BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES : Joint mobilization is a non-pharmacological technique used to treat chronic musculoskeletal pain. However, it is controversial due to a lack of studies comparing its effects on this painful condition. The objective of this study was to assess the risk of bias in clinical trials investigating the effect of joint mobilization on chronic musculoskeletal pain. CONTENTS : A systematic search on Pubmed, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, Scielo, PEDro, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, LILACS, BVS, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus was performed on September 2019 from the combination of three keywords: Randomized controlled clinical trials that evaluated the use of joint mobilization associated or not to other therapies in chronic musculoskeletal pain treatment were included. Five thousand five hundred eighty-seven articles were screened, and 14 studies were analyzed, including 812 participants, with a mean age of 54 years, and female being the most affected. According to these articles, joint mobilization promoted the reduction of pain intensity in short and long terms, increase in range of motion, strength and function when used alone or in association with conventional physiotherapy. Regarding methodological quality, most of the studies were classified with low risk for selection, performance, detection and reporting bias. In the "other bias" item, which considered therapists experience o Estudo da Dor time and types of treatment applied, only one study presented low risk and other study presented an unclear risk. CONCLUSION : Joint mobilization seems to be an effective technique for the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain. Ho-wever, it is still necessary to investigate and compile studies with greater methodological quality, thus promoting greater


We show that higher dimensional models (brane worlds) in which the scale of quantum gravity M∗ is much smaller than the apparent scale MP ∼ 1019 GeV violate the covariant entropy bound arising from holography. The thermodynamic entropies of astrophysical black holes and sub-horizon volumes during big bang nucleosynthesis exceed the relevant bounds unless M∗ > 10 (4−6) TeV, so a hierarchy relative to the weak scale is unavoidable. We discuss the implications for extra dimensions as well as holography. email@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com


The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential impact of organisational talent management practices on perceived employer branding. Talented employees are the lifeline of any organisation who contribute effectively to the organisation's success. Talented workforce and their organisational attraction to remain productive act as a primary competitive enabler for the organizational performance. Employer branding now becomes a key factor to achieve success in business which engenders cognitive and emotional association along with positive involvement at workplace among organizational members. In the context of economic competitiveness and globalisation, employers are experiencing challenge in attracting and retaining talented workers.,This paper uses quantitative design; questionnaire survey method was used for assessing the organisational talent management and employer branding. Data have been collected through a sample of 232 executives' class employees from various coal and iron mining industries located in Indian subcontinents. Finally, 197 responses were found to be acceptable for analysis. Hypotheses were tested using a comparison of means, correlations and multiple regression analysis.,Findings of the paper show that organisational talent management is strongly and positively with the perceived employer branding. Regression analysis showed that among the eight dimensions of organisational talent management, the predictors that are most effective in predicting the employer branding are, namely, rewards and remunerates fairly, manages work–life balance and attracts and recruits talent.,This paper was limited by a small sample size and the use of a cross-sectional design is not done. On the ground of analysis, more specific approach is required to apply the findings to the general population.,Much of the work on employer branding is conceptual based on marketing principle and limited to deal with potential employees. This paper provides empirical evidence from the internal/current employees' perspective, by investigating the relationship between organisational talent management practices and organisational attraction internally, that is, perceived employer branding. Present paper contributes significantly to the implication and understanding of social exchange theory, internal branding theory and social identity theory in organisational setting (Eisenberger et al., 1986; Liden et al., 1997; Masterson et al., 2000; Settoon et al., 1996; Wayne et al., 1997).


This review analyzes, in some depth, results of studies on the effect of lowered temperatures on cerebral energy metabolism in animals under normal conditions and in some selected pathologic situations. In sedated and paralyzed mammals, acute uncomplicated 0.5- to 3-h hypothermia decreases the global cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRglc) and oxygen (CMRO2) but maintains a slightly better energy level, which indicates that ATP breakdown is reduced more than its synthesis. Intracellular alkalinization stimulates glycolysis and independently enhances energy generation. Lowering of temperature during hypoxia–ischemia slows the rate of glucose, phosphocreatine, and ATP breakdown and lactate and inorganic phosphate formation, and improves recovery of energetic parameters during reperfusion. Mild hypothermia of 12 to 24-h duration after normothermic hypoxic–ischemic insults seems to prevent or ameliorate secondary failures in energy parameters. The authors conclude that lowered head temperatures help to protect and maintain normal CNS function by preserving brain ATP supply and level. Hypothermia may thus prove a promising avenue in the treatment of stroke and trauma and, in particular, of perinatal brain injury.


This article, relying on Bakhtin's approach to canonization, demonstrates an empirical link between language and ideology. The authors employ content and discourse analysis to examine political discourse exemplified in editorial writing as a particular speech genre. They scrutinize editorials in four newspapers published in Catalonia, two of them in Castilian and two in Catalan. Despite political differences between the papers in each language, the authors discern a Catalan-language discourse style that differs significantly from the Caslilian-language discourse style. They conclude that the historically canonized discourse styles, different in Catalonia's Castilian and Catalan press, reflect the intimate relationship between language of use and ideology.


BACKGROUND Previous studies have suggested that the costimulatory molecule 4-1BB plays pivotal roles in regulating immunity during chronic viral infection. However, up to now, there are few studies about 4-1BB in chronic hepatitis B (CHB). AIM To clarify this issue, we report our comprehensive study results on the expression levels of 4-1BB in patients with CHB. METHODS From September 2018 to June 2019, a total of 64 patients with CHB were recruited from the Department of Hepatology, The First Hospital of Jilin University. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 52 treatment-naïve and 12 entecavir-treated patients with CHB as well as 37 healthy donors (including 24 healthy adults and 13 healthy children). The levels of soluble 4-1BB (s4-1BB) in plasma were measured by ELISA. 4-1BB mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was detected by real-time quantitative PCR. RESULTS The s4-1BB levels in the plasma of patients with CHB were significantly higher than those in healthy adults (94.390 ± 7.393 ng/mL vs 8.875 ± 0.914 ng/mL, P < 0.001). In addition, the s4-1BB level in plasma was significantly increased in patients with a higher viral load and a disease flare up. However, there were no significant differences between treatment-naïve and entecavir-treated patients. Interestingly, among treatment-naïve patients with CHB, the levels of s4-1BB in plasma had a significant positive correlation with hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis B virus DNA, hepatitis B e antigen, and triglyceride levels (r = 0.748, P < 0.001; r = 0.406, P = 0.004; r = 0.356, P = 0.019 and r = -0.469, P = 0.007, respectively). The 4-1BB mRNA expression was higher in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with CHB than in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of healthy adults, but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the levels of s4-1BB may be associated with pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus and therefore may be a promising biomarker for disease progression.


This paper presents a generic model to combine robust speech understanding and mixed-initiative dialogue control in spoken dialogue systems. It relies on the use of semantic frames to conceptually store user interactions, a frame-unification procedure to deal with partial information, and a stack structure to handle initiative control. This model has been successfully applied in a dialogue system being developed at our lab, named SAPLEN, which aims to deal with the telephone-based product orders and queries of fast food restaurants' clients. In this paper we present the dialogue system and describe the new model, together with the results of a preliminary evaluation of the system concerning recognition time, word accuracy, implicit recovery and speech understanding. Finally, we present the conclusions and indicate possibilities for future work.


Software security is a problem. Software development mistakes end up as vulnerabilities that can be exploited. The easier a software exploit makes attacking a target, the less skilled people are able to do it. Various prioritisation systems exist to address software security issues. The author of this paper finds that they are either too complex and hard to access, or product specific. This thesis takes a whole new approach to the prioritisation by studying exploit completeness and the factors that relate to it. First an exploit completeness scale is constructed, then the author conducts a study to analyse vulnerability and exploit data with statistical methods. The results show that seven factors influence exploit completeness. Five factors are used to build a linear regression model for completeness prediction. The time needed to collect the data for the factors is measured.


In this work, we contribute to video saliency research in two ways. First, we introduce a new benchmark for predicting human eye movements during dynamic scene free-viewing, which is long-time urged in this field. Our dataset, named DHF1K (Dynamic Human Fixation), consists of 1K high-quality, elaborately selected video sequences spanning a large range of scenes, motions, object types and background complexity. Existing video saliency datasets lack variety and generality of common dynamic scenes and fall short in covering challenging situations in unconstrained environments. In contrast, DHF1K makes a significant leap in terms of scalability, diversity and difficulty, and is expected to boost video saliency modeling. Second, we propose a novel video saliency model that augments the CNN-LSTM network architecture with an attention mechanism to enable fast, end-to-end saliency learning. The attention mechanism explicitly encodes static saliency information, thus allowing LSTM to focus on learning more flexible temporal saliency representation across successive frames. Such a design fully leverages existing large-scale static fixation datasets, avoids overfitting, and significantly improves training efficiency and testing performance. We thoroughly examine the performance of our model, with respect to state-of-the-art saliency models, on three large-scale datasets (i.e., DHF1K, Hollywood2, UCF sports). Experimental results over more than 1.2K testing videos containing 400K frames demonstrate that our model outperforms other competitors.


Solar cells based on GaAs and related compounds provide the highest reported efficiency single junction and multijunction solar cells. However, the cost of the cells is prohibitive when compared with Si and other thin film solar technologies. One significant differentiator is the high cost required to grow the epitaxial layers. Here, we propose a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system design that has the potential to increase the epitaxial layer growth throughput, thereby significantly reducing production costs. A rack-and-pinion based linear transfer system sequentially transfers multiple substrate platens between interconnected growth positions within the chamber, thereby synchronously growing layers on many wafers in the desired order and at the required thicknesses. The proposed linear MBE platform is the basis for a realistic analysis of GaAs single junction photovoltaic cell production cost. Our model projects a nearly 55% cost reduction in epitaxial growth via linear MBE when compared to conventional MBE, and a 85% reduction when further process optimization is assumed and combined with non-destructive epitaxial lift off. Even when considering all of these factors in an optimistic light, the cost of unconcentrated GaAs solar cells using any existing growth process is unlikely to drop below $3 per Wp in the foreseeable future.


