The enhanced cognitive interview (ECI) has been shown to increase the correct memory recall of a diverse range of participant types, without an increase in the number of incorrect or confabulated details. However, it has rarely been used with a sample of adults with a learning disability, who have historically been considered unreliable witnesses due to memory deficits associated with this population limiting the accuracy and completeness of their memory recall. This study aimed to fill this gap in the research literature, by comparing the memory recall of twenty-one adults with a mild learning disability (IQ 50-70) who attended day centres and twenty-one adults from the general population, using either an ECI or a structured interview (STI), approximately one and a half to two hours after viewing a film of a staged non-violent mugging. It was found that the recall of adults with a learning disability was overall less complete and less accurate than that of their counterparts from the general population. Nevertheless, for both adults with a learning disability and those from the general population the ECI was more effective than the SI in enhancing recall of correct person, action and conversation (gist) detail, without increasing the number of incorrect or confabulated details reported. Additionally, the accuracy of all information reported was similar across interview types (81% for the ECI and 80% for the STI). Overall, the findings suggest that ECI can enable adults with a learning disability to provide better evidence in criminal proceedings.


Background: There is an absence of evidence about interventions to prevent or treat obesity in early
childhood and in South Asian populations, in whom risk is higher.
Objectives: To study patterns and the aetiology of childhood obesity in a multiethnic population and
develop a prevention intervention.
Design: A cohort of pregnant women and their infants was recruited. Measures to compare growth and
identify targets for obesity prevention, sensitive to ethnic differences, were collected. A feasibility
randomised controlled trial (RCT) was undertaken.
Setting: Bradford, UK.
Participants: A total of 1735 mothers, 933 of whom were of South Asian origin.
Intervention: A feasibility trial of a group-based intervention aimed at overweight women, delivered
ante- and postnatally, targeting key modifiable lifestyle behaviours to reduce infant obesity.
Main outcome measures: The feasibility and acceptability of the pilot intervention.
Data sources: Routine NHS data and additional bespoke research data.
Review methods: A systematic review of diet and physical activity interventions to prevent or treat obesity
in South Asian children and adults. Results: Routine measures of growth were accurate. The prevalence of risk factors differed between
mothers of white British ethnicity and mothers of Pakistani ethnicity and weight and length growth
trajectories differed between Pakistani infants and white British infants. Prediction equations for risk of
childhood obesity were developed. An evidence-based intervention was evaluated in a pilot RCT and was
found to be feasible and acceptable.
Limitations: This was a single-centre observational study and a pilot evaluation.
Conclusions: The programme has been successful in recruiting a unique multiethnic childhood obesity
cohort, which has provided new evidence about modifiable risk factors and biethnic growth trajectories.
A novel group-based behavioural change intervention has been developed and successfully piloted.
A multisite cluster RCT is required to evaluate effectiveness.
Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN56735429.
Funding: The National Institute for Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research programme.


Abstract Multidrug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis has emerged as a major public health problem worldwide. However, knowledge of the regional complete susceptibility to second-line drugs is rare, which impedes development of a global strategy of tuberculosis control. Presently, we determined the susceptibility of 125 isolates from southern Taiwan to 5 first-line and 12 second-line antituberculosis drugs. Except for a lower resistance to ethionamide (9.6% of isolates), more than 20% of the isolates were resistant to second-line drugs (kanamycin, 29.6%; p-aminosalicyclic acid, 71.2%; cycloserine, 24.8%; capreomycin, 24.8%; and ofloxacin, 28.5%). Twenty-two (17.6%) MDR strains displayed higher resistance to second-line antituberculous agents, compared with non-MDR strains, with markedly higher resistance rates evident for ethambutol, pyrazinamide, streptomycin, kanamycin, and ofloxacin. For clofazimine, amikacin, clarithromycin, ciprofloxacin, and amoxicillin/clavulanate, the MIC90 of the MDR isolates all exceeded those of non-MDR isolates. Moreover, four extensively drugresistant (XDR) strains first found in Taiwan, accounted for 3.2% of all isolates. The high resistance to the second-line drugs, especially among MDR strains, stresses the importance of proper treatment in Taiwan and threatens the global control of tuberculosis.


Instant messaging is very appealing and relatively new class of social interaction. Instant Messengers (IMs) and Social Networking Sites (SNS) may contain messages which are capable of causing harm, which are untraced, leading to obstruction for network communication and cyber security. User ignorance towards the use of communication services like Instant Messengers, emails, websites, social networks etc, is creating favorable conditions for cyber threat activity. It is required to create technical awareness in users by educating them to create a suspicious detection application which would generate alerts for the user so that suspicious messages are not ignored. Very limited research contributions were available in for detection of suspicious cyber threat activity in IM. A context based, dynamic and intelligent suspicious detection methodology in IMs is proposed, to analyze and detect cyber threat activity in Instant Messages with relevance to domain ontology (OBIE) and utilizes the Association rule mining for generating rules and alerting the victims, also analyses results with high ratio of precision and recall. The results have proved improvisation over the existing methods by showing the increased percentage of precision and recall. Keywords: Instant Messengers; Social Networking Site; Ontology based Information Extraction; Association Rule Mining. __________________________________________________*****_________________________________________________


Channel resource management (e.g., allocation and borrowing) is a critical aspect of wireless cellular networks. Since channel borrowing is an expensive task, incurring long delay, a key design goal of efficient channel resource management is to minimize the total number of channel borrowing operations. This paper focuses on the 'quantum' issue (number of channels) in the channel borrowing and releasing step. The proposed concept employs the working set approach, popular in operating systems, into channel resource management, where the quantum of channels transacted during each borrowing and release operation reaches a "middle point" and would not be too small or too large. An analytical model and steady-state simulation have been used to demonstrate the benefits.


Participants segmented and shifted a sequence of letters from a source word to a target word and then named the product aloud. Morphemic and nonmorphemic letter sequences (e.g., EN) from phonemically matched words such as HARDEN and GARDEN were compared. In 4 experiments, naming latencies were faster for morphemic sequences than their nonmorphemic controls in both English, in which the morphemic status of the shifted sequence was varied and sequences were appended after the base morpheme (linearly concatenated), and in Hebrew, in which morphological transparency of the root (base morpheme) was varied and 1 morpheme was infixed inside the other (nonconcatenative) so that the phonological and orthographic integrity of the morphemic constituents was disrupted. Moreover, the likelihood with which both affixes and bases combine to form words influenced segment shifting times. In conclusion, skilled readers are sensitive to the morphological components of words whether or not they form contiguous orthographic or phonological units.


The number and function of bovine mammary-gland phagocytes were assessed in 8 lactating cows, each tested at least twice within an 8-mo period (total number of observations, 20). Macrophages and polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells were evaluated by conventional cytology, flow cytometry, fluorescent microscopy, and somatic-cell count (SCC). Phagocytosis was evaluated from the uptake of fluorescent beads and expressed as median fluorescence intensity (MFI). Two major subpopulations of phagocytes, of low or high MFI (LFI or HFI), were observed, and there were up to 4 sub-subpopulations within the HFI subpopulation of both macrophages and PMN cells. Fluorescent microscopy identified phagocytes containing up to 4 beads per cell. Cows showing < or = 72.3% phagocytes by cytology were regarded as non-mastitic (11 observations), and those showing > or = 80.7% phagocytes were considered to be mastitic (8 observations). Phagocyte MFI was negatively associated with mastitis; that is, the higher the MFI, the lower the SCC. The percentage of HFI PMN cells was the only indicator of mastitis with 100% sensitivity and specificity. Thus, bovine mammary-gland phagocytes consist of several subpopulations of different phagocytic ability, whose assessment more adequately predicts bovine mastitis than do morphologic indicators.


In this study, microtubules are regarded as polymers with positive free surface energy. The dynamics of such polymers is complex, consisting of equilibrium, non-equilibrium, and one-directional processes. This view of microtubules enables us to propose a new model of microtubule dynamics both in vitro and in vivo, and to draw a new conclusion on the role of GTP hydrolysis and calcium cations in microtubule polymerization. The study also offers a new model of chromosome movement in mitosis and a new model of the movement of motor proteins along microtubules. In the conclusion of the similarity and difference between microtubules and microfilaments is examined. We conclude that microfilaments, like microtubules, represent polymers with positive free surface energy, and that the movement of myosins along microfilaments can be realized in the same manner as the movement of motor proteins along microtubules.


OBJECTIVE
There are indications that non-medical prescription opioid analgesics use (NMPOU) in the general population has increased in Canada in recent years; however, existing estimates have limitations. Thus our objectives are to determine prevalence and associated demographics of 1) prescription opioid analgesics (PO) use, 2) NMPOU, and 3) use of PO for intoxication purposes in the adult population in Ontario.

METHODS
Prevalence and the associations between sex, age, region, income, cigarette smoking, binge drinking, cannabis use and psychological distress with the above-noted types of PO use were assessed using data from the 2008 and 2009 samples (n = 2030) of the CAMH Monitor. The statistical significance of the associations for all types of PO use was tested through bivariate associations using chi-square tests, and a two-step logistic regression was performed to test if demographics are associated with NMPOU.

RESULTS
The prevalence of PO use was 21.3% (95% CI 19.1-23.4), and the prevalence of NMPOU was 2.0% (95% CI 1.2-2.8) of Ontario adults. There were no significant differences between men and women for either PO use or NMPOU. Bivariate associations indicated that NMPOU was associated with tobacco and cannabis use and psychological distress in men. Logistic regression showed a significant association between NMPOU and each of age, cannabis use, and psychological distress in men.

DISCUSSION
NMPOU is an emerging epidemic in Canada across all income and age groups, and is associated with other substance use and mental health problems. Improved survey designs are required for more accurate population estimates of NMPOU.


