Objectives Although T cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc), a comprehensive study of T-cell-mediated immune responses in the affected skin of patients with progressive SSc is lacking. Droplet-based single-cell transcriptome analysis of SSc skin biopsies opens avenues for dissecting patient-specific T-cell heterogeneity, providing a basis for identifying novel gene expression related to functional pathways associated with severity of SSc skin disease. Methods Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed by droplet-based sequencing (10x Genomics), focusing on 3729 CD3+ lymphocytes (867 cells from normal and 2862 cells from SSc skin samples) from skin biopsies of 27 patients with active SSc and 10 healthy donors. Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy of progressive SSc skin samples validated transcriptional results and visualised spatial localisations of T-cell subsets. Results We identified several subsets of recirculating and tissue-resident T cells in healthy and SSc skin that were associated with distinct signalling pathways. While most clusters shared a common gene expression signature between patients and controls, we identified a unique cluster of recirculating CXCL13+ T cells in SSc skin which expressed a T helper follicular-like gene expression signature and that appears to be poised to promote B-cell responses within the inflamed skin of patients. Conclusions Current available therapies to reverse or even slow progression of SSc lead to broad killing of immune cells and consequent toxicities, including death. Identifying the precise immune mechanism(s) driving SSc pathogenesis could lead to innovative therapies that selectively target the aberrant immune response, resulting in better efficacy and less toxicity.


The Moravians established the Bethany and Emmaus missions on the Caribbean island of St. John in 1754 and 1782 respectively. The missionaries provided religious and educational outlets to many of the island's enslaved and free Africans. Despite claims of spiritual equality, black Moravians and white Moravians experienced differential access to burial sites and commemorative resources on St. John. Such contexts gradually changed over time as enslaved laborers were freed in 1848, the number of white Moravian missionaries declined, and Afro-Moravians increasingly assumed congregational leadership. Through the interpretation of church cemeteries, family property burial sites, and documentary analysis, this study investigates how Moravians on St. John spatially and materially communicated and transformed religious identities, race relationships, and kinship and communal ties over time from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries.


Three lignocellulolytic fungi isolates, Amblyosporium sp, Aspergillus sp1, and Aspergillus sp2, were tested for their ability to produce cellulase, hemicellulose, and ligninase enzymes as a consortium. They were also used in a mixture with sugarcane bagasse, filter cake and manure to make mixed compost. In the compost house of the State Agricultural Polytechnic of Pangkep, composting took place for 35 days. The composting process of the consortium of lignocellulolytic fungi was carried out at a temperature of 32°C-75°C, , with a water content of 12.58-30.32% and a pH of 6.80-8.20. The 35-day lignocellulolytic fungal consortium was able to speed up the composting process with a C-organic yield of 10.41-26.06%, a C/N ratio of 9.00-22.00%, phosphorus of 1.98%, magnesium of 6866 ppm, and sulfur of 0.25%. The fungal consortium was able to effectively speed up the composting process while also increasing nutrient content in various composting media compositions.
Keywords: Fungi, lignocellulolytic, sugarcane, bagasse, manure


This paper provides experimental evidence on the eect of town hall meetings on voting behavior. The experiment took place during the March 2011 elections in Benin and involved 150 randomly selected villages. The treatment group had town hall meetings where voters deliberated over their candidate's electoral platforms. The con- trol group was exposed to the standard campaign, i.e. one-way communication of the candidate's platform by himself or his local broker. We …nd that the treatment has a positive eect on measures of turnout and voting for the treatment candidate. The results also suggest that the positive treatment eect on vote share is driven in large part by active information sharing by those who attended the meetings.


The study aimed at investigating gender disparity existing among male and female students, first in their internet utilization for academic purposes; and also for recreational purposes. It adopted the descriptive survey design. Two null hypotheses we re formulated and tested at a significance level of 0.05. 1,119 students comprising students of Basic Medical and Clinical sciences, constituted the population of the study. 120 students were selected as the sample for the study using Stratified Random Sam pling Technique. A researcher developed structured questionnaire tagged Gender Disparity and Internet Utilisation Habits Questionnaire (GDIUHQ) was developed and used to gather data for the study. This was found to be reliable at a coefficient of 0.56 usi ng Spearman Brown's formula. Data collected were presented with percentages and graphs and analysed using t - test statistic. Results indicated a significant disparity between male and female students' internet utilization for academic purposes in favour of boys. On utilization for recreational purposes, an overwhelming disparity was revealed still in favour of boys. Paper concluded that there still exists gender inequality in internet utilization by students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It recommends paradigm shift in teaching, information dissemination patterns and policy implementation to accomplish the desired change. Keywords : Internet, Utilization, Habits, Gender, Disparity, Digital, Divide.


Famille rose porcelain made in the imperial workshop was one of the symbols of the highest manufacturing techniques in ancient China. It was very precious and only owned by the royals for a long time. Because of its complex making technology, overglaze green pigment painted on famille rose porcelain shows many variations. In this work, selected porcelain shards that were excavated at the Forbidden City were analyzed by using microscopy observation, micro‐Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometer to obtain a deep understanding of overglaze green pigment technique on famille rose porcelain. The results revealed that four types of green pigment are used in the selected samples. With different recipes and combinative ways on green pigment and opaque white pigment, craftsmen can choose the using method of pigment to get the effect they want.


Azimuthally varying axial magnetic fields have been utilized to perform "magnetic priming" of magnetrons for rapid startup, low noise, and mode control. An overview of the latest magnetic priming experimental and simulation results are presented in this paper. Magnetic priming experiments in dc-operating microwave oven magnetrons show sideband elimination, even with the cathode heater turned off. Simulations using three three-dimensional (3-D) improved concurrent electromagnetic particle-in-cell (ICEPIC) codes with two different computational algorithms recover the oven magnetron experimental results obtained with magnetic priming including fast mode growth, rapid spoke formation, and the tendency toward lower noise operation. A new, axially symmetric, azimuthally varying magnetic field geometry for oven magnetrons is explored and preliminary results are reported. Simulations using two-dimensional (2-D) MAGIC code for the University of Michigan/Titan relativistic magnetron show that the oscillation startup time can be dramatically decreased (almost by a factor of 3) and mode competition can be suppressed with magnetic priming.


Prostate cancer (PCa) is a significant cause of cancer-related deaths among men and companion animals, such as dogs. However, despite its high mortality and incidence rates, the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease remain to be fully elucidated. Among the many factors involved in prostate carcinogenesis, the extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a crucial role. This ECM in the prostate is composed mainly of collagen fibers, reticular fibers, elastic fibers, proteoglycans and glycoproteins, such as fibronectin. Fibronectin is a glycoprotein whose dysregulation has been implicated in the development of multiple types of cancer, and it has been associated with cell migration, invasion, and metastasis. Furthermore, our research group has previously shown that fibronectin induces transcriptional changes by modulating the expression of protein coding genes in LNCaP cells. However, potential changes at the post-transcriptional level are still not well understood. This study investigated the impact of exposure to fibronectin on the expression of a key class of regulatory RNAs, the microRNAs (miRNAs), in prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP and PC-3. Five mammalian miRNAs (miR-21, miR-29b, miR-125b, miR-221, and miR-222) were differentially expressed after fibronectin exposure in prostate cell lines. The expression profile of hundreds of mRNAs predicted to be targeted by these miRNAs was analyzed using publicly available RNA-Sequencing data (GSE64025, GSE68645, GSE29155). Also, protein-protein interaction networks and enrichment analysis were performed to gain insights into miRNA biological functions. Altogether, these functional analyzes revealed that fibronectin exposure impacts the expression of miRNAs potentially involved in PCa causing changes in critical signaling pathways such as PI3K-AKT, and response to cell division, death, proliferation, and migration. The relationship here demonstrated between fibronectin exposure and altered miRNA expression improves the comprehension of PCa in both men and other animals, such as dogs, which naturally develop prostate cancer.


Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) or Kennedy's disease is a motor neurone disease characterized by muscle atrophy, weakness, contraction fasciculations and bulbar involvement. SBMA mainly affects males, while females are usually asymptomatic. SBMA is caused by expansion of a polyglutamine (polyQ)‐encoding CAG trinucleotide repeat in the androgen receptor (AR) gene. AR belongs to the heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) client protein family. The histopathologic hallmarks of SBMA are diffuse nuclear accumulation and nuclear inclusions of the mutant AR with expanded polyQ in residual motor neurones in the brainstem and spinal cord as well as in some other visceral organs. There is increasing evidence that the ligand of AR and molecular chaperones play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of SBMA. The success of androgen deprivation therapy in SBMA mouse models has been translated into clinical trials. In addition, elucidation of its pathophysiology using animal models has led to the development of disease‐modifying drugs, that is, Hsp90 inhibitor and Hsp inducer, which inhibit the pathogenic process of neuronal degeneration. SBMA is a slowly progressive disease by nature. The degree of nuclear accumulation of mutant AR in scrotal skin epithelial cells was correlated with that in spinal motor neurones in autopsy specimens; therefore, the results of scrotal skin biopsy may be used to assess the efficacy of therapeutic trials. Clinical and pathological parameters that reflect the pathogenic process of SBMA should be extensively investigated.


X-ray emission from stars has origins as diverse as the stars themselves: accretion shocks, shocks generated in wind-wind collisions, or release of magnetic energy. Although the scenarios responsible for X-ray emission are thought to be known, the physical mechanisms operating are in many cases not yet fully understood. Full testing of many of these mechanisms requires high energy resolution, large effective area, and coverage of broad energy bands. The loss of the X-ray calorimeter spectrometer on board ASTRO-E2 was a huge blow to the field; it would have provided a large sample of high resolution spectra of stars with high signal-to-noise ratio. Now, with the advent of the ASTRO-H Soft X-ray Spectrometer and Hard X-ray Imager, we will be able to examine some of the hot topics in stellar astrophysics and solve outstanding mysteries.