An optimal procedure for the design of rotor blade that generates low vibratory hub loads in nonaxial flow conditions is presented and applied to a helicopter rotor in forward flight, a condition where vibrations and noise become severe. Blade shape and structural properties are the design parameters to be identified within a binary genetic optimization algorithm under aeroelastic stability constraint. The process exploits an aeroelastic solver that is based on a nonlinear, beam-like model, suited for the analysis of arbitrary curved-elastic-axis blades, with the introduction of a surrogate wake inflow model for the analysis of sectional aerodynamic loads. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the capability of the proposed approach to identify low vibratory hub loads rotor blades as well as to assess the robustness of solution at off-design operating conditions. Further, the aeroacoustic assessment of the rotor configurations determined is carried out in order to examine the impact of low-vibration blade design on the emitted noise field.


Objective: To describe the development and evaluation of the OutPatient Experiences Questionnaire (OPEQ) for somatic outpatients. Design: Literature review, patient interviews, pretesting of questionnaire items, and a cross sectional survey. Setting: Postal survey of adult outpatient clinics at 52 hospitals in all five regions of Norway during 2003 and 2004. Subjects: 35 719 patients who had attended an outpatient clinic within the previous 3 weeks. Results: 19 266 patients (53.9%) responded to the questionnaire. Low levels of missing data suggest that the questionnaire is acceptable to patients. Factor analysis of items applicable to all patients produced three factors: clinic access (two items), communication (six items), and organisation (four items). The remaining items contributed to the hypothesised scales of hospital standards (three items), information (six items), and pre-visit communication (three items). With the exception of the pre-visit communication scale, the levels of Cronbach's alpha were >0.7. With the exception of the hospital standards scale, all produced test-retest correlations that exceeded 0.7. Most of the results of validity testing were as hypothesised. Correlations between the OPEQ scores ranged from 0.30 (clinic access and hospital standards) to 0.73 (communication and information). As hypothesised, scores were significantly related to patient responses to questions about overall satisfaction, general health and age. Conclusions: The OPEQ is a self-administered questionnaire that includes the most important aspects of patient experience from an outpatient perspective. It has good evidence for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity.


This paper proposes an isolated multiport dc–dc converter for simultaneous power management of multiple renewable energy sources, which are of different capacities. The proposed dc–dc converter is investigated by employing three MPPT control strategies for PV system to boost the output. It only uses one controllable switch in each port to which a source is connected. Therefore, it has the advantages of simple topology and minimum number of power switches. A general topology of the proposed converter is first introduced. Its principle and operation are then analyzed. The proposed converter is applied for simultaneous maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control of a solar power generation systems consisting of multiple different photovoltaic (PV) panels. The simulation results are provided to validate the effectiveness of using the proposed converter to achieve MPPT simultaneously for the all PV panels with proposed control strategies using MATLAB/SIMULINK Software. Keyword: DC-DC Converter, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), multiport converter


Cows' milk allergy (CMA) develops early in infancy and the incidence is 2-5% in developed countries. The onset of symptoms is in most cases related to the introduction of a cows' ntilk based formula. The treatment of choice is total avoidance of cows' milk proteins and, at least in infancy, replacement with a whole protein soy or a hydrolysed cows' milk based formula (HP). The hypoallergenicity of HPs has been questioned, and studies evaluating remaining antigenicity and allergenicity as well as the allergy preventive effect of early feeding with HFs have been prompted.In vivo allergenicity of HPs was studied by skin prick tests and double-blind placebo controlled oral challenges in cows' milk allergic children, and in vitro allergenicity was analysed by RAST, RAST inhibition, immunoblotting and dot immunobinding. The protein content of the HPs was analysed by chromatography, electrophoresis, and determination of i)-lactoglobulin by ELISA (I,Il). The allergy preventive effect of feeding a partially (pHF) and an extensively HP (eHF) compared with a regular cows' milk formula from the start of weaning up to 9 months of age, was evaluated in a randomised, blinded study including infants from families with a history of allergy. The children were followed from birth up to 18 months of age (Ill). The antibody response to cows' milk antigens was analysed at 9 months of age with a chemiluminometric assay (IgE) and a sensitive ELISA (IgG) in a subgroup of these infants, who were fed a randomised formula for at least 3 months (IV). The presence of cord blood IgE, IgG, IgG1 and IgG4 antibodies to cows' milk antigens in relation to subsequent cows' milk sensitisation or allergic disease was evaluated (V).All tested HPs retained some allergenicity, but it was higher for pHPs than for eHPs, both in vivo and in vitro. The content of i)lactoglobulin was more than 2000 times higher in a pHF than in the eHFs. An allergy preventive effect was seen for the eHP but not the pHP on the develop-ment of cumulative atopic symptoms and atopic dermatitis. The lgG response to i)-lactoglobulin was more pronounced in the pHP than in the eHP fed group, but markedly reduced in both groups compared with the regular formula group. Cows' milk specific IgE antibodies were detected in 14% of cord blood sera, but the predictive capacity of these antibodies to detect subsequent cows' milk sensitisation and atopic disease up to 18 months of age was poor.In conclusion, all HPs may retain antigens capable of eliciting allergic reactions, but eHPs are far less allergenic than pHFs. Only eHPs should be recommended for treatment and prevention of cows' milk allergy.


Abstract The implementation of new uses for traditional cultural and pest management practices has been prompted by renewed interest in sustainable approaches for farming. The use of floods (for various durations) has been an inexpensive and historical cultural practice in cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) horticulture. The onset of a serious economic crisis in the cranberry industry in 1999–2000 brought about an urgent need to find inexpensive methods of pest control that would allow growers to remain fiscally solvent. Initially, anecdotal evidence from several farms indicated that holding short-term spring floods suppressed dodder infestations. Based on these findings, a 2-year demonstration-style project was initiated in 2002 to determine the efficacy of short-term floods (24–48 h) for the management of dodder in cranberry in Massachusetts. The project was expanded to include evaluating a 10-day summer flood for control of broad-leaved weed species at one commercial cranberry farm. Species richness and diversity and percentage weed coverage were lower after the implementation of the 10-day flood period compared to pre-flood assessments. Weed species dead or not detected after the 10-day flood included ground nut, asters, narrow-leaved goldenrod, chokeberry and poison ivy. Comparison of paired sites (flooded and nonflooded bogs) indicated dodder stem dry weights were lower on flooded areas in three out of the seven locations in year 1. At two additional locations, the flooded bog had higher stem weights when paired with a historically low-infestation bog, which may have masked any dodder reduction from the flooding practice. In year 2, no differences in the number of germinated seedlings between any treatment pairs were noted. Data from a cranberry company representing 12% of the cranberry acreage in Massachusetts indicated a 65–89% reduction in pesticide use when short-term spring floods were implemented during 2001–2003 compared to the previous 3-year period. Short-term flooding may offer a sustainable option that can be integrated into the overall management plan for several problematic cranberry weed species, especially dodder. Additional research is warranted to further define the most effective environmental conditions needed and to validate the efficacy of short flooding events for effective cranberry weed management.


English in Junior High Schools is taught as a subject from year seven up till year nine. One of the skills in English that the students find it difficult among the others is writing. Indeed, writing is the burden for the students especially those who live in rural areas. One of causes of this condition is the use of the teaching technique used by the teacher in carrying out his writing class. Based on 2013 curriculum the teaching and learning in high schools are promoted to build the students' characters. That is why this research is carried out to figure out whether the use of Schaffolding-ICT based Technique can develop the rural students' writing skill. It is also to reveal whether the use of this learning can promote the 2013 Curriculum character building. The research is a class room action reasearch (CAR) which involves a pre-cycle and two cycles. The subject is the seventh graders of SMP N 1 Pakis. This research is carried out in SMP Negeri 1 Pakis kabupaten Magelang which lies in a rural area at the slope of Mount Merbabu. This research involves qualitative and quantitative data.The data were taken by using documentations, observations, questionnaires, and test. It is hoped that using schaffolding-ICT based technique can develop the rural students' writing skill. It will be seen from the improvement of the students' scores. It is expected also promote the character building by seeing the implementation of the values in character building in the classroom activities during the teaching learning process.
Keywords: scaffolding-ICT based technique, rural EFL students' writing skill, 2013 curriculum character building.


Spectrum sensing technology is most vital to the implementation of a CR system using dynamic spectrum resource management. This paper suggested a CR system architecture with a wideband dual-stage spectrum sensing technique - a coarse and a fine spectrum sensing. Specifically, the coarse spectrum sensing technique adopted wavelet transforms in this architecture to provide a multi-resolution spectrum sensing (MRSS) feature. Analog implementation of the MRSS block offers wideband, low-power, and real-time operation. From the system simulation results, MRSS achieved 15-, 20-, and 30-dB detection margin for FM, VSB, and OFDM signals, having the corresponding signal power of -110, -120, and -120 dBm, respectively


Summary Serendipita vermifera ssp. bescii, hereafter referred to as S. bescii, is a root‐associated fungus that promotes plant growth in both its native switchgrass host and a variety of monocots and dicots. Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), a dual‐purpose crop, used for both forage and grain production, significantly contributes to the agricultural economies of the Southern Great Plains, USA. In this study, we investigated the influence of S. bescii on growth and transcriptome regulation of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) metabolism in winter wheat. Serendipita bescii significantly improved lateral root growth and forage biomass under a limited N or P regime. Further, S. bescii activated sets of host genes regulating N and P starvation responses. These genes include, root‐specific auxin transport, strigolactone and gibberellin biosynthesis, degradation of phospholipids and biosynthesis of glycerolipid, downregulation of ammonium transport and nitrate assimilation, restriction of protein degradation by autophagy and subsequent N remobilization. All these genes are hypothesized to regulate acquisition, assimilation and remobilization of N and P. Based on transcriptional level gene regulation and physiological responses to N or P limitation, we suggest S. bescii plays a critical role in modulating stress imposed by limitation of these two critical nutrients in winter wheat.