Purpose: This conceptual and ethnographic study namely "Youth Entrepreneurship and Leadership (YEL) Model of Oaktree (Australia)" explores and analyzes the unique entrepreneurial and leadership aspects of Oaktree in order to review and revamp the unique Australian model for global knowledge transfer and worldwide implications. Background : In the backdrop of the role of Oaktree in poverty alleviation and establishing social sector sustainability, this research contributes to understand the discourse of youth-led and youth-run social innovations in the context of youth management and nonprofit sector of Australia, with relevance for scalability across the globe. Approach: With an ethnographic case study based research design, the type of data and analysis of this study is substantially primary, inductive and qualitative from a theoretical and conceptual standpoint to finally come up with concrete categorical conclusions for further research. Findings: The study sequentially narrates the vital elements of the youth entrepreneurship and leadership features catering to the development of the Oaktree's YEL Model, which is embedded but yet not researched and explored. Finally, in the framework of the YEL Model, the study discusses the core strategic and policy recommendations for such youth-led and youth-run organizational stakeholders. Value: In this youth management and entrepreneurial leadership context, the understanding of the construction and composition of underlying internalities and externalities become instrumental. With the emerging trends of youth entrepreneurship and leadership globally, therefore understanding the different set-ups of YEL Model also becomes significant for the global youth sustainability and youth innovations. Funding note: As part of the author's Australian Govt. Endeavour Executive Fellowship (2016) with Oaktree Headquarters in Melbourne commissioned by Australian Department of Education and Training, this research project was conducted to review and revamp the unique Youth Entrepreneurship and Leadership Model of Oaktree in Australia, and furthermore to draw global educative implications. Keywords: Youth Entrepreneurship, Youth Leadership, Social Innovation, Stakeholder Collaboration, Youth Sustainability, Policy Advocacy


The concept Fifteen minutes of data (Datakvarten) started during spring 2017. We saw a growing need to engage librarians with data, research data and related issues, and with the creation of our digital lab we got the final incentive. However, it is a new area to many and can be complex, so there was some hesitation and reluctance amongst our colleagues. This initiative aimed to integrate it in a nice and easy way to our daily work. We wanted to develop a competence on the subject within our whole unit but needed to fit the learning process into already busy schedules.
The fifteen minutes of data happened on our regular unit meetings, occurring every other week. Workshop sessions were mixed with lectures and seminar methods to engage everyone in different ways. We tried to follow a logic path in pic of topics, to start with the basics and step up the complexity bit by bit. Topics could be about what data really is, PSI (Public sector information), visualisation, data literacy and data formats. The year ended up with a quiz to repeat the most important. We had a logotype and used a special jingle to introduce each session, which was much appreciated.
 It was important to meet the whole unit, with different previous knowledge and interest. Fifteen minutes is not a long time, but we can conclude that it was worth the effort and planning time – it went well and the concept will continue throughout 2018. With the presentation we want to highlight the concept and encourage others to try it, but also raise questions about what every librarian should know and master about data. What trends do you see? What lies ahead?


The use of violent coercion to repress unarmed protests, such as that seen during the Arab Spring, sometimes backfires on the government – an outcome called 'political jiu-jitsu'. Examining unique global data covering extreme violence used by governments against unarmed protests from 1989 to 2011 (drawn from UCDP) and the Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes (NAVCO) data, this study aims to explain the conditions under which this outcome occurs. This study contributes to both the nonviolent action and one-sided violence literatures by further disaggregating this effect into both domestic and international outcomes, a distinction that has not previously been made in empirical studies. We find evidence that a pre-existing campaign infrastructure increases the likelihood of increased domestic mobilization and security defections after violent repression, but is unrelated to international backlash. Within ongoing NAVCO campaigns we find that parallel media institutions increase the likelihood of increased domestic mobilization and international repercussions after repression, and that this effect holds true for both traditional media and 'new' (i.e. internet-based) media. One of the novel contributions of this study is that we identify an important selection effect in the NAVCO data and the critical role of organizational infrastructure, especially communications infrastructure, in generating preference changes that create the conditions where killing unarmed civilians becomes costly for repressive governments. We conclude with a discussion of the potential implications of this study and avenues for future research.


The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) organisms in the community poses significant threat and burden to community-based healthcare. As the development pipeline of new antibiotics continues to diminish, measures to contain the rising trend of MDR organisms have increasingly relied on effective infection control and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) strategies. However, these strategies are generally less developed in the community in comparison to the hospital setting. Fundamentally, surveillance activities to monitor the magnitude of infections, antibiotic use and MDR organisms will be crucial to guide timely infection control interventions in high-risk community-based healthcare settings. Two major community-based healthcare settings [residential aged care facilities (RACFs) and emergency departments (EDs)] have been targeted for further research, given their potential as a "reservoir and gateway" for MDR organism transmission into hospitals or other healthcare institutions.

To date, a systematic surveillance system for tracking infection rates in Australian RACFs remains to be established. Furthermore, data describing the burden of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) and antibiotic use in the Australian RACF setting is limited. A retrospective observational study was initiated to explore the longitudinal trend of infection burden in four co-located Australian RACFs. The average yearly incidence of HCAIs in these facilities (4.16 episodes/1000 occupied bed-days) was found to be comparable to the rates reported in RACFs abroad. However, routine infection surveillance in the absence of more proactive intervention did not result in noticeable reduction of infection burden over time. Importantly, several areas where antibiotic use was likely to be inappropriate have been identified, and up to 37% of antibiotic use was for presumed episodes of infections not meeting the McGeer criteria for symptomatic infections.

Evidence from overseas has suggested that residents in RACFs are an important reservoir for transmission of MDR organisms in the community; however, such data are lacking in Australia. The frequent patient transfer between RACFs and acute-care hospitals, and the complexity of their healthcare needs render this population at high-risk for MDR organism transmission. Accordingly, an active surveillance was conducted to explore the carriage of three major groups of MDR organisms in the aforementioned RACFs. The study has revealed significant carriage of various MDR organisms, with 36% of residents carrying at least one type of MDR organisms. Higher prevalence of MDR Gram-negative bacilli (GNB, 21%) colonisation relative to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, 16%) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE, 6%) have been shown, proposing that existing infection control strategies that have focused primarily on the containment of MRSA and VRE may need to be modified. Furthermore, these MDR GNB strains were found to have strong clonal relatedness, suggesting the possibility of person-to-person transmission of these organisms within and between RACFs. Specific risk factors for MRSA and MDR GNB colonisation, which may facilitate targeted management of high-risk residents, in particular community-based drivers such as advanced dementia [adjusted odd ratio (AOR) 3.5 [1.2 – 10.2], P=0.02] and prior fluoroquinolone use [AOR 4.3 (1.2 – 15.3), P=0.025], were also identified.

The high burden of antibiotic use and MDR organism colonisation among this vulnerable population (as shown in the aforementioned studies) highlights the important role of AMS in the RACF setting. Unfortunately, AMS activities in the RACF setting are substantially behind those in acute-care hospitals. Adopting a comprehensive model of the hospital-based AMS programs into the RACF setting with minimal medical resources is unrealistic. Consequently, the views of general practitioners, executive nurses, nurse unit managers, registered nurses and pharmacists servicing RACFs affiliated with four major public healthcare services within Victoria were explored to understand their perceptions towards AMS interventions in the RACF setting. Using qualitative and observational methods, significant gaps in the RACF organisational workflow and culture in relation to antibiotic prescribing practices were observed, highlighting the unique challenges for the implementation of an AMS program in this setting. Knowledge gaps, especially among nursing staff, in relation to issues of antibiotic over-prescribing and antibiotic resistance were noted. Importantly, the notion of AMS interventions was deemed useful and supported by all key stakeholder groups. This study has identified modifiable factors that will assist resource allocation for potential areas of AMS intervention. The information gathered about the feasibility, barriers and facilitators of various AMS interventions will be useful to guide the development of a feasible model of AMS intervention specifically for the Australian RACFs.

ED is another community-based healthcare setting, where surveillance of MDR organisms and identification of high-risk patients (e.g. RACF population) are critical, particularly in severe infections such as bloodstream infections (BSIs). Therefore, a ten-year longitudinal trend, risk factors and clinical outcomes for community-onset (CO) BSI associated with MDR organisms in an Australian ED were studied. Whilst MRSA bacteraemia remained at high levels (20% - 30%) over ten years, the proportion of MDR Escherichia coli causing COBSI was found to be increasing from 9% - 26% (P < 0.001). Previously published healthcare-associated risk factors appeared predictive for MRSA, but were less predictive for MDR GNB. Indeed, being a resident in RACF remained an independent risk factor for acquiring both MRSA and MDR GNB in COBSI, further supporting that the RACF population can serve as an important reservoir for transmission of MDR organisms into hospitals.

In summary, the research in this thesis has explored a number of important aspects in relation to antimicrobial use and MDR organisms in two important community-based healthcare settings (RACF and ED). Significantly, this work will provide useful insights into guiding infection control and AMS strategies within these settings.


The overall uncertainty between the fixed points underlying the primary calibration of standard platinum resistance thermometers (SPRTs) may be described by terms, each of which is associated with the uncertainty at a given fixed point Tj, within the sub-range covered by the calibration. Each term is calculated, using the appropriate deviation function ΔW(T), by imposing an uncertainty of value zero at the other fixed points. Deviation functions with a non-zero value of the deviation ΔW(T0) at the triple point of water, T0, are not defined in the ITS-90, since, nominally, ΔW(T0) = 0. For this reason the propagation of the uncertainty at T = T0 is usually accounted for only indirectly through its contribution to the uncertainties δW(Tj), where j ≠ 0. By slightly extending the current mathematical scheme within the formalism provided by the ITS-90 it is shown that the uncertainty δW(T0) at the triple point of water is also directly propagated.


