Diabetes mellitus is a worldwide epidemic with high mortality. As concern over this disease rises, the number and value of research grants awarded by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) have increased. Diabetes mellitus is classified into two groups. Type 1 diabetes requires insulin treatment, whereas type 2 diabetes, which is characterized by insulin resistance, can be treated using a variety of therapeutic approaches. Hyperglycemia is thought to be a primary factor in the onset of diabetes, although hyperlipidemia also plays a role. The major organs active in the regulation of blood glucose are the pancreas, liver, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, intestine, and kidney. Diabetic complications are generally classified as macrovascular (e.g., stroke and heart disease) or microvascular (i.e., diabetic neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy). Several animal models of diabetes have been used to develop oral therapeutic agents, including sulfonylureas, biguanides, thiazolidinediones, acarbose, and miglitol, for both type 1 and type 2 diseases. This review provides an overview of diabetes mellitus, describes oral therapeutic agents for diabetes and their targets, and discusses new developments in diabetic drug research.


A 19-year-old male student attended the neurology clinic with intermittent sensory and motor deficits. These had begun three years earlier when he had woken up with numbness in the medial aspect of the left forearm, little finger, and ulnar half of the ring finger. There was also moderate weakness in the fingers of the left hand, particularly in the extension of the ring and little fingers. The symptoms had persisted for several months, leaving a residual intermittent numbness in the same distribution, particularly for several hours after waking from sleep. Eighteen months before attending the neurology clinic, he had experienced similar symptoms in the right arm, which had persisted for several months before resolving completely.

Three months before attending the clinic, he had woken up with left-sided foot drop, numbness of the dorsum of the left foot (mainly over the tarsal and metatarsal bones), and hyperpathia on the lateral aspect of the left lower leg. The weakness subsequently improved over several months, leaving minimal weakness of ankle dorsiflexion. The sensory deficit in the left lower leg resolved.

There were no other neurological or systemic symptoms. His early development had been normal, although he had not been good at sports. He did not smoke, and did not drink alcohol in excess. There was no family history of either neurological disease or of abnormally shaped feet.

On examination, there was mild wasting of the hypothenar and interossei muscles of both hands, more pronounced on the left. There was mild weakness of left ankle dorsiflexion. Reflexes were absent, apart from both triceps jerks and the left biceps jerk. Plantar responses were flexor. There was hyperpathia over …


Smokers have high plaque accumulation that initiates gingival inflammation and progresses to periodontitis. Thus, oral hygiene to control microbial plaque formation is an effective method of preventing gingivitis. Medicinal plants such as Moringa oleifera Lam. (MO) and Cyanthillium cinereum (Less.) H. Rob. (CC) have an anti-inflammatory effect that might improve oral health in smokers. This study evaluated the effect of MO leaf and CC extracts using MO lozenges and a combination of MO + CC lozenges on oral inflammation and gingivitis in volunteer smokers. Lozenges consisting of MO and CC extracts were developed and studied in vivo. The results showed that lozenges significantly reduced oral inflammation and gingivitis in volunteers. The gingival index (GI) of group III (MO + CC lozenges) significantly decreased, while the percentage decrease of oral inflammation in group II (MO lozenges) was significantly higher than the other groups. The percentage decrease of GI values in group II (MO lozenges) and group III (MO + CC lozenges) were significantly higher than the placebo group I. Our findings indicated that MO and MO + CC lozenges reduced oral inflammation and gingivitis and showed potential to improve oral health in smokers.


Steganalysis is the method used to detect the presence of any hidden message in a cover medium. A novel approach based on feature mining on the discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain based approach, machine learning for steganalysis of JPEG images is proposed. The neighboring joint density on both intra-block and inter-block are extracted from the DCT coefficient array. After the feature space has been constructed, it uses SVM like binary classifier for training and classification. The performance of the proposed method on different Steganographic systems named F5, Pixel Value Differencing, Model Based Steganography with and without deblocking, JPHS, Steghide etc are analyzed. Individually each feature and combined features classification accuracy is checked and concludes which provides better classification.


Nanostructured PVA polymer composites are of rapidly growing interest because of their sized-coupled properties. The present article deals with both ZnO and WO3 embedded in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix using a solvent casting method. These films were characterized using FTIR, XRD, and SEM techniques. The FTIR spectra of the doped PVA shows shift in the bands, which can be understood on the basis of intra/inter molecular hydrogen bonding with the adjacent OH group of PVA. The phase homogeneity and morphology of the polymer composites have been analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The crystal structure and crystallinity of polymer nanocomposites were studied by X-ray diffraction technique (XRD). Thus due to the interaction of dopant and complex formation, the structural repositioning takes place and crystallinity of the nanocomposites decreases.


Though endogenous S‐nitroso‐l‐cysteine (l‐CSNO) signaling at the level of the carotid body increases minute ventilation (v̇E), neither the background data nor the potential clinical relevance are well‐understood by pulmonologists in general, or by pediatric pulmonologists in particular. Here, we first review how regulation of the synthesis, activation, transmembrane transport, target interaction, and degradation of l‐CSNO can affect the ventilatory drive. In particular, we review l‐CSNO formation by hemoglobin R to T conformational change and by nitric oxide (NO) synthases (NOS), and the downstream effects on v̇E through interaction with voltage‐gated K+ (Kv) channel proteins and other targets in the peripheral and central nervous systems. We will review how these effects are independent of—and, in fact may be opposite to—those of NO. Next, we will review evidence that specific elements of this pathway may underlie disorders of respiratory control in childhood. Finally, we will review the potential clinical implications of this pathway in the development of respiratory stimulants, with a particular focus on potential pediatric applications.


Abstract Mastication reduced the molecular weight of natural rubber (NR). This would affect the tensile properties and strain-induced crystallization of the rubber vulcanizates due to the structural changes of the rubber molecules. In this study, influences of mastication time on tensile response, deformation-induced crystallization, and structural effects of crosslinked NR were investigated. The crystallization behavior and structural changes during stretching were studied by means of wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Increased mastication time significantly affected modulus at specified strain and upturn point of strain-induced crystallization of the crosslinked samples while the tensile strength was influenced slightly by mastication. During stretching, degree of crystallinity at given strain was found to decrease with increasing mastication time, while the crystallite size was reduced. Moreover, the size of crosslinked network structures induced by crosslinking also decreased slightly with increasing mastication time, as suggested by SAXS measurement.


Summary A 5-year-old female intact Mastiff dog was presented with a history of vaginal discharge for 1 day. Physical examination revealed a sanguineo- purulent vaginal discharge and systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Abdominal radiographs showed several dilated and gasfilled tubular loops. The differential diagnoses included emphysematous pyometra or small intestinal mechanical ileus. Surgical exploration of the abdomen demonstrated a severely dilated and gas-filled uterus, and emphysematous pyometra was confirmed. The patient's clinical signs resolved after ovariohysterectomy. Histopathology revealed mild endometrial cystic hyperplasia with infiltration of inflammatory cells in the superficial endometrial epithelia. Enterococcus avium, an α-hemolytic gram-positive coccus, was isolated from the uterus. This paper highlights the radiographic features of emphysematous pyometra and a pathogen that has never been reported to be associated with canine pyometra previously.


Abstract Background: Exposure to cigarette smoke is causing health problems, its components are known to possess carcinogenic, mutagenic, cytotoxic or irritant properties. Prevalence of smoking in pregnant women is between 17% and 35% worldwide. Passive smoking is identified as a factor with negative impact on health, and children are especially vulnerable. Children raised in families with smokers have a higher incidence of respiratory infections, recurrent wheezing, bronchitis, nocturnal cough and asthma. The aim of this study was determination of sensitization to various allergens in children exposed to cigarette smoke compared with children not exposed to cigarette smoke. Material and method: One-hundred eighty children treated in Pediatric Clinic 1 of Tîrgu Mureș were included in the study between 2008- 2011. The patients were divided into two groups: 50 children exposed to cigarette smoke and 130 children not exposed. Measurement of lung function was performed in children over 4 years using a spirometer. Serum specific IgE was analyzed to inhalatory and food allergens. Wheezing phenotype was determined in children younger than 4 years and exposure to cigarette smoke was evaluated based on parents' responses to questionnaires. Results: There was a significantly greater likelihood of developing sensitivity in children exposed to tobacco smoke than in those not exposed to dermatophagoides pteronissimus, dermatophagoides farinae, milk and grass pollen. Conclusions: During early childhood both pre- and postnatal tobacco smoke exposure has an adjuvant effect on allergic sensitization inhalatory and food allergens.


Eukaryotic gene expression is constantly regulated and controlled by the translation-coupled nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway. Aberrant translation termination leads to NMD activation and robust clearance of NMD targets via two seemingly independent and redundant mRNA degradation branches. Here, we uncover that the loss of the first SMG5-SMG7-dependent pathway also inactivates the second SMG6-dependent branch, indicating an unexpected functional hierarchy of the final NMD steps. Transcriptome-wide analyses of SMG5-SMG7-depleted cells confirm complete NMD inhibition resulting in massive transcriptomic alterations. The NMD activity conferred by SMG5-SMG7 is determined to varying degrees by their interaction with the central NMD factor UPF1, heterodimer formation and the initiation of deadenylation. Surprisingly, we find that SMG5 functionally substitutes SMG7 and vice versa. Our data support an improved model for NMD execution that requires two-factor authentication involving UPF1 phosphorylation and SMG5-SMG7 recruitment to access SMG6 activity.


