The influences of different rootstocks on chilling tolerance and physiological parameters in wa-termelon seedlings have been studied. The results showed that grafting improved the chilling tolerance. Com-pared with own-rooted watermelon seedlings, the grafted watermelon seedlings had lower chilling injury index,lower electrolytic leakage (%), lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content, higher chlorophyll and proline con-tent, and higher activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (AsA-POD) and de-hydroascorbate reductase (DR) in the leaves under iow temperature stress. There was a considerable differenceof chilling tolerance among different grafted watermelon seedlings due to the difference of rootstock chillingtolerance. After low temperature treatment, the grafted seedling with higher chilling tolerance had lower elec-trolytic leakage ( %), lower MDA content, higher proline content and higher activities of SOD, AsA-POD andDR in the leaves compared with the grafted seedling with weaker chilling tolerance. From these, we could con-clude that chilling tolerance of watermelon seedlings may be related to higher antioxidative ability and mem-brane stability in the plants. The chilling tolerance of grafted seedling could be properly evaluated by compre-hensive physiological indexes but not a single physiological index.


Background There remains uncertainty about the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on mental health. This umbrella review provides a comprehensive overview of the association between the pandemic and common mental disorders. We qualitatively summarized evidence from reviews with meta-analyses of individual study-data in the general population, healthcare workers, and specific at-risk populations. Methods and findings A systematic search was carried out in 5 databases for peer-reviewed systematic reviews with meta-analyses of prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the pandemic published between December 31, 2019 until August 12, 2022. We identified 123 reviews of which 7 provided standardized mean differences (SMDs) either from longitudinal pre- to during pandemic study-data or from cross-sectional study-data compared to matched pre-pandemic data. Methodological quality rated with the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews checklist scores (AMSTAR 2) instrument was generally low to moderate. Small but significant increases of depression, anxiety, and/or general mental health symptoms were reported in the general population, in people with preexisting physical health conditions, and in children (3 reviews; SMDs ranged from 0.11 to 0.28). Mental health and depression symptoms significantly increased during periods of social restrictions (1 review; SMDs of 0.41 and 0.83, respectively) but anxiety symptoms did not (SMD: 0.26). Increases of depression symptoms were generally larger and longer-lasting during the pandemic (3 reviews; SMDs depression ranged from 0.16 to 0.23) than those of anxiety (2 reviews: SMDs 0.12 and 0.18). Females showed a significantly larger increase in anxiety symptoms than males (1 review: SMD 0.15). In healthcare workers, people with preexisting mental disorders, any patient group, children and adolescents, and in students, no significant differences from pre- to during pandemic were found (2 reviews; SMD's ranging from −0.16 to 0.48). In 116 reviews pooled cross-sectional prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms ranged from 9% to 48% across populations. Although heterogeneity between studies was high and largely unexplained, assessment tools and cut-offs used, age, sex or gender, and COVID-19 exposure factors were found to be moderators in some reviews. The major limitations are the inability to quantify and explain the high heterogeneity across reviews included and the shortage of within-person data from multiple longitudinal studies. Conclusions A small but consistent deterioration of mental health and particularly depression during early pandemic and during social restrictions has been found in the general population and in people with chronic somatic disorders. Also, associations between mental health and the pandemic were stronger in females and younger age groups than in others. Explanatory individual-level, COVID-19 exposure, and time-course factors were scarce and showed inconsistencies across reviews. For policy and research, repeated assessments of mental health in population panels including vulnerable individuals are recommended to respond to current and future health crises.


One of the main criteria for ecological sustainability is that the materials produced for common use are green. This can include the use of biomaterials and materials that are environmentally friendly, biodegradable and produced at low cost. The exploration of natural resources as sustainable precursors leads to the production of biopolymers that are useful for 3D printing technology. Recently, waste vegetable oils have been found to be a good alternative source for the production of biopolymers in various applications from the engineering to the biomedicine. In this review, the processes for the synthesis of vegetable oil-based biomaterials are described in detail. Moreover, the functionalization strategies to improve the mechanical properties of these materials and the cell-material interaction for their potential use as micro-structured scaffolds in regenerative medicine are discussed.


To understand the effects of water and nitrogen( N) fertilizer on growth,development and yield of rice,experiments with three irrigation treatments( rainfed,intermittent,continued flooding) and three N applications( 0 kg /hm2,112—135 kg/hm2,142—173 kg/ hm2) were implemented in a randomized complete block design at Jiansanjiang experimental station in Heilongjiang province from 2010 to 2011. The results showed that crop development stages of panicle initiation,flowing and mature under rainfed treatment were 1—5 days shorter,and growth index and yield were significantly decreased,while that for intermittent irrigation were not significant,compared to continued flooding irrigation. Compared to convential N application( 112—135 kg / hm2),crop development stages of panicle initiation,flowing and mature were 2—5days shorter for treatment without N,but those stages were prolonged 2—4 days at high N application. Crop yield and growth index were increased significantly with N dose. Under low nitrogen input,water stress was obvious,while high nitrogen input could compensate crop growth due to loss by water stress. Effective panicle number and grain number per panicle were significantly increased with N and water supply. Intermittent irrigation and high N application showed apotential to achieve high yield and high resource use efficiency. This study could provide a theoretical basis for irrigation and fertilization of rice in cold area.


The geographic spread of the neglected tropical disease mycetoma is still poorly understood, largely because there is no mechanism for official reporting and the general lack of identification facilities in many regions. Nonetheless many countries in the tropics have such cases. This brief report is submitted to provide an example of recent experience of mycetoma in six patients presenting to a single centre in Tanzania.


We study the multi-level order-flow imbalance (MLOFI), which is a vector quantity that measures the net flow of buy and sell orders at different price levels in a limit order book (LOB). Using a recent, high-quality data set for six liquid stocks on Nasdaq, we fit a simple, linear relationship between MLOFI and the contemporaneous change in mid-price. For all six stocks that we study, we find that the out-of-sample goodness-of-fit of the relationship improves with each additional price level that we include in the MLOFI vector. Our results underline how order-flow activity deep into the LOB can influence the price-formation process.


Construction of new roads and maintenance of old ones are major undertakings in infrastructure management. Our wish for safe, comfortable and rapid road transportation has increased, creating new demands on road construction and maintenance. Road deterioration is costly for society and for transportation companies. The Swedish National Road Authority has thus invested large resources in developing a road deterioration model, in order to improve road construction and maintenance. A crucial factor for road deterioration is the ability to withstand the wear of passing vehicles. Since this ability is greatly decreased by moisture in the road construction, water and heat flow (to be able to account for freezing/thawing) modelling has become an important issue. As a part of this work, a freezing and thawing routine has been implemented in the HYDRUS1D/2D model codes. The routine has been tested in a laboratory column freezing experiment and in a hypothetical road situation, using climate data from northern Sweden. The objective of this presentation is to point out the need for hydrological contributions to road research and review potential models of water and heat flow to be used in this context, including the newly developed HYDRUS2D model code, including freezing and thawing routines.


Special production techniques enable the preparation of highly dispersed MgO with a specific surface area up to 400 m2 g–1. This results in a significant accumulation of highly reactive, low-coordinated surface centres which are related to two fundamentally different processes of H2 chemisorption on neat MgO: the homolytic and the heterolytic dissociation of H2. The homolytic process is initiated by the presence of O– and Mg+ radicals which are created by thermal activation of the oxide sample. This gives rise to an irreversible formation of surface OH groups and to a reversible formation of bridged hydrides (Mg3H). On the other hand the heterolytic dissociation of H2 occurs in the course of a reversible process on the Mg3C2+O3C2– ion pairs (3C indicates three-coordinated). The stabilization of the resulting OH groups necessarily implies the formation of hydrogen bonds with O2– surface anions as proton acceptors. The corresponding hydride groups are highly reactive with respect to physisorbed O2. The related surface redox reaction initiates the formation of O2– ions and of OH groups incorporating oxygen which comes from the MgO surface. An additional type of surface reaction is observed on partially hydroxylated MgO. The admission of D2 initiates H/D isotope exchange reactions involving single and multiple-coordinated surface OH groups. They are observed on time-scales of hours and seconds, respectively.


With the expanding volume of pictures clients offer through social locales, keeping up security has turned into a noteworthy issue, as exhibited by a late flood of announced episodes where clients accidentally shared individual data. In light of these episodes, the need of instruments to assist clients with controlling access to their common substance is evident. So to sort the issue, we propose an Adaptive Privacy Policy Prediction (A3P) framework to assist clients with forming protection settings for their pictures. We inspect the part of the social connection, picture substance, and metadata as could be allowed pointers of clients' security inclinations. We propose a two-level system which as per the client's accessible history on the site, decides the best accessible security arrangement for the client's pictures being transferred. Our answer depends on a picture arrangement structure for picture classes which may be connected with comparable strategies, furthermore, on a strategy expectation calculation to consequently create an arrangement for each recently transferred picture, additionally as per clients' social components. After some time, the created approaches will take the development of clients' security mentality. We give the aftereffects of our broad assessment more than 5,000 approaches, which show the adequacy of our framework, with forecast exactnesses more than 90 percent.


Developing countries adopt policies to achieve certain results, such as reducing poverty and building prosperity. Why do many such policies not seem to work? A recent World Bank evaluation highlighted one possible reason: projects don't adequately protect community impacts, labor and working conditions, and health, safety and security issues. This paper will focus on a crucial part of the social and cultural landscape: indigenous peoples. It will explore how the World Bank has supported projects in areas that affect indigenous peoples. Based on good practices and lessons learned, investing in such areas can turn up alternative ways to re-think the challenges of social development and find better ways for sustainable growth. By supporting different forms of participation with policymakers, strategic timing, and real time feedback loops in learning, evaluators can contribute to advancing safeguard issues.


