Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of iodine-125 (125I) seed implantation for pancreatic cancer (PC), and preliminarily evaluate the clinical value of a self-developed three-dimensional (3D) visualized seed planning and navigation system in 125I seed implantation for treatment of PC. Patients and methods Our team retrospectively reviewed 25 PC patients who underwent 125I seed implantation between December 2010 and November 2016. The patients were divided into two groups: 3D visualization preoperative planning group (12 patients, 13 lesions) and two-dimensional (2D) regular group (13 patients, 14 lesions). We compared and analyzed the parameters of the two groups, such as number of needle insertions, one-time treatment success rate, proportion of added seeds, local control rate, rate of complications, rate of pain relief, and the survival rate and risk factors of the two groups. There was no significant difference in clinical data of the two groups. Results 125I seed implantation was performed successfully in all PC patients, with no occurrence of serious complications during and after the procedure. The one-time treatment success rate of 3D group (80%) was higher than that of 2D group (45.5%) (P<0.05), and the proportion of added seed number of 3D group was lower than that of 2D group (P<0.05). The local control rate of 3D group (76.9%) was higher than that of 2D group (35.7%) (P<0.05). The survival rate of 3D group was significantly higher than that of 2D group (P=0.026), and the median survival of 2D group vs 3D group was 5.00 vs 10.80 months. The median survival of all 25 patients was 7.10 months (95% confidence interval: 4.43–9.77). The rate of pain relief was 77.8% (7/9) in 2D group and 88.9% (8/9) in 3D group. Conclusion Ultrasound-guided, 3D visualized seed planning and navigation system assisted 125I seed implantation is a safe and effective method for the treatment of PC, with a prolonged survival of patients and better local control of tumor.


The techniques of interventional bronchoscopy have acquired an important place in the management of lung cancer. Techniques to relieve obstruction requiring the use of rigid bronchoscopy under general anaesthetic were the first to be introduced. Laser therapy, which was initially used for coagulation can be replaced by electrocautery. The development of endobronchial stents provides a natural complement to techniques aimed at clearing bronchial obstruction by helping to maintain patency in the long term. Other therapeutic techniques can be deployed in association with those already mentioned, including photodynamic therapy and brachytherapy using low doses of radiation applied locally. These have particular potential for the treatment of early disease. Questions remain as to the precise indications for the different techniques and of how to identify which approach is most appropriate for individual patients.


Underwater acoustic (UWA) channel is characterized as a severe multipath propagation channel due to signal reflections from the surface and bottom of the sea, that is affected by a variety of ambient noise profiles unique to underwater environment. Further the motion of water introduces a Doppler. Multicarrier modulation schemes can be adapted to meet a given Quality of service (QoS) in such environments. In this paper the underwater acoustic channel is modelled using the Thorp and Ainslie-McColm models for absorption and their limitations are analyzed. Signal to noise ratio (SNR) profiles at various distances employing Discrete Multitone Modulation (DMT) are obtained considering different types of ambient noise sources such as shipping, wind, thermal, bubble and turbulence. To meet the QoS different Rate Adaptive and Margin Adaptive Tone loading algorithms are simulated and compared based on system margin, utilizing these SNR profiles.


The article deals with the fictional creative story of Boris Pasternak's poem "The Fairy Tale" ("Skazka"), described in the novel "Doctor Zhivago". It is fundamentally different from the real story: if Pasternak changed the plot and partly the genre of "The Fairy Tale", as evidenced by his letter to Nina Tabidze, Yuri Zhivago in the novel changes the poetic meter twice – and at the same time comprehends its semantics. The differences between the real and the "novelistic" creative history focus on the semantic halo both of trochaic trimeter – the meter of "The Fairy Tale", and of trochaic pentameter and trochaic tetrameter, used at starting of the first and intermediate edition. The article shows how the first edition, written in pentameter (trochaic or iambic), connects "The Fairy Tale" with "Hamlet" and "The Gethsemane Garden". The assumption of a genetic link between the three texts and a few significant plot coincidences enables to find invariant embodiments of one lyrical plot in different genres in them. The triangle: "Hamlet" – "The Fairy Tale" – "The Gethsemane Garden" built within the cycle varies the most important topic of the cycle and the novel – the strategy of individual, personal confrontation with "the twilight of night" and "the years of timelessness". The study of the second stage of the fictional story "The Fairy Tale" clarifies a number of Pushkin's contexts, not only in the "Poems of Yuri Zhivago", but also in the novel as a whole. The study of semantic halos arising at different stages of Zhivago's work on "The Fairy Tale" allows including it in the context of Russian lyrics.


We assessed 850 patients with a history of myocardial infarction >1 month ago who attended outpatient clinics of the Clinic of Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the Faculty Hospital Brno between 1st September 2009 and 31st December 2009. There were more men (650 vs. 200) and patients under 70 years of age (576 vs. 264) in the cohort. 87.8% of patients experienced one myocardial infarction only and the mean age at the first infarction was 59.0 years in men and 65.5 in women (p < 0.001). 75.8% of patients had been prescribed all recommended pharmacotherapeutic groups according to guidelines (RAAS blockers, beta-blockers, statins, antiagregation agents) and each group individually was used in > 90% of patients. There were no differences between men and women and older and younger patients. ACE inhibitors and statins were not always prescribed in recommended (high) doses. Perindopril was the most frequently prescribed ACE inhibitor and atorvastatin the most frequently prescribed statin. Blood pressure of< 140/90 mm Hg was identified in 60.1% of patients, 75% of men and 65% of women had cholesterol level of <5 mmol/l and > 50% of patients had cholesterol < or = 4.5 mmol/l, metabolic syndrome was found in about 1/2 of patients and smoking was admitted by 12.5% of patients.


This study has sought to demonstrate the concept of universality linguistically and conventionally. It has also elaborated on the meaning of the term 'universal message' as well as discussed the meaning of Islam and Christianity. It has researched the concept of abolishment, and evidence of its occurrence in the previous religions. It has looked at the Muslims evidence of the universality of Islamic religion and acknowledgements from the religious books of people of the book, and the evidence of the seal of prophethood on it, and the nature of their relationship. The study traced the onset of the claim of Christianity's universality, and discussed the Christians' evidence on that and the role of Paul in the claim of the universality of Christianity. The two prominent thinkers of Islam referred to are: Jamal Sharqawi and Ahmed Hijazi Saqqa, while the two Christian thinkers are: Friz Samuel and Imad Hanna. The researcher addressed their evidences, opinions and points of agreement and disagreement, and the weights of their views. The study examined the characteristics of the universality of Islam and the world's need for a comprehensive universal message. The study answered the question about the real criterion for the distinction between the universality of Islam and the universality of Christianity. The study highlighted the raised suspicions about the universality of Islam, and has disproved them methodically and from a scientific perspective. The study relied on two research methodologies first inductive method by surveying all texts that shows the universality of the message then the analytical method by critical analysing of the texts that indicate the universality of Christianity and counter any suspicious opinion about Islam. The research reached important conclusions, most important among them is that the Jesus call was divine and monotheistic, but it did not remain unchanged. Rather, it was intercalated by other faiths. Paul had the major role in deviating Christianity from its true path. The texts that indicated the universality of Christianity were added and fabricated and were non-existent in the original scriptures as not as a single text in the Christian Gospels proved the universality of Christianity. The confirmed texts from the Quran and Sunnah proved the universality of Islam and the abolishment of previous religions. Also, the research highlights that arguments put forward by Islamic Thinkers are more stable and sound than the ones put forward by Christianity Thinkers. This research was motivated to contribute to the efforts in the field of comparative religion and Aqidah, in the hope of helping the truth seekers to reach the truth, and in an attempt to add a new to the studies related to Aqidah and Islamic Thought.


Chronic hypoxemia has been suggested as an unrecognized condition that may result in sudden infant death syndrome. Fetal hemoglobin has been shown to be increased in infants suffering from chronic hypoxemia. We examined fetal hemoglobin levels in 54 cases of sudden infant death syndrome, 17 infants dying of other causes, and 22 live, healthy control infants. Fetal hemoglobin in infants with sudden infant death syndrome was found to be elevated when compared with our control infants as well as when compared with literature-based normal values. These findings indicate that fetal hemoglobin measurements may be a valuable aid in identifying cases of sudden infant death syndrome at autopsy and supports the hypothesis that this group of victims of sudden infant death syndrome are not normal before death but have an underlying condition resulting in chronic hypoxemia.


