Trafficking and signaling processes involve common molecular components. The machinery that controls intracellular trafficking is vital in ensuring that signaling mechanisms take place correctly. An illustrative example of this relationship is the sustained signaling of endocytosed membrane receptors, such as receptor Tyr kinases and G-protein coupled receptors, after ligand-induced activation. An intriguing role in controlling the fate of these and other receptors at the endosome has been attributed to members of the sorting nexin protein family. The best characterized sorting nexins are subunits of a multimeric complex, termed retromer. It was first found in yeast that retromer mediates endosome-to-Golgi retrieval of receptors after they have delivered soluble hydrolase precursors into the vacuole, the organelle equivalent to the mammalian lysosome. Work in cultured mammalian cells later demonstrated that retromer performs an analogous function in higher eukaryotes. Data from genetically modified mice, and from a simpler organism such as the nematode Caenorhabtidis elegans, has revealed that retromer performs an essential role during embryogenesis. This review will discuss implications of recent work on this subject.


The determination of the steady-state sinusoidal response of nonlinear circuits has been described. The circuits analysed have a single nonlinear, bilateral, inductive element. A gradient technique has been used to determine the initial state of the circuit. Integration of the state equations from this initial state over successive time steps gives the steady-state response. The magnetisation current of a small transformer has been calculated using this technique and it agrees well with the measured magnetising current.


Sonneratia alba is a type of mangrove in Indonesia. Various studies of phytochemicals on Son-neratia alba suggests that this herb is very potential as anti-fungal and larvasida, especially in the skin of the stem. However, it is still a few study on the utilization of shell fruit Sonneratia alba. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct phytochemicals study on S. alba fruit petals that can be useful as a larvasida. The process of this research is in the form of extraction of Sonneratia alba fruit shell by using meceration ethanol method. The maceration results are then tested in order to know the content of phytochemical active compounds of S. Alba furit shell, and then were tested as larvacide to Aedes aegypti instar II/IV with concentration of 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 ppm. Based on the results of the maceration, fruit petals extracts of S. alba on solvents of ethanol amounted to 7,74%. The results of the phytochemicals shos that the ethanol solvent contained flavonoid compounds and carbohydrates. The test results as larvacide show that the extract of ethanol petals fruit S. alba at concentrations of 500 ppm has average larva death as much as 23,3%, 1000 ppm concentration has 26,7%, 2000 ppm concentration has 37,7%, 3000 ppm concentration has 50% and 4000 ppm concentration has 63,3%. Thus, ethanol extract fruit shell of Sonneratia alba are effective in killing Aedes aegypti larvae in the concentration of 3000 and 4000 ppm.


The method of moments is applied to the computation of the charge distributions and capacitance matrix for electrostatic systems of bare and dielectric-coated cylindrical wires. Several choices of expansion functions are investigated in detail and compared. Harmonic series expansion functions are shown to be especially well suited to problems involving systems of closely-spaced dielectric-coated cylindrical wires.


Advances in computing and networking are generating a significant demand for video-on-demand (VOD) applications. In this paper, the condition for minimum blocking probability of a VOD system is derived. The optimal load-sharing requirement in such a system is found so that the minimum blocking probability is achieved. A combination of genetic algorithm and modified bin-packing algorithm is then developed for the multimedia file placement exercise. It is demonstrated that a specified blocking probability can be achieved while the capacity usage is minimized simultaneously.


Studies that compare recidivism rates between parolees and unconditionally released inmates typically attach these statuses upon release, and then follow these groups until they either fail or meet the censor date. However, this method of identifying former inmates as parolees does not comport with how parolees are conceptualized by the agencies that supervise them. Parole boards identify parolees as released inmates whom they actively supervise. This study explores the relative impact of this strategy of attaching the parole status compared with the traditional strategy used throughout the recidivism literature. I use 3 years of postrelease data from all prisoners released from 2005 to 2007 in a highly populated state on the East Coast (N = 29,299). My findings indicate that after 3 years, parolees are predicted to recidivate at a 1% lower rate compared with unconditionally released inmates when the time of active supervision is not considered. However, parolees who are assigned supervision terms of at least 3 years evidence a predicted 8% lower recidivism rate when compared with unconditionally released inmates. These findings demonstrate that parole boards can be successful at isolating those under their active supervision from reengaging in criminal activities when compared with those who are not supervised post-release, but that parole does not have long-lasting rehabilitative effects. This lack of long-term impact is likely associated with a parole board's focus on offenses that occur solely during the course of active supervision that may create incentive to manage cases in such a way that undermines the pursuit of long-term rehabilitative goals in favor of working toward short-term successful discharges.


Malarial retinopathy is a set of retinal signs in severe malaria due to falciparum malaria. With increased recognition of severe manifestations of vivax malaria, a systematic study to evaluate retinal changes in vivax malaria could elaborate our knowledge about this neglected entity. This observational study included retinal examination of 104 adult patients (>14 years) with varying severity of vivax malaria admitted to a tertiary care center during peak seasons of 2012 and 2013. Thirty-eight percent of severe cases had a retinal sign as compared to 6% of non-severe cases (p < 0.01). No statistically significant effect of residence or age on the presence of retinopathy was noted. Females were found to be more prone to develop a retinal sign (p < 0.01). Presence of retinal signs was significantly associated with anemia and jaundice. No statistical association was noted for retinal signs to be present in either renal dysfunction or altered thrombocytes count. The most common signs were arteriovenous changes, present in eight cases (19%) of severe malaria and three cases (5%) of non-severe malaria. Retinal hemorrhage was present in five cases (12%) of severe malaria and no case of non-severe malaria. Both superficial and deep hemorrhages were seen including white-centered hemorrhages. Other signs included cotton wool spots, hard exudates, blurred disk margins with spontaneous venous pulsations and bilateral disk edema. A correlation between retinal signs and severity parameters was drawn from the study. This is the first systemic study to evaluate the retinal changes in vivax malaria. Larger prospective studies should be done for further knowledge regarding retinal changes in vivax malaria, especially severe disease. Apart from its clinical significance, it might lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of the systemic disease of vivax malaria.


As part of a study of human organ O2 tolerance, lung flow-volume and spirometric measurements were performed repeatedly before, during, and after continuous O2 exposures at 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 ATA for average durations of 17.7, 9.0, and 5.7 h, respectively (effects of O2 breathing at 3.0 ATA for 3.5 h were reported previously; J. M. Clark, R. M. Jackson, C. J. Lambertsen, R. Gelfand, W. D. B. Hiller, and M. Unger. J. Appl. Physiol. 71: 878-885, 1991). Additional measurements of pulmonary mechanical function, gas exchange, and alveolar inflammatory cells were obtained before and after O2 exposure. Rates of pulmonary symptom development and lung volume reduction increased progressively with elevation of O2 pressure. Average rates of vital capacity reduction over a useful range of O2 pressures provided a valuable general description of pulmonary O2 tolerance in humans. However, the existence of multiple pulmonary effects of O2 toxicity and the complexity of their interactions require awareness that deviations from the average relationships may occur in different individuals or under varying conditions of O2 exposure and subsequent recovery. The associated pulmonary function deficits may represent responses to a composite of direct and indirect effects of O2 poisoning, along with related consequences and subsequent reactions to those effects.


Background: Perioperative treatment is standard of care in Western Europe for locally advanced gastroesophageal cancer (GEC) [gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma]. Predictive markers for toxicity and efficacy prior to start with chemotherapy are desirable, particularly when applying a prolonged neoadjuvant treatment. Here we analyse the impact of previously published SNPs involved in drug metabolism and DNA repair.
 Methods: Genomic DNA was isolated from 48 tumor samples of patients treated within the NeoFLOT-study. In this trial, FLOT (5-FU, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, docetaxel) was administered every two weeks for 6 cycles chemotherapy prior to surgery. Direct DNA sequencing was carried out for rs25487 [Excision Repair Cross-Complementation Group 1 (XRCC1)], rs1805087 [5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase (MTR)], rs11615 and rs3212986 (both ERCC1), rs1799793 and rs13181 (both ERCC2), rs1801019 [Orotate Phosphoribosyl Transferase (OPRT)] and rs16430del [thymidylate synthase: 6-bp-deletion in the in the 3' untranslated regulatory region (TS3utrdel)]. Furthermore, thymidylate synthase: 28-bp-tandem repeats in the 5' untranslated region (TS5utr tandem repeat) polymorphism was analysed by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLA). Toxicity was stated according to NCI-CTC version 4.0. For efficacy analysis overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were used.
 Results: ERCC2 rs1799793 was significantly associated with thrombocytopenia ≥ grade 3 (P=0.04) and overall hematotoxicity ≥ grade 3 (P=0.04) while rs13181 was significantly associated with leukopenia ≥ grade 3 (P=0.03). Rs11615 of ERCC1 had a predictive value for leukopenia (P=0.04) and thrombocytopenia (P=0.008). Rs1805087 of MTR and TS5utr tandem repeat polymorphism were both associated with anemia (P=0.04 and 0.04, respectively). Concerning non-hematological toxicity, rs1805087 of MTR was associated with diarrhea (P=0.004). Regarding treatment efficacy, patients harbouring the minor allele of C of OPRT rs1801019 obtained a higher ORR and showed a better but statically non-significant prolonged PFS and OS while rs3212986 of ERCC1 was associated with pCR rate (P=0.006).
 Conclusions: For single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) of ERCC1/2, MTR and TS tandem repeat we could demonstrate the predictive value for toxicity of FLOT in GEC. Furthermore, OPRT rs1801019 might be useful to predict response for neoadjuvant treatment.


