INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Approximately 30% of patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) will develop a recurrence, however there are currently no validated prognostic biomarkers. This has been identified as a key research priority. Biomarker development has been hampered by significant genetic intra-tumoral heterogeneity (ITH), yet methylation ITH is largely uncharacterised. We therefore aim to evaluate methylation heterogeneity between patients, within patients and within individual tumour samples. METHODS: Multi-region samples were collected from fresh frozen nephrectomy specimens from individuals with ccRCC (Ethical approval: REC ID 03/018). Multiple tumour and normal samples were obtained from each patient (at least 5 samples per patient). Methylation analysis was performed using the Illumina EPIC-seq to obtain highresolution sequence-level data. Matched samples were processed for copy-number alterations (whole exome sequencing) and gene expression (RNA-seq). An independent cohort of ccRCC tissue samples was sequenced for external validation. RESULTS: We sequenced 136 samples from 18 ccRCC patients, which consists of the largest multi-region methylation cohort to date. We observed extensive heterogeneity between patients, which dominated over within-patient heterogeneity. Although disordered methylation is believed to be a stochastic process, there were significant changes in methylation epipolymorphism between ccRCC and normal kidney at the promoter region of 47 known kidney cancer genes (including SLC16A3, MYC, WT1, KRT7 and KRT18). This finding was confirmed in an independent cohort of 71 ccRCC tumour and normal samples. Genes with significantly disordered methylation in tumour are more often associated with significant hypermethylation in ccRCC (87% genes hypermethylated) rather than hypomethylation, and are negatively correlated with gene expression, implying that methylation disorder may have a functional consequence. Several genes which have been implicated in ccRCC prognosis (including DKK2, SFRP1, CCND1, SERPINF1, SMAD3) demonstrated heterogeneous methylation patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Heterogeneous methylation between patients and within a sample may be a key determinant of the noted failure to validate prognostic genes in ccRCC. Disordered methylation and ITH may lead to inconsistent results amongst samples, which is exacerbated by different methylation platforms covering disparate CpGs within the promoter of genes. This key finding may help identify prognostic methylation markers in future.


Introduction:
 Cytokine profiles of peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are used to predict stroke outcomes. Yet, the cytokine profiles of some patients do not match the predicted outcomes.

 Hypothesis:
 We hypothesize that peripheral blood is not an accurate resource for cytokine profiling because the supply of cytokines in the blood and CSF is unknown. Specifically, we postulate that cytokine profiling from a resource that is local to the stroke site is a more accurate method for predicting stroke outcomes. In this study, we collected thrombi from thrombectomy procedures performed on stroke patients who presented to our university affiliated comprehensive stroke center and examined the presence of TNF-alpha.

 Methods:
 This study was approved by the IRB at our university affiliated comprehensive stroke center. All samples were collected with the consent of the donor. Thrombi were collected from stroke patients that underwent thrombectomies at our university affiliated comprehensive stroke center. Thrombi were placed in a lysis buffer containing protease inhibitors. Thrombi were stored at 4C in the neurointerventional lab for a maximum of 12 hrs. Thrombi were then frozen at -80C for long-term preservation. For controls, blood was collected from healthy volunteers. Blood was allowed to coagulate for 30 mins at room temperature to form a clot. The formed clot was then put in lysis buffer for 1 hr. Thrombi lysis from patients and healthy volunteers were subjected to Western bloting.

 Results:
 A total of 10 patients participated, clots were extracted within 8 hours of stroke onset in all. Ten healthy volunteers served as controls. Western Blot showed that TNF-alpha is detected in clots extracted from stroke patients that underwent thrombectomies, but not in clots formulated from healthy volunteers.

 Conclusion:
 Our results show that it is feasible to extract thrombi for cytokine profiling. TNF-alpha was elevated in thrombectomy-extracted clots and TNF-alpha was not detected in healthy volunteers. Our results suggest that proinflammatory cytokines are within the stroke area and our method is a feasible method for cytokine detection. In future studies, we will correlate cytokine quantity with NIHSS.


In Reply . — I am concerned about their conclusion that screening programs should not attempt to reach all potential participants since "such efforts appear to bring out the most "fragile subjects." I would hope that readers of our article would conclude the opposite; that is, more extensive efforts need to be made to screen people for high blood cholesterol—especially given the very high prevalence of people who are unaware of their cholesterol level—and that our recommendations might serve as guideposts for the design of summary and referral protocols that will attenuate labeling effects. While we certainly do not condone coercive efforts to recruit participants for blood pressure, cholesterol, or any type of risk factor screening program, well-designed programs should reach as broad an audience as possible. Without such a goal, the more laissez-faire approach recommended by Drs Rudd and Fortmann will lead us to the dilemma of having "hard to


Diverse forms of opposition are already existent virtually everywhere around us but the nature and significance of oppositeness is well understood only in specific contexts within the fields of philosophy, linguistics, psychology, logic and physics. The interplay between entities and opposite entities is apparently fundamental for maintaining universal balance. However, it seems that there is a gap regarding oppositional thinking in engineering, mathematics and computer science. Although many opposition-based techniques exist in these fields, the oppositional properties they employ are not usually directly studied. A better understanding of opposition could potentially establish new search, reasoning, optimization and learning schemes with a wide range of applications. For instance, improving convergence rate for hyperdimensional problems could be improved through the use of oppositional strategies. A large number of problems in engineering and science cannot be approached with conventional schemes and are generally handled with intelligent techniques such as evolutionary, neural, reinforcing and swarm-based techniques. These methodologies, however, suffer from high computational costs. In this work, the outlines of opposition-based computing, a proposed framework for computational intelligence, will be introduced. The underlying idea is simultaneous consideration of guess and opposite guess, estimate and opposite estimate, viewpoint and opposite viewpoint and so on in order to make better decisions in a shorter time, something that all aforementioned techniques could benefit from. The goal is to better understand the role of opposition within a computational intelligence context with the intention of improving existing or developing more powerful and robust approaches to handle complex problems. Due to its diversity, it is difficult, if not impossible, to uniquely and universally define the nature and the scope of what we call opposition. However, there is no doubt that we need a mathematical formalism if we are going to, at least to some degree, exploit the oppositional relationships in real-world systems. Hence, we attempt to establish a generic framework for computing with opposites in this chapter, a framework which may not mathematically capture the very essence of oppositeness in all systems accurately but it will be, as we hope, a point of departure for moving toward opposition-based computing. The ideas put forward in this chapter may not be shared by all those who work on some aspect of opposition (and usually without labeling it opposition), nevertheless, we believe that this framework can be useful for understanding and employing opposition.


CD44 alternative splicing has been implicated in the regulation of CD44 function. CD44 undergoes significant posttranslational modification in all cells, but the functional consequences of these modifications are poorly understood. In the current study, we have demonstrated that keratan sulfate modification of CD44 significantly modulates its ability to bind to hyaluronate. We observed naturally occurring differences in CD44 keratan sulfate substitution between two clonal variants of the KM12 human colon carcinoma cell line. CD44 on the highly metastatic KM12L4 clone is more heavily substituted with keratan sulfate than CD44 on the poorly metastatic KM12C6 clone. Moreover, CD44H on KM12L4 bound to hyaluronate poorly compared to CD44H on KM12C6. Removal of keratan sulfate from CD44 greatly enhanced CD44-mediated cell adhesion to hyaluronate. Removal of keratan sulfate from CD44H-immunoglobulin fusion proteins also enhanced their adhesion to hyaluronate. The influence of glycosaminoglycan substitution on CD44 function was specific to keratan sulfate substitution; treatment to remove chondroitin sulfate, heparan sulfate, or hyaluronate did not affect CD44-mediated cell adhesion to hyaluronate. Use of site-directed CD44H cDNA mutants with arginine changed to alanine at position 41 indicated that keratan sulfate modification of CD44 modulates hyaluronate adhesion through its B loop domain. These findings suggest that keratan sulfate modification of CD44 may play an important regulatory role in the broad spectrum of biological processes attributed to CD44, including normal development, tumor progression, and lymphocyte function.


PHOTOCURRENT ENHANCEMENT OF CdS QUANTUM DOT SENSITIZED TiO 2 ELECTRODE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOLD NANO PARTICLES . Photo current enhancement of CdS Quantum Dot (CdS-QD) sensitized TiO 2 electrode in the presence of gold nano particles had been investigated. CdS quantum dots were prepared by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method, in which solution containing Cd(CH 3 COO) 2 and Na 2 S were used as a precursor. Where as, gold nano particles was synthesized using solution containing HAuCl 4 as a precursor, NaBH 4 as a reducing agent and polyvinyl pyrrolydone (PVP) as a stabilizer. The film of CdS quantum dots and Au nano particles were characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometer, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and electro chemical working station. Photo electrochemical study revealed that CdS-sensitized TiO 2 electrode with gold nanoparticles have been able to increase photocurrent of 54 A/cm 2 to 68 A/cm 2 , so the photocurrent enhancement of approximately 25% was observed. This observation indicates that the gold nanoparticles is potentially applicable to enhance photocurrent in a CdS-QD sensitized TiO 2 electrode, which may lead to the development of more efficient solar cell.


ABSTRACT The protein tyrosine kinase Syk couples the B-cell receptor (BCR) for antigen to multiple intracellular signaling pathways and also modulates cellular responses to inducers of oxidative stress in a receptor-independent fashion. In B cells, Syk is found in both the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments but contains no recognizable nuclear localization or export signals. Through the analysis of a series of deletion mutants, we identified the presence of an unconventional shuttling sequence near the junction of the catalytic domain and the linker B region that accounts for Syk's subcellular localization. This localization is altered following prolonged engagement of the BCR, which causes Syk to be excluded from the nucleus. Nuclear exclusion requires the receptor-mediated activation of protein kinase C and new protein synthesis. Both of these processes also potentiate the activation of caspase 3 in cells in response to oxidative stress in a manner that is dependent on the localization of Syk outside of the nucleus. In contrast, restriction of Syk to the nucleus greatly diminishes the stress-induced activation of caspase 3.


