Exercise-induced asthma is defined as an intermittent narrowing of the airways, demonstrated by a decrease in some measure of flow, that the patient experiences as wheezing, chest tightness, coughing, and difficulty breathing that is triggered by exercise. Exercise will trigger asthma in most individuals who have chronic asthma, as well as in some who do not otherwise have asthma. Definitive diagnosis requires demonstration of a drop in flow rate, typically > or = 13-15% for forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and > or = 15-20% for peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), after exercise, associated with symptoms. Prevalence data indicate that this disorder is very common in those who participate in recreational sports as well as in highly competitive athletes, with at least 12-15% of unselected athletes having positive exercise challenges. Treatment of exercise induced asthma involves use of nonpharmacological measures (such as the use of the refractory period after exercise and prewarming air) as well as use of medications (beta-agonists, cromolyn, and nedocromil). With treatment, those who suffer from exercise-induced asthma may be able to participate and compete at the highest levels of performance.


An expression vector was constructed that produced rat glycine N-methyltransferase in Escherichia coli. Recombinant glycine N-methyltransferase was purified to homogeneity by DEAE-cellulose and gel-filtration chromatography, with a yield of more than 80 mg of pure enzyme from a 1 litre culture. HPLC of tryptic peptides and analysis of isolated peptides showed that the recombinant enzyme was structurally identical with the liver enzyme except for the absence of N-terminal blocking. The alpha-amino group of rat glycine N-methyltransferase is blocked by acetylation [Ogawa, Konishi, Takata, Nakashima and Fujioka (1987) Eur. J. Biochem. 168, 141-151]. In contrast with the liver enzyme, which shows sigmoidal kinetics toward S-adenosylmethionine at all pH values tested [Ogawa and Fujioka (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 3447-3452], the recombinant enzyme exhibited hyperbolic kinetics at low pH and sigmoidal rate behaviour at high pH. The Hill coefficient increased with increasing pH and a pKa of 8.11 was obtained in this transition. The values of Vmax and Km for glycine were not different between the two enzymes. These results suggest that elimination of the positive charge at the N-terminal end either by acetylation or deprotonation is required for co-operative behaviour.


This paper describes fireworks algorithm adjusted for solving multi-objective radio frequency identification (RFID) network planning problem. RFID network planning is a hard optimization problem that attracts research attention since the usage of the RFID technology expanded in many industries. Recent fireworks algorithm was successfully applied to other hard optimization problems. In our implementation of the fireworks algorithm for multi-objective RFID network planning problem we used hierarchical approach to objectives. For experimental purposes we used standard benchmark sets. A comparative analysis with other state-of-the-art metaheuristics proved that our proposed approach outperformed other algorithms. It was successful in achieving total coverage without interference with smaller number of deployed readers and less transmitted power.


Cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Furthermore, current cardiovascular and cancer therapy is accompanied by various side effects, which considerably reduce the quality of life. Epidemiological studies suggest that the Mediterranean diet has been related to a lower risk of non-communicable diseases such as CVD and cancer. This lower incidence has been partially attributed to the regular intake of virgin olive oil (VOO) which is the main fatty component of the traditional Mediterranean die. In addition to monounsaturated fatty acid, VOO contains various phenolic compounds, which have shown a broad spectrum of pharmacological properties due to their antioxidant activity. This chapter summarizes current knowledge on the effects of the main phenolic compounds isolated from VOO on different cancers and CVD as well as the plausible action mechanisms involved.


ABSTRACT The partially submerged Impossível-Ioiô cave system located in the karst region of Chapada Diamantina in Bahia (Brazil) has recently been the target of extensive paleontological studies. Here we provide the first report of fossil bats from this cave system, in which we recognize six species based on humeral remains: Furipterus horrens, Chrotopterus auritus, Mormoops cf. megalophylla, Pteronotus gymnonotus, Pteronotus parnellii, and Noctilio leporinus. Morphology of the humerus of these taxa is described in a comparative framework to document taxonomic assessments and provide a basis for future studies of fossil bat faunas. The relevance of the new records reported here is evaluated at a broader continental scale, as well as in contrast with the recent bat fauna of the region. The record of Noctilio leporinus stands as the first fossil occurrence of this species on the South American continent.


This paper reports the establishment of a human cancer cell line from adenoid cystic carcinoma of the minor salivary gland and the study of its biological behaviours. The cells of the cell line (SACC-83) are polygonal in shape, with a mosaic arrangement. Ultrastructural study reveals that many secretory granules are present in the cytoplasm. The mitosis index, growth curve, chromosome analysis and transplantation into nude mice were performed and discussed. The results prove that this cell line possesses the morphological and biological features of adenoid cystic carcinoma.


This paper reports measurements of static microscopic dielectric response of several dipolar solvents to charge redistribution in a fluorescent probe. Contrary to recent predictions of dielectric theories and computer simulations of bulk liquids, the observed dielectric response of most solvents conforms to the macroscopic continuum description even at atomic distances, as if these solvents had no spatial intermolecular structure. Such conformance is observed for several probes when the contribution of specific probe-solvent interactions to the response is negligible. However, water, formamide, and glycerol exhibit anomalous responses even though such a probe is used. We discuss a possible reason for the macroscopic-like behavior and a connection between the anomaly and fluctuating structures formed by anomalous solvents near the hydrophobic surface of the probe.


Analogs of N-4909 (1), which had a stimulating activity for apolipoprotein E (apo E) secretion in Human hepatoma Hep G2 cells, were prepared and their activities examined. Cyclic analogs which had different kinds of amino acids or different number of amino acids from N-4909 (1) showed less effect on apo E secretion from Hep G2 cells. The length of acyl chain was found to be an important factor for the activity. Shorter chain reduced the activity. Linear analogs were also prepared. One of their analogs, N-5849 (17), which had six amino acids was found to have strong activity.


Background The sentinel lymph node (SLN) is the first node to receive lymphatic drainage from the primary tumor and the site where naive T cells are first primed. As such it is of great importance in initiating an effective anti-tumor immune response and an attractive target for immunomodulatory agents. Pre-clinical studies have reported that i.t. administration of anti-CTLA-4 is as effective in inducing tumor eradication as systemic delivery, without the risk of treatment related side effects. However, it remains unclear whether this is due primarily to modulation of the tumor microenvironment or of tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLN). Here, we have evaluated the safety, tolerability and immunomodulatory effects in the SLN and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of anti-CTLA-4/tremelimumab, delivered locally at the tumor excision site in patients with early-stage melanoma. This unique setting (post tumor excision but prior to SLN biopsy) allowed us to clinically assess the role of TDLN in the biological efficacy of CTLA-4 blockade. Methods In this phase I dose-escalation trial, patients with clinical stage I-II melanoma received one intradermal injection of tremelimumab at four dose levels (2, 5, 10 [n=3 each] or 20 mg [n=4]) around the primary excision site of the tumor, seven days prior to re-excision and SLN biopsy. Flow cytometry was performed to study viable cells from melanoma SLN and PBMC (prior to tremelimumab administration [day 0], and at 7 days, 3 weeks and 3 months after tremelimumab injection). Systemic melanoma antigen (MART-1/NY-ESO-1)-specific T cells responses were assessed by IFN-γ ELISPOT assay. Results Intradermal delivery of tremelimumab was safe and well tolerated. In terms of biological efficacy it selectively induced profound and durable decreases in Treg frequencies in both SLN and PBMC, decreased systemic MDSC rates, activated migratory dendritic cell subsets in the SLN, and induced T cell activation (by HLA-DR and ICOS up-regulation), both in SLN and PBMC. Moreover, systemic anti-melanoma T cell responses were induced (n=5) or boosted (n=2), in association with T cell activation and central-memory T cell differentiation. Of note, tumor recurrences so far were only observed in two patients who did not develop a systemic anti-tumor T cell response. Conclusions These findings indicate that i.d. administration of anti-CTLA-4 may offer a safe and promising adjuvant treatment strategy for patients with early-stage melanoma. Moreover, they demonstrate a central role for TDLN in the biological efficacy of CTLA-4 blockade and warrant the development of TDLN-targeted delivery methods for anti-CTLA-4. Acknowledgements This study received funding from the Harry J. Lloyd Charitable Trust; tremelimumab was provided by Pfizer Inc. Trial Registration NCT04274816 Ethics Approval The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the VU University Medical Center and Spaarne Gasthuis.


How do many species coexist within a trophic level? Resource niches are the classical answer, but in plants which share a small set of abiotic resources, the possibilities for resource partitioning are limited. One possible explanation is that plant species have different pollination niches, with each species specialized to a subset of the available animal species. If this pollinator partitioning results in negative frequency dependence such that each plant species' reproduction is reduced when it becomes abundant, pollination niches could maintain plant diversity, provided that the strength of negative frequency dependence is sufficient to overcome fitness inequalities between species. We tested this idea by quantifying the effect of species relative abundance on pollinator visitation rate in a 7,000 m2 plot of South African Fynbos vegetation. In addition, we quantified the effect of intraspecific abundance variation at a smaller spatial scale (9 m2 plots), documented species' pollination niches, and tested the importance of pollinators for seed set in a subset of the plant species. We found that visitation rate indeed declined sharply across the 33 plant species with increasing abundance, but visitation rate was also somewhat depressed in very rare species such that the resulting relationship between visitation rate and relative abundance was hump‐shaped. Pollinator niche partitioning among plant species was evident, but less pronounced than in many other studies. Visitation rate was slightly higher in more generalized species, suggesting that they have access to a larger pollination resource. At the intraspecific level and smaller spatial scale, results were less clear and varied among species. Pollinators enhanced seed set in most species. Synthesis. The results imply that, above an abundance threshold, intraspecific competition for pollination could limit the reproduction of common species, thus promoting plant species coexistence. However, the rarest plant species could become extinct due to pollen limitation, that is, an Allee effect. In addition, interactions with pollinators may introduce frequency‐independent fitness differences between plant species, thereby increasing the strength of negative frequency dependence required for stable coexistence. These findings shed new light on the role of the pollination niche in plant coexistence.


