New biomarkers are frequently being developed in laboratory settings for the early diagnosis of diseases. However, the assay can be so expensive to assess in some cases that the evaluation of a large number of assays becomes unfeasible. Under this setting pooling biospecimens becomes an appealing alternative. In this paper, we present the methodology to allow for general pooling strategies and different data structures, which include balanced and unbalanced pooling cases. An estimate of the area under the ROC curve of a single biomarker with its asymptotic mean and variance is provided. Furthermore, we develop a test statistic for comparing the areas under the ROC curves of two biomarkers. The methods are illustrated with data from a study evaluating biomarkers for coronary heart disease.


With the increasing number of restaurants being opened annually, restauranteurs can not only pay attention to the food and service, but also to the restaurant's physical atmosphere. This study focuses on DINESCAPE as the theory for physical environment. It aims to find whether or not the factors of DINESCAPE affect customer repurchase behavior in an upscale restaurant. This is a quantitative descriptive research and uses questionnaires to obtain its data.132 data from questionnaires are obtained from customers that have dined at Restaurant X. Restaurant X is an upscale restaurant located in the heart of Jakarta. Multiple linear regression isused to analyze the data and obtained the result. Result shows a strong relationship of 67,9% from physical environment towards customer repurchase behavior. Each hypothesis regarding the factors of DINESCAPE are accepted and shows that each factor of DINESCAPE affect customer repurchase behavior. Based on the findings, recommendations for Restaurant X include, but not limited to, improving the restaurant facility aesthetics such as lighting and themed decorations to stimulate repurchase behaviours.


Neurofibromatosis–Noonan syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant disorder which combines neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) features with Noonan syndrome. Noonan syndrome (NS) and the clinically overlapping disorders and Neurofibromatosis-Noonan syndrome (NFNS) share the some common clinical features. It is now known that all these disorders are caused by mutations in components of the RAS-MAPK signaling pathway which is important in tumorigenesis. NF1 gene mutations are reported in the majority of these patients. There are some data in the literature about the NF1 mutant allele which can lead to manifestations of Noonan syndrome. We have studied four NFNS cases which all fit the NFNS criteria. We evaluated these patients one with Watson syndrome (WS) and the other one with Rhabdomyosarcoma. Although WS and NFNS were described as distinct disorders, detailed clinical examination of these families revealed that not only pulmonic stenosis, borderline intelligence, and multiple cafe ́-au-lait spots, but also multiple Lisch nodules, neurofibromas in one third of patients, and short stature were present. The only distinction between WS and NFNS would be that NFNS patients show a more classical phenotype of both NS and NF, whereas WS patients show only a mild expression of NF. Recently, there is increasing evidence for WS and NFNS being allelic to NF1 in the majority of patients. We analyzed 4 NFNS patients by PCR based techniques. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples. PCR was performed with intronic primers for all exons of the NF1. DNA samples were sequenced to detect variations in each exon. This study supports that the major gene causing NFNS is NF1. Therefore inclusion of NF1 in the genetic screening of patients with clinically suspected NS, preferentially when café-au-lait spots are present. As a result, the present study provides the molecular evidence of the role of NF1 mutations in NFNS.


On a number of occasions I have been asked the causes of failure in the raising of institution children, especially of infants under 1 year of age. At the same time I have been asked the requirements for an institution which is going to engage in the work of receiving foundlings. I have thought, therefore, that it might be interesting to set down the minimal requirements for doing the best work in this line and to hear in return the experience of others. There are two chief causes of failure in institution work, viz., the lack of funds, and the actual management of the institution through large boards of laymen. The amount of money required to raise a baby in an institution varies within such wide limits, depending on the nature of the place and the location of it, that this point may be omitted from the discussion with the


The measurement of strangeness production is one of the powerful tools to study the thermal properties of the QGP and while strangeness enhancement is a well established experimental observation in heavy ion collisions, its interpretation is still debated. In particular the study of (multi-)strangeness particle production as a function of the event multiplicity in different collision systems, reported by ALICE, has shown a smooth increase of strange particle yields with respect to yields of non-strange particles. In this proceedings, we present the latest results on multiplicity-dependent strangeness production in different colliding systems at LHC energies. Furthermore, recent measurements of mesonic and baryonic resonances will be presented to investigate how hadronic scattering processes affect measured resonance yields. The experimental results obtained in pp, p--Pb and Pb--Pb collisions will also be compared with the theoretical predictions.


GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT ABSTRACT We explored a highly efficient protocol for the oxidation of alkyl aryl sulfides to sulfoxides with high selectivities catalyzed by a molybdenum acetylacetonate complex immobilized on expanded corn starch (ECS-MoO2(acac)2) in the presence of 70% t-BuOOH solution (water). We obtained predominantly the monooxygenated product. The resulting products were obtained in good to excellent yields within a reasonable time. The catalyst could readily be separated from the reaction mixture and reused for several runs without significant loss in catalytic efficiency.


In September 2019, the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers adopted the terms of reference for the Ad Hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI). The CAHAI is charged with examining the feasibility and potential elements of a legal framework for the design, development, and deployment of AI systems that accord with Council of Europe standards across the interrelated areas of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. As a first and necessary step in carrying out this responsibility, the CAHAI's Feasibility Study, adopted by its plenary in December 2020, has explored options for an international legal response that fills existing gaps in legislation and tailors the use of binding and non-binding legal instruments to the specific risks and opportunities presented by AI systems. The Study examines how the fundamental rights and freedoms that are already codified in international human rights law can be used as the basis for such a legal framework. The purpose of this primer is to introduce the main concepts and principles presented in the CAHAI's Feasibility Study for a general, non-technical audience. It also aims to provide some background information on the areas of AI innovation, human rights law, technology policy, and compliance mechanisms covered therein. In keeping with the Council of Europe's commitment to broad multi-stakeholder consultations, outreach, and engagement, this primer has been designed to help facilitate the meaningful and informed participation of an inclusive group of stakeholders as the CAHAI seeks feedback and guidance regarding the essential issues raised by the Feasibility Study.