On the basis of comprehensive immuno-biological studies of schizophrenia where the disease manifests itself after delivery, the authors come to the conclusion that a certain role is played in the development of the disease by immuno-allergic processes. Facts confirming this supposition are a detection of brain antigens and the expressiveness of sensitization even during the initial stage of the disease, a sufficiently high frequency of revealed automtibodies, their correlation with the quality to remissions. Besides these facts, the authors were able to distinguish individually different types of antibody formation in recurrent and attack-like-progressive forms of schizophrenia, a fall in the complement activity in the blood serum of patients as well as a certain connection between the indicis of organopecific immunity and the dynamics of the morbid process.


Decarbonisation of global energy supply to meet Net Zero targets by 2050 requires rapid expansion of offshore wind [4]. Much of this growth will come from floating offshore wind (FOW) technology where seabeds are less congested, high energy wind resources are located and conventional fixed offshore wind is not practical [1]. The required scale of FOW requires a step change in mooring and anchoring technology compared to existing hydrocarbon solutions. New, efficient and reliable mooring and anchoring systems are essential to economically deliver the necessary FOW [1]. Taut mooring arrangements can be attractive for FOW turbines as they require less length and lighter synthetic mooring line than traditional chain catenary mooring arrangements. However, taut moorings transmit significantly higher mean and peak tensions to the anchor compared to catenary moorings. It is therefore important to fully quantify the capacity available from anchors during typical FOW load conditions, including dynamic effects.
This study focuses on how a numerical anchor macro model, Ancmac [6], can be used to capture and quantify dynamic anchor-seabed capacity benefits such as from seabed added mass,  [5] and viscous soil strength effects. These effects can enhance the dynamic anchor capacity and are not typically considered in anchor design. Typical mooring-floater fluid-structure interaction analyses also model the connection of the mooring lines to the seabed as a fixed pin connection and so seabed-anchor-mooring interactions are not typically considered. Ancmac can replace this fixed pin connection node at the seabed as it uses mechanical analogue components (e.g. spring-viscous-slider and mass) to simply and practically link forces on the anchor with anchor and chain movements in the time domain to determine the seabed response and the current available anchor capacity. This study presents an example case where Ancmac is used to model the response of an embedded plate anchor that is subjected to a high amplitude, short period (= 6 and 10 s) high mean load event (Figure 1a). The anchor loads , , are derived from applying a 1-50 year storm design loading event on a 15MW FOW turbine [3] with a taut mooring line configuration composed of high modulus synthetic polyester rope [8].
Results show that if dynamic seabed benefits are not considered (purple line in Figure 1a), then a static anchor capacity of = 4.15 MN and corresponding anchor size of = 11.13 m2 is required (for an anchor buried in slightly overconsolidated soft clay =30 kPa and bearing capacity factor =12.42). If beneficial dynamic seabed enhancements are considered (shown by red lines ), then a lower initial static anchor capacity can be adopted =3.13 MN, which corresponds to a 25% decrease in the required anchor size (=8.41 m2). During the design loading event, as the applied anchor load, increases above the available static capacity, towards the maximum applied value, the anchor begins to move (Figure 1b) generating dynamic resistance from mobilising the non-linear viscous slider and added mass resistance components. The resistance in the viscous slider component is based on a model for the change in undrained strength with increasing equivalent strain rate (=, where  is anchor diameter), as shown in Figure 1c. The resistance from the viscous slider component reaches a maximum at the time marked  slightly after the peak of the applied mooring line loads, at time , as shown in Figure 1a-c. Reducing the period of the applied load (=10 s to 6 s) increased the added mass resistance as the anchor is subjected to higher accelerations. As a result, the anchor experienced significantly smaller (50% less) maximum displacement and reduced velocities. This comparison is also evident in Figure 1d, which compares the contributions of resistance forces from the spring-viscous-slider and added mass components.
Ancmac can also capture the long-term enhancements in seabed strength and anchor capacity as a time-varying function of the life-cycle of seasonally varying, operational applied loads. This could, for example, further reduce the required anchor sizes, as  can increase from beneficial long-term seabed consolidation effects [7]-[10]. These short and long-term seabed benefits that occur over the range of different loading timescales, and result in enhanced anchor capacities for loads that are relevant to FOW taut mooring configurations, will be further discussed during the presentation.


Abstract Severe loss of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain nuclei and of noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus are almost invariant histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. However, the role of these transmitter systems in the spectrum of cognitive dysfunctions typical of the disease is still unclear, nor is it yet fully known whether do these systems interact and how. Selective ablation of either neuronal population, or both of them combined, were produced in developing animals to investigate their respective and/or concurrent contribution to spatial learning and memory, known to be severely affected in Alzheimer's disease. Single or double lesions were created in 4–8 days old rats by bilateral intraventricular infusion of two selective immunotoxins. At about 16 weeks of age, the animals underwent behavioural tests specifically designed to evaluate reference and working memory abilities, and their brains were later processed for quantitative morphological analyses. Animals with lesion to either system alone showed no significant reference memory deficits which, by contrast, were evident in the double-lesioned subjects. These animals could not adopt an efficient search strategy on a given testing day and were unable to transfer all relevant information to the next day, suggesting deficits in acquisition, storage and/or recall. Only animals with single noradrenergic or double lesions exhibited impaired working memory. Interestingly, ablation of cholinergic afferents to the hippocampus stimulated a robust ingrowth of thick fibres from the superior cervical ganglion which, however, did not appear to have contributed to the observed cognitive performance. Ascending cholinergic and noradrenergic afferents to the hippocampus and neocortex appear to be primarily involved in the regulation of different cognitive domains, but they may functionally interact, mainly at hippocampal level, for sustaining normal learning and memory. Moreover, these transmitter systems are likely to compensate for each other, but apparently not via ingrowing sympathetic fibres.


The importance of the pituitary in postnatal regulation of peripheral preadipocyte proliferation and differentiation was examined by hormone supplementation of hypophysectomized pig serum in primary cultures of preadipocyte and stromal-vascular cells derived from rat inguinal adipose tissue. Hypophysectomized pig serum promoted at least 25% less preadipocyte proliferation, less differentiation of sn-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, and less histochemical differentiation than serum from intact pigs. Porcine GH supplementation of hypophysectomized serum-stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation by preadipocytes and stromal cells and also histochemical differentiation of preadipocytes, but not enzymatic differentiation. Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation by preadipocytes and stromal cells. Enzyme differentiation by developing cells was stimulated by IGF-I. Hydrocortisone supplementation of hypophysectomized serum inhibited [3H]thymidine incorporation and stimulated enzymatic differentiation. Thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation by preadipocytes in a dose-responsive manner when supplemented to hypophysectomized serum. Thyroid hormones stimulated differentiation of enzyme activity at the lowest concentrations examined. The mitogenic effects of GH, IGF-I, and T4 were not specific to the preadipocyte population, since the stromal-vascular cells responded in a similar manner. However, hypophysectomy resulted in a specific reduction in preadipocyte proliferation while stimulating multiplication of stromal-vascular cells. These results suggest that these hormones are nonspecific mitogens in adipose tissue, while unidentified factors of pituitary origin may be important for the specific regulation of proliferation of preadipocytes. Additionally, hypophysectomy appears to remove mitogenic inhibitors that are specific for the stromal-vascular cells.


In recent years increasing importance has been placed on the role of hospital clinical research, such as the promotion of intra-laboratory human, material and informational resources, previously restricted to the laboratory, to the whole hospital system, and the appropriate usage of laboratory findings via common consultation systems, or specialized informational consultants in the clinical laboratory department. The volume of clinical laboratory information, which plays an important role in the decision-making process of routine clinical practices, is enormous for each individual hospital, and appropriate use of this information has a major influence on institutional clinical practice efficiency. In response to the need for the communication of useful laboratory information to clinical physicians, departments of laboratory research consultants have been organized in individual hospitals as a way forward. In the near future, laboratory physicians will play a leading role in the communication of research information from the viewpoint of EBLM (evidence-based laboratory medicine). From the work of these laboratory research consultants, it becomes possible to obtain relevant EBLM-related information, such as frequently asked questions and opinions, from their users. By replying to these questions and opinions appropriately, laboratory research consultants can provide information that is both advantageous and useful, and which meets the needs of the clinical physician side. Effective communication of useful laboratory research information should not be restricted to either the laboratory physicians or the technicians; it is a job that needs the cooperation and teamwork of both sets of people. Also, they should always keep in mind that communication by itself is not sufficient; they should not assume the useful evaluation of information by the users, but rather ensure that they are presented with information that precisely meets their needs.


Ribosomes, ribosomal RNA (r-RNA), capsular polysaccharide (PS-K) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were isolated and purified from Klebsiella pneumoniae, type I. The protective capacity of these different fractions was investigated in function of their analytical composition. The results show that ribosomes, and in particular, ribosomal RNA have the greatest protective activity at the lowest concentrations. The role of PS-K in the specific immune response to ribosomes was also investigated. Even at very high levels PS-K failed to afford any significant protection. LPS gave no protection. A stable r-RNA/PS-K complex was isolated by means of affinity chromatography. This complex was uncontaminated by LPS and its existence indicated strong bonding between surface polysaccharide antigens and r-RNA. The r-RNA/PS-K complex was not antigenic in itself but conferred good protection when combined with an adjuvant.