Background The pathogenesis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is multifactorial with genetic make-up and environmental triggers considered major players. Among the environmental triggers, infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in SLE patients. Bacteremia is often overlooked in SLE patients and soft tissue abscesses, bloodstream infections, and sepsis are more common in SLE patients, suggesting that frequent exposures to microbial products may trigger flares in lupus. We have recently shown that a bacterial amyloid termed curli, expressed in the multicellular communities (biofilms) by many bacteria including E. coli, plays a major role in triggering lupus autoimmunity during infection. Curli bind bacterial or eukaryotic DNA and form curli/DNA complexes that strongly activate innate immunity. When given systemically, curli/DNA complexes and infections with curli-expressing E. coli trigger production of anti-dsDNA and anti-chromatin autoAbs in lupus prone mice and in wild type mice. This affect was diminished in TLR2 or TLR9 deficient mice. Curli/DNA complexes activate dendritic cells and macrophages. We have now focused on the effects of curli/DNA complexes on B cells. Methods Young wild type C57BL/6 mice, lupus prone Sle1,2,3 mice and 3 H9 mice were used. Splenic B cells were stained by flow cytometry for in vivo experiments. For in vitro experiments, B cells were sorted by positive selection with CD45R (B220) Miltenyi Biotec micro bead or Easysep B cell isolation kit (Stem cell) supplemented with anti-CD43-Biotin. B cell purity (>98%), proliferation, viability, activation markers, surface antibodies and signaling were measured by CFSE dilution (Promokine), 7AAD and antibodies by Flow cytometry, Western Blot analysis and qRT-PCR. Results We found that curli/DNA complexes polyclonally activate B cells in vivo in wildtype mice, lupus-prone mice and 3 H9 mice, the latter expressing an anti-DNA Ig heavy chain and whose B cells are normally tolerized. Curli/DNA complexes can also activate B cells in vitro in the absence of T cell help. The induction of non-canonical NFκB in the absence of T cell help suggests that the fibrillar structure of curli/DNA complexes can cross-link BCRs, some recognizing DNA. Interestingly, curli/DNA complexes also induce isotype switching and aicda, the master regulator of class switch recombination, in the absence of T cells help in vitro. Conclusions Our results suggest that curli/DNA complexes may induce anti-DNA antibody production by simultaneous BCR/TLR signaling, which leads to B cell antibody production in the absence of T cell help. Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Lupus Research Alliance and the NIH NIAID (R21AI119947) for supporting our work.


According to the theory of stereotype threat (C. M. Steele, 1997; C. M. Steele & J. Aronson, 1995), activating stereotypes about a group's typical underperformance on a task can undermine a group member's performance on that task. The goal of the present research was to more fully delineate the contexts that activate task-performance stereotypes and the mechanisms that might lead to, or potentially prevent, such performance decrements. In 2 experiments, individuals led to believe that they had high ability on a task predicted that they would do better on future performances of the same or similar tasks than did those given ambiguous feedback about their task abilities when stereotypes were not accessible. However, activating group stereotypes-for instance, by creating expected solo status-undermined these positive expectations.


Background: Newborn screening (NBS) for CF in Wales commenced in December 1996 with a IRT/DNA protocol. All infants with one or two identified mutations proceed to sweat test. Between 1996 and 2001 we screened for 4 CF mutations; between 2001-2006 31 mutations; and 2006-2016 8 mutations. We have a comprehensive network to identify all patients with CF in Wales. Wales has a stable population demographic. Aims: To describe NBS for CF over a 20 year period. Methods: We identified all infants identified through NBS as having CF, and all clinical diagnoses (false +ve screen). Genotype, phenotype and sweat test results were reviewed. We excluded those who presented with meconium ileus. Results: Between December 1996 and December 2016 a total of 673,952 babies in Wales underwent newborn bloodspot screening. Between 1996-2005, 295,247 infants were screened for CF using either the CF4 or CF31 gene panel. 124 infants were diagnosed as having CF (incidence 1:2381), including 5 infants with R117H 7T and normal sweat test. 7 infants were affected but not detected by the screening process in this period (age at diagnosis 0.25-18 years). Screening sensitivity in this period has decreased with time to 94.4%). Between 2006-2016, 378,705 infants were screened for CF using the CF-8 gene panel. 108 infants were diagnosed as having CF in this period (incidence 1:3506), with no subjects with R117H. To date 3 individuals were affected but not detected, sensitivity of screening 97.2%. Conclusions: Changes in the gene panel have changed the incidence of CF in Wales over a 20 year period. We have decreased the number of subjects identified with mutations of variable clinical consequence.


ed from these six contingency tables and the results of the six tests performed. Insert Table l2 about here Significantly more preservice teachers expressed A and L concerns while more inservice teachers expressed N and E concerns. All these differences are in the predicted direction.. Concerns posited to be early concerns are more typical of preservice teachers while concerns posited to be late concerns are more typical of inservice teachers. For two categories however, R and T, there were no differences. This was not unexpected however. R concerns were infrequently expressed, and T had been considered difficult to place at either the early or late end of the sequence. Inservice and preservice range. If concerns are related to experience, then the concerns of preservice teachers being lower would have room to increase, and might be increasing. The concerns of inservice teachers would be expected to be higher-, have less %17 room to increase, and more)to decrease, but shoull uut be decreasing. Consequently preservice teachers might have concerns all along the sequence, low, middle, and high. Inservice teachers on the other hand would have middle and high concerns, but few low concerns. If this is so. preservice teachers' range scores should be higher than those, of inservice teachers. The data in Table 3 indicate a trend in the expected direction


Recent work on adaptive systems for modeling financial markets is discussed. Financial markets are viewed as evolutionary systems between different, competing trading strategies. Agents are boundedly rational in the sense that they tend to follow strategies that have performed well, according to realized profits or accumulated wealth, in the recent past. Simple technical trading rules may survive evolutionary competition in a heterogeneous world where prices and beliefs co-evolve over time. Evolutionary models can explain important stylized facts, such as fat tails, clustered volatility, and long memory, of real financial series.


The social networks have revolutionized the online communication and data sharing. The researchers are now focusing on mining and analysis of large amount of social network data for a variety of purposes. However, because of the huge amount of continuously changing data, the data analysis in a daunting task. OLAP analysis is a famous data analysis method which can be used to analyze social data. This work extends our previous work in which we developed interactive 3D visual data cubes for high volume/dimension OLAP data analysis. The implementation of this scheme on traditional computing resources is much time consuming and resource intensive. The advances in cloud computing motivated us to use the cost effective cloud computing for the task of 3D visualization of social networks data. Therefore, in this paper, we propose the usage of cloud computing platforms as a possible solution for analyzing large amount of social network data.


Due to the increasing interest in the world for the kid meat we intend to optimize the technology of fattening the lambs and to obtain the improvement of the carcasses through the use of the industrial crossbreeding of the Carpathian breed with Boer breed. It was done the fattening in intensive system of 100 days, structured in 3 stages: accommodation, proper fattening and finishing; or semi-intensive fattening of 200 days structured in 3 stages: 1 stage – Stable-staying, divided into two periods, accommodation and growing and fattening; 2 stage – Grazing, divided into accommodation and growing and fattening; 3 stage – Stable – staying divided into accommodation and finishing. At the fattening of kids in semi-intensive system in the beginning of the experiment the two lots had similar average body weights but in the end of the fattening it is emphasized a difference of the body weight which is bigger with 15% at the lot of Boer x Carpathian crossbred kids besides the lot of Carpathian kids, obtaining bigger dimensions of the carcasses at Boer x Carpathian kids. There were obtained higher values of the slaughtering output at the Boer x Carpathian crossbred kids, besides of those of kids of Carpathian breed. By cutting the carcasses from the goat youth fattened in semi-intensive system, on graze and in stable, at the experimental lots, with Boer x Carpathians crossbreds registered higher slaughtering and commercial outputs comparative to those made by Carpathian kids.


ABSTRACT Ureterocalycostomy can be performed in patients in whom desired methods of treating secondary PUJ (Pelvi-Ureteric Junction) obstructions either failed or could not be used. In our study, one child and two adults in whom one redo-ureterocalycostomy and two ureterocalycostomies were performed for severely scarred PUJ. The causes for secondary PUJ obstruction were post-pyelolithotomy in one case, post-pyeloplasty and ureterocalycostomy for PUJ obstruction in the second patient and the third patient had long upper ureteric stricture post-ureteropyeloplasty due to tuberculosis. In all these cases ureterocalycostomy proved to be salvage/final resort for preserving functional renal unit.