Abstract In this work, bromelain was recovered from ground pineapple stem and rind by means of precipitation with alcohol at low temperature. Bromelain is the name of a group of powerful protein-digesting, or proteolytic, enzymes that are particularly useful for reducing muscle and tissue inflammation and as a digestive aid. Temperature control is crucial to avoid irreversible protein denaturation and consequently to improve the quality of the enzyme recovered. The process was carried out alternatively in two fed-batch pilot tanks: a glass tank and a stainless steel tank. Aliquots containing 100 mL of pineapple aqueous extract were fed into the tank. Inside the jacketed tank, the protein was exposed to unsteady operating conditions during the addition of the precipitating agent (ethanol 99.5%) because the dilution ratio "aqueous extract to ethanol" and heat transfer area changed. The coolant flow rate was manipulated through a variable speed pump. Fine tuned conventional and adaptive PID controllers were on-line implemented using a fieldbus digital control system. The processing performance efficiency was enhanced and so was the quality (enzyme activity) of the product.


Diffusion-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, namely diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI), have been performed in the context of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), either with or without neuropsychiatric (NP) involvement, to deepen cerebral microstructure alterations. These techniques permit the measurement of the variations in random movement of water molecules in tissues, enabling their microarchitecture analysis. While DWI is recommended as part of the initial MRI assessment of SLE patients suspected for NP involvement, DTI is not routinely part of the instrumental evaluation for clinical purposes, and it has been mainly used for research. DWI and DTI studies revealed less restricted movement of water molecules inside cerebral white matter (WM), expression of a global loss of WM density, occurring in the context of SLE, prevalently, but not exclusively, in case of NP involvement. More advanced studies have combined DTI with other quantitative MRI techniques, to further characterize disease pathogenesis, while brain connectomes analysis revealed structural WM network disruption. In this narrative review, the authors provide a summary of the evidence regarding cerebral microstructure analysis by DWI and DTI studies in SLE, focusing on lessons learned and future research perspectives.


The influence of RF absorbers in the vicinity of an antenna is investigated in order to find the minimum size for an ultra-small anechoic box necessary for measuring the reactive-near-fields of small rod array antennas. We use the return loss at the port of the antenna measured by changing the separation distance between the antenna and the absorber to evaluate the influence. We find that an antenna's performance is not influenced by nearby absorbers even if the absorbers are placed within the reactive-near-field region of the antenna when the absorbers are properly chosen. A prototype ultra-small anechoic box with outer dimensions of 5 /spl lambda/ is fabricated based on a reactive-near-field probing technique. To evaluate the proposed anechoic box, we compare a 1-GHz bandwidth return loss obtained from the ultra-small anechoic box with that obtained from a large anechoic chamber. They show good agreement and the maximum difference is only 0.28 dB. We also compare far-field radiation patterns obtained by calculating the reactive-near-fields measured in the ultra-small anechoic box with those obtained directly from far-field pattern measurement to confirm that the proposed ultra-small anechoic box is effective for use in measuring and characterizing the rod array antenna performance.


Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) has been found to be antiproliferative and antitumoral in malignant mesothelioma (MM), but the MM cell response to IFN-gamma has not been fully characterized so far. We investigated gene expression profiles in human MM cell lines (HMCLs) exposed to IFN-gamma. Four HMCLs showing different sensitivities to the antiproliferative effect of IFN-gamma, two of them presenting a defect in the JAK/STAT signaling pathway, were treated with 500 IU/mL of IFN-gamma. Gene expression patterns were studied at 6 and 72 hours after exposure to the IFN-gamma, using a cDNA array technique. Six genes were studied with real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The gene expression profiles in response to IFN-gamma were shown to differ in different HMCLs. Numerous genes involved in cell proliferation and cell adhesion were regulated by IFN-gamma in JAK/STAT-deficient HMCLs. Genes possibly involved in regulation of cell proliferation included CDC2, PLK1, and IGFBP4, as well as several genes involved in cell-cell interactions and cell adhesion. The cDNA array technique revealed differences in expression pathways, especially those involved in cell growth, cell adhesion, and cell proliferation, between IFN-gamma-resistant and -sensitive MM cell lines. We found that the changes in gene expression profiles of HMCLs exposed to IFN-gamma were also related to features other than the antiproliferative response.


This paper addresses the limits placed on access to justice in the context of social services, with a particular, but not exclusive, focus on the United Kingdom, across five central platforms: legal representation, the financial barriers, the structure of the programme, the attitude of the bureaucracy and the personal attributes of the client. The paper finds that there exist, for decades, problematic elements that constitute barriers to justice in this area: the means tested element in the programmes and the bureaucracy's double role as provider of services and detector of fraud. But to them, in recent years, significant barriers were added: recent cuts in legal aid the imposition of tribunal fees in the UK are retrograde steps, reverting 40 years of impressive achievements in the field.


Purpose: To determine tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of PD-0325901, a highly potent, selective, oral mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase 1/2 inhibitor in advanced cancer patients. Experimental Design: Sixty-six patients received PD-0325901 at doses from 1 mg once daily to 30 mg twice daily (BID). Cycles were 28 days; three administration schedules were evaluated. Pharmacokinetic parameters were assessed and tumor biopsies were done to evaluate pharmacodynamics. Results: Common adverse events were rash, diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, and visual disturbances including retinal vein occlusion (RVO; n = 3). Neurotoxicity was frequent in patients receiving ≥15 mg BID. The maximum tolerated dose, 15 mg BID continuously, was associated with late-onset RVO outside the dose-limiting toxicity window. An alternative dose and schedule, 10 mg BID 5 days on/2 days off, was therefore expanded; one RVO event occurred. Three of 48 evaluable patients with melanoma achieved confirmed partial responses; 10 had stable disease ≥4 months. PD-0325901 exposure was generally dose proportional. Doses ≥2 mg BID consistently caused ≥60% suppression of phosphorylated ERK in melanoma. Fifteen patients showed significant decreases (≥50%) in Ki-67. Conclusions: PD-0325901 showed preliminary clinical activity. The maximum tolerated dose, based on first cycle dose-limiting toxicities, was 15 mg BID continuously. However, 10 and 15 mg BID continuous dosing and 10 mg BID 5 days on/2 days off schedules were associated with delayed development of RVO; thus, further enrollment to this trial was stopped. Intermittent dose scheduling between 2 and 10 mg BID should be explored to identify a recommended dose with long-term PD-0325901 use. Clin Cancer Res; 16(6); 1924–37


Species are biological entities that generally do not cross with one another. However, in rare occasions it occurs that a viable hybrid arises from a cross between two species. Such hybrids may contain particular properties different from their parents and may be more successful in particular ecosystems. The fungal genus Verticillium contains important haploid plant pathogens that cause significant yield losses on a wide range of crops. Crosses between two Verticillium species resulted into a novel hybrid pathogen of oilseed rape, Verticillium longisporum. Around ten years ago, Verticillium longisporum was observed for the first time in the United Kingdom and is currently widespread in this country. To assess the threat this pathogen poses on UK oilseed rape production, we characterized the UK Verticillium longisporum population and tested the impact of this disease on several oilseed rape cultivars. Furthermore, we studied the consequences of hybridization on genome and gene evolution, showing how novel traits may evolve in hybrid pathogens.


Hernia is one of the most common surgical procedures carried out by all general surgeons. A retrospective study was done at our hospital to analyse the incidence of abdominal wall hernias from patients coming from a rural population in India. Further, a scrutiny was also done to elucidate the causative factors especially the effect of environmental pollution. Majority of the patients seen in this study were more than 55 years of age. The male to female ratio was 7.33:1. Out a total 200 cases, inguinal hernias were present in about 73% cases. Ventral hernias were present in about 23% of cases. Femoral hernia were present in 1% of cases and the incidence of groin hernia was almost the same as observed globally despite differences in educational status and life style; Ventral hernia and direct hernia incidence was much more common in our study when compared to Western studies. This may be because of their variation in the life style, occupation and impact of environmental pollution. A number of operating brick kilns were also present and functional in the study area. However, this high incidence of ventral and direct hernia was consistent with the findings of other studies of rural Haryana.


Objective. To analyze the age structure of the mothers of children with birth defects and to assess the age-related risks of chromosomal and non-chromosomal congenital anomalies.Material and methods. The authors analyzed the data from 23 regional registers of birth defects from 2011 to 2018. There were total 5 047 468 births during this period. The authors calculated the incidence and relative risks of chromosomal and non-chromosomal birth defects in different age groups of mothers: under 20, from 20 to 34, from 35 to 39, 40–44, and above 45 years old.Results. The incidence of chromosomal abnormalities significantly increases with the mother's age. The relative risk (RR) of chromosomal abnormalities in different age groups: 4,67 (95% CI 4,44–4,92) in Group 35-39, 15,00 (95% CI 14,10–15,96) in Group 40–44, and 26,49 (95% CI 21,89–32,07) in Group ≥45 as compared with the main age group of 20–34 years old. The authors also revealed the dependence of the non-chromosomal birth defects on the age of the mother: RR 1,15 (95% CI 1,08–1,23) in Group <20 years, RR 1,18 (95% CI 1,13–1,23) in Group 35–39, RR 1,35 (95% CI 1,24–1,47) in Group 40–44, and RR 2,03 (95% CI 1,47–2,79) in Group ≥ 45 years old.Conclusion. The study demonstrates the dependence of chromosomal and non-chromosomal birth defects on the mother's age.