The type III secretion system injectisome is a syringe-like multimembrane spanning nanomachine that is essential to the pathogenicity but not viability of many clinically relevant Gram-negative bacteria, such as enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Due to the rise in antibiotic resistance, new strategies must be developed to treat the growing spectre of drug resistant infections. Targeting the injectisome via an 'anti-virulence strategy' is a promising avenue to pursue as an alternative to the more commonly used bactericidal therapeutics, which have a high propensity for resulting resistance development and often more broad killing profile, including unwanted side effects in eliminating favourable members of the microbiome. Building on more than a decade of crystallographic work of truncated or isolated forms of the more than two dozen components of the secretion apparatus, recent advances in the field of single-particle cryo-electron microscopy have allowed for the elucidation of atomic resolution structures for many of the type III secretion system components in their assembled, oligomerized state including the needle complex, export apparatus and ATPase. Cryo-electron tomography studies have also advanced our understanding of the direct pathogen-host interaction between the type III secretion system translocon and host cell membrane. These new structural works that further our understanding of the myriad of protein-protein interactions that promote injectisome function will be highlighted in this review, with a focus on those that yield promise for future anti-virulence drug discovery and design. Recently developed inhibitors, including both synthetic, natural product and peptide inhibitors, as well as promising new developments of immunotherapeutics will be discussed. As our understanding of this intricate molecular machinery advances, the development of anti-virulence inhibitors can be enhanced through structure-guided drug design.


mained. There was no growth on MacConkey agar in CO,. The isolate was catalasepositive, oxidase-negative, reduced nitrate and showed no X or V factor dependency. Acid was produced from glucose and maltose but not from lactose or mannitol. Identification as A. actino was confirmed by the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit at the University of Melbourne. The biochemical characteristics clearly differentiate the organism from Haemophi/us aphrophi/us, with which it may be confused morphologically. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC)were determined for pencillin G, ampicillin and gentamicin in TSB supplemented with 10% horse serum. Serum-supplemented Mueller-Hinton broth and brain-heart infusion broth did not support adequate growth. Incubation was at 37°C in 10% CO,. MICs were read at 48 hours and subcultures performed at 48 hours. MICs and MBCs were: gentamicin 0.6 and 1.2 mg/L, penicillin 0.6 and 1.2 mg/L, ampicillin I and I mgIL, respectively. A serum bactericidal titre determined using a blood sample drawn just prior to a dose of gentamicin and penicillin was I in 8. TSB supplemented with 10% horse serum was used as the culture medium. In view of the low MIC and MBC to ampicillin and evidence of further renal impairment following two weeks of gentamicin, therapy was changed to 12 g intravenous ampicillin daily. Following a further two weeks the patient was asymptomatic and was discharged on Ig oral amoxycillin four times a day for three weeks. A blood culture drawn one week after commencement of antibiotic therapy remained sterile after 2I days of incubation, as did further sets taken over the following four months. Six months after discharge the patient remained well. It is important that clinicians be aware that patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy are at risk of bacterial endocarditis and require prophylaxis at the time of dental or genital manipulations, similar to patients with valve disease. The bacteriologist must ensure that blood culture methods are capable of detecting organisms which are slow-growing (up to 3 weeks may be required), CO,-dependent, and which may produce no obvious changes in broth culture medium. The agar slope of our biphasic blood culture aided early recognition of growth in this case. Routine blind subculture to chocolated blood agar incubated for one week in an enriched CO, atmosphere should enable detection of A. actino and other slowgrowing Gram-negative bacilli of what has been termed the HACEK group (H aphrophi/us, A. actino, Cardiobacterium hominis, Eikenella corrodens, and Kingella kingae).' The optimal antibiotic therapy for A. actino endocarditis is unknown. The majority of cases reported in the literature have been treated with penicillin or ampicillin, usually in conjunction with an aminoglycoside. In a review by Reider of 18 cases, 80% of patients treated with this combination survived.' Geraci has proposed the use of high-dose ampicillin alone, provided that the isolate is susceptible in vitro." Resistance to ampicillin and penicillin does occur, therefore susceptibility testing of all isolates is indicated. Care should be taken when interpreting the results of gentamicin susceptibility tests for A. actino, as the drop in media pH associated with incubation in a CO,-enriched atmosphere may result in a significant loss of gentamicin activity. Inclusion of a suitable control organism is mandatory. KeithStockman,BSe Graeme McKinnon, FRCPA Simon Bower,MB BS AlistairDavidson, BScApp Departments of Microbiology and Cardiology Prince Henry Hospital, VIC 3004 1. Weaver RE, Hollis DG. Gram-negative fermentative bacteria and Franciscellatularensis. In: Lennette EH, et al., eds. Manual of clinical microbiology, 3rd edn. Washington: American Society For Microbiology. 1980: 242. 2. Scheid WM, Sande MA. Endocarditis and intravascular infections. In: Mandell GL, et al., eds. Principles and practice of infectious diseases. New York: John Wiley, 1979: 655. 3. Ah Fat LNC, Patel BR, Pickens S. Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans endocarditis in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. J Infection 1983; 6: 81-84. 4. Geraci JE, Wilson WR. Endocarditis due to Gramnegative bacteria. Mayo Clin Proc 1982; 57: 145·148. 5. Reider J, Wheat J. Endocarditis caused by Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans. South Med J 1979; 72: 1219-1220. 6. Geraci JE, Wilson WR, Washington JA. Infective endocarditis caused by Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans. Mayo Clin Proc 1980; 55: 415-419. 7. Hoffler U, Niederau A, Pulverer G. Susceptibility of Bacterium actinomycetemcomitans to 45 antibiotics. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1980; 17: 943-946.