Tremie concrete has been extensively used in challenging marine environments. Its recent application in the Olmsted Dam has provides one example of the advancement in the sophistication of the technology. In this paper, the complete placement procedures for tremie concrete in the Olmsted dam built by means of in-the-wet construction are presented together with the desired characteristics and corresponding mix designs. The use of Nonlinear Incremental Structural Analysis (NISA) for the determination of thermal effects in both the tremie concrete and its enveloping concrete shell is also reviewed. A mock-up test, which was used to test the constructability of the tremie concrete, is presented at the end. Several findings are included in this paper. During the initial tremie concrete placement, the formation of a seal of fresh concrete created by mounding concrete at the embedded end of the tremie pipe was identified as a key factor for a successful operation. Self-consolidation and good flowability were found to be other desired characteristics for the tremie concrete, which are proved to be achieved by the presented mix design. A high percentage of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) can significantly reduce the concrete heat of hydration. Proper admixture can enhance the performance of the tremie concrete. No potential major thermal cracks were identified through the use of NISA. The tremie concrete was confirmed by the tests to be able to fully infill the voids and have a high quality.


Abstract We analysed the effects of weather and climatic patterns on the productivity of the White Stork in Hungary between 1958 and 2017, using i) linear mixed effect models (LMM), ii) LMM-s extended by a single random effect variable or a nested combination; iii) LMM-s extended by a single fixed effect variable and iv) using an additive model of the selected variables. As a preselection, the following climatic variables were identified with substantial support: March mean temperature, March precipitation, April mean temperature, June mean temperature, June precipitation (negative), July mean temperature. The slight increase of the mean number of fledged chicks over 59 years could be the result of the increasing mean temperature, but in itself it might not be strong enough to prove that climate change will overall benefit White Stork productivity. Higher temperature and precipitation values are favourable, probably because of the higher biomass, providing more prey, but high precipitation is unfavourable until the thermoregulation of chicks is not developed. Decreasing amounts of precipitation may cause loss of wetlands as suitable feeding sites. Extreme weather is important to complement the picture given by climate change.


We investigate the evolution in colour and morphology of the progenitors of red-sequence galaxies in the EAGLE cosmological hydrodynamical simulation. We quantify colours with u* − r* intrinsic magnitudes and morphologies with a measure of the stellar kinematics. The time when galaxies moved on to the red sequence depends on their morphology. Disc-type galaxies tend to have become red during the last 3 Gyr, while elliptical-type galaxies joined the red sequence earlier, with half the sample already being red 5 Gyr ago. The time-scale, τGreen, of colour transition through the 'green valley' depends weakly on the galaxy's morphological type. Elliptical-type galaxies cross the green valley slightly faster (τGreen ≈ 1 Gyr) than disc-type galaxies (τGreen ≈ 1.5 Gyr). While τGreen is similar for central and satellite galaxies, for satellites τGreen decreases with increasing stellar mass to host-halo mass ratio. Coupled with our finding that galaxies tend to become green after becoming satellites, this indicates that satellite-specific processes are important for quenching red-sequence galaxies. The last time central, elliptical-type red-sequence galaxies left the blue cloud is strongly correlated with the time the luminosity of the central black hole peaked, but this is not the case for discs. This suggests that active galactic nuclei (AGNs) feedback is important for quenching ellipticals, particularly centrals, but not for discs. We find only a weak connection between transformations in colour and morphology.


During the design process of compressor and turbine blades the investigation of flutter phenomena becomes increasingly important since higher load and better efficiency are desired. As an improvement on the numerical analysis and prediction of unsteady flow through turbomachine cascades with vibrating blades a time accurate Navier Stokes code for S1-stream surfaces SAFES1 is presented within the scope of this paper. To validate the code, numerical results for sub- and transonic test cases of a turbine and a compressor cascade are compared with experimental data. Their good agreement and comparison with Euler calculations show the necessity to take into account viscous effects. To cope with shock waves and areas of separation in laminar or turbulent flow, the fully non linearized Navier Stokes equations are solved using an algebraic turbulence model by Baldwin and Lomax. An approximative upwind flux difference splitting scheme suggested by Roe is implemented. Third order spatial accuracy can be achieved by the MUSCL technique in conjunction with a TVD scheme and a flux limiter by van Albada. By applying either an explicit or an implicit scheme the algorithm can give second order temporal accuracy. The implicit scheme exactly describes the time dependent solution by following a Newton subiteration for every time step.The blades are discretized in a single passage by a C- or O-type grid. The harmonic motion of the blades is bending or torsion or both simultaneously in a non-rotating or rotating frame of reference. For the chosen mode of oscillation the time dependent axial and circumferential blade forces are determined as well as the resulting moment and damping coefficient. To handle a phaseshift between the motion of the blades a direct store method is used. For the unsteady grid movement a fast grid generation is performed in the core region.Copyright © 1997 by ASME


This paper analyzes whether the presence of a second unregulated externality influences the choice between a price and a quantity instrument to address an externality. The author studies a situation in which two goods jointly generate an externality but only one of them is regulated. The two instruments differ because of the presence of uncertainty regarding the private value of the two goods. To ignore the unregulated good and apply Weitzman's classical result on the comparison of the slopes of marginal benefit and cost could be misleading because of the randomness of the unregulated good's quantity. Beside the relative slope of the marginal damage, the substitutability and the distribution of shocks play a role in the comparison. If there is a "cocktail effect" and the regulated and unregulated goods' quantities are negatively correlated, which occurs if they are substitutes, this reinforces the appeal of a price instrument. Furthermore, if the two goods are weak substitutes with correlated demands, the variance of the quantity of the unregulated good is larger under a quota than a tax, which further reinforces the appeal of the tax instrument.


There is an urgent need for more efficient and more targeted methods of prostate cancer treatment. We have previously shown PLA2G7 (also known as lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2, Lp-PLA2) to be a possible biomarker and drug target especially in ERG positive prostate cancers by combining gene expression data from prostate cancer tissues in vivo and functional RNAi studies in vitro. To further study the potential of PLA2G7 in prostate cancer management immunohistochemical staining of 119 clinical prostate cancer samples and 112 adjacent normal prostate samples were performed. In addition, a global lipidomic, eicosanoid and gene expression analysis was utilized to study the effect of PLA2G7 silencing in ERG oncogene positive prostate cancer cells. The results emphasized high expression of PLA2G7 in 66 % of the cancer samples, whereas less than 4 % of the adjacent normal tissues showed positive staining. Furthermore, PLA2G7 expression significantly correlated with high Gleason score. PLA2G7 silencing in vitro induced a reduction in the amount of lysophosphatidyl choline and leukotriene E4, as well as in the expression of multiple genes and signaling pathways involved in cell adhesion and motility. In accordance, knock-down of PLA2G7 in 3D prostate cancer cell culture model lead to decreased invasion to extracellular matrix. Interestingly, PLA2G7 silencing also reduced the expression of ALDH1A1, a marker for malignant prostate stem cells and predictor of poor prostate cancer outcome. In conclusion, these novel findings suggest an oncogenic role for PLA2G7 in aggressive prostate cancers and support the rationale for PLA2G7 targeted therapy in these cancers. A novel PLA2G7 inhibitor is currently under clinical evaluation for cardiovascular diseases, presenting thus an interesting opportunity for drug repositioning to other indications, such as prostate cancer. In addition, lipid-lowering statins are known to lower PLA2G7 mass and activity, therefore PLA2G7 may also represent a target of lipid-lowering therapy in reducing the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2597. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2597


We introduce the concept of a QA-Pagelet to refer to the content region in a dynamic page that contains query matches. We present THOR, a scalable and efficient mining system for discovering and extracting QA-Pagelets from the deep Web. A unique feature of THOR is its two-phase extraction framework. In the first phase, pages from a deep Web site are grouped into distinct clusters of structurally-similar pages. In the second phase, pages from each page cluster are examined through a subtree filtering algorithm that exploits the structural and content similarity at subtree level to identify the QA-Pagelets.


Purified glycolipids were tested for their ability to serve as acceptors of [14C]fucose from GDP-[14C]fucose as catalyzed by cell-free extracts and purified membrane fractions of human colorectal carcinoma cells, SW1116, cultured in serum-free medium. Purified lactotetraosyl ceramide (Gal beta 1----3GlcNAc beta 1----3Gal beta 1----4Glc-Cer or LcOse4Cer) and H-1 glycolipid (Fuc alpha 1----2Gal beta 1----3GlcNAc beta 1----3Gal beta 1----4Glc-Cer or IV2 Fuc alpha LcOse4Cer) stimulated incorporation of radioactivity into lipid-soluble glycolipid at a rate greater than ten times that of Lea glycolipid [Gal beta 1----3(Fuc alpha 1----4)GlcNAc beta 1----3Gal beta 1----4Glc-Cer or III4 Fuc alpha LcOse4Cer]. The enzymatic activities in crude and purified membrane fractions were optimized for substrate concentrations (glycolipid and GDP-fucose), detergent requirement (taurocholate), pH, time and protein. The radioactive product of H-1 fucosylation migrated as discrete and distinct bands on high-performance thin-layer chromatograms (HPTLC). Evidence for their identity with Leb fucolipid described previously [Fuc alpha 1----2Gal beta 1----3(Fuc alpha 1----4)GlcNAc beta 1----3Gal beta 1----4Glc-Cer or III4IV2 (Fuc alpha) LcOse4Cer] is presented. The radioactive product of LcOse4Cer fucosylation was mainly Lea fucolipid as determined by co-migration with authentic Lea fucolipid in three HPTLC systems as native and acetylated derivatives. Our results also indicated a low level of H-1 and Leb glycolipid synthesis from LcOse4Cer. On the basis of the optima, linearity for time, and enzyme-limiting conditions, we obtained a 12-19-fold purification of the LcOse4Cer and H-1 fucosyl transferase acceptor activities in three peaks of a sucrose gradient. The peak with the highest specific activity (peak 3) was highest in density and in Na+, K+, ATPase specific activity, although NADH-cytochrome-c reductase and UDP-GalNac transferase were also present in peak 3. The apparent Km values of LcOse4Cer acceptor activity and H-1 acceptor activity in peak 3 were significantly different (p less than 0.01) by statistical tests, 2.4 microM and 0.5 microM, respectively. These apparent Km values were much lower (10(3) X) and the pH optima were lower (4.8-5.3), than the corresponding properties reported for the alpha 1----3/alpha 1----4 fucosyl transferase purified from human milk. Our results suggest a role for the non-glycosidic moieties of the acceptors and/or the tissue-specific or primitive expression of these fucosyl transferase activities.