Traditional economic analyses implicitly assume that costs are technologically determined and thus the same regardless of the form of economic organization. In such a world, preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are a second-best policy. The theory presented here suggests that PTAs arise when international trade involves large and recurrent transaction-specific or non-salvageable investments that are subject to opportunism, particularly in the form of government policies. Or ganizational form then becomes a major determinant of costs ; and a preferential trade agreement, by providing an organizational structure that can reduce opportunistic behavior, may produce be nefits beyond those typically recognized.


Based on accumulated empirical evidence, the academic community has generally come to agree that value investment strategies, on average, outperform growth investment strategies (Chan and Lakonishok, 2004:71). An influential article by Fama and French (1992) tested the notion that United States stock prices might be related to the ratio of a firm's book value of common equity (BV) to its market value of common equity (MV). It found that companies with high book value relative to market value of equity (BV/MV) outperform the market. This finding led to extensive testing for the value premium in developed countries around the world. Fama and French (1998a) tested it with data from twelve major European countries, as well as from Australia and the Far East. They found that between 1975 and 1995 in almost every country, value stocks delivered a higher return than growth stocks. The value premium has not been tested with the same vigor in third world or developing countries, which raises the question whether the value premium is only a first world phenomena and, if not, how third world value premiums compare to those found in developed countries. This paper compares the size of the value premium in the USA, UK, and some continental European countries with South African data.


This final article in the epistemology series represents a first step and is not, in reality, a summary or conclusion or end point, but rather the end of the beginning. When we, the editors, began planning the series, we saw it as the first phase of what hopefully would evolve into a more comprehensive consideration of the concept of d/Deaf epistemologies and how this impacts on our understanding of deafness. Given the complexities of the issues and the different perspectives, even over the meaning of the word "epistemology" itself, our goals for the series were modest; we wanted eight articles written by professionals with different experiences and world views to express their opinions on the concept of a d/Deaf epistemology, or epistemologies, and its relation, if any, to a standard epistemology. It was also our hope that these discussions would proffer insights into possible approaches for understanding and improving the educational and social welfare of individuals who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. In essence we envisioned a brief overview of a range of topics and perspectives within the framework of d/Deaf epistemologies. We were aware that eight articles would only scratch the surface of such a complex subject, one that had received relatively little attention in the field. We also had to impose space limits on the contributions, a difficult restriction because of the richness and variety of ideas presented by the authors. In fact, many of the first drafts were longer than the final articles and decisions about what to cut and what to include were difficult; decisions with which no editor or author is comfortable. Inevitably, space limits mandated that much material of significance be eliminated. We envisioned the present series as a building block for a text that would continue the dialogue in greater detail and with more participants. The core would be most or all of the current articles, expanded into chapter length and treated in more breadth and depth than was possible in the present case, supplemented by perhaps an equal number of additional contributors who would provide even more diversity and perspectives. Along with the contributors to the current series, and a like number of new contributors, we have begun work on a more comprehensive text that hopefully will expand consideration of d/D epistemology or epistemologies. Within this context, we perceive the present article as essentially a prologue for future work and the present series as a work in progress. This series has both d/Deaf and hearing contributors. Their professionalism and knowledge established an environment for the scholarly exchange of ideas within an atmosphere of mutual respect, something that is all too rare in our field. We, the editors, have many areas of commonality and some differences ourselves. We both went through the same PhD program at the University of Illinois, albeit at different times, and were exposed to similar emphases. We were inculcated predominantly with the positivist notion that there is a standard objective epistemology, and we were taught that there is an external reality attainable through value-free hypothesis testing and refinement. We were also exposed to Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) and his treatment of a shared research paradigm, consensus, and, eventually, paradigm shift, as well as reactions to his views. It is possible to approach the questions we raise in different ways. As discussed in Paul and Moores (2010), there are the familiar medical/clinical and social/cultural paradigms, with all the implications for school placement, instructional modes, first language usage, and the various directions that theory, research, and practice should take. In our opinion it is more productive to explore questions from an epistemological viewpoint. In fact, all the means and ends of epistemological problems should be explored, weighed, and debated - all means and ends to educational and social situations are relevant. …


Manufacturing grid provides an integrated sustention environment for cooperative problem-solving and manufacturing resource sharing. It is a typical application of grid technologies in manufacturing field. Modeling manufacturing resource, one key issue of realizing a manufacturing grid system, is investigated intensively in this article. To modeling various manufacturing resources in a uniform manner, we propose a high level abstract model called manufacturing resource hierarchy model (MRHM), which is composed of resource layer, resource expressing layer and resource interface layer. In the model, various resources are sorted and aggregated in resource layer; all resource information and data are encapsulated in information expressing layer based on XML schema; accessing operations to resource are defined in resource interface layer employing WSDL. Being validation, a standard part library system is developed as a grid resource node using the model, which can provide online services for users


The proliferation of computer networks and the interconnection of networks via the Internet, has drastically increased their vulnerability to attack by malicious agents. The wide variety of attack modes has exacerbated the problem in detecting attacks. Many current intrusion detection systems (IDS) are unable to identify unknown or mutated attack modes or are unable to operate in a dynamic environment as is necessary with mobile networks. As a result, it has become increasingly important to find new ways to implement and manage intrusion detection systems. This paper presents a novel approach to intrusion detection using fuzzy clustering of TCP packet attributes. The method is shown to provide superior performance in comparison to evolutionary approaches. In addition, the method demonstrates improved robustness in comparison to other fuzzy clustering techniques.


Sinonasal malignant melanoma (SMM) is a rare malignant tumour among head and neck cancers predominantly found in adults 60 years and above. The commonly reported symptoms for sinonasal tumour lesions are nasal obstruction and recurrent, painless epistaxis as the symptoms are non-specific and can delay the diagnosis. Moreover, melanoma has a poor prognosis regardless of its location. We report an 86-year-old female patient presenting with recurrent, painless epistaxis from the nasal cavity. Anterior rhinoscopic examination revealed a bluish-black, bleeding mass completely obstructing the left nasal nare. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the nasal cavity and sinus region showed a polypoidal soft tissue attenuation with heterogeneous enhancement completely filling the left nasal cavity. The patient underwent endoscopic excision. Histopathology of the specimen showed a small, round and blue cell tumour which immunohistochemistry found to be positive for S100 and HMB 45. After surgical resection, the patient received chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Sinonasal malignant melanoma is a rare, aggressive tumour that has a very poor prognosis. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses is the imaging modality of choice which reveals the enhancing mass. There is no optimal management strategy for SMM. Surgical resection is the first-line treatment but is limited due to the complex anatomy of the sinonasal region.


Pieter Calje, Historicizing morality. The University of Groningen poised between the history of the university and the history of the occupation. By consistently describing the history of Groningen University during the war years as a history of the university from the perspective of the main historical players, Van Berkel was able to write an important and progressive book that historicizes the moral judgements that were made about the behaviour of the students and their professors. A key moment in the history of Dutch universities during the war – and in the book – is the so-called 'declaration of loyalty' to the German occupying forces in 1943. The student resistance boycotted the declaration and university life eventually ground to a halt. Van Berkel convincingly demonstrates that this action by the student resistance was part of an earlier power struggle between the traditional student fraternities and more recently formed unions that emerged as a result of the universities opening up to a broader public. The choice to use this moral weapon, or not, had far-reaching and extremely unfair consequences for those involved after the war.


Abstract The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified prescription drug abuse and overdose deaths as an epidemic. Prescription drug overdose is now the leading cause of injury death, with rates that have more than doubled since 1999. This crisis has developed concurrently with the increased prescribing and availability analgesic drugs, especially opioids, resulting from an effort on the part of clinicians to address a critical need for improved pain assessment and treatment. Clinicians have recognized that oftentimes, opioid analgesics are one of the few remaining options for patients who suffer with severe pain. A 2015 fact sheet issued by the Office of National Drug Policy stated: "While we must ensure better access to prescription medications to alleviate suffering, it is also vital that we do all we can to reduce the diversion and abuse of pharmaceuticals." The US Food and Drug Administration has issued guidance that encourages the research and development of abuse-deterrent formulation of opioids which have the potential to curtail abuse. Included among the recommended formulations for development of abuse-deterrent opioids are prodrugs. Prodrugs are chemically modified versions of pharmacological agents that must undergo a biochemical conversion following administration, often by enzymatic cleavage, to free the active drug. Prodrugs may be inherently abuse-deterrent because they are inactive or significantly less active until conversion to the active drug. This requirement for conversion in the GI tract can modify the pharmacokinetic profile and eliminate or reduce the euphoria when abusers change the route of administration. Abusers often attempt to extract the active drug for injection or insufflation. Prodrugs can be designed to be resistant to crushing or dissolving. In this article, we review the concept of prodrugs and introduce and examine the potential of abuse-deterrent opioid prodrugs.


Atherosclerotic plaque destabilization is a dominating cause of acute cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke. This study aims to identify genetic biomarkers related to atherosclerotic plaque destabilization using bioinformatics. Three transcriptome datasets of human carotid atherosclerotic plaque samples were downloaded from ArrayExpress and Gene Expression Omnibus databases, including E-MATB-2055, E-TABM-190, and GSE120521. With Robust Rank Aggregation analysis, we documented 46 differentially expressed genes between stable and unstable/ruptured plaques. Functional enrichment analysis using DAVID tool demonstrated that these genes were mainly related to biological functions such as extracellular matrix disassembly, collagen catabolic process, response to mechanical stimulus, and PPAR signaling pathway. A protein–protein interaction network for the differentially expressed genes was constructed, and eight pivotal genes (ITGAM, MMP9, PLAUR, CCR1, CD163, CD36, ADAM8, and IL1RN) were obtained from the network with a connective degree > 5. The expression patterns of these hub differentially expressed genes could be verified in atherosclerotic plaque samples with intraplaque hemorrhage. Using gene set variation analysis, the eight genes were integrated to generate an atherosclerotic plaque destabilization score, which showed a high performance in not only discriminating individuals with myocardial infarction from those with stable coronary illness, but also in predicting future acute cardiovascular events in atherosclerotic patients. In conclusion, the findings of this study will enhance our knowledge on the pathological mechanisms involved in atherosclerotic plaque destabilization, and provide potential gene biomarkers for risk stratification of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.


