Due to extension of using CCTVs and the other video security systems in all areas, these sorts of devices have been introduced as the most important digital evidences to search and seizure crimes. Video forensics tools are developed as a part of digital forensics tools to analyze digital evidences and clear vague points of them for presenting in the courts Existing video forensics tools have been facilitated the investigation process by providing different features based on various video editing techniques. In this paper, some of the most popular video forensics tools are discussed and the strengths and shortages of them are compared and consequently, an alternative framework which includes the strengths of existing popular tools is introduced.


We investigate the boundary-layer flow on a moving permeable plate parallel to a moving stream. The governing equations are solved numerically by a finite-difference method. Dual solutions are found to exist when the plate and the free stream move in the opposite directions.


Job search is a largely self-regulated process, subject to behavioralbiases that lead to sub-optimal search and employment outcomes.Within this context, we designed, implemented and tested anaction-planning tool to promote greater job search intensity.We find that action planning helps unemployed youths to follow through on their job search intentions, and adopt a more efficient and effective search strategy. Greater search efficiency and effectiveness translates to sizeable improvements in employment outcomes. Given that a rising number of young people globally are not enrolled in education, employed, or searching for work it is particularly important to understand how to optimize the job search process. There is suggestive evidence that in the presence of high and persistent unemployment, South African youth are becoming increasingly discouraged in their job search.


This study produced ceramics powder derived from the CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 system using mechanical wet milling and cold pressing method. The milling time was changed between 30 min to 2 h and sintered at 950 ⁰C for 1 h. The pellet was performed via cold pressing in ambient temperature and pressure of 5 tonnes. The effect of milling time on the linear shrinkage, density, porosity and compressive strength of the derived from CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 system were investigated. X-ray diffraction results demonstrated that a multi-phase of quartz and akermanite-gehlenite was obtained after sintering at 950 °C for 1 h. The results show that the increasing milling time had significantly affected the ceramics' particle size, specific surface area, phase, linear shrinkage, density, porosity, compressive strength and Young's modulus. When the milling time was raised, the density and compressive strength decreased. However, the increase in milling time increased the linear shrinkage and porosity. It was observed that the compressive strength of the pellets reached their maximum value (16.6 MPa) at a milling time of 1h and then decreased with increasing milling time.


An analysis of the distributed shared memory (DSM) work carried out by other researchers shows that it has been able to improve the performance of applications, at the expense of ease of programming and use. Many implementations require application programmers to write code to explicitly associate shared variables with synchronization variables or to label the variables according to their access patterns. Programmers are required to explicitly initialize parallel applications and, in particular, to create DSM parallel processes on a number of workstations in the cluster of workstations. The aim of this research has been to improve the ease of programming and use of a DSM system while not compromising its performance. RHODOS' DSM allows programmers to write shared memory code exploiting their sequential programming skills without the need to learn the DSM concepts. The placement of DSM within the operating system allows the DSM environment to be automatically initialized and transparent. The results of running two applications demonstrate that our DSM, despite paying attention to ease of programming and use, achieves high performance.


We aim to engineer the lifestyle of Pseudomonas putida to generate a tailored, re-factored chassis with highly attractive new-to-nature properties, thereby opening the door to the production of thus far nonaccessible compounds. This industrially driven project capitalises on the outstanding metabolic endowment and stress tolerance capabilities of this versatile bacterium for the production of specialty and bulk chemicals. Speci cally, we will build streamlined P. putida strains with improved ATP availability utilizing this power on demand, decoupled from growth. The well-characterized, streamlined and refactored strain platform will offer easy-to-use plug-in opportunities for novel, DNA-encoded functions under the control of orthogonal regulatory systems. To this end, we will deploy a concerted approach of genome refactoring, model-driven circuit design, implementation of ATP control loops, structured modelling and metabolic engineering. By drawing on a starkly improved, growth-uncoupled ATP-biosynthetic machinery, empowered P. putida strains will be able to produce a) n-butanol and isobutanol and their challenging gaseous derivatives 1-butene (BE) and (iso-)butadiene (BDE) using a novel, new-to-nature route starting from glucose, as well as b) new active ingredients for crop protection, such as tabtoxin, a high-value, ßlactam-based secondary metabolite with a huge potential as a new herbicide. The game-changing innovations brought in – in particular the uncoupling of ATP-synthesis and production from growth will provide strong versatility, enhanced e ciency and e cacy to the production processes, thereby ID dell'accordo di sovvenzione: 635536  Sito web del progetto


Weakly-Supervised Object Detection (WSOD) and Localization (WSOL), i.e., detecting multiple and single instances with bounding boxes in an image using image-level labels, are long-standing and challenging tasks in the CV community. With the success of deep neural networks in object detection, both WSOD and WSOL have received unprecedented attention. Hundreds of WSOD and WSOL methods and numerous techniques have been proposed in the deep learning era. To this end, in this paper, we consider WSOL is a sub-task of WSOD and provide a comprehensive survey of the recent achievements of WSOD. Specifically, we firstly describe the formulation and setting of the WSOD, including the background, challenges, basic framework. Meanwhile, we summarize and analyze all advanced techniques and training tricks for improving detection performance. Then, we introduce the widely-used datasets and evaluation metrics of WSOD. Lastly, we discuss the future directions of WSOD. We believe that these summaries can help pave a way for future research on WSOD and WSOL.


Gene therapy is a new technology that provides potential for curing monogenic diseases caused by mutations in a single gene. Hemophilia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are ideal target diseases of gene therapy. Important advances have been made in clinical trials, including studies of adeno-associated virus vectors in hemophilia and antisense in DMD. However, issues regarding the high doses of viral vectors required and limited delivery efficiency of antisense oligonucleotides have not yet been fully addressed. As an alternative strategy to classic gene addition, genome editing based on programmable nucleases has also shown promise to correct mutations in situ. This review describes the recent progress made by Chinese researchers in gene therapy for hemophilia and DMD.


This paper discusses the ethical aspects of physicists', and the physics community's involvement in public policy. The work of individual physicists is often quite distant from any societal impact and thus public policy is not normally considered an important ethical consideration for individual physicists. However, in light of the great societal impact of physics-based technologies, the physics profession, by definition, has a major impact on public policy. In addition, most physicists in the U.S. benefited considerably from public funding in their physics education, and many continue to depend upon federal and state funding. Thus, there is a strong ethical argument for the physics community to support some physicists and institutions that work to improve public policy so that these technological impacts are beneficial. For example, sustainability problems due to unequal resource allocation and unsustainable consumption patterns are both caused by and can be solved with technological innovation. Physics training can be useful for understanding and developing solutions to these problems. However, public policy, not physics, will largely determine whether technology exacerbates or solves these problems in the future. Therefore, this paper presents a framework of four world-views (the general public, bureaucracies, activists and chiefs) that was developed by anthropologists. It then suggests how this framework can be used to guide the broadening of the physics profession's impact on public policy. It is intended to counter the view of many physicists that policy changes they would recommend (such as those that would promote the use of more sustainable technologies) are not "politically feasible." This paper argues that such changes would be more politically feasible if the physics community trained and supported more "translators" to work with the full set players that impact policy in our democratic society.


Simulation has become on of the main means for solving production scheduling problem. This paper analyzed the basic characteristics of production scheduling system and all kind of production factors. Then, the corresponding Agent model of many production factors was established, and a multi-agent-system-based Architecture of production scheduling simulation system was brought up. At last, this paper developed a distributed simulation platform based on all these study, which would provide decision-making supports for the production scheduling.


To detect the carcinogenicity of sterigmatocystin for human stomach, the human fetal gastric cells, cultured in vitro, were treated with extract solution of Aspergillus versicolor culture (0.117mg sterigmatocystin per Kg culture of Aspergillus versicolor). The cells showed random arrangement, loss of contact inhibition and cell polarity. Some transformed foci were present in different numbers and times according to the dosages of the extract solution. The cells with such changes were analysed with a flow cytometer and the results showed that the cell number in S phase of cell cycle distribution was greatly increased. The above changes were similar to those of the cells treated with MNNG, but no such changes were noted in the control group. These results indicated that sterigmatocystin could induce some characteristics of neoplastic transformed cells and that sterigmatocystin may be a carcinogen for human gastric cancer.


Tumour cells from 23 renal carcinomas were exposed in vitro to increasing concentrations of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) or one of several cytotoxic agents. Thereafter the uptake of 75Selenomethionine (75SeM) was compared to that of tumour cells not exposed to the drug. Using drug concentrations similar to those seen following in vivo administration in patients, MPA produced greater than or equal to 50% inhibition of 75SeM uptake in 5 of 23 cases. The comparable proportion for doxorubicin was 4 of 5 and for mitozantrone 7 of 12. Methotrexate and Vinblastine were much less effective. In all cases where greater than or equal to 50% inhibition was obtained with doxorubicin and mitozantrone the carcinoma had spread beyond the kidney. Thus drug sensitivity may be associated with a high mitotic rate.


The translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP) is a highly conserved protein involved in a variety of normal cell functions and disease processes. Preclinical studies revealed that TCTP has anti-apoptotic properties, promotes cell growth and division and is involved in cancer progression by promoting invasion and metastasis. The present study explored the potential value of TCTP as a prognostic marker in colon cancer. A retrospective analysis of 74 patients with colon cancer was performed. Using immunohistochemistry, TCTP levels in the primary tumor were assessed semi-quantitatively by the calculation of cytoplasmic and nuclear H-score. Cytoplasmic TCTP levels in the primary tumor had no statistically significant association with disease-free survival (DFS), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in the present patient population. Patients whose primary tumors had a negative nuclear TCTP expression had significantly improved clinical outcomes. The PFS for the negative nuclear TCTP expression group was 7.7 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 5.8-9.5] compared with 5.5 months (95% CI, 3.2-7.8) in the group with positive nuclear expression (P=0.023, Mantel-Cox log-rank). Patients with a negative nuclear expression of TCTP had a significantly higher median OS (22.2 months; 95% CI, 16.1-28.3) compared with those with positive TCTP nuclear expression (median 13.2 months; 95% CI, 10.1-16.3; P=0.008, Mantel-Cox log-rank). In a multivariate Cox regression model, a positive nuclear TCTP H-score was an independent risk factor for worse PFS and OS. The 1-year OS rate in the group with negative nuclear TCTP expression was 86.3% compared with 56.5% in patients with positive nuclear TCTP expression (P=0.008). The present study suggested that semiquantitative H-score measurement of TCTP levels in the nuclei of tumor cells from the primary tumor is a potential prognostic marker for clinical outcomes in patients with colon cancer.