Participatory approaches to natural resource management and development have become widely accepted as the most effective instruments for achieving sustainable resource management particularly in the developing nations. This paper presents a participatory modeling framework that is consistent with participatory method of assessing sustainable forest management. Under this participatory modeling framework, a number of techniques have been developed aimed at: 1) communicating the concept of sustainable forestry to local communities, 2) soliciting direct input and active participation of local communities in the planning and decision-making process, and 3) seeking active involvement of local stakeholders in the formulation of the models and in their implementation for generating strategies and action plans. These models include: multi-criteria analysis, cognitive mapping, qualitative, and quantitative system dynamics. The models can be stand-alone models, or they can be combined together to constitute a more robust and flexible planning framework. These models have been applied to a number of case studies in the Philippines, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, and Ontario, Canada. Experiences and lessons learned from a selected set of applications are described in the paper.


Study of Long Term Post-Treatment of Whole Egg Powder at 50-55°C In our experiment whole egg powder samples (infected with Salmonella Enteritidis for microbiological tests) were treated at 50.38-54.62°C for 6.41-24.09 h and tested for decrease in Salmonella count or changes in their solubility and colour. Central Composite Rotational Design (CCRD) was used in our tests. In all tests performed within the testing range we achieved a decrease in Salmonella count of at least 5 magnitudes and in cases when the samples were treated at min. 52.5°C for at least 9 h no viable Salmonella could be detected in the whole egg samples at the end of treatments. Our measurements have shown that deterioration of solubility and discolouration was significantly affected only by the temperature change (p<0.05).


The present investigation deals with the deformation of a micropolar elastic solid with void overlying a semi-infinite inviscid fluid subjected at the plane interface due to various sources. Laplace and Fourier transform techniques have been used to solve the problem. The expressions of the displacement components, stress, couple stress and change in volume fraction field are obtained in the transformed domain. As an application of the approach (i) concentrated force (ii) uniformly distributed force (iii) linearly distributed force (iv) moving couple have been taken to illustrate the utility of the approach. A particular case of interest have been deduced from the investigation.


Objective To investigate the protective effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major polyphenol source in green tea, against hepatic ischaemia–reperfusion injury in mice. Methods The partial hepatic ischaemia–reperfusion injury model was created by employing the hanging-weight method in C57BL/6 male mice. EGCG (50 mg/kg) was administered via an intraperitoneal injection 45 min before performing the reperfusion. A number of markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis and liver injury were measured after the ischaemia–reperfusion injury had been induced. Results The treatment groups were: sham-operated (Sham, n = 10), hepatic ischaemia–reperfusion injury (IR, n = 10), and EGCG with ischaemia–reperfusion injury (EGCG-treated IR, n = 10). Hepatic ischaemia–reperfusion injury increased the levels of biochemical and histological markers of liver injury, increased the levels of malondialdehyde, reduced the glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio, increased the levels of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation markers, decreased B-cell lymphoma 2 levels, and increased the levels of Bax, cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-3, and cleaved caspase-9. Pretreatment with EGCG ameliorated all of these changes. Conclusion The antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects of EGCG protected against hepatic ischaemia–reperfusion injury in mice.


When running a fuel cell system in load following mode, several operating points (i.e. a combination of gas flow rates, pressures, humidities, temperatures and current density) can provide the required net power. Typically, only one of those operating points is exploited in traditional fuel cell system control. This paper introduces a model-based approach to determine and optimise overall fuel cell system efficiency by choosing an appropriate operating point for a given required net system power. This optimum steady-state operating point can be communicated to the control system as a set point value


Following numerous reports confirming the role of erosive chronic gastritis and ulcer, several treatment protocols have been used with the aim of eradicating this microorganism. Elimination was initially achieved using polychemotherapeutic associationsbismuth salts+metronidazole+amoxycillin and/or tetracyclineswhich proved relatively efficacious in therapeutic terms, but often led to side effects, the onset of bacterial resistance and scarse patient compliance. The authors consider that these limits can be overcome by using a new association of homeprazole+azithromycin, whose effica-cy in the eradication of Helicobacter pylo-ri has been shown to be of about 85% of cases treated for a relatively short period (4 weeks).


Statement of Problem: Acute pain and swelling following root canal therapy is considered as flare up. Pushing the infectious debris to the periapical region. Inadequate chemical and mechanical cleaning are the reasons for inflammation of this area. Microorganisms are the major causative agents of acute peri-radicular inflammation. Adequate and appropriate irrigation of the canal removes the intra-canal microorganisms, debris and infected agents from the canal space and may decrease pain and swelling. On the other hand, caustic effect of intra-canal irrigants may cause acute inflammation in the peri-radicular tissue. Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of three intra-canal irrigants on the incidence of flare-up following root canal therapy of the teeth with necrotic pulp. Materials and Method: In this clinical trial study, 225 patients with molar necrotic pulp and peri-radicular lesion were selected and randomly divided into three groups, 75 in each. Protaper Rotary files were used for preparing the canals and 2.5% sodium hypochlorite, 0.2% Chlorhexidine gluconate or saline were used for irrigation of the canals in each group respectively. Then, they were filled by lateral condensation technique. Questionnaires were given to the patients, asking for the level of their pain and swelling. The patients were followed for 48 hours. The data were statistically analyzed, using Chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: The results of this study showed no significant difference between irrigant solutions in the incidence of flare-up after endodontic treatment. Conclusion: Our clinical research indicated that the type of irrigating solution used makes little difference in the incidence of postoperative flare-up. It is difficult to attribute flare-up incidence specifically to the use of any particular irrigant. Key words: Flare-up, Sodium hypochlorite, Chlorhexidine gluconate, Saline


It was a pleasure to read and review this comprehensive book edited by Meir Steiner and colleagues. As a clinician with an interest in women's mental health, this book was a godsend. The 31 chapters in Mood Disorders in Women provide comprehensive coverage of a broad range of topics related to women and psychiatry. International contributors, including 6 from Canada, hail from Italy, Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Australia, Belgium, Scotland and the United States. This is truly an international collaboration and may have come out of the Marcee Society, to which many of these clinicians belong.

It seems to me that the purpose of this book is to educate us, but also to raise our awareness of the incredible paucity of information regarding women's mental health. By reviewing the literature and noting that what we don't know about this area far outweighs what we do know, the authors hope, as do I, that some corrective action will be taken.

In reading this book, I found myself constantly looking at the references and running to the library to read them for myself. This volume is excellently referenced — it is an evidence-based book that balances review of the literature with pragmatic guidelines.

The first 2 chapters of the book discuss hormonal, neurobiological, sociopolitical, economic and evolutionary theories as to why twice as many women as men suffer from mood disorders. These theoretical chapters are followed by 2 very scientific chapters on neuroanatomy and neurochemistry. I found parts of these biological chapters difficult to read — especially the discussion of rat and primate brains. However, this highlights the paucity of information on humans and the possible sex differences in this area.

The chapter entitled "Gender Differences in Dysthymia" deals with double depression, dysthymia and chronic depression and what is known about women with these conditions. The review of the literature here is sparse, again pointing out the lack of information in these areas. There is an in-depth look at one study by Yonkers in this chapter, which I didn't find particularly helpful, but given that she wrote the chapter, this is forgivable.

The chapter on unipolar depression is well written, especially the review of sex differences in pharmacokinetics.

Leibunluft, who wrote the chapter on bipolar illness in women, has edited a whole book on this topic, which certainly makes her an expert. However, she emphasizes that it is difficult to know whether to treat pregnant women with bipolar illness because the clinical course of the disease has not yet been elucidated in pregnant women. This is a huge problem for those of us who treat these women.

Three chapters are devoted to reviewing the effects of steroids and hormones on the brain. There is detailed and rich information here, including a review of oral contraceptives and studies of the effects of androgens on women.

The chapter on grief and bereavement in women was disappointing. Much has been written about the loss of a spouse, and this chapter merely parrots what we already know. More helpful would have been information and guidance on treating mothers who have lost children. This is an area that is emotionally difficult, clinically, and needs more research.

Another chapter poorly done is entitled "Seasonal Affective Disorder." It provides a superficial look at the topic, without much mention to sex differences. Having just attended a lecture by a Canadian psychiatrist, Dr. Raymond Lam, on this topic, I wonder why he was not asked to write on this topic. His knowledge and ongoing research would be worth sharing with the reading audience.