Dentigerous cysts are common odontogenic cysts of the jaw but are rarely associated with supernumerary teeth. Few cases of large dentigerous cysts associated with anterior maxillary supernumerary teeth have been reported. The English literature has documented only four cases of dentigerous cysts>40 mm in diameter associated with supernumerary teeth. A 47-year-old man was referred to our hospital, complaining of minor pain in the maxillary gingiva. Computed tomography revealed a well-defined oval unilocular radiolucent lesion (50×45×35 mm) in the right maxilla, including two impacted supernumerary teeth. A dentigerous cyst associated with impacted anterior maxillary supernumerary teeth was diagnosed. The two impacted teeth were surgically removed, and the cyst was enucleated using the Caldwell-Luc approach. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of a large dentigerous cyst associated with impacted anterior maxillary supernumerary teeth. The postoperative course has been uneventful for two years. We also reviewed the relevant English literature.


With the booming global tourism activities, many countries around the world are actively promoting regional tourism. Thus, understanding the tourists' needs is important in developing tourism promotion strategies. With Nanzhuang Township, Miaoli County as the case study, this paper discusses the influence of the two independent variables, the tangible physical environment and the intangible regional image, tourists' experiential value and the feelings after tourism. This study conducted a questionnaire survey on tourists who have visited Nanzhuang Township, Miaoli County, by convenience sampling, in order to construct the model of regional experience marketing effect. A total of 743 effective samples were retrieved. After analysis by structural equation modeling (SEM), it is found that: (1) the physical environment has a positive and significant influence on the tourists' experiential value; (2) regional image has a positive and significant influence on the tourist's experiential value; (3) the experiential value has a positive and significant influence on satisfaction; (4) satisfaction has a positive and significant influence on trust and commitment; (5) trust has no significant influence on commitment. Regarding the two independent variables, regional image has more influence. In addition, after comparing the group models by clustering with the high and low frequency of the number of visits, it is found that there are some differences between the high frequency group and the low frequency group, where the regional image of the high frequency group has a greater influence on the experiential value and the physical environment of the low frequency group has a greater influence on the experiential value. The findings can serve as reference for the local government and the tourism operators to develop regional marketing strategies.


Ever more structural failures make the news throughout the world, and their investigation is becoming an active field of professional practice—often referred to as Forensic Structural Engineering. In most countries the engineering and legal professions have established practices, and others are considering or are using technical, business, and legal procedures modelled on United States (U.S.) practices—with both their effectiveness and faults—which employ expert consultants/witnesses in an adversarial environment retained by each party to the investigation of the failure and the litigation of the resulting claim. This paper is an overview of the important, and perhaps unique, aspects of those practices in the United States.


High-frequency (HF) ground wave radar (GWR) is emerging as a significant tool for monitoring ocean surface conditions at ranges well beyond the line-of-sight horizon that limits conventional systems. An experimental GWR system at Cape Race, Newfoundland, Canada that has been operational since 1991, has the ability to performing routine surveillance of oceanic surface parameters and surface target detection. Operating in the frequency range between 5 and 8 MHz, the frequency modulated interrupted continuous wave (FMICW) radar has a nominal range capability of 200 km. An experiment was performed during the period of October 20-November 21, 1992 to test the surface current measuring capability of the Cape Race system. Here, near real-time radial surface current information is extracted from the Doppler spectra of the radar time series data and a comparison is performed to the Lagrangian velocities derived from the position-time tracks of Accurate Surface Tracker (AST) drifters. A wide range of oceanic conditions were experienced during the experimental period, and favorable results were obtained from the comparison regardless of the sea state conditions. The analysis shows the standard deviation in the radar radial velocity component to be approximately 5 cm/s. >


PURPOSE
we evaluated the effects of magnesium sulphate infusion on anesthetic requirement, early recovery and postoperative analgesia in desflurane-remifentanil-based, balanced anaesthesia.

METHODS
60, ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) group 1-2 patients who were scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly divided into two groups. Before anesthesia, the magnesium-treated group (n = 30) received a 15 min infusion of 40 mg/kg of magnesium sulphate followed by 10 mg/kg/h by continuous i.v. infusion during the operation. The same volume of isotonic saline was administered to the control group (n = 30). Anesthesia was induced with propofol, remifentanil and vecuronium, and maintained with desflurane 3-6%, O(2)/air and remifentanil infusion. Desflurane was titrated to maintain BIS (bispectral index) values of 40-60. The times from cessation of anesthesia to spontaneous breathing, eye opening, extubation, reaching BIS 70, and Aldrete scores were recorded. After surgery, patients received a patient-controlled, morphine analgesia device.

RESULTS
demographic variables were similar. During the 15 min infusion of magnesium sulphate, the BIS value was significantly lower in the magnesium sulphate-treated group. The amounts of propofol and desflurane used were less in the magnesium sulphate-treated group, by 18% and 22% respectively (p<0.05). The groups did not differ with respect to the time taken to reach BIS 70, spontaneous breathing, eye opening and extubation. Alderete and VAS (visual analogue scale) pain scores, and total morphine consumption were significantly lower in the magnesium sulphate-treated group. There were no differences in side effects, but the rate of re-intubation was higher in the group receiving magnesium sulphate (p = 0.03).

CONCLUSION
perioperative use of magnesium sulphate reduced propofol and desflurane consumption, and the postoperative morphine requirement, while causing a delay in recovery by decreasing the Aldrete score.


The present article centres on institutions, that is, systems of rules that guide behaviour and interaction of socio-economic actors, and their role in advancing China's circular economy (CE), particularly in waste management (WM). Since the early 2000s, state and non-state actors in China have begun to explore CE ideas in WM resulting in a multitude of related patterns and schemes. In regard to why such systems exhibit different degrees of effectiveness, it appears that much is determined by the institutional arrangements within. Based on several years of field research in China, the article identifies and analyses key institutional ingredients for effective outcomes. Methodologically, these components are identified via an analytical model incorporating WM performance indicators and a framework for assessing interest inclusiveness. Empirically, the analysis is applied to case study findings on the informal and semi-formalised recycling sector in Beijing and Changchun. The resulting findings are synthesised into an evaluation matrix: it indicates which effective informal institutional elements in waste collection and pre-processing allow for a translation into formal systems. The so-demonstrated convertibility indicates a substantial potential for the innovation of current formal WM systems in urban China.


Some endocrine and metabolic responses to acute cold and heat exposures were observed in rats acclimated to cold, heat, or both cold and heat. Rats exposed to both cold (12 hr, 5 degrees C) and heat (12 hr, 34 degrees C) for 4 to 5 weeks (CHA) showed less fall of colonic temperature (Tc) in the cold (-5 degrees C) than heat-acclimated rats (34 degrees C, 4 to 5 weeks) (HA) and warm controls (WC), but a greater fall than cold-acclimated rats (5 degrees C, 4 to 5 weeks) (CA). CHA possessed a larger quantity of interscapular brown adipose tissue and showed greater cold-induced oxygen consumption (VO2) than WC and HA but less than CA. Blood glycerol levels rose similarly in all groups in the cold, while the increase in blood free fatty acids (FFA) levels was significantly greater in HA and smaller in CA than in WC and CHA. Acute cold exposure caused the elevation of plasma glucagon level in WC and HA, but not in CA and CHA. It lowered plasma insulin levels in HA, and the insulin/glucagon molar ratio (I/G) in WC, HA, and CHA. All groups showed the same increases in Tc during acute heat exposure (34 degrees C). However, the heat-induced increase in VO2 was greater in WC than in HA, CA, and CHA. Blood metabolite levels were not affected by acute heat exposure in all groups. Plasma glucagon levels decreased in CHA, while plasma insulin levels increased in WC and CA. I/G increased in WC and CHA. These results indicate that thermal and metabolic responses would be modified by previous exposures to cold, heat, and cold-heat.


In Italy, the management of Toxoplasma infection screening in pregnant women is often unproductive and inefficient and generates a wide variability of costs. This study evaluated performance parameters in the screening management of a population of pregnant women, estimated its costs and compared them with the costs of a full application of Ministerial Documents of 1995 and 1998. We controlled until delivery 830 pregnant women who had done the first blood test between September 1st and December 31st 1997. The costs of direct and indirect testing were analysed using the Excel database and statistical software package. Of the 573 pregnant women defined 'susceptible' at the first test, only 240 (42%) did further blood tests during the II and III trimesters, 30% did no more tests and the remaining women adopted a heterogeneous behaviour. The mean cost of each screening was found to be euro 54.47/pregnancy and euro 60.05/pregnancy with a full application of the Ministerial Document of 1995. A full application of Ministerial Document of 1998, instead, would have involved a cost of euro 94.28/pregnancy for 5 tests, euro 111.40/pregnancy for 6 tests and euro 128.51 for 7 tests. The study shows that the management of toxoplasmosis screening during pregnancy needs greater attention to the prescription of tests, so that useless testing can be reduced and the efficacy of the screening improved, two important goals the Ministerial Documents were designed to achieve.