Deepwater rice genotypes are characterized by their elongation ability under excess water. This character is expressed approximately 4-6 wk after seeding. However, young germinating seedlings within 7-15 d after seeding can be identified for elongation ability from morphological characters such as mesocotyl elongation and length of the second leaf blade, which can be used to distinguish deepwater types from their nondeepwater counterparts.


ABSTRACT H-Ryk is an atypical receptor tyrosine kinase which differs from other members of this family at a number of conserved residues in the activation and nucleotide binding domains. Using a chimeric receptor approach, we demonstrate that H-Ryk has impaired catalytic activity. Despite the receptor's inability to undergo autophosphorylation or phosphorylate substrates, we demonstrate that ligand stimulation of the chimeric receptor results in activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. The ability to transduce signals is abolished by mutation of the invariant lysine (K334A) in subdomain II of H-Ryk. Further, by in vitro mutagenesis, we show that the amino acid substitutions in the activation domain of H-Ryk account for the loss of catalytic activity. In addition to the essential aspartate residue, either phenylalanine or glycine is required in the activation domain to maintain proper conformation of the catalytic domain and thus ensure receptor autophosphorylation. Homology modelling of the catalytic domain of H-Ryk provides a rationale for these findings. Thus, the signalling properties of H-Ryk are divergent from those of other classical receptor tyrosine kinases.


Historically, the objective of new technology development has been to enhance pilot performance (such as situation awareness) without causing problems such as Spatial Disorientation (SD). However, when improperly designed or poorly integrated, such technologies may actually reduce performance and increase the likelihood of unintended consequences. SD continues to be a serious problem in the military flight domain and it is critical that both the potential to cause problems as well as support effective defensive mitigation strategies be considered early in the development of new technologies. Past research has shown that new technologies can change operator behaviors. For example, the availability of visual information provided via Helmet-Mounted Displays (HMDs) results in pilots looking farther off-axis for longer durations than when the information is not provided. This paper discusses an ongoing flight test that is conducted on an instrumented L-29 fighter jet trainer that is equipped with a Spatial Audio Horizon Cueing (SAHC) system and an HMD with a conformal referenced (CR) symbology and a forward referenced (FR) symbology. The participants are fighter pilots conducting a series of flight maneuvers while tracking targets with an HMD cueing system. We are investigating the effectiveness of SAHC, in dynamic flight, in conjunction with HMD symbologies, as audio cueing has a high probability to transition into the latest generation fighter aircraft, where seamless integration will be critical to ensure reliable information is consistent with, and complementary to, the existing visual symbology.


PURPOSE
To establish the normal measurements of diameter and cross-sectional area of the Chinese extraocular muscles (EOMs) and optic nerve-sheath complex (ON) as seen on high-field (3-Tesla; 3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

METHODS
Coronal 3T MRI of the orbit (TR, 700 ms; TE, 15 ms; FOV, 160 mm; matrix, 256 x 256; slice thickness, 1 mm; and slice gap, 0) was performed on 80 normal Chinese volunteers. T1-weighted images were analyzed with computer-assisted segmentation. The diameter and the cross-sectional area of EOMs and the ON were measured from the image plane at the posterior aspect of the globe and at 7 mm behind the globe. The maximum diameter of EOM was measured from their respective reconstructed images.

RESULTS
The normal measurement (mean +/- SD) of diameter at the posterior aspect of the globe: medial rectus (MR), 3.6 +/- 0.4 mm; inferior rectus (IR), 3.7 +/- 0.8 mm; lateral rectus (LR), 2.3 +/- 0.5 mm; superior oblique (SO), 2.4 +/- 0.6 mm; and the ON, 5.4 +/- 0.7 mm. The normal measurement of diameter 7 mm behind the globe: MR, 3.2 +/- 0.6 mm; IR, 3.9 +/- 0.8 mm; LR, 4.0 +/- 0.8 mm; SO, 2.2 +/- 0.7 mm; and ON, 4.2 +/- 0.5 mm. The normal measurement of cross-sectional area at the posterior aspect of the globe: superior muscle group (SMG), 28.2 +/- 6.5 mm(2); MR, 25.5 +/- 3.2 mm(2); IR, 26.9 +/- 7.2 mm(2); LR, 17.3 +/- 3.9 mm(2); SO, 10.5 +/- 3.5 mm(2); and ON, 27.6 +/- 6.1 mm(2). The normal measurement of cross-sectional area 7 mm behind the globe: SMG, 24.1 +/- 6.6 mm(2); MR, 19.1 +/- 4.6 mm(2); IR, 29.5 +/- 6.6 mm(2); LR, 32.3 +/- 6.5 mm(2); SO, 9.7 +/- 3.9 mm(2); and ON, 17.1 +/- 2.9 mm(2). The normal measurement of maximum diameter: SMG, 4.8 +/- 1.1 mm; MR, 5.1 +/- 0.9 mm; IR, 5.4 +/- 1.0 mm; and LR, 4.5 +/- 0.9 mm.

CONCLUSIONS
The Chinese 3T MRI EOMs and ON normative data may be useful in determining pathologic enlargement of the EOMs and ON in various orbital conditions. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00348413.).


The Lewis acidity of primary, secondary, and tertiary boranes with phenyl, pentafluorophenyl, and all three isomers of the C-substituted icosahedral carboranes (ortho, meta, and para) was investigated by computing their fluoride, hydride, and ammonia affinities as well as their global electrophilicity indices and LUMO energies. From these calculations, it was determined that the substituent effects on the Lewis acidity of these boranes follow the trend of ortho-carborane > meta-carborane > para-carborane > C6F5 > C6H5.


Auditors usually seek cost-effective and efficient techniques to accumulate evidence in an effort tu express their opinions on financial statements. One such technique is audit sampling, and in the United Kingdom auditors use sample sizes as small as 25 items. This study uses the Monte Carlo simulation technique to determine whether an auditor's opinion using both different sample size and error levels is within an acceptable degree of accuracy. The results suggest that samples of fewer than 50 items are not large enough to provide a successful sampling plan unless the error value is very low. To improve the sampling plan and the quality of the audit, the sample size should, therefore, be increased to more than 50 items.


Inguinal bladder hernia is a rare clinical condition, and only a small number of reported cases have been treated by laparoscopic surgery. In the present case, the patient was a 78‐year‐old man who presented to our emergency department with a chief complaint of right inguinal bulge and pain. CT imaging revealed an incarcerated right inguinal hernia containing the small intestine and a portion of the urinary bladder. We performed manual reduction of the incarcerated intestine, and he was admitted to the surgical ward for follow‐up. On the 19th day after discharge, recurrence of incarceration developed, and he was readmitted after manual reduction. A laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal repair was performed. After careful reduction of the protruding bladder from the hernial orifice, we repaired the right inguinal hernia with a mesh prosthesis. We experienced a rare case of right indirect inguinal bladder hernia that was treated successfully with laparoscopic repair.


BACKGROUND
Despite the fact that melanoma is an easy approachable tumor for diagnosis, the incidence of this skin cancer is still increasing. Histopathological assessment of melanocytic tumors is the gold standard in melanoma diagnosis and represents a problematic aspect of dermatology and pathology. Over the past decades many efforts have been made in determining histological characteristics influencing the prognosis and survival of patients with clinically localized primary melanoma. Some of these parameters also proved to be essential for tumor staging and choosing adequate clinical management.

OBJECTIVE
We present a retrospective study of 21 melanoma cases with histopathological errors or incomplete path reports, with the intention to raise awareness about the importance of an accurate diagnosis for the management of these cases and for patient prognosis.

METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed data from pathology reports and discharge medical records from 21 patients diagnosed with melanoma between 2006 and 2014 and treated in other hospitals that presented in our clinic for second opinion. All slides were reviewed by an authorized dermatopathologist and the new path report was compared with the other ones, presented by the patients.

RESULTS
The majority of the path reports were incomplete, with absent (35.7%) or wrong (35.7%) tumor thickness, making impossible to stage the tumor. Absence of histopathological diagnosis was noticed in 3 cases and a wrong diagnosis was determined in 3 patients. Other missing parameters were ulceration status, mitotic rate, microsatellitosis and surgical margins evaluation. missing or incorrect determined in half of the cases.

CONCLUSIONS
This study presents the fact that there is a lack of relevant information in the path reports of melanoma cases, making impossible to stage and treat this patients, with adverse clinical impact. We want to emphasize the importance of a standardized histopathological evaluation of melanocytic tumors, consistent with the generally accepted standards, leading to improved healthcare quality and reduced medico legal risks associated with melanoma.


High-speed trains with maximum speed of 300㎞/h, named KTX, have started revenue services since April 2004. Is becoming big problem where currently the KTX train because excessive braking noise at a station platform. The KTX braking noise follows in operating mode of KTX train and important railroad station where the quality appears different, the quality against hereupon from the commerce vehicle from the research which it sees it executes and comparison to analyze.


Aims: We evaluated serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) as an indicator of gentamicin toxicity and compared it with N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and creatinine. Methods: 20 bone fracture in-patients receiving gentamicin 80 mg TDS for 3 days. Subjects had normal kidney function and had no history or sign of hypertension. Serum and urine samples were collected before and 3 days after drug administration. Samples analyzed for ACE, NAG, BUN, creatinine, sodium, and potassium. Results: Our results showed that urine NAG activity increased significantly at the 3rd day. Serum creatinine level and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) while still at a normal range showed slight but significant changes at this time. This may indicate some renal damage. Serum ACE activity decreased significantly at the 3rd day. Conclusion: These results indicate serum ACE can be used as a good indicator of renal damage in patients receiving gentamicin.