Novartis will pay $50 million up front for access to Conatus' pan-caspase inhibitor emricasan, a small molecule in Phase II studies to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The deal adds another drug for the fatty liver disease to Novartis' portfolio, which already includes an FXR agonist in Phase II trials. The companies will split the costs of a Phase IIb study of emricasan; if successful, Novartis will test it in combination with an FXR agonist. As new drugs offer cures for people with hepatitis C, NASH is forecast to become the leading cause of liver transplants by 2020.


In many applications, when building linear regression models, it is important to account for the presence of outliers, i.e., corrupted input data points. Such problems can be formulated as mixed-integer optimization problems involving cubic terms, each given by the product of a binary variable and a quadratic term of the continuous variables. Existing approaches in the literature, typically relying on the linearization of the cubic terms using big-M constraints, suffer from weak relaxation and poor performance in practice. In this work we derive stronger second-order conic relaxations that do not involve big-M constraints. Our computational experiments indicate that the proposed formulations are several orders-of-magnitude faster than existing big-M formulations in the literature for this problem.


Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been a major public health concern in humans. Among MRSA, livestock-associated (LA)-MRSA strains have always been associated with exposure to livestock or their products and have emerged in different countries globally. Although studies have identified LA-MRSA from healthy pigs and pork in Thailand, prevalence in slaughtered pigs is still unknown. In addition, there are few reports on the epidemiology and molecular characteristics of LA-MRSA in Thailand. Hence, this is the first report investigating the epidemiology and molecular characteristics of MRSA in individual slaughtered pigs and pork in Thailand. A total of 204 nasal swab and 116 retailed pork samples were collected from three slaughterhouses and four fresh markets, respectively. Individual samples were used for screening for MRSA and obtained isolates were examined for drug- resistance profiling for 12 antimicrobial agents of 10 drug classes. In addition, SCCmec typing and multi-locus sequence typing were conducted to obtain genotype profiles. MRSA were isolated from 11 and 52 nasal swab and pork samples, respectively. The prevalence was significantly higher in the pork than in the nasal swab samples (p-value < 0.05). A high prevalence of ST9-SCCmecIX and ST398-SCCmecV with high-level antimicrobial resistance from markets and slaughterhouses indicated the spreading of MRSA with these genotypes in the Thai swine processing chains and suggested the need for further investigation to determine a control.


The global climate changes as a worldwide phenomena are on the top of the agenda of most
states and international organizations. The adverse effects we currently feel and even worst
things to come are stressing the need for action and firm resolution of this problem. In this
sense, the need for ''environment friendly'' energy is becoming top priority and renewable
energy sources are in high demand. Furthermore, many countries are noticing this as a
development potential and are investing in this sector. One of these countries is Bosnia and
Herzegovina with its unlimited natural resources including wind, water etc. This paper will
analyze ongoing and planed projects in the area of renewable energy and economic benefits
Bosnia and Herzegovina will experience from it. Furthermore, after the adoption of Kyoto
Protocol and creation of state agency Bosnia and Herzegovina is now eligible to apply for
CDM (Clean Development Projects). These projects are financed by developed countries and
are to be implemented in developing countries. It goes without saying that this is enormous
opportunity for Bosnian companies and agencies to apply for these projects and bring foreign
investments that will boost domestic economy. Besides this, the journey of Bosnia and
Herzegovina towards European Union is requiring various laws to be adopted and
implemented. One of these laws are rules and regulations related to the various aspects of
climate changes and ways on how to combat climate changes. Financial incentives that
European Union is providing to ''green energy'' companies and renewable energy sources are
additional motivation for Bosnia and Herzegovina to develop this are furthermore. Thereby in
this paper I will address the current issue of climate changes and the need for renewable
energy sources. Special focus will be on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the opportunities for
economic development available through investing and working on ''green energy'' and
renewable energy projects. I will analyze current projects and future planned projects and
their impact on economic development of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The focus of the research
will be on various documents, projects and analysis currently available for this purpose. The
main finding is that Bosnia and Herzegovina is truly a country with great potential for
investments in renewable energy projects and the research paper will provide abundance of
arguments for this statement.


In neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's and ALS, proteins that bind RNA are found in aggregated forms in autopsied brains. Evidence suggests that RNA aids nucleation of these pathological aggregates; however, the mechanism has not been investigated at the level of atomic structure. Here we present the 3.4 Å resolution structure of fibrils of full-length recombinant tau protein in the presence of RNA, determined by electron cryo-microscopy (cryoEM). The structure reveals the familiar in-register cross-β amyloid scaffold, but with a small fibril core spanning residues Glu391 to Ala426, a region disordered in the fuzzy coat in all previously studied tau polymorphs. RNA is bound on the fibril surface to the positively charged residues Arg406 and His407 and runs parallel to the fibril axis. The fibrils dissolve when RNAse is added, showing that RNA is necessary for fibril integrity. While this structure cannot exist simultaneously with the tau fibril structures extracted from patients' brains, it could conceivably account for the nucleating effects of RNA cofactors followed by remodeling as fibrils mature. Significance statement Application of cryoEM has greatly expanded our understanding of atomic structures of mature pathological amyloid fibrils, but little is known at the molecular level of the initiation of fibril formation. RNA has been shown to be one cofactor for formation of fibrils of tau protein, and is known also to bind to other proteins, including TDP-43, FUS, and HNRNPA2, which form pathological inclusions. Our cryoEM structure of recombinant tau protein with RNA reveals a 36 residue, C-terminal fibril core bound to RNA which runs parallel to the fibril axis. We speculate that this structure could represent an early step in the formation of tau fibrils.


To find out the effect of storage relative humidity, seed moisture content and type of storage container on soybean seed quality, an experiment was conducted at the Seed Laboratory, Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University Mymensingh in 2008 and 2009. In 2008, soybean seed has 96% initial germination and in 2009 seed having 98% initial germination was stored at 8% and 12% initial moisture levels in two types of storage containers viz., cloth bag and polythene bag (0.06mm thickness). The final seed moisture content, germination percentage, germination index, and seedling dry matter of the seed under different treatments were measured at 60,120, and 180 days after storage (DAS). The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with three replications. In 2008, highest germination percentage (89.33%) of soybean seed was retained at 180 days after storage (DAS) for those stored at 8% initial seed moisture content (SMC) in polythene bag at 50% relative humidity. Germination index and seedling dry matter decreased with increased initial seed moisture content irrespective of storage containers used. In 2009, highest germination percentage (92.67%) of soybean seed was retained at 180 DAS for those stored in polythene bag at 8% initial SMC at 50% of the relative humidity. Those stored in cloth bag at 12% SMC showed rapid germination loss and the value went down to 0.00 in both the years. Vigour index and seedling dry matter decreased with increased initial seed moisture content irrespective of storage containers used.


Chapter 1 covers the historical background and describes the early mechanical analogue devices. A comparison of analogue and digital computers is made in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3 the role of the operational amplifier is dealt with in some considerable detail. Chapter 4 describes fully the application of the electronic analogue computer to equation solving, dealing in turn with function unit interconnection, time scaling, and problem variable scaling. Chapters 5 and 6 deal quite comprehensively with thermionic and transistor operational amplifiers, respectively, the coverage given to the latter being quite remarkable for a book this size. The final chapter describes briefly various items of auxiliary equipment such as multipliers, function generators, and analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converters.


fails, people turn to cooperative principles and make them work." If this generalization were true, how explain cooperative failures? Indeed, later in the book he himself cautions: "Too many persons are inclined to look upon cooperation as a kind of magic which will do all the work without any effort on the part of the members of cooperative organizations." Little attention is given in the book to the importance of securing not only intelligent and honest managers but also those who are well-trained in sound business principles of management as well as in cooperative theory. This book will win friends and influence many intelligent people until the last chapter, in which the author goes over the dam of reason and sets forth the view that private profit means robbing one's neighbor. He apparently loses sight of the excellent record of marketing and finance cooperatives in earning profits for their members, and is evidently thinking only of consumer cooperatives and purchasing associations. This reviewer regrets that more attention was not given to the two principal effects that cooperatives may have in a free enterprise system. First, in some cases the methods of organization and operation offer greater economies than those enjoyed by private enterprises, e.g., credit unions. Second, in other cases monopolistic advantages and trade traditions may be broken down through informative labeling and grading, as is done by National Cooperatives, Inc., or through cooperative production, e.g., fertilizer by the Indiana Farm Bureau Cooperative. The author imparts a sound word of wisdom to evangelistic cooperators: "Cooperation is never an end in itself but is rather a means to an end, namely, the improvement of economic and social conditions so that the creative energies of the people may be released, so that they may live happier and fuller lives." LINCOLN CLARK Unioersity of Maryland


Most workers are only partially insured against unemployment. One reason is that high unemployment compensation creates a free rider problem when monitoring of job search behavior is limited; people who do not seek employment (non-workers) may nevertheless collect unemployment compensation. We show that unproductive workfare for unemployed workers may improve unemployment insurance if workers and non-workers value leisure differently. If they differ only with respect to productivity workfare has to be based on a productivity related task requirement (task workfare); a simple time requirement (time workfare) is not enough. Task workfare is simply a better screening device, also implying that task workfare Pareto dominates time workfare. Finally, we show that the scope for using workfare is larger the smaller are the transfers from workers to non-workers.