The purpose of this paper consisted in formulate a critical reflection about the MOOC as an emergent educational model, based on the information coming from the specialized literature and from our own experience as a user. We intent answer the following question: What is the real intention and scope of the MOOC as an emergent educational model? That is to say, is really the MOOC a valid alternative to traditional model in higher education? From the literature review we can establish that one of the advantages of this model is the fact that it represents real knowledge democratization for giving the opportunity to open access to knowledge to everyone with the only requirement of having a digital devise connected to Internet, want to learn and have a genuine motivation to do so. However, like any innovation this educational model has supporters and detractors. It is concluded that even when the MOOCs have been supported by important international universities, this model is not a threat for traditional universities; however it is expected that it will seriously impact the actual model of distance education and upon the traditional higher education model and it will induce change on it including those about the roles of its main actors (professor and student) in the educational process.


AIMS
To determine whether the magnitude of post-acute myocardial infarction (AMI) sympathetic activation is greater in women (F-AMI) than men (M-AMI).

METHODS AND RESULTS
Both sympatho-humoral activation and female gender are associated with worse outcome in the early phase following AMI. However, women have lower sympathetic output than men. We therefore examined matched groups of F-AMI (18) and M-AMI (18) patients 2-4 days following uncomplicated AMI, then 3 monthly to 9 months; matched normal control (NC) groups comprised M-NC (18) and F-NC (18). Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) was measured by microneurography. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity was lower in the F-NC than M-NC (at least P < 0.05) and greater in the two AMI groups than their corresponding NC groups (at least P < 0.001). Muscle sympathetic nerve activity was similar in the F-AMI and M-AMI groups indicating a post-AMI increase in women of about twice that in men (P < 0.0001). Both AMI groups returned to corresponding NC (lower in women) levels by 9 months.

CONCLUSION
Following uncomplicated AMI, women developed a relatively greater magnitude of sympathetic activation lasting until its resolution at 9 months. This is consistent with reports of their worse prognosis observed during this time period, with important potential clinical implications.


The magnetic properties of the permanent magnet material Sm2Fe17Nx are discussed in terms of the change in the electronic structure caused by the insertion of N into the system. The magnetic moments are mainly determined by the Fe-d states: On insertion of N, the d states at Fe near N hybridize with the N-p states and acquire an electronic structure similar to that of Co. As a result, the magnetic moments at these sites decrease. The magnetic moments at other Fe sites increase because of the hybridization with the thus-changed d states of Fe near N. The Sm-f states also hybridize with N; however, these states in the absence of N would have nearly an atomlike electronic structure. This change affects the band energy and causes a large uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy. We also discuss the cases where N is replaced by other typical elements.


Secondary reconstructive operations were performed in six patients, who received Rastelli's procedure in their childhood. Six patients consisted of three tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia, two double outlet right ventricle, and one truncus arteriosus. The reoperations were undergone five to eleven years after the first operation. One patient received a replacement of a old valved conduit with a new larger one because of relative stenosis. The other five patients received reconstructive operations in which an old valved conduit was removed and a new conduit was constructed using the conduit bed as the posterior wall and a patch of xenograft pericardium. All operations performed successfully with no hospital or late cardiac death.


The synthesis and in vitro pharmacological tests of 5 ketomethylene tetrapeptide analogues of the opioid heptapeptide dermorphin H-Tyr-D-Ala-Phe-Gly-Tyr-Pro-Ser-NH2 are described in this study. The substitution of the original Phe-Gly peptide bond (-CO-NH-) by the ketomethylene linkage (-CO-CH2-) provided analogues with reduced opioid activity.


Abstract This article provides a detailed analysis of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel movement that is operating from Congolese soil but so far has attracted very limited scholarly attention. Having its roots in Ugandan Islamic community, it has become part of larger transborder dynamics of rebellion and resistance. It is argued that although its institution is linked to several internal dynamics in Uganda, the movement's character has been largely shaped by the specific characteristics of the Uganda–DRC Rwenzori borderland, where it became a key player of local power struggles and conflicts. The article provides a detailed account of the origins, characteristics and strategies of the ADF, its integration into Congolese society and its impact on local and regional dynamics of conflict.


Oxazaphosphorines (Oxaza) are widely used in the treatment of numerous cancers, activity against various tumor types, from soft tissue sarcomas to genito-urinary cancers for ifosfamide (IFO), from lymphoma to breast cancer for cyclophosphamide (CPA) and are still the corner stone of several polychemotherapy protocols. Limiting their toxicity and increasing their efficacy and safety through a better specificity could be of major interest. By consequence, we have designed new pre-activated oxazaphosphorines (X-Oxaza, Skarbek et al J Med Chem. 2015 Jan 22;58(2):705-17) to improve antitumoral response with reduced toxicity or side effects, as metabolization is not needed to liberate the active metabolite. We also aimed to design new drug delivery systems (DDS) based on these X-Oxaza to take advantage of passive and active targeting in order to improve the response selectivity. Indeed, nanocarriers formulations take advantage of the so-called enhanced permeability and retention effect (EPR effect) and increase the circulation time in the bloodstream. Active targeting is planed by grafting targeting ligands on the surface of DDS such as monoclonal antibody-mAbs and amino acids… The different steps leading to the design of the X-Oxaza has been developed within our laboratory and the proof of concept has been validated by their in vitro evaluation on a panel of tumor cell lines (Skarbek et al J Med Chem. 2015 Jan 22;58(2):705-17; Paci et al Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2001 May 21;11(10):1347-9). These pre-activated Oxaza have been formulated as DDS either using the physicochemical properties of the terpene derivatives, which can self-assembly into nano-assemblies (NAs), or by encapsulating the short-chain X-Oxaza into Lipid nanocapsules (LNCs). Both DDS were tested on rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma cell lines and showed an increased activity compared to the free form. Regarding the immunological field, CPA was shown to enhance the immune defenses particularly promoting differentiation of CD4+ cell toward Th1. The isomeric form of CPA, IFO, leads us to believe that IFO could have an influence on the immune system. Indeed, we have studied the immunomodulatory activity of IFO and the results show that IFO participates in the modulation of the secretion of cytokines from immune cells with a dose / effect relationship. In the meantime, we investigate the influence of IFO and these X-Oxaza on the immune system using immunocompetent and immunodepressed mouse models. With the link of immune checkpoint antibodies, this strategy will benefit of the immunomodulatory effects of X-Oxaza combined to the antiproliferative properties of these antibodies. These new functionalized DDS may provide a useful strategy to give specificity to active drugs used for many years in clinical practice. Both DDS could be grafted with mAbs which could lead to a new family of DDS aiming to combine antiproliferative and immunomodulatory properties for a dual antitumoral action Citation Format: Charles Skarbek, Henri Gonde, Melanie Desbois, Julia Delahousse, Nathalie Chaput-Gras, Jean-Pierre Benoit, Emilie Roger, Angelo Paci. New oxazaphosphorine prodrugs for immunotherapy and nanomedicine against cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2194.