Does it matter whether one randomly initializes a neural network (NN) from Gaussian, uniform, or other distributions? We show the answer is "yes" in some parameter tensors (the so-called matrix-like parameters) but "no" in others when the NN is wide. This is a specific instance of a more general universality principle for Tensor Programs (TP) that informs precisely when the limit of a program depends on the distribution of its initial matrices and vectors. To obtain this principle, we develop the theory of non-Gaussian Tensor Programs. As corollaries, we obtain all previous consequences of the TP framework (such as NNGP/NTK correspondence, Free Indepedence Principle, Dynamical Dichotomy Theorem, and µ -parametrization) for NNs with non-Gaussian weights. 1


OpenFlow has recently emerged as a powerful paradigm to help build dynamic, adaptive and agile networks. By decoupling control plane from data plane, OpenFlow allows network operators to program a centralized intelligence, OpenFlow controller, to manage network-wide traffic flows to meet the changing needs. However, from the security's point of view, a buggy or even malicious controller could compromise the control logic, and then the entire network. Even worse, the recent attack Stuxnet on industrial control systems also indicates the similar, severe threat to OpenFlow controllers from the commercial operating systems they are running on. In this paper, we comprehensively studied the attack vectors against the OpenFlow critical component, controller, and proposed a cross layer diversity approach that enables OpenFlow controllers to detect attacks, corruptions, failures, and then automatically continue correct execution. Case studies demonstrate that our approach can protect OpenFlow controllers from threats coming from compromised operating systems and themselves.


Objectives To investigate whether balance and mobility training at home using Wii Fit is feasible and can provide clinical benefits. Design Single-group, pre–post intervention study. Setting Participants' home. Participants 20 children with cerebral palsy (6–12 years). Intervention Participants undertook 8 weeks of home-based Wii Fit training in addition to usual care. Main measures Feasibility was determined by adherence, performance, acceptability and safety. Clinical outcomes were strength, balance, mobility and participation measured at baseline (preintervention) and 8 weeks (postintervention). Results The training was feasible with 99% of training completed; performance on all games improved; parents understood the training (4/5), it did not interfere in life (3.8/5), was challenging (3.9/5) and would recommend it (3.9/5); and there were no injurious falls. Strength increased in dorsiflexors (Mean Difference (MD) 2.2 N m, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.2, p<0.001), plantarflexors (MD 2.2 N m, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.1, p<0.001) and quadriceps (MD 7.8 N m, 95% CI 5.2 to 10.5, p<0.001). Preferred walking speed increased (MD 0.25 m/s, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.41, p<0.01), fast speed increased (MD 0.24 m/s, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.35, p<0.001) and distance over 6 min increased (MD 28 m, 95% CI 10 to 45, p<0.01). Independence in participation increased (MD 1.4 out of 40, 95% CI 0.0 to 2.8, p=0.04). Conclusions Balance and mobility training at home using Wii Fit was feasible and safe and has the potential to improve strength and mobility, suggesting that a randomised trial is warranted. Trial registration number ACTRN12616001362482.


This study was conducted to investigate the impact of restaurant facilities, belonging to a B&B and leased to a professional restaurateur, upon the revenue of the B&B. This study assessed the physical demands placed on the B&B operator by an on-premises restaurant. Lack of sufficient data precluded proving the premise that an on-premises restaurant leased to a restaurateur would increase the income of the B&B without placing undue physical demands on the B&B operator. However, many contributing factors support the importance of a B&B having an on-premises restaurant that is leased to a professional restaurateur.


ABSTRACT Few studies in the geographical literature have focused on historic rural routes, which are traditionally considered to be part of the farming landscape. Today, this subject can be tackled from the perspective of changing rural spaces and the disappearance of traditional landscapes and societies. This work studies the evolution of routes that connected municipalities in a mountainous region in the north of the Madrid province, focusing on the creation and disappearance of one particular historic rural route. Various information sources are used: documentary and archival sources, fieldwork for geographical dating of the route and informal interviews and geoethnographical analysis of the elderly population of permanent residents in the area.


group 1 23%. McCrirrick and Hunter claim that this is significantly different with p < 0.05. A Chi-squared test of homogeneity with Yates' continuity correction' gives a nonsignificant result (p = 0.08). Excluding the continuity correction the significance level becomes p = 0.048 (i.e. p < 0.05). It is well-known that inclusion of the continuity correction greatly improves the validity of the Chi-squared test in this 2 x 2 situation, here comparing the proportions of cases with pain levels 1 + 2 + 3 and level 0 in the two groups. Rather than combine pain levels I , 2 and 3 together a Chi-squared test of homogeneity can be performed on the 2 x 4 data set of their Table 2 . This gives p = 0.095. To overcome fears that the Chi-squared test may not be appropriate in this small sample case a randomisation test',' was carried out. Ten thousand simulations gave p = 0.090 (SD 0.003). No significant difference is observed with these data. A similar randomisation test for the 2 x 2 data case described above yielded p = 0.051 (SD 0.002) which confirmed the nonsignificance of the Chi-square test result. The only significant result is that comparing the proportions of severe pain, level 3, and nonsevere pain, levels O + 1 +2, in the two groups. A Chi-squared test with continuity correction gave p = 0.045. Fisher's exact 2 x 2 test3 gave p = 0.019, and a randomisation test with 10000 simulations gave p = 0.020 (SD 0.001). The result quoted in the paper was p < 0.025. Injection of propofol at 445°C significantly reduced the incidence of severe pain experienced by patients, but more data would be needed to assess the effect of low temperature on the incidence of mild or moderate pain.


Data leakage and disclosure to attackers is a significant problem in embedded systems, considering the ability of attackers to get physical access to the systems. We present methods to protect memory data leakage in tamper-proof embedded systems. We present methods that exploit memory supply voltage manipulation to change the memory contents, leading to an operational and reusable memory or to destroy memory cell circuitry. For the case of memory data change, we present scenaria for data change to a known state and to a random state. The data change scenaria are effective against attackers who cannot detect the existence of the protection circuitry; furthermore, original data can be calculated in the case of data change to a known state, if the attacker identifies the protection circuitry and its operation. The methods that change memory contents to a random state or destroy memory cell circuitry lead to irreversible loss of the original data. However, since the known state can be used to calculate the original data.


Many communication protocols operating over the modern Internet use
hostnames. These often resolve to multiple IP addresses, each of which
may have different performance and connectivity characteristics. Since
specific addresses or address families (IPv4 or IPv6) may be blocked,
broken, or sub-optimal on a network, clients that attempt multiple
connections in parallel have a chance of establishing a connection
more quickly. This document specifies requirements for algorithms that
reduce this user-visible delay and provides an example algorithm,
referred to as "Happy Eyeballs". This document obsoletes the original
algorithm description in RFC 6555.


The spectral absorption due to parallel bands of nitrous oxide is computed in the region of the ν3 fundamental for temperatures of 200°K and 300°K. The harmonic-oscillator approximation was used to compute the relative intensities of vibrational transitions for which no published data are available. The total integrated intensity of all of the transitions considered in the calculation was normalized to a value of 1850 cm−2 atm−1 at 300°K Values of the spectral absorption computed using the quasi-statistical band model and a half-width of 0.05 cm−1 at 300°K are compared with published experimental data for various amounts of absorbing gas and total pressures; the results are seen to be in good agreement. A comparison of the spectral absorption obtained using the quasi-statistical band model and the strong-line and weak-line approximations is also given.


Several studies have examined the usefulness of the Warrington Recognition Memory Test-Words as a measure to detect suspect effort, although samples have generally been small and/or comprised of simulators rather than "real world" credible and noncredible patients. The current study examined the Warrington Recognition Memory Test-Words total score and response time of "real world" noncredible patients (as determined by motive to feign, failure on > or =2 independent measures of response bias, low cognitive scores inconsistent with normal ADLs; n = 190) versus credible patients (as determined by no motive to feign, failure of < or =1 measure of response bias; n = 124) derived from an archival database of individuals from the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Outpatient Neuropsychology Service, and the private practice of the second author. Noncredible patients obtained significantly lower total scores and longer times to complete the task. A total correct cutoff of < or =42 was found to have excellent specificity (91.9%) and sensitivity (88.9%), whereas a time cutoff of > or =207'' was associated with 65.5% sensitivity at 90.7% specificity, and when the time cut-score was used in combination with the total score cutoff, an additional 5% of the noncredible participants were captured, raising overall sensitivity to 93.7% (at 87.1% specificity). Thus, the Warrington Recognition Memory Test-Words, although not originally created for the purposes of measuring suspect effort, appears to be an excellent measure for detecting response bias on neuropsychological testing.


Background: The outcomes of smoking have generated considerable clinical interest in recent years. Although people from different countries are more interested in the topic of quit smoking during the winter, few studies have tested this hypothesis. The current study aimed to quantify public interest in quitting smoking via Google.Methods: We use Google Trends to obtain the Internet search query volume for terms relating to quit smoking in major northern and southern hemisphere countries in this research. Normally search volumes for the term "quit smoking + stop smoking + smoking-cessation" were retrieved within the USA, the UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia from January 2004 to December 2018. Seasonal effects were investigated using cosinor analysis and seasonal decomposition of time series models.Results: Significant seasonal variation patterns in those search terms were revealed by cosinor analysis and demonstrated by the evidence from Google Trends analysis in the representative countries including the USA (pcos = 2.36×10-7), the UK (pcos < 2.00×10-16), Canada (pcos < 2.00×10-16), Ireland (pcos <2.00×10-16) ,Australia (pcos = 5.13×10-6) and New Zealand (pcos = 4.87×10-7). Time series plots emphasized the consistency of seasonal trends with peaks in winter / late autumn by repeating in nearly all years. The overall trend of search volumes for quitting smoking, observed by dynamic series analysis, has declined from 2004 to 2018.Conclusions: The preliminary evidence from Google Trends search tool showed a significant seasonal variation and a decreasing trend for the RSV of quit smoking. Our novel findings in smoking-cessation epidemiology need to be verified with further studies, and the mechanisms underlying these findings must be clarified.