An angular and acceleration measurement system using the piezoelectric polymer poly (vinylidene fluoride) is described, furthermore a compensation of the polymer's pyroelectric effects has been achieved. The advantages of this sensor are that there are no moving parts and that it has a very low cost compared with other sensors. The measured sensitivity is 3.7 mV rad-1 s2.


The need for a patient advocate is greater than ever as medical errors continue to occur. News media quickly capture the egregious errors, but more errors are experienced by patients who suffer quietly. These patients know something wrong occurred during their hospitalization, but they choose to refrain from pursuing litigation against the providers. There also are thousands of individuals who never realize that a medical error occurred. In a patient- and family-centered care environment, patient advocates can bridge these issues by participating on the healthcare team that is involved with the initial disclosure of the event and by providing a caring relationship to assure the patient's voice is heard and understood.


Abstract Patients with gynecologic cancers, especially epithelial ovarian cancer, are frequently anemic during chemotherapy. Therapy with recombinant erythropoietic proteins is associated with an increase in hemoglobin concentration and a reduction in transfusion requirements during chemotherapy. Over the past several years, it has become clear that erythropoietic therapy is associated with an increased incidence of venous thrombosis, especially during pelvic radiation therapy. Moreover, recent data largely obtained in patients with non-gynecologic cancer have raised a concern that erythropoietic therapy might in some way enhance tumor progression or decrease survival of patients with cancer. The preclinical and clinical data are reviewed herein. For patients with ovarian cancer, treatment with erythropoietic proteins has not been associated with adverse tumor outcomes, although the data are limited, and additional trials are needed.


Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging viral hemorrhagic fever in China, Korea, and Japan. To date, no standardized treatment protocol for SFTS has been established. Corticosteroids (CS) may be administered to patients with SFTS and hemophagocytic syndrome, but its effectiveness and safety are still debatable. We conducted a retrospective case series review at four medical facilities in Miyazaki, Japan. Based on the medical records, clinical data, including the patients background, symptoms, physical findings, laboratory data at initial presentation, treatment, and outcome, were compared between the CS-treated and the non-CS-treated group. A total of 47 patients with confirmed SFTS in each hospital were enrolled in this study; there were 14 fatal cases and 33 nonfatal cases. The case fatality ratio was 29.8%. After adjusting patients' background by propensity score matching, the case fatality ratio was higher (p = 0.04) and complications of secondary infections, including invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, tended to be more frequent (p = 0.07) in the CS-treated group than in the non-CS-treated group. These data suggested that administration of CS to patients with SFTS should be carefully considered.


We analyzed data on psychometric intelligence from the Seattle Longitudinal Study, simultaneously estimating longitudinal factors, their covariance structure, and their mean levels. Data on five Thurstone Primary Mental Abilities subtests were available for 412 adults, ages 22-70 at first test, who were tested three times at 7-year intervals. A previous longitudinal factor analysis had shown high stability of individual differences (covariance stability) in general intelligence for three adult age groups. We extended that model to estimate factor means. All three age groups showed high levels of covariance stability, but differed sharply in their mean profiles. The young group showed increasing levels of general intelligence, the middle-aged group had stable levels of intelligence, and the old group showed salient, approximately linear, decline. The patterns of stability in middle-age, followed by mean decline and high covariance stability in old age, suggest a normative developmental transition from a stability pattern to a decline pattern of general intelligence, with the inflection point occurring somewhere around age 60.


Background

 Mycobacteroides abscessus (M. abscessus) is the most commonly isolated rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) and is one of the most antibiotic-resistant RGM with rapid progression, therefore, treatment of M. abscessus is still challenging. The genus mycobacterium has long been known to have both rough and smooth colony phenotypes. Rough morphotypes generally are more virulent than smooth morphotypes. Recently, the efficacy of sitafloxacin, new fluoroquinolone (FQ), containing regimens against M. abscessus complex have been reported. We here presented a new combination treatment with sitafloxacin that targeted rough morphotypes of M. abscessus, causing aggressive infections.
Results

Thirty-four clinical strains of M. abscessus were isolated from various clinical samples at the Juntendo university hospital from 2011 to 2020. The susceptibility to a combination of sitafloxacin and antimicrobial agents was compared to that of the antimicrobial agents alone. Ten isolates (90.9%) of M. abscessus subsp. abscessus were susceptible to both sitafloxacin and arbekacin when the combination is administered; while, 11 isolates (50.0%) of M. abscessus subsp. massiliense were susceptible. Synergistic effects against M. abscessus complex were shown in 8 strains (23.5%) treated with sitafloxacin-amikacin combination, 9 (26.5%) and 19 (55.9%) of sitafloxacin-imipenem combination, and sitafloxacin-arbekacin combination, respectively. Sitafloxacin-arbekacin combination also exhibited synergistic effects against 10 strains (45.5%) of M. abscessus subsp. massiliense and 8 stains (72.7%) of M. abscessus subsp. abscessus, a highly resistant subspecies of M. abscessus. The sitafloxacin-arbekacin combination revealed more synergistic effects in rough morphotypes of M. abscessus complex (p = 0.008).
Conclusion

We demonstrated the synergistic effect of the sitafloxacin-arbekacin combination against M. abscessus complex. Further, this combination regimen might be more effective against M. abscessus subsp. abscessus or rough morphotypes of M. abscessus complex.


The use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer substantially contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to N2O emissions from agricultural soils and energy-intensive fertilizer manufacturing. Thus, a reduction of mineral N fertilizer use can contribute to reduced GHG emissions. Fertilizer tax is a potential instrument to provide incentives to apply less fertilizer and contribute to the mitigation of GHG emissions. This study provides model results based on a production function analysis from field experiments in Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein, with respect to risk aversion by calculating certainty equivalents for different levels of risk aversion. The model results were used to identify effective and cost-efficient options considering farmers' risk aversion to reduce N fertilizer, and to compare the potential and cost of GHG mitigation with different N fertilizer tax schemes. The results show that moderate N tax levels are effective in reducing N fertilizer levels, and thus, in curbing GHG emissions at costs below 100 €/t CO2eq for rye, barley and canola. However, in wheat production, N tax has limited effects on economically optimal N use due to the effects of N fertilizer on crop quality, which affect the sale prices of wheat. The findings indicate that the level of risk aversion does not have a consistent impact on the reduction of N fertilizer with a tax, even though the level of N fertilizer use is generally lower for risk-averse agents. The differences in N fertilizer response might have an impact on the relative advantage of different crops, which should be taken into account for an effective implementation of a tax on N fertilizer.


Little is known about postembryonic development of the human vertebral canal. Cervical parts of vertebral canal in 30 normal human foetuses was exposed in coronal plane and were divided in groups 1 and 2 which correspond with 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy respectively. Groups 1 and 2 included 18 and 12 foetuses respectively with equal number of males and females in each. Length of cervical part of spinal canal and transverse diameter with height at different vertebral levels were recorded. Sexual dimorphism was noticed in foetuses of third trimester only. Length of cervical canal and height of vertebral bodies were significantly more in males while transverse diameter was statistically high in females. Cervical part of vertebral canal in human fetuses displays sexual dimorphism. Males have narrower and longer spinal canal compared to females. Keywords: foetuses, cervical, vertebral canal, dimorphism


Structured parallel programming is one of the possible solutions to exploit Programmability, Portability and Performance in the parallel programming world. Programming using high level parallel constructs permits the programmer to focus on the development of the parallel algorithms rather than on their low level implementation. The power of this approach stands in the possibility of modeling the performance of the high level constructs and building optimizing template-based compilers. These compilers use formulas describing the performance of language constructs over the target architectures and tune their parametric implementation to achieve high performance figures. In this paper, we describe a set of applications developed using such a programming methodology and show the results obtained.


Radiculopathy, commonly induced by intervertebral disk bulging or protrusion, is presently diagnosed in accordance with clinical symptoms because there is no objective quantitative diagnostic criterion. Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor tractography revealed the characterization of anisotropic diffusion and displayed the anatomic form of nerve root fibers. This study included 18 cases with intervertebral disc degeneration-induced unilateral radiculopathy. Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging was creatively used to reveal the scanning pattern of fiber tracking of the spinal nerve root. A scoring system of nerve root morphology was used to quantitatively assess nerve root morphology and functional alteration after intervertebral disc degeneration. Results showed that after fiber tracking, compared with unaffected nerve root, fiber bundles gathered together and interrupted at the affected side. No significant alteration was detected in the number of fiber bundles, but the cross-sectional area of nerve root fibers was reduced. These results suggest that diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging-based tractography can be used to quantitatively evaluate nerve root function according to the area and morphology of fiber bundles of nerve roots.


In this paper we investigate the scattering of a two-level atom in a traveling or standing wave in the limit of large detuning. We show that these two systems are examples of nontrivial motion which is straightforward to treat using the unified scattering formalism of Tanguy and co-workers [J. Phys. B 17, 4623 (1984)]. This enables us to compare the diffractive and diffusive approximations with the exact solution of the effective master equation. Our analysis is fully quantum mechanical and in our numerical treatment of the effective master equation we are able to include spontaneous emission to all orders. We find that whereas the diffractive approximation correctly describes scattering from a traveling and a standing wave for short interaction times, the diffusive approximation cannot account for the persistence of diffractive structure for the case of the standing wave. To get good agreement we use an approximation which incorporates both diffractive and diffusive effects.