Background: Photoreceptors of the retina are highly compartmentalized cells that function as the primary sensory neurons for receiving and initiating transmission of visual information. Proper morphogenesis of photoreceptor neurons is essential for their normal function and survival. We have characterized a zebrafish mutation, cannonball , that completely disrupts photoreceptor morphogenesis. Results: Analysis revealed a non-sense mutation in cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain 1 ( dync1h1 ), a critical subunit in Dynein1, to underlie the cannonball phenotypes. Dynein1 is a large minus-end directed, microtubule motor protein complex that has been implicated in multiple, essential cellular processes. In photoreceptors, Dynein1 is thought to mediate post-Golgi vesicle trafficking, while Dynein2 is thought to be responsible for outer segment maintenance. Surprisingly, cannonball embryos survive until larval stages, owing to wild-type maternal protein stores. Retinal photoreceptor neurons, however, are significantly affected by loss of Dync1h1, as transmission electron microscopy and marker analyses demonstrated defects in organelle positioning and outer segment morphogenesis and suggested defects in post-Golgi vesicle trafficking. Furthermore, dosage-dependent antisense oligonucleotide knockdown of dync1h1 revealed outer segment abnormalities in the outer segments, well organized connecting cilium and basal body, tightly packed mitochondria in the ellipsoid region, Golgi apparatus just api- cal to the nucleus in the myoid region, and numerous inputs and floating ribbons in the synaptic region. Photoreceptors of dync1h1 morphants and cnb mutants showed a spectrum of phenotypes with the most normal photoreceptors positioned in the central retina and more severely affected photoreceptors at the periphery. Cellular defects included increased incidence of outer segment vesiculation, varying degrees of organelle dispersion and depolarization, and un-der-development of the synaptic region. OS, outer segment; IS, inner segment; CB cell body; SR, synaptic region; E, ellipsoid region; M, myoid region.


Gastrin is a hormone that binds to the CCK2 receptor and promotes proximal gastric cancer, but inhibits distal gastric cancer development. However, the precise roles of the CCK2 receptor, and its alternative ligand, progastrin, in gastric carcinogenesis have not been clarified. In this study, we found that progastrin accelerated antral proliferation and carcinogenesis through CCK2R+ antral stem cell expansion, using mouse gastric cancer models and transgenic mice lines including human progastrin-overexpressing (hGAS) mice, CCK2R knockout mice, Lgr5-CreERT-IRES-GFP knockin mice, and newly generated CCK2R-BAC-CreERT mice. Progastrin promoted gastric antral cancer development induced by MNU and/or H. felis. During carcinogenesis, progastrin increased the expression of Lgr5 and gland fission in response to the chemical carcinogen MNU. Genetic ablation of CCK2R diminished these progastrin-mediated effects. In vitro 3D culture experiments revealed that progastrin, but not amidated gastrin, significantly increased gastric organoid formation and growth in Noggin-free condition, effects that were ablated by a CCK2R inhibitor YF-476 or CCK2R gene deletion. In the antrum, CCK2R was expressed in an Lgr5low cell population that displayed stemness, which could be enhanced by progastrin. In the presence of progastrin, Lgr5lowCCK2R+ cells interconverted to Lgr5hi cells. Finally, we generated a new BAC-transgenic CCK2R-CreERT murine line, and lineage tracing experiments showed that CCK2R+ cells, which reside slightly above the base of the antrum, contained long-lived stem cells in vivo and in vitro. Chemical inhibition of CCK2R attenuated progastrin-dependent cancer development in mice. In conclusion, CCK2R labels Lgr5low antral stem cells that can be activated and expanded by progastrin. These findings may help the understanding of the underlying mechanism in gastric stem cell regulation by a CCK2R signal. Citation Format: Hayakawa Yoku, Guanchun Jin, Hongshan Wang, Xiaowei Chen, Christoph B. Westphalen, Samuel Asfaha, Daniel L. Worthley, Bernhard Renz, Hiroshi Ariyama, Zinaida A. Dubeykovskaya, Yoshihiro Takemoto, Ashlesha Mulay, Yagnesh Tailor, Duan Chen, Sureshkumar Muthupalani, James G. Fox, Shigeo Takaishi, Timothy C. Wang. CCK2R marks gastric antral stem cell and mediates antral carcinogenesis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4795. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4795


OBJECTIVE
This study examines whether children delivered by repeat cesarean section experience higher incidences of otitis media, respiratory infections, and allergic diseases than children delivered by vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) in the Military Health System.

STUDY DESIGN
This is a retrospective cohort study from the Military Health System Data Repository of women who underwent repeat cesarean section or VBAC between 2006 and 2012 and their offspring through 2014.

RESULTS
About 11,659 infants with 2 years of follow-up were identified. Infants delivered by VBAC had lower odds of developing respiratory illness (P < .000), otitis media (P < .001), and allergies (P = .022) compared with infants born by repeat cesarean section. There were no differences in the development of food allergies.

CONCLUSION
Emerging data regarding early childhood health are additional factors that can influence the mother's decision on mode of birth after a primary cesarean section.


The asymmetric synthesis of ent-ketorfanol from simple and commercially available precursors is reported. A Rh(I) -catalyzed intramolecular CH alkenylation/torquoselective 6π electrocyclization cascade provides a fused bicyclic 1,2-dihydropyridine as a key intermediate. Computational studies were performed to understand the high torquoselectivity of the key 6π electrocyclization. The computational results demonstrate that a conformational effect is responsible for the observed selectivity. The ketone functionality and final ring are introduced in a single step by a redox-neutral acid-catalyzed rearrangement of a vicinal diol to give the requisite carbonyl, followed by intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation.


We are interested in estimating probabilities of rare events in the context of computer experiments. These rare events depend on the output of a physical model with random input variables. Since the model is only known through an expensive black box function, standard efficient Monte Carlo estimates of rare events probabilities can not be used. We then propose two strategies to deal with this difficulty: a Bayesian estimate and an importance sampling method. Both proposals rely on Kriging metamodeling and are able to achieve sharp upper confidence bounds on the rare events probabilities. The variability due to the Kriging metamodeling step is properly taking into account. The proposed methodologies are applied to a toy example and a real case study which consists of finding an upper bound of the probability that the trajectory of an airborne load collides the aircraft that has released it.


Background Conscious volition is a broad term and is difficult to reduce to a single empirical paradigm. It encompasses many areas of cognition, including decision-making and empirical studies can be done on these components. This work follows on the seminal work of Libet et al. (1983) which focused on brain activity preceding motor activity and conscious awareness of the intention to move. Previous results have subsequently faced criticism, particularly methods used to average out EEG data over all the trials and the readiness potential not being present on an individual trial basis. This following study aims to address these criticisms. Objectives To use machine learning to investigate brain activity preceding left/right hand movements with relation to conscious intent and motor action. Methodology The data collection involved the recreation of the Libet experiment, with electroencephalography (EEG) data being collected. An addition made in this study was the choice between "left" and "right" while observing the Libet clock to subjectively mark the moment of conscious awareness. Twenty-one participants were included (four females, all right-handed). A deep (machine) learning model known as a convolutional neural network (CNN) was used for the EEG data analysis. Results Subjectively reported conscious intent preceded the action by 108 ms. The CNN model was able to predict the decision "left" or "right" as early as 4.45 seconds before the action with a test accuracy of 98%. Conclusion This study has shown motor preparatory processes start up to 4.45 seconds before conscious awareness of a decision to move.


a decrease in complications related to surgical dissection of the vein with better control of hemostasis, lower risk of vein and median nerve iatrogenic injuries, and reduction in operative time (data not yet published). Small side branches are dissected using absorbable 2/0 ligatures. The mobilized vein is allocated to a subcutaneous layer pocket created through the fat tissue by means of harmonic scalpel, thus elevating the vein to a more superficial position and closing the aponeurotic fascia above its original bed with an absorbable running suture. Mean operation time was 120 min (range 90-190). Some complications such as seroma, subcutaneous hematoma, pain in the forearm the first few days after the operation were treated medically. Mean hospitalization time was two days. The primary, assisted-primary, and secondary patency rate at one-year follow-up was respectively: 70%, 90%, and 100%, over a period of follow-up of six months, similar to the patency rate reported previously by others authors (1). All AV fistulas were successfully used for hemodialysis treatment. In our little experience, the mixed open/video assisted method proposed to perform this type of operation enables obtaining the same results of the open method and decreasing hospital stay and the complications related to surgical wound healing. The disadvantage of this method is related to prolonged operative time that, although conducted exploiting the advantages of peripheral brachial plexus blockage (3), may cause some discomfort to patients. In conclusion, this technique appears feasible and reproducible with a reduction in costs in terms of hospital stay and outpatient medications after hospital discharge but taking into account a significant increase in operative time probably because of the low number of cases treated that did not enable developing an optimal learning curve. Video-assisted two-stage basilic vein transposition for creation of brachio-basilic arteriovenous fistulae


Drilling rigs are massive structures used to drill oil, gas, or water wells. Drilling rigs are very costly to own/rent and operate; therefore, they must be used efficiently. Scheduling is one of the most critical tasks in reducing oil field costs for oil-producing countries. It is essential in optimizing the schedules of expensive and scarce resources. This will minimize production losses and completion time to drill wells and maximize oil production. This study addresses the planning and scheduling of drilling rigs and workover rigs used to drill new wells and maintain existing wells, respectively. We developed a mixed-integer programming formulation of the rig scheduling problem and implemented it in IBM CPLEX OPL. We validated the model with several computational tests with various test problems. Also, we developed a heuristic-based Decision Support System (DSS) for the problem under consideration, which is implemented in Excel Visual Basic.


The yield strain behavior of trabecular bone has gained increased importance as evidence accumulates that remodeling and failure criteria can be expressed as a function of strain alone (Turner et al., 1997; Silva et al., 1998). These findings rely on the results of previous studies in which yield strains were found to be isotropic and generally independent of volume fraction (Turner, 1989; Kopperdahl and Keaveny, 1998; Chang et al., 1999), although relatively little work has been done to substantiate these results for human trabecular bone. Thorough consideration of the dependence of yield strain on volume fraction should include analyses of trabecular bone from different anatomic sites since site-dependent differences in trabecular architecture have been well-correlated with mechanical properties (Goulet et al., 1994). However, differences in testing protocols and in definitions of modulus and yield point (Linde, 1994) have led to discrepancies in reported yield strain values in the literature (Kopperdahl and Keaveny, 1998). This prevents inter-study comparisons of the yield strain behavior of human trabecular bone across different anatomic sites, and yet characterizing this behavior is a fundamental step both. In the validation of uniform strain adaptation models and in the development of failure criteria.