Context: Inguino-genital surgical disorders are common problems seen in daily surgical practice. The aim of this study is to determine the main surgical inguino-genital disorders among kindergartens and primary school boys less than 10 years of age in Mosul city. Methods: A random sample of kindergartens and primary school boys from both sides of Mosul city underwent a cross-sectional study between 1 of Oct. 2004 and 31 of Jan 2005. All boys were examined by specialized surgeons for the presence of surgical disorders in their inguino-genital region. The pathological findings were recorded and diagnosed disorders were further assessed by suitable investigative tools. The parents were informed about their children's disorders and accordingly, a suitable management for each single disorder was discussed with them. Results: During the study period, 950 children were examined and (125) children were having various inguino-genital disorders. The prevalence of these conditions was (13.2%). The present study showed (7.7%) of the screened children were uncircumcised, (3.2%) were having undescended testes and (1.2%) has inguinal hernia. The surgical conditions were (54.4%) among the age of 6-7 years, (20.0%) among the age of (5-6) years and (1.6%) among the age of (9-10) years. The study revealed that 60% of the undescended testes were on the right side, and (36.7%) on the left side. Moreover (63.67%) of the hernias were right sided and (27.3%) were left sided. Conclusion and recommendations: Studying male children in schools for any surgical abnormalities, at the inguino-genital areas provides the opportunity for detection of the early conditions, further management of the main surgical cases that need correction and the prevention of any risk of complications.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify factors affecting agitation in patients with dementia who live in nursing homes. Factors including background and proximal factors based on the Algase's Need-Driven DementiaCompromised Behavior model were tested. Methods: Data collection was performed from Dec. 1 to 28 2015, and 193 elders from 4 nursing homes participated in this study. The instruments included CMAI (Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory), K-MMSE (Korean Mini-Mental State Examination), Holden Communication Scale, K-ADL (Korea Activity of Daily Living scale), DS-DAT (Discomfort scale-Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type), CSDD (The Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia), NPI (Neuropsychiatric Inventory), as well as items on the physical and psychosocial environment. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffé and Dunnet T3, Pearson correlation and multiple regression. Results: Multiple regression analyses identified hallucination (β=.24), delusion (β=.22), pain (β=.15), and the total period of being diagnosed with dementia (β=.10) as significant predictors of agitation and these factors explained 36.0% of the variance in the model. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that hallucination delusion, pain and total period of being diagnosed with dementia need to be considered when developing intervention programs to control agitation in patients with dementia.


Pergolesi's reputation has undoubtedly benefitted from the brevity of his life. Dying at twenty-six, and therefore not having attained full maturity as a composer, he was at times purely conventional in his work, but then at others progressive and wonderfully inventive. Romantic biographers have made much of his brief career, and consequently inflated the importance of his originality as a composer. To others, his music has appeared variously traditional, lightweight, or even tedious. His present fame rests largely upon the Stabat Mater and the intermezzo, La Serva Padrona. This latter work became notorious as a result of its being the central point of dispute in the Parisian squabble of 1752 - "La Guerre des Bouffons", This apparently ensured its immortality. His four opere serie are for the most part conventional in style, but also contain passages which single out the composer for his originality. Of them L'Olimpiade eventually proved to be the most successful, although its original reception was distinctly hostile. Pergolesi's gifts of lighthearted melody, clear characterisation and naturalness of accent found their outlet in opera buffa, the field in which he gained greatest success. Much of his sacred music now has only historical significance, but some of his early works distinguish themselves for their originality. His final work, the Stabat Mater, is still frequently performed. In style it is inconsistent; deeply moving sections are followed by theatrical passages which are claimed by the composer's critics to be lacking in sincerity of expression. After his death enthusiasm for his works rose sharply. Supply of manuscripts could not meet demand, and many forgeries were passed as genuine. Modern scholarship has restored a number to their composers, but still works remain which can be only attributed to Pergolesi. Of particular importance in this category are certain instrumental pieces which, if genuine, for their style and conception of form would place him far in advance of many of his contemporaries.


We propose a framework that automatically transforms non-scalable GNNs into precomputation-based GNNs which are efficient and scalable for large-scale graphs. The advantages of our framework are two-fold; 1) it transforms various non-scalable GNNs to scale well to large-scale graphs by separating local feature aggregation from weight learning in their graph convolution, 2) it efficiently executes precomputation on GPU for large-scale graphs by decomposing their edges into small disjoint and balanced sets. Through extensive experiments with large-scale graphs, we demonstrate that the transformed GNNs run faster in training time than existing GNNs while achieving competitive accuracy to the state-of-the-art GNNs. Consequently, our transformation framework provides simple and efficient baselines for future research on scalable GNNs.


Background: Due to the progressive nature of T2D, patients often escalate in disease severity, burden, and complexity. Revita® Duodenal Mucosal Resurfacing (DMR) is a non-pharmacologic, investigational, endoscopic treatment intended to restore normal physiology of the duodenum, a key regulator of metabolic homeostasis. Previous studies to date with >300 patients have shown favorable safety and metabolic efficacy. Here we present initial data from open label phase of a pivotal study designed to improve glycemic control while reducing and/or eliminating insulin treatment burden.
 Methods: Inclusion: 21-70yrs, BMI 24-40kg/m2, HbA1c 7.5-9.5%, FPG off insulin ≥180-<270mg/dL, fasting C-peptide ≥0.6 ng/ml, insulin (20-60 U/day) with background glucose lowering agents (GLAs). Prior to procedure, GLAs other than metformin and basal insulin were washed out for ≥8wks followed by 4wk run in. Post DMR, insulin was reinstated if needed by a pre-specified treat-to-target design with preexisting metformin and de novo empagliflozin.
 Results: N=9. Median (min, max) baseline characteristics: age 60 (45, 68) yrs, 66.7% male, HbA1c 8.5 (7.6, 9.1)%, C-peptide 1.7 (0.7, 3.2) ng/mL, weight 96 (85, 128) kg, diabetes duration 13 (7, 24) yrs; long-acting insulin dose 33 (20, 60) U/day. No device or procedure related SAEs. Unrelated to DMR procedure, two patients discontinued early. N=7: 48-week median change from baseline (min, max); HbA1c -1.5% (-1.8,-0.4), FPG -82 mg/dL (-104,-48), total body weight -9.3% (-16.8,-2.9). All (7/7) patients reduced insulin dose with 2 patients discontinuing insulin entirely.
 Conclusion: Results from open label phase thus far show promising safety and efficacy of Revita DMR and suggest broad metabolic benefit while reducing treatment burden. Further results forthcoming from currently enrolling REVITALIZE-1 study.

 V.Fonseca: Consultant; Abbott, Corcept Therapeutics, Eli Lilly and Company, Other Relationship; BRAVO4HEALTH, LLC, Research Support; Fractyl Health, Inc., Stock/Shareholder; Amgen Inc. J.Bergman: Consultant; Endogenex, Fractyl Health, Inc., Digma Medical, Research Support; Endogenex, Fractyl Health, Inc., Digma Medical. Z.I.Saeed: None. H.Rajagopalan: Employee; Fractyl Health, Inc. B.Sorondo: Employee; Fractyl Health, Inc., LG Chem. K.White: Employee; Fractyl Health, Inc. H.Zhang: None. G.Mingrone: Advisory Panel; Fractyl Health, Inc., Board Member; Novo Nordisk, Consultant; Novo Nordisk, Fractyl Health, Inc., ReCor Medical, Inc.

 Fractyl Health, Inc.


We compare the results of the numerical simulation of the viscous-like interaction of the solar wind with the plasma tail of a comet, with velocities of H2O+ ions in the tail of comet Swift–Tuttle determined by means of spectroscopic ground-based observations. Our aim is to constrain the value of the basic parameters in the viscous-like interaction model: the effective Reynolds number of the flow and the interspecies coupling timescale. We find that in our simulations the flow rapidly evolves from an arbitrary initial condition to a quasi-steady state for which there is a good agreement between the simulated tailward velocity of H2O+ ions and the kinematics derived from the observations. The fiducial case of our model, characterized by a low effective Reynolds number (Reeff ≈ 20) selected on the basis of a comparison to in situ measurements of the plasma flow at comet Halley, yields an excellent fit to the observed kinematics. Given the agreement between model and observations, with no ad hoc assumptions, we believe that this result suggests that viscous-like momentum transport may play an important role in the interaction of the solar wind and the cometary plasma environment.


This study attempted to design lights with Type II distribution suitable for LED street lights based on the regulations of street light distribution developed by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). The shape of an asymmetric lens, different from that of a rotationally symmetric lens, cannot be generated using a simple mathematical formula. In the first trial, the outline of the lens was fixed and simulated to confirm the distribution type. Following ISENA regulations, some problems that occurred during simulations and repeating was be modified that process is how we detected errors. Through optical research and simulations, a lens conforming to the regulations of Type II very short, Type II short, and Type II medium distributions was developed. A prototype was developed using simulation data and it was subjected to distribution tests. The results show that it can compare with property of Type II distribution.


AV junction ablation (producing AV block) followed by implantation of a pacemaker is a well established, generally accepted treatment for patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) not controlled by antiarrhythmic drugs. In expert hands, the efficacy of producing complete AV block is usually > 95% if a sequential right and left side approach is used; regression of AV block late after ablation (which requires a second procedure on a different day) occurs in fewer than 5% of cases.1-4 There have been only a few small studies, but ablate and pace treatment seems to be highly effective and superior to drug treatment in controlling symptoms of the arrhythmia and improving overall quality of life.4-6 In this respect, the study of Marshall et al in this issue7 provides further evidence of the beneficial effect of this treatment. In particular, using validated instruments for outcome measurements in pacemaker recipients, the authors found a pronounced decrease in the magnitude of specific symptoms of arrhythmia and an improvement in physical, socioeconomic, and psychological aspects of quality of life.