In this paper, we propose two modified neural networks based on dual path multi-scale fusion networks (SFANet) and SegNet for accurate and efficient crowd counting. Inspired by SFANet, the first model, which is named M-SFANet, is attached with atrous spatial pyramid pooling (ASPP) and context-aware module (CAN). The encoder of M-SFANet is enhanced with ASPP containing parallel atrous convolutional layers with different sampling rates and hence able to extract multi-scale features of the target object and incorporate larger context. To further deal with scale variation throughout an input image, we leverage the CAN module which adaptively encodes the scales of the contextual information. The combination yields an effective model for counting in both dense and sparse crowd scenes. Based on the SFANet decoder structure, M-SFANet's decoder has dual paths, for density map and attention map generation. The second model is called M-SegNet, which is produced by replacing the bilinear upsampling in SFANet with max unpooling that is used in SegNet. This change provides a faster model while providing competitive counting performance. Designed for high-speed surveillance applications, M-SegNet has no additional multi-scale-aware module in order to not increase the complexity. Both models are encoder-decoder based architectures and are end-to-end trainable. We conduct extensive experiments on five crowd counting datasets and one vehicle counting dataset to show that these modifications yield algorithms that could improve state-of-the-art crowd counting methods. Codes are available at https://github.com/Pongpisit-Thanasutives/Variations-of-SFANet-for-Crowd-Counting.


In this paper the security and the economy aspects of reactive power scheduling are emphasized and an automatic optimization procedure suitable for large scale systems is presented. Two objective functions have been implemented; the first one, based on security, distributes the reactive power generation among the units as proportional as possible to their ratings. The second one minimizes tle active losses expressed in terms of the reactive control variables. In both these optimization problems the control variables are partitioned into two subsets:-the terminal voltages at the generation buses-the LTC transformer tap settings.


SPECT using a rotating multi-segment slant-hole (RMSSH) collimator provides a superior alternative for imaging the breast and the heart comparing to conventional SPECT. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of the number of camera positions and the number of collimator rotation stops at each camera position on RMSSH SPECT reconstruction image quality, using both Monte-Carlo simulation and physical phantom experiments. Our results demonstrate the importance of sufficient camera positions for complete angle data acquisition and accurate 3D RMSSH SPECT image reconstruction; and for the same total acquisition time, tradeoff exists between the number of collimator rotation stops and the amount of acquisition time at each rotation stop. We conclude that complete angle data acquisition is crucial for accurate 3D RMSSH SPECT image reconstructions, but using inadequate number of camera positions may also result in usable diagnostic information in shorter acquisition time. An optimal trade-off between image resolution, noise and image artifacts is needed to determine the number of collimator rotation stops at each camera position.


Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptop computers, wearables, head mounted displays, etc. have the capability to access a wireless local area network as well as a cellular data network. Users often turn off the wireless local network access capability, e.g., by turning Wi-Fi off. Turning off such Wi-Fi capability has benefits such as avoiding automatic connections to slow, unreliable or potentially malicious networks, conserving battery, etc. In some instances, users do not remember to turn Wi-Fi back on, which leads to the device utilizing the cellular data network and potentially higher bills, because of charges for cellular data usage. This disclosure describes techniques that help prevent unintentional overuse of cellular data by automatically reenabling Wi-Fi in the presence of saved networks.


Significantly developments that improve the chemical synthesis and purification of oligoribonucleotides have been attained. Introduction of a 2'-O-acetyl function on the nucleoside bound to the polystyrene support enhanced the yield of the oligoribonucleotide after cleavage. Higher coupling efficiency was achieved by the activation of phosphoramidites with a 0.75M solution of 5-ethylthio-1 H-tetrazole. Removal of the 2'-O-t-butyldimethylsilyl groups was effected rapidly at elevated temperatures with triethylamine trihydrofluoride in DMF. Fully deprotected RNA was then directly desalted and precipitated by the addition of 1-butanol. Purified RNA was isolated by the addition of 1-propanol to the collected HPLC purified fractions thus avoiding laborious desalting and solvent evaporation processes. These advancements have been extended to synthesis of ribozymes and tRNA.


Optimal medical therapy for secondary prevention following acute myocardial infarction reduces non-fatal ischaemic events. Intensive antithrombotic or lipid-lowering approaches have failed to significantly lower mortality. In the past, reduction of infarct size in patients undergoing primary percutaneous revascularisation for acute myocardial infarction had been considered as a surrogate outcome marker. However, infarct size measured by magnetic resonance imaging or SPECT is strongly associated with all-cause mortality and hospitalization for heart failure within the first year after an acute myocardial infarction. Intracoronary administration of super-saturated oxygen (SSO2) immediately after revascularisation is an approach that can be used to reduce infarct size and, therefore, improve cardiovascular outcome in patients with acute myocardial infarction. In this article, we describe the modulation of pathophysiology by SSO2, review the existing trial data and present our first impressions with the technique in real clinical practice.


An infection age structured mathematical model for tuberculosis disease dynamics is investigated in this paper. The infectious population is structured according to time and age of infection. An explicit formula for the basic reproductive number, R 0 of the model is obtained. We showed that the disease-free equilibrium (DFE) state is locally asymptotically stable if R 0 <  1 and unstable if otherwise. This simply means that tuberculosis could be controlled in a population when the basic reproduction number is less than unity. Keywords: Basic reproduction number; Infection-age; Local Stability; Tuberculosis


Samsul Ma'arif, Dynamics of Ancestral Religious Recognition in Religious Politics in Indonesia. Yogyakarta: CRCS UGM, 2017

Juridically Indonesia has identified itself as a religious country. An important element which states that it is manifested in Pancasila as the foundation of the state in the first principle, namely the belief in the oneness of God. The formalization of the element of belief in all of the nation's history is not a flawless one. One of the criticisms that is not taken seriously by most components of the nation is a derivative form of the first polarized first principle in the birth of official religions recognized by the state. Polarization is arguably very exclusive, which eventually, will deny the existence of other beliefs that grow in the community. As a consequence, there arises a pejorative narrative in all its forms to those outside the official state religions. Even the most unnecessary things happen, as violent acts which very likely result from the exclusive polarization.


The objective of this work is to analyse the key determinants of electric vehicle uptake amongst early adopters. Transport accounts for about a quarter of Europe's total greenhouse gas emissions and has not achieved similar reductions in emissions as other sectors. However, there is an opportunity to achieve lower emissions through the widespread use of electric vehicles. Due to the rising awareness of the link between emissions and global warming, the European Union has set serious targets for renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions that member states must achieve by 2020 and 2030. Although considerable progress has been made in reaching targets, efforts in the transport sector have been lagging in many countries, with a significant boost required in electric vehicle roll-out if transport-specific targets are to be met. One reason for this lack of progress is possibly an incomplete understanding of the motivations behind consumer uptake, which in turn, hampers policy design to encourage adoption. Here, for the first time, the case study of Ireland is used to analyse socio-demographic and neighbourhood characteristics such as charging infrastructure, dealers and other EV adopters, to identify the key determinants of electric vehicle adoption in the early phase of technology diffusion. From our exploratory data analysis, social class which represents whether the population consists of skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled workers, appears to be the principal factor affecting EV uptake in Ireland. This variable may proxy for income effects, implying that the average wealth of a neighbourhood matters for EV ownership. There also appears to be clustering in EV adopters, possibly due to unobserved peer effects. The OLS model performs poorly for our dataset. Our future work will help determine the significant predictors of adoption based on a spatial econometric approach that explicitly models relationships between agents in the model such that the restrictive assumptions of OLS models can be relaxed to allow for interdependence between individual actors.


The rapid growth of data is inevitable, and retrieving the best results that meet the user's preferences is essential. To achieve this, skylines were introduced in which data items that are not dominated by the other data items in the database are retrieved as results (skylines). In most of the existing skyline approaches, the databases are assumed to be static and complete. However, in real world scenario, databases are not complete especially in multidimensional databases in which some dimensions may have missing values. The databases might also be dynamic in which new data items are inserted while existing data items are deleted or updated. Blindly performing pairwise comparisons on the whole data items after the changes are made is inappropriate as not all data items need to be compared in identifying the skylines. Thus, a novel skyline algorithm, DInSkyline, is proposed in this study which finds the most relevant data items in dynamic and incomplete databases. Several experiments have been conducted and the results show that DInSkyline outperforms the previous works by reducing the number of pairwise comparisons in the range of 52% to 73%.


This paper develops deformational response power descriptions of multiple degree-of-freedom systems due to stationary random vibration excitation. Two new concepts are developed. The deformational response power density (DRPD) can be computed when a structure's natural frequencies and modal masses are available. The DRPD shows the spectral content of the deformational power delivered to a specific structure by the stationary, random excitation. This function can be found through a weighted windowing of the power spectrum of the input acceleration excitation. Deformational response input power spectra (DRIPS), similar to the input energy spectrum and shock response spectrum, give the power delivered to single-degree-of-freedom systems as a function of natural frequency. It is shown that the DRIPS is simply a smoothed version of the power spectrum of the input acceleration excitation. The DRIPS gives rise to a useful power-based data smoothing operation.


Dissociative experiences have been associated with diachronic disunity. Yet, this work is in its infancy. Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is characterized by different identity states reporting their own relatively continuous sense of self. The degree to which patients in dissociative identity states experience diachronic unity (i.e., sense of self over time) has not been empirically explored. This study examined the degree to which patients in dissociative identity states experienced diachronic unity. Participants were DID adults (n=14) assessed in adult and child identity states, adults with a psychotic illness (n=19), adults from the general population (n=55), children from the general population (n=26) and adults imagining themselves as children (n=23). They completed the Diachronic Disunity Scale (DDS), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), and the Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCCS). Diachronic disunity was not limited to psychiatric groups, but evident to some degree in all adult and child samples. The DID adult sample experienced more dissociation and self-confusion than the psychosis and adult comparison groups, but did not differ on the diachronic measure. DID patients in their child identity states and child comparisons showed disunity and were significantly different from child simulators, who showed relatively more unity. Results suggest that DID patients in either adult or child dissociative identity states, like those in other samples, do not universally experience themselves as having a consistent sense of self over time.