In a lot of existing legal knowledge based applications, the underlying legal model does not retain isomorphism with the original legal text. Parts of the text have not been modelled, and other parts have been simplified to single if-then-else clauses. This makes these models difficult to validate, maintain and re-use. In this article we propose to make an intermediate model, in which the original structure of the legal text is still represented. A first step is the detection and classification of norms in sentences in legal texts. We present a classification of norms or provisions based on the analyses of a large body of Dutch law. The classification covers all text constructs found thus far and we claim the use of typical sentence structures enables automation of a large part of this task.


The computation of continuous absorption coefficient for SF6 plasmas has been carried out taking into account free-free radiation, using the scaled Thomas-Fermi potential for the determination of the terms resulting from the radiative recombination. The authors have computed the continuum absorption coefficient K' in SF6-N2 mixtures (for pressure values between 1 and 8 bar, in the temperature range 8000 to 24000 K) assuming that the plasma is in local thermodynamic equilibrium, by combining their results obtained in the case of SF6 with those concerning N2 from the literature. The evolution of K' with nu is explained in terms of electronic configuration of the species and of the variations of electron and ion densities with pressure, temperature and SF6 proportion.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of THY1 protein expression in epithelial ovarian cancer.

METHODS
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) staining were used to detect the protein expression of THY1, Ki67 and cell apoptosis in 76 epithelial ovarian cancers by tissue microarray. The correlation between THY1 expression and patients' clinical features was analyzed.

RESULTS
Of the 76 epithelial ovarian cancer samples, 64 were informative for IHC and TUNEL assays and 42 (65.6%) among them showed down-regulated/loss expression of THY1 protein. A significant positive correlation of THY1 protein expression with clinical stage and distant metastasis was observed in this ovarian cancer cohort (P < 0.05). The more advanced the tumor stage, the more frequency of loss expression of THY1 protein. In addition, the mean positive rate of Ki67 staining in tumors with down-regulated/loss expression of THY1 was 33.7% +/- 3.5%, significantly higher than that in the tumors with normal expression of THY1 (17.3% +/- 6.1%, P = 0.0027). However, no significant correlation was observed between THY1 protein expression and tumor cell apoptosis as well as patients' survival in this series (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION
Down-regulated/loss expression of THY1 protein in epithelial ovarian cancer is significantly correlated with cancer cell proliferation and metastasis in the epithelial ovarian cancer, and it may be used as one of the new molecular biomarkers to predict the disease progression in patients.


During incubation for 24 h at 37 degrees C, erythrocytes from patients with hereditary spherocytosis (HS) undergo a greater increase in osmotic fragility than do normal cells, and this procedure has been recommended for differentiating more clearly between patients with very mild HS and normal subjects. The greater effect of preincubation on erythrocytes from patients with HS was confirmed, but, except in cases demonstrating a markedly increased osmotic fragility before incubation, this effect was outweighed by a simultaneous loss of test precision. It therefore seems that preincubation does not significantly contribute to the capability of the osmotic fragility test to detect very mild forms of HS.


The article highlights the issues of personalized learning as the global trend of the modern ICTbased educational systems development. The notion, the main stages of evolution, the main features and principles of adaptive learning systems application for teachers' training are outlined. It is emphasized that the use and elaboration of the adaptive cloud-based learning systems are essential to provide sustainable development of teachers' education. The current trends and peculiarities of the cloud-based adaptive learning systems development and approach of their implementation for teachers' training are considered. The general model of the adaptive cloud-based learning system structure is proposed. The main components of the model are described; the issues of tools and services selection are outlined. The methods of the cloudbased learning components introduction within the adaptive systems of teacher training are considered. The current research developments of modeling and implementation of the adaptive cloud-based systems are outlined.


Activated sludge (AS) is a biological treatment process that is employed in wastewater treatment plants. Filamentous bacteria in AS plays an important role in the settling ability of the sludge. Proper settling of the sludge is essential for normal functionality of the wastewater plants, where filamentous bulking is always a persistent problem preventing sludge from settling. The performance of AS plants is conventionally monitored by physico-chemical procedures. An alternative way of monitoring the AS in wastewater treatment process is to use image processing and analysis. Good performance of the image segmentation algorithms is important to quantify flocs and filaments in AS. In this article, an algorithm is proposed to perform segmentation of filaments in the phase contrast images using phase stretch transform. Different values of strength (S) and warp (W) are tested to obtain optimum segmentation results and decrease the halo and shade-off artefacts encountered in phase contrast microscopy. The performance of the algorithm is assessed using DICE coefficient, accuracy, false positive rate (FPR), false negative rate (FNR) and Rand index (RI). Sixty-one gold approximations of ground truth images were manually prepared to assess the segmentation results. Thirty-two of them were acquired at 10× magnification and 29 of them were acquired at 20× magnification. The proposed algorithm exhibits better segmentation performance with an average DICE coefficient equal to 52.25%, accuracy 99.74%, FNR 41.8% and FPR 0.14% and RI 99.49%, based on 61 images.


The objective of the present work is to use Raman spectroscopy for characterizing, the fate of phenyl-derivatives, from phenyl-amines to aryl-diazonium derivatives (ADD). Four ADD were investigated: (i) benzene diazoniumtetrafluoroborate (DS), (ii) 4-decyl benzene diazoniumtetrafluoroborate (DS-C10H21), (iii) 4-carboxybenzene diazoniumtetrafluoroborate (DS-COOH) and (iv) 4-(aminoethyl) benzene diazoniumtetrafluoroborate (DS-(CH2)2NH2). Raman investigation of the above ADD confirmed the existence of an N≡N bond stretching in the range of 2285-2305 cm-1. Moreover, the strong band related to CH in plane-bending and C-N-stretching modes in the 1073-1080 cm-1 range, is a signature of phenyl derivatives stemming from ADD. Furthermore, we analyzed and discuss the H-N(ring) symmetric stretching modes and the ring-N, as well as the benzene-ring vibrational modes, the C-H related vibrations and the functions in para-position carried by the aromatic ring. The effect of structural changes, the conformational rearrangements from amines to ADD and the influence of the substituent located in the para-position on Raman modes, were examined as well. Finally, Raman experiments supported by Density Functional Theory (DFT) modeling allowed us to determine the crystalline structure of DS-COOH.


The aim of this work was to measure subjective speech intelligibility in an enclosure with a long reverberation time and comparison of these results with objective parameters. Impulse Responses (IRs) were first determined with a dummy head in different measurement points of the enclosure. The following objective parameters were calculated with Dirac 4.1 software: Reverberation Time (RT), Early Decay Time (EDT), weighted Clarity (C$_{50}$) and Speech Transmission Index (STI). For the chosen measurement points, a convolution of the IRs with the Polish Sentence Test (PST) and logatome tests was made. PST was presented at a background of a babble noise and speech reception threshold – SRT (i.e. SNR yielding 50% speech intelligibility) for those points were evaluated. A relationship of the sentence and logatome recognition vs. STI was determined. It was found that the final SRT data are well correlated with speech transmission index (STI), and can be expressed by a psychometric function. The difference between SRT determined in condition without reverberation and in reverberation conditions appeared to be a good measure of the effect of reverberation on speech intelligibility in a room. In addition, speech intelligibility, with and without use of the sound amplification system installed in the enclosure, was compared.


Hearing loss in older people A longitudinal study of older adults finds that those with hearing loss showed a faster rate of cognitive decline than those whose hearing was normal Physical activity Among 100 000 adults taking part in the Copenhagen General Population Study, cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality were lower in those who were physically active in their leisure time What is surprising, however, is that the opposite relation was seen with occupational physical activity, where higher levels were associated with an increased risk of heart disease (Eur Heart J doi:10 1093/eurheartj/ehab087)


We study how to learn a policy with compositional generalizability. We propose a two-stage framework, which refactorizes a high-reward teacher policy into a generalizable student policy with strong inductive bias. Particularly, we implement an object-centric GNN-based student policy, whose input objects are learned from images through self-supervised learning. Empirically, we evaluate our approach on four difficult tasks that require compositional generalizability, and achieve superior performance compared to baselines.


Being an important phenomenon "Weather Observation" or "Meteorology" is not only interesting for Meteorologists but also for environmentalists and geologists as well. So for this an internship program was held at University of Gujrat Hafiz Hayat Campus, in a newly maintained Met Office, where appointed Official Weather Observers supervised this work. So in this way this is a wonderful chance to become a part of Starting Weather observation at UOG, being the students of Environmental Sciences. A group of students worked as internees. Observation under certain parameters, by taking scheduled readings of outdoor installed instruments, then accordingly filling of Pocket Register, by consulting Hydrometric table, Aeronautical Code book 1995, & Surface Weather code book 1995 of Pakistan Meteorological Department 2008. Making Metar (after 1 hour reporting) and Synaptic (after 3 hours reporting), then reporting it to the Regional Meteorological headquarter Lahore through cell phone message sending or directly uploading it to their website. Discussion sections on different weather changes as shown by readings, along with instruments working accordingly, are the different steps of Starting of Weather Observation at UOG. Chapter one and two are included in this part 1 of this Meteorological pursuit.


Coding theory is connected with number theory via the invariant theory of some specified finite groups and theta functions. Under this correspondence we are interested in constructing, from a combinatorial point of view, an analogous theory of Eisenstein series. For this, we previously gave a formulation of E-polynomials based on the theory of binary codes. In the present paper we follow this direction and supply a new class of Epolynomials. To be precise, we introduce the E-polynomials associated to the Z4-codes and determine both the ring and the field structures generated by them. In addition, we discuss the zeros of the modular forms obtained from E-polynomials under the theta map.