Cutaneous osteoma (CO) is a rare entity with only scattered cases reported in the literature. Cutaneous ossifications are divided into primary and secondary CO. Secondary CO accounts for 85% of cutaneous ossifications and develops within preexisting neoplastic or inflammatory skin lesions. Primary CO accounts for about 15% of cutaneous ossifications and develops on its own. A 7-month-old child, born as second trigeminus by cesarean section after IVF pregnancy, presented with incidental finding of multiple firm, nontender, subcutaneous pale-brownish papules scattered on the skin of the lower abdomen, arms and legs, measuring up to 7 mm. Changes were unremarkable in neonatal period. Changes became visible by the end of the fourth month of life. History specified no trauma, inflammatory changes, nevi, dermatologic or other significant medical conditions. Family history for CO or other associated diseases was negative. First punch biopsy (3 mm) obtained from the lower abdomen showed unremarkable epidermis but the dermis underneath showed well circumscribed spicules of mature lamellar bone entrapped mature adipose tissue without hematopoietic elements. Pathologist indicated CO. One month later, second 2-mm punch biopsy obtained from the left lower extremity confirmed CO indicated in first biopsy. Laboratory revealed elevated thyrotropin (TSH) up to 8.79 mIU/L (reference range: 0.4-4.0 mIU/L) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) up to 88 pg/mL (reference range: 15-65 pg/ mL). Other tests regarding thyroid hormone, calcium and phosphorous levels were unremarkable. Final pathology report of CO found in biopsies suggested three possibilities: Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO), Gardner syndrome and progressive osseous heteroplasia. CO as primary form can occur de novo in the form of multiple miliary osteomas, widespread osteoma or plaque-like presenting as a single lesion, both found in neonatal period. All previously mentioned osteoma changes have a good prognosis. Unlike previously mentioned states with CO, AHOpsuedohypoparathyroidism type 1a has poor long term prognosis, where besides CO it manifests with obesity, developmental disability, short stature, round face and ganglia calcification. In our case, laboratory findings supported by histology suggested the AHO syndrome, although the phenotype-associated symptoms of disease were not present yet in infancy. Further follow up is needed. The initially mild cutaneous manifestations may herald a more progressive ossification disorder, as it could be associated with multiple endocrine hormone resistance enhanced with neurobehavioral and developmental problems. Treatment of the present underlying disease is the first step. If the patient is symptomatic, surgical excision including punch excisions is currently the treatment of choice for CO.


With or without cameras on, my students always feel out of reach to me. There is a screen--and a few boroughs, in some cases even states or countries--between us. I can't tell how they're feeling; I can't watch their faces or their hands as they work on a piece for our writing class. The whole enterprise has started to feel epistolary. I am never sure if my recipient is going to respond, or if they've even received what I've sent them. I leave comments that may or may not be read. I send emails that sit in student inboxes, stacked between hundreds of others. In Zoom class, every question I ask feels like a million questions, and a gamble: Will you respond aloud, or will I see a response pop up in the chat? Do you need time to think? Is your internet slow? Are you there?


The aim of this study was to determine the cognitive processes of adult literacy acquisition. We assessed the progress of 59 women participating in an intensive adult literacy program that we have developed in Turkey. After only 90 hr of instruction, there were significant improvements in letter and word recognition, phonological awareness, and spelling levels. Word recognition and spelling were predicted by phonological awareness. The results were consistent with studies on children's literacy acquisition, which show the critical nature of phonological awareness in literacy acquisition.


Due to the lockdown and remote working practices, academic universities around the world have been forced to adopt new technology. Online courses and exams enabled the use of new applications. During the pandemic, innovative technological adoption became faster, overriding the usual diffusion time lag. The transition was so fast that it presented a slew of new challenges to India's academic communities. An open-ended online survey was used to gather data from faculty members, students, and non-teaching staff at higher educational institutions. Several concepts about transitional challenges emerged from the qualitative data analysis. The results revealed the significant commitment needed to implement modern online technologies, the lack of necessary resources, and the obstacles that participants' home environments presented for teaching and learning. There were also questions about the effectiveness of online learning as well as anxiety and stress could cause. Participants' suggestions unraveled the importance of flexibility and change needed for the appraisal and evaluation methods employed in higher education. The results expanded the notion of the rate of adoption under the diffusion of innovation theory. The study results shed light on how academic institutions could create successful technology adoption procedures for remote learning policies.


Fisheries models are generally built to assess the dynamics of a resource with a given fishing mortality which level can be decided by some "decision maker" and/or which can be an observed process, e.g. times series proportional to some observed values of fishing effort. In these cases, the resource dynamics is represented "conditionally to" fishing mortality. This mortality must be therefore primarily defined in reference to the definition of the resource Such models can be used to make stock assessment from historical data and to find which fishing mortality values could lead to some objective that can be some optimal or acceptable situation. If the values of fishing mortality can be decided by some unique institution, this knowledge of "best or acceptable mortality values" is of great interest for decision support. If not, it becomes insufficient to identify which decision of which institution could lead to obtain some given set of fishing mortalities. This situation may arise if there is a high number of fishing units belonging to various fishing fleets that may decide to generate fishing mortalities distributions among several available possibilities, according to their own interest. Examples of such problems will be presented from a Senegalese case study where several fishing fleets harvest on a common multispecies resource. Some other examples will be given from case studies identified in the context of the program ECOST with the development of a generic model which represents the joint dynamics of fishing activity and resource.


Each year Australian fire and land management agencies deploy Incident Management Teams (IMTs) to manage bushfires. An important question is: what are the key competencies required for IMT personnel? Recent research in high reliability organisations suggests that teamwork-related competencies are likely to be most important because incident management depends critically upon interdependent team members, often operating in dynamic, uncertain, time pressured, and high stakes environments. This study used semi-structured interviews with experienced IMT personnel (N = 15) to identify 12 key competencies important for bushfire IMT roles. Analysis of 30 bushfire incidents described by interviewees confirmed that three competencies (a) interpersonal and communication skills, (b) leadership, and (c) IMT procedural knowledge were central. Potential implications for organisational decision making in emergency contexts in general are outlined.


The interfacial compatibility of the natural filler and synthetic polymer is the key performance characteristic of biocomposites. The fillers are chemically modified, or coupling agents and compatibilisers are used to ensure optimal filler-polymer compatibility. Hence, we have investigated the effect of compatibilisation strategies of olive pits (OP) flour content (10, 20, 30, and 40%wt.) filled with recycled low-density polyethylene (rLDPE) on the chemical, physical, mechanical, and thermal behaviour of the developed biocomposites. In this study, we aim to investigate the filler-polymer compatibility in biocomposites by employing novel strategies for the functionalisation of OP filler and/or rLDPE matrix. Specifically, four cases are considered: untreated OP filled rLDPE (Case 1), treated OP filled rLDPE (Case 2), treated OP filled functionalised rLDPE (Case 3), and treated and functionalised OP filled functionalised rLDPE (Case 4). In general, the evaluation of the performance of biocomposites facilitated the application of OP industrial waste as an eco-friendly reinforcing agent for rLDPE-based biocomposites. Furthermore, surface treatment and compatibilisation improved the properties of the developed biocomposites over untreated filler or uncoupled biocomposites. Besides that, the compatibilisers used aided in reducing water uptake and improving thermal behaviour, which contributed to the stability of the manufactured biocomposites.


Abstract Objective The present study aimed to give an overall view of the pattern of high-dose vitamin A supplementation (VAS) coverage in twenty-three sub-Saharan African countries and factors associated with receipt of VAS among children aged 6–59 months. Design Cross-sectional data from the twenty-three Demographic and Health Surveys conducted from 2011 to 2015 in twenty-three sub-Saharan African countries were pooled. A multilevel logistic regression model was used to explore factors associated with VAS. Setting Twenty-three sub-Saharan African countries. Participants Children (n 215 511) aged 6–59 months. Results The overall coverage of VAS among children aged 6–59 months for the surveys included was 59·4 %. In the multivariable analysis, children whose mothers had primary (adjusted OR (aOR)=1·43; 95 % CI 1·39, 1·47) or secondary or above (aOR=1·72; 95 % CI 1·67, 1·77) educational status were more likely to receive VAS than children whose mothers had no formal education. Other factors associated with significantly increased likelihood of VAS were: living in urban areas; children of working mothers; children whose mothers had higher media exposure; children of older mothers v. children of mothers aged 15–19 years; and older children v. children aged 6–11 months. At the country level, lower media exposure was significant and negatively associated with VAS. Conclusions Broader VAS coverage is needed according to our data. More efforts are needed to scale up coverage, focusing mostly on groups at risk of non-receipt of vitamin A.


With the growing energy demands in the power sector, Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) technology is continuously gaining importance due to its ability to burn different low grade coals and the absence of NOx production. This survey paper is intended to comprehensively give an account of domain knowledge related to CFBC boiler. The authors touch upon the design changes which are introduced in the component levels in order to ease the operation, enhance the performance and to meet the regulatory compliance. In addition, salient correlations related to hydrodynamics, heat transfer and combustion are narrated to facilitate the control and system engineers to develop mathematical models using conservation of mass, energy and momentum equations.


Housing provision in China has undergone significant changes since economic reform. In the early stage of reform the objective was to solve the problems that are internal to the socialist economy, namely unrecoverable housing investment and housing shortages. The state adopted policies to 'commodify' and 'decentralise' housing provision. The mode of provision was transformed from a centrally allocated budget to shared investment contributed by state work-units, local governments, and individual households. Since the 1990s Chinese cities have seen increased foreign investment in real estate development and consequently experienced an unprecedented building boom. Little is know about the impacts of globalisation on housing development. The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes in housing investment and to highlight the dilemma of housing 'commodification' in the process of globalisation. Specifically, foreign investment contributed to initial capital formation in real estate development and more importantly helped to create a marketised housing segment. The buoyant market price demonstrated the profitability of real estate, thus attracting more capital into housing development. The combined effect of marketisation and globalisation has led to increasing social spatial differentiation and inadequate housing provision to marginal social groups.