Nevertheless ablate and pace treatment is palliative. Indeed, in contrast to other ablative procedures—that is, those used for the treatment of AV nodal reentrant tachycardia and accessory bypass tracts, in which the ablation can be considered curative—AV junction ablation is unable to eliminate the electrophysiological substrate of the disease and works only indirectly through the control of irregular and fast ventricular rate. In other words, an old disease (uncontrolled PAF) is replaced by another disease (iatrogenic AV block and pacemaker dependency). Moreover, the procedure is necessarily associated with a pacemaker implant and there are small but definite risks of short and long term complications. For these reasons, many cardiologists and electrophysiologists have concerns about the wide use of this new treatment, and some refute the …


Internet of Thing (IoT) is transforming our physical world into a giant information system, daily providing novel, advanced, cyberphysical services. Differently from conventional computing services (e.g., web-services, and ubiquitous services) that are usually loosely impacted by contextawareness, co-location or transience, Internet of Things (IoT) services require to actually consider the overall spatio-temporal context of the heterogeneous entities involved in the service provisioning. This paper proposes a novel and full-fledged approach to IoT service modeling, aiming to fully support IoT service development according to opportunistic properties. Keywords—Internet of Things; Cyberphysical Services;


In the recent years the awareness of the role purinergic signaling plays as a therapeutic target has increased considerably. The purinoceptor allows the action of extracellular nucleotides (P2 receptors), as well as intermediary products of their metabolism, such as adenosine (P1 receptors), regulating pivotal processes occurring in the cardiovascular system.This study focuses on a dual purinoreceptor-dependent approach, based on the activation of adenosine P1 receptors with the simultaneous inhibition of P2Y12 receptors, that can be used as novel platelet inhibitors in antithrombotic therapy.Endothelial cells are directly exposed to the drugs circulating in the bloodstream. That's why effects of our concept on human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) were examined in in vitro studies: ELISA and Scratch Assays. In response to adenosine receptor agonists, levels of secreted VEGF varied. Two of them, NECA and MRE0094 remarkably increased VEGF release. The elevated levels were reduced when used together with the P2Y12 receptor antagonist. Also, rates of wound closure in Scratch Assay were significantly reduced in these cases.The results suggest that the proposed treatment does not impair endothelial cell condition. In addition, it is suggested a collateral benefit, namely solving the problem of excessive activation of endothelial cells during antiplatelet therapy.


Editor,-The article by Huilan and Zhiming' contains some findings that are difficult to reconcile with our understanding of lung cancer. In table 6, 19 of 57 (33%) of lung cancer cases occurred among nonsmokers. This is a very high number considering that in most series less than 10% of cases occur in non-smokers. We also note that the text says, ". . . 67 lung cancers (including two pleural mesotheliomas) were found." Why does table 6 only show 57 and not 65 or 67 lung cancers? Table 3 indicates that the incidence of lung cancer in women is less than half that of the men, although the rates are apparently not adjusted for age or smoking. If asbestos was thought to cause a high percentage of the lung cancers, male and female rates ought to be closer together. The finding which most seriously calls into question the results of this study is in table 6, where the lung cancer relative risk for smokers (without asbestos exposure) is only 1-8. The usual relative risks for populations of smokers range from 5 to 25,24 depending on the amount and years smoked. A study that finds a relative risk this low raises serious questions concerning the credibility of any of the findings. ROBERTW MORGAN KE ZHAO Environmental Health Strategies Inc. Suite 120, One Lagoon Drive, Redwood City, CA 94065, USA


In this paper a measuring system that allows an automatic detection of waviness and form errors in sheet metal parts is introduced. The system is based on a stripe projection method using a high resolution line scan camera. Particular focus is put on achieving a short measuring time and a high resolution in depth, aiming at a reliable automatic recognition of dents and waviness of 10 µm on large curved surfaces of approximately 1 m width. On smoothly curved surfaces a spatial frequency analysis is used to detect dents. By combining this spatial frequency analysis with a CAD model, more complex parts can be inspected, too. Using an objective 100% inspection of all parts, a quality improvement can be achieved by controlling the forming process.


The connection of generalized parton distributions (GPDs) to processes at large momentum transfer (high‐t), and the links between GPDs and elastic nucleon form factors are discussed here. These links, in the form of sum rules, represent powerful constraints on parametrizations of GPDs. A Regge parametrization for the GPDs at small‐t, which is surprisingly observed from the chiral quark soliton model results, is extended to the large‐t region and it is found to catch the basic features of proton and neutron electromagnetic form factor data. It is furthermore discussed how these GPDs at large‐t enter into two‐photon exchange processes and resolve the discrepancy between Rosenbluth and polarization experiments of elastic electron nucleon scattering.


Inventory management is critical for many industries. A proper control of inventory can considerably enhance a company's profit margins. Determination of the Economic Order Quantities EOQ is important in order to achieve optimal operating conditions. There are various EOQ models which originate from the classical EOQ model in the literature. In reality, it is not easy to determine parameters of an EOQ model precisely. Fuzzy set theory gives an opportunity to represent the linguistic terms and vagueness in EOQ models. In the literature, various researchers solved different fuzzy versions of EOQ problem. In this study, a fully fuzzy constrained multi-item EOQ model is considered. The parameters of the problem are defined as triangular fuzzy numbers. The fuzzy constrained multi-item EOQ problem is tried to be solved directly by employing four different fuzzy ranking functions and Particle Swarm Optimization PSO algorithm. One of the primary objectives of this study is to show that fuzzy mathematical programming models can also be solved directly by employing fuzzy ranking functions and meta-heuristic algorithms. Results obtained from both approaches direct approach and transformation approach are also reported in the paper.


PURPOSE
To conduct a prospective study of primary lymphoma of bone (PLB) comparatively with extraskeletal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (ESNHLs) and secondary lymphoma of bone (SLB).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
The 28 cases of PLB, 2932 cases of ESNHL, and 219 cases of SLB included between April 1, 1993, and October 1, 1997, in a treatment protocol for NHL developed by the Adult Lymphoma Study Group, were studied prospectively.

RESULTS
Of the 28 PLB patients, 17 were men and 11 women; median age was 48 years (range, 18-69). The disease was monostotic in 17 cases (involving the peripheral skeleton in 14) and polyostotic in nine cases. The proportion of patients younger than 60 years was 86% in the PLB group, 59% in the ESNHL group, and 55% in the SLB group. The Ann Arbor stage distribution (I-II/III-IV) was as follows: 54%/46% in the PLB group, 50%/50% in the ESNHL group, and 20%/80% in the SLB group. Performance status was 0 or 1 in 100% of the PLB patients, 50% of the ESNHL patients, and 20% of the SLB patients. The phenotype was B in 89% of the PLBs and 85% of the ESNHLs and SLBs. In the PLB group, 54% of patients had diffuse large cell tumors and 11% diffuse mixed tumors; in the ESNHL group, 39% had diffuse large cell, 13% diffuse mixed, and 8% diffuse immunoblastic tumors; and in the SLB group, 45% had diffuse large cell, 10% diffuse mixed, and 12% diffuse immunoblastic tumors. A complete or partial response to induction therapy was noted in 86% of PLB patients, 84% of ESNHL patients, and 78% of SLB patients. Overall five-year survival was 65% in the PLB group, 50% in the ESNHL group, and 40% in the SLB group.

DISCUSSION
Survival was better in the PLB group. Further studies are needed to determine the effect of radiation therapy at completion of the treatment protocol and to look for prognostic factors associated with bone involvement.


The aim of the contract effort is to present accurate and objective data on brake system maintenance cost, tire operating cost, accident frequency and fuel consumption for vehicles configured in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 121. For comparative purposes, data is presented for vehicles similar to the selected FMVSS No. 121 configured vehicles with respect to gross vehicle weight rating, engine type, and transmission type, but which were manufactured and placed in service prior to the enactment of FMVSS No. 121. The source maintenance history, operating data, and accident data used in the contract effort was extracted from the Contractor's computerized data base which is maintained on a service basis for vehicle fleets of various types. The source data system is compatible with the Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards developed by the American Trucking Association, Inc. The data presented reflects approximately 57.4 million operating miles for 508 FMVSS 121-configured vehicles and approximately 123.2 million operating miles for 536 pre-FMVSS 121 vehicles.


Referendums are regularly defined as being directly democratic. Indeed, the term 'direct democracy' is often used synonymously with referendums. The label 'direct democracy' is used to make two different types of claims about referendums: (i) descriptive claims about what referendums are; and (ii) normative claims about how their use is justified. This article challenges the treatment of referendums as devices of direct democracy both in theory and in practice. I argue instead that referendums should be theoretically and practically understood as processes that provide direction to representatives. Indeed, one consequence of my argument is the broader claim that the term 'direct democracy' is generally misleading. In a contemporary context, all democratic processes are—at least in part—representative.


Adaptive gait for limb mechanism robot ASTERISK's dynamic rotational walking motion is designed. The adaptive gait is a motion where the robot can adapt itself to environment by utilizing virtual plane without any case-by-case command for each situations from user. With internal sensing and proposed method, the robot knows how to response to its environment. As all the terrains in actual world is not ground leveled, the authors also optimized robot postures for each virtualized plane inclined-angle by using Genetic Algorithms. The adaptive gait is confirmed in the dynamic simulator, Open Dynamic Engine, before testing with actual robot. The robot could walk on the terrain with approximately 6 degree in both upward and downward directions without falling down.