Modelling using the Entity Relationship Model was introduced more than thirty
years ago. Until late 1990's, object-oriented introduced class diagram. However,
designing a good database is still a serious issue. Some of the issues are very difficult
to handle such as consistency checking between system design and database design,
redundancy of data, mismatch of the data structure with the user's needs in the
database and unused data in the database. In this thesis, a new technique called
UInData is introduced as an alternative method for designing database based on
attribute sanitization. The proposed technique will extract class behaviour from class
diagram to produce schema table which will then be compared with the user interface
to normalize the structure. Attributes sanitization is introduced to remove the unused
attributes and to provide final schema table. An experiment using three case studies
has shown that some improvements of designing optimal database have been
achieved in term of data sanitization and data accessibility. Attribute sanitization was
applied in LAS, SPKS and MPBP database. Data sanitizations have removed 2.2%,
14.1% and 24.5% from defined attributes which are not used by user interface.
Meanwhile the results shown in data accessibility for these three cases have shown
that LAS was reduced by 50%, SPKS have not reducing of data accessibility and
MPBP was reduced by 20% when UInData is used as compared to using ordinary
object-oriented. Therefore, the UInData is a good alternative technique to improve
database structure.


OBJECTIVE
to study the effect of antibacterial photodynamic therapy (PDT) on the dynamics of tissue neutrophilic leukocytes CD18 and tissue macrophages ED1 in the tissues of infected radiation ulcer during the stages of sponta- neous healing and in the treatment of PDTMaterials and methods. Infected radiation ulcer was modeled by local X-ray irradiation of the rat thigh skin at a dose of 85.0 Gy, followed by applying to the surface of the ulcer bacterial suspension of S. аureus. PDT was performed using a «Barva-LED/630» photonic apparatus and a methylene blue photosensitizer. The effect of PDT on the state of cellular immunity was determined using an immunohistochemical method based on the quantitative indices of neutrophilic leukocytes CD18 and ED1 macrophages during the stages of healing of an infected radiation ulcer.

RESULTS
In the course of spontaneous healing of the ulcer (control I), the dynamics of changes in the relative vo- lume of tissue neutrophil leukocytes CD18 and ED1 macrophages in the lesion zone, a decrease in the CD18 / ED1 index more than 2 times indicated that switching of the neutrophil response to macrophage occurred before 52nd days of observations. When infected with S. аureus X-ray (control II), the switching of the neutrophil response to the macrophage did not occur during the entire observation period. When using PDT in the case of S. аureus infected ulcer (experimental group), the decrease in the CD18 / ED1 index was determined from the 21st day of observation.

CONCLUSIONS
The positive effect of the antibacterial PDT method of infected S. аureus radiation ulcers was manifes- ted by complete microbial decontamination of the wound, reduction of phases of the wound process, complete hea- ling of radiation ulcers.The use of PDT has led to the death of bacteria, a decrease in the number of neutrophilic leukocytes and an increase in macrophages in the lesion area, the switching of the neutrophilic response to the reaction of monocyte-macrophage cells in the early stages of healing.


Star wire arrays with two closely located wires ("gates") on the inner cylinder of star wire arrays were studied. The gate wires were used to study plasma interpenetration and reproduce transparent and non-transparent regimes of propagation of the imploding plasma through the gates. The non-transparent mode of collision is typical for regular star wire arrays and it was also observed in Al stars with gate wires of regular length. Gated star arrays demonstrate similar x-ray yield but slightly different delay of x-ray generation compared to regular stars. Double length wires were applied as gate wires to increase their inductance and resistance and to increase transparency for the imploding plasma. The wires of the gates were made of Al or high atomic number elements, while the rest of the arrays were regular length Al wires. An intermediate semi-transparent mode of collision was observed in Al stars with long Al gate wires. Arrays with long heavy-element gate wires demonstrated transparency to plasma passing through. Shadowgraphy at the wavelength of 266 nm showed that plasma moved through the gate wires. Double implosions, generating a double-peak keV X-ray pulse, were observed in star arrays when the gates were made of high atomic number elements. A new laser diagnostic beampath for vertical probing of the Z-pinch was built to test how wires could be used to redirect plasma flow. This setup was designed to test gated arrays and further configurations to create a rotating pinch. Results on plasma flow control obtained are discussed, and compared to numerical calculations.


Protoplasts have been prepared from the mycelium of Aspergillus funigatus, using a lytic enzyme mixture from Trichoderma harzianum. A variety of experimental conditions were investigated in order to achieve optimal conditions for protoplast production. Electron micrographs showed the preparations to be free of cell-wall. Material obtained by this procedure can be used as a source of cytoplasmic antigens for further analysis.


Neurodegenerative diseases are multifactorial nervous system deteriorating conditions that concern over 30 million aging populations worldwide. The effect of protein malfunction or defective trafficking is neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer disease [AD], Parkinson's disease [PD], Huntington's and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disorders. Furthermore, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress / age-linked environmental factors have also been involved. Prolonged use of synthetic medications could lead to adverse side effects for these illnesses. Henceforth herbal therapy attracts much attention rather than a pharmaceutical therapy is favoured. Indeed, several research studies have identified use of medicinal plants and their components for drug production, and recently more than 100 new medicines are now being established clinically. Accumulative data shows that nutraceuticals property is critical for cognition optimisation and risk mitigation. The study explores the role of phytochemical based antioxidants in cognitive and adverse signal transduction events, with a special focus on the Mediterranean diet [MeDi] comprising bioactive compounds like - xanthophyll carotenoids and omega-3 fatty acids. These phytochemical compounds are capable of improving cognition, considering their selective brain involvement and their specifically oxidative damage and inflammation. The objective of this study is to detail the molecular mechanisms of some Ayurvedic plants signal transduction and locations of operation. It is hoped that this review further helps to examine a new therapeutic recommendations and further research in clinical trials on the use of poly-herbal Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment and prevention of dementia. It is expected to increase the ease in the usage of Ayurveda-based knowledge base combined with combined scientific and high-performance screening strategies in the drug research and development campaign, while offering new practical guidelines for neurosurgical diseases linked to age.


Objectives To investigate whether an intensive treatment strategy in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA), by an internet-based home tailored telemonitoring tight control (TTTC) protocol is more effective than treatment according to usual care in reaching remission and comprehensive disease control (CDC) after 1 year [1, 2]. Additionally we evaluated the patients' satisfaction with the technological device. Methods Two ERA cohorts were compared. In the TTTC cohort (n=21), a regular evaluation guided by a remote approach of disease activity was applied, according to a CDAI-driven step-up treatment strategy. Patients in the usual-care cohort (n=20) were treated without a CDAI-guided strategy, so treatment decision were made according to the discretion of the rheumatologist. Primary outcome measures were the proportion of patients in remission (CDAI <2.8) and the achievement of comprehensive disease control (CDC). Secondary endpoints were the 1-year area under the curve (AUC) of CDAI minor, moderate and major response cutpoints. Further we reported the results in terms on patients' satisfaction with the technological device. Results A higher percentage of patients in the TTTC group achieved CDAI remission versus patients in usual care (38.1% vs 25% at year 1, p<0.01). Time to achieve remission (CDAI<2.8) was significantly shorter in the TTTC group than in the usual-care group, with a median of 20 weeks versus a median over 36 weeks (p<0.001). Concordantly, the patients followed for one year in tight control showed a greater improvement (p<0.001) compared with the usual care group in terms of clinical activity (38.1% vs. 25%), functional impairment (71.4% vs. 35%) and radiological damage progression (23.8% vs. 10%), resulting in a greater rate of CDC (19.4% vs. 5%). Moreover was found high satisfaction among the vast majority of respondents. Conclusions This preliminary study demonstrates that an intensive internet-based home TTTC is more effective in reaching remission and CDC than the usual care. Moreover it is higly accepted by the patients. Larger studies with rigorous designs are needed to get better evidence on the effects of telemedicine interventions on health, satisfaction with care and costs. References Schipper LG, Vermeer M, Kuper HH, et al. A tight control treatment strategy aiming for remission in early rheumatoid arthritis is more effective than usual care treatment in daily clinical practice: a study of two cohorts in the Dutch Rheumatoid Arthritis Monitoring registry. Ann Rheum Dis 2012; 71(6): 845-50. Emery P, Kavanaugh A, Bao Y, et al. Comprehensive disease control (CDC): wath does achieving CDC mean for patients with rheumatoid arthritis? Ann Rheum Dis 2014; 205302 [Epub ahead of print]. Disclosure of Interest None declared


A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of phase feeding a combination of 3 different medicinal mushrooms (Lentinus edodes, Ganoderma lucidum, Pleurotus ostreatus) via Fungus Myceliated Grain (FMG) on broiler performance and health after natural and experimental exposure to field strains of Eimeria. A total of 300, day-of-hatch, female broiler chickens were weighed and randomly assigned into the following dietary treatment conditions: 1) 1 % starter, 2) 1 % grower, 3) 1 % starter-grower-finisher, 4) 5% starter, 5) 5% grower, 6) 5% startergrower-finisher, 7) 10% starter, 8) 10% grower and 9) 10% starter-grower-finisher. Each treatment was replicated 3 times with 10 chickens per replicate. Half the broilers in each treatment were challenged with a mixture of three pathogenic Eimeria spp. (E. acervelina, E. maxima and E. tenella) via oral gavage at 4 weeks of age. The body weights of broilers given FMG at the 1% inclusion level were significantly lower compared to broilers in the 5% and 10% starter phase. Eimeria counts for challenged broilers in the 5% grower phase were significantly higher than that of broilers given the 1% and 10% inclusion. Elevations in IgA and IgG levels were observed in the grower phase at the 1% level as well as the starter-grower-finisher phase at the 10% level.


Background: Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) is one of the important and widely used lung function tests as it is very easy, reliable, and reproducible. PEFR is very sensitive and accurate index of airway obstruction and the strength of respiratory muscles. Many factors are known to affect its value such as age, sex, height, and body surface area, the normal range for males and females is 450–550 L/min and 320–470 L/min, respectively. PEFR can be determined using both peak flow meter and digital spirometer. Peak flow meter is a simple inexpensive handheld device; hence, it is relatively easy to measure PEFR by peak flow meter. The digital spirometers measure PEFR along with various other lung function parameters. It has been recorded in the previous studies that the PEFR values given by various peak flow meters and spirometer varies, in laboratory calibration tests, the error has been shown up to 26%. The present comparative study is undertaken to determine whether the PEFR values derived from peak flow meter and spirometer has any significant difference or not.