Mesophyll conductance (gm) is an important factor limiting photosynthesis. However, gm response to long-term growth in variable [CO2] is not well understood, particularly in crop plants. Here, we grew two cultivars of wheat (Halberd and Cranbrook), known to differ in gm under current environmental conditions, in four [CO2] treatments: glacial (206 μmol mol -1), pre-industrial (344 μmol mol -1), current ambient (489 μmol mol -1) and super-elevated (1085 μmol mol -1), and two water treatments (well-watered and moderate water limitation), to develop an evolutionary and future climate perspective on gm control of photosynthesis and water use efficiency (WUE). In the two wheat genotypes, gm increased with rising [CO2]from glacial to ambient [CO2], but declined at super-elevated [CO2]. The responses of gm to different growth [CO2]also depend on water stress; however, the specific mechanism of gm response to [CO2]remains unclear. Although gm and gm/gsc (mesophyll conductance/stomatal conductance) were strongly associated with the variability of photosynthetic rates (A) and WUE, we found that plants with higher gm may increase A without increasing gsc, which increased WUE. These results may be useful to inform plant breeding programs and cultivar selection for Australian wheat under future environmental conditions.


As chronic sleep restriction is a widespread problem among adolescents, the present study investigated the effects of a 1‐week sleep restriction (SR) versus control period on the consolidation of long‐term memory for prose passages. We also determined whether the benefit of prioritization on memory is modulated by adequate sleep occurring during consolidation. Fifty‐six healthy adolescents (25 male, aged 15–19 years) were instructed to remember a prose passage in which half of the content was highlighted (prioritized), and were told that they would receive an additional bonus for remembering highlighted content. Following an initial free recall test, participants underwent a 7‐night period in which they received either a 5‐h (SR) or 9‐h (control) nightly sleep opportunity, monitored by polysomnography on selected nights. Free recall of the passage was tested at the end of the sleep manipulation period (1 week after encoding), and again 6 weeks after encoding. Recall of highlighted content was superior to that of non‐highlighted content at all three time‐points (initial, 1 week, 6 weeks). This beneficial effect of prioritization on memory was stronger 1 week relative to a few minutes after encoding for the control, but not the SR group. N3 duration was similar in the control and SR groups. Overall, the present study shows that the benefits of prioritization on memory are enhanced over time, requiring time and sleep to unfold fully. Partial sleep deprivation (i.e. 5‐h nocturnal sleep opportunity) may attenuate such benefits, but this may be offset by preservation of N3 sleep duration.


The aim of this study was to simulate the effect of spatial thinning on the distribution of non-industrial private forests (NIPFs) and predict the thinning area under different subsidy systems in Hokkaido prefecture, Japan. The simulated thinning area is based on a Geographic Information System (GIS) and an algorithm that considers the stand condition and applicability of different subsidies for conducting thinning. The accuracy of the simulations was checked by comparing observed and predicted thinning area data. In Shimokawa municipality the thinning area was significantly smaller than in Furano municipality, where the rules governing subsidy allocations are more relaxed. The coefficients of determination (R 2 ), which were calculated by comparing the estimated and observed jointly implemented thinning areas, defined as areas in which thinning occurred in several adjacent sub-compartments, were 0.88 and 0.89 in Furano and Shimokawa, respectively. Although our algorithm slightly overestimated the jointly implemented thinning area, the estimated average thinning area was within the two-sided 95% confidence interval for the observed area. By applying the model and linking our simulation results to the GIS, the total potential distribution of jointly implemented thinning area was visualized in two geographic areas that have different subsidy systems.


Oil spills in the ocean greatly threaten local environments, marine creatures, and coastal economies. An automatic water/oil separation material system was proposed in this study, and a tubular geometry was chosen to demonstrate the water/oil separation efficiency and effectiveness. The water/oil separation tubes were made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) and graphite composites. The permeation pressures of water and oil through the tube walls were tuned by adjusting the ePTFE microstructure, which, in turn, depended on the degree of expansion and the graphite content. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was performed to confirm the compositions of the ePTFE/graphite composites, and a scanning electron microscope was used to examine the microstructure and morphology of the expanded PTFE/graphite composite tubes. When a proper pressure was applied, which was higher than the oil's permeation pressure (3.0 kPa) but lower than the water's permeation pressure (57 kPa), the oil leaked out of the tube walls while the water went through the ePTFE/graphite tubes. As such, the water/oil mixture could be separated and collected in different containers or an outer tube. Due to this automatic separation, the whole process could be done continuously and conveniently, thus exhibiting great potential in the practical applications of oil spill and water separation/remediation.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the possibility to establish Sjögren's syndrome models by immunizing mice with alpha-fodrin.

METHODS
Twenty-four 4-week-old BALB/C mice were randomly divided into 4 equal groups to undergo subcutaneous injection of alpha-Fodrin, submaxillary gland homogenate and glutathione S-transferase (GST) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (negative control groups) on days 0, 14, 35, and 56 respectively. The drinking amount of water was measured. Blood samples were collected every 2 - 3 weeks. Munofluorescence assays and ELISA were used to examine the presence of anti-Fodrin, anti-type 3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor polypeptide (M3RP), anti-SSA, anti-SSB, rheumatoid factor (RF), and antinuclear antibody (ANA). Immunochemistry was used to detect the levels of interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-2, and IL-10. One mouse was killed from each group every 2 - 3 weeks. The salivary glands were examined.

RESULTS
(1) No auto-immune antibody was found in the serum samples of the mice before immunization. Antibodies against alpha-Fodrin and M2RP, and ANA were positive in the serum samples of the alpha-Fodrin and submaxillary gland homogenate groups since the 35th day after immunization, and were all negative in the 2 control groups. However, no antibodies against SSA, SSB and RF were found in all 4 groups. (2) Lymphocytic infiltration could be seen in the salivary glands of the immunized animals since 50th days after the first immunization of alpha-Fodrin and submaxillary gland homogenate. Immunohistochemistry showed alpha-Fodrin expression in the submaxillary glands of the alpha-Fodrin and submaxillary gland homogenate groups, but not in the PBS and GST controls. (3) The serum IFN-alpha levels of the alpha-Fodrin and submaxillary gland homogenate groups were (81.6 +/- 7.1) and (90.5 +/- 4.9) pg/ml respectively, both significantly higher than those of the GST and PBS groups [(30.1 +/- 5.9) and (19.3 +/- 6.4) pg/ml respectively, both P < 0.05]. The serum IL-2 levels of the alpha-Fodrin and submaxillary gland homogenate groups were (18.7 +/- 2.3) and (19.8 +/- 0.9) pg/ml respectively, both significantly higher than those of the GST and PBS groups [(4.9 +/- 1.1) and (3.5 +/- 1.6) pg/ml respectively, both P < 0.05]. No difference was found in the level of serum IL-10 among the 4 groups. (4) There was no significant difference in the volume of water volume drunk among the 4 groups.

CONCLUSION
(1) It is possible to establish mouse mice SS models by immunization with alpha-Fodrin or submaxillary gland homogenate that are reminiscent of human SS. (2) The appearance of multiple antibodies may be related to the antigen epitope spreading. (3) The pathogenesis of SS may be related to Th1 type response.


This article presents the application of the Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) as an exploratory tool for automatic territorial zoning by combining the handle of categorical data and the other for automatic clustering. The SOM online learning algorithm had been chosen to treat categorical data by using the dot product method and the Sorense-Dice binary similarity coefficient. To automatically perform a spatial clustering, an adaptation of the automatic clustering Costa-Netto algorithm had been also proposed. The correspondence analysis had been used to examine the profiles of each homogeneous zones. To explore the approach it has been performed the territorial zoning of the Alto Taquari River Basin, Brazil, using as input data a set of thematic maps. The results indicate the applicability of the approach to perform the exploratory territorial zoning.


A delay in the onset of sedimentation during fault‐related subsidence at a basin margin can occur in both extensional settings, where footwall tilting may cause a diversion of drainage patterns, and in strike‐slip basins, where a source area may be translated along the basin margin. The 'initial depth' created by this delay acts as pre‐depositional accommodation and is a partly independent variable. It controls the geometry of the first stratal units deposited at the basin margin and thus modifies the response of the depositional system to subsequent, syndepositional changes in accommodation. In systems with a sharp break in the depositional profile, such as the topset edge in coarse‐grained deltas, the initial depth controls the foreset height and therefore the progradational distance of the topset edge. The topset length, in turn, influences topset accommodation during cyclical base level variations and therefore is reflected in the resulting stacking patterns at both long‐ and short‐term time scales. In the simplified cases modelled in this study, it is the relationship between the initial depth and the net increase in depth over the interval of a relative sea‐level cycle (ΔH) that governs long‐ and short‐term stacking patterns. In situations where the initial depth is significantly larger than ΔH, the topset accommodation of the first delta is insufficient to contain the volume of sediment of younger sequences formed during subsequent relative sea‐level cycles. Therefore, the depositional system tends to prograde over a number of relative sea‐level cycles before the topset area increases so that the long‐term stacking pattern changes to aggradation. Stacking patterns of high‐frequency sequences are influenced by a combination of topset accommodation available and position of the short‐term relative sea‐level cycles on the rising or falling limb of a long‐term sea‐level curve. This determines whether deposits of short‐term cycles are accommodated in delta topsets or foresets, or in both. Variations in stacking pattern caused by different initial depths may be misinterpreted as due to relative sea level or sediment supply changes and it is necessary to consider initial bathymetry in modelling and interpretation of stacking patterns, especially in fault‐bounded basins.