Background There is increasing evidence that a history of childhood abuse and neglect is not uncommon among individuals who experience mental disorder and that childhood trauma experiences are associated with adult psychopathology. Although several interview and self-report instruments for retrospective trauma assessment have been developed, many focus on sexual abuse (SexAb) rather than on multiple types of trauma or adversity. Methods Within the European Prediction of Psychosis Study, the Trauma and Distress Scale (TADS) was developed as a new self-report assessment of multiple types of childhood trauma and distressing experiences. The TADS includes 43 items and, following previous measures including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, focuses on five core domains: emotional neglect (EmoNeg), emotional abuse (EmoAb), physical neglect (PhyNeg), physical abuse (PhyAb), and SexAb. This study explores the psychometric properties of the TADS (internal consistency and concurrent validity) in 692 participants drawn from the general population who completed a mailed questionnaire, including the TADS, a depression self-report and questions on help-seeking for mental health problems. Inter-method reliability was examined in a random sample of 100 responders who were reassessed in telephone interviews. Results After minor revisions of PhyNeg and PhyAb, internal consistencies were good for TADS totals and the domain raw score sums. Intra-class coefficients for TADS total score and the five revised core domains were all good to excellent when compared to the interviewed TADS as a gold standard. In the concurrent validity analyses, the total TADS and its all core domains were significantly associated with depression and help-seeking for mental problems as proxy measures for traumatisation. In addition, robust cutoffs for the total TADS and its domains were calculated. Conclusions Our results suggest the TADS as a valid, reliable, and clinically useful instrument for assessing retrospectively reported childhood traumatisation.


Acute scrotal edema associated with dengue fever is a rare and self limiting condition resolving in a few days without any complication or sequelae. We report two cases of dengue fever in father and son which presented simultaneously with acute scrotal edema.


【We reported a 48-year-old man with Behcet disease, who presented with right hemiparesis. His first brain MRI showed multiple enhanced lesions. During the recovery, he had an episode of left 6th nerve palsy without new lesions in a follow-up MRI. Third episode was cervical myelitis, resulting in respiratory difficulty and quadriplegia without any reflexes. The myelitis was not responsive to immunotherapy. He died of respiratory failure complicated with pneumonia. This is a rare case of full-blown neuro-Behcet disease.】


The identification of complex periodic windows in the two-dimensional parameter space of certain dynamical systems has recently attracted considerable interest. While for discrete systems, a discrimination between periodic and chaotic windows can be easily made based on the maximum Lyapunov exponent of the system, this remains a challenging task for continuous systems, especially if only short time series are available (e.g., in case of experimental data). In this work, we demonstrate that nonlinear measures based on recurrence plots obtained from such trajectories provide a practicable alternative for numerically detecting shrimps. Traditional diagonal line-based measures of recurrence quantification analysis as well as measures from complex network theory are shown to allow an excellent classification of periodic and chaotic behavior in parameter space. Using the well-studied Rössler system as a benchmark example, we find that the average path length and the clustering coefficient of the resulting recurrence networks are particularly powerful discriminatory statistics for the identification of complex periodic windows.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) is a recent addition to the treatment options for renal calculi. Therefore, the indications, as well as the predictors of success, are still being studied. Herein, we report a retrospective comparison of RIRS performed as the primary treatment and as second-line therapy, mostly after shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) failure.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Between October 2001 and August 2004, 93 patients underwent RIRS (11% of all ureteroscopies), all by the same surgeon. Patients were divided into two groups: group 1 (n = 42) consisted of patients undergoing RIRS as a first-line modality and group 2 (n = 51) of those having RIRS as secondline therapy. The indications for RIRS in group 1 were renal calculi with prior placement of a double-J stent (30%), renal + ureteral stone (25%), pushback of ureteral stone during ureteroscopy (22%), a radiolucent stone (8%), coagulopathy, and abnormal renal anatomy. In group 2, the patients were initially treated by SWL (92%) or percutaneous nephrolithotomy. The groups did not differ significantly in demographic characteristics, mean stone size (9.5 and 8.7 mm, respectively), or stone location (in both 60% in the lower pole). The variables analyzed were operating time, complications, length of hospitalization, and stone-free rate.

RESULTS
The overall stone-free rate was 73%. However, the stone-free rate was significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2: 80% v 67%, respectively. A higher complication rate and longer hospitalization were noted in group 2, although the difference was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS
When RIRS is performed after failed SWL, it has a lower success rate and may be associated with a higher morbidity rate than if it is performed as first-line therapy. These results suggest that the success rate of RIRS may be influenced by the same negative factors that reduce SWL success. Therefore, if a patient fails SWL, careful consideration should be given to the best second-line therapy comparing RIRS with percutaneous stone removal.


Summary The 'Endangered' Sakalava Rail Amaurornis olivieri is endemic to wetlands in western Madagascar, where it has been recorded between the Betsiboka river in the north and the Mangoky river in the south. Between August 2003 and November 2006, including dry and wet seasons, we surveyed 36 potentially suitable wetlands throughout its known range. We found Sakalava Rails at five sites: Lacs Kinkony, Ampandra, Amparihy, Sahapy and Mandrozo. At each site the population was small (12–39 individuals) and the highest density was 20 individuals km−2. We found up to 67 birds in each field visit and the total number of birds (sum of maxima at each site) seen was 100. We estimate the total population at the five sites to be 215 rails. We cannot confirm that the population lies within the range estimated in the current Red List (250–999 individuals), although this may yet be proven correct. The typical breeding habitat of Sakalava Rail is lotic marshes with a mixture of large areas of open water, reed Phragmites mauritianus and floating Salvinia hastata. The major threats to Sakalava Rail appear to be habitat loss caused by wetland conversion to rice fields and by fires, disturbance by fishermen and people from local villages, and hunting. Other processes that may alter the ecological character of wetlands and so affect their suitability for Sakalava Rails, such as hydrological change or the effects of exotic fish or vegetation, remain to be investigated.


In the face of large-scale process variations, statistical timing methodology has advanced significantly over the last few years, and statistical path selection takes advantage of it in at-speed testing. In deterministic path selection, the separation of path selection and test generation is known to require time consuming iteration between the two processes. This paper shows that in statistical path selection, this is not only the case, but also the quality of results can be severely degraded even after the iteration. To deal with this issue, we consider testability in the first place by integrating a satisfiability (SAT) solver, and this necessitates a new statistical path selection method. We integrate the SAT solver in a novel way that leverages the conflict analysis of modern SAT solvers, which provides more than 4X speedup without special optimizations of the SAT solver for this particular application. Our proposed method is based on a generalized path criticality metric whose properties allow efficient pruning. Our experimental results show that the proposed method achieves 47% better quality of results on average, and up to 361X speedup compared to statistical path selection followed by test generation.


OBJECTIVE
This study aims to investigate the clinical visiting and prognosis of schoolchildren in Xi'an after immature permanent tooth trauma and explore the prognostic factors associated with this type of trauma.

METHODS
Through cluster and simple random sampling surveys, 4 013 pupils in schools from nine districts and four counties in Xi'an were sampled, respectively. All pupils and their parents were requested to complete a questionnaire, and children who had immature permanent tooth trauma answered a separate questionnaire and underwent oral examinations. The data of the survey were analyzed statistically.

RESULTS
The amount of valid questionnaire was 3 641. Clinical visiting rate related to immature permanent tooth trauma of Xi'an schoolchildren was low (38.2%). Gender and trauma type were the factors related to clinical visiting for dental trauma concerns. The incidence of poor prognosis was 29.7%. The incidence of poor prognosis of patients with clinical visiting (35.4%) was higher than that of patients without clinical visiting (20.6%).

CONCLUSIONS
Clinical visiting rate related to immature permanent tooth trauma in Xi'an schoolchildren is extremely low, and incidence of poor prognosis is high.


Abstract : In this study, the antioxidative effect and protective potential against oxidative damage of extract and fractions from broccoli were investigated under in vitro and cellular system. The methanol (MeOH) extracts of broccoli flowers and sprouts were partitioned as dichloromethane, n -butanol (BuOH) and aqueous fractions. The comparison of antioxidative effect of broccoli flowers and sprouts showed that broccoli sprouts exerted the more effective protective activity from 2,2'-azobis (2-aminopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH)-induced oxidative stress in LLC-PK 1 porcine renal epithelial cell. In addition, the extract and fractions from broccoli sprouts showed strong scavenging effect of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical and the BuOH fraction exerted the strongest activity. Therefore, the BuOH fraction was evaluated as the most active fraction with strong radical scavenging activity among the fractions of broccoli flowers and sprouts. The present study suggests the antioxidative potential against free radical-induced oxidative damage of flowers and sprouts of broccoli. In addition, the BuOH fraction of broccoli is considered as the active fraction with antioxidative effect.


Feminist studies of female genital cutting (FGC) provide ample evidence that many women exercise effective agency with respect to this practice, both as accommodators and as resisters. The influence of culture on autonomy is ambiguous: women who resist cultural mandates for FGC do not necessarily enjoy greater autonomy than do those women who accommodate the practice, yet it is clear that some social contexts are more conducive to autonomy than others. In this paper, I explore the implications for autonomy theory of these understandings of the relation between culture, FGC, and women's agency. I review the range of worldwide FGC practices – including "corrective" surgery for "ambiguous genitalia" in Western cultures as well as the various initiation rites observed in some African and Asian cultures – and the diverse cultural rationales for different forms of FGC. I argue that neither latitudinarian, value-neutral accounts of autonomy nor restrictive, value-saturated accounts adequately explain women's agentic position with respect to FGC. I then analyze a number of educational programs that have enhanced women's autonomy, especially by strengthening their introspection, empathy, and imagination. Such programs, which engage women's autonomy skills without exposing them to autonomy-disabling cultural alienation, promote autonomy-within-culture. This understanding of autonomy as socially situated, however, entails neither endorsement of FGC nor resignation to its persistence.