OBJECTIVE
To prevent endotoxin-induced pulmonary hypertension in the pig with a combination of a nonpeptide mixed endothelin receptor antagonist, bosentan, and a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, diclofenac.

DESIGN
Prospective, controlled trial.

SETTING
Animal laboratory at a large university medical center.

SUBJECTS
Twelve domestic pigs, weighing 17.5 to 27 kg.

INTERVENTIONS
Endotoxin shock was induced by intravenous infusion of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide endotoxin (15 micrograms/kg/hr). Six pigs receiving only endotoxin served as controls. Six pigs were pretreated with intravenous bolus injections of bosentan (5 mg/kg) and diclofenac (3 mg/kg) followed by a continuous bosentan infusion (2.5 mg/kg/hr).

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Systemic hemodynamics and regional circulation were measured using ultrasonic flow probes. Arterial and mixed venous blood samples were collected regularty for determination of Big endothelin-1-like immunoreactivity, endothelin-1-like immunoreactivity, norepinephrine, and blood gases. The bosentan/diclofenac pretreatment per se significantly decreased mean pulmonary arterial pressure (p < .001), pulmonary vascular resistance index (p < .001), and mean arterial blood pressure (p < .001), but cardiac index did not change. Splenic blood flow increased (p < .01) while renal blood flow decreased (p < .001). In addition, intestinal blood flow decreased slightly (p < .05). In the control group, only three animals survived the 3 hrs of endotoxin infusion, while all pretreated animals survived. The biphasic increase in mean pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance index seen in control animals during endotoxemia was markedly attenuated in animals pretreated with the bosentan/diclofenac combination. The pretreated group generally showed a favorable hemodynamic course, with a relatively higher cardiac index, stroke volume index, and splenic and renal blood flow. In control animals, a pronounced metabolic acidosis developed during endotoxin infusion. A relatively higher arterial plasma concentration of endothelin-1-like immunoreactivity was reached in pretreated animals, while the Big endothelin-1-like immunoreactivity plasma increase was similar in both groups. Arterial concentrations of norepinephrine were significantly (p < .01) higher in control animals when compared with diclofenac/bosentan-treated animals.

CONCLUSIONS
The combination of bosentan and diclofenac induced systemic and pulmonary vasodilation in the intrinsic state. During endotoxin shock, this drug combination efficiently counteracts pulmonary hypertension and improves cardiac performance and splenic and renal blood flow. These favorable circulatory effects may have resulted in a reduction of both sympathetic nervous system activation and metabolic acidosis. Thus, we conclude that the endothelin receptors participate in intrinsic regulation of vascular tone in the anesthetized pig. During endotoxin shock, blockade of these receptors, as well as inhibition of the cyclooxygenase enzymes, contributes to a less adverse effect on the systemic and pulmonary circulation.


The effects of the chlorite-oxygen reaction product TCDO (tetrachlorodecaoxygen, active ingredient of the systemic application form of WF 10) were investigated on bone marrow and peripheral blood of BDIX rats in comparison to a sodium chlorite solution with a chlorite content identical to that of WF 10. Despite difficulties in determining the chemical differences between TCDO and a sodium chlorite solution, their differing effects on cells, tissue and organism were striking. The following characteristics have been observed: Stimulation of the bone marrow, evidenced by the pronounced increase in mature granulocytes, pronormo- and normoblasts, or increased cell proliferation rate, determined by means of the BrdUrd method, was achieved only with WF 10 (TCDO). Stimulation of the bone marrow led in turn to increased numbers of leucocytes and monocytes in the peripheral blood. In addition, WF 10 induced the production of large granular lymphocytes (LGLs), referred to as natural killer cells (NK-cells). In contrast, NaClO2 solution suppressed bone marrow function, exhibiting a toxic effect when given on a long-term basis. At the same time the number of mature granulocytes as well as pronormo- and normoblasts decreased, while the presence of LGLs was not observed. The results showed that TCDO is a potent stimulator of the bone marrow function and an effective modulator of the entire immune system. The toxic effect of chlorite, derived from the TCDO matrix, is not noticeable, being completely compensated by the favourable effects of TCDO.


Motivated by recent advances in morphological neural networks, we further study the properties of morphological units when incorporated in layers of conventional neural networks. We confirm and extend the observation that a Max-plus layer can be used to select relevant filters and reduce redundancy in its previous layer, without incurring performance loss. We present several experiments in image processing, showing that this filter selection property seems efficient and robust. We also point out the close connection between Maxout networks and our pruned Max-plus networks. The code related to our experiments is available online (https://github.com/yunxiangzhang).


Introduction Characterisation of small colonic polyps has been identified as a key goal for advanced imaging modalities by the ASGE and ESGE. Pentax i-Scan is an endoscopic digital contrast technology shown to be an accurate tool for characterising small colonic polyps in-vivo. I-Scan combines features which accentuate dark-light borders (surface and contrast enhancement, SE/CE) and suppression of red light whist enhancing blue/green light (tone enhancement, TE). The optimal settings for use of i-Scan in the colon have yet to be determined. Method High quality digital images of 100 small colonic polyps were recorded as part of a prospective study (NCT 01761279). Images of each polyp were recorded in 3 i-Scan modes: i-Scan 1 (SE/CE), i-Scan 2 (TE) and i-Scan 3 (SE/CE/TE). Randomised images were viewed by 2 blinded endoscopists who rated visibility of diagnostic features and predicted polyp histology (neoplastic vs non-neoplastic). Results The proportion of adenomas rated as having visible pericryptal vessels were 59%, 81% and 82% for i-Scan 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The differences between i-Scan 1 and 2 (P = 0.001) and i-Scan 1 and 3 (P < 0.001) were statistically significant. The difference in proportion of adenomas with no visible surface pattern between i-Scan 1 and 2 was statistically significant (26% vs 8%, P = 0.001), as was the difference between i-Scan 1 and 3 (26% vs 9%, P = 0.003). There was no significant difference between i-Scan 2 and 3 (8% vs 9%, P = 1.00). Mean sensitivity for adenomatous histology between the two endoscopists was 69% for polyps viewed with i-Scan 1. Compared to i-Scan 1 assessments sensitivity was significantly higher with i-Scan 2 (86%, P = 0.006 for comparison), and with i-Scan 3 (87%, P = 0.003 for comparison). There was no significant difference in sensitivity between i-Scan 2 and i-Scan 3 assessments (86% vs 87%, P = 1.000). No significant differences in specificity were found between the 3 i-Scan modes (i-Scan 1 vs i-Scan 2 P = 0.828, i-Scan 1 vs i-Scan 3 P = 1.000, i-Scan 1 vs i-Scan 3 P = 1.000). Overall accuracy increased from 79% with i-Scan 1 to 86.5% with i-Scan 2 and 87.5% with i-Scan 3. There was no significant difference in overall accuracy between i-Scan 1 and i-Scan 2 (P = 0.063) or i-Scan 2 and i-Scan 3 (P = 0.882). However there was a significant difference between i-Scan 1 and i-Scan 3 assessments (P = 0.032).Abstract PTH-011 Table 1 Diagnostic Accuracy i-Scan 1 (SE+CE) i-Scan 2 (TE) i-Scan 3 (SE+CE+TE) Sensitivity 69/100 (69%) 86/100 (86%) 87/100 (87%) Specificity 89/100 (89%) 87/100 (87%) 88/100 (88%) Accuracy 158/200 (79%) 173/200 (86.5%) 175/200 (87.5%) Conclusion Tone enhancement appears to be the most effective component of the i-Scan system for accurate small colonic polyp characterisation, with no additional benefit from the addition of surface/contrast enhancement. Disclosure of interest None Declared.


Abstract : This paper presents an evolutionary view of technological and scientific innovation, and describes the role of experimentation in both. A stated policy for the Australian Department of Defence (reflecting the defence policies of other countries, including the United States) is to use the methods of empirical science to inform the innovation of the Defence Force. This paper describes what might be meant by "the methods of empirical science", and how such methods might be employed to improve military forces. We show how an evolutionary view both describes much of the scientific and technological innovation process, and provides guidance on how to move to the future. Historical case studies of technological and scientific innovations, and structural considerations, are used to justify such a view. A description of some of the tools of military experimentation is given, and it is shown how these fit within an evolutionary framework. Finally, the evolutionary framework is used to analyse some of the perennial debates about innovation, such as the role of revolution, the place of leadership and the search for optimal solutions.


Methods that identify the spatial variation in elevation model accuracy and highlight relative variation are proposed. Visualization within the geographic resources analysis support system (GRASS) is used to identify the accuracy preserved in interpolation digital contour data to produce elevation models. The interpolation routines are inverse distance weighting, contour flood filling, simultaneous over-relaxation, and one-dimensional spline fitting. The results of the interpolation process are presented as colored contours, shaded relief maps, aspect maps, and products of Laplacian filtering, profile and plan convexity, and visualizing root mean square error methods.<<ETX>>


Multilayered structures of GeTe and Sb2Te3 phase change material, also referred to as interfacial phase change memory (iPCM), provide superior performance for nonvolatile electrical memory technology in which the atomically controlled structure plays an important role in memory operation. Here, we report on terahertz (THz) wave generation measurements. Three- and 20-layer iPCM samples were irradiated with a femtosecond laser, and the generated THz radiation was observed. The emitted THz pulse was found to be always p polarized independent of the polarization of the excitation pulse. Based on the polarization dependence as well as the flip of the THz field from photoexcited Sb2Te3 and Bi2Te3, the THz emission process can be attributed to the surge current flow due to the built-in surface depletion layer formed in p-type semiconducting iPCM materials.