Abstract The increase in most components of the climate over the past 50 years, including air and water temperature, is a real phenomenon, as attested by the numerous specialized researches according to IPCC (2013). The water temperature is one of the most important climatic components in analyzing the hydrological regime of the Bistrita River (Romania). The thermal regime of the Bistrita River basin and the frost phenomena associated with the risk factor are particularly important and frequently appear in this area. In recent years, under the Siret Water Basin Administration, this parameter was permanently monitored, so we could do an analysis, which shows that the water temperature fluctuations, influenced by air temperature, lead to the emergence of the ice jam phenomenon. The present study aims to analyze the water temperature, as compared to the air temperature, and the effect of these components on the liquid flow regime (the values were recorded at the hydrological stations on the main course of the Bistrita River). The negative effects resulted from the ice jam phenomenon require developing methods of damage prevention and defense. The frost phenomena recorded after the construction of the Bicaz dam are analyzed in this article


A novel photochromic diarylethene, 1-(2-ethyl-benzothiophen-3-yl)-2-(2-methyl-5-(2-cyanophenyl)thien-3-yl)perfluorocyclopentene(1o) was synthesized, and its photochromic and fluorescent properties were investigated. This compound exhibited reversible photochromism, changing from colorless to purle after irradiation with UV light both in solution and in poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA) amorphous film. Also, it exhibited remarkable fluorescence switching in the solid state. When we used diarylethene 1c/PMMA film as recording medium, rewritable holographic optical storage was performed successfully. The results demonstrated that the diarylethene compound had attractive properties for polarization holographic optical recording, such as high photosensitivity, high spatial resolution, excellent fatigue-resistance.


The design of highly dispersed active sites of hollow materials and unique contact behavior with the components to be catalyzed provide infinite possibilities for exploring the limits of catalyst capacity. In this study, the synthesis strategy of highly open 3-dimensional frame structure Prussian blue analogues (CoFe-PBA) was explored through structure self-transformation, which was jointly guided by template mediated epitaxial growth, restricted assembly and directional assembly. Additionally, good application prospect of CoFe-PBA as combustion catalyst was discussed. The results show that unexpected thermal decomposition behavior can be achieved by limiting AP(ammonium perchlorate) to the framework of CoFe-PBA. The high temperature decomposition stage of AP can be advanced to 283.6 °C and the weight loss rate can reach 399.0%. In-situ monitoring shows that CoFe-PBA can accelerate the formation of NO and NO2 . The calculation of reaction kinetics proved that catalytic process was realized by increasing the nucleation factor. On this basis, the catalytic mechanism of CoFe-PBA on the thermal decomposition of AP was discussed, and the possible interaction process between AP and CoFe-PBA during heating was proposed. At the same time, another interesting functional behavior to prevent AP from caking was discussed.


Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common diseases of the liver globally. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has a complicated pathophysiology which includes lipid buildup, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and lipotoxicity. Recently, there has been tremendous improvement in understanding of NASH pathogenesis due to advancements in the scientific field. It is being investigated how non-invasive circulating and imaging biomarkers can help in NAFLD and NASH diagnosis and monitoring the progress. Multiple medications are now undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of NASH, and lifestyle changes have been acknowledged as one of the main treatment methods. The purpose of this review article is to discuss the incidence of NAFLD globally, management issues with NASH, and its relation to the metabolic syndrome. It explains pathophysiology as well as therapeutic strategies using natural items, dietary changes, and pharmaceutical treatments. While emphasizing the necessity for surrogate endpoints to facilitate medication development for NASH, the study also considers the potential of non-invasive imaging biomarkers including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE).


Eight selected hybridoma cell lines that produced monoclonal antibodies against heat-labile enterotoxin from an Escherichia coli strain of human origin (LTh) were characterized. Antibodies produced by these cell lines were tested for binding specificity in a series of solid-phase radioimmunoassays and Western blots by using as test antigens LTh, the A, A1, A2, and B polypeptides of LTh, the heat-labile enterotoxin from an E. coli strain of porcine origin, and cholera toxin. The monoclonal antibodies were also tested for isotype and ability to neutralize LTh. Two of the anti-LTh monoclonal antibodies cross-reacted with cholera toxin, and six were specific for determinants of LTh that were not present on cholera toxin. One was specific for a unique epitope of LTh that was not shared by the heat-labile enterotoxin from an E. coli strain of porcine origin or cholera toxin. Four antibodies specific for epitopes on the B subunit of LTh (LTh-B) reacted with pentameric LTh-B but did not react in Western blots with monomeric LTh-B. The remaining four antibodies were specific for epitopes on LTh-A; two of these antibodies bound to A1, one reacted with A2, and one recognized only intact LTh-A. Only one monoclonal antibody had detectable neutralizing activity, and it was specific for LTh-A.


The higher-order logic found in proof assistants such as Coq and various HOL systems provides a convenient setting for the development and verification of pure functional programs. However, to efficiently run these programs, they must be converted (or "extracted") to functional programs in a programming language such as ML or Haskell. With current techniques, this step, which must be trusted, relates similar looking objects that have very different semantic definitions, such as the set-theoretic model of a logic and the operational semantics of a programming language. In this paper, we show how to increase the trustworthiness of this step with an automated technique. Given a functional program expressed in higher-order logic, our technique provides the corresponding program for a functional language defined with an operational semantics, and it provides a mechanically checked theorem relating the two. This theorem can then be used to transfer verified properties of the logical function to the program. We have implemented our technique in the HOL4 theorem prover, translating functions to a core subset of Standard ML, and have applied it to examples including functional data structures, a parser generator, cryptographic algorithms, and a garbage collector.


Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Eng. Akimitsu Kurita on his 70th birthday, in honour of his scientific achievements, guidance and the education of his students.


Experiments were done to determine how an alteration of the treatment schedule of 5 or 32 mg/kg/day per os (p.o.) doses of GS 4104 [the ethyl ester prodrug of the neuraminidase inhibitor (3R, 4R,5S)-4-acetamido-5-amino-3-(1-ethylpropoxy)-1-cylohexene-1-carboxylic acid (GS 4071)] would affect influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in mice. Treatments with a low dose, one, two, three or four times daily, were highly inhibitory, unless therapy was terminated relatively early in the infection (days 2–3), in which case efficacy was curtailed. Single administrations at various times relative to virus exposure had essentially no effect. The 32 mg/kg/day dose was significantly inhibitory using all treatment schedules. These data indicated a requirement for the compound to be in the host when lung virus titres were reaching maximal levels and, for minimally effective doses, that at least continued daily therapy was needed to maintain adequate serum levels to achieve an appropriate antiviral effect. Twice daily p.o. treatment for 5 days with 20 mg/kg/day of GS 4104 totally prevented deaths in mice receiving high viral challenge doses that were sufficient to kill placebo-treated controls in less than 5 days. Other parameters of antiviral efficacy (lung consolidation, arterial oxygen saturation, lung virus titres) were also markedly inhibited regardless of viral challenge doses. These data provide further insights into how the maximum therapeutic benefit can be derived from use of this orally effective influenza virus neuraminidase inhibitor.


This paper presents a streaming speaker-attributed automatic speech recognition (SA-ASR) model that can recognize ``who spoke what'' with low latency even when multiple people are speaking simultaneously. Our model is based on token-level serialized output training (t-SOT) which was recently proposed to transcribe multi-talker speech in a streaming fashion. To further recognize speaker identities, we propose an encoder-decoder based speaker embedding extractor that can estimate a speaker representation for each recognized token not only from non-overlapping speech but also from overlapping speech. The proposed speaker embedding, named t-vector, is extracted synchronously with the t-SOT ASR model, enabling joint execution of speaker identification (SID) or speaker diarization (SD) with the multi-talker transcription with low latency. We evaluate the proposed model for a joint task of ASR and SID/SD by using LibriSpeechMix and LibriCSS corpora. The proposed model achieves substantially better accuracy than a prior streaming model and shows comparable or sometimes even superior results to the state-of-the-art offline SA-ASR model.


Addresses the question of how it is possible to plan to provide support for a system which will have little or no new development, but is used frequently by the end customer. The areas addressed are: maintaining system expertise after the original design and development staff have rotated to new job positions; developing usable documentation for both the product and the process used to produce it; and standardizing the development process. The successful methods developed by the authors as well as the benefits achieved by following the plan are discussed.<<ETX>>


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of agribusiness firms in India, China and Pakistan, as well as the challenges they face in doing business.

Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on the World Bank's Enterprises Survey (WBES) data. The survey was carried out through a questionnaire survey from the owner and top managers of 716, 247 and 174 agribusiness from India, Pakistan and China, respectively. This enterprises survey has comprised the information regarding the wide range of firms' characteristics and 16 parameters of business obstacles. Simple statistical tools such as chi-square and analysis of variance have been used to analyze the data.

Findings
Chi-square test shows the statistically significance difference in firms' characteristics across agribusiness firms of India, China and Pakistan. Chinese firms are better in terms of having an international quality certification, own websites and getting credit. In Pakistan, access to land for agribusiness is an obstacle while for India and China, it is easy to acquire land for agribusiness purposes. In Pakistan, tax rate and political stability is a moderate obstacle while in India and China, it is a minor obstacle in agribusiness. Labor regulation does not perceive any considerable obstacle in doing business in India and Pakistan.

Practical implications
This study provides an understanding of differences in the agribusiness environment in emerging economies such as India, Pakistan and China based on WBES data. This study can be helpful for agribusiness managers and government policymakers for promoting agriculture-based entrepreneurship.

Originality/value
It is the first attempt to compare the profile of agribusiness firms in growing Asian economies such as India, Pakistan and China, as well as perceived business hurdles, using a comprehensive enterprises survey data of World Bank.