We discuss light-cone gauge description of type IIB Green-Schwarz superstring in AdS_5 x S^5 with a hope to make progress towards understanding spectrum of this theory. As in flat space, fixing light cone gauge consists of two steps: (i) fixing kappa symmetry in such a way that the fermionic part of the action does not depend on x^-; (ii) fixing 2-d reparametrizations by x^+ = tau and a condition on 2-d metric. In curved AdS space the latter cannot be the standard conformal gauge and breaks manifest 2-d Lorentz invariance. It is natural, therefore, to work in phase-space framework, imposing the GGRT gauge conditions x^+= tau, P^+ =const. We obtain the resulting light cone superstring Hamiltonian. This is a review of hep-th/0007036 and hep-th/0009171.


The basement membranes of the innervated surface of the electric organ of Discopyge tschudii present a high concentration of mucopolysaccharides as revealed by intense ruthenium red‐positive reaction. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) were isolated and characterized from these pure basement membranes by using a combination of agarose gel electrophoresis and enzymatic degradation with specific enzymes. The isolated basement membrane showed a high concentration of GAGs (130 mg/g of dry tissue); of this amount 49% was hyaluronic acid, 24% was chondroitin‐6‐sulfate, 12% was heparan sulfate, and 14% was dermatan sulfate. Controlled digestion with heparinase and heparitinases I and II was used to study the structural features of the heparan sulfate. Four unsaturated disaccharide units were found in the heparan sulfate: disulfated, N‐sulfated, N‐acetylated, and N‐acetylated O‐sulfated disaccharides. The disaccharide units of the cholinergic heparan sulfate present a high amount of disulfated disaccharides and a low amount of N‐acetylated O‐sulfated disaccharides. The N‐sulfated disaccharides, in contrast to the N‐acetylated ones, were found through all the structure of the cholinergic heparan sulfate. Finally our work shows for the first time the presence of dermatan sulfate in the basal lamina of the electric organ.


Background: BrCa survivors have an estimated 4-fold increase in risk for developing cardiovascular disease compared to women never treated for breast cancer and a nearly 3-fold increase in breast cancer mortality in women with an exercise capacity (VO2max) less than 28mL kg−1 min−1. Cardiac events are the second most common cause of death in long-term breast cancer (BrCa) survivors. Purpose: We conducted a study to investigate the effects of standard exercise or structured exercise on targeted cardiovascular outcomes during a home-based diet and exercise intervention for breast cancer survivors. Method: Cross-sectional within- and between-group design. A total of 19 breast cancer survivors, average age of 52.6+/−9.3, were enrolled in the study. A convenient sample was enrolled into two exercise groups receiving either: standard (150 minutes per week of usual care (exercise without instruction) cardiovascular exercise + resistance training) or structured (150 minutes per week of gradual increased intensity cardiovascular exercise + resistance training) exercise instruction along with a group based behavioral weight loss intervention. All participants underwent baseline and 17 week assessments including maximal exercise testing (VO2max and minutes on the treadmill), measurements of body composition (weight, BMI, % body fat), and assessment of quality of life. Results: We report on the 16 participants who completed the baseline and 17 week assessments (9 = Standard Exercise Group; 7 = Structured Exercise Group). The structured exercise group exhibited significantly greater improvements in measures of cardiorespiratory fitness: VO2max (p = 0.05) and duration on treadmill (p = 0.02). No significant differences were noted for all other cardiorespiratory fitness testing outcomes. Significant improvements from baseline to 17 weeks were seen across both groups for all measures of body composition. Lean body mass did not significantly change from baseline to 17 weeks in both groups. There were no significant between group differences for change in body composition. Conclusion: In this study, both standard exercise and structured exercise improved CR fitness measured by VO2max, but the structured exercise group experienced significantly greater improvements. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2012;72(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-11-17.


Chondroitin is a widely used ingredient that occurs naturally in the body of warm-blooded animals, and forms an important building block of joint cartilage. Dozens of scientific studies with animals and humans have clearly demonstrated that dietary supplementation of chondroitin in combination with Glucosamine, another building block of cartilage, benefits joints. The bestknown clinical study is the 4-year one known as the Glucosamine/chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), conducted at 16 sites across the United States. This double-blind, placebo-controlled study was sponsored by the government funded National Institute of Health (NIH), and was published in 2005 in the New England Journal of Medicine. This study, which enrolled nearly 1,600 patients, showed that when Glucosamine and Chondroitin were used in combination, they resulted in relief of knee pain in nearly 79% of patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis; significantly more than either the placebo control group, or patients that were treated with the common NSAID drug Celecoxib (Celebrex).


Policy-based file lifecycle management is important for balancing storage utilization and for regulatory conformance. It poses two important challenges, the need for simple yet effective policy design and an implementation that scales to billions of files. This paper describes the design and an innovative implementation technique of policy-based lifecycle management in a prototype built as a part of IBM's new SAN file system. The policy specification leverages a key abstraction in the file system called storage pools and its ability to support location independence for files. The policy implementation uses an innovative new technique that combines concurrent policy execution and a policy decisions cache, to enable scaling to billions of files under normal usage patterns.


Recently much attention has been paid to excitatory amino acids in seizure susceptibility and induction. In order to examine the relationship between epilepsy, especially seizure induction, and excitatory amino acids, we examined sequential change in content of excitatory amino acids in the epileptic focus by microdialysis system in a cat amygdaloid kindling model. Fifteen crossbred adult cats divided into three groups: a sham operation group (Sh) as the control, just after stage 4 group (S4), and just after stage 6 seizure group (S6). Under halothane anesthesia, Microdialysis probe was inserted to the kindled focus, the right amygdala, and glutamate and aspartate contents of extracellular fluid were measured from 15 minutes prior to 30 minutes after seizure by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The probe was perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid at a flow rate of 2 microliters/min for 5 minutes. Before seizure, glutamate and aspartate concentration showed no significant changes in the S4 and S6 group compared with the Sh group. But after seizure, glutamate concentration was significantly higher in the S4 and S6 group temporally, while aspartate concentration was higher only in the S6 group temporally. Based on the results that the release of glutamate and aspartate do not change in seizure susceptibility, that glutamate is released in partial seizure, and that glutamate and aspartate are released in generalized seizure from the epileptic focus, excitatory amino acids are involved in seizure induction in a cat amygdaloid kindling.


Errant polychaetes of the family Nereididae can be found in a wide range of sub- and intertidal habitats. They can burrow, crawl and swim. The latter two behaviours are primarily achieved by the use of parapodia and their attached setae. Here we compare the parapodia and setae of five species of atoke nereids living in either soft or hard substrate in a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study. Three types of setae, found in all the worms examined, were consistently different across species, allowing us to compare setal distribution. However, neither distribution nor number of setae, or intersetal gap showed a clear dependence on substrate. Thus it appears that the morphology is not adapted to a specific substrate. This might be because both the parapodia and the setae serve multiple functions in the living animal. Location of the parapodium and the size of the intersetal gap showed some dependence on whether the atoke stage swims. However, neither the area of the parapodium nor of the setal bundles seems to relate to swimming. Phylogenetic relationships amongst the examined species, from three genera all in the subfamily Nereidinae, did not significantly influence either of the morphological parameters investigated. This study indicates that the morphology of the parapodia and setae of nereids is not adapted to any specific function, instead they are presumably important for a variety of tasks performed by the worms.


Objectives: Since the study on the elderly people and recording related data requires more accuracy, the calculation of measurement error is very important. This study aims to introduce a simple formula to obtain and interpret the Total Deviation Index (TDI) and encourage researchers to use it as a suitable tool to determine the reliability in psychometrics studies. Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study conducted in 2019, participants were 105 older adults living in Tehran, Iran. The 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire was completed by them within two weeks. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and TDI values were calculated and compared for each subscale of the SF-36. Results: The lowest TDI value belonged to the "physical functioning" subscale, while the "emotional problems" subscale had the highest TDI value. At a 95% confidence interval, the maximum measurement errors in physical functioning and emotional problems were reported 22 and 34 (out of 100), respectively. Conclusion: Since the ICC cannot determine how much of the difference in the subscale scores is related to the measurement error, and given the simple interpretation of the TDI, it is recommended that researchers use the proposed formula and obtain the TDI value for the reliability in psychometrics studies.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of transfer price transactions, inventory intensity and capital intensity on corporate tax avoidance. The research population consisted of all companies engaged in the oil palm plantation sector registered on the BEI from 2019 to 2022. Using the purposive sampling method, 41 samples were obtained from 15 companies in the oil palm plantation sector. The data analysis technique used is descriptive statistics, normality test, heteroscedasticity test, multicollinearity test, autocorrelation test, coefficient of determination test, model feasibility test, partial test and multiple linear regression analysis. The results of this study indicate that there is no significant effect between the variables of transaction transfer prices and capital intensity on tax evasion in the observed sample. While inventory intensity has a significant effect on tax avoidance. However, to gain a more comprehensive understanding of this relationship, further research is needed by considering larger sample sizes, relevant contextual factors and more appropriate analytical approaches.