A high precision ( < 14 ps RMS time resolution) and high channel density ( ~ 256 channels) Time to Digital Converter (TDC) module (realized in FPGAs) with integrated DAQ is presented. The data is transported over up to 8 Gigabit-Ethernet or optical links with up to 3 Gb/s. Slow-Control information is transported over the same links. It can be attached directly to the detector, which allows the elimination of long cables and crate systems. The full 256 channel TDCs are expected to use approximately 30 W electrical power. The module size is 20 cm by 23 cm. Power is provided by a galvanically isolated 48 V low noise power supply. AddOn-boards adapt to the special needs of the detector to be read out, e.g. containing Charge to Width (Q2W) FEE for PMT readout.


African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent of an often lethal disease of domestic pigs, African swine fever (ASF). The ASFV Georgia 2007 isolate (ASFV-G) is responsible for the current epidemic situation in Europe and Asia. Genetically modified ASFVs containing deletions of virulence-associated genes have produced attenuated phenotypes and induced protective immunity in swine. Here we describe the differential behavior of two viral genes, NL (DP71L) and UK (DP96R), both originally described as being involved in virus virulence. Deletion of either of these genes efficiently attenuated ASFV strain E70. We demonstrated that deletion of the UK gene from the ASFV-G genome did not decrease virulence when compared to the parental virus. Conversely, deletion of the NL gene produced a heterogeneous response, with early death in one of the animals and transient fever in the other animals. With this knowledge, we attempted to increase the safety profile of the previously reported experimental vaccine ASFV-GΔ9GL/ΔUK by deleting the NL gene. A triple gene-deletion virus was produced, ASFV-GΔ9GL/ΔNL/ΔUK. Although ASFV-GΔ9GL/ΔNL/ΔUK replicated in primary cell cultures of swine macrophages, it demonstrated a severe replication deficiency in pigs, failing to induce protection against challenge with parental ASFV-G.


Bilayer graphene (BLG) has multiple internal degrees of freedom and a constant density of states down to the charge neutrality point when trigonal warping is ignored. Consequently, it is susceptible to various competing ground states. However, a coherent experimental determination of the ground state has been challenging due to the interaction-disorder interplay. Here we present an extensive transport study in a series of dually gated freestanding BLG devices and identify the layer-antiferromagnet as the ground state with a continuous strength across all devices. This strength correlates with the width of the state in the electric field. We systematically identify electric-field disorder─spatial variations in the interlayer potential difference─as the main source responsible for the observations. Our results pinpoint for the first time the importance of electric-field disorder on spontaneous symmetry breaking in BLG and solve a long-standing debate on its ground state. The electric-field disorder should be universal to all 2D materials.


This study aimed to evaluate the antileishmanial efficacy of oxaliplatin against Leishmania major (L. major) both in-vitro and in-vivo. The IC50, CC50, and SI of oxaliplatin against promastigotes, murine macrophages, Raw 264.7 cells, and intramacrophage amastigotes of L. major were investigated in-vitro. The effects of this drug on intracellular amastigotes were also assayed, and the percentage of infectivity and IIR were calculated. Flow cytometry was performed to assay apoptosis, using 50 and 100 µg/mL of oxaliplatin in the promastigotes and macrophages. In-vivo, the BALB/c mice were classified into three groups, receiving oxaliplatin, glucantime, and phosphate-buffered saline for one month, respectively. The lesion size, IFN-γ, and IL-4 levels, and parasite burden were also evaluated in the animals. After 72 h, the IC50 and CC50 of oxaliplatin against promastigotes and macrophages were respectively 0.5 and 66.78 µg/mL. The apoptosis of promastigotes and macrophages using 50 µg/mL of oxaliplatin was 7.25% and 2.14%, respectively, while apoptosis induced at 100 µg/mL was 15.48% and 2.80%, respectively. Similar to the glucantime group, the mice treated with oxaliplatin showed a lower parasite burden and smaller lesions, compared with the PBS group (p < 0.01). Furthermore, higher IFN-γ levels were reported in mice receiving oxaliplatin in comparison with those receiving PBS (p < 0.01). The current findings indicated the efficacy of oxaliplatin against promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania and L. major-induced leishmaniasis.


Wirelessly powered communications will entail short packets due to naturally small payloads, low-latency requirements, and/or insufficient energy resources to support longer transmissions. In this paper, a wireless-powered communication system is investigated, where an energy harvesting transmitter, charged by power beacons via wireless energy transfer, attempts to communicate with a receiver over a noisy channel. Under a save-then-transmit protocol, the system performance is characterized using metrics, such as the energy supply probability at the transmitter, and the achievable rate at the receiver for the case of short packets. The analytical treatment is provided for two cases: a three-node setup with a single power beacon and a large-scale network with multiple power beacons. Leveraging finite-length information theory, tractable analytical expressions are derived for the considered metrics in terms of the harvest blocklength, the transmit blocklength, the harvested power, the transmit power, and the network density. The analysis provides several useful design guidelines. Though using a small transmit power or a small transmit blocklength helps avoid energy outages, the consequently smaller signal-to-noise ratio or the fewer coding opportunities may cause a data decoding error. Scaling laws are derived to capture this inherent tradeoff between the harvest and transmit blocklengths. Numerical results reveal that power control is essential for improving the achievable rate of the considered system. The asymptotically optimal transmit power yields nearly optimal performance in the finite blocklength regime.


Constipation, the passage of fewer than three complete stools perweek,1 affects approximately one in 10 children worldwide.2 It occurs most commonly in toddlers,3 often presenting at the time of weaning, toilet training, or starting school.4 Laxatives are safe and effective.5 Early intervention and support for parents with dosing and duration can prevent problemssuchas chronicity,withholdingbehaviours, overstretched bowels with decreased motility, and overflow soiling. This article offers an approach to childhood constipation in primary care, especially where initial treatment has been unsuccessful.


Calyculin A, a protein phosphatase inhibitor, enhanced phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced superoxide anion (O2-) production and translocation of the cytosolic NADPH oxidase factor, p47phox, to the plasma membrane in guinea pig polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). When PMNs were treated with t-(5-isoquino-line-sulfonyl)-3-methyl-piperazine (H-7), a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor, after exposure to PMA, inhibition of O2- production and of translocation of p47phox to the membrane fraction in PMA-stimulated PMNs were observed. When calyculin A was added to the PMA-stimulated PMNs after the addition of H-7, O2- production was again observed, and translocation of p47phox to the membrane fraction also occurred. The activity of NADPH oxidase, the amount of p47phox and the level of phosphorylation of p47phox in the membrane fraction prepared from PMA-stimulated PMNs, were reduced by the addition of the cytosol fraction from unstimulated PMNs. These reductions were attenuated by calyculin A. These results indicate that the active form of NADPH oxidase in PMNs can be reconstituted after the active complex of the enzyme has disappeared once, and that one of the mechanisms of regulation of this enzyme activity involves the phosphorylation of p47phox in the cyotosol and dephosphorylation of phosphorylated p47phox in the NADPH oxidase complex by protein kinase and protein phosphatase, respectively.


Abstract—There is a robust inverse graded association between glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and cardiovascular risk, but proof of causality is lacking. Emerging data suggest living kidney donation may be associated with increased cardiovascular mortality although the mechanisms are unclear. We hypothesized that the reduction in GFR in living kidney donors is associated with increased left ventricular mass, impaired left ventricular function, and increased aortic stiffness. This was a multicenter, parallel group, blinded end point study of living kidney donors and healthy controls (n=124), conducted from March 2011 to August 2014. The primary outcome was a change in left ventricular mass assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (baseline to 12 months). At 12 months, the decrease in isotopic GFR in donors was −30±12 mL/min/1.73m2. In donors compared with controls, there were significant increases in left ventricular mass (+7±10 versus −3±8 g; P<0.001) and mass:volume ratio (+0.06±0.12 versus −0.01±0.09 g/mL; P<0.01), whereas aortic distensibility (−0.29±1.38 versus +0.28±0.79×10−3 mm Hg−1; P=0.03) and global circumferential strain decreased (−1.1±3.8 versus +0.4±2.4%; P=0.04). Donors had greater risks of developing detectable highly sensitive troponin T (odds ratio, 16.2 [95% confidence interval, 2.6–100.1]; P<0.01) and microalbuminuria (odds ratio, 3.8 [95% confidence interval, 1.1–12.8]; P=0.04). Serum uric acid, parathyroid hormone, fibroblast growth factor-23, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein all increased significantly. There were no changes in ambulatory blood pressure. Change in GFR was independently associated with change in left ventricular mass (R2=0.28; P=0.01). These findings suggest that reduced GFR should be regarded as an independent causative cardiovascular risk factor. Clinical Trial Registration—URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01028703.


Objective: We assessed the prevalence and consequences of discordant language communication between bilingual Swedish speaking emergency patients and general practitioners (GPs) in Finnish healthcare. We compared the results with Finnish speaking emergency patients provided with language concordant healthcare. Materials and Methods: A researcher-designed questionnaire was used to collect data about both Swedish and Finnish speaking emergency patients' health and socioeconomic status, reason for emergency visits and use of healthcare. Furthermore, the Swedish speakers' nonnative language proficiency and preferred communication language were examined. The study was performed in 16 healthcare centers and outpatient departments in bilingual regions in Finland. Results: The Swedish speakers (n = 139) visited healthcare centers less than the Finnish speakers (n = 736) (P = 0.001) and communicated less frequently with the GP in their native language (P < 0.001). The Swedish speakers more often planned to revisit their assigned GP (P < 0.001) after the emergency visit. No differences in health conditions and socioeconomic status between the language groups were observed. Conclusion: Although Swedish and Finnish speaking emergency patients report a similar prevalence of chronic noncommunicable diseases, Swedish speakers make fewer annual visits to a physician. We suggest that discordant language communication might relate to decreased healthcare visits among bilingual Swedish speaking emergency patients.