Air-mobile speech communication applications share robustness and noise immunity requirements with other mobile applications. The quality requirements are stringent, especially in the cockpit where air safety is involved. Based on these considerations, a decision was made to test an intermediate data rate such as 8.0 and 9.6 kb/s as proven technologies. A number of vocoders and codec technologies were investigated at rates ranging from 2.4 kb/s up to and including 9.6 kb/s. The "proven" vocoders operating at 2.4 and 4.8 kb/s lacked the noise immunity or the robustness to operate reliably in a cabin noise environment. One very attractive alternative approach was Spectrally Encoded Residual Excited LPC (SE-RELP) which is used in a multi-rate voice processor (MRP) developed at the Naval Research Lab (NRL). The MRP uses SE-RELP at rates of 9.6 and 16 kb/s. The 9.6 kb/s rate can be lowered to 8.0 kb/s without loss of information by modifying the frame. An 8.0 kb/s vocoder was developed using SE-RELP as a demonstrator and testbed. This demonstrator is implemented in real-time using two Compaq II portable computers, each equipped with an ARIEL DSP-16 Data Acquisition Processor.


This paper reports on the development of a compact radiation monitor/dosimeter, the LIULIN-3M, and on extended measurements conducted on the ground and on commercial aircraft on domestic and international flights.


Neurogenic tumours of the mediastinum in adults occur most often at the posterior mediastinum, majority of which are benign of nerve sheath in origin. A 72-year-old woman, known asthmatic, presented with chronic symptoms of hoarseness, dysphagia, chest heaviness, easy fatigability, cough, epigastric pain, feeling of abdominal fullness and choking with food intake and at a supine position. Treated for other disorders, routine chest X-ray incidentally found a homogenous convex radiodensity at the right paratracheal area; mass which was also observed with CT and 18F-fludeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/CT scan studies. Mediastinoscopy with biopsy showed spindle to plump cells with strong S100 positivity. Thoracoscopic surgery done to completely excise the mass found it to be benign schwannoma.


Introduction. Delirium is a neurocognitive disorder, frequently present in advanced cancer patients. It morbidity, mortality, health expenditure, and causes distress to patients, family members, and health care professionals. Despite its impact, the disorder is still underdiagnosed, and consequently, mistreated. Objective. To describe the prevalence, clinical features, impact on the survival and percentage of missed diagnosis of delirium, in palliative care inpatients treated in a tertiary center. Method. We conducted a prospective study, including all the inpatients referred to the Palliative Care Service of the Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia in Mexico, from August, 2014 to March, 2015. As a first step, we collected clinical and sociodemographic data, and determined the presence/absence of delirium, using the Confusion Assessment Method. Then, we reviewed the clinical file to determine if a previous delirium diagnosis was stablished by the primary referring team. Finally, thirty days after the initial assessment, we contacted the patients in order to know their survival status (alive/death). We performed a survival analysis to compare mortality among patients with delirium/non-delirium, and reported the percentage of delirium missed diagnosis. Results. We included 174 patients, 40.2% were diagnosed with delirium. Mean survival time in patients with delirium was 11 days, while in non-delirium patient's mean survival time was 21 days; Log Rank 23.50, p < .001. We found a 73% of missed delirium diagnosis by the primary referring team. Discussion and conclusion. Prevalence of delirium in this population is similar to that observed in other palliative care populations. Also, delirium is the principal determinant of short-term mortality, and it is frequently underdiagnosed. Preventive strategies and early identification could help to reduce its burden.


Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the perceived value and feasibility of increased access to information about workers' health for primary care providers (PCPs) by evaluating the need for clinical decision support (CDS) related to worker health in primary care settings. Methods: Qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews and observations, were used to evaluate the value and feasibility of three examples of CDS relating work and health in five primary care settings. Results: PCPs and team members wanted help addressing patients' health in relation to their jobs; the proposed CDS examples were perceived as valuable because they provided useful information, promoted standardization of care, and were considered technically feasible. Barriers included time constraints and a perceived inability to act on the findings. Conclusion: PCPs recognize the importance and impact of work on their patients' health but often lack accessible knowledge at the right time. Occupational health providers can play an important role through contributions to the development of CDS that assists PCPs in recognizing and addressing patients' health, as well as through the provision of referral guidelines.


The paper presents a study of the vertical vibrations of a bogie of a passenger vehicle, based on the acceleration of the axles and the bogie frames, measured during the running at a constant velocity. To this purpose, the root mean square (RMS) acceleration is calculated for more measurement sequences at different velocities. In principle, the RMS acceleration increases along with the velocity and influence of the variability of the amplitude in the track defects upon the dispersion of the values in the RMS acceleration. Based on the spectral analysis of the measured acceleration, wheel defects and undulatory wear of the rolling surfaces of wheels and rail are highlighted.


Abstract : The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have highlighted the continuing need to improve the Department's ability to rapidly respond to urgent warfighter requirements against a highly adaptive enemy. The Department has created or modified numerous urgent needs processes to assist in countering enemy threats by expediting the fielding of warfighter urgent operational needs. The Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 directed the Secretary of Defense to commission a study and report to Congress to assess the effectiveness of the processes used by the Department of Defense for the generation and fulfillment of urgent operational needs. A Defense Science Board Task Force was established in December 2008 to conduct the study. Its report to Congress in July 2009 included recommendations for the Department of Defense to formalize two paths?one for urgent and the other for normal acquisitions; establish a $3 billion per year fund for rapid acquisition and fielding; and establish a new Defense Agency, the Rapid Acquisition and Fielding Agency, to fulfill the urgent operational needs of the warfighter. Key members of the Department?s new leadership have received this report and have incorporated it into their deliberations on how to more effectively support the current war in Afghanistan and Iraq and future operations.


suMMary We currently have an extensive base of scientific evidence on the effectiveness of the collaboration programs between the Psychiatry Departments and those of Primary Care for the approach to Depressive and Anxiety Disorders. The problem lies in the heterogeneity of the programs and in the need to establish solid bases for its introduction supported by data on the efficacy of the different components of these protocols. In this work, we propose a care model for this condition based on management by processes. The clinical management process elaborated among the psychiatry services of a Clinical Management Institute of a University Hospital of Madrid that attends a population of approximately 500,000 inhabitants and the Primary Care Services corresponding to this area is explained. It is aimed to show the methodology for the development and implementation of this Process and the scientific bases for this care management model.


Single domain generalization aims to learn a model that performs well on many unseen domains with only one domain data for training. Existing works focus on studying the adversarial domain augmentation (ADA) to improve the model's generalization capability. The impact on domain generalization of the statistics of normalization layers is still underinvestigated. In this paper, we propose a generic normalization approach, adaptive standardization and rescaling normalization (ASR-Norm), to complement the missing part in previous works. ASR-Norm learns both the standardization and rescaling statistics via neural networks. This new form of normalization can be viewed as a generic form of the traditional normalizations. When trained with ADA, the statistics in ASR-Norm are learned to be adaptive to the data coming from different domains, and hence improves the model generalization performance across domains, especially on the target domain with large discrepancy from the source domain. The experimental results show that ASR-Norm can bring consistent improvement to the state-of-the-art ADA approaches by 1.6%, 2.7%, and 6.3% averagely on the Digits, CIFAR-10-C, and PACS benchmarks, respectively. As a generic tool, the improvement introduced by ASR-Norm is agnostic to the choice of ADA methods.


The method for displacement correction along the slow axis of optical coherence tomography (OCT) data volumes is presented. The method is based on the recursive replacement of the next displaced OCT measurements by the weighted summation of itself and the previous OCT measurement in the slow axis dimension already corrected for the displacement. The values of the appropriate weight multipliers were defined from the local correlation of the two measurements. The proposed method was used as a preprocessing step for optical coherence angiography processing of the OCT data. A substantial reduction of the motion-induced stripe artifact was demonstrated.


A specimen of the ichnospecies Lingulichnus verticalis was recovered from the Lower Cambrian Bradore Formation of southern Labrador. The sample represents the only known Cambrian example of an in situ lingulid, and sheds light on the evolution of the ethology of lingulids. Prior to this it was assumed that Cambrian lingulids maintained a non-burrowing mode of life.


Ab initio quantum calculations are applied to both the parallel and the antiparallel arrangements of the beta-sheets of proteins. The energies of the NH...O and CH...O hydrogen bonds present in the beta-sheet are evaluated separately from one another by appropriate modifications of the model systems. The bond energies of these two sorts of hydrogen bonds are found to be very nearly equal in the parallel beta-sheet. The NH...O bonds are stronger than CH...O in the antiparallel geometry but only by a relatively small margin. Moreover, the former NH...O bonds are weakened when placed next to one another, as occurs in the antiparallel beta-sheet. As a result, there is little energetic distinction between the NH...O and CH...O bonds in the full antiparallel beta-sheet, just as in the parallel structure.


The antitumor property of steroids in sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas L.) remains poorly understood. Herein, we investigated the anticancer effect on breast carcinoma of daucosterol linoleate (DL), a steroid isolated from sweet potato. DL inhibited the cell viability of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells at an IC50 value of 53.27 ± 9.02 μg/mL, while the effect was modest in ER-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Flow cytometry indicated that the DL-induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells is dose-dependent. However, DL inhibited tumor growth and tumor weight at 100 mg/kg in MCF-7 xenograft nude mice. DL diminished the expression of Bcl-xl, Bcl-2, and XIAP, while increasing Bax, Bad, and activated caspase-dependent apoptosis in tumor tissues. Furthermore, DL inactivated the upstream Pi3k/Akt/NF-κB pathway. In the 4T1 spontaneous metastasis model, DL blocked metastasis progression, decreased the number of visible metastasis foci and inhibited metastasis size distribution in lung tissue. Further studies showed that DL suppressed VEGF, MMP 2, and MMP 9 expression in both tumor and lung tissues. From these results, we can assume that DL is a potential adjuvant therapy for ER-positive breast cancer patients.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a technological method of protection against electrical corrosion. One more way to protect the objects is to prevent the electrical current from getting to them. For example, railway objects are surrounded with a material with raised electrical resistance.