The review of late life mood disorders has very little mention of sex differences and lacks discussion of the psychosocial stressors faced by the elderly.

The following 5 chapters are reviews of the literature on topics related to reproductive psychiatry and follow the life cycle. These include chapters on menarche, the premenstrual period, pregnancy, the postpartum period and lactation. Most wonderful is the list of references here. With some overlap, there are over 650 articles and books listed in these 5 chapters alone. This is heaven for those of us who wish to read the original literature. As well, there are practical, clinical reviews for psychiatrists who need guidance on the treatment of psychiatric conditions related to reproductive issues.

The chapter on personality disorders reviews sex differences in diagnostic criteria, precipitating life events and prevalence and reminds us of the futility of categorizing neuroses. It also gives helpful insights about the sex-related biases in the DSM and ICD methods of diagnosis.

The chapter on eating disorders reviews the literature and summarizes salient studies. I especially liked the chapter on the more general topics of obesity, weight gain and dieting. It provides a wonderful refreshing look, using a scientific stance, at a common concern for women. The authors report on the connection between overeating, mood states, tryptophan ingestion and serotonin synthesis. They also point out that, contrary to all other areas, women are vastly over-represented in the eating disorder literature.

The chapter "Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Women" debunks the myth that substance dependence in women is more often a secondary consequence of another psychiatric disorder than it is in men. As well, the notion that substance dependence is less severe in women is challenged.

Pain disorders, a relatively understudied area in psychiatry, are also more prevalent in women, and this chapter reviews the understanding of the relation between pain disorders and mood and anxiety disorders in women.

There is also a chapter on psychoneuroimmunology, which is a huge and rapidly growing area of research. The main take-home message of this chapter is that we are just beginning to understand the complex mind–body interactions and, in particular, the way mood states affect our immune system.

"Sex Differences in Medication Treatment of Depression" highlights sex differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Although this information is not new, it is useful to have it reviewed. There is also a review of the effects hormonal fluctuations in women (other than in pregnancy and lactation) have on metabolism and the clearance of agents used in the treatment of depressive disorders.

The chapter on psychosocial treatment for mood disorders in women is written by 2 therapists intimately knowledgeable in interpersonal psychotherapy. This is a very important area, and the authors stress that, although some research has been done in this area, there is a vast deficit in our knowledge of what works for whom in pregnant and lactating women with mental illness.

The last chapter was troubling, to my mind. I took offense to Ms. Phillips' accusation that we all work in the "male medical model." As a female psychiatrist who used to be a female general practitioner, I think Ms. Phillips is out of touch. Philosophically, a model is neither "male" nor "female" — just as money is neither "good" nor "bad." These things are gender neutral. It is the beholder who is sex biased. Ms. Phillips' assertion that a woman must be "expert about her life" puts a heavy burden on women already prone to guilt and suffering. It is this attitude that often prevents women from coming for help, I find. There is no shame in not knowing everything and asking for expert opinion. It may be that Ms. Phillips is talking more about those of us who have neurosis or psychosocial stressors, rather than mental illness.

Research on women's mental health and mental illness will increase as women climb corporate ladders to hold more influential positions as university administrators and research directors. To do this, there needs to be more women in medical schools and in specialties. This is currently the case, at least in Canada, so we are on our way to furthering research on women's mental health issues.


Meet the world's most dangerous man. Or is he? Who is the real Vladimir Putin? What does he want? And what will he do next? Despite the millions of words written on Putin's Russia, the West still fails to truly understand one of the world's most powerful politicians, whose influence spans the globe and whose networks of power reach into the very heart of our daily lives. In this essential primer, Professor Mark Galeotti uncovers the man behind the myth, addressing the key misperceptions of Putin and explaining how we can decipher his motivations and next moves. From Putin's early life in the KGB and his real relationship with the USA to his vision for the future of Russia – and the world – Galeotti draws on new Russian sources and explosive unpublished accounts to give unparalleled insight into the man at the heart of global politics.


The relationships between rodent malarias were examined by means of DNA buoyant density determinations and DNA--DNA hybridization data. Current views of the existence in this group of four species: Plasmodium berghei, P. yoelli, P. vinckei and P. chabaudi were confirmed. The identity of two chloroquine-resistant lines derived from P. berghei N strain was established. One of these, the NS line, was found to be a subspecies of P. yoelii; the implications of this finding are discussed.


We report on the first millisecond timescale radio interferometric search for the new class of transient known as fast radio bursts (FRBs). We used the Very Large Array (VLA) for a 166 hr, millisecond imaging campaign to detect and precisely localize an FRB. We observed at 1.4 GHz and produced visibilities with 5 ms time resolution over 256 MHz of bandwidth. Dedispersed images were searched for transients with dispersion measures from 0 to 3000 pc cm−3. No transients were detected in observations of high Galactic latitude fields taken from 2013 September though 2014 October. Observations of a known pulsar show that images typically had a thermal-noise limited sensitivity of 120 mJy beam−1 ( 8 &sgr; ?> ; Stokes I) in 5 ms and could detect and localize transients over a wide field of view. Our nondetection limits the FRB rate to less than 7 × 10 4 ?> sky−1 day−1 (95% confidence) above a fluence limit of 1.5 Jy ms. The VLA rate limit is consistent with past estimates when published flux limits are recalculated with a homogeneous definition that includes effects of primary beam attenuation, dispersion, pulse width, and sky brightness. This calculation revises the FRB rate downward by a factor of 2, giving the VLA observations a roughly 50% chance of detecting a typical FRB, assuming a pulse width of 3 ms. A 95% confidence constraint would require 600 hr of similar VLA observing. Our survey also limits the repetition rate of an FRB to 2 times less than any known repeating millisecond radio transient.


BACKGROUND
Pathophysiology of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is multifactorial. Inflammation and increased oxidative stress play a significant role in POAF development. Neopterin, a biomarker of cellular immune response that enhances oxidative stress and increases the cytotoxic potential of activated macrophages and dendritic cells, was recently found as an independent predictive biomarker of non-operative atrial fibrillation. However, as far as we know, neopterin has never been investigated in POAF.

AIM
The study aimed to assess neopterin concentration as a prognostic biomarker of POAF following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

METHODS
101 (80.2% males, 85% off-pump, 15% on-pump) patients were included. Blood samples were taken from patients at three-time points: (1) before operation (NP0); (2) on the first day after the operation (NP1); and (3) between the fifth and eighth day after the procedure (NP5-8) for analysis of serum neopterin and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). All factors (preoperative, echocardiographic, and surgical) significant in univariate analysis were included in a multivariable logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS
POAF occurred in 30 patients (30%). In the analyzed multivariable logistic regression models, the independent predictors of POAF occurrence were: higher NP0 concentration (odds ratio [OR], 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.38 for continuous and OR, 3.75; 95%CI, 1.39-10.1 for NP0 cut-off >8.7 nM/l), higher body mass index (OR, 1.15; 95% CI 1.02-1.29), history of pulmonary disease (OR, 6.72; 95% CI 1.57-28), increased diastolic thickness of interventricular septum (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.14-1.83), and duration of operation (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.03-1.36).

CONCLUSIONS
We found that elevated neopterin concentration before CABG may be a predictive biomarker of POAF.


Energy-time features of X ray microbursts are examined and compared with the predictions of a test particle simulation model of wave-induced electron precipitation resulting from gyroresonant wave-particle interactions in the magnetosphere. The observations were obtained on a balloon flight at Siple station, Antarctica (L ≈ 4.2) on December 30, 1980. The energy and time evolution of the microbursts were studied for X rays in the energy range from 25 to 175 keV. An algorithm designed to search the E > 25 keV counting rate data for single isolated microbursts identified 651 events in a 3-hr interval. The distribution of burst durations ranged from 0.2 to 1.2 s. Approximately two-thirds of the distribution were narrow bursts (0.2–0.6 s), the rest wide (0.6–1.2 s), with the average burst durations equal to ∼0.4 s and ∼0.7 s, respectively, for the two classes. The precipitation was characterized by exponential electron spectra with e-folding energies Eo of 25-50 keV. Individual and superposed microburst profiles show that the X ray energy spectrum is softest (equivalent to a reduction in electron Eo of ≤ 5 keV) near the peak of the energy influx. Computer simulations of the flux- and energy-time profiles of direct and mirrored electron precipitation induced by a whistler-mode wave pulse of 0.2-s duration and linear frequency increase from 2 to 4 kHz were performed for plasma, energetic particle and wave parameters appropriate for the location and geophysical conditions of the observations. The wave pulse is representative of the VLF chorus elements that were observed at Siple station and at the conjugate location of Roberval, Quebec during the microburst activity on this day. In both the direct and mirrored cases the combined effect of latitude dependence of the energy of maximum gyroresonant scattering and energy dispersion leads to energy spectrum variations qualitatively consistent with the microburst observations. The average burst durations in the two cases were ∼0.3 s (direct) and ∼0.7 s (mirrored). On this basis we identify the narrow microbursts with electrons which are precipitated directly after undergoing pitch-angle scattering interactions with the wave pulse; the wide microbursts are identified with electrons which, after interacting with the wave, mirror in the conjugate ionosphere before precipitating into the southern ionosphere. In general, the results provide further support for the gyroresonant test particle simulation model, and for the belief that the observed type of microbursts originates in the vicinity of the magnetic equator in a gyroresonant process involving discrete chorus emissions.