I. INTRODUCTIONWhat defines a man or a woman? What are the differences between the two? Stereotypically, a man is seen as handsome, strong, instinctive, and assertive. In contrast, a woman is often described as beautiful, soft, patient, and understanding. Notwithstanding these archaic understandings of sex and gender-based stereotypes, who has the authority to say that a man cannot be whatever a woman is and that a woman cannot be whatever a man is?How we each individually identify as human beings directly affects how we operate as a civilization, as a society, and as a species.1 This core sense of "self" governs how we traverse through our daily lives.2 What happens, however, when the way we construe our inborn identity is in direct conflict with the way others perceive our identity? To members of the transgender community, this conflict is inescapable, and the law has provided little protective recourse for such conflicts as they arise within the workplace- resulting in a gravely uncertain situation for transgender employees.3For at least thirty-four years, members of the transgender community have struggled to assert legal protections that preclude employers from engaging in discriminatory conduct ultimately resulting in their termination.4 This discriminatory conduct originates in the same sex- normative stereotypes-stereotypes that mandate how the male and female sexes are "supposed" to behave and how the bodies of a man and woman are "supposed" to appear-that have fueled the unequal treatment of not just transgender people, but also female, lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.5As a result, the use of workplace restrooms, one of the last spaces segregated on the basis of a sexual binary,6 has created glaring psychological and physical harms for members of the transgender community.7 Moreover, because the discrimination faced by members of the transgender community is indelibly connected to the issues of gender and sex, workplace bathroom use and sex-specific workplace attire emphasize how innate identity and the way others perceive the trans- identity are in direct conflict.8 Thus, transgender individuals' workplaces have developed into battlegrounds on which the fight for transgender equality has, in large part, been disastrous.9Federal appellate courts are divided over whether an employer may terminate a transgendered employee's occupational post on the basis of his or her status as a transgender individual irrespective of protections that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 may provide.10 This split of authority originates from the judiciary's conflation and disaggregation of the meaning of sex and gender as well as its failure to recognize that gender operates as a continuum along which male and female represent the extremes, and not as a restrictive binary construct of male and female.11 "Gender discrimination" is substantially more complex than conduct resulting in the disparate treatment of an individual premised on the prejudices regarding that person's sex. "Gender discrimination" attacks the very core of an individual's innate identity and that individual's ability to manifest his or her own destiny. Accordingly, "gender discrimination" is a violation of an individual's substantive due process right to liberty.12This Article will proceed in five parts. Part II wrestles with the definitions of sex and gender and explains why the failure to explicate the complexity of these terms is particularly pernicious to the transgender individual. Part III traces the failure of the Supreme Court's "gender discrimination" jurisprudence to provide a workable standard that combats the legal disparities suffered by those whose identities are classified as "the others."13 It provides a detailed examination and evaluation of why the Court's simultaneous conflation and disaggregation of sex and gender and its failure to recognize a gender continuum reaffirms the socially-created inferiority of women, homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgender people. …


Abstract : A study was conducted to evaluate whether a non-chromate conversion coating (Sanchem) for Al alloys (Al 2024 and 7075) could be a suitable replacement for the currently used chromate conversion coating (Alodine) without compromising corrosion resistance. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and salt spray testing were employed to compare the corrosion behavior of coatings consisting of (a) pretreatment only (Sanchem or Alodine), (b) pretreatment (Sanchem or Alodine) plus primer (epoxy polyamide or waterborne epoxy), and (c) pretreatment (Sanchem or Alodine) plus epoxy polyamide primer plus polyurethane topcoat. Results indicated that the experimental impedance values provided a reliable estimate of the film integrity and corrosion protective capability, that the Sanchem conversion coating generally compared favorably with the Alodine coating, and that higher impedance values attributed to the application of topcoat of both alloys which were treated with either Sanchem or Alodine and epoxy polyamide are characteristic of low conductivity, good barrier type coatings. However, additional tests are required before the Sanchem can be recommended as a reliable alternative to the Alodine coating.


Abstract
Purpose To compare the clinical effects of hook plate and AALS technique in the treatment of acute Neer II distal clavicular fracture.
Methods 33 patients with Neer II distal clavicular fracture were included in this study. 15 patients were treated internal fixation with clavicular hook plate. 18 patients underwent fracture reduction with AALS technique. Constant-Murley and VAS scores were used to evaluate shoulder joint function and pain degree during follow-up. Karlsson score and shoulder joint X-ray was used to evaluate patients' satisfaction and the loss of reduction respectively.
Results There were significant differences in amount of bleeding, Constant-Murley score and Karlsson score between these two groups (P<0.05). In the AALS group, we observed 3 cases with rotator cuff injury, 1 case with labrum injury during the operation. Two patients in AALS group had slight loss of reduction, but with no requirement of removal of internal fixation owing to discomfort. In hook plate group, 5 patients complained discomfort in shoulder movement and limited function after operation. At the last follow-up, 3 patients suffered from subacromial osteolysis accompanied by acromial impingement pain, and 2 patients with mild reduction loss.
Conclusion For patients with Neer IIB distal clavicle fracture, AALS technique is superior to hook plate in shoulder joint function recovery and pain performance after operation, which is probably a novel reliable choice.


Gradient tracking methods have emerged as one of the most popular approaches for solving decentralized optimization problems over networks. In this setting, each node in the network has a portion of the global objective function, and the goal is to collectively optimize this function. At every iteration, gradient tracking methods perform two operations (steps): $(1)$ compute local gradients, and $(2)$ communicate information with local neighbors in the network. The complexity of these two steps varies across different applications. In this paper, we present a framework that unifies gradient tracking methods and is endowed with flexibility with respect to the number of communication and computation steps. We establish unified theoretical convergence results for the algorithmic framework with any composition of communication and computation steps, and quantify the improvements achieved as a result of this flexibility. The framework recovers the results of popular gradient tracking methods as special cases, and allows for a direct comparison of these methods. Finally, we illustrate the performance of the proposed methods on quadratic functions and binary classification problems.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of giving and receiving Johrei, a spiritual energy healing practice, on measures of well-being.

METHODS
Participants (N = 236) rated 21 items pertaining to feelings plus an overall well-being measure, before and after a Johrei session.

RESULTS
Receivers experienced a significantly greater decrease in negative emotional state than givers; however, givers and receivers experienced a comparable increase in positive emotional state and overall well-being.

CONCLUSIONS
The practice of Johrei and other energy and spiritual healing techniques, may have positive health effects for givers as well as receivers. Future research examining different energy and spiritual healing practices (for example, Reiki and Therapeutic Touch) and using various control groups (for example, treatment-naive subjects instructed to "send loving energy") can explore the generality and mechanisms underlying these apparently robust effects.


To solve the problem of low accuracy and high false-alarm rate of existing intrusion detection models for multiple classifications of intrusion behaviors, a network intrusion detection model incorporating convolutional neural network and bidirectional gated recurrent unit is proposed. To solve the problems of many dimensions of features and imbalance of positive and negative samples in the original traffic data, sampling processing is performed with the help of a hybrid sampling algorithm combining ADASYN and RENN, and feature selection is performed by combining random forest algorithm and Pearson correlation analysis; after that, spatial features are extracted by the convolutional neural network, and further features are extracted by incorporating average pooling and max pooling, and then BiGRU is used to extracts long-distance dependent information features to achieve comprehensive and effective feature learning. Finally, the Softmax function is used for classification. In this paper, the proposed model is evaluated on the UNSW_NB15, NSL-KDD, and CIC-IDS2017 data sets with an accuracy of 85.55%, 99.81%, and 99.70%, which is 1.25%, 0.59%, and 0.27% better than the same type model of CNN-GRU.


Measurements show an upward shift on the order of 50 ppm in the resonant frequency of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonator, as taken before and after the device is hermetically sealed in vacuum following a certain glass-frit sealing process. The authors analyze some of the thin-film phenomena that are potential sources of the observed frequency shift and that may affect the long-term stability of such devices. Various factors contributing to the shifts include: 1) intrinsic or structural stresses in the bonding layers as well as in the interdigital transducer (IDT) fingers; 2) thermal stresses due to the differences in thermal expansion coefficients of the metallic IDT fingers and the bonding agent (glass frits) from those of quartz; 3) partial oxidation of the IDT fingers and transmission lines during the frit glazing process; and 4) possible metal diffusion into quartz. Quantitative estimates of the contribution of two factors to the total observed frequency shift after a certain glass-frit sealing process are provided. Rough estimates of the frequency shifts due to the oxidized film are made from the dispersion curves for a uniform thin aluminum film and for its oxide film as fully plated on a quartz substrate. It is concluded that the results may provide a way of estimating the magnitude of the intrinsic stress for a given long-term stability of the SAW device.<<ETX>>


Abstract Samples from Rupel Clay across the Netherlands were analysed for the assessment of its heterogeneity in geochemistry and mineralogy. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and bulk and clay fraction X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses of 152 samples from 17 different cores are presented and statistically interpreted. The results show a wide variation in the quartz, feldspar, clay mineral and carbonate content between the different samples. Factor analysis showed that the main variance between the samples can be explained by the clay mineral and quartz concentration, the carbonate content and pyrite plus organic matter. In the south of the Netherlands, the Rupel Clay is more quartz-rich and coarse grained. In addition, the clay is heterogeneous, varying with location and depth, consistent with observations for Belgium Boom Clay. Towards the north, the Rupel Clay becomes more clay-rich, finer grained and more homogeneous, both laterally and with depth. In addition, the clay has a relatively high carbonate and organic matter content. The pyrite content does not show any trends with location and depth. The differences between north and south are explained by the variations in depositional setting within the southern North Sea Basin.