To develop a novel in vitro system for predicting intestinal drug absorption using human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell–derived intestinal epithelial cells, the cells need to have sufficient drug-metabolizing enzyme and drug transporter activities. We found that cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling plays an important role in the differentiation of human iPS cells into intestinal epithelial cells. In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the effects of signaling activation in the intestinal differentiation of human iPS cells and the pharmacokinetic characteristics of human iPS cell–derived intestinal epithelial cells. Human iPS cells were differentiated into intestinal stem cells using activin A and fibroblast growth factor 2. Subsequently, the intestinal stem cells were maturated into intestinal epithelial cells by treatment with 8-bromo-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (8-Br-cAMP) and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), which activate cAMP signaling. The expression levels of intestinal markers and pharmacokinetics-related genes in the differentiated cells were markedly increased by using 8-Br-cAMP and IBMX. In the cells differentiated with the compound we observed cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 inducibility via pregnane X receptor and vitamin D receptor. The metabolic activities of CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP3A4/5, and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, which are expressed in the human small intestine, were also markedly increased. Furthermore, uptake of glycylsarcosine via peptide transporter 1 was markedly increased. The cells differentiated with the compounds also had drug transporter activities via organic anion transporters and P-glycoprotein. This study is the first to report that the activation of cAMP signaling promotes differentiation of human iPS cell–derived intestinal epithelial cells.


Liquid‐liquid equilibrium experiments indicate that there is a strong thermodynamic driving force for the reversible sequestration of cis‐dichloroethene (DCE) within microbially active dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) source zones containing chlorinated ethene solvents. Assessment of the importance of degradation product sequestration, however, requires accurate description of the mass transfer kinetics. Partitioning kinetics of cis‐DCE were assessed in a series of transport experiments conducted in sandy columns containing uniformly entrapped tetrachloroethene (PCE)‐nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPL). Effluent data from these experiments were simulated using an analytical solution adapted from the sorption literature. The solution permits interrogation of the relative importance of mass transfer resistance in the aqueous phase and NAPL. Column data and simulations suggest that the kinetic exchange of cis‐DCE may be described with mass transfer correlations developed for the dissolution of pure component NAPLs. Diffusive transport within the entrapped ganglia was relatively fast, offering limited resistance to mass exchange. These results (1) establish the applicability of dissolution‐based mass transfer correlations for modeling both absorption and dissolution of degradation products, (2) quantify the thermodynamic driving force for the partitioning of cis‐DCE in PCE‐NAPL by assessing the ternary phase behavior, and (3) guide incorporation and deployment of partitioning kinetics into multiphase compositional simulators when assessing or designing metabolic reductive dechlorination within DNAPL source zones. While focus is placed on examining degradation product partitioning in DNAPL source zones, results may also be useful when considering rate limitations in other liquid‐liquid partitioning processes, such as partitioning tracer tests.


Being sessile filter feeders, sponges may be disadvantaged by sediments in many ways, e.g. through clogging and burial. However, in order to correctly recognize negative effects of sediments in the field, natural relationships of sponge taxa adapted to a life with sediments need to be understood. The present publication reviews available literature and provides observations on natural and beneficial interactions of sponges with sediments, distinguishing several strategies: (1) Saving energy through sediment incorporation, reducing or replacing spicule production commonly occurs in keratose, verongimorph, tethyid and poecilosclerid sponges, which often received scientific names referring to sediments. (2) Forming sediment crusts externally or embedded in surface tissues reinforces outer layers, provides shade, and for external crusts camouflage and shelter from spongivory and desiccation. External crusts often occur in the tethyids and axinellids, while surface armour is most common in keratose sponges. (3) Anchoring in soft sediments provides a selective advantage for space colonization. This is mainly achieved in the hexactinellid, polymastiid and spirophorine sponges by using spicules (predominantly in deeper water), commonly in endopsammic sponges by rootlets, basal agglutination and basal incorporation of particles, and in various groups by attachment to buried materials (shallow water). (4) Living at least partially embedded in sediments (psammobiosis) appears to be best developed in Oceanapia spp. and bioeroding sponges, generates shelter from various external conditions and reduces the risk of spongivory. Typical morphological characters of sediment-adapted sponges are thus sediment skeletons and surface crusts (reinforcement), stalks and fistules (elevation above sediments), spicule tufts and root-systems (anchoring).


An urgent need for improved thermal management of microelectronic systems has emerged as a direct consequence of increasing integration densities, both at chip and packaging level. Current thermal interface materials have been identified as a major bottleneck, hindering reduction of junction to ambient thermal resistance to future required levels (< 0.2 KW-1). In this paper we introduce and characterize the thermal performance of a nanostructured polymer-metal composite aimed at thermal interface material applications. The composite consists of a high porosity polymer nanofiber network infiltrated with a low melting temperature alloy. The inherent structure of the composite provides all-metal high thermally conductive pathways from surface to surface in assemblies. Results indicate total thermal resistances as low 8.5 Kmm2W-1 at bondline thicknesses of approximately 70 mum, corresponding to an effective thermal conductivity of up to 8 Wm-1K-1.


Ischemic and hemorrhagic complications are major determinants of survival in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients undergoing coronary surgery. We investigated the association of preoperative platelet reactivity to P2Y12 antagonists with ischemic and hemorrhagic complications after Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass surgery (OPCAB) in ACS patients who received dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) within 5 days prior to surgery. This prospective, observational study with 177 patients compared the incidence of perioperative major bleeding and major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) in relation to the tertile distribution of the % inhibitory response to P2Y12 antagonists, as measured by a thromboelastography platelet mapping assay. The incidences of perioperative major bleeding and MACEs were similar in relation to the tertile distribution of inhibitory response to P2Y12 antagonists. The % inhibitory responses to P2Y12 antagonists between patients who did or did not exhibit MACEs, and with or without major bleeding, were 58 ± 20% and 56 ± 20% (p = 0.578) and 57 ± 19% and 56 ± 21% (p = 0.923), respectively. In ACS patients who received DAPT close to OPCAB, the platelet inhibitory response to P2Y12 antagonists was not associated with ischemic or hemorrhagic complications. OPCAB may obviate the need for routine platelet function testing for ACS patients requiring DAPT and surgical revascularization. Clinical Registration Number: NCT02184884.


The extraction and identification of silk residues in tombs is of great significance for studying the distribution and spread of early silk. However, the complex organic matter in the tomb hinders the accurate identification of silk. In this study, a double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on immunomagnetic beads (IMBs) was developed for the rapid enrichment and detection of silk residues. The double-antibody sandwich ELISA method established by pairing the IMBs prepared by the silk fibroin monoclonal antibody SF-3 and the silk fibroin monoclonal-labeled antibody bio-SF-1 had the highest detection sensitivity, with a linear detection range of 10 to 104 ng mL-1 and a detection limit of 5.12 ng mL-1. This method was excellent in the extraction and analysis of silk residues from archaeological imprints and soil samples and successfully identified silk residues in samples at the final stage of silk degradation (physical invisible silk). The proteomics analysis results demonstrated the feasibility and practicability of this method.


Abstract Background Adenovirus (ADV) infection after kidney transplantation (KT) can range from asymptomatic to severe disease. Cell-mediated immunity plays an important role in preventing disease progression. We aimed to investigate the role of absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and ADV-specific CD8+ T cell immunity to predict the severity of ADV infection in KT recipients Methods We included all adult KT recipients with ADV infection at a single transplant center between January 2015 and March 2018. ADV infection/disease were defined as detectable ADV DNA load in plasma/plus symptoms. We defined severe ADV disease as having plasma ADV DNA load >6.0 log copies/mL and/or disseminated disease (≥2 specific organ symptoms). ADV specific CD8+ T cells were stimulated with whole ADV peptide, stained by intracellular cytokine staining and interrogated by flow cytometry. ALC (all patients) and ADV-specific CD8+ T-cell (7 index cases) were measured at diagnosis. The association of ALC and disease progression were assessed in those with and without severe disease. Results ADV infection was diagnosed in 14 KT recipients, 12 (86%) patients were male with a median age of 44 (IQR, 37–58) years. Ten (71%) recipients underwent deceased donor KT and none received anti-thymocyte globulin for induction therapy. ADV infection occurred at median of 14 (IQR, 2–37) months after KT. Eight (57%) recipients were defined as having severe ADV disease including disseminated ADV disease (n = 5). Median peak plasma ADV load was higher in those with severe disease compared with those without severe disease [6.0 (IQR 5.9–6.0) vs. 5.3 (IQR 3.9–5.4) log copies/mL (P = 0.003)]. Median ALC and ADV-specific CD8+ T cells at diagnosis were 1,000 (IQR 623–1,350) and 0.003 cells/mm3, respectively. KT recipients with severe disease had lower median ALC at diagnosis compared with those without severe disease [714 (IQR 419–860) vs. 1,264 (IQR 972–2,086) cells/mm3; P = 0.04) (Figure 1). Those with ALC <1,000 cells/mm3 at diagnosis had greater risk of severe disease [OR 35 (95% CI, 2.6–1,450); P = 0.006]. Conclusion Lack of ALC and ADV-specific CD8+ T cell immunity (limited data) at diagnosis could potentially be immunological predictors of severe ADV infection in KT recipients. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