Design/methodology/approach
The railway infrastructure objects (foundations, contact-line supports, reinforced concrete sub-bases, bridge structures, pipelines of engineering networks, supports of passenger platforms and pedestrian bridges, concrete plinth walls of station buildings) are subjected to destruction due to the action of electrical current. One of destruction factors is a corrosion of the concrete constructions which is caused by the leakage current action.

Findings
Leakage currents and stray currents bypass the structure of supports of high passenger platforms or pipes of engineering networks. These currents spread by the line with the least resistance outside of the structures.

Research limitations/implications
Electrical leakage current from the rails gets into such structures through sleepers, ballast and soil and leads to accelerated corrosion leaching of concrete.

Practical implications
The constructions are protected against the destructive effect of electrical corrosion on the metal or concrete of the structure. This scheme is suitable for the construction and reconstruction of railway structures which operate on electrified sections of railways.

Originality/value
Schemes of technological solution are proposed for protection of foundations, supports of high passenger platforms, pipelines of engineering networks, etc. For this, the arrangement of soil-contained screens with big electrical resistance is suggested.


This paper develops a model of heterogeneous producers to examine the economic causes of IPR infringement and its consequences for the welfare of the interest groups and the pricing and adoption of a new technology (i.e., a genetically modified seed) in the context of a small open developing economy. Enforcement of IPRs, and pricing and adoption of the new technology are modeled as a sequential game between the government that enforces the IPRs, a foreign innovating firm that prices the new technology, and the developing country's producers who make the production and cheating decisions. Analytical results show that complete deterrence of IPR infringement is not always economically optimal. IPR infringement affects the welfare of the interest groups and has important ramifications for the pricing and adoption of the new technology. The quantitative nature of the results depends critically on the existing labeling regime. The analysis also shows that differences in the level of IPR enforcement provide an alternative justification for (and explanation of) differences in the pricing of the new technology in different countries around the world - a strategy adopted by leading innovators in the sector. Finally, the results suggest that if the penalties for IPR infringement under the TRIPs agreement follow the custom of retaliatory sanctions under the GATT, enforcement of IPRs will remain imperfect and the innovators' ability to obtain value for their biotech traits will still be limited.


Abstract Introduction Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancer diagnoses among both sexes. Sweden has not yet implemented any CRC screening programme, but a study, Screening of Swedish Colons (SCREESCO), is ongoing. The movement within the health care sector towards a more participatory perspective has led to the increased importance of shared decision making (SDM), and this is suggestively applied when deciding upon screening participation. There is no Swedish questionnaire for assessing the level of SDM in relation to CRC screening. Therefore, the CRC screening module of the National Survey of Medical Decisions was translated and culturally adapted into a Swedish context: the SCREESCO questionnaire. Aim The SCREESCO questionnaire requires further evaluation, and therefore, the aim, by using the Rasch approach, was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the SCREESCO questionnaire. Methods A Rasch partial credit model was chosen to investigate the psychometric properties. The sample consisted of individuals invited to the SCREESCO programme, who have answered the SCREESCO questionnaire. Results Rating scale structures indicated stability for the response structure used. Satisfactory evidence for validity of internal structure was also shown for the whole questionnaire and two of three concepts/subscales, after deletion of a few items. Validity in response processes indicated acceptable, or close to acceptable, findings, while the results for unidimensionality and differential item functioning (DIF) were somewhat mixed. Separation index revealed less satisfactory results, both for the whole questionnaire and the concepts/subscales. Conclusion This Rasch analysis of the SCREESCO questionnaire revealed that the questionnaire in its current form has difficulties to assess the level of SDM in relation to CRC screening. The achieved results will guide further evaluation and development with the long‐term goal of having a Swedish questionnaire, to be used in the health care sector, assessing the level of SDM in relation to CRC screening.


Background: Dermatologic toxicities are the most common side effects associated with the targeted drugs epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRIs), in which xerosis commonly complicated by pruritus severely disturbs the quality of life. The study has observed the curative effect of Zizao Yangrong granules (ZYG) from Chishui Xuanzhu in the treatment of EGFRIs-related xerosis and pruritus, as well as evaluating the safety of the prescription. Methods: Patients (n = 68) who had xerosis after using EGFRIs were enrolled and then randomly divided into the treatment group and control group, respectively, receiving ZYG and placebo granules combined with vitamin E ointment. The intervention lasted 4 weeks. Changes in xerosis and pruritus were observed, and blood routine examination as well as liver and kidney function are observed as safety indexes. The water content of skin and qualify of life were observed. Results: A total of 66 out of 68 patients finished the study with 34 patients in each group. The effective rates of xerosis among the treatment group and control group were 84.8% and 69.7% after 2 weeks' treatment (P < .05), while they were 84.8% and 75.8% after 4 weeks' treatment (P < .05). The patients in the experimental group had better quality of life than that in the control group (P = .045). Conclusion: ZYG can effectively improve the skin dryness associated with EGFRIs, and significantly improve the quality of life of patients with good safety; however, larger randomized controlled trials are needed to verify these findings.


On 26 September 2003, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake, Earth's most powerful in 2.5 years, struck offshore Tokachi, Hokkaido, Japan, at 0450 local time. The hypocenter was at 40 km depth along the boundary of the Pacific and North American plates (www.jma.go.jp). The focal mechanism shows a reverse fault with a northwest-southeast compressional axis (P-axis) (see http://www.bosai.go.jp).

Following the main shock, named "Heisei 15 Tokachioki-jishin," seismic activity has continued in the region. As of 30 September, the largest aftershock was M7.1 on 26 September at 0608. Tsunamis were observed on the Pacific coast of Hokkaido and the Tohoku region, including waves of 1.2 m at Kushiro, 1.3 m at Urakawa, and 1.0 m at Hachinohe.


Recently, embedded multicore platforms have become popular, but software development for such platforms has been very challenging. While message-passing is a popular programming model for parallel applications, it is not adequately supported on the current embedded multicore platforms. Similar to the situations in '80s~'90s, applications are hardly portable across parallel computers before the advent of MPI. Unfortunately, MPI is too big for most embedded platforms of today. Moreover, the message-passing functions need to utilize the architectural features to offer optimized performance, but such platform-specific optimizations often hurt the portability. This paper addresses the portability and performance issues by designing a new message-passing library with a three-layer modular design. The top two layers are mostly platform-independent, and the bottom layer enables platform-specific optimizations. We discuss the performance issues in the paper and evaluate the issues with experimental results.


A quantum statistical system with energy dissipation is studied. Its statisitics is governed by random complex-valued non-Hermitean Hamiltonians belonging to complex Ginibre ensemble. The eigenenergies are shown to form stable structure in thermodynamical limit (large matrix dimension limit). Analogy of Wigner and Dyson with system of electrical charges is drawn.


At the nanoscale, the surface becomes pivotal for the properties of semiconductors due to an increased surface-to-bulk ratio. Surface functionalization is a means to include semiconductor nanocrystals into devices. In this comprehensive experimental study we determine in detail the effect of a single thiol functional group on the electronic and optical properties of the hydrogen-passivated nanodiamond adamantane. We find that the optical properties of the diamondoid are strongly affected due to a drastic change in the occupied states. Compared to adamantane, the optical gap in adamantane-1-thiol is lowered by approximately 0.6 eV and UV luminescence is quenched. The lowest unoccupied states remain delocalized at the cluster surface leaving the diamondoid's negative electron affinity intact.


A key to a high-wiring-density build-up substrate is fine circuitry formation technology to satisfy the ever-increasing demands for miniaturization of electronics products. The surface roughness of a dielectric layer needs to be in the submicrometer scale for fine circuitry such as a line less than 10 μm wide. However, the Cu to dielectric adhesion strength of such a line would not be sufficient to prevent peeling off during manufacture and after heat treatment. Consequently, it is essential to have good adhesion between Cu and dielectric layer with chemical bonds between the metal and the dielectric layer. A polyimide film was introduced as a dielectric layer in a build-up substrate. Argon plasma-modified polyimide surfaces were sputtered with NiCr and then subjected to Cu electroplating. While unmodified polyimide had a weak adhesion strength of 0.12 kN m-1, Ar plasma-modified polyimide showed good adhesion strength of more than 0.5 kN m-1 even after 10 days of heat treatment at 172°C. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies revealed that the adhesion strength was attributable to chemical bonds between Cr and the polyimide. Ar plasma-treated polyimide produced a large quantity of oxygen functional groups containing C=O bonds on the surface of polyimide, and subsequent NiCr sputtering produced C-O-Cr or C=O⋯Cr bonds to the polyimide. In addition, NiCr sputtering also attacked some of N-C=O and N-C bonds, and modified them to produce C-N-Cr or C-N⋯Cr bonds to the polyimide. These two types of mechanism produced sufficiently high Cu to polyimide adhesion to achieve fine line circuitry.


The effect of administration of BCG in association with chemotherapy in histocompatible CD2F1 mice challenged ip with Moloney-virus-induced lymphoma LSTRA of Balb/c origin was studied. All untreated mice died with comparable median survival time (MST). Immunochemotherapy experiments were performed in histocompatible mice using BCG according to various treatment schedules with respect to tumor challenge and 3 nitrosureas of clinical interest (i.e. BCNU, MeCCNU and CCNU) administration. If recipients were subjected to ip treatment with drugs alone or in association with the non specific immunoadjuvant (IA) given after tumor challenge (on day +1); no significant antitumor effect was detected. Synergistic antitumor effects were evidenced when the antineoplastic agents were associated with IA administered on the "-14+1" regimen with respect to the tumor. The results pointed out that the antilymphoma effects of chemotherapy could be amplified by IA only when the treatment schedule included adjuvants administration prior to tumor challenge.