Abstract Veronicastrum axillare (Sieb. et Zucc.) Yamazaki is a traditional medical plant with versatile biological activities. Here, we reported the complete chloroplast genome sequence of V. axillare with a total length of 152,691 bp, containing two IR regions of 25,765 bp each, an LSC region of 83,559 bp, and an SSC region of 17,602 bp. The genome encodes 131 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNAs, eight rRNAs, and one pseudogene (ycf1). The overall GC content is 38.3%, with the highest content of 43.31% in IR region. Comparative analysis revealed 4 potential hotspots among V. axillare and other Veroniceae plants, providing potential markers for population investigations in the tribe Veroniceae. A total of 56 simple sequence repeats were identified in V. axillare. Phylogenetic analysis indicated a sister relationship between V. axillare and V. sibiricum, suggesting a close genetic relationship between the two Veronicastrum species. Our results provide basic genetic resources for investigating the evolutionary status of V. axillare within the tribe Veroniceae.


Grazing by livestock has led to passive clearing of the majority of remaining areas of native vegetation on farmland (remnants) in the Collie river catchment in the south-west of Western Australia. Livestock grazing in these areas removes most of the understorey and prevents recruitment. This thesis documents the impact of livestock grazing on the vegetation dynamics of these remnants through changes to floristics and structure and effects on the soil. It also looks at the possibility of rehabilitation of degraded areas by assessing seed reserves in the soil seedbank and the regeneration of species with the exclusion of grazing. A review of the literature provided a background to this study and looks at the broader issues of the significance of remnants of native vegetation as well as the ecology of disturbance in terms of vegetation response and resilience and deals with the problems of management. Species diversity and richness have decreased with increased grazing intensity and these were negatively correlated with proportion of exotic species. Site ordination of a large sample of remnants placed sites in two major groups based on grazing intensity, with position of sites influenced by proportion of exotic species, proportion of perennial herbs and shrubs and species diversity and richness. Cover and abundance of native perennial species decreased, but increased for exotic annual species with a gradient of response between heavily grazed, lightly grazed and ungrazed sites. Other life form groups such as native annuals, geophytes and native grasses were not significantly affected by grazing. Perennial species that are able to resprout from an underground storage organ as well as germinate readily from seed appear the most resilient to grazing disturbance. Effects of grazing disturbance on the soil included increased surface soil compaction and water repellency as well as significant increases in concentrations of soil nutrients, particularly N and P. Age structure of overstorey species indicated that there has been a lack of recruitment at the heavily grazed sites for some time. Germination of overstorey species took place each year of the study but mortality of seedlings was high, with no seedlings surviving after one summer at the heavily grazed sites. Experiments on the soil seedbank showed a dominance of seed from exotic annual species and a lack of seed from native perennial species within the heavily grazed sites, indicating that natural regeneration is unlikely from this source. Heat treatment of soil samples showed a decrease in germination of exotic species and an increase in the germination of native species. After l to 3 years there was a significant increase in number and cover of native perennial species in exclosure plots, mainly from resprouting. The greatest increase in cover in exclosures was seen for native perennial grasses, while abundance of exotic annuals did not increase significantly compared to adjacent open plots. Time series ordination showed the movement of exclosure plots towards the ungrazed plots after three years, indicating the increase in floristic similarity between the exclosures and the ungrazed plots. This study has shown that grazing has resulted in a shift from a community dominated by native perennial species to one dominated by exotic annual species. High grazing intensity and short grazing history, climatic variability and effects on the soil are the major factors affecting the observed ·responses of the vegetation to grazing. Natural regeneration in degraded remnants is possible if livestock are excluded. Rehabilitation of some sites is also required and a procedure is suggested.


We reviewed MRI findings in a series of 211 patients with cerebral infarction. A high signal in the basis pontis bilaterally in T2 weighted images (Central Pontine Hyperintensity, CPH), with almost-normal T1 weighted images, was present in 29 cases (12.9%). CPH findings were present more frequently in elderly patients, and were significantly associated with a previous history of cerebrovascular accident, although not with other arteriosclerotic risk factors. In patients with CPH. periventricular hyperintensity was severe and the number of infarctions of the thalamus was higher. These results suggest that a) CPH may arise from ischemia in subcortical areas or in the territory of the vertebrobasilar system, and that b) chronic brain ischemia, which may be partially due to aging, may play a more important role in cerebral infarction than the usual arteriosclerotic risk factors.


The goal of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, a future wide-swath radar altimeter, is to measure the elevations of ocean and continental water surfaces with unprecedented precision. A simulator of SWOT high-rate (HR) interferometric SAR images has been developed to provide SWOT-like data to scientists and as a tool to develop and test HR ground processing algorithms. In this letter, we evaluate the errors of the extracted water levels in different hydrodynamic and topographic contexts in the Seine estuary based on simulated SWOT HR data. The results confirm height errors generally below 10 cm after km-scale averaging for the majority of the observations. Higher errors mostly occur in areas where the surrounding topography causes layover. This letter also reveals the interactions between tide and streamflow and their impact on the spatial variability of the water levels in the estuary.


In normal epidermis, as previously reported, the first signs of differentiation occur within the basal layer in a subpopulation of keratinocytes that start to express K1 and K10 "supra-basal" keratin transcripts (20-30% of the basal cells) and proteins (5-10% of the basal cells). We found that in psoriatic lesions, the basal layer was devoid of cells expressing these early differentiation markers. This was already the case at the periphery of the lesions, where epidermis, although slightly acanthotic, still completes the keratinization process. In the center of the lesions, not only the basal layer, but also several rows of suprabasal cells, were negative for keratin K10 transcripts or protein. Moreover, the upper nucleated layers of involved epidermis were also devoid of K10 keratin transcripts or proteins. In normal epidermis, as previously reported, transcripts for the "basal" K5 keratin were mainly restricted to the basal layer, whereas the protein persisted in a few suprabasal layers. We found that in psoriatic epidermis, K5 keratin transcripts persisted in several suprabasal layers up to the level where K10 keratin transcripts appeared. These data, although not contradictory with previous reports showing a reduction of K1-K10 keratins and other differentiation markers in psoriasis, demonstrate that these quantitative changes are in fact the result of major qualitative differences in the distribution of these markers in psoriatic versus normal skin. Our results indicating that the onset of differentiation is delayed in psoriasis show that, contrary to conclusions accepted so far, not only the suprabasal compartment, but also the basal one, is abnormal in psoriatic epidermis.


—The pyramidal predictive network (PPNV1) pro- poses an interesting temporal pyramid architecture and yields promising results on the task of future video-frame prediction. We expose and analyze its signal dissemination and characteristic artifacts, and propose corresponding improvements in model architecture and training strategies to address them. Although the PPNV1 theoretically mimics the workings of human brain, its careless signal processing leads to aliasing in the network. We redesign the network architecture to solve the problems. In ad- dition to improving the unreasonable information dissemination, the new architecture also aims to solve the aliasing in neural networks. Different inputs are no longer simply concatenated, and the downsampling and upsampling components have also been redesigned to ensure that the network can more easily construct images from Fourier features of low-frequency inputs. Finally, we further improve the training strategies, to alleviate the problem of input inconsistency during training and testing. Overall, the improved model is more interpretable, stronger, and the quality of its predictions is better. Code is available at https://github.com/Ling-CF/PPNV2.


IN HISTORICAL DRAMA Herbert Lindenberger admits "that by a strict definition one cannot categorize historical dramas as a genre at all, though one can speak of specific forms of historical plays which prevailed at certain moments in history" (1975, ix). In an important essay on Canadian historical drama, Richard Knowles notes that since the early 1970s, Canadian playwrights have been making use of a specific form of historical p l a y historiographie metadrama. H e adapts this term from Linda Hutcheon's idea of historiographie metafiction, which she discusses in The Canadian Postmodern, and suggests that this genre of drama incorporates "self-reflexive, metadramatic forms to highlight the instability both of history and dramatic texts" (Knowles 1987, 228). Knowles mentions that Canadian playwrights and collectives have been making use of historiographie metadrama for years Rick Salutin and Theatre Passe Muraille's i8jy: The Farmers' Revolt (1973), Sharon Pollock's Walsh (1973), James Reaney's Sticks and Stones (1973), among others yet, despite the "ripe and rewarding object of critical inquiry" (241) these plays offer, "Canadian drama and theatre critics ... have been slow to respond to deconstructionist Canadian plays on historical subjects" (229). This essay, which examines Sharon Pollock's The Komagata Maru Incident (1976) and Joan MacLeod's The Hope Slide (1992), takes up Knowles's invi ta t ion to s tudy Canad ian plays on his tor ical subjects as historiographie metadramas. The Komagata Maru Incident and The Hope Slide reexamine specific moments in British Columbia's history by using metadramatic devices, and my investigation focuses on uncovering how, and, more importantly, why Pollock and MacLeod examine British Columbia's past using this particular dramatic form.


This article provides the historical context for examining the current forces driving medical group practice organizations. Prepayment has been around for some groups since the 1930s and the dual objectives of lowering costs and improving the quality of patient care were among the original reasons for forming group practices. Some of the basic issues for group practices today are discussed in light of evolution of this model of service delivery and the intensity of today's changing environment.


Adriane Fugh-Berman examines documents unsealed in recent litigation to investigate how pharmaceutical companies promoted hormone therapy drugs, including the use of medical writing companies to produce ghostwritten manuscripts and place them into medical journals.