Aims and Objectives: The objective of the study was to determine and compare the PEFR values using peak flow meter and digital spirometer.

Materials and Methods: The study comprises 200 healthy male medical students in the age group of 18–25 years, conducted in the Department of Physiology, Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences, after obtaining ethical clearance from the Institutional Ethical Committee. The subjects will be instructed about the procedure for recording PEFR. All the subjects will be made acquainted with peak flow meter and spirometer before actual recording. PEFR will be recorded in sitting position. Three readings will be taken and the best among these will be taken as final value.

Results: The mean PEFR measured by peak flow meter and spirometer was 338.7 ± 122.45 L/min and 299.6 ± 121.63 L/min, respectively. PEFR value is significantly greater when measured by peak flow meter than by spirometer (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Even though the values measured by both instruments vary, still the peak flow meters can still be advised for measuring PEFR in healthy individuals and daily monitoring of symptoms in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients as these are not very expensive, and procedure can be easily performed by all and repeated tests give almost same results.


Background: Clinicians have at hand several indices to evaluate disease activity and functionality in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), in order to evaluate the prognostic and the treatment of AS patients. Objectives: to examine the relationship between functional and activity scores in AS; to note whether disease activity is associated with any clinical or laboratory variables. Methods: the study included AS patients, classified according to the revised New York criteria; data recorded: demographics, disease duration, type of articular involvement, HLA B27 presence, history of uveitis, calculation of BASFI, BASDAI and ASDASCRP, quantification of inflammation markers. Results: 50 AS patients; ASDASCRP correlated significantly (p < 0.001) with BASFI (r = 811), BASDAI (r = 0.810) and with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR; r = 0.505); HLA B27 positive patients had a median BASDAI 5 times higher than HLA B27 negative patients (p = 0.033); compared with patients with strictly axial disease form, patients with axial and peripheral disease had a median ESR 3 times higher (p = 0.042) and a median BASDAI 2 times higher (p = 0.050). Conclusions: functional and activity AS indices are strongly correlated in assessing disease severity; inflammation and HLA B27 can predict the high value of these indices; axial and peripheral disease pattern is associated with higher disease activity.


Infectious and parasitic diseases like leishmaniasis and Chagas disease have spreading recent decades to places not observed before. They are considered neglected by desolating poor countries and marginalized pharmacologically. There are not many options for the treatment and these drugs have shown significant toxicity contributing to the appearance of several side effects. Research on natural products has been shown to be an interesting alternative to the search for new drugs. Lygodium venustum is a cosmopolitan fern with latescence habit found on the Chapada do Araripe, considered by some American populations as a medicinal plant for the treatment of skin diseases, infections, fungal infections and trichomoniasis. This study evaluated its antiparasitic activity against Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania brasiliensis , as well as its cytotoxicity through trials in vitro . We tested the ethanolic extract and hexane fraction obtained from the leaves of L. venustum at different concentrations. For in vitro tests of T. cruzi , we used the clone CL-B5 and for L. brasiliensis we used promastigotes. The cytotoxicity assay was performed with strains of fibroblasts. L.venustum showed no antiparasitic activity clinically relevant in the form of crude ethanolic extractor as the hexane fraction against Leishmania . The hexane fraction showed an intermediate activity against T.cruzi , but the concentration of moderate effect has maximum cytotoxicity becoming unfeasible for clinical application. However, the cytotoxicity presented may be useful in research on antineoplastic activity in tumor cells.


BACKGROUND
The main objective of this trial was to evaluate the combination of subcutaneous (SC) interleukin-2 (IL-2) with interferon alpha-2a (IFN-alpha) in the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (MRCC) compared with a previous trial that used continuous-infusion IL-2 and IFN-alpha with identical schedules and dosages.

METHODS
Between April, 1997 and January, 1998, 66 patients with MRCC received SC IL-2 at a dose of 9 x 10(6) IU/m(2) twice daily for 5 days during 2 induction cycles and during 4 additional cycles, with a 3-week rest between cycles. Each induction cycle consisted of two 5-day courses of IL-2 separated by a 9-day break. IFN-alpha at a dose of 6 x 10(6) IU per day three times per week was given during induction cycles and additional cycles.

RESULTS
All patients were assessable for response and toxicity. The median follow-up was 43 months. Thirty-five patients (51%) and 43 patients (63%) received >or= 80% of the planned induction doses of IL-2 and IFN-alpha, respectively. Five patients achieved objective responses (7.6%; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 2.5-16.8%), with two complete responses. The median survival was 14 months (95%CI, 11.3-16.7 months). Fifty-three patients (80%) had at least one episode of Grade 3 toxicity related to treatment. Twenty-two patients developed Grade 4 toxicities, which included hypotension (24% of patients), decreased performance status (6% of patients), dyspnea (3% of patients), and mucositis (3% patients) as well as fever, ventricular tachycardia, and anemia.

CONCLUSIONS
The current results seem to indicate reduced efficacy and higher toxicity rates with SC IL-2 plus IFN-alpha compared with the results from a previous trial that used an identical regimen with IV IL-2 administration. Although SC IL-2 regimens are used widely, their interest remains to be determined.


Ferritin has been linked to a variety of immunosuppressive effects on cell-mediated immunity. Therefore, serum ferritin was measured by radioimmunoassay in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), AIDS-related complex (ARC) and healthy heterosexual men. 13 of 15 patients with AIDS and 4 of 15 with ARC had ferritin levels greater than 300 micrograms/dl. This study suggests that the levels of serum ferritin increase with the progression of immune deficiency and might play a role in the pathogenesis of cell-mediated immune deficiency in AIDS.


Examination of the behaviour of pollen on the style of Raphanus, following compatible and incompatible intraspecific pollinations, has revealed the self-incompatibility system in this species to be composed of at least three stages. The first, on which no information has been obtained in this study, involves the germination of the grain. The second stage concerns the ability of the pollen tube to penetrate the cuticle of the stigmatic papilla. It is possible that cutinase is deficient in incompatible pollen tubes but, in most instances, the outer layers of the stigmatic wall are penetrated. The third stage involves the interaction of substances secreted by the pollen tube with products of the stigmatic cytoplasm. The interaction is swiftly followed by the deposition, in the stigma, of a layered callosic body. This is formed immediately under the point of penetration and takes about 6 h to develop fully. Development of the pollen tube ceases as the first layers of callose are laid down. It is possible that the substances in the pollen responsible for the initiation of the second two stages are held in the tapetally synthesized tryphine, thus accounting for the sporophytic control of pollen compatibility in this species. The mature stigma contains large numbers of crystalline protein bodies, but it is not known whether they play any role in the self-incompatibility system.


Nannochloropsis oculata, Cryptomonas erosa and Oscillatoria sp. have been cultured in culture solutions which are inorganic aging seawater, aging seawater supplemented with nitrogen and phosphor and the effluent water of shrimp pond. Their multiplication rhythms and interrelationship are studied in single and mixed culture. Competition parameters of three microalgae are calculated with the Lotka-Volterra mode. The results show that in each groups, Nannochloropsis sp. and C. erosa can promote the growth of Oscillatoria sp. during the initial stages. Compared with the single culture groups, the biomass of Oscillatoria sp. was larger in mixed culture groups. However, that of N. oculata and C. erosa were the highest in single culture group. After the reflection point, N. oculata had little effect on Oscillatoria sp., and C. erosa inhibited the growth of Oscillatoria sp. obviously. The competitive parameters of C. erosa to Oscillatoria sp. is much higher than that of N. oculata to Oscillatoria sp. at each corresponding time (P<0.05). Oscillatoria sp. has little inhibitory effect on N. oculata, while it has significant inhibitory effect on C. erosa, and their competitive parameters to C. erosa are all the maximum value among all the treatment groups at each corresponding time. It is indicated that the competitiveness of these microalgaes from high to low are Oscillatoria sp., C. erosa and N. oculata; Oscillatoria sp. has significant influence on N. oculata and C. erosa; N. oculta and C. erosa have little inhibitory effect on each other, so they can coexist.


A significant problem still exists with the low power output and durability of the bioelectrochemical fuel cells. We constructed a fuel cell with an enzymatic cascade at the anode for efficient energy conversion. The construction involved fabrication of the flow-through cell by three-dimensional printing. Gold nanoparticles with covalently bound naphthoquinone moieties deposited on cellulose/polypyrrole (CPPy) paper allowed us to significantly improve the catalysis rate, both at the anode and cathode of the fuel cell. The enzymatic cascade on the anode consisted of invertase, mutarotase, Flavine Adenine Dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent glucose dehydrogenase and fructose dehydrogenase. The multi-substrate anode utilized glucose, fructose, sucrose, or a combination of them, as the anode fuel and molecular oxygen were the oxidant at the laccase-based cathode. Laccase was adsorbed on the same type of naphthoquinone modified gold nanoparticles. Interestingly, the naphthoquinone modified gold nanoparticles acted as the enzyme orienting units and not as mediators since the catalyzed oxygen reduction occurred at the potential where direct electron transfer takes place. Thanks to the good catalytic and capacitive properties of the modified electrodes, the power density of the sucrose/oxygen enzymatic fuel cells (EFC) reached 0.81 mW cm−2, which is beneficial for a cell composed of a single cathode and anode.