Worldwide interest in the biological effects of ELF (extremely low frequency, <1 kHz) electromagnetic fields has grown significantly. Health professionals and government administrators and regulators, scientists and engineers, and, importantly, an increasing number of individuals in the general public are interested in this health issue. The goal of research at the cellular level is to identify cellular responses to ELF fields, to develop a dose threshold for such interactions, and with such information to formulate and test appropriate interaction mechanisms. This review is selective and will discuss the most recent cellular studies directed at these goals which relate to power line, sinusoidal ELF fields. In these studies an interaction site at the cell membrane is by consensus a likely candidate, since changes in ion transport, ligand-receptor events such as antibody binding, and G protein activation have been reported. These changes strongly indicate that signal transduction (ST) can be influenced. Also, ELF fields are reported to influence enzyme activation, gene expression, protein synthesis, and cell proliferation, which are triggered by earlier ST events at the cell membrane. The concept of ELF fields altering early cell membrane events and thereby influencing intracellular cell function via the ST cascade is perhaps the most plausible biological framework currently being investigated for understanding ELF effects on cells. For example, the consequence of an increase due to ELF fields in mitogenesis, the final endpoint of the ST cascade, is an overall increase in the probability of mutagenesis and consequently cancer, according to the Ames epigenetic model of carcinogenesis. Consistent with this epigenetic mechanism and the ST pathway to carcinogenesis is recent evidence that ELF fields can alter breast cancer cell proliferation and can act as a copromoter in vitro. The most important dosimetric question being addressed currently is whether the electric (E) or the magnetic (B) field, or if combinations of static B and time-varying B fields represent an exposure metric for the cell. This question relates directly to understanding fundamental interaction mechanisms and to the development of a rationale for ELF dose threshold guidelines. The weight of experimental evidence indicates that an induced E field according to Faraday's law of induction during magnetic field exposures elicits cellular effects. An E-field-mediated interaction has interesting consequences for microdosimetry at the cellular level and is mechanistically consistent with an interaction at the cell surface, since the E field does not penetrate beyond the cell membrane. Recently, several studies have suggested that an ELF B field by itself or in combination with a static B field may elicit cellular effects. Thus in addition to E-field-mediated effects, other interaction mechanisms as yet not fully understood may operate at the cellular level; this complexity is in contrast to the case for ionizing radiation. In addition to the question of an exposure field metric, the biological state of the target cell is important in ELF interactions. Biological factors such as cell type, cell cycle, cell activation, age of donor animal, passage number of cell line, presence of specific growth/mitogenic factors, temperature, shape, and cell density/packing during exposures have been shown to play a role in mediating ELF interactions with cells. Most recently, reports of single-cell studies usher in a new direction for research that can be termed microbioelectromagnetics. Single-cell digital microscopy introduces a new approach to answer the above questions with potential for real-time microdosimetry and bioeffects limited only by the spatial resolution of state-of-the-art microscopy, which is approximately 0.1 /μm. Digital imaging microscopy should therefore permit the quantitative assessment of spatial and temporal features of ELF field interactions within living single cells.


The concept of virtual reality, although evolving due to technological advances, has always been fundamentally defined as a revolutionary way for humans to interact with computers. The revolution comes from the concept of immersion, which is the essence of virtual reality. Users are no longer passive observers of information, but active participants that have leaped through the computer screen and are now part of the information. This has tremendous implications on how users interact with computer information in the virtual world.
Perhaps the most common form of interaction in a virtual environment is locomotion. The term locomotion is used to indicate a user's control of movement through the virtual environment. There are many ways for a user to change his viewpoint in the virtual world. Because virtual reality is a relatively young field, no standard interfaces exist for interaction, particularly locomotion, in a virtual world. There have been few attempts to formally classify the ways in which virtual locomotion can occur. These classification schemes do not take into account the various interaction devices such as joysticks and vehicle mock-ups that are used to perform the locomotion. Nor do they account for the differences in display devices, such as head-mounted displays, monitors, or projected walls.
This work creates a new classification system for virtual locomotion methods. The classification provides guidelines for designers of new VR applications, on what types of locomotion are best suited to the requirements of new applications. Unlike previous taxonomies, this work incorporates display devices, interaction devices, and travel tasks, along with identifying two major components of travel: translation and rotation. The classification also identifies important sub-components of these two.
In addition, we have experimentally validated the importance of display device and rotation method in this new classification system. This was accomplished through a large-scale user experiment. Users performed an architectural walkthrough of a virtual building. Both objective and subjective measures indicate that choice of display device is extremely important to the task of locomotion, and that for each display device, the choice of rotation method is also important.


Background: Aldesleukin (IL2) has been successfully used to treat cancer, with the potential for durable responses. However, its efficacy is limited by concomitant enhancement of immunosuppression. An immunostimulatory therapeutic approach that lacks certain immunosuppressive side effects can be achieved by targeting the appropriate subunits of the heterotrimeric interleukin 2 receptor, IL2R. NKTR-214 is a releasable multi-PEGylated conjugate of IL2. Upon in vivo administration, active forms of less conjugated-IL2 are released, which exhibit altered IL2R subunit selectivity. These forms favor proliferation of tumor-killing immune cells (CD8T) over immunosuppressive T cells (Treg) in the tumor (Charych, JCO 2013, 31:15, Suppl. 1). Here we show that polymer conjugation also prolongs exposure and activates known immune pharmacodynamic markers in mice, rats, and monkeys. These combined attributes improve efficacy and tolerability of NKTR-214 compared to the clinically approved cytokine aldesleukin.

Methods: NKTR-214 PK and PD were assessed after single IV bolus doses in mice bearing B16F10 melanoma (2 mg/kg), rats (1 mg/kg), and monkeys (0.1 mg/kg). Aldesleukin was assessed in mice bearing B16F10 melanoma after 3 mg/kg IP qdx5. For assessment of PK, serial plasma samples were assayed for IL2 by ELISA. For NKTR-214, conjugated-IL2 was chemically released prior to ELISA. Immune system activation was monitored in plasma by sequential measurement of sCD25, C-reactive protein (CRP), lymphocyte counts, IFNγ, and TNFα.

Results: The half-life of NKTR-214 was 20 hr in mice, which is considerably longer than the 5 hr half-life for aldesleukin, contributing to a 600-fold greater dose-normalized exposure. Consistent with the sustained exposure, altered receptor selectivity and favorable immune cell response, a single 2 mg/kg dose of NKTR-214 maintained greater suppression of tumor growth compared to daily 3 mg/kg doses of aldesleukin. NKTR-214 half-life was similar in rats and monkeys. In addition, NKTR-214 triggered a robust activation of known systemic immune system markers. For example, after a single efficacious dose of NKTR-214 in mice (2 mg/kg), sCD25 increased 25-fold compared to 5-fold for 5 daily doses of aldesleukin. In monkeys, an equally robust activation of sCD25 was observed at a single dose of 0.1 mg/kg (MTD) of NKTR-214. The kinetic profiles of CRP and lymphocyte counts following NKTR-214 were similar to that of sCD25 in monkeys, while the inflammatory cytokines IFNγ and TNFα remained undetectable.

Conclusions: A single dose of NKTR-214 results in sustained exposure, robust immune system activation, and favorable immune cell changes in the tumor microenvironment. Based on NKTR-214 PK and PD in animals, infrequent dosing is feasible in humans, allowing convenient combination with other immunotherapies.

Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):B296.

Citation Format: Ute Hoch, Paul Sims, Murali Addepalli, Yuan Song, Chunmei Ji, Peter Kirk, Theresa Sweeney, Deborah Charych, Seema Kantak. NKTR-214: An immunotherapy with altered selectivity at the IL2 receptor; pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) in animal models. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B296.


why differences in style should result from or reflect status differences is not the intended purpose of this volume. Rather, the relation is assumed, and the descriptions of remains are interpreted in light of this assumption. And given Niles's careful descriptions of Inka society, certainly the conclusions seem warranted. The volume is particularly well designed graphically and is extremely well illustrated. Numerous maps and site plans serve to keep the reader well located, and excellent photographs are included of each feature discussed, as well as of similar features at other sites. I would have preferred a better key to many of the maps, however, with labels indicated for points noted by letter. These were of course defined in the text, but overall comprehension of individual site plans would have been enhanced by more complete information on the maps themselves. The only remains that I would have liked to have seen described and discussed in a manner similar to all the rest are the roads and bridges. Roads are discussed in the chapter on the shrines, and to a lesser degree in other sections; bridges are likewise mentioned in passing. A separate chapter delineating the variety of road constructions, and their identification as Inka features, would have been a welcome addition. In sum, this book is a detailed description of remains at Callachaca, comparing these with remains at other nearby Inka sites and offering interpretations of functional and status differences. The primary conclusions of the book are that variability in style reflects status differences and that forms at Callachaca are consistent with Inka views of social and cosmological order. This book will be of great relevance to those with an interest in the relation between architecture and complex sociopolitical organization, as well as to students of the Inka empire, especially those who work in the Cuzco region.


The computational complexity of winner determination is a classical and important problem in computational social choice. Previous work based on worst-case analysis has established NP-hardness of winner determination for some classic voting rules, such as Kemeny, Dodgson, and Young. In this paper, we revisit the classical problem of winner determination through the lens of semi-random analysis , which is a worst average-case analysis where the preferences are generated from a distribution chosen by the adversary. Under a natural class of semi-random models that are inspired by recommender systems, we prove that winner determination remains hard for Dodgson, Young, and some multi-winner rules such as the Chamberlin-Courant rule and the Monroe rule. Under another natural class of semi-random models that are extensions of the Impartial Culture, we show that winner determination is hard for Kemeny, but is easy for Dodgson. This illustrates an interesting separation between Kemeny and Dodgson. ,


Summary form only given. It is expected that an n-type modulation-doped quantum well (QW) lasers can achieve a reduction in threshold current. In this report, we have demonstrated strained InGaAs-AlGaAs QW lasers employing the n-type modulation doping for reducing threshold current for the first time. The active region of QW lasers was grown by a low pressure metal organic chemical vapor deposition.