The Greenland ice sheet is one of the most significant contributors to the rising global sea level with a contribution of 0.5 mm per year (Rignot & Kanagaratnam 2006). Evidence is emerging that rising temperatures of subsurface ocean currents play a vital role in the recent acceleration of large fast flowing glaciers such as Jakobshavn Isbrae in West Greenland (Holland et al. 2008) and Helheimgletscher in South-East Greenland (Straneo et al. 2010). Important questions are whether these incursions of warmer water are part of a recurrent phenomenon and indeed exactly how they influence the glaciers. The Geocenter Denmark project SEDIMICE (Linking sediments with ice-sheet response and glacier retreat in Greenland) investigates past ice fluctuations in the Helheimgletscher region in South-East Greenland with regard to magnitude, possible causes and effects. One of the main tasks in this project is to analyse sedimentary deposits in the main fjord Sermilik (Fig. 1), which is influenced by the tidally affected Helheimgletscher that has a short floating tongue. By combining sediment studies with modern climate studies we aim to extrapolate meteorological data back in time.


ABSTRACT: Vascular dopamine (DA1) receptors may modulate circulatory hemodynamics in lambs. We evaluated resting dopaminergic tone in lambs by pharmacologically manipulating peripheral DA1 receptors with i.v. SCH 23390, (a highly selective, competitive DA1 receptor antagonist) and i.v. fenoldopam, (a highly selective DA1 receptor agonist) in unanesthetized lambs, instrumented for circulatory studies, while measuring the systemic and pulmonary vascular changes that the manipulations induced. We examined both the independent effects of DA1 receptor stimulation and blockade as well as the effects of the agonist and the antagonist infused together (competitive interaction). SCH 23390, infused at 2.5 μg/kg·min−1, caused significant increases in left atrial, systemic, and pulmonary artery pressure, as well as an increase in systemic vascular resistance and a decrease in heart rate. Fenoldopam, infused at the dose of 60 μg/kg·min−1 caused significant decreases in mean systemic artery pressure and systemic vascular resistance while increasing cardiac index and mean pulmonary artery pressure. SCH 23390 blunted the fenoldopam-induced effects. Our data suggest that dopaminergic influence may be active in the maintenance of resting hemodynamics of the lamb.


Abstract This study examined male-to-female partner violence using the concepts of Bowen's theory of differentiation and Feminist theory. Participants in this study included 133 men from various men's groups. The findings support the hypothesis that lower levels of self-control, less marital egalitarianism and higher levels of partner fusion are associated with an increased use of violent conflict tactics. Further regression analyses were conducted in which anger management groups were compared to all other participants. A low level of marital egalitarianism emerged as a significant predictor of violence for the Anger Group, but not for the Comparison Group.


In this paper, recursive convolutional encoders over Galois field GF(2N) are used as constituent codes in a parallel turbo trellis coded modulation (turbo TCM) scheme. These encoders are designed using the nonlinear left-circulate (LCIRC) function. The LCIRC function performs a bit left circulation over the representation word. An optimum 1-delay GF(2N) recursive convolutional encoder scheme using LCIRC (RC-LCIRC) is proposed for phase shift keying - trellis-coded modulation (PSK-TCM) schemes. The minimum Euclidian distance is estimated for these PSK-TCM schemes and it is shown that these structures offer the maximum coding gains. As advantage, the RC-LCIRC encoders are less complex than the corresponding binary encoders for a fixed encoding rate. The parallel turbo TCM transmission schemes with optimum RC-LCIRC encoder as component encoder are investigated using the iterative symbol-by-symbol log-MAP algorithm in the receiver. The considered modulations schemes are 8-PSK and 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM). The bit error rate (BER) is estimated by simulation for the proposed turbo TCM transmissions over a frequency non-selective fading channel with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). The simulation results are similar to the conventional turbo TCM schemes.


Sonographic examination of the brain in 10 patients who had cortical mass lesions was performed. Results were compared with findings of CT. In each case, brain edema surrounded the lesion, and the adjacent white matter had a diffusely echo-genic appearance that corresponded to the area of brain edema seen on CT.


Classification problems have a large number of features in datasets, but not all them are useful for classification. Irrelevant and redundant features reduce the performance. These features may be considered as noisy. In order to solve this problem we perform a feature selection process. It is a preprocessing technique for solving classification problem. Feature Selection aims to choose relevant features to achieve better performance than using all features. Feature selection main objectives are maximizing the classification performance and minimize the features. Inorder to improve the classification accuracy a survey on various Optimization algorithms which uses feature selection for solving classification problem is done.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects and mechanisms of transgenic rice seeds expressing the altered peptide ligand (APL) of human glucose-6-phosphate-isomerase (hGPI325-339) in mice model of GPI induced arthritis (GIA).

METHODS
We generated transgenic rice expressing APL12 which was analog peptide of hGPI325-339. The transgenic rice seeds were orally administered prophylactically before the induction of GIA. The severity of arthritis and titers of serum anti-GPI antibodies were evaluated. We examined IL-17 production from splenocytes and inguinal lymph node (iLN) and mesenteric lymph nodes (mLN) cells and analyzed the expression levels of functional molecules from splenocytes and iLN cells.

RESULTS
Prophylactic treatment of GIA mice with APL12 transgenic rice seeds (APL12-TG) significantly improved the severity of arthritis, histopathological arthritis scores, and decreased titers of serum anti-GPI antibodies, BAFF mRNA in iLN cells, IL-17 production in splenocytes and iLN cells compared with non-transgenic rice-treated mice. APL12-TG-treated GIA mice showed upregulation of Foxp3 and GITR protein in CD4+CD25+ cells in the spleen.

CONCLUSION
APL12-TG improved the severity of GIA through a decrease in production of IL-17 and anti-GPI antibodies via upregulation of Foxp3 and GITR expression on regulatory T cells in spleen.


Profiles of immunohistochemical staining for different molecular weight keratin proteins (45, 46, 55, and 63 kilodalton (kd] were evaluated in basal and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin and surrounding epidermis. Basal cell carcinomas predominantly stained with antisera to low molecular weight keratins (45 and 46 kd). Staining with antisera to higher molecular weight keratins (55 and 63 kd) was focal and restricted to areas of squamous differentiation. Invasive squamous cell carcinomas in addition to staining with antisera to low molecular weight keratins (45 and 46 kd) showed diffuse staining for 55-kd keratin and foci of staining for 63-kd keratin most prominent in keratinized regions of the tumors. In situ squamous cell carcinomas (Bowen's disease) differed from invasive squamous cell carcinoma in showing increased staining for high molecular weight keratin (63 kd). Abnormal keratin profiles were identified adjacent to and overlying basal and squamous cell carcinomas, with antisera to low molecular weight keratins (45 and 46 kd) staining all layers of the epidermis, and decreased intensity of staining for high molecular weight keratin (63 kd). Keratin profiles may help define abnormal squamous maturation in epidermis adjacent to tumors. Immunohistochemical staining for different molecular weight keratin proteins may also be helpful in the differential diagnosis of skin lesions.


The error in the angle of incidence for a rotating element ellipsometer is evaluated using a uniaxial quartz crystal. At a fixed angle of incidence with respect to the surface of reflection, the ratio of reflectance in the parallel to that in the perpendicular electromagnetic field is measured by rotating the quartz crystal through a full cycle. We determine the deviation in the angle of incidence by comparing the experimentally measured reflectance ratio to its calculated value.


INTRODUCTION
Pathology of the pediatric skull base is rare and ranges from congenital defects to malignancy and traumatic defects. Pediatric patients, particularly those ≤6 years of age, present a unique set of anatomic challenges for the skull base surgeon. The goal of this study was to retrospectively review our experience with reconstruction of pediatric skull base defects with particular emphasis on those ≤6 years of age.

METHODS
A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients ≤20 years of age who underwent endoscopic endonasal and combined endoscopic and open approaches to address cranial base pathology from 2007 to 2018. Patients were divided into two groups; those ≤6 years of age (group A) and those >6 years of age and ≤20 years of age (group B) and reconstructive techniques and outcomes were analyzed.

RESULTS
Intraoperative communication with the subarachnoid space (CSF leak) was created in 50% (3/6) of patients ≤ 6 years of age compared to 32.7% (16/49) in patients > 6 years and ≤20 years of age (P < 0.40) in management of their skull base disease. A vascularized flap was utilized for reconstruction in 66.7% (4/6) of patients ≤ 6 years of age and included a nasoseptal flap in 33.3% (2/6). A vascularized flap was utilized for reconstruction in 38.8% (19/49) of patients > 6 years and ≤20 years of age and most commonly included a nasoseptal flap (22.4%, 11/49). A lumbar drain was utilized in 50% (3/6) of patients ≤ 6 years of age compared to 18.4% (9/49) in patients > 6 and ≤20 years of age (P < 0.08). Post-operative CSF leaks were encountered in 16.7% (1/6) of patients ≤ 6 years of age compared to 10.2% (5/49) in patients > 6 and ≤20 years of age (P < 0.63). Behavioral issues were noted to potentially contribute to failed skull base reconstruction in patients <6 years of age.

CONCLUSIONS
Pediatric patients, particularly those ≤6 years of age, present a unique set of anatomic and behavioral challenges for the skull base surgeon as highlighted in this study.