In this experiment, we studied the ability of blind people to avoid obstacles using an Electronic Travel Aid. We used the "Tom Pouce 3" which is a white cane equipped with laser and infrared detection giving a tactile feedback. For that, we used a 25 meters path and randomly placed on it eight obstacles. We measured the number of collisions and the speed while passing between the obstacles. Then we compared the results we had in this experiment with others obtained with sighted persons in situation of scotopic vision. The first group is made of blind people using the "Tom Pouce 3" in their daily life for at least one year. The second group is made of sighted people that do not suffer from any ocular pathology. They used glasses with optical densities adjusted to reproduce different nocturnal light conditions. Each person had to cross a 25-meter long and 2.2-meter wide corridor. The number of obstacles on the path at each attempt increases gradually. For example, in the first attempt there was only one obstacle, if the person crossed the path without any collision, one more obstacle was added in next attempt. If there was a collision the number of obstacles remained the same, and the attempt had to be repeated. After five collisions in total, the experience is finished. If a person succeed to pass the eight obstacles on the path, then The new challenge is to crossed in the shorted time possible.In each attempt, the positions of the obstacles were changed. Blind people in the first group were blindfolded to avoid the effect of an eventual small residual sight. In this study, some blind people succeeded to cross the eight obstacles at in average speed exceeding 6 km/h. The performance of blind people did not depend on the color of obstacles. However, for scotopic conditions their performances depended a lot on the contrast that had to be taken into consideration for the comparison. Their performancesace not reproducible


Training large neural networks is known to be time-consuming, with the learning duration taking days or even weeks. To address this problem, large-batch optimization was introduced. This approach demonstrated that scaling mini-batch sizes with appropriate learning rate adjustments can speed up the training process by orders of magnitude. While long training time was not typically a major issue for model-free deep offline RL algorithms, recently introduced Q-ensemble methods achieving state-of-the-art performance made this issue more relevant, notably extending the training duration. In this work, we demonstrate how this class of methods can benefit from large-batch optimization, which is commonly overlooked by the deep offline RL community. We show that scaling the mini-batch size and naively adjusting the learning rate allows for (1) a reduced size of the Q-ensemble, (2) stronger penalization of out-of-distribution actions, and (3) improved convergence time, effectively shortening training duration by 3-4x times on average.


Recognition of the importance of breathing pattern in aerosol delivery and deposition has led to the design of devices that allow targeting of deposition to airways and alveoli. Systems incorporating patient feedback provide control of factors affecting deposition, and the control of dose to the lung can now be expected. New devices combined with a medical realization of therapeutic need are beginning to affect the range of drugs now available to the caregiver or in development for the immediate future. The interface between the patient and the device represents a new area of practical research. Facemasks have been shown to be important in terms of drug delivery with different behavior in metered dose inhaler (MDI)/valved holding chambers compared to nebulizers. Recently completed clinical trials have demonstrated the usefulness of therapy targeted to the lungs in reducing systemic toxicity with enhanced efficacy. A prime example is aerosolized cyclosporine, used to prevent rejection in lung transplantation. This agent has recently been shown to reduce mortality in transplant recipients and will lead to a new drug application in the United States. For larger patient populations, the pursuit of therapies to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) can affect the outcome of illness in the intubated patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) may benefit from high doses of aerosolized interferon gamma. Patient and caregiver safety are additional factors that will affect future approaches to therapy.


ABSTRACT This study traces how Facebook-promoted internet.org/Free Basics, despite initial acclaim, was eventually rejected in India – and how net neutrality came to be codified in the process. Topic modeling of articles (N = 1752) published over two-and-a-half years in 100 media outlets pinpoints the critical junctures in time at which the public discourse changed its trajectory. Critical discourse analysis of different phases of the discourse then identifies the causal factors and contingent conditions that produced the new policy. The study advances an understanding of technologies as social constructs and technological change as a social process, shaped by the dynamic interaction of a complex array of social actors coming together at critical junctures. It also draws attention to how discourse, produced by social actors in contingent conditions, recursively shapes the dominant ideology and structures these interactions. In addition, the study demonstrates how algorithmic and interpretive research techniques can be combined for longitudinal analysis of textual data sets.


In the case of carcinoma of the esophagus here reported, the observation of Vinson was the only finding which demonstrated the presence of a tracheo-esophageal fistula. Vinson 1 has noted that in cases of carcinoma of the esophagus which have perforated into the trachea or bronchus, a swallowed thread would find its way through the fistula and keep twisting itself around the tracheo-esophageal wall by successively passing through the esophagus after emerging from the larynx (fig. 1). REPORT OF CASE A man, aged 68, was referred to me by his family physician in October, 1925. His chief complaint was difficulty in swallowing, which he first noticed six months previously. Until one week before examination, he was able to eat semisolid food; since then he had sustained himself with liquids. He had lost from 10 to 15 pounds (from 4.5 to 6.8 Kg.) in weight during the last


The television has turned into the center of the reflections of the contemporary societies due to its presence and power. The political class from different countries has elaborated a series of documents that offer solutions to the problems raised by the use of the television. The Council of Europe in 1986 suggested in the document «The future of public service broadcasting» that the television had to serve for the democratic and cultural development of the Europeans. The French Senate elaborated another document («L'entree dans the societe of l'information») in 1996 in which it was warned that the television did not have to be ruled only by the market and that it had to be controlled for the state. The Spanish government entrusted a report («Informe para la reforma de los medios de comunicacion de titularidad del estado») to several intellectual for the restructuring of the public audiovisual sector. The most important conclusion consists of the fact that the purpose of this sector is the public service that must not be measured up exclusively for the economic profit. DESCRIPTORES/KEYWORDS


According to Erich Fromm, human productive potentialities can bring into play the human essence; alienation is the negation of human productive nature. Alienation has its profound human and social origin, and it results in the void of the human spiritual life and the exhaustion of the human nature. He thinks that alienation can be remedied institutionally and spiritually. The remedies he proposes include humanistic socialism, love and the art of collectives. Fromm's theory of alienation is an attempt to inherit and develop Marx's theory of alienation, which bears remarkable humanism.


Following a 25 percent decline in dental school applicants between 1997 and 2001, from 9,829 to 7,412, the number of applicants over the last three years has increased to 9,433. Based on the rate of applicants to the class entering in the fall of 2005, it is estimated there will be a further 10 to 15 percent increase in the number of applicants, thereby exceeding the 1997 number of applicants. The number of first-time, first-year enrollees rose from 4,039 to 4,457 (10.4 percent) between 1996 and 2004, during which time three new dental schools were established (Nova Southeastern University; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health). Almost 54 percent of the 418 additional first-year positions can be attributed to the three new schools. Slightly over 47 percent of the dental school applicants were enrolled in 2004; 55.4 percent of the applicants in 2003 were enrolled. The number of applicants per first-time, first-year position was 2.12 in 2004 and 1.81 in 2003. It was 2.31 in 1997, the last peak of dental school applicants. (The most recent low was 1.34 in 1989.) The average GPA of the first-time, first-year enrollees continued to increase slightly, standing at 3.35 for science GPA and 3.44 for total GPA. Over the last several years there has been essentially no change in the average academic average and total science DAT scores of the first-time, first-year enrollees, standing at 18.7 and 18.5 respectively. However, the average perceptual ability score has declined slightly, from 18.1 to 17.3. Women were 43.9 percent of the applicants and 42.4 percent of the first-time, first-year enrollees in 2004. Five years ago, women were 38.6 percent of the applicants and 36.5 percent of the first-time, first-year enrollees. Underrepresented minorities comprised 12.4 percent of the applicants and 11.6 percent of the first-time, first-year enrollees in 2004. These percentages are little changed from those reported since 2001.


Measurements were made of both glucose disposal (M) during hyperinsulinemic clamp studies and plasma glucose and insulin responses to an oral glucose challenge in 100 individuals with normal glucose tolerance. The subjects were divided into 4 quartiles on the basis of M values, ranging from a low mean (+/- SEM) value of 140 +/- 3 mg/m2 X min (quartile 1) to a high of 349 mg/m2 X min (quartile 4). The plasma insulin response to oral glucose inversely correlated with the M value (r = -0.60; P less than 0.001), being highest in those with the lowest M (quartile 1) and lowest in those with the highest M (quartile 4). On the other hand, the plasma glucose responses of the 4 quartiles were virtually identical. These results document that insulin-stimulated glucose uptake varies widely in subjects with normal glucose tolerance, and that these differences are independent of any change in the plasma glucose response to oral glucose. Furthermore, the results indicate that insulin resistance in normal individuals is associated with hyperinsulinemia.