These lecture notes endeavour to collect in one place the mathematical background required to understand the properties of kernels in general and the Random Fourier Features approximation of Rahimi and Recht (NIPS 2007) in particular. We briefly motivate the use of kernels in Machine Learning with the example of the support vector machine. We discuss positive definite and conditionally negative definite kernels in some detail. After a brief discussion of Hilbert spaces, including the Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space construction, we present Mercer's theorem. We discuss the Random Fourier Features technique and then present, with proofs, scalar and matrix concentration results that help us estimate the error incurred by the technique. These notes are the transcription of 10 lectures given at IIT Delhi between January and April 2020.


Recent neuroscientific studies focused on the identification of pathological neurophysiological patterns (emotions, geriatric depression, memory impairment and sleep disturbances) through computerised clinical decision-support systems. Almost all these research attempts employed either resting-state condition (e.g. eyes-closed) or event-related potentials extracted during a cognitive task known to be affected by the disease under consideration. This Letter reviews existing data mining techniques and aims to enhance their robustness by proposing a holistic decision framework dealing with comorbidities and early symptoms' identification, while it could be applied in realistic occasions. Multivariate features are elicited and fused in order to be compared with average activities characteristic of each neuropathology group. A proposed model of the specific cognitive function which may be based on previous findings (a priori information) and/or validated by current experimental data should be then formed. So, the proposed scheme facilitates the early identification and prevention of neurodegenerative phenomena. Neurophysiological semantic annotation is hypothesised to enhance the importance of the proposed framework in facilitating the personalised healthcare of the information society and medical informatics research community.


Background BTK is a member of the Tec family kinase of non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases1. BTK is mostly expressed in hematopoietic cells such as B cells, mast cells and macrophages2. BTK plays key roles in multiple cell signaling pathways including BCR and FcγR signaling cascades and is an essential mediator not only in B-cell dependent but also in myeloid cell dependent inflammatory arthritis3–5. HM71224 which is a novel BTK Inhibitor and clinically studied in phase 1 stage, has been evaluated as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Objectives In this report, we present a highly potent and selective, orally available a small molecule BTK inhibitor and its efficacies in rodent models of rheumatoid arthritis. Methods In vitro inhibition activity of HM71224 against diverse kinases was evaluated using recombinant enzymes. Also, inhibition effect on intracellular signaling pathways was assessed by Western blot analyses of the phosphorylated substrates in cell lysates. In vivo efficacy of HM71224 was evaluated in several models of RA such as collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) using DBA1 male mice5 and Lewis rat6. Results Enzyme-based and cell-based in vitro assays were conducted to assess the activity of HM71224 against BTK and other related kinases. HM71224 highly selective inhibited BTK (2.6 nM). In cell-based studies, HM71224 showed potent inhibition activity against the phosphorylation of BTK (1.0 nM) and a downstream kinase PLCγ2 (1.0 nM) in Ramos B cell, being well correlated with the inhibition activity for BTK kinase. On the other hand, HM71224 did not meaningfully inhibit the phosphorylation of STAT5 (>1,000 nM) in CTLL T cell. Anti-arthritic in vivo efficacy of HM71224 was tested in a collagen induced arthritis model using DBA1/J mouse. At the oral dose of 10 mg/kg (QD), HM71224 showed excellent anti-arthritic effect in terms of clinical and histopathological arthritic scores, pannus formation, synovitis index, bone erosion index, joint cartilage index, serum autoantibody IgG level and serum cytokine level without body weight loss (the efficacious dose as ED90 was calculated to 6.0 mg/kg/day). Similarly, HM71224 also displayed excellent anti-arthritic efficacy in a CIA model using Lewis rat. The nearly complete inhibition of p-BTK and BTK target occupancy was observed after 4 hr at the doses of 10 mg/kg, which are the efficacious doses inducing remission in arthritis score. Conclusions Our data demonstrated that HM71224, acting through selective inhibition of BTK activation, exhibited significantly beneficial effects in rodent models of rheumatoid arthritis. These results strongly support further development of HM71224 as a promising new agent for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. References Nature 1993; 361, 226-233 The Journal of Immunology 1994; 152, 557-565 Annual Review Immunology 2009; 27, 199-227 International Immunopharmacology 2009; 9, 10-25 Immunological Reviews 2009; 228, 58-73 Nature Protocol 2007; 2, 1269-1275 Journal of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions 2001; 1, 377-385 Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.3059


Two methods are reported for the determination of nickel in zinc plant electrolyte by differential-pulse adsorptive stripping volammetry at a hanging mercury drop electrode, using dimethylglyoxime as the ligand. The first is an on-line method utilizing in situ matrix exchange coupled with a bottom-drain flow-through cell. Use of the matrix-exchange procedure minimizes interferences found from both a variable cobalt concentration and a large excess of zinc in the direct nickel dimethylglyoxime adsorptive stripping method. This on-line method allows for the routine monitoring of nickel concentrations down to 60 µg l–1 and can be used on a 24 h d–1 basis as an indicator of levels of nickel which exceed that acceptable for the refining process. In highly pure electrolyte, where nickel concentrations do not affect the refining process, the levels of nickel are too low to be determined by the on-line procedure. However, the determination of nickel could still be required, and a highly sensitive off-line voltammetric method has been developed for this purpose, which employs a nickel dimethylglyoxime solvent-extraction procedure to remove the interference from zinc, followed by adsorptive stripping voltammetry as the dimethylglyoxime complex. The detection limit for this off-line method is 1 µg l–1, which affords ample sensitivity for quantifying the nickel concentration in highly pure zinc plant electrolyte.


Context: Abruptio placenta is an important contributor to perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. Although the primary etiology remains unknown, there are many associated risk factors, some of which are preventable or treatable. Aim: To determine the prevalence, sociodemographic characteristics, risk factors, and feto-maternal outcome of abruptio placenta in Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital Sagamu. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study involving all pregnant women who had abruptio placenta from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, risk factors, and fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality were extracted from patients' case notes for analysis. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 33.4 ± 6.3 years. The prevalence of abruptio placenta was 1.03%. Hypertensive disorder was the most important risk factor, seen in 53.1% of the subjects. Birth asphyxia was the major perinatal morbidity and was found in 42.9% of the babies, whereas 46.9% were still births. The caesarean section rate was 63.3%. Forty subjects (81.6%) had blood transfusion, 17 subjects (34.7%) had postpartum hemorrhage, and 40.8% had postpartum anemia. There were two maternal deaths giving a case-specific fatality rate of 4.1%. Conclusion: Abruptio placenta is an important pregnancy complication in Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital Sagamu, Nigeria. Good antenatal care services will enable caregivers to identify women at risk who may benefit from targeted management aimed at reducing the adverse outcomes associated with the condition.


Abstract Background Due to the global pandemic, governments have enforced household isolation and social distancing to reduce infection and mortality rate. However, the impact of prolonged enforced isolation for older people who are prone to social isolation and loneliness has yet to be understood. Objectives A longitudinal study to understand the lived experience of people aged 70 and older, living in England during COVID‐19 restrictions. Methods All participants completed five qualitative telephone interviews from 20 April to 7 July 2020. The majority completed individual interviews (n = 13), whilst two participants completed these interviews as a couple. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis completed from the perspective of hermeneutic phenomenology. Results Three themes included (1) engagement and confusion with government restrictions; (2) socialisation through virtual platforms and opportunistic physical social contact; and (3) accessing health care during COVID‐19 restrictions. Conclusion Older people are committed to following government restrictions, and government campaigns need to consider the potential impact of placing an emphasis on avoiding healthcare services. Virtual platforms are supportive but not sufficient to reduce social isolation and loneliness of older people. Thus, nurses supporting older people living in the community need to understand these concepts to provide holistic care and support older people's mental and physical health. Implications for practice Nurses are ideally placed to support older people to understand the current government restrictions, when to attend acute healthcare services or to engage virtually with healthcare appointments, and to discuss the risks of physically socialising with others.


A simple method was developed and tested to synthesize hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites using tetrapropylammonium hydroxide as a sole structure directing agent to generate intercrystalline mesopores. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of ZSM-5 zeolites. SEM and TEM imaging analyses revealed the presence of hierarchical structure, formed by self-assembly of highly crystalline, nanosized primary particles. Solid-state MAS NMR analysis showed the vast majority of Al atoms were tetrahedrally incorporated with Si atoms in the zeolite framework. N2 physisorption studies indicated that the mesopores of an average pore size of 30 nm were created in the hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites with an abundance of micropores. The performance of these zeolites in catalyzing methanol to gasoline conversion was evaluated using a fixed-bed reactor operating at 350 °C with ca. 16.5% methanol in nitrogen at a total pressure of 1.1 MPa and WHSV of 1.2 h–1. The hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites exhibited almost 100% methanol conversion and 59%...


Internationalization is a multi-task process which requires time, resources and full commitment. Hence, prior to deploying resources and starting the actual entry process, internationalization demands a careful inward and outward assessment, and serious of market research. The main purpose of the study was to analyze the potential of the Finnish furniture industry and to find the best entry mode strategy suitable for Askala, considering the market situation. The theoretical part discusses the internationalization process, external factors influencing entry mode choices and the different entry modes. The empirical part focuses on the Finnish furniture industry's market trend; production and consumption, competitors' market share and the intensity of competition, and all other external factors which determine entry mode selection. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are applied in this thesis, the qualitative approach is used to see the current state of Finnish furniture manufacturing companies and the type of distribution channels they use to reach their end-users, whereas the quantitative approach is used to see the market trend in the Finnish furniture industry. The research result reveals that despite some improvements in the economy and following an increase in consumers' confidence, in general the Finnish furniture market is small and grows at a decreasing order with intense competition and highly dominated by big furniture manufacturing companies. Therefore, under such market conditions, entering a new market using big resources is not recommended, but rather entry mode strategies which require less resources and management commitment and have less risk such as direct export, cooperative export and online marketing are better options to build long-term relations and to increase market share through time.