Objective: Patient-reported mood charts are frequently used in management of bipolar disorder. Although mood charts have recently been programmed in electronic devices such as mobile phones, little is known about the impact of the method of data capture on the psychometric properties and validity of these data. Methods: In an ongoing pilot study, a sample of outpatients with bipolar disorder were randomized to complete mood charts either on a mobile phone or with standard paper and pencil as part of a 12-week intervention (primary outcomes for the trial await study completion). We compared these conditions across a single item rating of mood state, and we hypothesized that mobile phone-based data capture would produce greater compliance to mood ratings, variability between and within participants, and concurrent validity with blinded clinician-rated affective symptom severity. Results: A total of 56 participants were randomized and 40 participants were included in the analyses. There were no significant differences between conditions on demographic or clinical variables. The rate of compliance was significantly higher in paper-and-pencil versus mobile phone ratings. Ratings demonstrated significantly more variability within individuals in the mobile phone condition. Mobile phone mood ratings were significantly correlated with clinician-rated depressive symptom severity across the study and with manic symptom severity at the week-6 assessment, whereas paper-and-pencil ratings were not significantly associated with clinician-rated depression or mania. Conclusions: Although preliminary, our results suggest a lower rate of compliance with mobile phones compared to paper-and-pencil daily mood rating in bipolar disorder, yet a greater ability to capture variability and concurrent validity in quantifying affective symptoms. This clinical trial is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01670123.


The use of discrete-event simulators in the design and development of large scale distributed systems is appealing due to their efficiency and scalability. Their core abstractions of process and event map neatly to the components and interactions of modern-day distributed systems and allow designing realistic simulation scenarios. MONARC 2, a multithreaded, process oriented simulation framework designed for modelling large scale distributed systems, allows the realistic simulation of a wide-range of distributed system technologies, with respect to their specific components and characteristics. In this paper we present the design characteristics of the simulation model proposed in MONARC 2. We demonstrate that this model includes the necessary components to describe various actual distributed system technologies, and provides the mechanisms to describe concurrent network traffic, evaluate different strategies in data replication, and analyze job scheduling procedures.


Background The NRAS 2012 survey RA & the Impact on the Family3 highlighted that there was little or no support for people living with RA to help with issues on emotions, relationships and intimacy. 41% had difficulties in their close relationships as a direct result of RA and 67% said that their sex life had been negatively affected. NRAS undertook to research more imaginative ways to provide information and support on the topic of close relationships and is producing a booklet and online resource on "RA & Relationships". A study in France in 2012 showed that while it is known that RA has a negative impact on patients' sexuality, there have been few attempts to quantify the problem. That study triggers the question how to include this topic into care2 Objectives To produce a resource for health care professionals, patients and partners/spouses to address the issues around RA and relationships Methods Independent Health Journalist, Kate Wilkinson and Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, Sarah Collins were commissioned to work with NRAS on this project. Initially a focus group on the topic of emotions and RA was attended by 8 patients and one spouse. Being independently facilitated allowed people to speak openly and anonymously. Subsequently 2 teleconference focus groups with 16 people explored in more depth the issues around sex and intimacy. Thirdly, an online questionnaire was hosted on the NRAS website and promoted via NRAS social media sites. The survey evaluation will help shape the structure of the booklet and the NRAS online resource. Real life stories captured via qualitative interviews form the sections of this new NRAS resource to be launched at BSR 2013. Results The online survey resulted in a staggering 1343 completed questionnaires. Key findings from the survey were: 46% of those living with RA and in a relationship reported not being happy with their sex life; single people in the survey reported they believe that having RA puts people off having a relationship with them. 94% of people with RA described feeling "frustrated" and 80% said they feel or have felt "anxious" about their RA. A common issue identified in the 3 focus groups and the survey results was that RA affects your sense of self-belief and self-esteem, and it's hard to feel sexy. Key messages were that the resource should make it clear that all feelings are OK; there is no ';magic recipe' or standard way of dealing with RA; it is a personal and continual process of adjustment. Conclusions This NRAS booklet and online resource will be an interactive tool for individuals and their health care professionals to assist the discussion of sensitive and difficult topics. Containing real-life experiences will help the user relate to the issue and find tangible ways to address problems that may arise in their relationships. References Kobelt G, Texier-Richard B, Mimoun S, Woronoff AS, Berthelon DR, Perdriger A, Maugard Y, Combe B; BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 13 (1), 170 (Sep 2012) Rheumatoid Arthritis and sexuality NRAS Impact on the Family Survey 2012 Acknowledgements Thanks to Kate Wilkinson, Sarah Collins and Tessa Sanderson Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Response Gene to Complement 32 (RGC-32) is an important mediator of the TGF-β signaling pathway, and an increasing amount of evidence implicates this protein in regulating astrocyte biology. We showed recently that spinal cord astrocytes in mice lacking RGC-32 display an immature phenotype reminiscent of progenitors and radial glia, with an overall elongated morphology, increased proliferative capacity, and increased expression of progenitor markers when compared to their wild-type (WT) counterparts that make them incapable of undergoing reactive changes during the acute phase of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Here, in order to decipher the molecular networks underlying RGC-32's ability to regulate astrocytic maturation and reactivity, we performed next-generation sequencing of RNA from WT and RGC-32 knockout (KO) neonatal mouse brain astrocytes, either unstimulated or stimulated with the pleiotropic cytokine TGF-β. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that RGC-32 is critical for the TGF-β-induced up-regulation of transcripts encoding proteins involved in brain development and tissue remodeling, such as axonal guidance molecules, transcription factors, extracellular matrix (ECM)-related proteins, and proteoglycans. Our next-generation sequencing of RNA analysis also demonstrated that a lack of RGC-32 results in a significant induction of WD repeat and FYVE domain-containing protein 1 (Wdfy1) and stanniocalcin-1 (Stc1). Immunohistochemical analysis of spinal cords isolated from normal adult mice and mice with EAE at the peak of disease showed that RGC-32 is necessary for the in vivo expression of ephrin receptor type A7 in reactive astrocytes, and that the lack of RGC-32 results in a higher number of homeodomain-only protein homeobox (HOPX)+ and CD133+ radial glia cells. Collectively, these findings suggest that RGC-32 plays a major role in modulating the transcriptomic changes in astrocytes that ultimately lead to molecular programs involved in astrocytic differentiation and reactive changes during neuroinflammation.


CONTEXT
The high mobility group AT hook 2 (HMGA2) gene was previously identified in a genome-wide association study as a candidate risk gene that might be related to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Whether HMGA2 contributes to promoting granulosa cell (GC) proliferation in PCOS remains unknown.

OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine whether HMGA2 is involved in the ovarian dysfunction of PCOS and in the mechanism of increased GC proliferation.

PATIENTS AND CELLS
mRNA expression was analyzed in ovarian GCs from 96 women with PCOS and 58 healthy controls. Immortalized human GCs (KGN and SVOG cells) were used for the mechanism study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
mRNA expression in ovarian GCs was measured using quantitative RT-PCR, and KGN cells were cultured for proliferation assays after overexpression or knockdown of target genes. Protein expression analysis, luciferase assays, and RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation assays were used to confirm the mechanism study.

RESULTS
HMGA2 and IGF2 mRNA binding protein 2 (IMP2) were highly expressed in the GCs of women with PCOS, and the HMGA2/IMP2 pathway promoted GC proliferation. Cyclin D2 and SERPINE1 mRNA binding protein 1 were regulated by IMP2 and were highly expressed in women with PCOS.

CONCLUSIONS
The HMGA2/IMP2 pathway was activated in women with PCOS and promoted the proliferation of GCs. This might provide new insights into the dysfunction of GCs in PCOS.


Three sampling periods were selected to acquire ground beef packages from two retail stores. Initially, samples were subjectively evaluated for color and overall appearance. Microbial load and taxonomy were determined and the samples were subsequently frozen. After frozen storage, one-half of the packages were thawed at 5 C for 4, 8, 24, 48 and 72 h, whereas the other samples were thawed at 25 C for the same periods. After thawing, samples were evaluated for the same characteristics as before freezing. Samples from each treatment were also evaluated for flavor, odor and overall acceptability. Appearance traits, taste and microbial load were affected (P < .05) by thaw time and temperature. Major groups of bacteria identified were: micrococci, Pseudomonas , streptococci, staphylococci, Flavobacterium , lactobacilli and coliforms. Salmonella and pathogenic Staphylococcus were not found. Those microorganisms which were identified were considered to be responsible for deterioration of appearance and taste attributes. Increased coliform growth at 25 C, especially after 8 h, suggests a need to thaw ground beef at refrigerated temperature to reduce public health concern. Results suggest that a proper thaw time and temperature to maintain acceptable appearance and taste of ground beef would be 24 h or less at refrigerated temperature.


Abstract In this article, I propose a reading of the Brazilian novel Por que sou gorda, mamãe? (2006) through the prism of the body as an oblique signifier of polymorphous post-Holocaust memory discourse. I will be employing the idea of the "strange body" in the following, that is, an experience of estrangement that can arise from trauma-induced conflict or fracture and "is capable of testifying to complexes of social operations and realities well beyond not only a given subject, but also a given generation" (Atkinson 2017, 34). In Cíntia Moscovich's novel, this strange-bodiness is articulated through the uncanny presence of an obese Jewish female body; a body which bears witness to a subversive force of trauma and denounces the fascist ideology within the continuities of subtly intertwined European and Brazilian histories. European Jewish life in shtetlech, pogroms, exile, and the Holocaust merge not only with the Brazilian context of Jewish immigration, but also with the history of Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985).


The Database Preservation Toolkit is a software that automates the migration of a relational database to the second version of the Software Independent Archiving of Relational Databases format. This flexible tool supports the currently most popular Relational Database Management Systems and can also convert a preserved database back to a Database Management System, allowing for some specific usage scenarios in an archival context. The conversion of databases between different formats, whilst retaining the databases' significant properties, poses a number of interesting implementation issues, which are described along with their current solutions. To complement the conversion software, the Database Visualization Toolkit is introduced as a software that allows access to preserved databases, enabling a consumer to quickly search and explore a database without knowing any query language. The viewer is capable of handling big databases and promptly present search and filter results on millions of records. This paper describes the features of both tools and the methods used to pilot them in the context of the European Archival Records and Knowledge Preservation project on several European national archives.