An automated procedure for testing commercial speech recognizers in a vehicular environment is presented. Experimental results illustrate the effect of several test parameters in both additive white Gaussian noise and vehicular noise. Two preprocessing procedures, highpass filtering and high-performance endpoint detection, are discussed and shown to improve the accuracy of the speech recognizers. >


The unified power flow controller (UPFC) is recognized as one of the most promising flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) devices for modern power systems, due to its versatile functionalities. Based on typical operation conditions, this paper investigates the global and local power flow operation rules of the UPFC embedded transmission system theoretically. First, the detailed global power flow model (GPFM) and the local power flow model (LPFM) are established concerning several selected critical points (SCPs) in the system. The theoretical power flow operation rules for the ranges, the movements and the trajectories of GPFM and LPFM are analyzed, respectively. Then, the case study is performed based on the proposed simplified model, and the results are analyzed from GPFM and LPFM perspectives respectively. The operation rules and the power flow ranges is studied. Further case studies based on the proposed original mathematical model are also carried out, and the results are listed from different viewpoints of two-dimensional planes and three-dimensional spaces. All types of results are also analyzed from GPFM and LPFM perspectives, which verify that the UPFC is adaptive to various operation conditions for power flow regulation.


Background Recognition of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at preclinical stages is essential for successful treatment, long-term functional ability and survival. Available serological markers of the disease are restricted to acute-phase reactants and presence of autoantibodies - rheumatoid factor (RF) and ACPA. Although specific, these markers cover less than a half of the patients with RA. Oncoprotein survivin has been recently identified as a marker of severe RA frequently associated with progressive joint damage and poor response to antirheumatic treatment (1). A pilot study on the samples from the Nordic Biobank showed that survivin could predict development of RA several months ahead of clinical symptoms (2). Objectives To validate the utility of survivin measurements for early recognition of clinically suspect arthralgia and diagnosis of RA in the epidemiological setting. Methods The first-visit patients with joint pain from the inception cohort of 5455 subjects tested for RF and/or ACPA during 12 consecutive months at the Laboratory of Clinical Immunology at the University Hospital of Gothenburg, were evaluated for RA diagnosis by the 2010 EULAR/ACR criteria (3). Patients with known diagnosis of RA, other rheumatic disease and chronic pain conditions were excluded. The subjects not fulfilling RA diagnosis at the first visit were prospectively followed during 29–49 months. The utility of survivin measurement and arthritis-specific autoantibody status (ACPA and/or RF) for RA diagnosis were analyzed. Results The total of 385 patients were included in the study. RA criteria applied to the records of the first visit identified 17% of patients as RA. Additional 21% of patients were recognized as undifferentiated arthritis (UA), while the remaining 62% of the patients were characterized as arthralgia. Majority of the RA patients were survivin positive (52%) with an overlap for antibodies (RF and/or ACPA) in 88%. The UA and arthralgia groups had low prevalence of patients positive for survivin (p=0.018) and for autoantibodies (p=0.002). During the follow-up period, 23 cases of new RA and 5 new UA were registered. The incidence of new cases was significantly higher among the survivin-positive patients and corresponded to the increased risk compared to survivin-negative (p=0.008). The combination of survivin and autoantibodies increased further the risk for development of the disease compared to negative patients (RR 4.05[ 1.73–9.20], p=0.002). The presence of isolated survivin was also associated with higher risk of RA (RR 2.55 [1.14–5.71], p=0.028), while no increase in RA risk could be shown for the isolated presence of autoantibodies. Conclusions This prospective study showed in the epidemiological setting that the presence of survivin was associated with an increased risk of RA. Combination of survivin and autoantibodies further increased this risk. References Svensson B et al. Increased expression of proto-oncogene survivin predicts joint destruction and persistent disease activity in early RA. Ann Med. 2010;42:45–54. Bokarewa M et al. Survivin but not Flt3 ligand is up-regulated before the onset of RA: a pilot study. Arthritis Res Ther. 2014;16:R45. Cader MZ et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2011;70:949–55. Disclosure of Interest None declared


At first glance nanopores may appear simple, almost intuitive, to understand given that they are, quite literally, 'just' very small pores in a membrane. In fact, one may even wonder why at all we need trained scientists to study such seemingly simple entities. The short answer is that nanopores, as the word suggests, are nanoscale entities and, as such, one can not directly see or experience any of the events that occur down there. The long answer can be found in this thesis. Here, I present and discuss a wide array of nanopores, from biological nanopores like the nuclear pore complex (NPC), to solidstate nanopores, and DNA-origami nanopores. While the central focus of my research is to understand the inner workings of the NPC, a short journey into the world of ion transport in solid-state nanopores is first undertaken, with special emphasis on the random fluctuations of the ion flow within the nanopore, referred to as current noise. Next, I introduce the concept of biomimetic nanopores, where a solid-state nanopore is 'camouflaged' by coating its inner surface with purified proteins, resulting in an entity that behaves somewhat like a real NPC. Biomimetic nanopores have enabled us to mimic, study, and gain new insights into how the real NPC works, and bear great potential for further developments and discoveries.