METHODS: Nineteen participants (10 women, 9 men) completed 4 assessments of their quadriceps femoris CT over 3 randomly assigned testing visits: 1) voluntary CT assessment (VOL), 2) stimulated CT assessment at 100Hz (STIM100-1), and 3) stimulated CT assessment at 100Hz (STIM100-2) and 15Hz (STIM15). The work to rest cycle was 3:2 (3-sec of contraction to 2-sec of rest) during VOL and 2:2 during the stimulated tests. Voluntary activation (%VA) and twitch-torque (TT) were determined every 30-sec during VOL to determine central and peripheral contributions to fatigue. RESULTS: Gender differences were not observed for VOL (p = 0.55) with CT occurring at 47.5 ± 9.9% and 43.9 ± 16.3% of MVC, respectively. %VA and TT declined over time during the CT test (p ≤ 0.001), but no effect for gender was found %VA (p = 0.76 for %VA) or TT (p =0.31 for TT). Initial torque values and CT values did not differ for STIM100-1 and STIM100-2 (p ≤ 0.51). Stimulated CT at 100Hz occurred at a higher percentage of starting torque in women compared to men—33.2 ± 5.8% vs. 26.8 ± 4.9% (p = 0.02) and 35.5 ± 7.6% vs. 28.9 ± 5.5% (p = 0.046) for STIM100-1 and STIM100-2, respectively. No gender difference was observed during STIM15 (p = 0.79). CONCLUSION: Unlike previous studies of voluntary endurance exercise, we found no gender differences in VOL CT which was supported by similar central and peripheral fatigue during the CT test. Interestingly, women demonstrated less peripheral fatigue and a consistently high stimulated CT during 100Hz stimulation. However, this gender difference was lost when stimulation frequency was reduced to 15Hz. This finding may indicate the gender difference may be in part mediated by initial torque values and/or the rate of fatigue during exercise.


Recent advances in two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have generated great interest in the investigations of these materials for wide ranging applications in the micro-to nano-scale electronics, healthcare, and energy storage areas. In particular, 2D materialas such as boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS) have been studied extensively due to their unique material properties that include a large specific surface area, high thermal conductivity (~750 W/mK), and wide bandgap (~5.5 eV), along with the associated electrical insulation. In this paper, we prepared BNNS by liquid exfoliation of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). Liquid exfoliation is an enhanced method to achieve large-scale and low-cost production, which is more suitable for large volume applications. In this paper, we have combined low-energy ball milling and sonication methods to produce BNNS on a large scale.BNNS have a high in-plane thermal conductivity due to their 2D morphology but a lower through-plane thermal conductivity. Also, the thermal interface resistance between BNNS is also an important factor that impedes the through-plane thermal conductivity. Thus, we employed a vacuum filtration method to obtain thick BNNS cakes. These cakes have a high x-y/in-plane thermal conductivity and a low z/through plane thermal conductivity. After slicing the cake vertically, it is rolled over to covert the strong x-y plane thermal conductivity to the z-plane. The now high thermal conductivity z-plane allows for effective 3D electronic packaging. Following this, BNNS are infiltrated into epoxy resins to fabricate epoxy nanocomposites with a low filler loading. This paper presents detailed studies on the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), electrical resistivity, thermal stability, and thermomechanical properties of the synthesized BNNS-epoxy nanocomposites. This study reveals the promising applications of high performance, thermally conductive epoxy nanocomposites in advanced packaging technologies such as 2.5D/ 3D packaging.


This Special Issue covers recent international efforts to domesticate the general theoretical framework of the Dialogical Self (DS) within cultural contexts where the Self/Other distinctions have historically been less clearly differentiated than in the occidental societies. This collective effort demonstrates that the theoretical perspective is applicable universally—yet with modifications in the ways in which its basic concepts— voice, I-position, polyphony of voices—have been originally set. The dynamic affective complexes such as shimcheong (in Korea—Choi & Han, 2008; Han & Choi, 2008) or utushi (Morioka, 2008a, 2008b) require a new notion of opposition where the contrasts between the opposing poles feed into each other without a rupture—yet constituting a dynamic barrier in itself. The Dialogical Self is contextualized in an equally multiple context of social relationship hierarchies (Chaudhary, 2008; van Meijl, 2008) which both calls for functional fluidity of the DS processes (to adapt to changes in the relationships) and limits the differentiation in the Self in relation to the Other. The form of operation of the voices and their derived I-positions is likely to be imaginal first (Ruck & Slunecko, 2008) and verbal only as a translation from the affective-visual code. This brings the cultural nature of DS close to the efforts of contemporary semiotics to understand the operation of non-verbal signs in human minds and environments. The 19 papers (5 target papers and 13 commentaries with two responses) in this special issue are valuable contributions to the DS framework by expanding and challenging the DS theory in diverse dimensions.


Winter dormancy is an important biological feature for tea plant to survive cold winters, and it also affects the economic output of tea plant, one of the few woody plants in the world whose leaves are harvested and one of the few non-conifer evergreen species with characterized dormancies. To discover the bud dormancy regulation mechanism of tea plant in winter, we analyzed the global gene expression profiles of axillary buds at the paradormancy, endodormancy, ecodormancy, and bud flush stages by RNA-Seq analysis. In total, 16,125 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified among the different measured conditions. Gene set enrichment analysis was performed on the DEGs identified from each dormancy transition. Enriched gene ontology terms, gene sets and transcription factors were mainly associated with epigenetic mechanisms, phytohormone signaling pathways, and callose-related cellular communication regulation. Furthermore, differentially expressed transcription factors as well as chromatin- and phytohormone-associated genes were identified. GI-, CAL-, SVP-, PHYB-, SFR6-, LHY-, ZTL-, PIF4/6-, ABI4-, EIN3-, ETR1-, CCA1-, PIN3-, CDK-, and CO-related gene sets were enriched. Based on sequence homology analysis, we summarized the key genes with significant expression differences in poplar and tea plant. The major molecular pathways involved in tea plant dormancy regulation are consistent with those of poplar to a certain extent; however, the gene expression patterns varied. This study provides the global transcriptome profiles of overwintering buds at different dormancy stages and is meaningful for improving the understanding of bud dormancy in tea plant.


Recent urbanisation trends are frequently characterised by spatial fragmentation and scatteredness, as urbanised territories are distributed in space at irregular intervals. In this article, it is argued that such irregularities in spatial distribution result, at least in part, from the absence of a specific policy design about land use. Soil, in fact, is a public good , finite and non-reproducible. As such, soil management requires well-defined policies preventing misuse and excessive soil consumption for economic sustainability. The case for policy intervention is discussed in relation to the Italian context. On the one hand, it is argued that a sufficient knowledge of the phenomenon is a fundamental prerequisite for policy design. Accordingly, commonly agreed measures of soil use should be available for the whole country on a territorial level. On the other hand, the causes of soil use change should be identified. In particular, a relevant issue to be addressed is to what extent changes in soil use are driven by actual housing demand and then, in turn, by population growth. There is evidence, in fact, showing that changes in soil use are driven by the demand for real estate investments. Consequently, land use policies are required to take into account the social costs of land transformation.


A total of 707 males suffering from chronic alcoholism and 447 male donors not abusing alcohol have been surveyed in different regions of the USSR. The presence of HBsAg, as well as anti-HBs and anti-HBc antibodies, has been determined by the enzyme immunoassay. The survey has revealed a high rate of hepatitis B virus infection in chronic alcoholics in comparison with the control group, which gives grounds for including such persons into a high risk group with respect to viral hepatitis B infection.


Phenolic and orthodiphenolic compounds together with carotenoids, tocopherols, pigments, and fatty acids were tested for their antioxidant effect in 79 samples of virgin olive oils cv. Picual and Hojiblanca. A linear regression based on the oleic/linoleic ratio and the contents of phenols and tocopherols showed a good correlation (adjusted-R(2) = 0.91) with the stability measured by Rancimat, later verified with an external text set (adjusted-R(2) = 0.95). A tentative study on the percentage contribution of each chemical variable to stability is discussed. The contribution of phenolic and orthodiphenolic compounds was around 51%, the composition of fatty acids 24%, and in less percentage alpha-tocopherol, carotenoids, and chlorophylls. No effect, or very little, was shown by beta- and gamma-tocopherols.


Purpose: X‐ray scatter has been identified as a principal factor in cone‐beam CT(CBCT)image quality in applications ranging from dental to IGRT and image‐guided surgery. The variety of system geometries entail disparate scatter magnitudes, which bear heavily on the question of utility of antiscatter grids. This paper revisits this question for low‐dose CBCT on a mobile C‐arm for image‐guided surgery, identifying tradeoffs in dose and image quality and answering the question of when (or whether) grids should be employed. Methods: Studies were performed on a mobile C‐arm prototype equipped with a flat‐panel detector for high‐quality CBCT. Antiscatter grids of grid ratio (GR) 6:1 – 12:1 (103 lpi) were tested under varying scatter conditions in "body" surgery (e.g., spine) using task‐specific protocols for bone and soft tissue visibility in the thorax and abdomen. Studies included grid orientation, CT number accuracy, uniformity, contrast, noise, and contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR), each evaluated in quantitative / anthropomorphic phantoms. Results: Grid orientation along the detector z‐ axis introduced susceptibility to artifacts attributed to ramp filter amplification of gridlines under motion nonidealities. Orientation along the xy‐axis resolved this effect. Increasing GR improved CT number accuracy from 40% error (no grid) to 4% (12:1), but imparted an increase in noise by ∼20–60%. CNR for high‐contrast objects was largely unaffected by grids, but a significant reduction (2–44%) in CNR was observed in low‐contrast soft‐tissues. Conclusion: While grids showed substantial improvement in CT number accuracy and uniformity, soft‐tissue CNR was reduced due to grid attenuation in both the thorax and abdomen. The CNR could be restored by increasing the dose by a factor of 1.5. This poses a significant drawback to low‐dose, repeat CBCT and diminishes the extent to which grids should be employed, particularly in light of simple scatter correction techniques that offer comparable restoration without increase in dose. Research supported by the National Institutes of Health R01‐CA‐127444 and collaboration with Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen Germany).