Explosive eruptions that occur with little or no precursory unrest (less than a month) pose the greatest hazards from volcanoes to nearby populations. Here we focus on the preeruptive conditions for these explosive events, their triggers and how these eruptions evolve. We concentrate on Kelud volcano, where we have conducted a set of petrological experiments to understand preeruptive storage conditions for several recent eruptions. For the 2014 explosive eruption, we combine this with an analysis of interferometric synthetic aperture radar measured deformation. Our data suggest that both explosive and effusive eruptions at Kelud are sourced from a magma storage system at 2–4 km. However, explosive eruptions are fed by magma stored under relatively cool (~1000 °C) and water‐saturated conditions, whereas effusive eruptions are fed by slightly hotter (~1050 °C), water‐undersaturated magmas. We propose that the initial phase of the 2014 eruption was triggered by volatile overpressure, which then fostered top‐down decompression tapping discrete magma bodies. By compiling a global data set of monitoring signatures of explosive eruptions, we show that the onset of unrest rarely points to the shallow ascent of magma to the surface, as ascent mostly occurs in a matter of hours or minutes. We relate the timescale of preeruptive unrest to eruption triggering mechanisms, with yearly/decadal periods of unrest relating to magma injection events (which may or may not precede a magmatic eruption), whereas internal triggering (e.g., second boiling) of an already present, cooling magma body can lead to explosive eruptions with little warning.


We have previously shown oxidative stress and oedema, caused by both xanthine oxidase‐derived oxidants and infiltrating neutrophils, within skeletal muscle after contractile‐induced claudication. The purpose of this study was to determine whether supplementation with antioxidant vitamins attenuates the oxidative stress, neutrophil infiltration and oedema associated with an acute bout of contractile‐induced claudication. Rats received vehicle, vitamin C, vitamin E or vitamin C + E for 5 days prior to contractile‐induced claudication. Force production was significantly reduced in the claudicant limbs of all groups compared with the control (sham) limb of control animals. Contractile‐induced claudication caused a significant increase in protein oxidation, lipid peroxidation, neutrophil infiltration and oedema compared with sham muscles. Supplementation with vitamin C, E or C + E prevented the increases in each of these, and there were no differences between groups. These findings suggest that, in an animal model of exercise‐induced claudication, neutrophil chemotaxis is caused by oxidizing species and that antioxidant supplementation can prevent oxidative damage, neutrophil infiltration and oedema following an acute bout of contractile‐induced claudication.


THE EFFECT OF A WARMING UP TO FLUENCY INTERVENTION ON SECOND-GRADE STUDENTS' READING Jacqueline J. Cleven, Ed.D. Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations Northern Illinois University, 2014 Dr. Elizabeth Wilkins and Dr. Thomas Smith, Co-Directors This research study investigated the effectiveness of a warming up to fluency intervention on the student reading outcomes of words per minute, errors, prosody, and overall reading level as measured by AIMSweb, the Multidimensional Fluency Rubric, and the Developmental Reading Assessment 2 (DRA2). A total of 34 second-grade students participated: 17 in the intervention group and 16 in the comparison group. The students were one-to-one matched based on DRA2 reading scores. Students in the intervention group received the intervention Monday through Friday for 18 weeks. A repeated measures ANOVA was completed on all of the above outcomes with no significant group differences. Exploratory analyses of gender across time on all outcomes did produce significant differences for males in the opposite direction. Exploratory analyses using age as a covariate did not produce significant findings on any of the four outcomes. Implications include meaningful fluency intervention and progress monitoring. Recommendations include parental and involvement school team involvement, implementation of the intervention with integrity, and warming up of students prior to the AIMSweb assessment. NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY DE KALB, ILLINOIS


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Introduction: Due to economic, social, and environmental perplexities associated with drought, it is considered as one of the most complex natural hazards. To investigate the beginning along with analyzing the direct impacts of drought; the significance of drought monitoring must be highlighted. Regarding drought management and its consequences alleviation, drought forecasting must be taken into account (11). The current research employed multi-layer perceptron (MLP), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), radial basis function (RBF) and general regression neural network (GRNN). It is interesting to note that, there has not been any record of applying GRNN in drought forecasting.
Materials and Methods: Throughout this paper, Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) was the basis of drought forecasting. To do so, the precipitation data of Gonbad Kavous station during the period of 1972-73 to 2006-07 were used. To provide short-term, mid-term, and long-term drought analysis; SPI for 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 months was evaluated. SPI evaluation benefited from four statistical distributions, namely, Gamma, Normal, Log-normal, and Weibull along with Kolmogrov-Smirnov (K-S) test. Later, to compare the capabilities of four utilized neural networks for drought forecasting; MLP, ANFIS, RBF, and GRNN were applied. MLP as a multi-layer network, which has a sigmoid activation function in hidden layer plus linear function in output layer, can be considered as a powerful regressive tool. ANFIS besides adaptive neuro networks, employed fuzzy logic. RBF, the foundation of radial basis networks, is a three-layer network with Gaussian function in its hidden layer, and a linear function in the output layer. GRNN is another type of RBF which is used for radial basis regressive problems. The performance criteria of the research were as follows: Correlation (R2), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE).
Results Discussion: According to statistical distribution analysis, the optimal precipitation distribution in many cases was not Gamma distribution. The various time-scales of SPI revealed that, at least in 50% of the events, Gamma was not the selected distribution. Throughout the drought forecasting on the basis of SPI time-series with four aforementioned networks, 80% of the data was allocated to the training process whilst the rest of them considered for the test process. The proper parameters of the networks were chosen via trial and error. Moreover, Cross-validation was used to overcome the over-estimation. The results revealed that the long-term SPIs outdid the others. Performance of the networks promoted with increases in time scales of SPI. In other words, the performance criteria improved proportional to the increases in the time-scales. Based on the Table 3, the least and best performance were contributed to SPI1 and SPI24, respectively. In this regard, R2 of MLP for observed and estimated values of SPI vitiated from 0.009 to 0.949. Similar to MLP, correlation of ANFIS, RBF, and GRNN increased from 0.021 to 0.925, 0.263 to 0.953, and 0.210 to 0.955. Comparison of observed and estimated mean values via Z test indicated that null hypothesis of equal mean observed and estimated values was only rejected for SPI1 with α=0.01. Hence, except SPI1 forecasting, the all other scenarios have remained the mean of observed time series which highlighted the robustness of artificial intelligence in drought forecasting.
Conclusion: The main objective of the ongoing research was monitoring and forecasting of drought based upon various time scales of SPI. In doing so, the precipitation data of Gonbad Kavous station during the period of 1972-73 to 2006-07 were used. Based on K-S test, the best statistical distribution test for different time scales of SPI evaluation was chosen, and then, the SPI was calculated based on the most fitted distribution. After generating the time-series, MLP, ANFIS, RBF, and GRNN were applied for drought forecasting. According to the findings, the lowest performance of forecasting belonged to SPI1 where its RBF's best performance for R2, RMSE, and MAE were 0.263, 0.806, and 0.989. Furthermore, increases in SPI time-scale promoted the performance of networks. Thus, the worst and best performance belonged to SPI1 and SPI24, respectively. Among the utilized models, ANFIS stood superior to the others, and GRNN followed up after it.


In bacteriophage T7 the gene 2.5 single-stranded DNA-binding protein and the gene 4 helicase together promote the annealing of homologous regions of two DNA partners to form a joint molecule and subsequent strand transfer. In this reaction T7 gene 2.5 protein is essential for joint molecule formation, but is not required for T7 gene 4 protein-mediated strand transfer. T7 gene 4 helicase alone is able to mediate strand transfer, provided that a joint molecule is available. The present paper shows that, in addition, strand transfer proceeds at a normal rate even when both DNA partners contain ultraviolet-induced pyrimidine dimers (0.6 dimer per 100 nt). An insert of a relatively long (842-nt) segment of nonhomologous DNA in the single-stranded DNA partner has no effect on strand transfer, whereas its presence in the double-stranded partner prevents strand transfer. A short insert (37 nt) can be tolerated in either partner. Thus, DNA helicase is able to participate in recombinational DNA repair through its role in strand exchange, providing a pathway distinct from nucleotide excision repair.


Deficient anti-tumor immunity often results from an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) that renders antigen presenting cells (APCs) unable to effectively stimulate T cells. Recent studies indicate that local delivery of immunostimulatory adjuvants can activate tumor resident APCs, driving uptake, processing and presentation of tumor neoantigens to T cells that mediate anti-tumor immunity. To overcome challenges associated with intratumoral delivery of such adjuvants, we developed a novel class of TLR immune-stimulating antibody conjugates (TAC) that comprise a TLR7/8 agonist conjugated to tumor-targeting monoclonal antibodies. In vitro co-cultures with human cancer cell lines and leukocytes revealed that TACs potently activate primary APCs, leading to increased co-stimulatory molecule expression (e.g. CD40, CD86) and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. TNFα). The TACs also enhanced antibody-mediated effector functions such as ADCC and ADCP. Surprisingly, these constructs also induced dendritic cell (DC) differentiation from monocytes, as measured by changes in cellular morphology and DC surface markers (e.g. CD14 downregulation). CyTOF-based analysis of intracellular signaling in human leukocytes revealed a unique signaling signature of the conjugate compared to a mixture of its components, suggesting a novel biological mechanism by which the conjugate stimulates APCs. Finally, we demonstrated in vivo efficacy in syngeneic tumor models in which TAC treatment led to tumor clearance and development of immunologic memory. These results provide a strong rationale for this technology as a platform for cancer immunotherapy. Citation Format: Shelley E. Ackerman, Joseph C. Gonzalez, Josh D. Gregorio, Jason C. Paik, Felix J. Hartmann, Justin A. Kenkel, Arthur Lee, Angela Luo, Cecelia I. Pearson, Murray L. Nguyen, Benjamin Ackerman, Lauren Y. Sheu, Richard P. Laura, Steven J. Chapin, Brian S. Safina, Sean C. Bendall, David Dornan, Edgar G. Engleman, Michael N. Alonso. TLR7/8 immune-stimulating antibody conjugates elicit robust myeloid activation leading to enhanced effector function and anti-tumor immunity in pre-clinical models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1559.