Abstract Objective: The current study examined the effect of depression on cognitive test performance in a sample of adults seeking treatment for a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). We hypothesized that patients with greater depressive symptoms would perform worse on tasks of fluid cognition compared to those without depression, after controlling for potential confounds. Method: Patients (N = 76) completed a brief cognitive test battery (NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery; NIHTB-CB) and a depression screening questionnaire (PHQ-9) at 11.7-weeks post injury (SD = 6.3 range 2–26). Cognitive scores were adjusted for age, education, gender, and race/ethnicity. Depressive symptoms were examined continuously and dichotomized as: (1) total PHQ-9 score of ≥ 10, the optimal cut-off for Major Depressive Disorder caseness from prior research, and (2) five or more symptoms of depression, including either depressed mood or anhedonia (i.e. DSM-5-based definition). Results: Twenty-seven patients (35.5%) met DSM-5-based criteria for depression and 42 (55.3%) met criteria based on PHQ-9 > 10. Depression symptom severity correlated with lower fluid cognition composite scores [r = −.22, p = .05] and contributed to the prediction of fluid cognition performance in a model that controlled for time since injury and crystallized cognitive abilities [F(3, 72) = 7.49, p < .001; R2 = 20.6%]. Examining specific NIHTB-CB fluid subtests, the largest group differences were seen on processing speed (d = .40–.49), cognitive flexibility (d = .32–.36), and episodic memory (d = .20–.34). Depression severity was strongly associated with overall post-concussion symptom burden (r = .77, p < .001). Conclusion: Depression is a common comorbidity and an important factor to consider when interpreting neurocognitive test performance in adults with concussion in a clinical setting.


Complex urban air quality has long been assessed by a single (or major) contaminant, for example, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), but scant attention has been given to multicontaminant air pollution, especially in countries with severe air pollution, for example, China. We thus proposed an improved method for quantifying both single‐ and multicontaminant air pollution. Our approach uses China's major cities as an example because they have an operational national urban air quality monitoring network. We found that our proposed method could remove the duplicated consideration under both single‐ and multicontaminant conditions, thus proving to be an improved and more accurate way to understand complex urban air pollution conditions. Our method involved monitoring 3 contaminants (PM2.5, PM10, and SO2) in cities in Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, and Hebei Provinces and 2 contaminants (PM2.5 and PM10) in the cities between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, and these pollutants were the major contributors to multicontaminant air pollution. We argue that both the research community and the government should pay increased attention to multicontaminant air pollution beyond the current single major pollutant–based air pollution method when building a sustainable city. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:306–313.


The concentration of epidermal growth factor (EGF), amylase, haptocorrin, total protein, sodium and potassium was studied in mixed saliva collected from 25 individuals before and after a 2 h-long cross-country race. The concentration was higher following the run for all components studied. The concentrations obtained before and after the run, given as extreme values and median, are 0.2-1.3 (0.4), 0.3-1.5 (0.8) nmol/l for EGF, 15-72 (25), 23-162 (58) nmol/l for haptocorrin and 24-502 (120), 155-5,030 (1,200) kU/l for amylase. The increased concentration of the components studied is most probably caused by an increased adrenergic and VIP'ergic tonus of the individuals after the run.


Network traffic can be broken into two categories: control packets (such as routing exploration/reply packets) and payload data packets. In a wireless ad hoc environment, it is generally accepted that control packets should be given higher priority for scheduling. In practice, it is also implemented this way within a single node. However, packets scheduling is not handled similarly from a distributed perspective. Control packets in one mobile node and data packets in another mobile node equally compete for the shared channel for future packet delivery. It is pointed out that under this policy, aggressiveness of TCP will hurt the successful delivery of control packets, which in turn will adversely impact TCP performance. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a partially ordered, distributed priority queue scheduling for the mobile ad hoc environment. Its performance is evaluated using network simulator ns2. The simulation results show that our mechanism can dramatically improve TCP performance by up to 20% in the ad hoc environment


Objective: To assess the frequency and the risk factors associated with restless leg syndrome (RLS) in patients suffering from end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on hemodialysis. Study Design: Cross-sectional Observational study. Setting: Department of Nephrology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan. Period: 1st of January 2020 till 30th of June 2020. Material & Methods: We enrolled the patients in this study after written consent and were assessed for RLS according to the International RLS Study Group criteria. Serum samples were collected for hemoglobulin level, parathyroid hormone level, vitamin D, serum urea and creatinine, and serum ferritin. The sampling technique used was non-probability, variables were recorded as mean and standard deviation and frequency. Results: Ninety-four patients were included in this study; men comprised 65.95% of the patients, and women comprised 34.04%. The mean age in the study was 45.51±13.29 years. Diabetes mellitus was the most common cause (47.87%). The mean duration on the hemodialysis was 5.21 years, and the mean vitamin D level was 24.36 mg/dl. RLS was observed in 26 (27.65%) patients and was significantly associated with low vitamin D and time duration on hemodialysis. Conclusion: The RLS seems to be a common consequence of ESRD, and it has a significant impact on the ESRD patients' everyday lives and sleeping patterns. There is a definitive link between RLS and hemodialysis duration; however, more large multicenter studies are still needed to establish and investigate the etiology.


A data acquisition and control system for the 800-MeV proton linear accelerator for the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility has been designed on the premise that an on-line digital computer affords the best means of maintaining operator control over the machine. The presence in the control system of a computer acting as a large programmable switching device allows the active area of the accelerator control console to be concentrated into just two panels. All information regarding the status of the accelerator, together with the capability for adjusting any control channel in the facility, is provided on these two panels. The central feature of the console is a digital CRT for alphanumeric displays. With this versatile device and the other hardware on the console, the operator will be able to execute such varied and sophisticated tasks as steering the beam down the accelerator, making phase space plots of the beam, and performing parametric studies of the effect of any control channel all on-line. The concepts embodied in the LAMPF computer control system are being tested and evaluated in a series of experiments referred to as the Mockup Program. The status of these experiments and the associated hardware are described.


Cyclin dependent kinases (CDK) function as either regulators of cell cycle progression or transcription. CDK7 is unique from other CDKs because it has a dual role in the regulation of cell cycle and transcription making it a desirable target for drug development. It forms a complex with Cyclin H and MAT1 to form the CDK-activating kinase (CAK) that regulates CDK1, CDK2, CDK4 and CDK6, which are important in cell cycle progression. The CAK complex can also act as a transcriptional regulator as part of the TFIIH transcription factor by phosphorylating the COOH-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II (Pol II CTD). In addition, CDK7 as part of the CAK complex can inhibit the phosphorylation of serine 118 on the estrogen receptor (ER), a key player in breast cancer pathogenesis. Our target validation studies using siRNA have shown that CDK7 reduces growth of the human colorectal cancer cell line, HCT116, induces apoptosis and reduces phosphorylation of key biomarkers (RNA Poll II, CDK1 and CDK2). Using computer modelling of the CDK7 structure, we have designed CDK7 inhibitors, which were selected from a library of pyrazolo [1,5-a]pyrimidine-derived compounds. BS-181, is our first CDK7 inhibitor which inhibits CAK activity with an IC50 of 21 nmol/L. BS-181 has poor pharmacokinetic properties and is not orally bioavailable therefore after extensive studies and chemical modifications we have developed a more potent orally bioavailable CDK7 selective inhibitor, BS-181-L. Extensive in vitro ADME studies have highlighted that BS-181-L has good aqueous solubility, plasma proteins binding and no hERG liability. BS-181-L inhibits in vivo tumour cell growth in two cancer cell line models, MCF7 and HCT116 cells. In these studies BS-181-L shows no organ and haematological toxicity. We show BS-181-L down regulates key biomarkers in both the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by flow cytometry and tumour tissue by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blotting. In addition, we show that BS-181-L reduces ER activity in reporter assays and ER (serine 118) phosphorylation. Furthermore, combination studies of BS-181-L and anti-estrogens show additive growth inhibitory effects on breast cancer cells. In summary, here we present data for a potent CDK7 inhibitor, BS-181-L, which has improved CDK7 selectivity, potency and bioavailability from our previously identified CDK7 inhibitor, BS-181. Furthermore, dual inhibition of CDK7 and ER has an additive effect in breast cancer cell growth. Taken together, this data highlights a potential new therapeutic approach for breast cancer. Citation Format: Hetal Patel, Silvia Ottaviani, Manikandan Periyasamy, Alexander Bondke, Brian Slafer, Richard Starkey, Sebastian H.B Kroll, Sean Delaney, Zahida Zahoor, Matthew J. Fuchter, Anthony G.M Barrett, R. Charles Coombes, Simak Ali. Development of selective and potent CDK7 inhibitors for breast cancer therapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 694. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-694


Previous computations based on a conformal transformation are used as a guide in selecting a plausible magnetic scalar potential at the surface of the head. An analytic expression for the horizontal component of the field is obtained from this potential. Certain characteristics of the potential and field are discussed.


Creating Successful Communities is a practical compendium of techniques for effective land use and growth management. It offers a framework for land-use decisionmaking and growth management: techniques for protecting key resources such as agricultural land, open space, historic and cultural structure, aesthetics, and rivers and wetlands as well as ways to organize effectively. The companion Resource Guide provides detailed information on topics covered in I>Creating Successful Communities.