An immunoassay is an analytical test method in which analyte quantitation is based on signal responses generated as a consequence of an antibody–antigen interaction. They are the method of choice for the measurement of a large panel of diagnostic markers. Not only are they fully automated, allowing for a short turnaround time and high throughput, but offer high sensitivity and specificity with low limits of detection for a wide range of analytes. Many immunoassay manufacturers exploit the extremely high affinity of biotin for streptavidin in their assay design architectures as a means to immobilize and detect analytes of interest. The biotin–(strept)avidin system is, however, vulnerable to interference with high levels of supplemental biotin that may cause elevated or suppressed test results. Since this system is heavily applied in clinical diagnostics, biotin interference has become a serious concern, prompting the FDA to issue a safety report alerting healthcare workers and the public about the potential harm of ingesting high levels of supplemental biotin contributing toward erroneous diagnostic test results. This review includes a general background and historical prospective of immunoassays with a focus on the biotin–streptavidin system, interferences within the system, and what mitigations are applied to minimize false diagnostic results.


The aim of this study was to compare underwater fin swimming performance using dolphin, flutter and breaststroke kicks with and without diving gear. Performance was evaluated in terms of average swimming velocity. The parameters of spatiotemporal structure of the stroke reflecting to the swimming economy were employed. Conscious modifications in propulsion technique were considered here with the aim of controlling swimming performance. A total of ten professional scuba divers swam at maximal speed underwater for 50m using each of three techniques: dolphin, flutter, or breaststroke kicks. Swimmers' performance was compared between holding their breath and using breathing apparatus. Two cameras recorded their movements in sagittal and transverse planes. The average swimming velocity (vav), stroke length (SL), stroke rate (SR), index of variation of intracycle velocity (VIVIndex) and stroke index (SI) were estimated. Relative to the other techniques, the dolphin kick without a diving gear demonstrated the highest vav and low SI and VIVIndex values, which reflects the most advantageous economy of propulsion at given velocity. Given the lack of statistical differences, using the breaststroke kick and flutter kick when swimming with a diving gear seems to be comparable to dolphin-kick in terms of average velocity and parameters reflecting the economy of propulsion. Thus, a search for fin swimming techniques with the aim of achieving specific goals seemed reasonable. The results suggest, that performance achieved while using various fin swimming techniques was probably controlled by different strategies of leg movements. These strategies revealed differences in a spatiotemporal (SR-SL) structure of the stroke and they were closely associated in terms of the velocity variation decrease.


The Use of Selected Water Quality Parameters to Identify Fecal Coliform Sources in Support of the Sinking Creek Total Maximum Daily Load by S. Maria Floresguerra Sinking Creek, located in upper east Tennessee, is on the 303(d) list for not meeting minimum water quality standards for recreation. A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for fecal coliforms was developed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of water quality parameters to identify areas that contribute to the fecal coliform loading. Concentrations of nitrate-N, orthophosphates, BOD, alkalinity, hardness, and optical brighteners (OB) were monitored at 14 stations monthly for 1 year. Site 3 (agricultural region) exhibited the highest average nitrate-N loadings (627.34 mg/sec) and orthophosphate (as PO4) loadings (84.83 mg/sec). Alkalinity loadings ranged from 10.00 mg as CaCO3/sec to 163,500.00 mgCaCO3/sec. Hardness loadings ranged from 2.00 mg as CaCO3/sec to 96,200.00 mgCaCO3/sec. The agricultural sites exhibited higher loadings for all water quality parameters measured (except OB) than the urban and forest areas. Nutrient loadings appeared to be related to agricultural land use patterns.


Peptide cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel has been widely used for drug delivery and tissue engineering. However, the use of this material as a biosensor for the detection of collagenase has not been explored. Proteases play a key role in the pathology of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The detection of this class of enzyme using the degradable hydrogel film format is promising as a point-of-care device for disease monitoring. In this study, a protease biosensor was developed based on the degradation of a peptide cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel film and demonstrated for the detection of collagenase. The hydrogel was deposited on gold-coated quartz crystals, and their degradation in the presence of collagenase was monitored using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The biosensor was shown to respond to concentrations between 2 and 2000 nM in less than 10 min with a lower detection limit of 2 nM.


This paper presents developments in the technology underlying the cyclotactor, a finger-based tactile I/O device for musical interaction. These include significant improvements both in the basic characteristics of tactile interaction and in the related (vibro)tactile sample rates, latencies, and timing precision. After presenting the new prototype's tactile output force landscape, some of the new possibilities for interaction are discussed, especially those for musical interaction with zero audio/tactile latency.


The use of chemical medications to treat eye conditions in a way that avoids causing harm is still a work in progress for modern medicine. Herbal remedies, however, may be able to solve the problems that conventional pharmaceuticals have. Given their efficacy, lack of adverse effects, and inexpensive cost, there have been extensive efforts to discover novel medicinal plants from various locations. Several plant species have been promoted in Traditional Indian Medicine for their ophthalmic effects, and it is estimated that around 200 plants worldwide have been documented to support therapy of eye problems. This review seeks to shed light on the history of using various plants to treat eye illnesses, the advantages and disadvantages of those approaches, and the advantages of modern medicine over those of the plants themselves. Based on the findings of this review, the most effective Ayurvedic preparations may be created by combining traditional knowledge with modern techniques and polymers.


We research on the fabrication and the characteristics of field emitter arrays (FEAs) as the electron source for a lighting element. The Si FEAs were fabricated by means of advanced U1 manufacturing technologies. The FEAs were mounted in a vacuum tube of the lighting element with a phosphor screen. Emission stability and luminance characteristics of the lighting element were measured. The anode with phosphor screen was biased to +1OkV and a gate bias of lSOV, was applied. A luminance of 12,OOo(cd/m2) was obtained on the phosphor screen. This result is the same level as the one obtained on a conventional lighting element with hot cathode.


In Bradwell v. State, an 1872 decision upholding an Illinois law prohibiting women from practicing law, the United States Supreme Court reasoned that the law was justified because women belonged in the "domestic sphere." While today's sex-based workplace exclusions are not as explicit as they once were, women still face barriers to remaining in the workforce and advancing in the workplace despite the existence of major federal legislation in the areas of pregnancy discrimination and family leave policy. Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) in 1978 to stop pregnancy discrimination, but the PDA has not come close to eliminating pregnancy discrimination. Similarly, despite Congress's passing of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in 1993, ineffective family leave policy continues to hinder women's ability to balance work and their disproportionate family caregiving obligations. After tracing the development of sex-based workplace exclusions from the 1870s through the 1970s, this Note argues that the PDA and FMLA prohibited explicit sex-based workplace exclusions while preserving other forms of sex-based workplace exclusions. This Note then analyzes proposed work-family legislation and argues that policies aimed at eliminating sex-based workplace exclusions must account for the specific experiences of women while promoting anti-stereotyping principles.


Blood transfusion is oftentimes required for patients suffering from acute trauma or undergoing surgical procedures in order to help maintain the body's oxygen levels. The continued demand worldwide for blood products is expected to put significant strain on available resources and infrastructure. Unfortunately, efforts to develop viable alternatives to human red blood cells for transfusion are generally unsuccessful. Here, a hybrid natural–synthetic nanodelivery platform that combines the biocompatibility of the natural RBC membrane with the oxygen‐carrying ability of perfluorocarbons is reported. The resulting formulation can be stored long‐term and exhibits a high capacity for oxygen delivery, helping to mitigate the effects of hypoxia in vitro. In an animal model of hemorrhagic shock, mice are resuscitated at an efficacy comparable to whole blood infusion. By leveraging the advantageous properties of its constituent parts, this biomimetic oxygen delivery system may have the potential to address a critical need in the clinic.


Objective: To present a case of ascending cholangitis with resulting necrosis of the biliary system with perforation. Clinical Presentation and Intervention: A 40-year-old male patient presented with upper abdominal pain, fever and jaundice assessed clinically and investigated by laboratory and radiological tests. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiogram and surgery were performed. However, because of extensive suppurative pancholangitis involving most of the intrahepatic radicles, sound surgical drainage could not be accomplished. Unfortunately, the patient died 2 days after surgery. Conclusion: In this case of severe cholangitis, endoscopic and surgical interventions were not successful and might have contributed to the worsening of the condition.


Multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) can model many real world applications. However, many MARL approaches rely on epsilon greedy for exploration, which may discourage visiting advantageous states in hard scenarios. In this paper, we propose a new approach QMIX(SEG) for tackling MARL. It makes use of the value function factorization method QMIX to train per-agent policies and a novel Semantic Epsilon Greedy (SEG) exploration strategy. SEG is a simple extension to the conventional epsilon greedy exploration strategy, yet it is experimentally shown to greatly improve the performance of MARL. We first cluster actions into groups of actions with similar effects and then use the groups in a bi-level epsilon greedy exploration hierarchy for action selection. We argue that SEG facilitates semantic exploration by exploring in the space of groups of actions, which have richer semantic meanings than atomic actions. Experiments show that QMIX(SEG) largely outperforms QMIX and leads to strong performance competitive with current state-of-the-art MARL approaches on the StarCraft Multi-Agent Challenge (SMAC) benchmark.


Published data on the properties and determination of caffeine, theophylline, theobromine and some other methylxanthines in various objects are surveyed and described systematically. Different sample preparation procedures such as liquid extraction from solid matrices and liquid–liquid, supercritical fluid and solid-phase extraction are compared. The key methods of analysis including chromatography, electrophoresis, spectrometry and electrochemical methods are discussed. Examples of methylxanthine determination in plants, food products, energy beverages, pharmaceuticals, biological fluids and natural and waste waters are given. The bibliography includes 393 references.


Upper lumbar disc herniation (ULDH) often found in the elderly is relatively rare. We report 7 cases of ULDH (4 discs at L2/3, 3 discs at L3/4) and compared them with 18 cases of general adult population under 40 years old as a control. The mean age of ULDH was 56.8 years and that of the control 40 years. Pre-JOA score of ULDH was lower than that of the control lesion.