The main purpose of this study is to propose an iterative learning control (ILC) algorithm for non-linear systems with dead-zone input and time delay in presence of measurement noise. The dead-zone non-linearity is described by a general model and all parameters of the dead-zone are unknown. The state function is allowed to grow as fast as any polynomial with arbitrary order, and thus does not satisfy the global Lipschitz condition. The time delay may be time varying, and multiple time delays are also considered. It is proved that the ILC algorithm given in the study converges to the optimal one minimising the tracking error in presence of measurement noise almost surely. An illustrative numerical example is presented to show the effectiveness.


The endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) is predominantly metabolized by monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) in the brain. Selective inhibitors of MAGL provide valuable insights into the role of 2-AG in a variety of (patho)physiological processes and are potential therapeutics for the treatment of diseases such as neurodegenerative disease and inflammation, pain, as well as cancer. Despite a number of MAGL inhibitors been reported, inhibitors with new chemotypes are still required. Here, we developed a substrate-based fluorescence assay by using a new fluorogenic probe AA-HNA and successfully screened a focused library containing 320 natural organic compounds. Furthermore, we applied activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) as an orthogonal method to confirm the inhibitory activity against MAGL in the primary substrate-based screening. Our investigations culminated in the identification of two major compound classes, including quinoid diterpene (23, cryptotanshinone) and β-carbolines (82 and 93, cis- and trans-isomers), with significant potency towards MAGL and good selectivity over other 2-AG hydrolases (ABHD6 and ABHD12). Moreover, these compounds also showed antiproliferative activities against multiple cancer cells, including A431, H1975, B16-F10, OVCAR-3, and A549. Remarkably, 23 achieved complete inhibition towards endogenous MAGL in most cancer cells determined by ABPP. Our results demonstrate the potential utility of the substrate-based fluorescence assay in combination with ABPP for rapidly discovering MAGL inhibitors, as well as providing an effective approach to identify potential targets for compounds with significant biological activities.


Bluetongue is a non-contagious, haemorrhagic, Culicoides-borne disease of ruminants. The causative agent, bluetongue virus (BTV), is a member of the Orbivirus genus of the Reoviridae family. So far, 26 BTV serotypes have been identified worldwide. The global distribution of bluetongue has been expanding, and rapid detection of BTV, preferably in the field, is critical for timely implementation of animal movement restrictions and vector control measures. To date, many laboratory-based, molecular assays for detection of BTV have been developed. These methods require the samples to be shipped to a central laboratory with sophisticated instruments and highly skilled technicians to perform the assays, conduct analyses and interpret the results. Here, we report the development and evaluation of a rapid, portable, user-friendly, pan-BTV reverse transcription-insulated isothermal polymerase chain reaction (RT-iiPCR) assay that can potentially be used in low-resource field conditions. The total length of the assay was <60 min, and at the end of the assay, the results were automatically displayed as '+' or '-' without the need for data interpretation. The RT-iiPCR assay detected 36 BTV isolates and two in vitro transcribed RNA samples representing all 26 BTV serotypes. The assay did not cross-react with other animal viruses tested, including two closely related orbiviruses. The analytical sensitivity of the assay was as low as nine copies of in vitro transcribed double-stranded BTV RNA. Analysis of BTV-infected whole blood samples showed that the BTV RT-iiPCR assay was as sensitive as real-time RT-PCR. The assay can potentially be used for rapid screening of animals for BTV in routine diagnostics and for monitoring bluetongue outbreaks both in ruminants and in Culicoides vectors in the field and in the laboratory.


Pulmonary hemorrhage is an uncommon manifestation in children and is often associated with systemic lupus erythematosus. We report a case of an adolescent girl who presented to our hospital with recurrent episodes of fever, cough, and breathlessness. Later on, she was diagnosed with pulmonary hemosiderosis as a manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. She was started on immunosuppressive therapy initially with prednisolone and subsequently with azathioprine and hydroxychloroquine, which improved the clinical status of the child.


Departing from previous research that focused only on how 'the Irish' became White, this essay will instead explore how the color line was used to define and divide the Irish Diaspora in the United States. The color line will be used as part of a bifocal perspective on the Irish Diaspora, which examines how certain sections of the Irish Diaspora became White and how others became Black. This approach can provide critical insights into the workings of racial formations by highlighting the social and political nature of race and tracing the concept's historical flexibility. A historical overview of the interactions between Irish American athletes and American sport is conducted to reveal many racial variations and tensions found within the Irish Diaspora. While sport has actively contributed to these Irish racial formations, it can also be used to challenge and transform the foundations of the racial formations that are currently found in American society.


We characterize a firm as a nexus of activities and projects with their associated cashflow distributions across states of the world and time. With specialized managers intent on maximizing firm value, we show that such a representation leads to a transformation possibility frontier between the riskiness and expected value of cashflows. A firm reacts to changes in the market prices of risks by adjusting its value maximizing portfolio of real activities. We show that financial risk management can help to alleviate the reorganization and coordination problems related to the implementation of the desired adjustments. Empirically, we show that a firm's use of financial derivatives is linked to its reactivity to variations in risk prices. We also argue that financial risk management allows a firm to maintain its value in the presence of cashflow-at-risk or value-at-risk constraints. JEL Classification: G22, G31, G34


Change in state government, as in other large public and private organizations, is an uphill battle. In social and health service agencies, public officials seeking change face myriad challenges, including frequent turnover, limited funding, and lengthy legal and regulatory processes. Despite these obstacles, change is possible and is often driven by strong leaders. In this brief focused on leadership, we examine how state government officials in Colorado and Illinois, two states participating in the Work Support Strategies project, seized opportunities, addressed challenges, and led change.