OBJECTIVES
To investigate the associations of radiographic finger joint osteoarthritis (ROA), hand laterality (right/left) and anatomical location within the hand, with finger joint pain.

METHODS
Radiographs of both hands of 295 female dentists and 248 female teachers were examined for the presence of osteoarthritis in each finger joint, using grades 0 = no OA, 1 = doubtful OA, 2 = mild OA, 3 = moderate OA, 4 = severe OA. Information on the occurrence of pain in each finger joint during the past 30 days and hand laterality was obtained by questionnaire.

RESULTS
Compared with subjects with no ROA, the prevalence ratio (PR) of finger joint pain was 1.92 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.61-2.34] among those with mild ROA and 5.34 (4.51-6.54) among those with at least moderate ROA, based on a multivariate log-binomial regression model. Pain was slightly more common in the right than in the left hand (1.27; 1.15-1.40). Compared with the little finger, more pain occurred in the thumb (2.67; 2.25-3.16), the index finger (1.76; 1.50-2.07) and the middle finger (1.47; 1.24-1.74). Further, pain was more common in the proximal interphalangeal (1.77; 1.56-2.00) and the distal interphalangeal (1.51; 1.29-1.76) joints than in the metacarpophalangeal joints. The strength of the association between ROA and finger joint pain increased with the severity of pain.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that ROA, anatomic localization within the hand, and hand laterality have independent effects on finger joint pain.


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006

4414

Ionizing radiation (IR) is utilized as a treatment to cure or manage cancer. Various components of IR-inducible signal transduction cascade can promote the survival of tumor cells and confer relative resistance to IR. Understanding the mechanisms of these responses should provide new molecular targets for tumor radiosensitization. In this present study, we investigate the roles of nitric oxide (NO) generated by IR in the signaling of EGF in A549 non-small cell lung carcinoma cells. A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells were exposed to IR, and NO level and NO synthase (NOS) activity was determined. NO scavenger, NO donor and NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor were used, and transfection of NOS cDNA and its siRNA was performed. Then, EGF receptor signal events were analyzed. exposure of cells to IR resulted in a transient induction of EGF receptor phosphorylation in dose-dependent manner. NO scavenger and NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor suppressed the IR-induced generation of NO, EGF receptor (EGFR) phosphorylation, and its downstream signal activation such as Shc binding, Akt and ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Furthermore, overexpression of NOS increased the IR-induced NO production and EGFR activation, and siRNA of NOS suppressed these events. These results indicate that NO produced by IR significantly contributes to the EGF receptor-mediated signaling. These study suggests that IR-induced NO formation is required in the EGF receptor phosphorylation and its signal activation. Detailed analysis of the mechanisms of cross-talk of IR-induced NO production via NOS and EGFR will yield new therapeutic interventions for EGFR signal-related diseases such as cancer. Acknowledgement: This work is supported by the National Nuclear R & D program of the Ministry of Science & Technoloy of Korea


The esophagus, or oesophagus, is a hollow organ that is commonly known as the gullet or food pipe. With the aid of peristaltic (wavelike) contractions, food passes through the esophagus from the pharynx (throat) to the stomach. The esophagus, or gullet, is a long tube that is approximately 25 cm long in adults and 8-10 cm long in infants. The following article will provide a compact overview of the anatomy, most important diseases, and physiology of this integral organ.


Triatoma infestans is the most important vector of Chagas disease in Argentina. We report for the first time the presence of T. infestans (Klug) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) associated with burrowing parrot nests Cyanoliseus patagonus (Psitta- siformes: Psittacidae) built on abandoned adobe houses. The possible implications of this finding are discussed, for entomological surveillance of the vector.


The family of PI3Ks generate PI3P, PI(3,4)P2 or PI(3,4,5)P3. These lipids control the function and the localisation of several downstream effectors which regulate many intracellular processes including signalling and membrane traffic (Vanhaesebroeck et al., 2010; Falasca and Maffucci, 2012; Vanhaesebroeck et al., 2012; Maffucci and Falasca, 2014; Bilanges et al., 2019). In mammals, there are eight PI3K isoforms which are classified into class I, II and III PI3Ks (Vanhaesebroeck et al., 2010; Banfic et al., 2009; Maffucci and Falasca, 2014; Falasca and Maffucci, 2012; Bilanges et al., 2019). Among them, class I PI3Ks have been most broadly studied and are often mutated in cancer. Class II and III PI3Ks produce PI3P in intracellular membranes and, in the case of class II PI3Ks, also PI(3,4)P2. These PI3Ks have emerged as regulators of intracellular vesicular traffic (Posor et al., 2013; Marat and Haucke, 2016; Franco et al., 2014; Yoshioka et al., 2012). However, the understanding of their roles in vivo is still limited. The aim of this study was to increase the currently incomplete knowledge on the biological roles and molecular mechanisms of action of the class II PI3K-C2β isoform. For this purpose, siRNA-mediated depletion of PI3K-C2β in HeLa cells and MEFs derived from a PI3K-C2β kinase-dead knock-in (KI) mouse model engineered by the host laboratory prior to this study were used. The latter strategy allows the assessment of the kinase-dependent functions rather than possible scaffolding functions of the targeted PI3K, without affecting the expression levels of the targeted or non-targeted PI3K isoforms (Alliouachene et al., 2015). Here I show that PI3K-C2β regulates focal adhesion (FA) dynamics and cell migration. PI3K-C2β depletion or inactivation leads to an increased number of FAs, delayed FA disassembly and impaired cell migration. Additionally, in live cells PI3K-C2β accumulates at disassembling FAs upon blebbistatin treatment, a tool to induce FA dismantling. Moreover, a yeast-two hybrid screen identified DEPBC1B, a promoter of FA disassembly (Marchesi et al., 2014) as a potential PI3K-C2β interactor. Immunoprecipitation assays confirmed this interaction. I also provide evidence that PI3K-C2β interacts with talin, a well-characterised FA component. The mechanistic characterisation of a potential interplay between PI3K-C2β, talin and DEPDC1B in the regulation of FA dynamics requires further investigation.


Short text is usually made up of several words and one sentence at most. Considering sparse features and complicated expressions, the similarity measurement and the clustering of the texts may not work well. The semantic clustering for short text is studied. Firstly, according to the analysis of the dependency syntax structure, the event component and modified components are extracted. Then, the semantic similarity of the texts is analyzed with the component as the basic unit. The strategy is that the text would be similar when not only the event component but also the modified components are similar. Further, considering the proposed semantic similarity may lead to increased topics, which means various cluster shape, indefinite cluster number, and increased noise point for the cluster, the density peak clustering is selected, and a regression parameter is designed to improve the cluster number and the noise. Based on the public data set, the proposed semantic clustering is tested: purity $P$ is 96% and $F$ measure is 71.97%. The proposed method has been used in the electrical power industry and is worth promoting.


Diabetes epidemics pose a serious health care problems and a huge burden on the economy of both developed and developing nations. Precise prognosis and the discovery of cost effective drugs for its management would serve as catalyst to economic recovery. This study is aimed at evaluating the prognosis of diabetes complications and the efficacy of Guiera senegalensis aqueous leaf extract in streptozotocin (STZ) induced-diabetic rats. Twelve (12) adult male Wistar rats were used in this study. Diabetes was induced by administration of 60 mg/kg of streptozotocin. Diabetic rats were treated orally with the aid of a gavage 500 mg/kg of aqueous extract of Guiera senegalensis for 21 days. Fasting blood glucose and body weight were monitored at intervals of 7 days. Some antioxidant enzymes, lipid profile and indices of renal function were assayed after the 21 st day. Post administration of 60 mg/kg of STZ produced significant (P<0.05) increases in fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, Na + , and K + levels. Body weight, catalase and HDLcholesterol levels were reduced. Related biochemical indices (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, LDL cholesterol, urea, creatinine, Cl − and bicarbonate) were similarly modulated by STZ but the effects were not significant relative tothe normal control. Administration of extract of Guiera senegalensis reverses the effects of STZ on these parameters. Although they were not completely brought back to normal in some cases. These findings are indications that Guiera senegalensis has the capacity to attenuate some complications of diabetes mellitus and could be considered as a potent anti-diabetic plant. Keywords: Attenuate, catalyst, epidemics, gavage, prognosis, streptozotocin


Many applications demand availability. Unfortunately, software failures greatly reduce system availability. Prior work on surviving software failures suffers from one or more of the following limitations: required application restructuring, inability to address deterministic software bugs, unsafe speculation on program execution, and long recovery time.
 This paper proposes an innovative safe technique, called Rx, which can quickly recover programs from many types of software bugs, both deterministic and nondeterministic. Our idea, inspired from allergy treatment in real life, is to rollback the program to a recent checkpoint upon a software failure, and then to reexecute the program in a modified environment. We base this idea on the observation that many bugs are correlated with the execution environment, and therefore can be avoided by removing the "allergen" from the environment. Rx requires few to no modifications to applications and provides programmers with additional feedback for bug diagnosis.
 We have implemented Rx on Linux. Our experiments with five server applications that contain seven bugs of various types show that Rx can survive six out of seven software failures and provide transparent fast recovery within 0.017--0.16 seconds, 21--53 times faster than the whole program restart approach for all but one case (CVS). In contrast, the two tested alternatives, a whole program restart approach and a simple rollback and reexecution without environmental changes, cannot successfully recover the four servers (Squid, Apache, CVS, and ypserv) that contain deterministic bugs, and have only a 40% recovery rate for the server (MySQL) that contains a nondeterministic concurrency bug. Additionally, Rx's checkpointing system is lightweight, imposing small time and space overheads.