ABSTRACT Workers of Paraponera clavata, a common Neotropical ant, collect both nectar and insect prey. Previous reports show that nectar accounts for up to 90 percent of the ants' food loads, while calculations suggest that nectar contributes only 10 percent of colonies' energy supply. We assessed the trophic source of carbon and nitrogen in adult workers using stable isotope analysis. Carbon in adult workers was largely derived from plant sources. Worker nitrogen isotopic ratios varied significantly among colonies and were enriched compared to prey. Prey nitrogen isotope ratios suggest considerable intercolonial variation in diet, with some colonies collecting prey from lower trophic levels than other colonies. The importance of nectar as a source of metabolic carbon in adult worker biomass, coupled with the high frequency of nectar collection, supports the conclusion that omnivory is a key to supporting this species' biomass in Neotropical wet forests.


A hyperbolic heat-conduction equation is solved for a solid of finite length at low temperatures using the Laplace transformation with the Fourier series under thermal insulation. As a result, the solution expressed with respect to both relaxation time of a high-speed thermal wave and thermal diffusivity of the solid is compared with that derived from a conventional parabolic heat-conduction equation at high temperatures.


Nowadays, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have gained popularity in a blended learning approach at educational institutions around the world. Despite this, little research exists on the students' experiences and emerging challenges with the implementation of this online learning platform in higher education settings, particularly from the Malaysian perspective. In line with this need, this study was conducted to evaluate the usability of MOOC-Open Learning based on the undergraduate students' perception. Utilizing the quantitative approach, a survey was disseminated through the online approach to students undertaking various undergraduate programs in a public university, namely Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). The study findings revealed that there were generally moderate levels of positive perceptions among the respondents towards all usability aspects of MOOC-Open Learning in supporting their learning process, i.e. in terms of usefulness, ease of use, ease of learning, and satisfaction. As an implication, this study highlighted that respondents' significant level of uncertainties towards the usability of MOOC -Open Learning and the emerging challenges may require further exploration.


Abstract Mainstream macroeconomics has pursued 'micro founded' models based on the explicit optimization by representative agents. The result has been a long and wasteful detour. But elements of the Lucas critique are relevant, also for heterodox economists. Challenging common heterodox views on microeconomics and formalization, this paper argues that (i) economic models should not be based purely on empirically observed regularities, (ii) heterodox economists must be able to tell an integrated story about goal-oriented micro behavior in a specific macro environment, and (iii) relatively simple analytical models have an essential role to play.


Species Distribution Models (SDMs) have become increasingly useful for conservation issues. Initially designed to predict distributions of species from incomplete datasets, SDMs may also identify environmental conditions associated with higher occurrences and abundances of widely distributed taxa. Using sighting records of 15 widely distributed mammals from French Guiana, including primates, carnivores, rodents and ungulates, we used three SDMs –based on (i) entropy, (ii) genetic algorithm, (iii) Mahalanobis distance – to investigate relationships between species occurrence and predictive variables such as vegetation, biogeographic units, climate, and disturbance index. Maximal entropy procedures resulted in more accurate projected conditions: the accuracy of the predicted distributions was higher than 90% in nine species among the 15 tested, and predicted occurrences were correlated to field-measured abundances for nine species. The Genetic algorithm implemented with GARP had lower accuracy, with predicted occurrences correlated to abundances for three species only. Finally, Mahalanobis distance had a much lower performance and failed to find any correlation between occurrences and abundances. In the case of MaxEnt modelling, since map projection summarized more appropriate environmental conditions and identified areas likely to act as sources and/or corridors, we propose to use those appropriate environmental conditions as a proxy of conductance for landscape connectivity planning. We provide evidence here that SDMs can identify not only more suitable environmental conditions, but also areas hosting higher abundances for a large set of species with key ecological roles. Further management applications of this environmental suitability index could help in designing corridors between protected areas.


Injuries of the biliary tract remain an important concomitant lesion following liver trauma. Intra- and extrahepatic bile duct injuries differ substantially in etiology and choice of surgical procedure. Intrahepatic bile duct injuries gain clinical relevance postoperatively following primary surgical liver treatment. Characteristic consequences of intrahepatic bile duct injuries are: infected necrosis, abscess, bilious fistula, bilhemia, hemobilia and biliary duct stricture. In contrast, concomitant organ or vessel injury are of primary importance in extrahepatic biliary duct injury. Lesions of the distal biliary duct, always associated with duodenal or pancreatic injury, remains a particular thrill in general surgery. The approach to surgical treatment in case of biliary duct injury and its consequences are outlined and discussed in detail.


Stopping power is the rate at which a material absorbs the kinetic energy of a charged particle passing through it -- one of many properties needed over a wide range of thermodynamic conditions in modeling inertial fusion implosions. First-principles stopping calculations are classically challenging because they involve the dynamics of large electronic systems far from equilibrium, with accuracies that are particularly difficult to constrain and assess in the warm-dense conditions preceding ignition. Here, we describe a protocol for using a fault-tolerant quantum computer to calculate stopping power from a first-quantized representation of the electrons and projectile. Our approach builds upon the electronic structure block encodings of Su et al. [PRX Quantum 2, 040332 2021], adapting and optimizing those algorithms to estimate observables of interest from the non-Born-Oppenheimer dynamics of multiple particle species at finite temperature. Ultimately, we report logical qubit requirements and leading-order Toffoli costs for computing the stopping power of various projectile/target combinations relevant to interpreting and designing inertial fusion experiments. We estimate that scientifically interesting and classically intractable stopping power calculations can be quantum simulated with roughly the same number of logical qubits and about one hundred times more Toffoli gates than is required for state-of-the-art quantum simulations of industrially relevant molecules such as FeMoCo or P450.


The use of multilevel modeling with data from population-based surveys is often limited by the small number of cases per Level 2 unit, prompting a recent trend in the neighborhood literature to apply cluster techniques to address the problem of data sparseness. In this study, the authors use Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the effects of marginal group sizes on multilevel model performance, bias, and efficiency. They then employ cluster analysis techniques to minimize data sparseness and examine the consequences in the simulations. They find that estimates of the fixed effects are robust at the extremes of data sparseness, while cluster analysis is an effective strategy to increase group size and prevent the overestimation of variance components. However, researchers should be cautious about the degree to which they use such clustering techniques due to the introduction of artificial within-group heterogeneity.


A stochastic mixture model is proposed for the dielectric formed by the powder of an isotropic polycrystalline material included in an embedding medium of air or a non-polar substance. The relevant expression of the complex dielectric constant of the mixture is obtained in terms of the dielectric parameters of the mixture constituents and the volume fraction of the crystalline material. Hence the possibility of deducing the dynamic state dielectric characteristics of the solid (compact) crystal from the measured data on the powder is indicated. Theoretical results obtained for 1-cyanoadamantane using the present model over a wide spectral range (1 kHz to 1 GHz) are compared with corresponding experimental data available elsewhere. Results due to the present method agree more closely with the measured values for both low and high volume fractions, when compared with the results based on other existing models due to Bottcher and Looyenga.


Ethanolamine kinase (ATP:ethanolamineO-phosphotransferase, EC 184.108.40.206) catalyzes the committed step of phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis via the CDP-ethanolamine pathway. The gene encoding ethanolamine kinase (EKI1) was identified from the SaccharomycesGenome Data Base (locus YDR147W) based on its homology to theSaccharomyces cerevisiae CKI1-encoded choline kinase, which also exhibits ethanolamine kinase activity. The EKI1 gene was isolated and used to construct eki1Δ andeki1Δ cki1Δ mutants. A multicopy plasmid containing the EKI1 gene directed the overexpression of ethanolamine kinase activity in wild-type, eki1Δ mutant,cki1Δ mutant, and eki1Δ cki1Δ double mutant cells. The heterologous expression of the S. cerevisiae EKI1 gene in Sf-9 insect cells resulted in a 165,500-fold overexpression of ethanolamine kinase activity relative to control insect cells. The EKI1 gene product also exhibited choline kinase activity. Biochemical analyses of the enzyme expressed in insect cells, in eki1Δ mutants, and incki1Δ mutants indicated that ethanolamine was the preferred substrate. The eki1Δ mutant did not exhibit a growth phenotype. Biochemical analyses of eki1Δ,cki1Δ, and eki1Δ cki1Δ mutants showed that the EKI1 and CKI1 gene products encoded all of the ethanolamine kinase and choline kinase activities in S. cerevisiae. In vivo labeling experiments showed that the EKI1 and CKI1 gene products had overlapping functions with respect to phospholipid synthesis. Whereas theEKI1 gene product was primarily responsible for phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis via the CDP-ethanolamine pathway, the CKI1 gene product was primarily responsible for phosphatidylcholine synthesis via the CDP-choline pathway. Unlikecki1Δ mutants, eki1Δ mutants did not suppress the essential function of Sec14p.


Chromosome instability (CIN) refers to an ongoing rate of chromosomal changes and is a driver of genetic, cell-to-cell heterogeneity. It is an aberrant phenotype that is intimately associated with cancer development and progression. The presence, extent, and level of CIN has tremendous implications for the clinical management and outcomes of those living with cancer. Despite its relevance in cancer, there is still extensive misuse of the term CIN, and this has adversely impacted our ability to identify and characterize the molecular determinants of CIN. Though several decades of genetic research have provided insight into CIN, the molecular determinants remain largely unknown, which severely limits its clinical potential. In this review, we provide a definition of CIN, describe the two main types, and discuss how it differs from aneuploidy. We subsequently detail its impact on cancer development and progression, and describe how it influences metastatic potential with reference to cancer prognosis and outcomes. Finally, we end with a discussion of how CIN induces genetic heterogeneity to influence the use and efficacy of several precision medicine strategies, including patient and risk stratification, as well as its impact on the acquisition of drug resistance and disease recurrence.