The article deals with the issues related to the modelling of unsteady fluid flow in short and long pipelines, including various equipment: pumping stations (equipped with cen-trifugal or piston pumps), valves of different operating principle, pressure stabilizers, etc. Pres-sure stabilizers (especially in short pipelines) are able to protect the pipeline from sudden pres-sure surges. This is important not only in terms of the strength of the pipeline system, but also in short pipeline circuits for a uniform flow of liquid fuel supply. As a mathematical tool for numerical solution of differential equations of quasi-hyperbolic type, the method of character-istics is applied, which allows to consider the problems that develop over time. The program is written in C++ with graphical interpretation in Maple.


This paper concentrates on the emissions module of what is part of a wider project dealing with various aspects of gas turbine usage as drivers for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production. The framework is known as TERA, a Techno-Economic and Environmental Risk Analysis, developed at Cranfield University with the core of the study being the performance module whilst the risk, economics and environmental modules are built around the performance. Whilst TERA exists for aviation and power production no such system is available for assessment of LNG production. With environmental issues high on the public agenda new legislation on emissions can be expected, especially in Europe. This will mean Oil & Gas companies will have to look for ways to reduce their emissions. One way to reduce turbo machinery losses is to replace out dated and/or obsolete machinery having less overall energy efficiency. The selection of turbomachinery involves assessments of risk, both economic and technical, as well as environmental impacts of the new technology. The core to all of this is the performance assessment, the primary basis on which selection is made. An aviation emissions model, developed at Cranfield University, is adapted for industrial applications. Technical performance calculations are made using the inhouse software called Turbomatch. Performance results for three typical days of the year (summer, winter and spring/autumn) are fed into the emissions model to get the levels of NOx, CO2, H2O, CO and unburnt hydrocarbon emissions. Later, NOx, CO2 and H2O emissions levels are fed into the environmental module to estimate the damage the engine causes to the environment over 100 years with respect to global warming. Two hypothetical engine configurations are investigated based on engine data available in the public domain. The first one, an 85MW single spool industrial machine (SSI-85), is used as the baseline to compare against a 100MW triple spool, intercooled aeroderivative (ITSA-100). The results suggest that the ITSA-100 produces more NOx but has less carbon emissions and consequently less global warming effects. This has varied economic impacts depending on which emission is a priority for reduction. CO2 and H2O emissions are more important than NOx for LNG gas turbine applications. The paper shows how this simple but effective system can be utilised to give a viable comparison between one or more proposed solutions for turbomachinery selection and replacement. The scope of the system is expanded as other modules come together to give a total assessment in terms of technical, economic, environmental and risk perspectives for LNG production.


Inverse Kohn-Sham (iKS) methods are needed to fully understand the one-to-one mapping between densities and potentials on which density functional theory is based. They can contribute to the construction of empirical exchange-correlation functionals and to the development of techniques for density-based embedding. Unlike the forward Kohn-Sham problems, numerical iKS problems are ill-posed and can be unstable. We discuss some of the fundamental and practical difficulties of iKS problems with constrained-optimization methods on finite basis sets. Various factors that affect the performance are systematically compared and discussed, both analytically and numerically, with a focus on two of the most practical methods: the Wu-Yang method (WY) and the partial differential equation constrained optimization (PDE-CO). Our analysis of the WY and PDE-CO highlights the limitation of finite basis sets. We introduce new ideas to make iKS problems more tractable, provide an overall strategy for performing numerical density-to-potential inversions, and discuss challenges and future directions.


Abstract:Lacan and Winnicott are both profoundly psychosocial thinkers who shared an interest in the modern psyche and the alienation often considered endemic to it. From Freud, Lacan took the theory of narcissism (Borch-Jacobsen, 1991), which he developed into a wide-ranging critique of the psychosocial constitution of the modern subject. Winnicott, on the other hand, trained his eye on the environmental conditions necessary for feeling authentic, or 'real,' and the experiences that might produce alienation from this 'true' self, and encourage the formation of a narcissistic 'false' self (Donald W. Winnicott, 1990). In this context, Lacan and Winnicott's shared interest in the metaphor and function of the mirror, which has long provided an entry point for clinical and academic comparisons of their work, is a key point of orientation. This article seeks to explore and unpack the relationship between Lacan and Winnicott's interest in narcissism, alienation and the mirror, locating their thinking in relation to dominant philosophical conceptions of subjectivity and sociological understandings of modernity, dating from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth century. Situating Lacan and Winnicott on this terrain throws their theories of the mirror into relief in important ways. Not only is the 'modern' character of psychoanalysis foregrounded, the contribution it can make to social transformation is also affirmed.


This study assessed the effect on clinical decision making and the possible prognostic significance of the 24-hour Tl-201 image in patients undergoing Tl-201-MIBI dual-isotope myocardial scintigraphy. The records of all patients who underwent 24-hour Tl-201 imaging as part of their myocardial perfusion study from 1994 to 1996 were reviewed. Follow-up evaluations were obtained from the referring physician or by direct patient contact. Fifty-six patients underwent a total of 57 studies; four patients were lost to follow-up. Of the 53 studies evaluated, 29 showed no change between the standard rest images and the 24-hour images; these patients were reported to have myocardial scar. Of these 29 patients, 25 were treated medically without further evaluation; 24 of these 25 patients remained stable. Four of the 29 patients had further evaluation; 2 patients had coronary artery bypass graft, 1 had a stent placed, and 1 remained stable. Twenty-four patients showed definite improvement or normalization of their study results by 24 hours; they were reported as ischemic. Of these 24 patients, 11 were treated medically without further evaluation; 9 remained stable, whereas 2 had adverse events. The remaining 13 patients required further evaluation; 4 remained stable, whereas 9 had adverse events (4 = increasing angina; 1 = stent; 1 = rotoblator; 2 = percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty; 1 = death). Twenty-four-hour imaging contributes to clinical decision making and may identify a subset of patients at risk for subsequent complications.


INTRODUCTION
Atherosclerosis is the main cause of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality in the western world. Detection and treatment of risk factors (such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus) reduce CV events. We have shown cost utility in reducing these CV risk factors in community clinics and community centers.

AIMS
In this paper we focused on community workplaces.

METHODS
We included 1011 workers in 15 worksites in the study. All workers were analyzed for CV risk factors and included in 6 months of intervention in their worksite in order to reduce the burden of CV risk factors.

RESULTS
Significant reduction was noted in the percentage of high risk patients from 43.7% to 27.8% to 24.7% after 3 and 6 months respectively (p<0.05), in the percentage of workers with high weight circumference, high blood pressure, smokers, and in high body mass index (>30g/m2 ).

CONCLUSIONS
Interventions in community workplaces can improve the CV risk factors profile and thus should be implemented as broadly as possible.


Neural network controllers have become popular in control tasks thanks to their flexibility and expressivity. Stability is a crucial property for safety-critical dynamical systems, while stabilization of partially observed systems, in many cases, requires controllers to retain and process long-term memories of the past. We consider the important class of recurrent neural networks (RNN) as dynamic controllers for nonlinear uncertain partially-observed systems, and derive convex stability conditions based on integral quadratic constraints, S-lemma and sequential convexification. To ensure stability during the learning and control process, we propose a projected policy gradient method that iteratively enforces the stability conditions in the reparametrized space taking advantage of mild additional information on system dynamics. Numerical experiments show that our method learns stabilizing controllers with fewer samples and achieves higher final performance compared with policy gradient.


HISTORY
A 33-year-old female nurse (married; two children; BMI 30.9 kg/m2) had recurrent episodes of symptomatic hypoglycaemia over some months.

INVESTIGATIONS
Two fasting tests were terminated after 26 hours because the patient became unconscious. Improved insulin/glucose ratio was infinity and 6.1 [mU/l]/[mg/dl] (normal value < 0.5). An hyperinsulinaemic-hypoglycaemic angle "clamp test" produced a C-peptide suppression to minimally 0.26 - 0.38 nmol/l (normal value 0.06 +/- 0.01 nmol). There was no spontaneous or paradoxical burst in insulin or C-peptide concentration after either the fasting or the "clamp test". Serum analysis of sulphonylurea on several occasions documented an increase of glibenclamide above therapeutic range.

TREATMENT AND COURSE
The patient denied any intake of oral antidiabetic preparations, but there were no further hypoglycaemia attacks in subsequent months.

DIAGNOSIS
The demonstration of sulphonylurea in serum confirmed the diagnosis of factitious hypoglycaemia.

CONCLUSION
With regard to insulin or C-peptide suppression, the results of the fasting and clamp tests are the same in factitious hypoglycaemia and insulinoma. However, under the influence of sulphonylurea drugs there are no insulin or C-peptide bursts so typical of insulinoma. In case of doubt, detection of sulphonylurea preparations in serum or urine is the only reliable way of diagnosing factitious hypoglaema due to the ingestion of sulphonylurea.


Introduction: Low birth weight due to intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) may induce renal function modifications leading to arterial hypertension. Objective: assess blood pressure in normotensive children with a personal history of low birth weight due to IUGR. Methods: a study was conducted of plasma creatinine, glomerular filtration and blood pressure in 19 normotensive children aged 4-5 years with a history of low birth weight due to IUGR (Group 1: IUGR) and their controls (Group 2: Controls). Results: a lower plasma creatinine concentration was found in Group 1 (0.691 vs. 0.751) with p=0.001*, whereas similar values were found for blood pressure (80.0 vs. 78.5) and glomerular filtration intensity (86.1 vs. 83.4) with p<0.05. Conclusions: renal function modifications occurring before the study period may not be discarded.