The growing need for fish extraction for livelihood is resulting in the by-catch mortality and injury of the aquatic mammals through fishing gear entanglement. It is one of the most significant issue of conservation of Ganges Dolphin. The inability of Ganges dolphins to identify the presence of monofilament gill nets results in entanglement and death due to suffocation. In this study, the interactions of Ganges dolphin with fishing gear (Gill net) by attaching Pingers have been investigated. It was assumed that the proximity zone around the fishing gear is the risk zone for the Ganges dolphin. A visual observation was made in an experimental set up of: Control Net (Without reflectors or Pingers), Net with reflectors (used locally to attract fish), Pinger with frequency and source level lower than what is used by Ganges dolphins (10KHz and 132 decibel) and Pingers with Ganges dolphin frequency (70KHz and 145 decibel). A significant difference in mean sighting distance of Ganges dolphins from different experimental set upss has been estimated. Nearest proximity in control net was <1m with a sighting rate of 1.41 sightings/hr whereas for Dolphin Pingers it was 5 to 10m with a sighting rate of 0.12 sightings/hr. Dolphins seem to avoid fishing gear with active Pingers and hence the experiment was to be carried forward to the next level of estimation for determining whether there was any attraction or change in catch per unit effort (CPUE) of fish or habituation of dolphin. Popularising the efficiency of Pingers among management stakeholders and introducing it to the fisher communities can be the next significant step to conserve the species.


In this paper, an optimal power flow based approach has been applied for multi-transactions deregulated environment for ATC determination with SVC and STATCOM. The main contribution of the paper is (i) OPF based approach for evaluation of ATC with multi-transactions, (ii) ATC enhancement with FACTS devices viz. SVC and STATCOM for intact and line contingency cases, (iii) Impact of ZIP load on ATC determination and comparison of ATC obtained with SVC and STATCOM. The results have been determined for intact and line contingency cases taking simultaneous as well as single transaction cases for IEEE 24 bus RTS. Keywords—Available transfer capability, FACTS devices, line contingency, multi-transactions, ZIP load model.


ABSTRACTPurpose of Review: While establishing the diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD) can be straightforward, it can be challenging in some patients, even for the experienced neurologist. The misdiagnosis rate ranges from 10% to 20% or greater depending on clinician experience.Recent Findings: Despite promise in the search for a biomarker that can establish the presence of PD and act as a marker of its progression, the diagnosis of PD continues to be based on clinical examination. Core criteria, exclusion criteria, and supportive criteria have been developed to aid the clinician in establishing the diagnosis. Nonmotor symptoms of PD are usually present at the time of diagnosis, may precede motor symptoms, and should be specifically sought during evaluation. Ancillary testing can be appropriate, but its indications and utility must be clearly understood.Summary: The diagnosis of PD requires the recognition of the core features of PD and the differentiation of its clinical presentation from other entities with similar and potentially overlapping symptoms. A careful history and examination guided by clinical diagnostic criteria will usually establish the diagnosis of PD or uncover red flags for the possibilities of other diagnoses. Appropriate selection and interpretation of ancillary testing is critical to avoid misdiagnosis and unnecessary tests.


This study evaluates precipitation variability in Baja California in relation to the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) using the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). To evaluate precipitation climatology, data for 102 weather stations were analyzed. Data were directly averaged for stations with records longer than 30 years, but normalized for stations with shorter records. To test for uniformity of precipitation departures, the SOI was compared with average precipitation departures for long-term stations (established before 1960), in eight subregions of Baja California. The results revealed that, unlike California, the interannual variability of both annual and monthly precipitation is strongly linked to SOI. During El Nino events, above-normal precipitation occurs largely in February and March; but precipitation amounts are subnormal during La Nina events, and mostly limited to December and January. Gradients of precipitation departure tend to be uniform across Baja California during individual years. The variability of precipitation is attributed to the interannual dislocation by ENSO of the polar-front jet stream along the Pacific coast, as described in other studies. In El Nino events, the circulation acquires a positive-phase Pacific-North America (PNA) pattern, with an enhanced Tropical Northern Hemisphere (TNH) teleconnection mode expressed in a southern-branch jet stream across Baja California. There is strong on-shore advection of moist surface westerlies on the West coast of North America. In La Nina events, the composite circulation acquires a negative-phase PNA pattern, and the jet stream is mostly poleward of Baja California and California. This results in weak on-shore advection by moist surface westerlies. Seasonal shifts in precipitation anomalies may be related to geographic shifts in diabatic forcing from the equatorial warm pool, and consequent teleconnections into the extra-tropical wave-train in the Pacific-North American region. The annual uniformity of precipitation departures across the eight subregions of Baja California suggests that frontal storms do not produce anomalous orographic precipitation gradients during El Ninos. Timely, long-term precipitation forecasts could help accommodate the region's landuse to its cyclical pattern of drought and flood.


In 1916, at the age of twenty-nine, Edward Stuart Russell [4] published his first major work, Form and Function [3]: a Contribution to the History of Animal Morphology. This book has maintained wide readership among scientists and historians since its initial publication, and today is generally recognized as the first modern, sustained study of the history of morphology [5]. In particular, Form and Function [3] incorporates an extensive theoretical analysis of the relationship between embryological studies and comparative morphology [5] in the nineteenth century. Russell employs a history-of-ideas approach in this book, describing the most significant morphologists and their theories. The first chapters of Form and Function [3] discuss early investigators into morphology [5], such as Hippocrates [6] and Aristotle [7]. The book concludes with a discussion of the opening decade of the twentieth century and the works of Russell?s contemporaries, such as Ernst Mehnert [8], Hans Driesch [9], Oscar Hertwig, and Albert Oppel [10]. The broad structure of these chapters, and thus Russell?s overall history, is organized into three main ?currents?: a functionalist approach, which includes evolutionary morphologists; a transcendental or idealistic morphology [5]; and finally a focus on experimental embryology [11] or ?causal morphology [5],? to use Russell?s terminology. Consequently the overall framework of Form and Function [3] explains the emerging importance of embryology [11] for an understanding of biological form.


We study the autonomous Hamiltonian dynamics of non-interacting particles trapped initially in one well of a symmetric multiple-well washboard potential. The particles interact locally with an anharmonic oscillator acting as an energy deposit. For a range of interaction strengths, the particles gain sufficient energy during a chaotic transient to escape from the well and afterwards settle onto regular (rotational) dynamics. Strikingly, microcanonical ensembles of initial conditions that are unbiased with respect to the washboard coordinate nevertheless give rise to net directed motion. We demonstrate that for unbiased spatially localized initial conditions, violation of parity prevents the existence of pairs of counter-propagating trajectories within the ensemble, despite the time-reversibility symmetry of the equations of motion, allowing for a nonzero current. Recent studies have shown that particle current may be induced in other systems with preserved spatial symmetry by an external periodic but asymmetric driving force, however, averaging over the phase of the latter yields zero current. The system we propose is novel in that averaging over the phase of the oscillator still yields nonzero current. Furthermore, no mixed phase space is required, and chaos is needed only in an initial stage of the dynamics to guide trajectories from the interior of separatrices onto sustained integrable rotational motion.


In tasks requiring sustained attention, human alertness varies on a minute time scale. This can have serious consequences in occupations ranging from air traffic control to monitoring of nuclear power plants. Changes in the electroencephalographic (EEG) power spectrum accompany these fluctuations in the level of alertness, as assessed by measuring simultaneous changes in EEG and performance on an auditory monitoring task. By combining power spectrum estimation, principal component analysis and artificial neural networks, the authors show that continuous, accurate, noninvasive, and near real-time estimation of an operator's global level of alertness is feasible using EEC; measures recorded from as few as two central scalp sites. This demonstration could lead to a practical system for noninvasive monitoring of the cognitive state of human operators in attention-critical settings.


After a brief introduction to the field of empirical performance studies and its goals and methods, recordings of the titular work by pianists Harold Bauer, Glenn Gould, and Angela Hewitt are discussed. It is suggested that these recordings demonstrate three distinct performance strategies for the piece: Bauer highlights the boundaries of each phrase and projects a teleological design within each phrase and at the level of the entire piece; Gould conveys an arch-shaped design tied to harmonic tension; and Hewitt draws attention not only to the three structural cadences (mm. 7, 15, and 22) but also to a subsidiary V-I motion at m. 11, thereby hinting that it might have structural importance. Parallels between these performance strategies and analyses by Howard Cinnamon, Steve Larson, and Roy Travis are briefly considered. The emphasis on multiplicity in this study distinguishes it from most earlier scholarship on structure and performance.


Cooperative planning control is an active topic of research, with many practical applications including multi-robot systems, transportation, multi-point surveillance and biological systems. The contributions of this thesis lie in the scope of three topics: formation control, time-constrained cooperative planning control and probabilistic control synthesis, all of the them in the framework of multi-agent systems.In the first part of the thesis, given a team of rigid-bodies, we propose decentral-ized control protocols such that desired position and orientation-based formationbetween neighboring agents is achieved. Inter-agent collisions and collisions betweenagents and static obstacles of the workspace are guaranteed to be avoided by theproposed control scheme. Furthermore, the connectivity between the agents thatare initially connected is preserved. In the second part of the thesis, we considera team of agents, modeled by coupled single-integrator dynamics. Each agent isassigned with individual high-level tasks, given in Metric Interval Temporal Logic(MITL). By abstracting the motion of each agent into Transition Systems (TS), wepropose decentralized control methodologies that guarantee the satisfaction of thedesired tasks of each agent. In the final part, a coupled multi-agent system underthe presence of uncertainties and model errors is considered. Each agent is modeledby a Markov Decision Process (MDP) and is assigned with a high-level task givenin Probabilistic Computational Tree Logic (PCTL). The goal is to design controlpolicies such that each agent is performing a desired task. By clustering the agentsinto dependency clusters, we propose control algorithms that guarantee that thedesired specifications are fulfilled. Numerical simulations conducted in MATLABverify the claimed results.