System dynamics research has made numerous contributions to a range of management subfields including: operations; organization behavior; marketing; behavioral decision making; and strategy. In this paper, we focus on the role for system dynamics research to make important progress on the defining issue in the field of strategy: why are some firms more profitable than others? Strategy researchers are eager for dynamic theories that explain the evolution of performance differences among firms and are increasingly looking to managerial decision making as the source of dynamics. This interest in dynamics and decision making creates an enormous opportunity for SD researchers as carefully grounded behavioral theories of dynamics flow naturally from system dynamics research methods. Building and testing theories explaining longitudinal patterns of performance differences among firms would be an enormous step forward where mainstream strategy approaches have struggled. We identify four promising research paths for system dynamics research in strategy.


AbstractCervicogenic headache is a headache arising from painful dysfunction of the upper cervical spine. This paper reviews current literature on the anatomy, etiology, clinical presentation and differential diagnosis of cervicogenic headache. Lower cervical spine levels and cervical soft tissue components will be incorporated where they have a direct influence on the upper three segments.


This paper presents the progress of an investigation that pretends to identify and characterize a valid method for assessing the environmental viability of building materials, focusing on the case study of compressed earth blocks used in central Mexico. Raw earth materials have been granted the status of green, clean, or sustainable. But it has not been fully explained why. Generally, the argument revolves around their low or zero energy consumption, but the environmental spectrum is much broader and complex. From the logic of life cycle analysis (LCA) it is possible to identify events at each stage of a material, from raw material extraction to the end of its useful life. Based on this logic, and generally knowing the production processes of three masonry materials, it becomes a deductive exercise, from which possible values are provided with positive and negative impacts, for eight interest variables, along each stage of its life cycle.


The bathroom which is a place for people to clean up themselves is also prone to contamination. The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial properties of nutmeg against isolates from the bathroom using different solvents such as acetone, ethanol and water for the extraction of the nutmeg. In this study, samples from different areas in Veritas University male and female hostel bathrooms were screened for bacterial and fungal contamination and results from the study showed that bacterial genera such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and fungus Aspergillus were found in this public bathroom surfaces. The Cup-plate Agar Diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial potency of the nutmeg while the Filter paper method was used to determine its antifungal properties. The results proved that nutmeg has great anti-microbial properties thus was capable of inhibiting the growth of these isolates. Results from this study also revealed that when acetone was used as the solvent at 75% concentration, it was the most effective for the antibacterial susceptibility test while ethanoic solvent at the same concentration was the most effective for the antifungal susceptibility testing.


The presence of a large number of component models to date should be able to offer software developers a wide variety of component models -- which they can easily choose from -- for their software development projects. However, the opposite situation is currently observed, where the presence of many component models has caused difficulties in making the selection. Lack of properties or characteristics that can be used as a basis to perform objective comparison between the existing models is believed to have caused the difficulties. In this paper, a list of component model properties is derived by thoroughly examining the available component model definitions. Results from a comparative analysis performed on six component models using the properties show that the properties enable a more objective comparison between the existing component models to be performed.


The present study was aimed to investigate the relationship between self-concept and depressive tendencies among adolescents at matriculation level. It was hypothesized that adolescent boys have a positive self-concept as compared to adolescent girls. The second hypothesis was that girls are more depressed as compared to boys. Another hypothesis was that boys display more disruptive behavior as compared to girls. It was also hypothesized that there exists an inverse relationship between self-concept and depressive tendencies among adolescents at matriculation level.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the relation between tumor enhancement on multiphase contrast-enhanced CT images and Fuhrman grade of clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A single-institution retrospective review was conducted on the records of 255 patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy and received a histologic diagnosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Two radiologists recorded the radiographic features of each patient, including the attenuation value of the lesion, lesion size, calcification within the lesion, cystic versus solid appearance, and margin regularity. Parameters representing the extent of tumor enhancement were defined and calculated. The association between tumor enhancement and Fuhrman grade was analyzed, and multivariate analysis was performed to find independent predictors of high tumor grade.

RESULTS
Significant differences existed in tumor enhancement among different Fuhrman grades (p < 0.001). High-grade tumors had significantly lower enhancement (p < 0.001). The enhancement parameter had a sensitivity of 0.84 and specificity of 0.93 in prediction of high tumor grade. In the multivariate analysis, more advanced age, irregular margin, and low tumor enhancement were the three independent predictors of high tumor grade.

CONCLUSION
Tumor enhancement of clear cell renal cell carcinoma on multiphase contrast-enhanced CT images is associated with Fuhrman grade. Low tumor enhancement in the corticomedullary phase is an independent predictor of high tumor grade. This system may be helpful in clinical decision making about the care of patients treated by nonsurgical approaches.


MEETING BRIEFSBOSTON-- In addition to the normal contingent of biologists from many disciplines, this year's annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, which was held here from 3 to 7 January, attracted hundreds of coral reef scientists. Sessions discussed new information on the relationship between corals and their symbiotic algae and also how to farm corals. In addition, the meeting included a session on what allows monitor lizards to simultaneously run and breathe more easily than other lizards can.


Introduction: People aging with long-term physical disabilities (PAwLTPD), meaning individuals with onset of disability from birth through midlife, often require long-term support services (LTSS) to remain independence. The LTSS system is fragmented into aging and disability organizations with little communication between them. In addition, there are currently no evidence-based LTSS-type programs listed on the Administration for Community Living website that have been demonstrated to be effective for PAwLTPD. Because of these gaps, we have developed a community-based research network (CBRN), drawing on the practice-based research network model (PBRN), to bring together aging and disability organizations to address the lack of evidence-based programs for PAwLTPD. Materials and Methods: Community-based organizations serving PAwLTPD across the state of Missouri were recruited to join the CBRN. A formative process evaluation of the network was conducted after a year to evaluate the effectiveness of the network. Results: Nine community-based organizations across the state of Missouri joined the CBRN. CBRN members include three centers for independent living (CILs), three area agencies on aging (AAAs), one CIL/AAA hybrid, one non-CIL disability organization, and one non-AAA aging organization. To date, we have held seven meetings, provided educational opportunities for CBRN members, and launched an inaugural research study within the CBRN. Formative evaluation data indicate that CBRN members feel that participation in the CBRN is beneficial. Conclusion: The PBRN model appears to be a feasible framework for use with community-based organizations to facilitate communication between agencies and to support research aimed at addressing the needs of PAwLTPD.


Excess formation of nitric oxide and superoxide by-products (peroxynitrite, reactive oxygen, and reactive nitrogen species) attenuates cholinergic transmission potentially having a role in Alzheimer disease pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated mechanisms by which acute exposure to peroxynitrite impairs function of the sodium-dependent hemicholinium-3 (HC-3)-sensitive choline transporter (CHT) that provides substrate for acetylcholine synthesis. The peroxynitrite generator 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1) acutely inhibited choline uptake in cells stably expressing FLAG-tagged rat CHT in a dose- and time-dependent manner, with an IC50 = 0.9 ± 0.14 mM and t½ = 4 min. SIN-1 significantly reduced Vmax of choline uptake without altering the Km. This correlated with a SIN-1-induced decrease in cell surface CHT protein, observed as lowered levels of HC-3 binding and biotinylated CHT at the plasma membrane. It is noteworthy that short-term exposure of cells to SIN-1 accelerated the rate of internalization of CHT from the plasma membrane, but it did not alter return of CHT back to the cell surface. SIN-1 did not disrupt cell membrane integrity or cause cell death. Thus, the inhibitory effect of SIN-1 on choline uptake activity and HC-3 binding was related to enhanced internalization of CHT proteins from the plasma membrane to subcellular organelles.


ABSTRACT
Postprocessing contamination of the products in a processing plant has been identified as one of the major reasons for food contamination with Listeria; brining is one such postprocessing area. Our previous study has shown that the combinations of UV and antimicrobials reduces the number of this organism significantly in fresh brine, but brine is usually recycled from days to weeks depending on its use. Therefore, this study is focused on the reduction of L. monocytogenes in recycled chill brine (obtained from a frankfurter processor) using the combinations of UV and antimicrobial agents, such as citric acid (CA), hydrogen peroxide (HP) and dimethyl dicarbonate (DMDC). Results show that the combinations of UV and 2000 ppm and 4000 ppm HP were the most effective treatments in reducing the Listeria population with the total processing time of 120 min. Both of these treatments were found to be more effective than UV or HP alone. Additionally, all other treatments, such as the combinations of UV and CA (0.2 and 0.5%) and UV and DMDC (250 and 500 ppm) were comparatively less effective. This may be due to the presence of organic matter in spent brine, which may have reduced the penetration of UV and availability of antimicrobials for microbial interaction.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
The brine solutions are generally recycled in industries for up to 4 weeks as per United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guide. Thus, it is very important to study various treatments to process recycled brine that was used to process ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products to prevent foodborne diseases or outbreaks. The use of UV light and antimicrobial agents to control L. monocytogenes in recycled brines to product cooling in the RTE meat industry is described. The study provides information on exposure time to UV light and level of antimicrobial agent that result in inactivation of the pathogen. Industry may benefit from our research in their validation efforts to control L. monocytogenes for recycled brine in recirculating chill brine systems through the use of UV light and antimicrobial agents.


Biotite and bentonite are phyllosilicate minerals that were originally used in industrial applications. Several beneficial activities of them have recently been reported, especially regulation of the immune system and antimicrobial effects. Therefore, we investigated the immune-enhancing and bacterial clearance effects of a biotite and bentonite mixture (BBM) on experimental infection of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) to determine whether the BBM could be used as an alternative antibiotic. We administered 1% or 2% BBM as a feed supplement. We then evaluated the bacterial clearance effects of the BBM against S. Typhimurium. We also evaluated the immune-enhancing effect of the BBM through several immunological experiments that included examination of the lysozyme activity, CD4+/CD8+ T lymphocyte ratio and the T-helper type 1 (Th 1) cytokine profile. The clinical signs of S. Typhimurium and the number of viable bacteria in feces and tissues were significantly decreased in both BBM groups, especially in the 2% BBM group. The BBM also markedly enhanced the lysozyme activity, CD4+/CD8+ T lymphocyte ratio and expression levels of IFN-γ and IL-12 in S. Typhimurium-challenged pigs. Therefore, the BBM could be a good candidate as an alternative antibiotic that improves Th 1-specific immune responses and the bacterial clearance effect.


