponding TFDP unit. Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) units were thawed, sampled, pooled in groups of 10 units (also sampled) and lyophilized to produce 2 lots of TFDP. Each TFDP unit was reconstituted with water for injection (WFI) and tested for pH, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, factors V and VIII, fibrinogen, protein C, and protein S. Results were compared with PF24/FFP. Additional FFP units were thawed, sampled, pooled, divided to generate 2 TFDP units for each time point (1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, one each stored at 4°C and 25°C) and lyophilized. Postlyophilization, TFDP units were stored at 4°C or 25°C, reconstituted with WFI, and tested for the factors listed above. Residual moisture content of the lyophilized plasma was also tested.

RESULTS
Coagulation factor activity of TFDP was ±20% of PF24/FFP. Pooling standardized variation in TFDP coagulation factor activities, which were within clinical ranges postlyophilization. The pH of TFDP and PF24/FFP were within required range. Residual moisture content of TFDP was <2%.

CONCLUSIONS
The TFDP process had no negative impact on coagulation factor activity. Input plasma and anticoagulant type did not affect TFDP quality. Pooling FFP normalized factor variability in TFDP and did not negatively impact product quality. The TFDP is stable for up to 24 months at room and refrigerated temperatures. Terumo's freeze-dried plasma is comparable to PF24/FFP. It does not require complex logistics or time-consuming thawing. Terumo's freeze-dried plasma may be suitable for rapid treatment of coagulopathies with logistical advantages over PF24/FFP.


Traffic measurement management, accounting, worm detection, etc. It becomes more and more difficult today and cannot keep pace with the increasing speed of today's Internet. Many new algorithms and hardware have been proposed to solve this problem. Network Processors, known for its nice tradeoff between performance and programming flexibility, are chosen as the platform. The goal of this paper is to find a suitable algorithm based on NPs to handle high speed network traffic measurement. Four algorithms, Raw measurement, Sampling, Multi-stage Filter and Multi-Resolution Space Code Bloom Filter (MRSCBF) are implemented and evaluated on Intel's IXP 2400 network processor. The results reveal that Sampling and Multi-stage Filters can fully exploit the parallel and heterogeneous architecture of network processor, so are suitable for high speed network traffic measurement on the network processor platform. MRSCBF, on the other hand, is not so efficient on network processors because of its complex process and frequent memory access.


ABSTRACT Oxygen is essential for all stages of wound healing. Previous research has shown topical administration of oxygen to have positive effects on wound healing. In this study, the application of transdermal continuous topical oxygen therapy (TCOT) was evaluated for its effect on chronic wound healing in 9 patients. After 4 weeks of treatment, mean wound surface area and wound infection checklist scores were significantly reduced. Signs of bacterial damage were also reduced. Findings from this study suggest TCOT may be beneficial in promoting chronic wound healing.