Papers on acousto-optical phenomena in solids and their most important applications to research in solid state physics and to modern technology are surveyed. The theory of the diffraction of electromagnetic waves by sound in isotropic and anisotropic solids is discussed. In addition to such classical special cases of diffraction as Bragg and Raman-Nath diffraction, we also consider some cases of the diffraction of light by sound in which the reflection of light at the faces of the crystal and modulation of the light by the sound wave have an important effect on the nature of the acousto-optical interaction. The contribution of the electron density wave accompanying a sound wave in piezoactive semiconductors is considered and features of this acousto-optical interaction mechanism are discussed. The quantum theory of the diffraction of light by sound is examined. Microscopic expressions for the photoelasticity constants are obtained and the resonance characteristics of these constants at photon energies close to the width of the forbidden gap in the crystal are investigated. In the experimental part of the paper we review various methods of investigating the diffraction of light by sound in solids and present the basic results in this field together with examples of the use of acousto-optical methods in various areas of solid state physics. In the concluding section we examine some important applications of the diffraction of light by sound to modern optical and electronic systems.


Backgroud: Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is one of the most critical cardiovascular disease. The treatment for PE depends on the severity of disease including anticoagulation, systemic thrombolysis, surgical embolectomy,and catheter embolectomy. The indication of surgical pulmonary embolectomy is still controvery. Although there have been more favourable reports of the of surgical embolectomy (SE) over past decades, SE has still been used as a resort or rescue treatment for acute massive PE with significant hemodynamically unstable or present with cardiogenic shock or patients whose thrombolysis failed,therefore the high mortality of pulmonary surgical embolectomy was still reported. SE has not yet been accepted broadly as initial therapy in the algorithm for massive and submassive PE.Objective : The purpose of this study is to evaluate the early and midterm outcome of surgical pulmonary embolectomy which was taken as the first line therapy for acute central major pulmonary embolism in one single center in ChinaMethods: A retrospective review of patients who underwent surgical pulmonary embolectomy for acute pulmonary embolectomy was conducted from July of 2005 to Sept of 2019 at a single heart center in China. Patients with chronic thrombus or thrombendrterectomy were excluded.The risk factors for morbidity and mortality of the surgical pulmonary embolectomy were reviewed, The institutional echocardiographic database was searched for follow-up studies to compare markers of right ventricular function.Results: A total of 41 patients were included for the study, 17 cases (41.5%) had submassive PE and 24 (58.5%) had massive pulmonary embolism required preoperative positive inotropic treatment. Mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 103.2±48.9 minutes, and 10 patients (24.4.%) underwent procedures without aortic cross-clamping. Ventilatory support time was 80.6±21.3hours. ICU stay was 4.51±3.23 days. Hospital stay was 12.8±6.4days. There was operative mortality 3 (7.32%) for massive pulmonary embolism and no death case of submassive pulmonary embolism. For massive PE patients, if the first choice treatment was surgical embolectomy, the mortality was low,only 2.56%, even though there were 2 cases suffered from cardiac arrest preoperatively. However, if 2 cases who received systemic thromblysis firstly were included in the datus,the mortality rate of SE increased to 12.5%. All cases had echocardiography results available for follow-up at discharge,and 30 cases at three months, only 10 cases at one years after surgical embolectomy. There were no death event related with recurrent PE in the follow-up,but 3 patents died of cerebral incranal bleeding, gastric cancer and gastric cancer at 1 year,3 years and 8 years after surgical embolectomy respectively.Conclusions: In this small retrospective single center experience, SE presented with low mortality rate when it was rendered as the first line treatment in selected patients for massive and submassive acute pulmonary embolism. SE should play the the same role as ST in the treatment algorithm for acute PE. Echocardiographic showed right ventricular function was improved in the early and midterm follow- up term


The Big Data trend is putting strain on modern storage systems, which have to support high-performance I/O accesses for the large quantities of data. With the prevalent Von Neumann computing architecture, this data is constantly moved back and forth between the computing (i.e., CPU) and storage entities (DRAM, Non-Volatile Memory NVM storage). Hence, as the data volume grows, this constant data movement between the CPU and storage devices has emerged as a key performance bottleneck. To improve the situation, researchers have advocated to leverage computational storage devices (CSDs), which offer a programmable interface to run user-defined data processing operations close to the storage without excessive data movement, thus offering performance improvements. However, despite its potential, building CSD-aware applications remains a challenging task due to the lack of exploration and experimentation with the right API and abstraction. This is due to the limited accessibility to latest CSD/NVM devices, emerging device interfaces, and closed-source software internals of the devices. To remedy the situation, in this work we present an open-source CSD prototype over emerging NVMe Zoned Namespaces (ZNS) SSDs and an interface that can be used to explore application designs for CSD/NVM storage devices. In this paper we summarize the current state of the practice with CSD devices, make a case for designing a CSD prototype with the ZNS interface and eBPF (ZCSD), and present our initial findings. The prototype is available at https://github.com/Dantali0n/qemu-csd.


. Aircraft-based measurements enable large-scale characterization of gas-phase atmospheric composition, but these 10 measurements are complicated by the challenges of sampling from high-speed flow. Under such sampling conditions, the sample flow will likely experience turbulence, accelerating | mixing of potential contamination of the gas-phase from the condensed-phase components on walls and reduced vapor transmission due to losses to the inner walls of the sampling line. While a significant amount of research has gone into understanding aerosol sampling efficiency for aircraft inlets, a similar research investment has not been made for gas sampling. Here, we analyze the performance of a forward-facing laminar flow 15 gas inlet to establish its performance as a function of operating conditions, including ambient pressure, freestream velocities, and sampling conditions. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling we simulate flow inside and outside the inlet to determine the extent of freestream turbulent interaction with the sample flow and its implication for gas sample transport. The CFD results of flow features in the inlet are compared against measurements of air speed and turbulent intensity from full-sized high-speed wind-tunnel experiments. These comparisons suggest that the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)


The paper presents tribological properties of A390.0 (AlSi17Cu5Mg) alloy coupled in abrasive action with EN -GJL-350 grey cast-iron. The silumin was prepared with the use of two different technologies which differed in terms of cooling speed. In the first case the alloy was modified with foundry alloy CuP10 and cast to a standard tester ATD and in case of second option the modified alloy was cast into steel casting die. Due to different speed of heat removal the silumins varied in structure, particularly with size of primary crystals of silicon and their distribution in matrix which had a significant influence of friction coefficient in conditions of dry friction .


Properties of fuzzy subalgebras and ideals of n-ary Lie algebras are described. Methods of construction fuzzy ideals are presented. Connections with various fuzzy quotient n -Lie algebras are proved.


The induction motor is widely utilized in industry and exists in a plethora of applications. Until the last 20 years or so, it was primarily used in an open-loop fashion (i.e., balanced sinusoidal voltages, constant load torque and viscous friction) with its inherent stability counted on to allow operation over a wide range of operating conditions. Unlike classical arguments based on the steady-state torque-slip curve, a rigorous analytical stability argument using the full nonlinear dynamical model is presented. In particular, conditions for global asymptotic stability of the induction motor in the sense of Lyapunov are given in terms of the motor parameters, operating slip, and synchronous frequency.


Investigates the nature and properties of the delta resonance, Delta (1236), in infinite nuclear and neutron matter, performing calculations of the potential energy of a system of separate Fermi seas of nucleons and delta resonances, using Jastrow lowest-order constrained variational techniques The author uses the Reid soft-core nucleon-nucleon interaction and a model, consistent, energy-dependent, static one-pion- and one-rho-meson-exchange nucleon-delta potential, and find a significant reduction in the potential energy of the system at densities above nuclear matter density (0.17 fm-3) when deltas are present. The author estimates the density at which the formation of a separate Fermi sea of deltas is favourable, and discuss the consequences for the possible formation of a pion condensate and the properties of neutron star matter.


Background and Objectives: Phenytoin is a narrow therapeutic index antiepileptic drug. In Thailand, phenytoin capsules are available in two formulations including immediate-release (IR phenytoin) and extended-release (ER phenytoin). The objectives were (1) to report the number of patients who had been using IR phenytoin once-daily or multiple daily dosing and (2) to compare the seizure frequencies between IR phenytoin once-daily or multiple daily and ER phenytoin once-daily. Methods : This was a retrospective study conducted at the Epilepsy Clinic of the King Chulalongkorn Memorial hospital. Medical charts of all patients were reviewed. The seizure frequencies were compared within the same patient between using IR phenytoin and being switched to use ER phenytoin at the same daily dose without changing any other concomitant drugs for 3 months. Results: Out of a total of 4,475 patients, 696 patients received IR phenytoin. Most of them (77.6%) were found to take IR phenytoin once-daily. Among these patients, 31 patients underwent switching of phenytoin from once daily IR phenytoin to once daily ER formulation at the same daily dose without changing any other concomitant drugs for 3 months. Seizure frequencies were significantly lower when the patients were switched to ER phenytoin (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The proportion of incorrect using IR phenytoin prescribing once daily was high. Our findings highlighted that care must be taken in IR phenytoin prescribing. Frequency of administration should be proper for the chosen dosage formulation to achieve the best outcomes.


The emerging eld of text mining applies methods from data mining and exploratory data analysis to analyzing text collections and to conveying information to the user in an intuitive manner. Visual, map-like displays provide a powerful and fast medium for portraying information about large collections of text. Relationships between text items and collections, such as similarity, clusters, gaps and outliers can be communicated naturally using spatial relationships, shading, and colors. In the WEBSOM method the self-organizing map (SOM) algorithm is used to automatically organize very large and high-dimensional collections of text documents onto two-dimensional map displays. The map forms a document landscape where similar documents appear close to each other at points of the regular map grid. The landscape can be labeled with automatically identi ed descriptive words that convey properties of each area and also act as landmarks during exploration. With the help of an HTML-based interactive tool the ordered landscape can be used in browsing the document collection and in performing searches on the map. An organized map o ers an overview of an unknown document collection helping the user in familiarizing herself with the domain. Map displays that are already familiar can be used as visual frames of reference for conveying properties of unknown text items. Static, thematically arranged document landscapes provide meaningful backgrounds for dynamic visualizations of for example time-related properties of the data. Search results can be visualized in the context of related documents. Experiments on document collections of various sizes, text types, and languages show that the WEBSOM method is scalable and generally applicable. Preliminary results in a text retrieval experiment indicate that even when the additional value provided by the visualization is disregarded the document maps perform at least comparably with more conventional retrieval methods. c © All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.