Women running microenterprises face long hours with low returns, and often accumulate debts. This study of women entrepreneurs in Cameroon revealed that a poor choice of business venture often means that they run at a loss; however, many women value their businesses for non-financial reasons, such as the fact that they get them out of the house. In spite of their low returns, women's businesses are critical to the survival of their households through the current economic crisis, and as such are important for the national economy. The author makes a number of recommendations as to how women's entrepreneurship could be better channelled and supported.


Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) increased risk of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection (TB). Risk of TB infection in RA patients from Thailand, the country with moderate prevalence of TB infection (137/100,000 in general population) has not been studied. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine incidence and factors related TB infection in RA patients from Thailand. Methods All patients were diagnosed with RA according to American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1987 and/or ACR and European league of Rheumatology 2010 between 2000 and 2015. Twenty Cases of TB infection diagnosed after having RA were identified. TB infection was diagnosed by WHO 2013 revision definition and confirmed by physicians. Four age and sex matched controls were selected from 355 RA patients from Thai Army Rheumatoid Arthritis Cohort. Demographic data, RA disease associated factors and risk factos for TB infection were collected. Incidence rate was calculated by incidence density. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to identify factors associated with TB. Results Twenty-nine TB cases and 116 controls were included and 85.60% were female. The mean age ± SD was 64.75±11.06 years and mean disease duration ± SD was 12.79±7.15 years. Rheumatoid factor and anti-citrullinated protein antibody were positive in 75.23 and 68.95%, respectively. Most patients (93.18%) were treated with synthetic DMARDs. The combination of biologic and synthetic DMARDs was used in 7.58% of the patients. Incidence of TB infection was 2,180/100,000 person-year. Cases were more likely to have higher disease activity, use higher dose of methotrexate, use higher dose of leflunomide and use higher dose of glucocorticoid than controls. The means ± SD of Disease activity28 score (DAS28), dose of methotrexate, dose of leflunomide and dose of glucocorticoid in cases and control were 5.26 ±1.73 vs 4.45 ±1.51 (p=0.027), 9.84 ±6.02 vs 6.47 ±5.62 mg/week (p=0.03), 15±9.26 vs 6.55±7.53 mg/day (p=0.06) and 6.17±5.18 vs 1.15±2.06 mg/day (p=0.005), respectively. In multivariate regression analysis, only high DAS28 and current use of prednisolone were independently associated with TB infection (Odd ratio, 95% CI of 4.95, 1.15–8.36 and 1.23, 1.04–1.44, respectively). Conclusions Incidence of TB infection in RA in this study was very high compared to general population in Thailand and other Asian countries such as Hong Kong and Korea. High RA disease activity and the use of glucocorticoid are independently associated with TB infection. References Navarra S et al. International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases 2014; 17: 291–298. Mok CC, et al. International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases 2014;17 Suppl 3:1–8. Seong SS, et al. Kim EM, et al. J Rheumatol 2011;38:2218–2230. Disclosure of Interest None declared


We use a non-perturbative renormalization group approach to develop a unified picture of the Bose polaron problem, where a mobile impurity is strongly interacting with a surrounding Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). A detailed theoretical analysis of the phase diagram is presented and the polaron-to-molecule transition is discussed. For attractive polarons we argue that a description in terms of an effective Frohlich Hamiltonian with renormalized parameters is possible. Its strong coupling regime is realized close to a Feshbach resonance, where we predict a sharp increase of the effective mass. Already for weaker interactions, before the polaron mass diverges, we predict a transition to a regime where states exist below the polaron energy and the attractive polaron is no longer the ground state. On the repulsive side of the Feshbach resonance we recover the repulsive polaron, which has a finite lifetime because it can decay into low-lying molecular states. We show for the entire range of couplings that the polaron energy has logarithmic corrections in comparison with predictions by the mean-field approach. We demonstrate that they are a consequence of the polaronic mass renormalization which is due to quantum fluctuations of correlated phonons in the polaron cloud.


Professor Ewoud Hondius has been one of the most successful architects of comparative law research and education in the Netherlands. He has undertaken numerous efforts to advocate the unification and harmonization of private law by means of comparative studies which during his career have been welcomed all over the world. His understanding of the law of many jurisdictions is exceptional and his global network is impressive. He is a great European legal scholar and an ambassador for Dutch law, as witnessed by his innumerable publications.This book has been compiled in order to appropriately admire Hondius inspiring contributions to the elaboration of European Contract Law. The general topic of "The Future of European Contract Law" has been divided into five themes, many of them coinciding with the special interests of the honored scholar himself: European Contract Law: Its Possibility, Feasibility and Desirability; The Common Frame of Reference and the Principles of Contract Law; The Europeanization of National Contract Law; The Better Law Approach in European Contract Law; and Consumer Contracts in Europe. The wealth of material in this book contains a treasure of observations and visions of where contract law in Europe currently stands, as well as on how it should develop in the future. A collection of outstanding authors have contributed to this book.


Considering the factors of biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, high tenacity and good wear resistance, the alloy Ti-6Al-4V with 110.0 GPa elastic modulus is a choice used to replace of hip joints. With 6% of aluminum and 4% of vanadium (stabilizers of ambient temperature) has an elastic modulus close to that of human bone is 14GPa. Keywords: Titanium. Aluminum, Vanadium, Alloy, Elastic modulus, Bone, Hip


We consider nonlinear economic model predictive control (MPC) without terminal constraints or costs. We show that under suitable conditions, consisting of strict dissipativity, the turnpike property and appropriate continuity properties, a practical Lyapunov function exists for the MPC closed loop. This Lyapunov function is given by the optimal value function of the optimal control problem with rotated stage costs originating from the dissipativity condition. Alternative sufficient conditions in terms of suitable controllability properties and finite time optimality of the closed loop trajectories during the transient phase are also discussed.


Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) is a promising learning scheme for nonlinear classification and regression problems and has shown its effectiveness in the machine learning literature. ELM represents a class of generalized single hidden layer feed-forward networks (SLFNs) whose hidden layer parameters are assigned randomly resulting in an extremely fast learning speed along with superior generalization performance. It is well known that the online sequential learning algorithm (OS-ELM) based on recursive least squares [1] might result in ill-conditioning of the Hessian matrix and hence instability in the parameter estimation. To address this issue, the stability theory of Lyapunov is utilized to develop an online learning algorithm for temporal data from dynamic systems and time series. The developed algorithm results in parameter estimation that is asymptotically stable leading to boundedness in model states. Simulations results of the developed algorithm compared against online sequential ELM (OS-ELM) and the offline batch learning ELM (O-ELM) show that the Lyapunov ELM algorithm can perform online learning at reduced computation, comparable accuracy and with a guarantee on the boundedness of the estimated system.


Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder often diagnosed in adolescence or early adulthood. In adolescence, the many similarities between normal features of puberty and symptoms of PCOS make it challenging to confirm the diagnosis. Even among adult women, the changing definitions of PCOS may lead to inaccurate diagnoses. Women may present with a variety of symptoms to different healthcare providers and may be treated only for the presenting symptoms without evaluation of the syndrome and its associated morbidities. Timely evaluations, accurate diagnosis, appropriate interventions, and multidisciplinary healthcare teams can be valuable because women with PCOS have an increased risk for obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, infertility, endometrial cancer, and anxiety and mood disorders. Appropriate transition of care for the adolescent from pediatric to adult healthcare providers should include education of the patient and her parents regarding the chronic nature of the syndrome and the need for continued follow-up. Girls with symptoms suggestive of PCOS who fail to fulfill diagnostic criteria should undergo prolonged observation. Early identification of PCOS at different entry points in the healthcare system will require physician education and improved access.


This paper reports on a study of the Tunisian Arabic demonstrative hāk, which encodes the cognitive status FAMILIAR, in the sense of the Givenness Hierarchy of Gundel et al. (1993). Although this demonstrative is usually used for at most FAMILIAR, it is frequently used in folk tales for the statuses ACTIVATED and IN FOCUS. I propose that this is a strategy used by the narrator to impose more processing effort on the hearer in order increase the relative salience of the referent of hāk . However, the degree of relative salience to which these entities are promoted is not always the same, and has to do with the centrality of the referent of hāk in the story.


Objectives: Decreasing susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to fluoroquinolones has been reported in several countries. Knowledge of local N gonorrhoeae susceptibilities to various antimicrobials is important for establishing a rational treatment strategy in each region. Methods: Isolates of N gonorrhoeae from male urethritis patients attending four urological clinics in Hyogo and Osaka prefectures in Japan were collected during 2002. The MICs for nine antimicrobials: penicillin G, tetracycline, cefixime, ceftriaxone, levofloxacin, gatifloxacin, ciprofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and spectinomycin were determined for each isolate. All isolates were also tested for β lactamase producing profiles. Results: Among the 87 isolates obtained, only one isolate was revealed to produce β lactamase. MIC90 values for ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, gatifloxacin, and moxifloxacin were over 8 μg/ml, over 8 μg/ml, 4 μg/ml, and 2 μg/ml, respectively. The proportion of isolates resistant to fluoroquinolones was over 60% (ciprofloxacin, 70.1%; levofloxacin, 65.5%; gatifloxacin, 70.1%). Chromosomally mediated penicillin and tetracycline resistance was identified in 12.6% and 33.3% of the isolates. MIC90 values for cefixime and ceftriaxone and were 0.5 μg/ml and 0.0063 μg/ml. All isolates were sensitive to ceftriaxone and 90.8% of them were sensitive to cefixime. MIC90 for spectinomycin was 32 μg/ml and all isolates were sensitive to it. Fluoroquinolone resistance correlated significantly with MICs for penicillin G but not tetracycline. Conclusion: Ceftriaxone and spectinomycin demonstrated lower MICs and so are recommended for N gonorrhoeae. Susceptibilities of N gonorrhoeae should be monitored periodically by region.