The adsorption behavior of trimesic acid (TMA) on rutile TiO2(110) is studied by means of non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) and density-functional theory (DFT). Upon low-coverage adsorption at room temperature, NC-AFM imaging reveals individual molecules, centered above the surface titanium rows. Based on the NC-AFM results alone it is difficult to deduce whether the molecules are lying flat or standing upright on the surface. To elucidate the detailed adsorption geometry, we perform DFT calculations, considering a large number of different adsorption positions. Our DFT calculations suggest that single TMA molecules adsorb with the benzene ring parallel to the surface plane. In this configuration, two carboxylic groups can anchor to the surface in a bidentate fashion with the oxygen atoms binding to surface titanium atoms while the hydrogen atoms approach oxygen atoms within the bridging oxygen rows. The most favorable adsorption position is obtained in the presence of a hydroxyl defect, allowing for additional binding of the third carboxylic group.


Abstract The present paper situates the Western and Eastern models of divine agency within their respective ontological frameworks. I show how the Western conception of divine agency as the production of 'created effects' is rooted in a particular understanding of the relationship between transcendence and immanence, but also in a trinitarian ontology which understands God as pure actuality. On the other hand, the Eastern understanding of divine agency through the conceptuality of uncreated energies is similarly rooted in the real distinction between God's nature and energies. Without trying to critique the Eastern model, I demonstrate one particular strength of the Western approach, namely its ability to distinguish between divine actions, which are inseparable, and divine missions, which are proper to the triune persons. Such a distinction enables us to affirm both the inseparability of triune operations, as well as the possibility of relations to distinct triune persons.


PurposeThe authors explain the conditions under which positive personality traits and work environment factors either interact synergistically or yield diminishing-gains when creative individuals are in a supportive working environment.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained using a time-lagged design. The final sample includes 350 researchers from 64 scientific research teams.FindingsThe results indicate that the need for cognition is positively associated with individual creativity. Furthermore, this study suggests that perceived organizational support for creativity can complement an individual's need for cognition when it comes to individual creativity. This indicates a synergistic pattern. On the other hand, psychological safety can substitute for an individual's need for cognition when influencing individual creativity. Thus, a diminishing-gains pattern also exists.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that when individuals are stuck in environments of low psychological safety, yet perceive higher levels of organizational support for creativity, their levels of creativity can be boosted.Originality/valueThis study is among one of the first to explore a supportive context's complementary or substitution effect on positive personality traits by demonstrating the complementary effect of perceived organizational support for creativity and the substitution effect of psychological safety. This study validates the positive effect of the need for cognition on creativity. This study also enriches the psychological safety literature by showing that psychological safety is not always necessary for individuals with a high need for cognition.


The bustle and activity of our daily erratic make us do not know when it comes to the house, where the lights are supposed to be lit. But it was not turned on because no one was home. This certainly makes us into a panic and anxiety, because it will not start from where we are. Another example is in the office, on the road, and anywhere at the time the house empty or unoccupied. From some of the problems mentioned above, the study sought to realize one of the benefits of the existing mobile phone. Utilization of it is to create a tool that can activate the light there at home by using a mobile phone channels. The system is able to turn on or turn off the lights even though the house empty or unoccupied by long distance. With this system we are and at anytime can menggendalikan home appliances remotely.


Researching the interplay between social work students' personal and professional identities, I found that, in talking about becoming professionals, students drew on a wide range of discourses. Three common usages of the term 'professional identity' are explored here: it can be thought of in relation to desired traits; it can also be used in a collective sense to convey the 'identity of the profession'. Taking a more subjective approach, professional identity can be regarded as a process in which each individual comes to have a sense of themselves as a social worker. I argue that the variations in students' talk reflect a wide range of cultural understandings that are prevalent within the social work community and society in general, and conclude that professional identity is more complicated than adopting certain traits or values, or even demonstrating competence. The different meanings of professional identity all have something to offer, providing resources for students as they construct themselves as social workers. This is important for social work education because it acknowledges the dynamic nature of professional identity, highlights the difficult identity work which each student must undertake, and prompts us to consider how this process might best be supported.


Many phenolics found naturally in food have the capacity to show beneficial effects at low doses and toxicity at high doses in in vitro systems. Resveratrol is no exception. Nonetheless, in the nutritional context, the evidence that resveratrol shows hormetic effects is very limited and is of questionable relevance given its rapid metabolism in the stomach. Hormesis can only be confirmed if evidence for a J- or U-shaped dose-response relationship is found in in vivo doses that are relevant to human intakes.


Chinese Named entity recognition is one of the most important tasks in NLP. The paper mainly describes our work on NER tasks. The paper built up a system under the framework of Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) model. With an improved tag set the system gets an F-value of 93.49 using SIGHAN2007 MSRA corpus.


Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 (mTORC1) positively regulates cell invasion and metastasis via enhancing Snail protein translation. The connection between mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2) and cell invasion and metastasis has also been suggested. However the underlying biology or mechanism is largely unknown and thus is the focus of this study. Inhibition of mTOR with both mTOR inhibitors and knockdown of the key components including rictor, Sin1 and raptor of mTORCs decreased Snail protein levels. mTOR inhibitors promoted Snail degradation rate. Moreover, mTOR inhibitor-induced Snail reduction was rescued by proteasome inhibition. Critically, inhibition of mTORC2 (by knocking down rictor), but not mTORC1 (by knocking down raptor), enhanced Snail degradation. Therefore, it is the inhibition of the mTORC2 that induces Snail proteasomal degradation, resulting in eventual Snail reduction. Interestingly, inhibition of GSK3, but not SCF/β-TrCP, rescued Snail reduction induced by mTOR inhibitors, suggesting a GSK3-dependent, but SCF/β-TrCP-independent proteasomal degradation of Snail. Accordingly, mTOR inhibitors elevated E-Cad levels and suppressed cancer cell migration and invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Collectively, the current study has revealed a novel connection between mTORC2 and positive regulation of Snail stability, thus providing a scientific base for mTORC2 in positive regulation of cell EMT, invasion and metastasis. (This study was supported by NIH/NCI R01 CA118450 and CA160522 to SYS and National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 31771578 to QQZ). Citation Format: Shuo Zhang, Guoqing Qian, Qian-Qian Zhang, Yuying Yao, DongSheng Wang, Zhuo G. Chen, Lijing Wang, Mingwei Chen, Shi-Yong Sun. mTORC2 suppresses GSK3-dependent, but b-TrCP-independent, Snail degradation, contributing to positive regulation of cancer cell invasion and metastasis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4598.


To investigate the role of volatile components in the compound and to find the substance foundation of Gualou Guizhi decoction (GLGZD) for curing extremities spasticity after stroke. The chemical compositions of essential oil, obtained by hydrodistillation from Gualou Guizhi decoction and its major constituting herbs (Trichosanthis Radix, Paeoniae Alba Radix, Cinnamomi Ramulus, Zingiberis Recens Rhizoma, Glycyrrhizae Radix, Ziziphi Jujubae Fructus) were analyzed by GC-MS to evaluate the correlativity between volatile components of GLGZD and its major constituting herbs, and volatile components after oral administration of GLGZD in the rats' brain. Volatile components of GLGZD are mainly derived from Cinnamomi Ramulus, Zingiberis Recens Rhizoma, Ziziphi Jujubae Fructus, Trichosanthis Radix. The volatile components in the brain is mostly derived from radix trichosanthis. Compared with individual herbs of GLGZD, the dissolution of the components increase or new components appear after compatibility of six herbs. Adminstrated with GLGZD, the results point out that volatile components in the brain play a neuroprotective role through passing the brain.


Basing on analysis of the examination and treatment results in 53 patients, suffering iatrogenic injury of ureter (IIU), the indications for ureteric reconstruction using intestinal segment were the ureter long irreversible changes, while renal function preserved. A segmental ureteric plasty was done in 8 (15.1%) patients, a subtotal one--in 16 (30.2%), total--in 14 (26.4%), and bilateral--in 15 (28.3%). With the objective to prevent the bladder-intestinal reflux occurrence a distal part of the intestinal transplant was modeled. In 35 (66%) patients 2 - 3 cm of distal part of intestinal mucosa were turned out with the wrap formation. In 18 (34%) patients the creation of antireflux wrap was added by its modeling in a kind of intraileal plasty with formation of two separate channels in the intestinal-bladder anastomosis region. While performance of intraileal plasty of the bladder-intestinal reflux have occurred in 2 (11.1%) patients, and after procedure with the wrap formation--in 13 (37.1%).


Abstract For more than 120 years since the name Caprovis savinii was founded on the basis of a bovid horn core from the 'Forest Bed' at Overstrand (Norfolk, UK), only one other find has been assigned to this species. Recently, two horn cores and one horn core fragment of the species have been discovered at two sand and gravel sorting centres in the Netherlands. The bone-bearing sediments are exposed on the North Sea floor, just off the coast of Great Yarmouth (Norfolk, UK). By comparing fossil and extant taxa, a classification within the bovid tribe Antilopini is proposed. Based on the accompanying fauna from the specific dredging area and the litho- and chronostratigraphy at Overstrand, C. savinii is placed within the Early Pleistocene.


Introduction The careful selection of patients for hernia repair in ambulatory surgery centres is critical to prevent unanticipated inpatient admissions. The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors associated with inpatient admission. Methods A multivariable logistic regression was performed utilising the ACS NSQIP database from 2007 to 2016. The primary outcome was same-day hospital discharge. The primary exposure variable was preoperative functional status. Additional covariates included sex, obesity, age, smoking status, steroid use, dyspnoea, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, bleeding disorder, dialysis-dependence and American Society of Anesthesiologists classification score. Results A total of 194,822 patients underwent hernia repair in the outpatient setting; 8705 (4.5%) required hospital admission. The variables with the most significantly increased odds for hospital admission were partially dependent and totally dependent preoperative functional status. Conclusion A non-independent baseline functional status is the strongest predictor of need for admission following outpatient hernia repair.