Transcriptomes feature pervasive, but poorly defined long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). We identify 5775 novel lncRNAs in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, nearly 4-times the previously annotated lncRNAs. Most lncRNAs become derepressed under genetic and physiological perturbations, especially during late meiosis. These lncRNAs are targeted by three RNA-processing pathways: the nuclear exosome, cytoplasmic exonuclease and RNAi, with substantial coordination and redundancy among pathways. We classify lncRNAs into cryptic unstable transcripts (CUTs), Xrn1-sensitive unstable transcripts (XUTs), and Dicer-sensitive unstable transcripts (DUTs). XUTs and DUTs are enriched for antisense lncRNAs, while CUTs are often bidirectional and actively translated. The cytoplasmic exonuclease and RNAi repress thousands of meiotically induced RNAs. Antisense lncRNA and sense mRNA expression often negatively correlate in the physiological, but not the genetic conditions. Intergenic and bidirectional lncRNAs emerge from nucleosome-depleted regions, upstream of positioned nucleosomes. This broad survey of the S. pombe lncRNA repertoire and characteristics provides a rich resource for functional analyses.


The shift from government-to-government diplomacy to government-to-people, or even people-to-people diplomacy, brings about an absolute map to be filled and reveals the similarities between public relations (PR) and public diplomacy (PD). Public diplomacy involves such activities as cultural exchange programs, academic exchanges and business-community interactions; the objective of all these activities is to influence public opinion on a global scale. The current research aims to identify, explore and evaluate the role of China's public diplomacy model, which has been practiced in the Sultanate of Oman, through communication implemented by Chinese trans-national corporations (TNCs) (specifically, the Wanfang Oman Company) to promote China's domestic and international objectives within Oman, particularly the Chinese initiative "One Belt One Road". The theoretical framework of this research examines the integrated model of public diplomacy; i.e., applying a public diplomacy approach based on public relations theory. Correspondingly, the author employed Cull's (2008) public diplomacy approach, based on Grunig and Hunt's (1984) four model of public relations. The methodology of this research analyses secondary data taken from the literature and provides a historical review of the China-Oman Industrial Zone, the Wanfang Company's official website, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports, various news items and official speeches given by the Chinese ambassador to Oman. It also analyses primary data by conducting in depth-interviews of 39 Omani students at the Ningxia Polytechnic University in China to explore the message content of students' social media platforms. Based on the results of this analysis, the author provides a number of recommendations to aid Chinese Public Diplomacy in achieving its core objective of promoting Belt and Road initiative in Omani society. For example, Chinese public diplomacy players should focus on the two-way communication model, particularly through social media; as such tools can effectively enhance the mediated public diplomacy approach.


Microservices have been getting more and more popular in recent years, and several companies are migrating monolithic applications to microservices. Microservices allow developers to independently develop and deploy services, and ease the adoption of agile processes. However, many companies are still hesitant to migrate because they consider microservice as a hype or because they are not aware of the migration process and the benefits and issues related to migration. For this purpose, we conducted a survey among experienced practitioners who already migrated their monoliths to microservices. In this paper, we identify a process framework based on the comparison of three different migration processes adopted by the interviewed practitioners, together with the common motivations and issues that commonly take place during migrations. In this work, we describe the results and provide an analysis of our survey, which includes a comparison of the migration processes, a ranking of motivations, and issues and some insights into the benefits achieved after the adoption. Maintainability and scalability were consistently ranked as the most important motivations, along with a few other technical and nontechnical motivations. Although return on investment was expected to take longer, the reduced maintenance effort in the long run was considered to highly compensate for this.


This study examines the perception of accessibility provisions in selected art centres in Lagos, Nigeria. The research investigated how architecture influences the people and their development, enabling or hindering them across many facets which influences economic growth. The concept of accessibility significantly affects a society's interaction with its architecture and infrastructure. With a focus on accessibility, this study investigated the perception of users towards accessibility provisions in selected art centres alongside with how these provisions affect usability of these centres. A quantitative methodology of research was carried out via the distribution of questionnaires to workers and users of three selected art centres in Lagos state, Nigeria. Data collected was analysed using SPSS 21 and interpreted accordingly. The findings suggested that not all necessary access provisions are available and of the available ones, very few were effective. Inadequate accessibility leads to less utilisation of these facilities, which is having a negative effect on the users of the investigated facilities. The study concludes that in order to promote poverty alleviation, and the creation and sale of art, accessibility provisions need to be present and appropriate for all users to access the necessary facilities. It was recommended that, fully functional art centres are attainable by integrating accessibility from the onset of design.


The prediction of oil and gas in compact sandstone is a momentous puzzle of the petroleum exploration , both domestically and abroad. Beacuse of the compact characteristic of the T 3x 2 sandstone on the Longmen mountain leading edge in the middle of West Sichuan depression, the prediction methods of oil and gas prediction, giving priority to crack prediction, have been developed. But their actual effect is not ideal. The paper takes the Fenggu structure in the middle of West Sichuan depression as example to use structure recovery to analyze the characteristic of structure evolution and points out the place where the ancient oil and gas gather. On the basis of formation conditions of the reservoirs and principal factor analysis , with the history study of structure evolution, oil gas water, sedimentary, hydrocarbongenesis, thermal and pore evolution, the paper dissects the process of reservoir formation of the ancient structure when oil and gas gather and points out that the most effective exploration target of the T 3 x 2 compact sandstone is the inchoate trap which principal clue is the anticline in the course of oil and gas gathering. On the basis of the above, with the seismic recognition techniques of oil and gas reservoirs, such as seismic multi parameter prediction, pressure prediction, the paper predicts the zone of favorable reservoir and the place of wells. Its prediction result coincides with the actual result. And the payoff has been used in the disposition of development and exploration.


Tumor-Initiating Cells (TICs), or Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs), are considered a subpopulation of cells within a tumor that are particularly aggressive because when isolated, these cells can form secondary tumors. Along these lines, experiments in which fragments of tumors, derived from primary patient samples, are re-implanted into nude mice, the majority of cells within the fragment die. However, day 3 after re-implantation, a small subpopulation emerges that is able to seed a new tumor. We hypothesized that these cells are unique and rare within the original tumor and consequently present an opportunity to identify novel markers that can identify these aggressive tumor cells. After sorting live human cells from tumor fragments three days after passaging, we used single cell PCR to determine the extent of heterogeneity within the fragment population. We, in fact, found that there is a subpopulation that highly expresses markers of proliferation and stemness. This is in contrast to the major population within the fragment that is enriched for genes associated with hypoxia and stress response. Interestingly, we found that the hypoxia responsive gene, CA9, does not correlate with other markers of hypoxia, such as VEGF, when analyzing cells derived from the fragment. Instead, CA9 was highly expressed among cells that were also enriched for markers such as Ki67, survivin, and Lgr5. To confirm if CA9 does identify a more proliferative, stem-like population, we have sorted CA9+ and CA9- cells from three day PDX fragments and analyzed using DNA microarrays and real-time PCR. We have consistently found, among several different PDX lines, that passaging of tumors followed by sorting CA9+ cells enriches for cells with increased levels of Lgr5, ASCL2, CD133, and Ki67. This is also validated through IHC analysis in which the majority of the cells that are positive for Ki67 are also positive for CA9. We are continuing to investigate the tumorigenicity of these cells by reinjecting CA9+ and CA9- cells from fragments back into immune-compromised mice. Furthermore, we are building a gene list derived from the microarrays to inspect by single cell PCR if any of these genes associate with Lgr5 in a grown tumor. Thus, we believe this is a functionally relevant and novel method for identify novel TIC markers. Citation Format: Julia Friedman, Wenyan Zhong, Christine Loreth, Veronica Diesl, Xin Han, Justin Lucas, Andrea Hooper, Vlad Buklan, Edward Rosfjord, Danielle Leahy, Judy Lucas, Maximillian Follettie, Kim Arndt. CA9 expression highly correlates with cancer stem cell markers during passaging of PDX lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3487. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3487


The aim of this study was to clone, express the gene of Hgp44 in adhesin domains of gingipains from Porphyromonas gingivalis and purify the protein. Furthermore, the effect of Hgp44 from P. gingivalis on inducing HUVECs to secrete IL-6 and IL-8 was evaluated. The Hgp44 gene fragment was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and then inserted into the cloning vector pMD18-T and linked with a prokaryotic expression vector pET22b to construct the recombinant expression plasmid pET22b-Hgp44. Fusion protein expression was induced by IPTG, and it was purified by immobilized metal-chelating affinity chromatography (IMAC) using an Ni(2+) matrix column. HUVECs were cultured in vitro and different concentrations of Hgp44 were added to confluent HUVEC monolayers and incubated for 2, 8 and 24 h. We extracted the supernatants and then used ELISA kits to test the changes in IL-6 and IL-8 levels. Finally, a 1100-bp fragment was successfully amplified, and the expression of the fusion protein was examined by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis, and the data showed that the protein was 44 kDa in size and expressed mostly in the form of inclusion bodies. The purification of the fusion protein was achieved using Ni(2+) affinity chromatography. About 3.5 mg/L fusion protein was obtained. Hgp44 could induce HUVECs to secrete IL-6 and IL-8 levels, which were remarkably increased. In a word, Hgp44 was successfully expressed in a prokaryotic expression system and purified by IMAC using the Ni(2+) matrix column. The effect of Hgp44 in inducing HUVECs to secrete IL-6 and IL-8 was demonstrated.