The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) is central to future nurses who will practice in the clinical settings. Aim: to measure emotional intelligence competencies to be effective leaders among Saudi nursing students at King Abdul Al-Aziz University. Research design: Cross sectional quantitative descriptive design. Sampling: Convenient sample of approximately 81 students invited to participate voluntarily. Data collection tool: Emotional intelligence questionnaire is a validated tool that was used to measure emotional intelligence competencies to be effective leaders among Saudi nursing students at King Abdul Al-Aziz University. Results: showed that students need attention in descending order, managing emotions, motivating oneself, empathy and social skill as well as self-awareness competencies of emotional intelligence in order to be effective leaders. Recommendations: nursing students needed to be empower and equipped by EI principles, skills and competencies to face complexities of clinical practice. Nursing faculty could mentor students by providing EI-related workshop to enhance students' ability to control and emotions properly. (E.g. emotion management, interpersonal communication and self-development) through role-play enacting. Nursing educators may boost students' self-motivation by creating EI training group and workshops, counseling session and other diverse learning activities. Mentors are valuable methods of counselling for students with special attention at developing self-awareness, interpersonal and social relationships and empathy.


An influence diagram is a graphical representation of sequential decision-making under uncertainty, defining a structured decision problem by conditional probability functions and additive utility functions over discrete state and action variables. The task of finding the maximum expected utility of influence diagrams is closely related to the cost-optimal probabilistic planning, stochastic programmings, or model-based reinforcement learning. In this position paper, we address the heuristic search for solving influence diagram, where we generate admissible heuristic functions from graph decomposition schemes. Then, we demonstrate how such heuristics can guide an AND/OR branch and bound search. Finally, we briefly discuss the future directions for improving the quality of heuristic functions and search strategies.


Abstract Objective: With bilateral cochlear implant (CI) users there is typically a place mismatch between the locations stimulated by the left and right electrode arrays. This mismatch can affect performance, potentially limiting binaural benefits. One way to address this is by perceptually realigning the arrays such that a given frequency in the input stimulates perceptually matched locations in the two ears. A clinically feasible technique is needed that can determine the appropriate perceptual alignment. A pitch matching task can potentially be used for this, but only if it can be performed in a clinically feasible amount of time. The objective of this study was to determine the minimal number of electrodes that need to be pitch matched to accurately determine pitch matches across the entire array. Design: A retrospective analysis of pitch matching data was conducted. Subsets of pitch matches were selected and the predicted pitch matching across the array was compared to that predicted by the full dataset. Study sample: 16 bilateral CI users. Results: The results indicated that nine pitch matches are sufficient, which can typically be obtained in approximately 7 min. Conclusion: The results reveal a clinically feasible method for determining pitch matches across the array.


Tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) is the gold standard drug for cerebral infarction in the acute phase (Adams et al., 2007), but it cannot be administered to all cerebral infarction patients. Some patients who survive the acute phase of cerebral infarction suffer from permanent hemiparesis in the chronic phase, which highlights the need for regenerative medicine to play a more important role in treating such individuals. There are two primary approaches to the use of regenerative medicine for patients with cerebral infarction: exogenous stem cell therapies, and enhancement of endogenous stem cells. Stem cell transplantation is one of the most widely employed strategies using exogenous stem cells. Many studies with experimental animals have shown that stem cell transplantation enhances functional recovery after cerebral infarction (Kameda et al., 2007; Takahashi et al., 2008). Based on the results of animal experiments, several clinical trials for patients with cerebral infarction are currently ongoing, using stem cell transplantation techniques, typically with mesenchymal stem cells (Detante et al.). However, these clinical trials have been started despite a lack of results showing that transplanted stem cells can reliably replace infarct areas. The principal purpose of cell transplantation in these cases is cell replacement, or replacement and restoration of infarct areas. Nevertheless, only a few percent of the transplanted cells typically survive during the chronic phase of cerebral infarction (Lindvall & Kokaia, 2006). Even more problematic is the fact that few of these transplanted stem cells differentiate into neurons with immunohistological and electrophysiological properties (Anderova et al., 2006). Based on these reports, some scientists maintain that functional improvements can be achieved without cell-replacement, that the effects of trophic factors secreted by the transplanted cells are sufficient (Cabrer et al., 2010; Shimada & Spees, 2011). Another approach that regenerative medicine can take is enhancement of endogenous stem cells, based on methods that are less invasive than the use of exogenous stem cells. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease patients is an example of a standard therapy now used in clinical situations. A previous report using animal subjects has shown that DBS can enhance the neurogenesis of endogenous stem cells (Toda et al., 2008). Based on this report, we evaluated the effectiveness of electrical stimulation on animals with cerebral infarction. Recently, we showed that electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex during the acute phase of cerebral infarction exerted anti-apoptotic, angiogenic and anti-inflammatory effects through the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway (Baba et al., 2009). Moreover, we showed


Information bottleneck (IB) is a technique for extracting information in one random variable X that is relevant for predicting another random variable Y. IB works by encoding X in a compressed "bottleneck" random variable M from which Y can be accurately decoded. However, finding the optimal bottleneck variable involves a difficult optimization problem, which until recently has been considered for only two limited cases: discrete X and Y with small state spaces, and continuous X and Y with a Gaussian joint distribution (in which case optimal encoding and decoding maps are linear). We propose a method for performing IB on arbitrarily-distributed discrete and/or continuous X and Y, while allowing for nonlinear encoding and decoding maps. Our approach relies on a novel non-parametric upper bound for mutual information. We describe how to implement our method using neural networks. We then show that it achieves better performance than the recently-proposed "variational IB" method on several real-world datasets.


[NBu4][MoO(bpy)(mnt)(SePh)]·CH2Cl2 (1) and [NBu4][MoO(phen)(mnt)(SePh)]·CH2Cl2 (2) complexes; (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, mnt = maleonitriledithiolate ion) stabilized by aromatic diimine have been synthesized and characterized. These complexes under aerobic conditions on irradiation with sunlight (or with light from a tungsten lamp) in solution generate superoxide radicals concomitant to the formation of paramagnetic Mo(V) species due to a single electron transfer from the Mo(IV) complex to oxygen. The Mo(V) produced under photo-irradiation was characterized by EPR spectroscopy and the generated superoxide radical has been shown to transform nitrobluetetrazoleum (NBT) chloride to blue diformazan. Both 1 (and 2) are phosphorescent having an emission lifetime of 6–8 μs. Ground state and time dependent density functional theoretical calculations confirm that the electronic transitions from predominantly metal based molecular orbitals are responsible for the low-lying charge transfer excited states and also for the observed interaction with oxygen.


We present new analytical results concerning Markov partitions, transition matrices and decay of correlations for hyperbolic algebraic automorphisms of the torus . A new numerical tool for the computation of the decay of correlations for automorphism is also illustrated. The tool, based on Markov partitions, allows us to calculate the correlation integrals for a large variety of functions and domains defined in and for a high number of iterations of the map. It can be used to test other numerical and analytical methods for estimating correlation decay.


Article abstract-Some tics are intentional movements made in an attempt to diminish uncomfortable sensations. These sensations, sometimes termed sensory tics, are focal and usually arise in the part of the body involved in the subsequent motor act. We report a patient whose sensations associated with tics were felt in other people and in objects. The discomfort associated with his out-of-body sensations was temporarily relieved by touching or scratching the object involved. The definition of premonitory sensations should be expanded to include extracorporeal sensations, and a history of external sensations should be sought in patients with Tourette's syndrome. Theories on the generation of tics must incorporate an explanation for extracorporeal sensations. NEUROLOGY 1996;46: 38-40


We present for the first time a complex network approach to the study of the electrical properties of single protein devices. In particular, we consider an electronic nanobiosensor based on a G-protein coupled receptor. By adopting a coarse grain description, the protein is modeled as a complex network of elementary impedances. The positions of the alpha-carbon atoms of each amino acid are taken as the nodes of the network. The amino acids are assumed to interact electrically among them. Consequently, a link is drawn between any pair of nodes neighboring in space within a given distance and an elementary impedance is associated with each link. The value of this impedance can be related to the physical and chemical properties of the amino acid pair and to their relative distance. Accordingly, the conformational changes of the receptor induced by the capture of the ligand, are translated into a variation of its electrical properties. Stochastic fluctuations in the value of the elementary impedances of the network, which mimic different physical effects, have also been considered. Preliminary results concerning the impedance spectrum of the network and its fluctuations are presented and discussed for different values of the model parameters.


The presence of symbiotic bacteria in flies belonging to the subfamily Tephritinae, which predominantly infest the flower heads of composite flowers (Asteraceae), was investigated. Twenty-five species of flies, collected mainly in northern Italy, were examined. The bacteria adhered to the midgut epithelium in a space external to the peritrophic membrane and therefore not in direct contact with the gut contents. Specific, unique and live, but unculturable bacteria were consistently found in the majority of the fly species and their presence was also shown to be persistent in flies reared under microbiologically controlled conditions and devoid of any residual culturable intestinal bacteria. Sequencing of the small subunit rRNA gene from the novel bacteria indicated that they belonged to the family Enterobacteriaceae. Three main strongly supported clades were delineated by phylogenetic trees, the first of which featured a coherent set of sequences displaying gene sequence similarities lower than 96 % compared with recognized taxa. The second and third clades featured cases with higher gene sequence similarities to culturable bacteria, including Erwinia persicina and Ewingella americana, respectively. Relative rate tests were supportive of a fast genetic evolution for the majority of the bacterial symbionts of the subfamily Tephritinae. In agreement with the interpretation suggested in 1929 after pioneering observations made by H. J. Stammer, a symbiotic relationship between the novel bacteria and the tephritid flies is postulated. The origin of this apparently polyphyletic relationship is discussed and a novel candidate organism is proposed for the first clade under the designation 'Candidatus Stammerula tephritidis'.