For Korean language learners, communication activities are an opportunity to actually apply their knowledge of the language to real life. The communication strategies used in this case vary according to situations and purposes. To examine the types of communication strategies used in each situation, this study analyzed the utterances of participants in speaking tests, counseling, and private conversations. It was found that communication strategies were used most frequently in private conversations, followed by counseling and speaking tests. As to purposes, communication strategies were used to resolve defects in target language resources, issues in self-utterances, and issues in the utterances of the other party of conversation. Furthermore, this study discovered that Arabic-speaking learners notably use communication strategies not only for the purpose of resolving communication issues, but also for the relationship-oriented purpose of building a social tie.


Introduction: low back pain (LBP) is characterized by pain in the region between the last costal arches and the gluteal fold. It can occur due to several intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and it has a very high prevalence in adulthood, causing several problems which directly influence the quality of life. Neurosensory Postural Therapy (NPT) is a technique which uses manual neural stimulation to adjust muscle tone. Objective: The aim of the present study was to verify the effects of NPT on pain, mobility, flexibility, functionality, cardiac variability and body oscillation. Methodology: Seven women over 20 years old were recruited, which were evaluated before and after the technique, which consisted of pressure on the upper and lower roots of the sciatic nerve at 3 points for 60 seconds. Results: The mean pain score was 2.71 ± 1.38 and 1.35 ± 1.18, with a value of p = 0.02. For the Schöber test we obtained a mean of 21.93 ± 1.36 and 22.34 ± 1.30 cm in the pre- and post-test with p=0.01. No statistical difference was found in the Rolland Morris questionnaire. The electromyography obtained statistical difference in the analysis of the gluteus medius with p=0.02. Significant results (p=0.0001) were found in the lateral evaluation by the stabilometry and the HF/LF ratio showed difference with p=0.03 in the pretest and after 30 days. Conclusion: The technique of NPT has benefits in the parameters studies, demonstration being a fast technique with period of efficiency.


The electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) has attracted attention by using activated carbon (AC) as an active electrode material with a high power density and high cost-efficiency in industrial applications. The EDLC has been actively developed over the past decade to improve the power density and capacitance. Extensive studies on EDLCs have been conducted to investigate the relation of EDLC capacitance to the physical properties of AC, such as the specific surface area, pore type and size, and electrical conductivity. In this study, EDLC was fabricated with AC, and its capacitance was evaluated with the physical properties of AC. The AC was prepared using petroleum-based pitch synthesized using pyrolysis fuel oil (PFO) with polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The AC based on PFO and PET (PPAC) exhibited high specific surface area and low micropore fraction compared to the PFO-based AC without PET addition (PAC). Furthermore, the reduction of the EDLC capacitance of PPAC was smaller than that of PAC, as the scan rate was increased from 5 to 100 mV s−1. It was determined that the minor reduction of capacitance with an increase in the scan rate resulted from the development of 4 nm-sized mesopores in PPAC. In addition, a comprehensive correlation of EDLC capacitance with various physical properties of ACs, such as specific surface area, pore characteristics, and electrical conductivity, was established. Finally, the optimal properties of AC were thereupon derived to improve the EDLC capacitance.


A bounded domain $ \Omega $ in a Riemannian manifold $ M $ is said to have the Pompeiu property if the only continuous function which integrates to zero on $ \Omega $ and on all its congruent images is the zero function. In some respects, the Pompeiu property can be viewed as an overdetermined problem, given its relation with the Schiffer problem. It is well-known that every Euclidean ball fails to have the Pompeiu property while spherical balls have the property for almost all radii (Ungar's Freak theorem). In the present paper we discuss the Pompeiu property when $ M $ is compact and admits an isoparametric foliation. In particular, we identify precise conditions on the spectrum of the Laplacian on $ M $ under which the level domains of an isoparametric function fail to have the Pompeiu property. Specific calculations are carried out when the ambient manifold is the round sphere, and some consequences are derived. Moreover, a detailed discussion of Ungar's Freak theorem and its generalizations is also carried out.


Although the number of men with health insurance has increased, men are less likely to utilize health services than females, and experience difficulty in paying medical bills. Understanding the details of health insurance can be challenging and the lack of understanding can have financial consequences. This study, guided by Andersen's model of health-care utilization, assessed the relationship between confidence level in understanding health insurance terms and difficulty in paying medical bills among American men. Data were drawn from the Health Reform Monitoring Survey, 2015–2016. The study included 6,643 men aged between 18 and 64. Descriptive statistics examined participants' difficulty in paying medical bills by predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics, and by confidence in understanding health insurance terms. A modified Poisson regression analysis examined the association between difficulty in paying medical bills, confidence in understanding health insurance terms score, and predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics. An increase in confidence in understanding health insurance terms score was associated with significantly lower reported difficulty in paying medical bills (PR = .98; 95% CI = [.97–.99]; p = .002). Participants with a college degree or higher were less likely to report difficulty in paying their medical bills compared to participants with less than a high school degree (PR = .72; 95% CI = [.56–.92]; p = .009). A better understanding of health insurance might prevent men from experiencing difficulties in paying medical bills. Additional research should be performed to understand the relationship between the level of confidence in understanding health insurance, knowledge level of health insurance terms, use of health insurance, and their impact on difficulty in paying medical bills.


A patient with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) showed for the first time catastrophic signs and symptoms of CNS involvement immediately after infusion of platelets. Postmortem examination revealed extensive deposits of platelet aggregates within the small blood vessels of the brain, whereas lesions elsewhere in the body consisted of platelets as well as fibrin and were associated with endothelial proliferation and microaneurysm formation. These findings are consistent with the view that the initial event in TTP may be platelet aggregation. The plasma of this patient contained platelet-aggregating activity. We conclude that platelet transfusions in patients with TTP may aggravate the disease process.


SCOPE
Histone deacetylases (HDACs) play a crucial role in the transcriptional regulation of various genes which can contribute to metabolic disorders. Although sulforaphane (SFN), a natural HDAC inhibitor, has been reported to alleviate obesity in humans and mice, the specific mechanisms and how HDACs contribute to SFN's anti-obesity effects remain unclear.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Oral administration of SFN in mice fed high-fat diet increases peroxisome proliferator activating receptor γ coactivator (PGC1α)-induced mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle. Among HDACs, SFN specifically inhibits HDAC8 activity. SFN enhances mitochondrial DNA and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production in C2C12 myotubes, similar to the action of PCI34051, a synthetic HDAC8-specific inhibitor. These effects are mediated by increased expression of PGC1α via upregulation of cAMP response element binding (CREB, Ser133 ) phosphorylation and p53 (Lys379 ) acetylation. These SFN-induced effects are not observed in cells with a genetic deletion of HDAC8, suggesting the existence of a regulatory loop between HDAC8 and PGC1α in SFN's action.

CONCLUSION
SFN prevents obesity-related metabolic dysregulation by enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis and function via targeting the HDAC8-PGCα axis. These results suggest SFN as a beneficial anti-obesity agent providing new insight into the role of HDAC8 in the PGC1α-mediated mitochondrial biogenesis, which may be a novel and promising drug target for metabolic diseases.


Sporadic generalized form of insensitivity to thyroid hormones of peripheral tissue receptor was proposed as diagnosis in a clinically euthyroid boy 15.5 years old with goiter, having elevated levels of blood serum triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) associated with absence of TSH suppression. Other possible causes of biochemical hyperthyreosis were excluded by differential diagnosis. The results of functional examination of cardiovascular system by the method of Hauffa could be interpreted only as a lack of response of tissue receptors to the administration of triiodothyronine, also when used in pharmacological doses. Lower response of pituitary to the administered triiodothyronine was demonstrated by applying the TRH stimulation test. No antithyroid treatment was applied in accordance with the data from the literature. In long-term observation (above 1.5 year) clinical state of the boy was still good a gradual increase in growth rate and progress in sexual maturation being noted.


Whether visual categorization, i.e., specific responses to a certain class of visual events across a wide range of exemplars, is graded or all-or-none in the human brain is largely unknown. We address this issue with an original frequency-sweep paradigm probing the evolution of responses between the minimum and optimal presentation times required to elicit both neural and behavioral face categorization responses. In a first experiment, widely variable natural images of nonface objects are progressively swept from 120 to 3 Hz (8.33 to 333 ms duration) in rapid serial visual presentation sequences; variable face exemplars appear every 1 s, enabling an implicit frequency-tagged face-categorization electroencephalographic (EEG) response at 1 Hz. In a second experiment, faces appear non-periodically throughout such sequences at fixed presentation rates, while participants explicitly categorize faces. Face-categorization activity emerges with stimulus durations as brief as 17 ms for both neural and behavioral measures (17 – 83 ms across individual participants neurally; 33 ms at the group level). The face-categorization response amplitude increases until 83 ms stimulus duration (12 Hz), implying graded categorization responses. However, a strong correlation with behavioral accuracy suggests instead that dilution from missed categorizations, rather than a decreased response to each face stimulus, may be responsible. This is supported in the second experiment by the absence of neural responses to behaviorally uncategorized faces, and equivalent amplitudes of isolated neural responses to only behaviorally categorized faces across presentation rates, consistent with the otherwise stable spatio-temporal signatures of face-categorization responses in both experiments. Overall, these observations provide original evidence that visual categorization of faces, while being widely variable across human observers, occurs in an all-or-none fashion in the human brain.