The nature of the microlensing events observed by the MACHO team towards the LMC still remains controversial. Low-mass substellar objects and stars with masses larger than ∼ 1M⊙ have been ruled out, while stars of ∼ 0.5 M⊙ are the most probable candidates. This means that the microlenses should be either red or white dwarfs. Consequently, we assess jointly the relative contributions of both types of stars to the mass budget of the Galactic halo. We use a Monte Carlo code that incorporates up-to-date evolutionary sequences of both red dwarfs and white dwarfs as well as detailed descriptions of both our Galaxy and the LMC and we compare the synthetic populations obtained with our simulator with the results obtained by the MACHO and EROS experiments. We find that the contribution of the red dwarf population is not enough to explain the number of events measured by the MACHO team. Even though, the optical depth obtained in our simulations almost doubles that obtained when taking into account the white dwarf population alone. Finally, we also find that the contribution to the halo dark matter of the entire population under study is smaller than 10%, at the 95% confidence level.


The development of technological entrepreneurship is necessary since new technologies and the level of knowledge are the factors determining the macroeconomic indicators, along with capital and labor. It is essential to identify the effectiveness of the development of technological entrepreneurship as an institution that transforms the research, development, and intellectual property into ready-made advanced production technologies. The paper studies the interrelation between the resources available to technological entrepreneurship (the level of costs for research and development, intellectual property) and the results in the form of the creation of new technologies. The author carried out the analysis at the national and regional levels. For this reason, two new indicators are calculated: the ratio of the number of patents for inventions to the number of the developed advanced production technologies; the ratio of the number of the developed advanced production technologies to the internal costs of research and development. At the national level, the author studied the change in these indicators for 2000–2018, determined trends and dynamics peculiarities. The study identified the influence of changes in the methodology of statistical accounting in 2011–2012 on assessing technological entrepreneurship efficiency. At the regional level, the author studied the variants of indicators of the effectiveness of technological entrepreneurship development, evaluated the nature of the distribution, and concluded on the degree of regional asymmetry. The paper includes the analytical grouping of Russian regions by the effectiveness of technological entrepreneurship development and its use of the resources of the national innovation system. The key features of the national dynamics of technological entrepreneurship efficiency are the improvement of the efficiency of the usage of intellectual property (patents) in general over the period and the unstable nature of this indicator in the last 5–7 years. At the regional level, the author noted a right-sided asymmetry in the distribution of both indicators and identified the regions with the highest and lowest efficiency of technological entrepreneurship development. The study showed that technological entrepreneurship efficiency does not always coincide with the positions of a region in the innovative development ratings.


In this study, a new simple model based on the classical treatment of lattice vibrations and the Franck-Condon principle is developed to describe the shape of thermoluminescence (TL) emission bands of crystalline solids. According to developed model, shape of the emission band has a Gaussian form and depends on just two physical parameters: peak energy E0 and broadening of emission spectra U. In order to demonstrate the success of the developed model, the emission spectra of dosimetric material LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) was also measured. Then, a computerised best-fit program including the developed model was used to analyse the emission spectra. The number of individual bands and their kinetic parameters were also obtained by this program. Two emission bands were observed for all glow peaks with peak energies at around 3.0 eV and 2.75 eV.


Working with suicidal clients is frequently referred to as one of the most demanding and anxiety-provoking aspects of therapeutic work. The aim of this study was to obtain an in-depth understanding of therapists' experience in treating suicidal individuals and develop a theoretical model of it. Eleven psychotherapists (4 men and 7 women) participated in individual semi-structured interviews. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and analyzed by the principles of grounded theory. We developed a model of dynamic balance in therapists' experiences and views on working with suicidal clients. The model includes six core themes, which represent aspects of therapists' experience and views where a dynamic balance is needed between two different poles. The core themes are: (i) understanding of suicidality: the general vs. specific; (ii) the role of alliance: protective factor vs. no guarantees; (iii) attitudes: acceptant vs. life-oriented; (iv) emotional response: worry vs. trust; (v) responsibility: therapist's professionality vs. client's autonomy; and (vi) focus: suicidality vs. individual as a person. The model takes into account other variables that are relevant to the process and outcomes of the therapy: factors, related to the therapist and the client, as well as system regulations and therapeutic setting. The presented model may be helpful for mental health professionals in reflecting on their experiences of working with suicidal clients, describing the relevant topics and the way they relate to each other.


By non-covalent association after proteolytic cleavage, the pro-domains modulate the activities of the mature growth factor domains across the transforming growth factor-β family. In the case of bone morphogenic protein 9 (BMP9), however, the pro-domains do not inhibit the bioactivity of the growth factor, and the BMP9·pro-domain complexes have equivalent biological activities as the BMP9 mature ligand dimers. By using real-time surface plasmon resonance, we could demonstrate that either binding of pro-domain-complexed BMP9 to type I receptor activin receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK1), type II receptors, co-receptor endoglin, or to mature BMP9 domain targeting antibodies leads to immediate and complete displacement of the pro-domains from the complex. Vice versa, pro-domain binding by an anti-pro-domain antibody results in release of the mature BMP9 growth factor. Based on these findings, we adjusted ELISA assays to measure the protein levels of different BMP9 variants. Although mature BMP9 and inactive precursor BMP9 protein were directly detectable by ELISA, BMP9·pro-domain complex could only be measured indirectly as dissociated fragments due to displacement of mature growth factor and pro-domains after antibody binding. Our studies provide a model in which BMP9 can be readily activated upon getting into contact with its receptors. This increases the understanding of the underlying biology of BMP9 activation and also provides guidance for ELISA development for the detection of circulating BMP9 variants.