The regulation on calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystallization and protective effect on human proximal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2) of four green tea polysaccharides (TPSs) with molecular weights of 10.88 (TPS0), 8.16 (TPS1), 4.82 (TPS2), and 2.3 kDa (TPS3) were comparatively studied. XRD, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy results revealed that TPS1, TPS2, and TPS3 can increase the percentage of the dihydrate crystalline phase in CaOx crystals and reduce the size of CaOx monohydrate crystals. TPSs increased the absolute value of the zeta potential of CaOx crystal and inhibited crystal nucleation and aggregation. The nucleation inhibition rates of TPS1, TPS2, and TPS3 to CaOx crystallization were 56.67%, 75.52%, and 52.92%, respectively, and their aggregation inhibition rates were 22.34%, 47.59%, and 21.59%, respectively. TPS preprotection can alleviate the oxidative damage of HK-2 cells caused by oxalate, increase cell viability, protect cell morphology, and reduce lactate dehydrogenase release and reactive oxygen species levels. The degraded TSPs, especially TPS2 with moderate molecular weight, may be used as a green drug to inhibit stone formation.


Visual tracking performance has long been limited by the lack of better appearance models. These models fail either where they tend to change rapidly, like in motion-based tracking, or where accurate information of the object may not be available, like in color camouflage (where background and foreground colors are similar). This paper proposes a robust, adaptive appearance model which works accurately in situations of color camouflage, even in the presence of complex natural objects. The proposed model includes depth as an additional feature in a hierarchical modular neural framework for online object tracking. The model adapts to the confusing appearance by identifying the stable property of depth between the target and the surrounding object(s). The depth complements the existing RGB features in scenarios when RGB features fail to adapt, hence becoming unstable over a long duration of time. The parameters of the model are learned efficiently in the Deep network, which consists of three modules: (1) The spatial attention layer, which discards the majority of the background by selecting a region containing the object of interest; (2) the appearance attention layer, which extracts appearance and spatial information about the tracked object; and (3) the state estimation layer, which enables the framework to predict future object appearance and location. Three different models were trained and tested to analyze the effect of depth along with RGB information. Also, a model is proposed to utilize only depth as a standalone input for tracking purposes. The proposed models were also evaluated in real-time using KinectV2 and showed very promising results. The results of our proposed network structures and their comparison with the state-of-the-art RGB tracking model demonstrate that adding depth significantly improves the accuracy of tracking in a more challenging environment (i.e., cluttered and camouflaged environments). Furthermore, the results of depth-based models showed that depth data can provide enough information for accurate tracking, even without RGB information.


Phagosomes containing membranous debris were found in the choroidal endothelium of rabbits following periods of acute pressure ischaemia and also accompanying periods of post‐ischaemic recovery. The membranous debris may be of visual cell origin and pass into the choroid by a trans‐pigment epithelial route. Ischaemia may be a sufficient stimulus to induce the vascular endothelium to engulf this material. The phagosomes were found only in ischaemic or post‐ischaemic tissue.


PURPOSE
To describe the in vivo evolution of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in mice using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

METHODS
Laser photocoagulation was applied to the mouse fundus using a 532-nm diode laser (100, 150, and 200 mW; 100-μm diameter, 0.1-second duration). SD-OCT examination was performed immediately after laser application and at days 3, 5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 after laser. Fluorescein angiography (FA) was performed at day 5, 7, 14, and 28. Acquired SD-OCT images were analyzed to describe morphologic features, measure CNV size and retinal thickness, and assess the frequency of lesions resulting in fluid accumulation. Finally, SD-OCT images were compared to fluorescein angiograms and histologic sections with immunostaining at similar time points.

RESULTS
SD-OCT allowed visualization of the initial laser damage and the subsequent stages of the injury response. CNV formation reached its maximum size at day 5. By day 7, significant size reduction was observed (P < 0.001), continuing through days 14 and 28. Exudation signs, such as fluid accumulation and increase in retinal thickness, followed the same time course, with a peak at day 5 and a decrease by day 7. Delivery of higher laser energy levels to the RPE/choroid complex resulted in a significant percentage of lesions demonstrating excessive chorioretinal damage without CNV formation.

CONCLUSIONS
SD-OCT is a fast and reliable tool for the in vivo evaluation of laser-induced CNV, allowing quantification of lesion size and exudation parameters. Moreover, it provides morphologic information that correlates with histologic findings.


The relationship between migration and economic development in the Federal Republic of Germany is explored. Questions considered include: "How does the economic development change the intensity of migration flows in short and long distance migrations? What kinds of migrations are especially sensitive to economic changes? How do these changes come about?" Migration patterns between West Germany and other European countries are analyzed in comparison with a time series of economic parameters, such as the labor market. Migrations between three West German cities and their surrounding regions are also analyzed in comparison with a different series of parameters, including new housing construction. (SUMMARY IN ENG)


Article Notes: Received: Aug 31, 2019 Received in revised form: Sep 17, 2019 Accepted: Sep 28, 2019 Available Online: Oct 16, 2019 Background & Aims of the Study: Dentists and gynecologists seem not to have sufficient information regarding oral and dental care to provide pregnant women. Moreover, their lack of preparation and undesirable attitude prevent them from transmitting any information. This study aimed to evaluate dentists' and gynecologists' knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding oral and dental care during pregnancy in Qom, Iran in 2017. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 130 participants who were selected using the convenience sampling method. Subsequently, they were assigned into dentist (n=65) and gynecologist (n=65) groups. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. Moreover, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and t-test. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: According to the results, there was a significant difference between dentists' and gynecologists' levels of knowledge (P=0.000), attitude (P=0.000), and practice (P=0.000) (i.e., 80.85, 81.93, and 86.53 in the dentist group, respectively) and (i.e., 58.46, 72.65, and 70.76, in the gynecologist group, respectively). Furthermore, the gynecologists' age correlated significantly with the level of knowledge (P=0.04) and attitude (P=0.04). However, gynecologists' age was not correlated with the level of practice. Moreover, there was a significant difference between gynecologists' work experience and level of knowledge (P=0.016). Nonetheless, work experience had no correlation with gynecologists' levels of attitude and practice. Conclusion: Based on the results, dentists and gynecologists obtained favorable mean values of knowledge, attitude, and practice in this study. However, dentists had higher scores in this regard. Therefore, greater interactions should be encouraged between oral health practitioners and those working in the health care system to improve their performance. Additionally, there is a need to update the information levels of these health care professionals in order to establish guidelines for prenatal dental care.


Tinnitus or ringing of the ears is a subjective phantom sensation necessitating behavioral models that objectively demonstrate the existence and quality of the tinnitus sensation. The gap detection test uses the acoustic startle response elicited by loud noise pulses and its gating or suppression by preceding sub-startling prepulses. Gaps in noise bands serve as prepulses, assuming that ongoing tinnitus masks the gap and results in impaired gap detection. This test has shown its reliability in rats, mice, and gerbils. No data exists for the guinea pig so far, although gap detection is similar across mammals and the acoustic startle response is a well-established tool in guinea pig studies of psychiatric disorders and in pharmacological studies. Here we investigated the startle behavior and prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the guinea pig and showed that guinea pigs have a reliable startle response that can be suppressed by 15 ms gaps embedded in narrow noise bands preceding the startle noise pulse. After recovery of auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds from a unilateral noise over-exposure centered at 7 kHz, guinea pigs showed diminished gap-induced reduction of the startle response in frequency bands between 8 and 18 kHz. This suggests the development of tinnitus in frequency regions that showed a temporary threshold shift (TTS) after noise over-exposure. Changes in discharge rate and synchrony, two neuronal correlates of tinnitus, should be reflected in altered ABR waveforms, which would be useful to objectively detect tinnitus and its localization to auditory brainstem structures. Therefore, we analyzed latencies and amplitudes of the first five ABR waves at suprathreshold sound intensities and correlated ABR abnormalities with the results of the behavioral tinnitus testing. Early ABR wave amplitudes up to N3 were increased for animals with tinnitus possibly stemming from hyperactivity and hypersynchrony underlying the tinnitus percept. Animals that did not develop tinnitus after noise exposure showed the opposite effect, a decrease in wave amplitudes for the later waves P4–P5. Changes in latencies were only observed in tinnitus animals, which showed increased latencies. Thus, tinnitus-induced changes in the discharge activity of the auditory nerve and central auditory nuclei are represented in the ABR.


Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, in addition to the political and economic orders, the structure of civil-military relations also began to change. The paper will provide an insight into the patterns of civil-military relations from a historical perspective. The main argument of the paper is that even though serious and mostly successful first generation reforms are made in the field of democratic civil-military relations, there are still some problems regarding the second generation reforms. In order to address these problems, the evolution of civil-military relations in the post-Communist era will be analyzed with a focus on successes and failures. After sorting out current problems, it will secondly try to answer the question what should be done in order to establish a more democratic structure of civil-military relations.


OPEN ACCESS Media literacy is oft en focused on evaluati ng the message rather than refl ecti ng on the medium. Bringing together postphenomenology, media ecology, posthumanism, and complexity theory, Richard Lewis off ers a method for such a refl ecti on and shows how our everyday media environments consti tute us as (post)human subjects, always in a state of becoming. An original interdisciplinary eff ort and a must-read for everyone interested in how we become with and through technologies.


In this report we present a brief introduction to two-temperature equations of state. We also discuss current capabilities of T-4 in this area as well as plans for future development. In addition, we point out various conceptual and practical difficulties in implementing a two-temperature approximation.