After immunization of mice with 2,4-dinitrophenyl-ovalbumin (DNP-OVA), it was shown previously that strains having Igh-Va genes and able to express light chains of the Vk1 group produce high levels of anti-DNP antibody bearing an idiotype (Id-460) associated with the combining site of the BALB/c DNP-binding myeloma protein MOPC 460. Expression of Id-460 in serum is transient; Id-460 levels peak early in the response and are regulated independently of total anti-DNP antibody. In this paper, the transient dominance of Id-460 expression has been confirmed at the cellular level by inhibition of splenic anti-DNP plaque-forming cells (PFC) with rabbit anti-Id-460 antiserum. Id-460+ PFC can account for 52-91% of anti-DNP PFC early after secondary challenge with DNP- OVA. Furthermore, Id-460 is represented at these high levels in IgM, IgG, and IgG1, and IgG2a, the three isotypes tested in the PFC assay, as well as in IgE, as tested by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis. Thus, there is no preferential association of Id-460 with a given isotype. We conclude from these studies that Id-460 is a dominant idiotype in the anti-DNP antibody response of BALB/c mice to DNP-OVA. This dominance is expressed transiently and is independent of isotype. A further conclusion from these studies is that regulation of isotype expression is independent of the regulation of idiotype expression in this system. We would suggest that regulation of Id-460 expression involves Ig- dependent helper T cells specific for Id-460 that induce Id-460+ B cells and also activate suppressor T cells, both events occurring via idiotype-anti-idiotype interactions.


A surgical light source has been examined to determine the potential for retinal damage to staff in the operating theatre. It has been shown that under certain circumstances the light source examined can give an irradiance at the cornea which is well in excess of accepted safety standards. Calculation using data on the retinal irradiance required to produce retinal damage indicates that for an accidental exposure at a distance of 500 mm there is a significant possibility of retinal damage. At closer distances the probability of retinal damage is even higher. It is possible that other surgical light sources produce a similar degree of hazard and hospitals should establish suitable safety measures where necessary.


Sheep milk (SM) is, apart from bovine milk, the most important dairy food worldwide. Sardinia, Italy, is one of the most significant producer, accounting for up to 20% of the global total. Despite this, only little attention has been paid to the assessment of rapid, low-cost and reliable analytical methods devoted to measure minor components in SM. Because of the known effects of fatty acids (FA) on human health, the development of a quick, inexpensive, and accurate method to directly quantify the FA profile in SM may be a valuable tool to improve the payment system in use in Sardinia. Due the fact that the mid-infrared (MIR) spectrometry method appears to be a useful method for measuring milk FA profile, the main goal of this study is to assess a MIR method capable of quantifying the FA in SM. 250 samples of SM, collected in different areas of Sardinia from 2011 to 2013, were analyzed by a validated gaschromatographic method, while their MIR spectra were recorded. The mathematical method adopted to predict the contents of FA in SM, based on partial least squares (PLS) regression combined with i) a genetic algorithm or ii) a manual selection of IR frequencies according to the nature of each FA, has allowed us to obtain a very good accuracy of prediction for each FA in SM.


The U.S. population is aging rapidly. As people get older, they increasingly face issues such as increased susceptibility to injuries and the need to be assisted with many day-to-day activities. Older adults have the opportunity to opt-in to live in an older adult community (OAC) based on their needs and capabilities. This study comprehensively reviews existing governing development regulations and design criteria related to the older adults' communities, conducts surveys among people involved with some of these communities in California, and recommends improvements to community design for active living and tiered living communities. This study proposes a new scoring system to evaluate the overall life-space mobility of OACs and the surrounding areas. For each of the ten communities within California, the area's Active Mobility Infrastructure (AMI), both inside and outside, and Permeability (PERM) are assessed. Furthermore, the study aims to comprehend how residents feel about the available facilities and how they are utilized through a survey that includes questions regarding how frequently residents partake in active transportation within and outside their communities and assesses residents' financial and educational standings. Using Welch's T-Test, Pearson's Correlation Coefficient, and a Multinomial Logit Regression model, this study addresses three questions: (1) Are there any statistically significant differences in the transportation connection qualities within and surrounding the older adult communities perceived by their residents? (2) Are there strong correlations between the quality of transport connections and the walking frequency of the residents? (3) What are the main influential factors of walking frequency? The findings from this research can aid transportation professionals in improving the governing development regulations and associated design criteria for better person-environment fit in older living communities.


Objective: to identifying brain death in the hospital. Methods: it is a cross sectional and quantitative study which analyzed secondary data extracted from the notified brain death registers and from the medical records of the eligible patients. The data were processed and analyzed through descriptive statistics and comparisons. Results: of the 64 cases of notifications, the male gender predominated (67.2%) within the age range from 40 to 59 years (64.1%). There was a greater proportion (71.8%) of causes of death related to Hemorrhagic Cerebral Vascular Accident and Traumatic Brain Injury caused by motorcycle accident, showing statistically significant difference (p<0.05) regarding the gender, age and location. Conclusion:  the Hemorrhagic Cerebral Vascular Accident was the most prevalent cause of notification of brain death and the Intensive Therapy Unit was the most notified venue.


Thyroid hormone (TH) elicits an extraordinary multiplicity of biochemical, cellular, and physiological responses in the simplest to the most complex organisms. The diverse actions of the biologically active thyroid hormone, L-triiodothyronine (T3), can be divided into two groups: growth and development, and regulation of metabolism. A large number of mechanisms, some mutually contradictory, have been proposed to explain the actions of this hormone. A chronological examination of the mechanisms of action of TH and other hormones reflects the rapid increase in our knowledge of biological regulatory processes. The discovery in the 1980s that the two TH receptors, TRa and TRb, share the same modular structure as other members of the large nuclear receptor multigene family of transcription factors focused attention on transcriptional regulation by TH. TH receptors function together with co-activators and co-repressors in multi-protein complexes, which are organized along with hormonal target genes into the structure of chromatin. Many new facets of TH action are beginning to attract our attention, so that investigators will still be busy attempting to explain the mechanism of its action for decades to come.


Purpose This paper aims to investigate the nature and dynamics of the interaction between university spin-offs (USOs) and academia. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical framework is grounded in an interactive view based on the industrial marketing and purchasing literature on USOs and their development. The concepts of activity links, resource ties and actor bonds are used as a starting point for capturing the content and dynamics of the interaction. The empirical part of the paper consists of four case studies captured through interviews as the main data source and analysed to conclude how the interaction between the USO and academia developed over time. Findings The study identifies a multi-faceted and dynamic content of the interaction. The paper discerns and discusses research and development links, knowledge and equipment ties and social, legal, financial and organizational bonds with inventors, other academic partners and innovation support organizations. The dynamics are manifested both through changes within individual relationships and by adding/ending relationships. One main conclusion regards the existence of wave-like patterns of interaction with academic partners driven by the USOs' needs and the establishment of customer relationships. Originality/value Most of the previous research has described a linear process in which the USO leaves academia once the idea has been transferred to a company. This paper contrasts this view by developing and using an analytical framework to capture the dynamic and continuous interaction between USO and academia.


INTRODUCTION
The shift in epidemic trends in recent years in Romania shows new problems in regard of HIV vertical transmission, firstly in intravenous drug user's mothers co-infected with hepatitis viruses and with social problems, and secondly the children of young mothers with an old HIV infection and long antiretroviral therapy history.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We studied all HIV perinatal exposed children routinely followed up in the Paediatric Department of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, since January 1st 2006 till December 31st 2012. The analyses consisted of describing the birth defects and association with certain risk factors: gender, mother's age at birth and exposure to antiretrovirals in the first trimester of pregnancy.

RESULTS
We analyzed 244 children born to HIV-infected mothers. The incidence of HIV infection was 16.39%. The rate of birth defects was 39.34% (96/244 cases). The most frequent findings were cardiac malformations (47/96), followed by musculoskeletal defects (24/96), neurologic defects (20/96), urogenital malformations (13/96), digestive tract defects (3/93), metabolic disorders (2/96) and genetic disorders (2/96). We found nine cases of severe congenital anomalies: complex heart defect, total congenital aganglionic megacolon, anal imperforation, Dandy-Walker syndrome, gangliosidosis, Niemann-Pick syndrome, Down syndrome, true hermaphroditism and cleft palate. Two children died during first year of life due to severe malformations. 9% of cases had associated malformations. The gender rate was in favour of males in group with birth defects (58/38) and with no birth defects (82/66). The median age at birth in mothers was 22 years, similar in both groups. The highest mean age at birth was in offspring's mothers with neurologic congenital defects 25, 15 years old, but is not statistically significant (p=0.1). In the studied period the highest number of birth defects were found in 2012, 37 children, compared with less than 15 in previous years (not statistically significant, p=0.07). In our studied patients the risk of birth defects was not statistically associated with HIV transmission or with exposure to antiretrovirals before and in first trimester of pregnancy (p=0.88).

CONCLUSION
The rate of birth defects among HIV-exposed children was not significantly associated with antiretroviral exposure, but we identify very rare and severe congenital conditions. We have noticed also a trend to increasing number of birth defects in 2012 among studied patients compared to previous years.


Increased fat mass, abdominal adiposity, and insulin resistance are typical findings in aging mammals and are frequently associated with leptin resistance and increased plasma leptin levels. To examine whether leptin's failure in aging is due to aging per se or to changes in body fat mass or distribution, we studied aging rats that underwent calorie restriction throughout their lives, maintaining their youthful body fat pattern and metabolic profile. Leptin's action was assessed by measuring its ability to regulate food intake, fat mass and its distribution, peripheral and hepatic insulin action, and its own gene expression in fat. Our results show that leptin's action is markedly diminished in aging rats, independently of their body fat pattern. Leptin's failure in this model suggests its causative role in the metabolic decline seen with aging.


Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B)/Rel transcription factors may be involved in atherosclerosis, as is suggested by the presence of activated NF-kappa B in human atherosclerotic lesions. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of oxidized LDL (oxLDL) on the NF-kappa B system in human THP-1 monocytic cells as well as adherent monocytes. Our results demonstrate that short-term incubation of these cells with oxLDL activated p50/p65 containing NF-kappa B dimers and induced the expression of the target gene IL-8. This activation of NF-kappa B was inhibited by the antioxidant and H2O2 scavenger pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate and the proteasome inhibitor PSI. The oxLDL-induced NF-kappa B activation was accompanied by an initial depletion of I kappa B-alpha followed by a slight transient increase in the level of this inhibitor protein. In contrast, long-term treatment with oxLDL prevented the lipopolysaccharide-induced depletion of I kappa B-alpha, accompanied by an inhibition of both NF-kappa B activation and the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1 beta genes. These observations provide additional evidence that oxLDL is a potent modulator of gene expression and suggest that (dys)regulation of NF-kappa B/Rel is likely to play an important role in atherogenesis.


Glycosidases are an important class of enzymes for performing the selective hydrolysis of glycans. Although glycans can be hydrolyzed in principle by acidic water, hydrolysis with high selectivity using nonenzymatic catalysts is an unachieved goal. Molecular imprinting in cross-linked micelles afforded water-soluble polymeric nanoparticles with a sugar-binding boroxole in the imprinted site. Post-modification installed an acidic group near the oxygen of the targeted glycosidic bond, with the acidity and distance of the acid varied systematically. The resulting synthetic glycosidase hydrolyzed oligosaccharides and polysaccharides in a highly controlled fashion simply in hot water. These catalysts not only broke down amylose with similar selectivities to those of natural enzymes, but they also could be designed to possess selectivity not available with biocatalysts. Substrate selectivity was mainly determined by the sugar residues bound within the active site, including their spatial orientations. Separation of the product was accomplished through in situ dialysis, and the catalysts left behind could be used multiple times with no signs of degradation. This work illustrates a general method to construct synthetic glycosidases from readily available building blocks via self-assembly, covalent capture, and post-modification. In addition, controlled, precise, one-step hydrolysis is an attractive way to prepare complex glycans from naturally available carbohydrate sources.


The energy characteristics of high-pressure (up to 10 bar) electron-beam-pumped lasers were optimised. These lasers operated on the basis of the 3p—3s transitions in the Ne I atom resulting in the emission at the wavelengths λ = 585, 703, and 725 nm when the active medium was pumped by an electron beam with the current density 1.7 A cm-2 in the form of pulses of 5 μs duration. A record specific output energy of 0.15 J litre-1 (energy of 1.5 J) was achieved at the 725 nm wavelength. The pressure dependence of the spectral width of the laser radiation was determined at λ = 585 and 725 nm.


Isotopic perturbation of equilibrium was applied to 1,2-bridged halonium ions to determine whether they exist as single symmetric structures or as a rapid equilibrium of asymmetric structures. The observed deuterium isotope shifts are qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with the presence of intrinsic and equilibrium isotope shifts. The presence of equilibrium shifts suggests that these ions exist as a rapid equilibrium of asymmetric structures. Though the asymmetric structures were initially ascribed to β-halocarbenium ions, subsequent computational data suggest that 1,2-bridged halonium ions react with sulfur dioxide (SO2), the experimental solvent. Our current hypothesis is that the equilibrium isotope shifts result from rapid labile addition of SO2 to the halonium ions. Other hypotheses have been invoked to explain the results and are considered in the context of the available data.


Abstract Chinese actors have been actively engaged in agriculture in the Russian Far East since border liberalisation, from agriculture labourers, independent farmers with small- and medium-sized plots, to capital-rich agribusinesses that cultivate farmland on a much larger scale. With the use of wage labour and other capitalised production inputs, the occurrence of economic differentiation among producers and strong profit-seeking drivers, this stands in contrast to the situation within China itself – where institutional and structural constraints still limit the development of full-blown capitalist agriculture. This article presents the first case study of this phenomenon, in comparative perspective.


Clinical characteristics and laboratory test results of patients admitted to outpatient clinic for synthetic cannabinoid usage Objective: Synthetic cannabinoids (SC) are psychoactive substances that have agonistic effects on cannabinoid receptors. The aim of this study was to investigate the sociodemographic variables, SC usage properties, clinical effects and withdrawal symptoms of SC in patients who admitted to Research, Treatment and Training Center for Alcohol and Substance Dependence (AMATEM) in Istanbul for SC usage, while analyzing the urine samples of the patients by an enzyme immunoassay screening test. Methods: One hundred fifty eight patients who admitted to AMATEM outpatient clinic between 28.08.201313.02.2014 and reported that they had been using SC were enrolled in the study. Sociodemographic and clinical data form were applied to patients and their urine samples were investigated by a screening test. Results: One hundred thirty five of the patients (86.0%) reported that they had been using cannabis before they started on SC, while 19 patients reported that the first substance they had used were SC. The reason to use SC was relaxation for 143 (92.3%) of the patients. One hundred eight (70.1%) of the patients had unsuccessful attempts to stop SC usage. One hundred four (86.7%) of the 120 patients whose urine samples could be analyzed, had positive screening test results for SC. Conclusion: Our study is important because it is the first study that investigates the usage properties and clinical effects of SC with the screening test results for SC in Turkey.


Background: Medical teachers most often do not receive a special training in pedagogic techniques. Lack of such training results in ineffectivity of the delivered lecture, communication gap between the teacher and the student, which ends up in lowering the quality of teaching and standard of education. "Micro Teaching" technique is used with the aim of helping budding teachers to sharpen their teaching skills and teaching behaviors. Aims & Objective: To inculcate teaching skills and teaching behaviors in Postgraduate (PG) students and to develop the interest in teaching of PG students. Methodology: It was descriptive longitudinal study on eight first year PG student from various department of our institute. It was a four week study each participant underwent two sessions, in first session 10 minute presentation by participants in front of peer group, followed by peer group feedback on teaching skills, second session two weeks later after incorporating suggestions of first session to see the improvement. After second session participants asked to fill "self-evaluation" forms. Results: After comparing first session with second session results it was found statistically significant improvement in teaching skills and everyone agreed that microteaching helps to improve teaching skills and teaching behaviors, develop interest in teaching and boost confidence. Conclusion: This study has confirmed earlier research findings regarding the benefits of the microteaching technique in assisting individuals to develop their professional competence and confidence.
Keywords: Microteaching; Teaching-Learning methods; Teach-re-Teach; Small group teaching.


With the number of offshore wind farms rapidly increasing, in a wide variety of site conditions and using different turbine sizes, the need for alternative support structures other than the conventional monopile structure is apparent and several projects have been realised using other support structure types. In this report the results of Upwind Work Package 4, task 4.2 are reported. The aim of task 4.2 is to develop support structure concepts for large offshore wind turbines and deep water, including bottom mounted very soft and floating structures.


Because the dopamine D3 receptor is primarily expressed in regions of the limbic system of brain, it was proposed that it may represent a target for antipsychotic drugs that is free of extrapyramidal side effects. An ex vivo receptor binding technique employing [3H]7-OH-DPAT was used to evaluate in vivo occupancy of dopamine D3 receptors in the rat nucleus accumbens by selective D3 agonist 7-OH-DPAT (7-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin) and various antipsychotic drugs. With an ID50 value of 0.07 mg/kg, the selective D3 agonist (+)-7-OH-DPAT had the most potent inhibitory effect on ex vivo binding of [3H]7-OH-DPAT among all drugs tested. Clinical doses of phenothiazine drugs, such as chlorpromazine and levomepromazine, induce binding to D3 receptors in vivo, while atypical antipsychotic drugs, such as clozapine, pimozide, and sulpiride, are very weak in inhibiting ex vivo binding of [3H]7-OH-DPAT, indicating that the role of D3 receptors as targets of antipsychotic drugs free of extrapyramidal side effects may not be important.


AltaRica 3.0 is an event-based, object-oriented modeling language dedicated to (probabilistic) safety analyses of complex systems. It makes it possible to design models at higher level than done with formalisms traditionally used for safety analyses (fault trees, Markov Chains, stochastic Petri nets, etc.), without increasing the complexity of calculations of risk indicators. Several assessment tools have been developed for AltaRica 3.0, including a stepwise simulator. This tool is of a great help for the design and the validation of AltaRica 3.0 models. It is the analog for modeling of debuggers for programming. In this article, we show how the AltaRica 3.0 stepwise simulator has been greatly enhanced by the introduction of an abstract notion of time. The key mathematical property is that abstract and concrete simulation are bisim-ilar: any concrete (timed, stochastic) execution can be simulated by an abstract execution and reciprocally any abstract execution corresponds to at least one concrete execution. This important result paves the way to the design of efficient model-checking algorithms, e.g. generators of sequences of events leading to a failure state.


Background: Small talk and social talk are often recommended to doctors as rapport building strategies for consultations. These types of talk occur across different activities in clinical consultations. Aim: To explore how small talk and social talk are used in surgical consultations. Methods: Using conversation analysis, we examined the sequential positioning and action ascription of small talk and social talk in a sample of video-recorded surgeon-patient consultations from New Zealand and Australia. Results: Small talk and social talk sequences almost always do more than build rapport in surgical interactions. Rather, they contribute in complex ways to all three institutional agendas of a consultation – clinical, interactional, and relational. Discussion: This study broadens previous topic-based analyses and binary or linear conceptualisations. We show that small talk and social talk provide a rich resource for enabling different actions within consultations as well as managing relationships (e.g. managing transitions between activities, facilitating sensitive discussions or examinations, and supporting treatment planning). Conclusion: This study has provided a basis for further research to more fully understand the complexities of small talk and social talk in clinical consultations, as well as considerations of how such evidence might best be applied within training and assessment for clinicians.