We report a case of isolated hypoglossal nerve palsy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A 47-year-old woman had fever unknown origin during two months. Her tongue bent to the right and cephalalgia developed. She complained unable to speech and swallow. On admission, right isolated hypoglossal nerve palsy presented. Blood examination showed the mild elevation of CRP and soluble IL2 receptor. Examination of cerebrospinal fluid was negative. Gadolinium enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain showed abnormal intensity on sphenoid bone. 2-[(18)F] fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) showed abnormal accumulation on sphenoid bone, spleen, the left supraclavicular node, mesenteric lymph node. Blast cells appeared in peripheral blood afterwards. Acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL) was diagnosed by bone marrow biopsy. The central nervous system disorder by ALL tends to the invasion to meninges or cerebrovascular disorder. This is the first case report that isolated hypoglossal nerve paralysis resulted from ALL.


Adducin is a cytoskeletal protein that can function in vitro to bundle F-actin and to control the assembly of the F-actin/spectrin cytoskeletal network. We previously reported cloning of the Drosophila Adducin-like (Add) locus [Ding et al., 1993] also referred to as hu-li tai shao (hts) [Yue and Spradling, 1992], and identification of two adducin-related protein isoforms: a 95 x 10(3) Mr form (ADD-95) and an 87 x 10(3) Mr form (ADD-87) [Zaccai and Lipshitz, 1996]. ADD-87 protein is present throughout the oocyte cortex at stages 9 and 10 of oogenesis but is restricted to its anterior pole from stage 11 onward. This ADD-87 protein localization is preceded by localization of Add-hts mRNA first to the cortex and then to the anterior pole of the oocyte. Mutation of the swallow gene results in delocalization of Add-hts mRNA and ADD-87 protein from the cortex of stage 9 and 10 oocytes, and from the anterior pole of later stage oocytes. Early embryos produced by swallow or Add-hts mutant females have severe defects in the distribution of F-actin and spectrin as well as abnormalities in nuclear division, nuclear migration, and cellularization. In addition to their cytoskeletal defects, embryos produced by swallow females have an abnormal anterior pattern because bicoid mRNA is delocalized from the anterior pole. In contrast, bicoid mRNA is still found at the anterior of embryos produced by Add-hts mothers. Thus swallow functions to restrict bicoid mRNA and Add-hts mRNA to the cortex of the oocyte. Cortical restriction of Add-hts mRNA and protein is required for the normal structure and function of the early embryonic F-actin/spectrin cytoskeleton. A defective embryonic cytoskeleton can be induced in either of two ways: (1) by delocalization of functional ADD from the oocyte cortex (as in swallow mutants), or (2) by reduction of ADD function while retaining its normal cortical localization during oogenesis (as in Add-hts mutants).


The use of non-standard modes of heat treatment increases the density of dislocations in the crystal structure of the α-phase and increases the wear resistance of carbon, low-alloy steels under various friction conditions, which is comparable to the results when heated to a standard temperature (Ac3 + 30–50 °C). The preliminary extreme heating temperature is determined. After requenching at standard temperature and low tempering, the wear resistance of steels under various types of friction increases by up to 40 % compared to standard quenching.


Introduction

Electronic crossmatch is not available in all United Kingdom hospitals potentially leading to a large number of manual serological crossmatches relative to the number of red cell units actually transfused. In 2011 it was observed that there was a high Red Cell crossmatch to transfusion ratio (C:T ratio) at a large London teaching hospital (St George's Healthcare NHS Trust serves a population of 1.3 million across South West London and includes services such as cardiothoracic surgery, and renal transplantation).

An initial activity to reduce the C:T ratio was the introduction of a Maximum Surgical Blood Ordering Schedule (MBOS) that gives pre-operative guidance on how many red cell units should be crossmatched for each procedure. Over corresponding 5 month periods in 2011 and 2012 there was a decrease of 200 units ordered pre-operatively, and a drop in C:T ratio from 5:1 to 4:1. There was also a decrease in the ordering of red blood cell stock of 200 units/month which equates to a cost saving of £24,600 (US$ 41,532) per month.

Re-audit in 2014 showed the improved C:T ratio was maintained but still too high at 4:1. A survey showed a lack of awareness of the MBOS, poor access to the MBOS because it is buried in an Intranet with large amounts of content, and 28% pre-operative anaemia. Furthermore, strict limits on junior doctor working hours led to loss of continuity of care with blood test results not being looked at in a timely manner, potentially leading to unnecessary transfusion. This was discussed at the London Regional Transfusion Committee (RTC) (with members from 90 hospitals) and it was agreed that a smartphone Application ('App') would stimulate further improvement.

Method

Two RTC members and one St George's representative jointly developed an iOS App called 'MBOS Master'. Significant time was spent writing a detailed software specification to clarify the required functions of the App and how these functions would operate. Subsequently a prototype was demonstrated to key stakeholders, including staff in the pre-operative clinics and the London RTC through its regular meetings.

Results

Stakeholder feedback was used to improve the user interface and functionality. Comments were made about the convenience of the MBOS in this format for both clinical and laboratory teams, how it would support communication between the different areas, and allow consistency of information to users. Improvements were made to the display of information to increase visibility of essential information. MBOS Master was enhanced by the addition of functions that support the handover of a list of blood tests taken pre-operatively (hopefully to improve continuity of care).

MBOS Master allows:

1. The RTC to send messages to all MBOS Master users within the region, such as blood product warnings, and upcoming meetings

2. The local hospital to upload its own customised MBOS just for users within that hospital

3. The local hospital to upload information that is tailored to its local users, such as important phone numbers, and hospital transfusion committee meetings

4. Easy navigation of the MBOS with the opportunity for individual users to store a Favorites list of frequently used recommendations

5. The user to make multiple lists of patient hospital numbers and set reminders to chase results of pending blood tests, or to email the lists to colleagues.

Discussion

This project illustrates the importance of clearly defining the aim and functions of an App methodically, hands on development of the App by health professionals who are in touch with day to day transfusion practice, and the iterative process of testing with future users to maximise the ease of use and functionality of an App for healthcare purposes.