Abstract Backward walking and running on positive grades (retrograde training) represents a closed kinetic chain exercise used by rehabilitation specialists for patellofemoral-related injuries. To date, no longitudinal studies exist to support it use. This investigation examined the effects of retrograde training on lower body strength and power in recreational athletes aged 18–50 years over 6 weeks. Thirty-seven subjects were divided into two groups. Group 1 performed retrograde training 3 days∙wk −1 using treadmill speeds, grades and bout durations ranging from 1.6–4.9 m∙sec −1 , 2.5–27.5% and 10–30 seconds, respectively (RG, n=19). Group 2 was a control group who continued their normal training (CON, n=18). Pre- and posttests assessed a variety of unilateral and bilateral measures including vertical and linear jumps, one repetition maximum leg press strength, and positive and negative power during weighted squat jumping on a horizontal leg press with a force plate. RG improved significantly in all tests (P<0.05). Mean effect size (ES) of the relative improvement in a majority of tests revealed a moderate to very large ES of RG training (ES range: 0.77–2.71). We conclude retrograde training effective for improving lower body strength and power in recreational athletes.


Nanomaterials under extreme conditions can behave in a completely different manner. High-velocity impact, for example, can produce nanoribbons without any chemical approach via carbon or boron nitride nanotubes unzipping. Although hybrid nanostructures have been used to create stronger structures, few studies on these materials under extreme conditions have been employed. In this work, we study an experimentally synthesized hybrid doubled walled CBN nanotube (boron nitride and carbon nanotubes concentrically assembled) under high-velocity impact. Our results show that the combination of elastic and brittle materials can produce different structures, such as nanoribbons and boron nitride atomic chains. These results can have a significant impact on the production of new nanostructures.


Stance detection aims to identify whether the author of an opinionated text is in favor of, against, or neutral towards a given target. Remarkable success has been achieved when sufficient labeled training data is available. However, it is labor-intensive to annotate sufficient data and train the model for every new target.Therefore, zero-shot stance detection, aiming at identifying stances of unseen targets with seen targets, has gradually attracted attention. Among them, one of the important challenges is to reduce the domain transfer between seen and unseen targets. To tackle this problem, we propose a generative data augmentation approach to generate training samples containing targets and stances for testing data, and map the real samples and generated synthetic samples into the same embedding space with contrastive learning, then perform the final classification based on the augmented data. We evaluate our proposed model on two benchmark datasets. Experimental results show that our approach achieves state-of-the-art performance on most topics in the task of zero-shot stance detection.


This short review is devoted to the description of the effect of the nature and the strength of intermolecular hydrogen bonds on structural properties of H-bonded complexes of aniline, phenol and pyridine derivatives. Several hundreds of such complexes, playing an important role in organic chemistry and biochemistry, have been identified and described in the literature. In the introductory part, the idea of the H-bond is discussed in terms of its historical development, followed by presently accepted classification of H-bonds. Critical review of quantum methods usually used for the calculations of the geometry of H-bonded complexes and the energies of H-bonds is then presented. In the second part, the H-bond-induced geometrical, hybridization and aromaticity index changes are discussed. All correlations based on quantum calculations are compared with those derived from the available crystal structure data. Although the experimental data are more scattered than the calculated ones, their agreement is impressive. This unequivocally shows the power of the calculation methods developed in recent years. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


I confess to a deep unease about therapeutic correctness and the guideline industry. While it is worthwhile knowing that a drug on average does more good than harm when tried on many thousands of patients, ultimately it is its effect on my patient that matters.

Archie Cochrane was extremely sceptical of established practice and questioned everything. The first thing he ever said to me was that he believed lateral chest radiographs were unnecessary, a point that at the time few would have agreed with. When pressed, he admitted that he couldn't interpret them, but that only a trial would convince him of their value. Fortunately I had some evidence. I like to think of him in Heaven, whisky in hand, smiling a sceptical smile as bigger and bigger studies, funded by increasingly anxious drug companies, are required to show smaller and smaller benefits. But I'm sure he is pleased at the scrutiny this initiative has brought to common intractable problems of patient management such as incontinence.

In 1906, …


Contents: Preface. T.L. Thompson, Introduction: A History of Communication and Disability Research: The Way We Were. Part I: Interpersonal and Relationship Issues. D.O. Braithwaite, L.M. Harter, Communication and the Management of Dialectical Tensions in the Personal Relationships of People With Disabilities. S.A. Nemeth, Society, Sexuality, and Disabled/Ablebodied Romantic Relationships. T-P. Do, P. Geist, Embodiment and Dis-Embodiment: Identity Trans-Formation of Persons With Physical Disabilities. K.P. Soule, M.E. Roloff, Help Between Persons With and Without Disabilities From a Resource Theory Perspective. S.M. Westhaver, Opening Up Spaces for Difference Via a Feminist Phenomenological Approach to Disability. Part II: People With Disabilities in Organizational Settings. I. Malian, A. Nevin, Effective Communication to Enhance Special Education. D.W. Worley, Communication and Students With Disabilities on College Campuses. A.L. Colvert, J.W. Smith, What Is Reasonable? Workplace Communication and People Who Are Disabled. K.P. Herold, Communication Strategies in Employment Interviews for Applicants With Disabilities. G.L. Kreps, Disability and Culture: Effects on Multicultural Relations in Modern Organizations. Part III: Disability and Culture. S.A. Fox, H. Giles, M.P. Orbe, R.Y. Bourhis, Interability Communication: Theoretical Perspectives. G. Merrigan, Negotiating Personal Identities Among People With and Without Identified Disabilities: The Role of Identity Management. M. Iwakuma, J.F. Nussbaum, Intercultural Views of People With Disabilities in Asia and Africa. K. Shultz, Deaf Activists in the Rhetorical Transformation of the Construct of Disability. Part IV: Media and Technologies. B. Haller, If They Limp, They Lead? News Representations and the Hierarchy of Disability Images. K. Wolfson, M.F. Norden, Film Images of People With Disabilities. O. Farnall, Invisible No More: Advertising and People With Disabilities. S.A. Fox, The Uses and Abuses of Computer-Mediated Communication in People With Disabilities. Part V: Communication Issues as They Impact Specific Types of Disabilities. R. Parrott, T. Stuart, A.B. Cairns, Reducing Uncertainty Through Communication During Adjustment to Disability: Living With Spinal Cord Injury. A. McIntosh, When the Deaf and Hearing Interact: Communication Features, Relationships, and Disability Issues. H.M. Rose, A.R. Smith, Sighting Sound/Sounding Sight: The "Violence" of Deaf-Hearing Communication. J.W. Smith, K.P. Kandath, Communication and the Blind or Visually Impaired. C.K. Matthews, N.G. Harrington, Invisible Disability. B.B. Whaley, M.A. Golden, Communicating With Persons Who Stutter: Perceptions and Strategies. M.A. Romski, R.A. Sevcik, Children and Adults Who Experience Difficulty With Speech. A. Weitzel, Overcoming Loss of Voice. R.J. Cline, N.J. McKenzie, Interpersonal Roulette and HIV/AIDS as Disability: Stigma and Social Support in Tension. J. Knuf, The Margins of Communication: Coping With Adult Dementia. Part VI: Setting a Future Agenda for Communication and Disability Research. D.O. Braithwaite, T.L. Thompson, Communication and Disability Research: A Productive Past and a Bright Future.


1. The effect of availability of host puparis upon the sex ratio of the parasite Nasonia vitripennis has been studied.

2. When puparia are continuously available the percentage of males is 25%. When puparia are only intermittently available (for 1 hr. per day) the percentage of males increases significantly.

3. It is known that the eggs undergo resorption in females which have no access to host puparia, and it is suggested that the increase in the percentage of males is related to the increase in the number of eggs undergoing resorption in the ovarioles at the time of oviposition.


From 1972 to 1983, 68 adolescents, aged 12 to 20 years (median 17.6 years), with Hodgkin's disease received treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. Although the overall male:female ratio was 1.2:1.0, male predominance was greater in younger adolescents. The histopathologic distribution was overwhelmingly nodular sclerosing (69%), but 24% were mixed cellularity, and 7% were lymphocyte- predominant. There was no statistical relationship between histopathology and survival. All patients were pathologically staged (PS): PS-I = 11 patients, PS-II = 26 patients, PS-III = 17 patients, and PS-IV = 14 patients. The overall five-year survival rate was 83%, and there was no significant difference between pathological stage and chance of survival. Treatment programs had been based on pathological staging, usually irradiation therapy for stages I and II, combination chemotherapy for stage IV, and both modalities combined for stage III. This therapy has resulted in an excellent five-year survival rate for these adolescents.