We read with interest the article by Nalbantoglu et al. [1]. In their article, it was stated that the valid formulas calculated from erythrocyte indices on automated blood counts are not sufficient to discriminate between thalassemia minor (TM) and iron deficiency (ID) in pediatric patients. It is also reported that the most reliable discrimination between these two entities might be done using the parameters of body iron status (serum iron↓, serum iron binding capacity↑, and serum ferritin↓) and hemoglobin A2 (HbA2↑) level. These tests, if available, were suggested for achieving a definite diagnosis in every case with microcytosis. Based on our experience [2–6], we do agree with the authors' opinion regarding the incapability of the formulas to discriminate between these two entities. However, we would like to emphasize that the parameters suggested by the authors might also prove insufficient in some particular situations. With this letter, we want to point out those particular clinical conditions. These conditions should be taken into consideration in discriminating between TM and ID.


3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a technology that uses a variety of adhesive materials such as powdered metal or plastic to construct objects based on digital models. Recently, 3D printing technology has been combined with digital medicine, materials science, cytology, and other multidisciplinary fields, especially in the field of orthopedic built-in objects. The development of advanced 3D printing materials continues to meet the needs of clinical precision medicine and customize the most suitable prosthesis for everyone to improve service life and satisfaction. This article introduces the development of 3D printing technology and different types of materials. We also discuss the shortcomings of 3D printing technology and the current challenges, including the poor bionics of 3D printing products, lack of ideal bioinks, product safety, and lack of market supervision. We also prospect the future development trends of 3D printing.


This study investigated whether Korean speakers`use of so in their English conversation differs from native speakers` use in terms of the distribution and discourse functions of so. The data were obtained from audio-recorded oral samples from 70 Korean undergraduate students enrolled in required first-year Academic Spoken English class. The findings are as follows: Firstly, the discourse marker so in the present data was underused by the Korea speakers compared to native speakers. Secondly, Korean speakers employ so with a different discourse marker functions than the native speakers do in their English conversation. The possible explanations were offered in the discussion section.


This study examined the social and behavioural experiences of secondary students (grades 8-12), comparing a school-based sample of 151 adolescents identified with mild intellectual disabilities or specific learning disabilities, and a schoolgrade-, sex-, and ethnically-matched group of adolescents without disabilities in terms of self-reported victimization, bullying, racial discrimination, gender harassment, sexual imposition, feelings of school safety, and belongingness, as well as engagement in high-risk behaviours (alcohol/drug use, violent behaviour). Results of a series of planned contrasts indicated that adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities and specific learning disabilities did not report greater rates of victimization or bullying, nor did they report lower feelings of school safety or belonging, or engagement in high-risk behaviours (i.e., drug use, alcohol use, violent behavior) than their peers without disabilities. As well, adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities and specific learning disabilities did not differ from each other on these indices. Sex differences were also non-significant. Bi-variate correlations generally indicated that the relationships between victimization, bullying, and associated socioenvironmental variables such as school safety, engagement in high-risk behaviours, and feelings of belonging did not significantly differ between students with mild intellectual disabilities and students without disabilities, but did for students with specific learning disabilities. Specifically, findings from this study failed to find a significant association between school belonging and victimization, victimization and alcohol use, victimization and violent behaviour, as well as bullying and alcohol use for students with specific learning disabilities. Sex differences among these relationships were also examined, and for the most part were non-significant. However, there were a few exceptions. Namely, the relationship between feelings of school belonging and victimization was significant for boys with specific learning disabilities, but not for girls. Similarly, the relationship between bullying and drug use was higher for boys without disabilities than it was for girls.


Kidney transplantation has advantages over other forms of kidney replacement therapies (hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis) because it improves quality of life and increases the survival rate of recipients. However, adherence to immunosuppressive therapy after transplantation is an indispensable condition for the renal graft survival. Assessment of the adherence to immunosuppressive therapy in kidney transplant patients from a teaching hospital in Sao Luis Maranhao, Brazil. Cross-sectional study of 151 kidney transplants with follow-up in the renal transplant clinic. Adherence to immunosuppressive was assessed by the self-report method Immunosuppressive Therapy Adherence Scale (ITAS): there was (60.3%) percentage of nonadherence of the transplant patients. The variables that were statistically significant with nonadherence were: being transplanted with a living donor (p=0.03), type of immunosuppressant used (p=0.04) and serum creatinine (p=0.04). We found a high rate of nonadherence to immunosuppressive therapy by the self-report method in renal transplant recipients in an outpatient follow-up. This result becomes an important risk factor for adverse clinical outcomes, such as rejection and failure of the kidney graft.


In this work, a hydrothermal technique is employed to prepare titanium dioxide films on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates. A low-cost homemade autoclave was used to fabricate iron-doped -TiO2 films (1at. %Fe) at different reaction times from 1 to 4 hours.  X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that the predominant phase is rutile (R-TiO2) with peaks at (101), (002), and (112). The XRD results showed that with increasing reaction time the peaks become sharper and narrowed. The images of the field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) showed that with increasing reaction time the films appeared to have vertically aligned TiO2 nanorods. The atomic force microscope (AFM) results illustrated that surface roughness and the root means square was decreased with increasing the reaction time. UV-visible spectroscopy analysis revealed that the energy bandgap value (Eg) decreased with reaction time up to 3 hours. Urbach energy for the grown films was found to be decreased with increasing growth time. The electrical measurements indicated that all TiO2 films had p-type conductivity.


This paper presents a novel approach to digital video stabilization that uses adaptive particle filter for global motion estimation. In this approach, dimensionality of the feature space is first reduced by the principal component analysis (PCA) method using the features obtained from a scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), and hence the resultant features may be termed as the PCA-SIFT features. The trajectory of these features extracted from video frames is used to estimate undesirable motion between frames. A new cost function called SIFT-BMSE (SIFT Block Mean Square Error) is proposed in adaptive particle filter framework to disregard the foreground object pixels and reduce the computational cost. Frame compensation based on these estimates yields stabilized full-frame video sequences. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is both accurate and efficient.


Context: Pregnancy is associated with normal physiological adaptive changes. Biochemical parameters reflect these changes and are distinct from the non-pregnant state. Low levels of health literacy have been shown to result in less healthy choices, riskier behavior, poorer health, less self-management, and more hospitalization among that category of adult patients. Aim: The study aimed to examine the effect of pregnancy on liver function tests among pregnant women during various trimesters of pregnancy and compare with non-pregnant and determine the patients' level of health literacy regarding the variation of liver function tests among those patients.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to achieve the study aim. A random sample of 65 women was selected from an outpatient clinic in the maternity hospital; 54 out of them were pregnant women. Three tools were used to collect data, socio-demographic and clinical data assessment sheet; assessment of liver function tests by Cobas c 311; and health literacy management scale. Results: The sample's age range was between 20-40 years. This study revealed that; serum albumin levels decreased from the first trimester (3.7-4.7), and this decrease became progressively more accentuated as the pregnancy advanced (3.35-4.36 decreased significantly to 3.19-3.81). There was no significant decrease in serum AST between pregnant and non-pregnant women, but there was a significant decrease in ALT in pregnant women compared with non-pregnant women (11.90 Vs. 8.60 at p 0.017). In the current study, Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was significantly higher (P˂0.0001) during the third trimester (63-171) compared with the second trimester (33-137), and the first trimester (36-129), and with the control group (48-122). Finally, it was found that a significant decrease in total serum bilirubin concentrations during the second (0.11-0.38) and third trimesters (0.12-0.42) compared to control (0.11-1.57) and the first trimester (0.12-0.85). Moreover, most of the studied sample has a low level of health literacy for all subscales and the total scores.
Conclusion: During normal pregnancy, most values of liver function tests remain below the normal upper limits compared to non-pregnant women. Any increase in serum ALT and AST activity levels and serum bilirubin should be considered pathologic and prompt for further evaluation. Moreover, most of the studied sample has a low level of health literacy for all subscales and the total scores. The study recommended that the liver function tests should be routinely investigated during pregnancy to outline any pathologic changes. Focusing on the nurse's role, she should emphasize increasing the patient's level of health literacy regarding the variation of liver function tests. So, it is a must for nurses to develop many skills to enable them to function for this category of patients with low health literacy levels. Also, those patients should be equipped with information-seeking behavior, decision-making abilities, and problem-solving approaches along their health and illness continuum.


Following the European Council decision of March 2007, the European Union's common climate protection target for 2020 is a 20% reduction in GHG emissions. In order to acknowledge the related adjustments, opportunities and disadvantages for electricity generation associated with the design of energy policy goals, this paper explores different carbon mitigation policies over the next decades in the French case. Policies relying on CO2 emission reductions of 20% by 2020, followed with 50% by 2050, and combined with reductions in energy consumption, are discussed using long-term planning modelling. The results show a complex impact of mitigation policies on the future electricity mix and technologies. Focusing on electricity generation, we assess its interaction with renewable sources in the "French model" framework, whereby the country's unique energy policy has led it to rely on the highest nuclear power share in the world.


In the summer of 1997, the first meeting on 'Acute Leukemias with Structurally Altered Core Binding Factor Subunits' was held. During the meeting, which attracted more than 140 participants, many recognized experts in the field of CBF and leukemia were present. In this short report we summarize new data on CBF involvement in leukemia and other diseases that were presented during the meeting.