Linearity, efficiency, and power consumption are the key figures of merit for modern communication system design [1] as data rates increase toward millimeter-wave communication systems like 5G. A common problem is that both high linearity and efficiency are not simultaneously feasible in power amplifier (PA) design. Hence, when a PA is operated near saturation for highest efficiency, undesired harmonic and intermodulation distortions have to be taken into account [2], [3]. A transceiver comprises several circuit elements, such as a low-noise amplifier, mixer, and PA. In this transceiver chain, the PA usually exhibits the highest power consumption (i.e., it is worthwhile to maximize the efficiency of this circuit component to increase overall system performance) [4].


Genetically engineered mouse models are powerful tools for studying cancer genes and validating targets for cancer therapy. We previously used a mouse lymphoma model to demonstrate that the translation initiation factor eIF4E is a potent oncogene in vivo. Using the same model, we now show that the oncogenic activity of eIF4E correlates with its ability to activate translation and become phosphorylated on Ser 209. Furthermore, constitutively activated MNK1, an eIF4E Ser 209 kinase, promotes tumorigenesis in a manner similar to eIF4E, and a dominant-negative MNK mutant inhibits the in vivo proliferation of tumor cells driven by mutations that deregulate translation. Phosphorylated eIF4E promotes tumorigenesis primarily by suppressing apoptosis and, accordingly, the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 is one target of both phospho-eIF4E and MNK1 that contributes to tumor formation. Our results provide insight into how eIF4E contributes to tumorigenesis and pinpoint a level of translational control that may be suitable for therapeutic intervention.


History as an i1Teversible process has no role fom a uniformitarian point of view in geology and palaeobiology. Contingency is another trait of history and particle palaeontology has its foundation on such principles. However, new approaches in physics and the theory of systems point out the need to consider a time arrow. Moreover, chance and necessity are interwoven in synergetics and self-organization theory and there may be some possibility of prediction. The global biota has a history resulting from a process of self-organization. A rich fossil record was produced during the Phanerozoic times and this fossil record shows us how life overcame several important crisis. A clear understanding of systems theory is required to understand these problems. On the other hand, there are species which are more prone to extinction than others. Although the physical environment plays an important role on the regulation of the global biota, the latter has an internal functioning with regulatory capability. Self-organised criticality seems a non negligible factor in extinction. The present situation of the global biota can be compared with others as illustrated by the fossil record. This can help us attack the environmental problems affecting us.


Conventional approaches to fluorosis mitigation and control are based on reduction of excess fluoride consumption from
water. Country specific standard limits of 1 mg/l or 1.5mg/l are established and monitored by water departments based on
recommendations outlined in the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (GDWQ). With
the advent of the third edition of the WHO GDWQ there is a fundamental departure from standard setting, based on doseresponse
affect, towards risk assessment and risk management. The water quality framework, outlined in the guidelines,
consists of an iterative cycle, comprising: an assessment of risk, health targets linked to the wider public health context;
risk management (with these components being informed by aspects of environmental exposure and acceptable risk) The
guidelines advocate for the use of Water Safety Plans, as risk management tool, to help achieve Health Based Risk Targets.
This paper presents the application of a Quantitative Chemical Risk Assessment (QCRA) method for determining health
based risk targets for fluorosis control. The paper presents evidence from Madhya Pradesh, India. The findings indicate
firstly that to control fluorosis total daily consumption from all exposure routes (water and food) must be considered,
secondly that the most exposed population group to fluorosis are children due to lack of alternative early nutrients (e.g.
exclusive breastfeeding) and, thirdly, that quantifying chemical risk is essential for appropriate risk management strategies
to reduce fluorosis in children.


Skin cancer, particularly melanoma, is a leading cause of death worldwide. The therapeutic methods for this malignancy are not effective, and due to the side effects of these treatments, applying an appropriate alternative or complementary treatment is important. According to available data, melatonin as the main product of the pineal gland has oncostatic and antitumoral properties. Also, melatonin acts as an anti‐inflammatory and reactive oxygen species inducer agent which suppresses the growth of tumors. It also has apoptosis induction characteristics through regulating signaling pathways, including heat shock protein 70, nuclear factor‐erythroid 2 p45‐related factor 2 and others. Thus, adding melatonin to chemo‐ and radiotherapy may have synergistic therapeutic effects and increase the survival time in patients with skin cancer. Few clinical studies have evaluated the efficacy of melatonin in skin cancer. Based on the related mechanisms, this review discusses about how melatonin may improve outcomes in skin cancer patients.


Materials with different atomic or molecular structures give rise to unique scatter spectra when measured by X-ray diffraction. The details of these spectra, though, can vary based on both intrinsic (e.g., degree of crystallinity or doping) and extrinsic (e.g., pressure or temperature) conditions. While this sensitivity is useful for detailed characterizations of the material properties, these dependences make it difficult to perform more general classification tasks, such as explosives threat detection in aviation security. A number of challenges, therefore, currently exist for reliable substance detection including the similarity in spectral features among some categories of materials combined with spectral feature variations from materials processing and environmental factors. These factors complicate the creation of a material dictionary and the implementation of conventional classification and detection algorithms. Herein, we report on two prominent factors that lead to variations in spectral features: crystalline texture and temperature variations. Spectral feature comparisons between materials categories will be described for solid metallic sheet, aqueous liquids, polymer sheet, and metallic, organic, and inorganic powder specimens. While liquids are largely immune to texture effects, they are susceptible to temperature changes that can modify their density or produce phase changes. We will describe in situ temperature-dependent measurement of aqueous-based commercial goods in the temperature range of -20°C to 35°C.


The data obtained confirm the possibility of both individual and population cytogenetic indication of the effect of low intensity radiation, exceeding the background level, and exhibit a positive correlation with the radio-ecological situation formed. The cytogenetic effect, that indicates the disturbance of the genome stability, might be considered as an indicator of a high probability of occurrence of pathologies, with a genetic component, in the subpopulations under study, compared to spontaneous level.


In Jinapala, K.; de Silva, Sanjiv; Aheeyar, M. M. M. (Eds.). Proceedings of the National Conference on Water, Food Security and Climate Change in Sri Lanka, BMICH, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 9-11 June 2009. Vol. 3. Policies, institutions and data needs for water management. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI).


SYNOPSIS This paper deals with field experience of airborne moisture transfer problems in houses. Two types of phenomena are discussed in more detail: the infiltration of moist air from crawl spaces and the propagation of moist air produced in kitchens. A modified depressurisation test is described to determine the air tightness of ground floors. A case study is briefly discussed where different remedial measures have been tested to evaluate the moisture removal effectiveness in kitchens. A multi-channel dewpoint measurement system has been used to determine the ventilation efficiency experimentally.


Twenty-six out-patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were randomly allocated to treatment with sulphasalazine (SASP) or D-penicillamine (DPA). Faecal samples were collected from all patients at 4-weekly intervals and examined for changes in faecal flora during treatment. Both treatment groups showed substantial clinical improvement. In the SASP-treated group this was accompanied by significant falls in counts of Cl. perfringens and E. coli. No such changes were seen in the DPA-treated group. These results suggest that SASP's efficacy in RA may be related to its antibacterial properties.


In vitro and in vivo N-oxygenation of trimethylamine (TMA) in the suncus (Suncus murinus) was investigated. The N-oxygenation of TMA has been thought to be catalyzed by flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO). In a previous study, we found that the levels of mRNAs for FMOs were extremely low in the suncus. Thus, we intended to evaluate the capacity of the suncus to N-oxygenate TMA compared to the rat. Eadie-Hofstee plots of the TMA N-oxygenation by suncus liver microsomes showed a biphasic pattern, suggesting that more than two enzymes were involved in this reaction. The low K(m) component in the suncus showed a twofold higher K(m) (55 vs. 31 microM) and a fourfold lower V(max) (0.61 vs 2.5 nmol/min/mg protein) values than those obtained using rat liver microsomes, resulting in a sevenfold lower V(max)/K(m) (11 vs 82 microl/min/mg protein) value. After an intraperitoneal administration of TMA (10 mg/kg body wt), the suncus excreted 39.6% of the dose in 24-h urine as TMA, whereas the rats excreted 6.3%. Metabolic ratio in the TMA N-oxygenation was 1.42 and 0.11 in the suncus and the rat, respectively. These results indicate that the suncus can be an animal model for a poor metabolizer phenotype in TMA metabolism.


Subject: The article deals with the issues of creation of a psychoacoustic model of perception of sound quality of sound signals, the development on its basis of the method of creating a multi-tonal signal, which provides a high correlation with subjective evaluation. Purpose: to develop a multitoon signal creation method. Objective: To analyze the distortion of the sound signals that arise during reproducing them on the sound reproduction devices. Classify these distortions and assess the extent of their impact on subjective assessment. Allocate the most significant of them in terms of impact on the quality of sound. Investigate modern methods for assessing the quality of reproduction of sound signals, standards and recommendations devoted to this task; to evaluate the effectiveness of modeling the human auditory system used in the development of these methods; formulate the scientific and applied requirements for developing objective quality assessment method. Conclusions: The application of the developed method will allow obtain results that coincide with the data of subjective and statistical examinations (SSE) with the accuracy required for practice.