One popular way of transferring knowledge about professional situations, is to describe best practices to students. A best practice may, for instance, describe how some professionals successfully solved a difficult problem in an organization. At the University of Stockholm we have experimented with replacing lectures with filmed best practices. The films show dialogues between teachers solving a problem and they are then available in a YouTube like format on the course web page. The weakness of this strategy is that it does not allow for direct communication and interaction between the students and teachers. We will demonstrate an approach to solve this problem by allowing the student to test his knowledge by getting automatic feedback concerning the understanding of the films. This was done by letting the students answer questions directly after seeing the films and then provide the student with an automatic feedback concerning if the feedback was right or wrong. Empirical tests show that the method works well. We recommend companies and universities to try similar methods. The empirical data strongly suggested that it is worthwhile to invest in the proposed strategy. The arguments for this, is that it is economically feasible and also pedagogically effective.


Although networks analysis has moved from static to dynamic, ecological networks are still analyzed as time-aggregated units where time-specific interactions are aggregated into one single network. As a result, several questions arise such as what is the functional form of and how variable is the topology of time-specific versus time-aggregated ecological networks? Furthermore, it is yet unknown to what extent the structure of time-aggregated networks is representative of the dynamics of the community. Here, we compared the topology of time-specific and time-aggregated networks by analyzing a set of intertidal networks containing more than 1,000 interactions, and assessed the spatiotemporal dynamics of their degree distributions. By fitting different distribution models, we found that the out-degree distributions of seasonal and time-aggregated networks were best described by an exponential model while the in-degree distributions were best described by a discrete generalized beta model. The degree distributions of the seasonal networks were highly temporally variable and are significantly different from those of time-aggregated networks. We observed that seasonal degree distributions converged toward time-aggregated network distributions after 1.5 years of sampling. Our results highlight the importance of understanding the dynamics of ecological networks, which can show topological characteristics significantly different from those of time-aggregated networks.


BACKGROUND
The dual antigen iELISA uses two Streptococcus equi subsp equi surface protein antigens composed of N-terminal portions of SEQ2190 (Antigen A) and SeM (Antigen C). It is currently used to identify animals exposed to S. equi which have developed an immune response to the target antigens.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the usefulness of the dual antigen iELISA in a population of horses vaccinated with Pinnacle IN. We hypothesised that horses vaccinated for strangles with a live attenuated, non-encapsulated SeM-2 strain of S. equi, would seroconvert when tested 5 weeks later by the dual antigen iELISA.

STUDY DESIGN
Prospective case-control study.

METHODS
Three separate serum samples were obtained from 26 client-owned horses vaccinated annually with Pinnacle® IN and 26 university-owned (non-vaccinates): at annual strangles vaccination (S1), 5 weeks post-vaccination (S2) from vaccinates, and a third (S3) (at 10 weeks) from vaccinates who received a booster. Seropositivity was defined as an OD450 nm value ≥ 0.5 for one or both antigens. Mixed-effects ordered logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with a suspect seropositive and seropositive value on the combined Antigen A and Antigen C iELISA. Post-hoc pairwise comparisons of linear predictive margins were used to assess the differences in OD450 at a specific time between antigen A and C.

RESULTS
19 of 25 (76%) vaccinates were seropositive at S2 compared to 1 of 26 (4%) non-vaccinates. When adjusted for sample number, vaccinates were more likely to be seropositive or suspect than non-vaccinates (OR 14; p=0.02, 95% CI 1.62 to122.03). The OD450 value was significantly larger for Antigen C than Antigen A for vaccinates (p<0.001; 95% CI 0.13 to 0.26) when normalised by age, sex, and breed.

MAIN LIMITATIONS
Guttural pouch sampling for S. equi in seroconverted horses was unavailable.

CONCLUSIONS
With a high rate of seroconversion to both antigens, the use of the dual antigen iELISA is not recommended in populations vaccinated with Pinnacle® IN.


Abstract Some results due to Kuo concerning momentum fluxes in barotropic flows are generalized so as to apply to quasi-geostrophic flows on a beta-plane. It is shown that linear, amplifying waves on an arbitrary zonal flow cause a net transport of westerly momentum out of that part of the fluid in which Raleigh's stability criterion (as generalized by Charney and Stern, and by Pedlosky) is satisfied locally. Also, it is shown that if quasi-geostrophic eddies are introduced by some "external" agent into a region in which the zonal flow satisfies the stability criterion, then westerly momentum will flow into this region.


Eosinophils of the gastrointestinal tract are involved in the host immune response that occurs in the presence of the pathogens in the digestive lumen, taking part in maintaining the homeostasis of the gastrointestinal epithelium. Their involvement in inflammatory processes of chronic gastritis is less known. In our study, we identified the presence of eosinophils in chorion gastric mucosa (lamina propria) in over 34% of chronic gastritis. Eosinophils were more numerous in atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia. More than 65% of chronic gastritis associated with Helicobacter pylori also had eosinophils in the gastric mucosa.


Animal experiments indicate that the hypothalamus plays an essential role in regulating the sleep–wake cycle. A recent neuroimaging study conducted under resting wakefulness conditions suggested the presence of a wake‐promoting region and a sleep‐promoting region in the human posterior hypothalamus and anterior hypothalamus, respectively, and interpreted their anticorrelated organization in resting‐state functional networks as evidence for their opposing roles in sleep–wake regulation. However, whether and how the functional networks of the two hypothalamic regions reorganize according to their wake‐ or sleep‐promoting roles during sleep are unclear. Here, we constructed functional networks of the posterior and anterior hypothalamus during wakefulness and nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep using simultaneous electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging data collected from 62 healthy participants. The functional networks of the posterior and anterior hypothalamus exhibited inversely correlated organizations during both wakefulness and NREM sleep. The connectivity strength of the posterior hypothalamic functional network was stronger during wakefulness than during stable sleep. From wakefulness to sleep, the anterior cingulate gyrus, paracingulate gyrus, insular cortex, and fontal operculum cortex showed decreased positive connectivity, while the precentral gyrus and postcentral gyrus showed decreased negative connectivity with the posterior hypothalamus. Additionally, the insular cortex and frontal operculum cortex showed negative connectivity during wakefulness and positive connectivity during sleep with the anterior hypothalamus, exhibiting an increasing trend. These findings provide insights into the correspondence between the functional network organizations and hypothalamic sleep–wake regulation in humans.


Performance measurement has often been defined in contrast with program evaluation. However, many now recognize that the methods and experiences of performance measurement and program evaluation can support and strengthen each other, thereby making relevant and timely contributions to evidence-based decision making. The argument in this chapter is that recent developments, emphasizing citizen engagement and incorporating community indicators, broaden the opportunities for collaboration between program evaluators and performance measurement professionals. Such collaboration, with an appreciation of the complementary strengths of the two approaches, can not only improve the practice of evaluation, but also enhance governance. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.


Despite intensified interest in conservation of tropical forests, knowledge of the population genetics of tropical forest trees remains limited. We used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) data to evaluate trends in genetic diversity and differentiation for four tropical tree species, Alchornea latifolia, Dendropanax arboreus, Inga thibaudiana and Protium glabrum. These species occur at contrasting population densities along an elevational gradient and we use RAPD and ecological data to examine natural levels of genetic diversity of each species, trends in genetic variability with population density and structure, genetic differentiation along the elevation gradient, and the relationship between genetic diversity and such factors as seed dispersal and pollination syndrome. At the distances we examined (plot distances ranging from 0.8 to 8.6 km) there was very little genetic structuring at any distance along the gradient. All four species exhibited levels of variation expected for spatial distribution, mating system and pollinator syndrome; greater than 96% of the genetic variation occurred within plots for Inga thibaudiana, Protium glabrum and Dendropanax arboreus. Alchornea latifolia only occurred in a single plot. The results of this study contribute to a growing database of genetic diversity data that can be utilized to make predictions about the effect of disturbance and subsequent reductions in population size on genetic variation and structure in tropical tree species.


Acquired resistance of tumor cells to anticancer drugs is a major cause of cancer therapy failure in the clinic. In this study, we have investigated the acquired resistance mechanisms in vitro and in vivo for two novel anticancer drugs currently in clinical trials, a Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitor ABT-263 and a MDM2-p53 interaction inhibitor MI-77301/SAR405838. In adult relapsed ALL (RS4;11) xenograft model, both ABT-263 and SAR405838 induced rapid and complete tumor regression but tumors regrew shortly after treatment cessation for both drugs. In pediatric AML (MV4;11) xenograft model, ABT-263 induced tumor growth inhibition and SAR405838 induced rapid and complete tumor regression but tumors also regrew after treatment stopped. Analysis of RS4;11 and MV4;11 resistant tumors to both drugs show that tumor cells evade apoptosis induction by the MDM2 inhibitor by mutation of p53 gene or compromised p53 function, whereas in RS4;11 tumor cells lose their sensitivity to the Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitor through down-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member BAX. Interestingly, RS4;11 tumors which became resistant to SAR405838, retained sensitivity to ABT-263 and rapid tumor regression was observed upon treatment with ABT-263. Similarly, in both RS4;11 and MV4;11 models, tumor cells which became highly resistant to ABT-263 were still very sensitive to SAR405838 and tumors resistant to the treatment of ABT-263 underwent rapid and complete tumor regression upon treatment with SAR405838. Furthermore, in both leukemia xenograft mouse models, sequential treatment with ABT-263 followed by SAR405838 achieved rapid and complete tumor regression with extended tumor free survival compared to the single agents. Additionally, the combination of SAR405838 and ABT-263 achieved a higher degree of long-term tumor regression than either agent alone. Our study provides new insights into the resistant mechanisms for both Bcl-2/Bcl-xL and MDM2 inhibitors in acute leukemia. Importantly, our preclinical data suggest that the combination and sequential treatment of these two distinct classes of novel apoptosis-inducing agents should be explored as an innovative treatment strategy for acute leukemia in the clinic with the goal to overcome acquired drug resistance and to improve the long-term clinical outcome for acute leukemia patients.

Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):C250.