Electronic mail being one of the most prevalent methods for exchange of digital messages has been facing the biggest threat that is spam. Since the text spam can be easily detected so a new variant of spamming came into being. The new variant of spam is the image spam that is the trending method of spamming. This paper investigates the several classifiers used in the image spam classification like the Decision Tree and the Support Vector Machine (SVM) and a combination of the both.


The term curriculum is often used to only describe the goals, objectives, or plans. Each of these components is essential for effective learning. Curriculum improvement goes before its planning. It includes all partners or stakeholders in the education of the students and considers everything that will make the educational plan beneficiaries useful individuals from their general public. There are various ways to deal with curriculum improvement and development, which are exhibited by ones spotlight on the components of educational plan advancement and the degree of activity of the curriculum. This study was designed to analysis of curriculum development approach of National Curriculum for Chemistry Grade IX- X in Pakistan. The study was related to theoretical and content analysis based. National Chemistry Curriculum for grade IX- X is majorly based on subject-centered curriculum. But on other hand to meet the need of society it demands to cope up with demands of technology. To enhance the skills of students, activities and construction of knowledge by on their own is stressed in aims of curriculum. Curriculum of Chemistry emphasis on developing higher order thinking and skills in students.


In 2004, Clackdoyle and Noo published a class of inversion formulas for the 2D Radon transform which depends on the known radius of support of the unknown function. In this work, we extend this class of inversion formulas from functions of circular support to functions with any compact and convex support. We point out the potential benefits of these new inversion formulas in the context of reconstruction from truncated projections. A preliminary implementation of these new inversion formulas is also presented.


A new sickling hemoglobin (Hb) detected in an Argentinean family from San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina, is hereby described. Two mutations were identified on the same β-globin gene resulting in a new variant named Hb San Martin. One mutation was found on exon 1, corresponding to Hb S [β6Glu→Val, GAG>GTG] and the second one on exon 3 at β105(G7)Leu→Pro, CTC>CCC. The replacement of leucine by proline will likely impair the structure breaking helix G and causing instability of the molecule and the clinical manifestations typical of unstable Hbs. The mutation at β105 seemed to be a de novo one in our patients, arising on a previously mutated gene, due to the fact that Hb S is the most frequent structural variant.


We study the phase diagram of repulsively interacting spin-1 bosons in optical lattices at unit filling, showing that an externally induced quadratic Zeeman effect may lead to a rich physics characterized by various phases and phase transitions. We find that the main properties of the system may be described by an effective field model, which provides the precise location of the phase boundaries for any dimension, in excellent agreement with our numerical calculations for one-dimensional (1D) systems. Thus, our work provides a quantitative guide for the experimental analysis of various types of field-induced quantum phase transitions in spin-1 lattice bosons. These transitions, which are precluded in spin-1/2 systems, may be realized by using an externally modified quadratic Zeeman coupling, similar to recent experiments with spinor condensates in the continuum.


Abstract. A well-preserved fauna of largely articulated trilobites is described from three new localities close to one another in the Bull River Valley, southeastern British Columbia. All the trilobites from these localities are from the lower or middle part of the Wujiajiania lyndasmithae Subzone of the Elvinia Zone, lower Jiangshanian, in the McKay Group. Two new species are proposed with types from these localities: Aciculolenus askewi and Cliffia nicoleae. The trilobite (and agnostid) fauna from these localities includes at least 20 species: Aciculolenus askewi n. sp., Agnostotes orientalis (Kobayashi, 1935), Cernuolimbus ludvigseni Chatterton and Gibb, 2016, Cliffia nicoleae n. sp., Elvinia roemeri (Shumard, 1861), Grandagnostus? species 1 of Chatterton and Gibb, 2016, Eugonocare? phillipi Chatterton and Gibb, 2016, Eugonocare? sp. A, Housia vacuna (Walcott, 1912), Irvingella convexa (Kobayashi, 1935), Irvingella flohri Resser, 1942, Irvingella species B Chatterton and Gibb, 2016, Olenaspella chrisnewi Chatterton and Gibb, 2016, Proceratopyge canadensis (Chatterton and Ludvigsen, 1998), Proceratopyge rectispinata (Troedsson, 1937), Pseudagnostus cf. P. josepha (Hall, 1863), Pseudagnostus securiger (Lake, 1906), Pseudeugonocare bispinatum (Kobayashi, 1962), Pterocephalia sp., and Wujiajiania lyndasmithae Chatterton and Gibb, 2016. Pseudagnostus securiger, a widespread early Jiangshanian species, has not been previously recorded from southeastern British Columbia. Non-trilobite fossils collected from these localities include brachiopods, rare trace fossils, a complete silica sponge (Hyalospongea), and a dendroid graptolite. The faunas from these localities are more diverse and better preserved than those from other previously documented localities of the same age in the region. Additional specimens of a rare species, found by amateur collectors in previously documented localities of slightly younger age (upper part of Wujiajiania lyndasmithae Subzone) in the same region, are documented. These new specimens, when combined with an earlier discovered specimen, provide adequate type material to propose a new species of Labiostria, L. gibbae, which may be useful for biostratigraphy.


: Complex machine learning (ML) models applied within computational chemistry and materials science tend to be seen as black boxes, yielding property predictions given some input features. While the purpose of ML methods is often to circumvent computationally expensive fi rst-principles calculations, the fact that the inner workings of the models are not understood conceals chemical insight and knowledge regarding the underlying data and physical correlations within it. Knowing what a model is learning from the data and how outputs are formed is also useful in facilitating the justi fi cation and wider adoption of ML solutions. Here, we present an important contribution in this direction by exploring and explaining the hydrogen adsorption properties of defective nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) through density functional theory simulations and machine learning-based data analysis. As the main highlight, we demonstrate the application of a recent game-theoretic approach to deconvolute and interrogate the trained ML models, revealing how various structural, chemical, and electronic features contribute toward the hydrogen a ffi nities of roughly 6500 di ff erent NCNT adsorption sites. The employed method of Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) attributes locally accurate importances to the investigated features, unraveling high spin polarization, narrow highest occupied molecular orbital − lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO − LUMO) gap, small dopant − adsorption site separation, and diverse angle and coordination e ff ects as particularly impactful for increasing hydrogen adsorption strengths. The SHAP method is shown capable of promoting a deep understanding of complex feature − activity relationships, facilitating research e ff orts such as rational catalyst design for energy conversion applications.


In this paper, the temperature-dependent fatigue damage evolution of fiber-reinforced ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) is investigated. The fatigue loading/unloading constitutive model considering the effect of temperature is developed based on the damage mechanisms of matrix cracking, interface debonding, and repeated sliding between the fiber and the matrix. The relationships between the fatigue loading/unloading hysteresis loops, testing temperature, applied cycle number, peak stress, and fiber/matrix interface debonding and sliding are established. The evolution of fatigue loading/unloading hysteresis loops, interface debonding and sliding length with applied cycle number is analyzed. The effects of temperature, peak stress level, applied cycle number, interface shear stress, and interface debonding energy on the fatigue damage evolution are discussed based on the developed temperature-dependent fatigue loading/unloading constitutive model. The experimental fatigue damage evolution of SiC/SiC composite at 600°C, 800°C, and 1000°C in inert atmosphere, 1000°C in air and in steam atmosphere, and 1300°C in air atmosphere are predicted. The interface shear stress of SiC/SiC composite decreases with temperature, and the degradation rate of interface shear stress increases with temperature.


Four experiments were conducted to determine whether fluctuations in dietary electrolyte level (milliequivalents Na+K-Cl per kilogram) or different dietary sodium chloride levels would affect performance, water intake, or excreta moisture of chickens fed semduramicin vs nonmedicated controls. In all experiments, male commercial broiler chicks were used, and all diets were fed with and without 25 mg semduramicin/kg diet. The basal diets were based on corn, soybean meal, and poultry oil. Experiments 1, 3, and 4 were conducted using male broiler chicks in battery brooders to 18 d of age. In Experiment 1, six electrolyte levels were fed [basal (0.2% Na, 0.33% Cl, 1.10% K); basal plus 0.1% Na (from sodium chloride); basal plus 0.1% K (from potassium chloride); basal plus 0.2% Na (from sodium carbonate); basal plus 0.34% K (from potassium chloride); basal plus 0.15% Cl (from ammonium chloride)]. There were no significant changes in BW gain, feed consumption, or feed conversion ratio caused by any dietary treatment. Water consumption was not affected by the inclusion of Na, Cl, K, or electrolyte levels, but excreta moisture was affected. The highest and lowest excreta moisture levels came from chicks fed the lowest chloride levels. There were no significant dietary effects on serum Na, Cl, or K by dietary electrolytes or semduramicin. Experiment 2 was conducted with triplicate floor pens of 33 male broilers each for 42 d with four electrolyte levels [basal (0.2% Na, 0.34% Cl, 1.03% K); basal plus 0.1% Na (from sodium carbonate); basal plus 0.1% Cl (from ammonium chloride); basal plus 0.18% K (from potassium carbonate)]. Increasing electrolyte level had a significant effect on BW gain at 35 d but not at 42 d [mainly because of differences in K (1.943 kg at 35 d) vs Cl (2.013 kg at 35 d)]. At 42 d, there were no differences in growth because of N, K, Cl, or semduramicin. Potassium supplementation caused a significant increase in litter moisture (P = 0.031). Semduramicin did not affect litter moisture (P = 0.892), nor were there significant semduramicin interactions with Na, K, Cl, or semduramicin. The basal diets in Experiments 3 and 4 were identical to the basal diet in Experiment 1 except there was no sodium chloride added. The diets fed in Experiment 3 contained 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, or 0.4% added sodium chloride. The diets fed in Experiment 4 contained 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9% added sodium chloride. The results of Experiments 3 and 4 show that about 0.4% added sodium chloride is necessary to achieve maximum growth and feed conversion. It is clear that semduramicin had no significant effect upon the variation observed in any of the variables measured.