Recent developments in behavioral and experimental economics have shown that many people display other-regarding motives, in addition to self-interest. These social preferences – which include inequality aversion, conditional cooperation, and motives for punishment – make sense of a number of phenomena left unexplained by standard economic theory. This thesis is a collection of studies examining social preferences using the tools of experimental economics. Chapter 1 introduces the thesis explaining our goals and methods, as well as previewing our substantive contributions. Chapter 2 reports an experiment designed both to replicate and extend previous studies. We elicit and compare stated and revealed inequality aversion at the individual- level for subjects drawn from three different subject pools. Chapter 3 investigates whether inequality aversion, as modelled by Fehr and Schmidt (1999), explains free riding and conditional cooperation in a public good game. Chapter 4 investigates whether observed variation in the directionality of punishment between two subject pools can be explained by the "Culture of Honor" hypothesis. Chapter 5 concludes.


Background blurring is an effective way to both preserving privacy and keeping communication effective during video conferencing. This paper proposes a light weight real-time algorithm to perform background blurring using a fast background modeling algorithm combined with a face detector/tracker. A soft decision is made at each pixel whether it belongs to the foreground or the background based on multiple vision features. The classification results are mapped to a per-pixel blurring radius image to blur the background. The algorithm produces satisfactory results under a wide range of conditions, and occupies less than 30% of the CPU cycles on a 3 GHz Pentium 4 machine without further optimization.


PURPOSE
We evaluate the results and complications of laparoscopic urological procedures in children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In a 3-year period 4,350 laparoscopic procedures were performed at 8 Italian centers of pediatric surgery. We analyzed only the data of urological procedures for a total of 701 laparoscopic operations on patients 1 month to 14 years old. The indications for surgery were cryptorchidism in 414 cases, varicoceles in 159, ambiguous genitalia in 37, total nephrectomy in 34, partial nephrectomy in 4, adrenalectomy in 3 and other diagnostic procedures in 50. We adopted a retroperitoneoscopic approach in 72 cases (10.3%) and a laparoscopic approach in 629 (89.7%). Patient records were analyzed to search for any complication that may have occurred during the laparoscopic procedure and assess how they were managed.

RESULTS
We recorded 19 complications (2.7%) in our series, of which 6 required conversion to open surgery and 13 did not. There was no mortality. At a maximum followup of 4 years all children were alive and had no problems related to the laparoscopic complications.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study shows that pediatric laparoscopic urological surgery has an acceptable rate of complications with no mortality. We believe that routine use of open laparoscopy in pediatric patients is a key factor to help avoid complications. Most complications can be avoided with surgeon and team experience, together with proper compliance with the indications for surgery.


The authors present a new detailed router which was developed as part of a sea-of-gates layout project. It routes nets on two or more layers in a given rectangular or rectilinear region which may contain blockages and interior terminals in addition to terminals on the boundary. It uses a set of templates to perform routing and incorporates several novel features that address sea-of-gates routing issues. The router is very fast, memory efficient and yields excellent results.<<ETX>>


UNLABELLED
The primary tumour site is the most common origin in relapses of soft-tissue sarcomas (75%). Therefore, prevention of a relapse depends mainly on local tumour control in the primary therapeutic regimen. There are three modalities of treating children with sarcomas: surgical removal, radiation therapy and systemic chemotherapy. The aim is to reach a complete removal of the primary tumour and to preserve all vital and functionally useful structures. Under this aspect we evaluated the results of 22 patients, treated for soft-tissue sarcoma at the University Children's Hospital, Zurich, between 1989 and 1995. The age of the patients ranged between 3 and 16 years. The tumours of 11 patients were primarily resected, but in 9 patients the removal was incomplete (7 microscopically, Z macroscopically). Only 2 patients had a complete primary removal of their tumours, both being paratesticular sarcomas. In 11 patients an incisional biopsy was performed. Two of these patients had stage IV initially. Two tumours were removed completely in a second operation. Six patients did not need any further resections because of a very good response to chemotherapy. In 1 patient with unresectable tumour it was possible to remove the tumour almost completely after primary chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS
Our experience with primary chemotherapy in soft tissue sarcomas showed the following advantages: 1. The low morbidity after biopsy allows a rapid beginning of the treatment. 2. In case of a very good response to chemotherapy it is possible to avoid a second operation. 3. The information of a poor response to chemotherapy makes the decision for an extensive surgery easier. 4. The possibility of a delayed, but complete removal of a primarily unresectable tumour will be more likely after chemotherapy. 5. Only a small group of tumours should be considered for removal during a primary surgical procedure.


The present study links three essential elements for building an academic corps in animal production, with the only idea of supporting a better quality of education, through the cell cord, which are the Academic Corps in Higher Education Institutions. In this context, the desired profile, academic commitment and shared success, make up the triad, which activate the pragmatic mechanism in scientific and technological culture of the agricultural sector, generating the only principle to systematize and innovate the facts, doctrines, skills and cognitive techniques to transfer elements of the current student corps effective manner.


Epithelioid sarcoma is an uncommon soft tissue tumor of the hand characterized by high frequency misdiagnosis and high potential for local recurrence and regional lymph node metastasis. The recommended treatment is wide excision, which leaves complex tissue defects with tendon or neurovascular structure exposure requiring coverage. We present two patients who had tumor excision followed by wound coverage with dermal regeneration template and split-thickness skin graft. Integra® template represents a different approach, which provides a safe, reliable and effective means of soft tissue coverage of the hand.


For 20 years, a large part of ionospheric research has been devoted to high latitudes and in particular to the range 60–70° where an oval of auroras permanently encircles each pole. The auroral light emissions are accompanied by the production of ionization, electric currents and fields. Indeed, the auroral latitudes play a dominant role in the ionospheric electrodynamics because electric fields and currents reach thus at their largest intensities. Observations from low-altitude satellites and from ground-based facilities have contributed to the analysis and modelling of the structure and dynamics of the auroral ionosphere. The results illustrated here are inferred from observations of the European Japanese incoherent scatter radars (EISCAT) based in North Scandinavia. Recently, the field of view of the EISCAT facilities has been extended toward the pole with two radars built in 1996 and 2000 at Spitzbergen (78°N): the EISCAT Svalbard radars. Other ground-based instruments (magnetometers, photometers, etc) have also been deployed at the same location. At first sight, the ionization production in the polar ionosphere is expected to be weak because of the reduced solar illumination. The first observations reveal, in contrast, the presence of intense and variable structures, which are still under investigation. To develop our understanding of these events, we discuss the theoretical results given by the particle penetration from solar origin, and of its effects into the dayside polar ionosphere.


Water-resources data for Colorado for the 1992 water year consist of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage, contents, and water quality of lakes and reservoirs; and water levels and water quality of wells and springs. The report (Volume 1) contains discharge records for 304 gaging stations, stage and contents of 26 lakes and reservoirs, 1 partial-record low-flow station, peak flow information for 47 crest-stage partial record stations, and 1 miscellaneous site; water quality for 89 gaging stations, 169 miscellaneous sites, and for 14 observation wells. Nine pertinent stations operated by bordering states also are included in the report.


Today, participating in discussions on online forums is extremely commonplace and these discussions have started rendering a strong influence on the overall opinion of online users. Naturally, twisting the flow of the argument can have a strong impact on the minds of naive users, which in the long run might have socio-political ramifications, for example, winning an election or spreading targeted misinformation. Thus, these platforms are potentially highly vulnerable to malicious players who might act individually or as a cohort to breed fallacious arguments with a motive to sway public opinion. Ad hominem arguments are one of the most effective forms of such fallacies. Although a simple fallacy, it is effective enough to sway public debates in offline world and can be used as a precursor to shutting down the voice of opposition by slander.
In this work, we take a first step in shedding light on the usage of ad hominem fallacies in the wild. First, we build a powerful ad hominem detector based on transformer architecture with high accuracy (F1 more than 83%, showing a significant improvement over prior work), even for datasets for which annotated instances constitute a very small fraction. We then used our detector on 265k arguments collected from the online debate forum – CreateDebate. Our crowdsourced surveys validate our in-the-wild predictions on CreateDebate data (94% match with manual annotation). Our analysis revealed that a surprising 31.23% of CreateDebate content contains ad hominem fallacy, and a cohort of highly active users post significantly more ad hominem to suppress opposing views. Then, our temporal analysis revealed that ad hominem argument usage increased significantly since the 2016 US Presidential election, not only for topics like Politics, but also for Science and Law. We conclude by discussing important implications of our work to detect and defend against ad hominem fallacies.


Sequences that can be assumed to have been generated by a number of Markov models, whose outputs are randomly interleaved but where the actual sources are hidden, occur in a number of practical situations where data is captured as an unlabeled stream of events. We present a practical method for estimating model parameters on large data sets under the assumption that all sources are identical. Results on representative examples are presented, together with a discussion on the accuracy and performance of the proposed estimation algorithms. Finally, we describe a real-world case study where we apply the technique to the sequence of events recorded in the technical support database of an IT vendor.


In California's mixed-conifer forest, which historically had a regime of frequent fires, two conifers, Sequoiadendron giganteum and Pseudotsuga menziesii, were previously known to produce epicormic sprouts from branches. We found epicormic branching in a third mixed-conifer species, Abies concolor, 3 and 4 years after a wildfire in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Sprouting occurred only from the boles. We investigated (1) whether the degree of crown loss and the extent of epicormic branching were independent; and (2) whether epicormic branching differed by tree size. The vertical extent of epicormic foliage increased with increasing severity of crown loss. There was a significantly greater proportion of large diameter-class (>50 cm diameter at breast height (dbh)) trees with epicormic branching than small/medium diameter-class (25-50 cm dbh) trees. These results suggest large diameter Abies concolor may survive high levels of crown loss, aided by crown replacement through epicormic branching, but that reiterative green foliage may not appear for up to 3 years after fire damage. If this response is widespread, it would suggest some 'dying' trees logged under current salvage guidelines could survive, and that higher-intensity fire may substantially reduce the density of small post-fire suppression white fir, while retaining many larger overstory trees.