Citation Format: C. Gianna Hoffman-Luca, Donna McEachern, Daniel Ziazadeh, Yu-Jun Zhao, Wei Sun, Laurent Debussche, Shaomeng Wang. Concurrent targeting Bcl-2/Bcl-xL and MDM2 as a new therapeutic strategy for acute leukemia. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr C250.


Advances in medical informatics and the widespread collection of patients' data have led to the development of new medical decision support systems. Some of them are simply used to guide the medical practicioner, while others automatically generate decisions. Known under various names ("expert systems", "decision support systems", "medical AI"), they can be used for diagnosis, prognosis or care. They all function by means of algorithms that process data. These algorithms are more or less complex, more or less supervised, but they are also frequently opaque. Yet these tools are becoming increasingly important in the medical world. It seems therefore necessary to better inform users and beneficiaries – doctors and patients – of their operating logic, their limits and their possible biases. This study suggests strengthening European law (and French national law) on this point. A greater intelligibility of algorithms in decision support systems would meet the ethical requirements of medical decision making and the objective of shared medical decision making in conscience.


Simple specimens in unidirectional graphite-epoxy material are investigated. They consist of a skin panel with one stiffener, where the stiffener is L-shaped and is bonded to the skin. Two undamaged specimens and three specimens with an initial separation between the stringer flange and the skin in the middle of the stringer are tested under axial compression. The compression load leads the panels to buckle, and the resulting out-of-plane deformation causes progressive debonding between the skin and the stringer. The skin-stringer separation is measured directly during the tests by means of an ultrasonic system obtaining C-scan and B-scan representations at different load steps. The tests are numerically analyzed using the finite element code ABAQUS, modeling the entire stiffened panel by fournodes shell elements, and investigating the progressive delamination by means of the Virtual Crack Closure Technique. The results of the numerical analyses are compared to the experimental ones in terms of load-shortening curves, post-buckling shapes and progressive debonding between the skin and the stringer.


The synergy between Na+-K+ pumps, Na+-Ca2+ exchangers, membrane currents and the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) generates the coupled-clock system, which governs the spontaneous electrical activity of heart sinoatrial node cells (SANCs). Ca2+ mediates the degree of clock coupling via local Ca2+ release (LCR) from the SR and activation of cAMP/PKA signaling. Marinobufagenin (MBG) is a natural Na+-K+ pump inhibitor whose effect on SANCs has not been measured before. The following two hypotheses were tested to determine if and how MBG mediates between the Na+-K+ pump and spontaneous SAN activity: (i) MBG has a distinct effect on beat interval (BI) due to variable effects on LCR characteristics, and (ii) Ca2+ is an important mediator between MBG and SANC activity. Ca2+ transients were measured by confocal microscopy during application of increasing concentrations of MBG. To further support the hypothesis that Ca2+ mediates between MBG and SANC activity, Ca2+ was chelated by the addition of BAPTA. Dose response tests found that 100 nM MBG led to no change in BI in 6 SANCs (no BI change group), and to BI prolongation in 10 SANCs (BI change group). At the same concentration, the LCR period was prolonged in both groups, but more significantly in the BI change group. BAPTA-AM prolonged the BI in 12 SANCs. In the presence of BAPTA, 100 nM MBG had no effect on SANC BI or on the LCR period. In conclusion, the MBG effects on SANC function are mediated by the coupled clock system, and Ca2+ is an important regulator of these effects.


Bloom's taxonomy has been proposed for categorizing examination questions in accordance with the student's cognitive ability. Recently, researchers tend to utilize machine learning techniques in order to classify the questions. However, there is still a remarkable limitation, which can be represented by the ambiguity lies on the question. Due to the short length of the question, it is difficult to identify the contextual information of the words. This means that a single word could yield multiple meanings. This would significantly affect the process of classification especially for the verbs that are usually located within the question such as 'define' or 'write'. The ambiguity of such verbs would mislead the classification process regarding Bloom's cognitive levels. Therefore, this study aims to propose a combination method of semantic and syntactic approaches in order to overcome such drawback. The semantic approach aims to utilize an external knowledge source in order to retrieve semantic correspondences. Whereas, the syntactic approach aims to determine the syntactic tag of the terms to address the significant verbs and nouns. Finally, three machine learning techniques will be used including Support Vector Machine, J48 and Naïve Bayes classifiers to classify the questions. In order to assess the effectiveness of the proposed combination method, the classifiers have been applied with the proposed combination and without it. Results revealed that the classifiers with the combination method have outperformed the traditional ones. This implies the significance of using the proposed semantic and syntactic approaches.


Since the birth of the first bank card in 1950's, bank card has become one of the most important financial tools. Bank card industry chain constitute the bank card associations, issuing banks, acquiring banks, related products and technology suppliers, which is a bilateral market. The bank card has become a typical network product. Currently, there are still contradictions between businesses and banks, which is the result of the unbalance distribution of profit among banks. In this paper, based on the bank card POS transaction mechanism, authors extend the anti-price equilibrium model of Shy. We compare different banks' transaction business in some respects of equilibrium price level & profit level and discuss the pricing factors and price profit changes by extending the anti-price equilibrium model.


The author examines demographic factors affecting trends in the age structure of the Danish population up to the year 2010. The economic implications of the increase in the population under 20 and over 65 years of age are considered, with a focus on the growing burden of supporting persons in the unproductive age groups


This study investigated the temporal orientation of delinquents and non-delinquents while adequately controlling institutionalization. For this purpose, four groups were selected: institutionalized delinquents (prison inmates); institutionalized non-delinquents (soldiers); non-institutionalized delinquents (delinquents on probation); and non-institutionalized non-delinquents (vocational students). The findings support most of the hypotheses: Although all subjects were basically future oriented, the institutionalized subjects (mainly prisoners) were more present oriented than their non-institutionalized counterparts. As the prisoner approached release, there was a decrease in the salience of the present and an increase in the salience of the future in his life space. Delinquents (both in and out of prison) perceived the past as more negative and the future as more positive than did non-delinquents. Institutionalized subjects (especially prisoners) perceived the present as more negative than their non-institutionalized counterparts. The affective attitudes of the non-delinquents toward the past, present, and future were much more balanced and realistic than that of the delinquents.


Results from power studies for linkage detection have led to many ongoing and planned collections of phenotypically extreme nuclear families. Given the great expense of collecting these families and the imminent availability of a dense diallelic marker map, the families are likely to be used in allelic-association as well as linkage studies. However, optimal selection strategies for linkage may not be equally powerful for association. We examine the power to detect linkage disequilibrium for quantitative traits after phenotypic selection. The results encompass six selection strategies that are in widespread use, including single selection (two designs), affected sib pairs, concordant and discordant pairs, and the extreme-concordant and -discordant design. Selection of sibships on the basis of one extreme proband with high or low trait scores provides as much power as discordant sib pairs but requires the screening and phenotyping of substantially fewer initial families from which to select. Analysis of the role of allele frequencies within each selection design indicates that common trait alleles generally offer the most power, but similarities between the marker- and trait-allele frequencies are much more important than the trait-locus frequency alone. Some of the most widespread selection designs, such as single selection, yield power gains only when both the marker and quantitative trait loci (QTL) are relatively rare in the population. In contrast, discordant pairs and the extreme-proband design provide power for the broadest range of QTL-marker-allele frequency differences. Overall, proband selection from either tail provides the best balance of power, robustness, and simplicity of ascertainment for family-based association analysis.


In the priority search phase1 of Wilderness Search and Rescue, a probability distribution map is created. Areas with higher probabilities are searched first in order to find the missing person in the shortest expected time. When using a UAV to support search, the onboard video camera should cover as much of the important areas as possible within a set time. We explore several algorithms (with and without set destination) and describe some novel techniques in solving this problem and compare their performances against typical WiSAR scenarios. This problem is NP-hard, but our algorithms yield high quality solutions that approximate the optimal solution, making efficient use of the limited UAV flying time.


A study was undertaken to evaluate Mud Crab Meal as a partial replacement for Soyabean meal as protein source in broiler chicken production. One hundred and eighty unsexed day-old Cobb broiler chicks were randomly designed to four dietary treatment s in a completely randomized experimental design. Each of the treatments were replicated thrice with fifteen (15) birds per replicate. Different diets were formulated for broiler starter and finisher phases of feeding. The diet for the starter phase contained approximately 22% crude protein while the finisher phase contained approximately 18% crude protein. Crab meal was used as a source of protein to replace soyabean meal at 10, 20, 30% in treatment II, III, and IV respectively, while treatment I, had 100%  soyabean meal as source of protein and also served. Water and feed were supplied ad libitum. The parameters measured were feed consumption, body weight gain , feed conversion ratio,feed cost/ kg, cost of feed consumed/bird, cost of feed/kg weight gain and % reduction of cost of feed. This study shows that soyebean can be replaced by crab meal in the diets at 30% of substitution rate (on protein basis) without negatively affecting broiler performance. Keywords: Broiler, crab meal and Soybean meal.


ABSTRACT Individuals jump higher when they adopt an external focus of attention, relative to an internal focus or no focus of attention (G. Wulf, T. Zachry, C. Granados, & J. S. Dufek, 2007). In the present study, the authors determined the underlying cause of this effect. Participants performed a vertical jump-and-reach task for (a) an external focus condition (i.e., participants focused on the rungs of a Vertec [Perform Better, Cranston, RI] measurement device that they touched) and (b) an internal focus condition (i.e., participants focused on the finger with which they touched the rungs). Participants' jump height, center-of-mass displacement, jump impulse, and lower extremity joint moments were greater with an external focus compared with an internal focus. These results suggest that participants jump higher by producing greater forces when they adopt an external focus. This finding adds to evidence that an external focus facilitates the production of effective and efficient movement patterns.