Abstract The Biomass represents an alternative and a relevant solution for using less fossil energy while preserving the environment. Therefore, the performance of the rapeseed oil as a fuel has been investigated in a 100kW pre-pilot plant and the results have been compared with those obtained with light and heavy petroleum fuel oils. In particular, carbonaceous particles and PAH formation along the three spray flame axes have been studied by optical (Laser Light Scattering) and gas-solid sampling techniques. Additional measurements of the local value of the extinction coefficient compared to the scattering information made it possible to distinguish between soot particles and cenospheres. The kinetics of formation and burnout of the particulate matter identified in terms of number concentration of soot particles and cenospheres, have been evaluated. Moreover the results have shown that the rapeseed oil flame is less polluting than fossil oil flames.


The invention relates to an instrument for detecting eyes, in particular to a portable type four-point visual field detecting device which can performing rapid glaucoma screening for a crowd, and a detecting method thereof. The instrument solves the problems that the volume of the prior hemispherical perimeter is large, the detecting time is long, and the novel frequency-doubling perimeter is expensive. The instrument adopts the technical proposal which adopts a planar visual field screen, a camera obscura with a visual field screen being sealed at one end and a gazing hole being arranged at the other end, and a lower jaw bracket installed in front of the camera obscura, wherein, the distance between the gazing hole and the center of the visual field screen is 330 mm, a central light emitting diode is arranged in the center of the visual field screen, four peripheral light emitting diodes are is arranged in the position of the intersection point of the visual angle circular of the gazing hole which is arranged inward for 15 degrees and a plus or minus 35 degree oblique line in a rectangular coordinate which takes the central light emitting diode as an initial point, a yellow background lamp is respectively arranged in the four corners of the visual field screen, and the detecting control circuit of the yellow background lamp comprises a single-chip microcomputer which is connected with each light emitting diode on the visual field screen by outputting and connected with an answer key by inputting, and a computer which is composed of an input keyboard, a display and a printer, which are connected through a serial communication interface.


The X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) unveil properties of matter around the super massive black hole (SMBH). We investigate the X-ray spectra of AGN focusing on Compton reflection and fluorescence, important processes of interaction between primary radiation and circum-nuclear material. Unresolved emission lines (most notably the Fe line) in the X-ray spectra of AGN indicate that this material is located far away from the SMBH. Contributions from the inner accretion disk, affected by relativistic effects, have also been detected in several cases.
We studied the average X-ray spectrum of a sample of 263 X-ray unabsorbed AGN that yield 419023 counts in the 2-12 keV rest-frame band distributed among 388 XMM-Newton spectra. We fitted the average spectrum using a (basically) unabsorbed power law (primary radiation). From second model that represents the interaction of the primary radiation with matter located far away from the SMBH, we found that it was very significantly detected. Finally, we added a contribution from interaction with neutral material in the accretion disk close to the central SMBH, which is therefore smeared by relativistic effects, which improved the fit at 6 sigma. The reflection factors are 0.65 for the accretion disk and 0.25 for the torus. Replacing the neutral disk-reflection with low-ionisation disk reflection, also relativistically smeared, fits the data equally well, suggesting that we do not find evidence for a significant ionisation of the accretion disk.
We detect distant neutral reflection in the average spectrum of unabsorbed AGN with z=0.8. Adding the disk-reflection component associated with a relativistic Fe line improves the data description at 6 sigma confidence level, suggesting that both reflection components are present. The disk-reflection component accounts for about 70 % of the total reflected flux.


Wood extractives promote pitch formation during pulp and paper manufacturing. To date, this problem has been controlled by extended storage of the chips and/or chemical additives. Biotreatment of the wood prior to pulping provides an alternative that not only decreases the negative impact of the extractives but may also improve the kraft pulping efficiency. This initiative seeks to verify the quantity and chemical composition of Eucalyptus nitens wood extractives following biotreatment with three albino fungi species (Ophiostoma floccosum, Ophiostoma piceae and Ophiostoma piliferum). Eucalyptus nitens wood chips were sprayed with spore suspensions of Ophiostoma piliferum, Ophiostoma piceae and Ophiostoma floccosum albino strains (1 × 108 spore concentration). After 7 and 21 days of fungal treatment, the extractive content was determined via Soxhlet extraction with an 80:20% n-hexane:ethyl acetate solvent mixture. The Ophiostoma floccosum F1A94, Ophiostoma piliferum F2D8 and Ophiostoma piceae F2A68 strains proved to be most capable of bioreduction with reductions of 35,1%, 33,2% and 29,3%, respectively. The chemical composition of the extract was analyzed via gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, which demonstrated that most of the tested strains could reduce the s- sitosterol content.


The authors report two recent personal cases including one explored by retrograde cholangiography and discuss the main clinical, pathological characteristics of this rare disease. They emphasize the severity of the course which does not usually last more than a few weeks after the onset of the first signs.


Progress towards the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is monitored using a set of targets and indicators. Gaps in official datasets have led to calls for the inclusion of data generated through citizen science (CS) and allied approaches. Co-benefits of CS mean these approaches could also contribute to localising, defining, and achieving the SDGs. However, mapping of current and potential contributions is needed, as well as an understanding of the challenges these approaches present. We undertake a semi-systematic review of past and current CS projects and assess them against dimensions of CS—spatial, temporal, thematic, process, and management—and their value for the SDGs set out by Fritz et al. in 2019, focusing on low and middle income country (LMIC) cities as key environments in the battle for sustainability. We conduct interviews with project leaders to further understand the challenges for CS in these contexts. We find opportunities for projects to monitor and achieve a wide range of goals, targets, and indicators. However, we find fewer projects in low income countries when compared with middle income countries. Challenges include balancing local needs with national monitoring requirements and a lack of long-term funding. Support is needed for LMICs to achieve the potential of CS.


This paper describes an ongoing effort to develop architecture documentation and to evaluate the architecture using the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method/sup SM/ (ATAM/sup SM/). The system is a large Web based application using J2EE, portal and Web services technology that is replacing a large number of legacy applications. It has very detailed documentation at the design level, but is lacking overall architecture documentation. We describe how the architecture is being documented in an iterative manner, and how sample scenarios are being developed as input for an ATAM. The package of the documentation, scenarios and ATAM will fill in important gaps in existing knowledge, and it will provide an important baseline for the system's evolution.


A new estimate is obtained for the mean values of Chebyshev functions over all primitive characters whose modulus does not exceed a given quantity.


The blood vessels that nourish the inner retina cast shadows on photoreceptors, creating "angioscotomas" in the visual field. We have found the representations of angioscotomas in striate cortex of the squirrel monkey. They were detected in 9 of 12 normal adult animals by staining flatmounts for cytochrome oxidase activity after enucleation of one eye. They appeared as thin profiles in layer 4C radiating from the blind spot representation. Angioscotomas can be regarded as a local form of amblyopia. After birth, when light strikes the retina, photoreceptors beneath blood vessels are denied normal visual stimulation. This deprivation induces remodeling of geniculocortical afferents in a distribution that corresponds to the retinal vascular tree. Angioscotoma representations were most obvious in monkeys with fine ocular dominance columns and were invisible in monkeys with large, well segregated columns. In monkeys without columns, their width corresponded faithfully to the inducing retinal shadow, making it possible to calculate the minimum shadow required to produce a cortical representation. The "amblyogenic threshold" was calculated as the fraction of the pupil area eclipsed to trigger remodeling of geniculocortical afferents. It was found to be constant over retinal eccentricity, vessel size, and shadow size. Ambliogenic shadows only three to four cones wide were sufficient to generate a cortical representation, testifying to the remarkable precision of the cortical map. The representations of retinal blood vessels separated by only 0.65° were resolvable in the cortex, yielding an upper limit on cortical resolution of 340 μm in layer 4C.


Unperturbed fetal development is essential for future health of an individual. Previous studies have linked diseases of aging to harmful alterations that happen during fetal development. Given the significant long‐term impact that intrauterine environment has on an individual's life, it was hypothesized that maternal stress during pregnancy will have negative effects on the offspring's bone density and cross‐sectional area. To test this, twenty‐eight female and seven male Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) were purchased and bred to produce 176 offspring. During pregnancy, dams were randomly divided into four groups (n=7, per group) and immobilization stress induced as follows; Group 1 (GW1): immobilization stress on days 1–7 of pregnancy, Group 2 (GW2): on days 8–14, Group 3 (GW3): on days 15–21, Group 4 (Controls): left undisturbed. Maternal cortisol hormone, food intake, and weight gain were monitored during pregnancy. Pups were raised under normal laboratory conditions and sacrificed at ages: 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks to determine the effect of prenatal stress. At necropsy, the femur was removed and preserved for image analysis.