Conodont data from acid-leaching 110 samples from two Late Devonian-Carboniferous areas in the Shotori Range (Tabas region) of eastern Iran are presented. At Howz-e-Dorah, a section (88 samples) commencing high in the Bahram Formation (Givetian-early Frasnian) extended through the Shishtu Formation (Frasnian, Early hassi Zone or older, to latest Tournaisian, anchoralis-latus Zone) and the Sardar Formation (earliest Visean, texanus Zone, to late Namurian, sinuatus-corrugatus - sulcatus Zone) and into the Jamal Formation (Permian). Four less exhaustively sampled sections (22 samples) show the Kale Sardar area to be tectonically more complicated than the Howz-e-Dorah area. Useful marker horizons in the Howz-e-Dorah section, well constrained by conodont data, are: the early Frasnian (no older than Early hassi Zone) biostromal beds of the Shishtu Formation, an early Famennian (Late triangularis to Early crepida ) interval of oolitic limestone, a cyclothem sequence straddling the Early Carboniferous-Late Carboniferous boundary, and an Early Permian interval of siliceous sand ("the white quartzite" of previous authors). Additionally, several iron-rich horizons, readily traceable from locality to locality, are well constrained by conodont ages. Eighty-five conodont species/subspecies are documented representing 24 genera.. Two new species, Polygnathus capollocki and Polygnathus ratebi and one new subspecies, Icriodus alternatus mawsonae are described.


Objectives
The present study examined potential sources of intra- and inter-individual differences in older adults' control beliefs using a micro-longitudinal design.

Method
Older adults (n = 205) ranging in age from 60 to 94 (M = 72.70, SD= 6.72) completed 8 in-person testing sessions within 3 weeks which included assessments of control beliefs (Locus of Control and Perceived Competence), physical health (physical symptoms and sleep self-efficacy), stressors, emotional well-being (Positive Affect and Negative Affect), and cognition (basic cognition tests, everyday cognition, and memory failures).

Results
Multilevel models indicated that on days when older adults had higher sleep self-efficacy, more positive affect, and less negative affect, they also had more internal locus of control and higher perceived competence. Having stressors on the previous occasion was associated with lower internal locus of control on the subsequent occasion. Physical symptoms, everyday cognition, and memory failures could be predictive of locus of control for some older adults.

Discussion
Our findings showed the differentiated antecedents of locus of control and perceived competence, the unique role of sleep self-efficacy, positive affect, and negative affect in understanding antecedents of both, as well as the need to study well-being and cognition antecedents of control beliefs in future studies.


Erie Chapman's idea of being a hospital chief executive extends to hosting a television talk show and spending work days as a patient escort or janitor. A critic of executives who rule their hospitals from their offices, Mr. Chapman advocates being visible and accessible to front-line staff and the public.


The microvascular surgical anastomosis remains one of the most technically sensitive aspects of free-tissue transfers. To facilitate these often time-consuming, difficult anastomoses, various anastomotic coupling systems have been introduced. The 3M microvascular anastomotic coupling device, a polyethylene ring-pin device, was found to be highly successful in numerous animal studies. It has been available for use in human subjects for the last 4 years, but clinical experience remains sparse. Our clinical experience with the 3M coupler is reported in 100 free-tissue transfers. The average anastomotic time was 4 minutes. Mean follow-up was 8.6 months, and flap survival was 100 percent. The overall success rate for 3M (MACD) coupler use in microvascular anastomoses is 98.4 percent (121 of 123). Nine abandoned anastomoses were converted to sutured anastomoses intraoperatively. The overall failure rate for 3M coupler anastomoses is 1.6 percent (2 of 123). We conclude that the 3M device is best suited for minimally discrepant, soft, pliable venous microvascular anastomoses and is unsuitable for end-to-side anastomoses in clinical situations. When carefully and selectively employed by a trained microvascular surgeon, the 3M coupler can be a safe, fast, and reliable adjunct for free-tissue transfers. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 93: 1481, 1994.)


The use of platelet-rich fibrin has gained importance as an autologous scaffold for tissue regeneration. One of its features is, when placing implants in fresh extraction sockets, to function as a selective scaffold and also as a barrier in order to correct marginal bone defects and/or to avoid collapse of surrounding soft tissue. However, its handling and placement require specific manipulation skills, to avoid unintentional slipping and dislodging during the suture procedure. In order to avoid these problems and to allow easier and faster use of the PRF matrix, a simple device for providing a self-stabilized fibrin plug has been developed. This plug surrounds, as an elastic ring, the transmucosal extension of the prosthetic components for conical internal connection implants, thus enhancing the effectiveness of the fibrin matrix expected performance.


Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)-co-(acrylic acid) (pNIPAm-co-AAc) polymer brushes were grown from Au-coated glass substrates via surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Subsequently, another thin Au layer was deposited on top of the brush to yield a sandwich structure, with the brush confined between the two Au layers. This structure was shown to exhibit excellent optical properties and shows a response to multiple external stimuli, such as pH, temperature and humidity. This novel device could be used for sensing, biosensing, drug delivery, or for other applications that require light manipulation and wavelength filtration.


The purpose of this paper is to critically reflect on the pros and cons of using employee information in big data projects.,The authors reviewed papers in the area of big data that has immediate repercussions for the experiences of employees and employers.,The review of papers to date suggests that big data lessons based on employee data are still a relatively unknown area of employment literature. Particular attention is paid to discussion of employee rights, ethics, expectations and the implications employer conduct has on employment relationships and prospective benefits of big data analytics at work for work.,This viewpoint paper highlights the need for more discussion between employees and employers about the collection, use, storage and ownership of data in the workplace. A number of recommendations are put forward to support future data collection efforts in organisations.


Background:Urinary retention is a general and serious refractory complication after spinal cord injury (SCI). However, effective therapeutic approaches remain limited. Previous clinical and animal research have clarified that acupuncture could be beneficial to the recovery of bladder function, however, most of the previous trials are of low quality and high-quality studies are still necessary.Methods: Here, we conduct a study design and protocol of a randomized, blinded, controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture at the "Four Abdominal and Sacral Acupoints" for urinary retention after SCI. A total of 90 patients with residual urine above 300ml will be recruited in the trial and randomized into treatment group or control group. Patients in the treatment group will receive Electroacupuncture at the "Four Abdominal and Sacral Acupoints" combined with conventional treatment while patients in the control group will receive conventional treatment alone for 4 weeks. The primary outcomes are changes of residual urine volume at baseline, after the final treatment and 4 weeks after the final treatment. The secondary outcome measures will be the proportions of participants with residual urine decline≥50% and efficacy rate after 4 weeks' treatment, as well as the proportion of patients with catheterization, Short-Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) and the incidence of symptomatic urinary tract infection at baseline, after the final treatment and 4 weeks after the final treatment. The safety will also be assessed by monitoring the incidence of adverse events and changes in vital signs during the study.Discussion:Results from this trial will significantly support the application of electroacupuncture in the recovery of bladder function after SCI. If found to be effective and safe, electroacupuncture will be a valuable complementary option for patients with urinary retention after SCI.Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR 1900022089. Registered on 24 March 2019, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=37161.


In the 21st century there is still an ongoing intensive discussion among practitioners and scholars as to whether, under international law, an independent right to property exists. When the International Court of Justice (hereinafter – ICJ) announced its decisions in the Ahmadou Sadio Diallo case (Republic of Guinea v. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2007, 2010, 2012; hereinafter – Diallo), these debates intensified. This article analyzes the decisions of the Diallo case, as this case is a valuable source which: (a) help to determine the approach of the most authoritative Court towards the right to property in international law, and (b) assist in evaluating the chance of defending the rights of shareholders in the ICJ. After examination, several observations are made. First, althought Guinea claims that the core issue in the case is a violation of property rights, the ICJ is not willing to elaborate on the right to property, its scope, or its content. This silence leads to further queries on the understanding of the concept of a global right to property. Second, the World Court rules that diplomatic protection based on the rule of protection by substitution does not amount to an international custom. A conclusion is made that the Diallo case is not a repetition of a standard discussed in the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited case (Belgium v. Spain, 1970; hereinafter – Barcelona Traction), but rather a reflection of a narrowed standard of Barcelona Traction. Therefore, the ICJ is not an amiable forum for the protection of the property rights of shareholders.


ABSTRACT Preferential interactions of weakly interacting formulation excipients govern their effect on the equilibrium and kinetics of several reactions of protein molecules in solution. Using vapor pressure osmometry, we characterized the preferential interactions of commonly used excipients trehalose, L-arginine.HCl and NaCl with three therapeutically-relevant, IgG1 monoclonal antibodies that have similar size and shape, but differ in their surface hydrophobicity and net charge. We further characterized the effect of these excipients on the reversible self-association, aggregation and viscosity behavior of these antibody molecules. We report that trehalose, L-arginine.HCl and NaCl are all excluded from the surface of the three IgG1 monoclonal antibodies, and that the exclusion behavior is linearly related to the excipient molality in the case of trehalose and NaCl, whereas a non-linear behavior is observed for L-arginine.HCl. Interestingly, we find that the magnitude of trehalose exclusion depends upon the nature of the protein surface. Such behavior is not observed in case of NaCl and L-arginine.HCl as they are excluded to the same extent from the surface of all three antibody molecules tested in this study. Analysis of data presented in this study provides further insight into the mechanisms governing excipient-mediated stabilization of mAb formulations.


Accurate simulation of multicomponent alloys demands a first-principles approach because empirical potentials become increasingly inaccurate and difficult to develop with each additional constituent element. In contrast, the computational difficulty of simulating an alloy from first principles remains essentially independent of the number of elements. However, equilibration times increase with the number of elements, regardless of the choice of interaction, owing to the need for longer-range diffusion to adequately sample configuration space. The difficulty is exacerbated at low temperatures because of the rapid decline of diffusion constants. Here we discuss the application of replica exchange molecular dynamics to aid equilibration of supercooled alloys, and we also mention the possibility of Hamiltonian exchange molecular dynamics to accelerate equilibration at high temperatures.