We report the results of a computational study of repacking in the FCC Incentive Auctions. Our interest lies in the structure and constraints of the solution space of feasible repackings. Our analyses are "mechanism-free," in the sense that they identify constraints that must hold regardless of the reverse auction mechanism chosen or the prices offered for broadcaster clearing. We examine topics such as the amount of spectrum that can be cleared nationwide, the geographic distribution of broadcaster clearings required to reach a clearing target, and the likelihood of reaching clearing targets under various models for broadcaster participation. Our study uses FCC interference data and a satisfiability-checking approach, and elucidates both the unavoidable mathematical constraints on solutions imposed by interference, as well as additional constraints imposed by assumptions on the participation decisions of broadcasters.


OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence of postprocedural complications in patients submitted to transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy at the Unit of Intervention, Department of Imaging Diagnosis of Escola Paulista de Medicina - Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Telephone interviews were conducted with 132 patients who had undergone transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy in the period from April 2011 to June 2011, according to the institution's protocol. RESULTS: Post-biopsy complications were categorized into two groups - minor and major complications, according to their need for further clinical evaluation. Complications were reported by 59 patients (61.8%), most of them (86.4%) with mild and self-limited symptoms, classified as minor complications. Eight patients (8.2%) had major complications, one of which required in-hospital treatment. Urinary retention was the major and most common complication. CONCLUSION: The present study has demonstrated a low prevalence of major complications after transrectal prostate biopsy.


There is strong evidence that nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID) may exert a significant antiproliferative effect. This study evaluated the influence of NSAID on specific parameters of fibroblastic cells, in vitro, over two-guided bone regeneration (GBR) barrier materials. Fibroblast cells were cultured on bioabsorbable membrane made of collagen (Bio-Gide(R)- BG) and the most common nonresorbable membrane which is made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE, Gore-Tex(R)- GT). Naproxen sodium (10 mM) was used as an analgesic drug. The fibroblast cells were cultured in vitro for 24 h and examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Cells were cultured in the presence of (3)H-thymidine to study cell proliferation. And also cell numbers and viabilities were measured. The difference between the means for each group were analyzed for statistical significance by Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc comparisons using the Dunn statistical method. Of all the six groups, the control group stimulated DNA synthesis more than the others. With respect to cell numbers, there was statistically significant difference between the control group and naproxen planted BG membrane group. The interpretation of our SEM images is that these two barriers and naproxen seem to have had the least effect on cellular morphology. These data suggest naproxen have an inhibitory effect on stimulation of DNA synthesis, cell numbers and viabilities. And also lacking adherence of cells to the membranes may be due to the physical properties of the materials.


The synthesis of 17 alpha-acetoxy-3 beta-[(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)oxy]- 6 alpha-methylpregn-4-en-20-one, the glucoside of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA-glu), is described. MPA-glu and 14-amino-20 beta-hydroxy-3 beta-[(alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl)oxy]-5 beta, 14 beta-pregnane (LND 623), pregnane glycosides that bind to the digitalis receptor, and digoxin, a cardiac glycoside, were infused intravenously into the anesthetized guinea pig. Each of the three steroids significantly enhanced urinary volume and sodium excretion without affecting blood pressure and creatinine clearance. Potassium excretion was markedly enhanced by digoxin but unaffected by MPA-glu or LND 623. These observations conform to previous work that demonstrated, in the rat, potassium-sparing diuresis by the glucoside of 14 beta-hydroxyprogesterone, a cardiotonic pregnane. There is a dissociation between potency to inhibit [3H]ouabain binding and the extra ATPase actions of the digitaloid pregnanes.


Abstract Objectives To determine whether 10 mg, 25 mg, or 50 mg metoclopramide combined with 8 mg dexamethasone, given intraoperatively, is more effective in preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting than 8 mg dexamethasone alone, and to assess benefit in relation to adverse drug reactions. Design Four-armed, parallel group, double blind, randomised controlled clinical trial. Setting Four clinics of a university hospital and four district hospitals in Germany. Participants 3140 patients who received balanced or regional anaesthesia during surgery. Main outcome measures Postoperative nausea and vomiting within 24 hours of surgery (primary end point); occurrence of adverse reactions. Results Cumulative incidences (95% confidence intervals) of postoperative nausea and vomiting were 23.1% (20.2% to 26.0%), 20.6% (17.8% to 23.4%), 17.2% (14.6% to 19.8%), and 14.5% (12.0% to 17.0%) for 0 mg, 10 mg, 25 mg, and 50 mg metoclopramide. In the secondary analysis, 25 mg and 50 mg metoclopramide were equally effective at preventing early nausea (0-12 hours), but only 50 mg reduced late nausea and vomiting (> 12 hours). The most frequent adverse drug reactions were hypotension and tachycardia, with cumulative incidences of 8.8% (6.8% to 10.8%), 11.2% (9.0% to 13.4%), 12.9% (10.5% to 15.3%), and 17.9% (15.2% to 20.6%) for 0 mg, 10 mg, 25 mg, and 50 mg metoclopramide. Conclusion The addition of 50 mg metoclopramide to 8 mg dexamethasone (given intraoperatively) is an effective, safe, and cheap way to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting. A reduced dose of 25 mg metoclopramide intraoperatively, with additional postoperative prophylaxis in high risk patients, may be equally effective and cause fewer adverse drug reactions. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN31625370


Curved nailing according to Lezius and Herzer was applied to 700 of 1,062 cases of pertrochanteric fractures of the femur at the Surgical Department of the "Carl Gustav Carus" Medical Academy, Dresden, between 1964 and 1985. Complications are described, and results are generally compared with other surgical techniques used to handle pertrochanteric fractures of the femur. Lezius nailing, when compared to other methods, has proved to be a simple and reliable approach, primarily under the aspect of geriatric traumatology, and should be used on a much wider scale.


INTRODUCTION: The comprehension of techniques used in Molecular Biology neither always is easy.Therefore, the objective of this work was to apply simulations in Molecular Biology for graduating students of a Pharmacy course froma private educational institution, to allow them to practice the apparent difficult protocols. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three groups of students (50 each) were evaluated. Two of them were submitted to different simulatory activities,such as: a) visiting the virtual laboratory of Utah University (USA) to understand gel electrophoresis and polymerasechain reaction (PCR) techniques, b) extracting DNA from oral mucosa by means of a homemade protocol, c) investigating simulatory paternity tests, d) proposing their own microarrays by painting them on paper and then interpreted the results according to the colors, e) designing primers (small fragments of DNA to PCR) with the free software Primer3 and testing them in silico PCR. The third group of students was only submitted to oral theoretical classes about all these themes. The progress of the understanding was qualitatively evaluated and compared by the analysis of questionnaires. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The groups submitted to the virtual classes were responsive during the development of activities and had a better performance in the examinations than the group that had only theoretical classes, showing better comprehension about the themes. Their greatest difficult was the limitation in the English language to interact with the websites (they often asked about an alternative site in Portuguese). CONCLUSION: The didactical sequence involving exercises in websites by using freeware and recreational activities in classroom with graduating students of Pharmacy proved to be an effective tool in the learning of some of the techniques in Molecular Biology, mainly when a lab and some equipment are not available to perform practical activities


The possible solution for bonding two different materials with intermediate layer of adhesive at relatively low temperatures in the micro domain is proposed in this paper. A stream of hot gas has been used for melting and softening different kinds of adhesives. After cooling down at room temperature, adhesives harden forming a stable and strong bond. The gas is heated as it passes through the tube with the heater developed on it. The parameters which induce the heat transfer and the process performance generally are considered through various experiments and by numerical simulations. Some advantages of this process are applicability for different material combinations, cost and time efficiency, compact size of equipment etc


probabilistic model, neuron specification The main aim of this paper is to present a simple probabilistic model for the early stage of neuron growth: the specification on an axon out of several initially similar neurites. The model is a Markov process with competition between the growing neurites, wherein longer objects have more chances to grow, and parameter a determines the intensity of the competition. For a > 1 the model provides results which are qualitatively similar to the experimental ones, i.e. selection of one rapidly elongating axon out of several neurites while other less successful neurites stop growing at some random time. Rigorous mathematical proofs are given.


It is common practice to use theoretical frameworks developed in the West for education worldwide, but important contributions come as well from non-Western education perspectives that shed light on the emergence of ideas within given regional diasporas. Value creation serves as a valuable lens through which to examine the ideas and relevance of three thinkers from the Indian subcontinent—the Buddha (6th or 5th century bce), Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), and Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948). The term "value creation" encompasses a Japanese approach to curriculum (based on the work of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, 1871–1944) that is founded on an interdependent view of life and aimed at developing learners' capacity to enhance their own existence and contribute to the well-being of others. Using value creation as a lens to examine the contributions of the Buddha, Tagore, and Gandhi can allow for a discourse on the indigenous nature of their respective ideas that are rooted in Eastern philosophies based on similar interdependent worldviews. The emergence of alternative curricular in the Indian diaspora that are based on such interdependent worldviews, offer an integrated approach to education. A value-creating framework can be useful to examine the Indian educational scene and the many attempts that have been made for the individual learner to be the focus of education.


In today's economy and society, performance analyses in the services industries attract more and more attention. This paper presents an evaluation of 240 branches of one big Canadian bank in Greater Toronto Area using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Special emphasis was placed on how to present the DEA results to management so as to provide more guidance to them on what to manage and how to accomplish the changes. Finally the potential management uses of the DEA results were presented. All the findings are discussed in the context of the Canadian banking market.