As the Web evolves into an ecological platform of information, people, and technologies, its usage paradigm has gradually shifted so that the importance of its participative role is observed. Users contribute by uploading multimedia content, writing wiki pages, and posting blog articles. As the effect of user participation (the word-of-mouth effect) in the Internet becomes a factor influencing firms' success, firms search for ways to utilize blogs, social networks, and other Internet resources. To actively make use of the online word-of-mouth effect, firms must structure preference-based customer networks so that local interaction happens among closely related customers and effective propagation of ideas or diffusion of products can be achieved. In this paper, we propose a recommendation technique utilizing the fast diffusion and information sharing capability of a large customer network. The proposed method [described as the customer-driven recommender system (CRS)] follows the collaborative filtering (CF) principle but performs distributed and local searches for similar neighbors over a customer network in order to generate a recommendation list. In order to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method, we build customer networks for the recommendation of digital content and tangible products from two real data sets and compare the proposed method against the traditional system based on CF. Experimental results show that the local search mechanism of the CRS is computationally more efficient than but equally as accurate as the global search mechanism of the traditional recommender system.


Purpose

Exploring the ways in which innovation can serve to create better and more integrated social, environmental, and economic enterprises is a key challenge. How firms innovate and change depends strongly on their management models. Permaculture concepts and principles could help the transition toward more sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to understand how management models could rely on Permaculture principles to facilitate innovations and changes toward sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper helps meet this challenge by exploring possible innovative management models that could help in pursuing sustainability by aligning enterprises with socio-ecological realities. The possible innovative management models built on the Permaculture concepts will be the object of analysis for this study.

Findings

The literature review shows that there could be innovative management models built on the Permaculture concepts, a potential alternative to western "traditional" management models. They would give preference to long-term objectives, intrinsic motivation, emergent coordination, and collective wisdom in decision making.

Originality/value

It is strategically important to find new concepts, models, methods, and practices that will lead society to be ecologically sustainable and socially responsible, besides being economically efficient. These socio-cultural and economic challenges are central to the design and construction of a society in which all individuals feel integrated and responsible.


Chronic airway infection and inflammation are the hallmarks of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. As these events occur early in life, it is critical to develop techniques for the assessment and monitoring of early-CF lung disease in infants and young children. In the last several years, there have been major advances in the development of imaging technology to assess structural damage in CF lung disease, noninvasive markers of CF airway inflammation and measurement of lung function in infants and young children with CF. In this article, we will review these advances and techniques, and discuss future directions for research and clinical applications.


We aimed to explore whether plasma-free amino acids are modified in response to terpenes administration in healthy humans. In this open-label, single-arm acute trial, seventeen healthy male volunteers were administered with a naturally occurring product of known terpenes—namely mastiha—after overnight fasting. Blood samples were collected at different time points before and after ingestion. We aimed at identifying and quantifying 60 free amino acids in plasma applying Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. A total of 24 free amino acids were quantified. Branched-chain valine significantly decreased 4 h post-ingestion, whereas proline decreased at 6 h and ornithine at 2 h, compared to 0 h. These novel findings demonstrate that free amino acids levels are modulated in response to terpenes intake in healthy subjects.


Motion estimation can reduce temporal redundancy and achieve high compression capability in video coding standards. In H.264, the coding gain is further improved by variable block-size motion estimation (VBSME). In order to reduce the complexity, many fast algorithms have been proposed. Though previous works can reduce a large amount of computation, most of them are not suitable for hardware implementation and not robust for complex motion videos. A content-adaptive fast algorithm for variable block-size integer motion estimation (VBSIME) is proposed in this paper. Motion activity is exploited to improve the coding efficiency. Because of the good data reuse scheme and simple control flow, the proposed algorithm is applicable to hardware implementation. According to the simulation results, about 98% searching candidates and 86% encoding time are reduced with at most 0.05 dB quality drop in average compared with full search even for complex motion videos.


In spite of high-profile theoretical capacity, the practical application of SnO2 or Sn anode materials for lithium-ion batteries is severely impeded by poor electric conductivity and structural instability. Herein, a hybrid structure of SnO2/Sn sandwiched between TiO2 and carbon with rich porosity, good electric conductivity and stable structure, denoted as TiO2@SnOx@C, is fabricated based on the complementary merits of SnO2, TiO2 and carbon anode materials. The TiO2@SnOx@C exhibits a good electrochemical performance when used as anode material for lithium-ion battery, delivering a capacity of 629 mA h g−1 at 200 mA g−1 after 300 cycles. Moreover, a reversible capacity of 490.3 mA h g−1 is obtained at 1000 mA g−1 even after 1000 cycles and is much higher than theoretical capacity of graphite (372 mA h g−1). The effectively complementary and synergic effect among structural stability of TiO2, high theoretical capacity of SnOx, and good conductive and flexible ability of carbon should be responsible for the superior electrochemical performance of TiO2@SnOx@C.


We examined the data of 24 patients with Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) over a 5-year follow-up period. Proteinuria, sediment RBC and CRP significantly decreased between the time of diagnosis and the end of the 5-year period. In the steroid usage group (n = 16), proteinuria was significantly higher, and crescent formation was significant higher at the time of diagnosis than in the non-steroid usage group (n = 8). However, there was no significant difference in the decrease in eGFR from the baseline at the end of the 5-year period between the two groups. Furthermore, to clarify the factors influencing the risk of renal function deterioration, we divided the patients into two groups, the (delta eGFR/pre eGFR) <0.25 group (n = 13) and (delta eGFR/pre eGFR) >0.25 group (n = 11), and compared the clinico-pathophysiological characteristics between the two groups. In the (delta eGFR/pre eGFR) >0.25 group, the ratio of glomerular obsolescence at the time of diagnosis was significantly higher than in the (delta eGFR/pre eGFR) <0.25 group. Glomerular obsolescence was identified as an independent risk factor for renal function deterioration. In this study, the prognosis of HSPN was related to glomerular obsolescence rather than to the disease activity. It may be necessary to consider the decrease in nephrons, in accordance with non-immunological glomerular obsolescence, in addition to immunological treatment to clarify the prognosis.


In this poster we present the results of a survey conducted among university students and recent graduates concerning their use of the Internet when making decisions. The preliminary results of our work suggest a relationship exists between our respondents' decision-making satisfaction and their use of social networking technology (primarily to confer with family and friends) during the decision-making process.


The Tagging/Retagging model of short term memory was introduced earlier (1) to explain the linear relationship that exists between response time and correct response probability for word recall and recognition: At the initial stimulus presentation words tag the corresponding long term memory locations. The tagging process is linear in time and takes about one second to reach a tagging level of 100%. After stimulus presentation the tagging level decays logarithmically with time to 50% after 14 seconds and to 20% after 220 seconds. If a probe word is reintroduced the tagging level has to go back to 100% for the word to be properly identified, which leads to a delay in response time. This delay is proportional to the tagging loss which is in turn directly related to the decrease in probability of correct word recall and recognition.
Evidence suggests that the tagging level is the level of depletion of the Readily Releasable Pool (RRP) of neurotransmitter vesicles at presynaptic terminals. The evidence includes the initial linear relationship between tagging level and time as well as the subsequent logarithmic decay of the tagging level. The activation of a short term memory may thus be the depletion of RRP (exocytosis) and short term memory decay may be the ensuing recycling of the neurotransmitter vesicles (endocytosis).


Method for dewatering a mixture of mostly ethanol and water which is split into a first partial feed flow (3) that is directed to a distillation column (32) as a reflux flow while a second partial feed flow (4) is directed to an evaporator unit (31) as an evaporator inlet flow and leaves the top of the evaporator unit as an evaporator outlet flow (6). A top discharge flow (7) from distillation column (32) is returned and combined with the evaporator outlet flow (6) to a combined flow (8) at an overpressure and which in a compressor unit (33) is compressed to a combined, compressed flow (10) which enters a dewatering unit (34) in which it is split into a water-rich permeate flow (14) and a retentate flow (11) in the form of substantially water free ethanol. The permeate flow (14) is condensed in a condenser (39) at an underpressure whereafter permeate flow (15) is pressurized by a pump (42) to a flow (16) which is fed to distillation column (32), which is supplied with external thermal energy by a heat exchanger (36), and there split into a water rich bottom discharge flow (18) and an ethanol-rich top discharge flow (7). The retentate flow (11) is used an energy source in a retentate heat exchanger (37) of evaporator unit (31) before leaving as a product flow (12).