. Soil nutrients, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), regulate plant growth and hence influence carbon fluxes between the land surface and atmosphere. However, how forests adjust biomass partitioning to leaves, wood, and fine roots in response to N and/or P fertilization remains puzzling. Recent work in tropical forests suggests that trees increase fine root production under P fertilization, but it is unclear whether mechanistic models can reproduce this dynamic. In order to better understand mechanisms governing nutrient effects on plant allocation and improve models, we used the nutrient enabled ED2 15 model to simulate a fertilization experiment being conducted in a secondary tropical dry forest in Costa Rica. We evaluated how different allocation parameterizations affected model performance. These parameterizations prescribed a linear relationship between relative allocation to fine roots and soil P concentrations. The slope of the linear relationship was allowed to be positive, negative, or zero. Some parameterizations realistically simulated leaf, wood and fine root production, and these parameterizations all assumed a positive relationship between relative allocation to fine roots and soil P concentration. On a 20 thirty-year timescale, under unfertilized conditions, our model predicted the largest aboveground biomass (AGB) accumulation when relative allocation to fine roots was positively related to soil P concentration. However, this result was mostly driven by increased water use rather than decreased nutrient limitation. On a thirty-year timescale with P fertilization, the assumption of a positive correlation between relative allocation to fine roots and soil P concentration led to over-investment to fine roots and reductions in vegetation biomass. Our study demonstrates the need of simultaneous measurements of leaf, wood,


A case of yolk sac infection is reported among 500 broiler chicks bought for National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, Poultry Project. From the day of receipt the birds were depressed, dull with distended abdomen. The next day and subsequent days the birds started dying, reached its peak on the 12th day with 8 deaths. Result of post mortem done on the dead chicks revealed a septicaemic carcass with the subcutaneous and yolk sac blood vessels enlarged and dilated. The striking feature was an inflamed unabsorbed yolk sac with the yolk abnormal in colour and consistency. Post mortem findings seen in chicks that survived into second, third and forth weeks were inspissated yolk sac which contained deeply pigmented caseous material. Bacteriological isolations revealed the presence of Escherichia coli. The outbreak was presumed to be as a result of Escherichia coli contaminating the hatching eggs and further penetrate the shell to infect the yolk. The source of infection was found to be from the hatchery contaminated with Escherichia coli where infection spread from chick to chick.

KEY WORDS: Yolk Sac Infection, Broiler Flocks, Septicaemic Carcass.
(Nigerian Veterinary Journal: 2002 23(2): 65-69)


The Arabic language is the spirit of the Arab nation, the title of its identity, and the inclusion of its culture, and when it is preserved by its people, they will be able to be the builders of others' minds and the proponents of its flags among the languages of nations and peoples. Accordingly, the significance of the study mentioned the geniality of Arabic Language, its properties, its spread in the world.
The problem of the study is universality of Arabi Language after Islam, its major properties, extent of its spread, its impact.
The study will follow the analytical descriptive methodology in tracing this problem and studying its terms.
The study revealed the universal position of the Arabic Language among other languages of the world that made it a title of human civilization, cultural reference, and the tool of communication between the peoples of Arabs and non-Arabs.


In this article, we analyze the time minimal control for the saturation of a pair of spins of the same species but with inhomogeneities of the applied RF-magnetic field, in relation with the contrast problem in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. We make a complete analysis based on geometric control to classify the optimal syntheses in the single spin case to pave the road to analyze the case of two spins. The Bocop software is used to determine local minimizers for physical test cases and Linear Matrix Inequalities approach is applied to estimate the global optimal value and validate the previous computations. This is complemented by numerical computations combining shooting and continuation methods implemented in the HamPath software to analyze the structure of the time minimal solution with respect to the set of parameters of the species. Symbolic computations techniques are used to handle the singularity analysis.


Urologic and gastrointestinal problems in children are of great concern to parents. In most cases, such problems represent no organic disease or serious behavior disorder but nevertheless can cause more serious complications in toilet training than parents recognize. Although bowel and bladder symptoms in otherwise healthy children typically are transient, untreated issues can spiral into physical, behavioral, and developmental problems that disrupt toilet training and maintenance of bowel and/or bladder continence. Chronic wetting and soiling may persist well into the school years and often are refractory to empirical medical treatment.

Clinical experience, however, suggests that in most children these problems can be managed successfully within the realm of general pediatric practice. Two important tools for evaluation are available to the pediatrician: good normative data on bowel and bladder function in children, and management algorithms for toilet training that emphasize pathophysiologic patterns within the context of normal development. Interventions emphasize early anticipation, breaking predictable behavioral and dietary cycles that can turn acute problems into chronic problems. This is especially important during the toilet training years.

Almost all children have wetting and/or soiling accidents at one time or another. As with other models of developmental milestones, transient regressions or delays in toilet training logically can be expected. Bowel maturation typically precedes bladder maturation, which is not surprising, given the respective complexities of the developmental processes.1 An estimated 15% to 20% of children will become partially toilet trained but continue to have wetting accidents after age 5.2,,3 Additionally, at least 20% of developmentally normal children 18 to 30 months of age may refuse stool toilet training at some point.4

### Encopresis

Children with encopresis (chronic fecal soiling at age 4 and older) typically soil during the day and are unaware of and unable to control their soiling accidents.5 Soiling …


Background Large clinical trials testing hydrocortisone therapy in septic shock have produced conflicting results. Subgroups may however benefit depending on their individual immune response. Methods We performed an exploratory analysis of the CORTICUS trial database employing machine learning to a panel of 137 variables collected from 83 patients (60 survivors, 23 non-survivors) including demographic and clinical measures, organ failure scores, leukocyte counts and circulating cytokine levels. The identified biomarker was validated against data collected from patients enrolled into a cohort of the Hellenic Sepsis Study Group (HSSG) (n=162) and two data sets of two other clinical trials. Ex vivo studies were performed on this biomarker to assess a possible mechanistic role. Results A low serum IFNγ/IL10 ratio predicted increased survival in the hydrocortisone group whereas a high ratio predicted better survival in the placebo group. Using this ratio for a decision rule, we found significant improvement in survival in the groups of patients being in compliance with the prediction rule (discovery set: OR=3.03 [95% Cl: 1.05-8.75], P=0.031, validation set: OR=2.01 [95% CI: 1.04-3.88], P=0.026). Applying the rule to two further, smaller datasets showed the same tendency. Mechanistic studies revealed that IFNγ/IL10 was negatively associated with pathogen load in spiked human blood. An in silico analysis of published IFNγ and IL10 values in bacteremic and non-bacteremic SIRS patients supported this association between the ratio and pathogen burden. Conclusion If confirmed prospectively, the IFNγ/IL10 ratio could be used as a rapidly available theranostic for use of hydrocortisone therapy in septic shock.


Contemporary politics concerning those with Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD) revolves around a contest between the medical
perspective of autism as a pathology in need of a cure and the
autism acceptance perspective, which maintains that autism is a
normal human variation. Neither of these extremes provides a
sustainable solution to the dilemma of empowerment and care for
the people with ASD. Even more, each of the extremes runs the
risk of reproducing ableism, a cultural status quo that
privileges an able-bodied 'norm' and re-establishes hierarchies
of ability upon people with ASD. The call for personal
assistance, a pillar of independent life for people with
disabilities, reframes the policy of the individual approach
for people with ASD by ensuring better continuity between
assessment and intervention. The current Czech policy
concerning people with disabilities remains aligned with the
approach introduced in the late 1980s that divides people with
disabilities into categories according to the degree of their
dependence instead of refining the approach in line with needs
assessment and individualizing interventions. How do different
actors respond to the obvious lack of personal assistance to
people with ASD? This article examines the impact of
governmental bodies responsible for disability policy, the
regional authorities and civil society actors on reproducing
post-socialist path dependence on medicalised assessment, the
centralised approach to funding, and the univocity with
residential care. We apply the 'Assessing Personal Assistance
Schemes', a multi-faceted set of criteria aimed at monitoring
the right to independent life, for indicating options
concerning sustainable switching to personal assistance


Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with an increased risk for development of duodenal ulcers, gastric ulcers, gastric adenocarcinomas and gastric lymphomas. However, resistant strains have developed because of antibiotic treatment. In this study, the water, acetone, chloroform and methanol extracts of two Solancaceae plants, Solanum erianthum and Solanum torvum (ST), were tested for their anti-H. pylori activity. All of ST extracts were able to inhibit the growth of H. pylori and showed better activities against antibiotic strains than the reference strain. Among them, chloroform extract of ST (ST-C) possessed the strongest ability to inhibit H. pylori growth. Association assay was performed by the ST-C showing that ST-C was able to interrupt the association of bacteria to host cells. Furthermore, H. pylori-induced apoptosis could also be efficiently suppressed by the ST-C. It was able to interfere with the interaction between bacteria and host cells and also target H. pylori-induced gastric injury by suppressing apoptosis. Therefore, ST-C may offer a new approach for the treatment of H. pylori. Further studies on the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of the growth inhibition on H. pylori by ST-C, and to identify active compounds in the plants are in progress.


Obesity is a complex worldwide disease, characterized by an abnormal or excessive fat accumulation. The onset of this pathology is generally linked to a complex network of interactions among genetic and environmental factors, aging, lifestyle, and diets. During adipogenesis, several regulatory mechanisms and transcription factors are involved. As fat cells grow, adipose tissue becomes increasingly large and dysfunctional, losing its endocrine function, secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines, and recruiting infiltrating macrophages. This long-term low-grade systemic inflammation results in insulin resistance in peripheral tissues. In this review we describe the main mechanisms involved in adipogenesis, from a physiological condition to obesity. Current therapeutic strategies for the management of obesity and the related metabolic syndrome are also reported.


We demonstrate an interference method to determine the low-energy elastic scattering amplitudes of a quantum gas. We linearly accelerate two ultracold atomic clouds up to energies of 1.2 mK and observe the collision halo by direct imaging in free space. From the interference between s- and d- partial waves in the differential scattering pattern we extract the corresponding phase shifts. The method does not require knowledge of the atomic density. This allows us to infer accurate values for the s- and d-wave scattering amplitudes from the zero-energy limit up to the first Ramsauer minimum using only the van der Waals C6 coefficient as theoretical input. For the 87Rb triplet potential, the method reproduces the scattering length with an accuracy of 6%.