Ouabain, a specific inhibitor of the Na+,K+-ATPa9e, was used to study localization of this enzyme in the abdominal nerve cord of the hawk moth, Manduca sexta. Treatment of nerve cords with urea was necessary to permit access of ouabain to binding sites within the nerve cord, probably due to opening of the perineurial barrier. Specific, saturable 3H-ouabain binding below 10 μM was observed in the urea-treated nerve cord, and the total number of specific binding sites was 17.8 pmol/mg protein and those sites were half-occupied (KD) at 1.8 μM-ouabain. The urea treatment did not alter the total number of 3H-ouabain binding sites in this tissue. Localization of the 3H-ouabain binding sites was studied by light microscopic autoradiography. Potassium, an established inhibitor of ouabain binding, at 50 mM blocked 3H-ouabain binding in abdominal ganglia by 59%. The majority of ouabain binding sites in the ganglion are in the neuropil, consistent with the high transport requirement in active nerve processes of small diameter. Significant, but lower binding than found in the neuropil was present in the ganglionic perineurium and this structure may be involved in the transport of sodium from the haemolymph into the neural extracellular space.


The thermal structure of the medium inside thin, vertical magnetic flux tubes embedded in a given external atmosphere is investigated, assuming cylindrical symmetry and a depth-independent plasma beta. The variation with tube radius of the temperature on the tube axis is computed and the temperature on the tube wall is estimated. The temperature variation across the flux tube is found to be due to the depth variation of the intensity and to the density stratification of the atmosphere. Since the temperature difference between the axis and the wall is small in thin flux tubes (of the order of 10 percent), the horizontal temperature gradient may often be neglected and the temperature in a tube of given radius may be described by a single function of depth. Thus, a more detailed numerical treatment of the radiative transfer within thin flux tubes can be substantially simplified by neglecting horizontal temperature differences within the flux tube proper. 10 references.


Objective: To analyze the incidence and the length of periods off work specifically linked to psychological causes among nursing professionals. Furthermore, the study tried to identify risk factors for the work leaves and suggest actions that can mitigate the problems encountered. Methods: This was a retrospective, ecological study, in the largest public hospital of Curitiba-PR, with data from 3,692 nurses (2,294 auxiliary nurses, 590 nursing technicians and 808 nurses) from January 2007 to September 2010. An exploratory review was performed to form the theoretical basis of this study. The annual incidences for each type of work leave due to psychological causes were identified, among the nursing professionals. Results: It was found that the main cause of absenteeism were depressive episodes (F32), with 784 leaves. As for the length of time, the cause for longer periods off among nurses (40.62 days on average) was the bipolar affective disorder (F31). Nursing assistants and technicians were away from work due to recurrent depressive disorder (F33) on average for 40.47 days and 54.33 days, respectively. Conclusion: There was a high incidence of depressive episodes and the mean duration of absenteeism due to psychological causes was over 30 days, pointing to the need of investments in prevention and in healthcare for nursing professionals.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5020/18061230.2013.p554


Post-pneumonectomy empyema and bronchopleural fistula are dreaded complications of thoracic surgery. The associated mortality and morbidity is very high. When treatment is delayed secondary complications are more likely and survival is adversely affected. These conditions require early diagnosis and a wellplanned multi-disciplinary team approach for effective management. We present a patient with post-pneumonectomy empyema and bronchopleural fistula following pneumonectomy for post tuberculosis destroyed lung. He underwent debridement of the empyema cavity, double layer closure of the bronchial stump and reinforcement with omental flap and pectoralis major flap was used to obliterate the space. Debridement and pedicle flaps are safe and effective in the definitive management of postpneumonectomy empyema and bronchopleural fistulae.


The components of a 1:2 mixture of meso-tetrakis(4-dodecyl-3,5-dihydroxyphenyl)porphyrin (1) and a bowl-shaped tetrakis(4-pyridylethynyl)cavitand (2) in CDCl3 or C6 D6 self-assemble quantitatively into the doubly cavitand-capped porphyrin capsule 2⋅1⋅2 through eight ArOH⋅⋅⋅Npy hydrogen bonds. Capsule 2⋅1⋅2 possesses two cavities divided by the porphyrin ring and encapsulates two molecules of 1-acetoxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzene (G) as a guest to form G/G@(2⋅1⋅2). Remarkable solvent effect was observed, in which the apparent association constant of 2⋅1⋅2 with G in C6 D6 was much greater than that in CDCl3.


Sodium (Na) is not essential for plant growth. High cytosolic Na+ concentrations can damage plants. The ability of plant cells to maintain low cytosolic Na+ concentrations is an essential process associated with the ability of plants to grow under salt stress conditions. There is evidence showing that Na+ transporters play an important role in reducing Na+ toxicity by excluding Na+ from the cytosol or preventing Na+ transport to the leaves. In this review, we discuss the roles of Na+ transporters in salt stress of rice plants. Evidence is provided to show that Na+ transporters play regulatory roles in the tolerance of rice plants to salt stress.


Tendons are critical for the biomechanical function of joints. Tendons connect muscles to bones and allow for the transmission of muscle forces to facilitate joint motion. Therefore, characterizing the tensile mechanical properties of tendons is important for the assessment of functional tendon health and efficacy of treatments for acute and chronic injuries. In this guidelines paper, we review methodological considerations, testing protocols, and key outcome measures for mechanical testing of tendons. The goal of the paper is to present a simple set of guidelines to the nonexpert seeking to perform tendon mechanical tests. The suggested approaches provide rigorous and consistent methodologies for standardized biomechanical characterization of tendon and reporting requirements across laboratories.


This Medical Humanities Special Issue critiques and reflects on narrative practices around medical, psychiatric and trauma care. This introductory article explores the affordances of patient experience narratives and scenarios to illuminate lives interrupted by medical and psychological crises while raising questions about the medical ethics, epistemological frameworks and potential pathologising of diagnosing complex conditions. It discusses the problematics and ethics of 're-presenting' trauma in art, photography, film or music and the potential for theatre to raise difficult issues in and beyond medical training.


Background: Although it is recommended that primary tubes containing an additive should be mixed several times, there is no evidence that unmixed specimens will provide unreliable results in hematological testing. Methods: Three primary 3.0-mL siliconized vacuum tubes containing 5.4 mg K2 ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) were sequentially collected from 20 healthy volunteers. The first was not inverted, was left standing in a vertical position, and then analyzed. The second and third tubes were respectively inverted 6 and 12 times immediately after collection and then analyzed. Results: When compared with the reference specimens inverted 6 times, results on unmixed specimens revealed significant decreases for red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit and platelets count, whereas the mean platelet volume was significantly increased. In none of the specimens were results flagged for platelet clumping, nor did the differences exceed the acceptable limits of bias. Conclusion: Provided the tubes are filled to their nominal volume, the blood-to-anticoagulant mixture occurring during sample collection may be adequate.


For generalist, closely-related predators as those belonging to the genus Martes, it is a hard task to differentiate the effects on feeding habits of variation in food availability from those of resource competition. To overcome this obstacle, we reviewed dietary studies that assessed the relative bulk of each food item, as either percent biomass or percent mean volume, in the diet of both the pine-(M. martes) and stone-(M. foina) marten, and calculated the nutrient profiles (intakes of protein, lipids and carbohydrates, expressed as percentages of total metabolizable energy) of each diet. Both martens' diets tightly clustered (average values: 47% protein-, 39% lipid- and 14% carbohydrate energy), but, most interestingly, in allopatry the nutritional niches of the two species did not differ, while the stone marten ate more carbohydrates and less protein when sympatric with the pine marten. Our data suggest that stone marten frugivory is the result of interspecific competition.


CHARLES LE GEYT FORTESCUE will long be remembered as an engineer well-known for his technical achievements and well-loved for his qualities as a man. Some of his accomplishments have been so outstanding that it seems worth while calling attention to their value and to the extent to which they have been useful in extending human knowledge and lightening the labor of other engineers in his own and succeeding generations.


T cell tolerance is established and maintained through various mechanisms, the critical component being the persistence of the specific Ag. However, at the molecular level, the nature of the recovering TCR repertoire following breakdown of tolerance is unknown. We address this important question by following kappa light chain constant region (C kappa)-specific CD4+ T cells of kappa light chain knock-out (kappa-/-) mice born to kappa+/- mothers. These cells, which were in contact with maternal kappa+ Igs from early ontogeny until weaning, were strongly tolerized. Tolerance was reversible and waned with the disappearance of peptide C kappa 134-148 presentation in lymphoid organs, including the thymus. Whereas three specific V beta-J beta rearrangements emerged in the peptide C kappa 134-148-specific CD4+ T cell response of all regular kappa-/- mice, soon after breakdown of tolerance only one of these rearrangements was detected. The two others displayed a significant delay in reappearance and were still rare at 26 wk of age, while the control proliferative response had already recovered 3 mo earlier. At 52 wk of age, a complete recovery of the three canonical V beta-J beta rearrangements was observed. Thus, although profoundly perturbed for several months, the T cell repertoire returns to equilibrium, highlighting the resilient nature of this system.


Earthquakes have been reported in the Middle East since biblical times. Seismological studies demonstrate that many damaging earthquakes occurred along the Dead Sea Transform (DST), a long shear zone that extends from the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat through the Dead Sea into the Sea of Galilee. To better understand the behavior and dynamics of the Dead Sea Transform, the Dead Sea Integrated Research (DESIRE) interdisciplinary and international project was initiated in 2006.

The DST, which forms one of the world's largest pul-apart basins (120 kilometers long, 20 kilometers wide, and about 10 kilometers deep), is a system of left-lateral strike-slip faults that accommodates about 105 kilometers of relative motion between the African and Arabian plates. To study the DST in places where it is easily accessible, the DESIRE project area focused on the Dead Sea basin (Figure 1).