Flexicurity is at the heart of European policy debates. Its aim is to overcome the tensions between labour market flexibility on the one hand, and the provision of social security for workers on the other hand. To date, there is little insight into whether flexicurity policies have been adopted across the European Union. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyse to what extent labour market policies have been reformed along the lines of the flexicurity concept across 18 European countries over the period 1985-2008. Focusing on the main axes of the flexicurity concept, new datasets are used to examine changes in employment protection legislation, unemployment benefits and active labour market policies. Data on the strictness of employment regulation indicate that reforms have been influenced by labour market insiders, since the level of flexibility has been increased more for temporary employment, the labour market outsiders, than for regular employment, the insiders. Although gross unemployment replacement rates suggest that unemployment benefits have become more generous, net replacement rates indicate that the level of income security from benefits actually has been decreased. Moreover, data illustrate that larger shares of European labour forces have temporary contracts. As such, the gap between insiders and outsiders on the labour market has been increased. This development is contrary to the goals of the European Commission.


Across every area of our culture, the distinction between influential people and those below them is normal. There are figures of authority who conduct duties every day for us, and yet we are also lazy. In this paper, participants face the same order but of two distinct individuals-figures of authority or ordinary citizens-to test the difference in responses. The responses when the authority figure is specific are also checked. We seek to get the common public to address figures of authority in the Indian sense. Individuals appear to be more likely, without any proof or test, to obey certain rules and submit to certain individuals. This paper will bring out the biases and change in behavior of people, when encountered with authority figures, but of different genders.


Rhazya stricta is a small glabrous shrub, widely distributed throughout Western Asia from Yemen to Arabia, to the North West Province of India and abundantly found in various regions of Pakistan. Larvicidal and antifungal studies of polar and non polar aerial parts extracts of Rhazya stricta were performed using brine shrimps larvae for larvicidal study and for antifungal study microorganisms, Trichophyton longifusis, Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans, Microsporum canis and Fusarium solani were used respectively. The methanol fraction showed significant cytotoxicity with LC50 17.809 microg/ml, having mortality rate 73.33% at highest dose. While pet-ether, chloroform and carbon tetrachloride possessed moderate to low cytotoxicity with their LC50 values 49.077 microg/ml, 95.859 microg/ml and 80.489 microg/ml respectively, ethyl acetate fraction showed no cytotoxicity. Results of antifungal studies showed that fractionated samples of methanol and chloroform possessed significant antifungal activities against, Trichophyton longifusis, Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans and Fusarium solani respectively. Due to these promising results, further in vivo studies over R. stricta must be conducted.


To be the recipient of the E. E. Just Award for 2014 is one of my greatest honors, as this is a truly rarefied group. In this essay, I try to trace my path to becoming a scientist to illustrate that multiple paths can lead to science. I also highlight that I did not build my career alone. Rather, I had help from many and have tried to pay it forward. Finally, as the country marches toward a minority majority, I echo the comments of previous E. E. Just Award recipients on the state of underrepresented minorities in science.


Sickle cell disease is an inherited autosomal recessive disorder of the β-globin chain. In Palestine it is accompanied by a low level of Hb F (mean 5.14%) and a severe clinical presentation. In this study, 59 Palestinian patients, homozygotes for Hb S were studied for their haplotype background. Eight polymorphic sites in the β-globin gene cluster were examined. The Benin haplotype was predominant with a frequency of 88.1%, followed by a frequency of 5.1% for the Bantu haplotype. One chromosome was found to carry the Cameroon haplotype (0.85%). Three atypical haplotypes were also found (5.95%). Heterogeneity was observed in Hb F production, ranging between 1.5 and 17.0%, whereas the Gγ ratio was homogeneous among all haplotypes with a normal amount of about 41%. Our results are in agreement with previous reports of the Benin haplotype origin in the Mediterranean.


Progress in automation and information technologies has meant that industrialized economies have experienced a significant drop in the fraction of their population employed in middle wage, "routine task intensive" occupations. Applying machine learning techniques, we identify the types of individuals who would otherwise, if not for technological progress, be employed in such occupations and track their labor market outcomes. Based on these findings, we develop a quantitative, heterogeneous agent, general equilibrium model of labor force participation, occupational choice, and capital investment to study the aggregate and distributional effects of advances in automation. We use this framework as a laboratory to evaluate various public policies aimed at addressing the disappearance of routine employment and its consequent impacts on inequality.


This study investigates how advertising recognition influences consumer responses to a native advertisement about proactive or reactive corporate social responsibility (CSR). The results indicate that participants expressed more favorable attitudes and greater word-of-mouth intention toward a native advertisement of proactive CSR than one of reactive CSR only when they did not recognize the persuasion purpose of the native advertisement. This study also confirms perceived manipulativeness as the underlying mechanism of advertising recognition, and values-driven motivation as the underlying mechanism of CSR type in the context of native advertising.


During the COV-19 pandemic, some special populations - groups of early childhood and people with autism, among others - faced more profound challenges than the common people. The lack of real physical contact such as embracing greatly affected the effectiveness of development, psychiatric treatment and other processes for these populations. This study aims to develop clothing with appropriate contact pressure based on the contact comfort principle of psychology, provide a type of pressure clothing that can relieve the wearer's tension by simulating hugging, alleviating the lack of physical contact for early childhood education and special education groups during the pandemic. First, the elementary requirements of clothing design are attained using a questionnaire survey and test method. The analysis revealed that clothing should fulfil the four requirements of pressure comfort, fabric softness, wearing and taking off comfort, and visual beauty. Second, we realized the performance requirements in the fabric and accessories, style design, structure design, and functional design. Finally, the product experience is proposed through a fitting, and the reasonable opinions were fed back to the product design to enhance the functionality of clothing. The research shows that clothing can simulate hugging and can ease the loneliness of the wearer. This study can be used as a good tool to assist during the pandemic for early childhood education and special psychological symptom groups, as well as a broader group of people living alone at home, to play an adjunctive treatment and loneliness relief functions.


BACKGROUND
Riboflavin, flavin mononucleotide (FMN), and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) concentrations have been little studied in cases of malnutrition.

OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to investigate the effects of malnutrition on riboflavin status and riboflavin's relation with thyroid hormones and concentrations of urinary organic acids.

DESIGN
Malnourished children from the savannah in Benin (group S, n = 30) and the coast in Togo (group C, n = 30), as well as 24 control subjects from both regions, were studied. Blood riboflavin, FMN, and FAD were analyzed by HPLC; urinary organic acids were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

RESULTS
Children in group S were more severely malnourished than children in group C. Triiodothyronine concentrations were lower in group S than in group C or the control group (1.12 +/- 0.24 compared with 1.74 +/- 0.18 and 2.92 +/- 0.19 nmol/L, respectively; P < 0.0001). Plasma riboflavin concentrations in group S were higher than those in group C or the control group (66.90 +/- 12.75 compared with 28.09 +/- 9.12 and 20.08 +/- 3.03 nmol/L, respectively; P < 0.001). Plasma FAD concentrations in group S were lower than those in group C or the control group (31.57 +/- 10.19 compared with 59.02 +/- 5.60 and 65.35 +/- 5.23 nmol/L, respectively; P < 0.0001). Dicarboxylic aciduria was higher in group C than in group S or the control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS
Children in group S had low triiodothyronine concentrations and low conversion of plasma riboflavin into its cofactors, leading to a plasma FAD deficiency. Plasma FAD was not correlated with urinary dicarboxylic acid concentrations.


The emerging infectious diseases have created one of the major practical needs to develop active packaging materials with durable antibacterial and antiviral properties for the food industry. To meet this demand, the development of new technologies applicable to food contact surfaces is highly desired but challenging. The recent discovery of the photoactive properties of vitamin K (VK) derivatives has raised great expectations as promising candidates in functional film development due to the generation of biocidal reactive oxygen species (ROS) by these compounds. Inspired by the excellent photoactivity of one of the light-stable VK derivatives, menadione (VK3), under visible daylight irradiation, we demonstrate a protocol for the fabrication of daylight-mediated biocidal packaging materials by incorporating VK3 into a poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) matrix. The VK3 (i.e., 1-5% w/w) incorporated EVA films successfully demonstrated the production of ROS and antibacterial and antiviral performance against Escherichia coli, Listeria innocua, and T7 bacteriophage, respectively, under daylight exposure conditions. The results revealed that the addition of a proper percentage of VK3 significantly enhanced the ROS productivity of the films and created a novel daylight-induced microbial killing performance on the films. The biocidal functions of the films are long-lasting and rechargeable when exposed to light repeatedly, making them a viable contender for replacing currently available conventional packaging films.


Background: Teaching methods of the undergraduate medical curriculum change considerably from the first years to clinical training. Clinical learning occurs in complex and varied scenarios while caring for patients. Students have to adapt their learning approaches and strategies to be able to integrate theory and clinical practice and become experiential learners. Aim: To identify the strategies used by medical students to learn during the initial clinical years, as reported by students themselves and by their clinical tutors. Material and methods: We performed eight focus group discussions with 54 students enrolled in years three to six and we interviewed eight clinical tutors. Both focus group discussions and interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to Grounded Theory. Results: Four main themes were identified in the discourse of both students and tutors: Strategies oriented to theoretical learning, strategies oriented to experiential learning, strategies for integrating theory and practice and strategies oriented to evaluation. The mentioning of individual differences was present across the reports of both students and tutors. Conclusions: Students use a rich variety of strategies to face the challenges of clinical learning. Both students and tutors recognize that the learning approaches and strategies vary according the nature of the task and individual differences. The responses of students bring particular knowledge of the approaches used for the theoretical and practical integration and delve into the social dimension of learning.