The pre-release version is undergoing further testing by key stakeholders and is anticipated to be available in autumn 2014 through Apple's App Store, with an Android version soon to follow. Ordering of red cells in relation to the MBOS will be reaudited 6 months after the App is launched to assess its impact on C:T ratio.

In future the App will be assessed in terms of impact on the C:T ratio, blood stocks, and early treatment of pre-operative anemia.

Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


PURPOSE
To determine the relative importance and associated risk factors of vision-specific distress and depressive symptoms in people with visual impairments.

METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, 162 adult patients with visual acuity less than 6/12 were interviewed using telephone-administered questionnaires. Vision-specific distress was assessed with the emotional well-being scale of the Impact of Vision Impairment Questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Other measures including vision-specific functioning, coping, and social support were also assessed. Multiple regression and commonality analysis were used to determine the relative contribution of factors explaining variance in vision-specific distress and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS
Vision-specific distress and depressive symptoms were strongly associated. Vision-specific functioning (βs = 0.47, P < 0.001), avoidant coping (βs = -0.32, P < 0.001), social coping efficacy (βs = -0.17, P = 0.001), and depressive symptoms (βs = 0.18, P = 0.006) were significant determinants of vision-specific distress. Vision-specific functioning accounted for 37.7% of the unique variance in this model. Vision-specific distress was an important risk factor for depression, accounting for 36.6% of the unique variance in depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS
Vision-specific distress is related to a person's ability to manage the practical and social challenges of vision impairment. Further work is required to distinguish vision-specific distress and depression and to examine what interventions are best to target vision-specific distress.


The dairy sector in Uganda has been transformed into a more competitive and dynamic sector. Supply-side factors have enabled expansion in milk production. Between 2005 and 2009 –milk production (estimated at 1.5 billion litres in 2010) has been partly an outcome of a 20 percent increase in the number of households engaged in dairy farming, and an increase (21 percent) in the proportion of crossbred dairy cows in the national herd (estimated to be 11 million cattle). At farm level concerted efforts have been directed towards technological change – transforming the farming system from predominantly extensive grazing local breeds to more intensive rearing of fewer but improved breeds. The lack of consistent long-term support to the breeding programs negatively affect numbers of dairy cattle stocks especially in Northern Uganda. Furthermore, the perpetually low farm gate milk prices could deter the optimal uptake of required dairy farm husbandry practices in the milk surplus Western region.


Calls to action to implement evaluation of fairness and bias into industry systems are increasing at a rapid rate. The research community has attempted to meet these demands by producing ethical principles and guidelines for AI, but few of these documents provide guidance on how to implement these principles in real world settings. Without readily available standardized and practice-tested approaches for evaluating fairness in recommendation systems, industry practitioners, who are often not experts, may easily run into challenges or implement metrics that are potentially poorly suited to their specific applications. When evaluating recommendations, practitioners are well aware they should evaluate their systems for unintended algorithmic harms, but the most important, and unanswered question, is how? In this talk, we will present practical challenges we encountered in addressing algorithmic responsibility in recommendation systems, which also present research opportunities for the RecSys community. This talk will focus on the steps that need to happen before bias mitigation can even begin.


In this paper we consider a problem of frequency synchronization for a system of Kuramoto oscillators in the case where interconnection graph is not necessarily symmetric. We show that similar to "all-to-all" case, problem of frequency synchronization is equivalent to the problem of existence of solutions for a non-linear system of algebraic equations. It is well known that for an undirected graph of interconnections, synchronization frequency is equal to the average of natural frequencies. However, in the case of directed graphs this is not true, moreover for fixed natural frequencies and given coupling structure, frequency of synchronization can also depend on the coupling strength. We give an analytical expression for the limit of synchronization frequency as the coupling strength goes to infinity. Finally, two examples are presented in order to illustrate our results.


Cis-trimethoxy resveratrol (cis-3M-RES) induced dose-dependent cytotoxicity and apoptotic DNA fragmentation in Jurkat T cell clones (JT/Neo); however, it induced only cytostasis in BCL-2-overexpressing cells (JT/BCL-2). Treatment with 0.25 μM cis-3M-RES induced G2/M arrest, BAK activation, Δψm loss, caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage in JT/Neo cells time-dependently but did not induce these events, except G2/M arrest, in JT/BCL-2 cells. Moreover, cis-3M-RES induced CDK1 activation, BCL-2 phosphorylation at Ser-70, MCL-1 phosphorylation at Ser-159/Thr-163, and BIM (BIMEL and BIML) phosphorylation irrespective of BCL-2 overexpression. Enforced G1/S arrest by using a G1/S blocker aphidicolin completely inhibited cis-3M-RES-induced apoptotic events. Cis-3M-RES-induced phosphorylation of BCL-2 family proteins and mitochondrial apoptotic events were suppressed by a validated CDK1 inhibitor RO3306. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that cis-3M-RES induced mitotic spindle defects and prometaphase arrest. The rate of intracellular polymeric tubulin to monomeric tubulin decreased markedly by cis-3M-RES (0.1-1.0 μM). Wild-type Jurkat clone A3, FADD-deficient Jurkat clone I2.1, and caspase-8-deficient Jurkat clone I9.2 exhibited similar susceptibilities to the cytotoxicity of cis-3M-RES, excluding contribution of the extrinsic death receptor-dependent pathway to the apoptosis. IC50 values of cis-3M-RES against Jurkat E6.1, U937, HL-60, and HeLa cells were 0.07-0.17 μM, whereas those against unstimulated human peripheral T cells and phytohaemagglutinin A-stimulated peripheral T cells were >10.0 and 0.23 μM, respectively. These results indicate that the antitumor activity of cis-3M-RES is mediated by microtubule damage, and subsequent prometaphase arrest and prolonged CDK1 activation that cause BAK-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis, and suggest that cis-3M-RES is a promising agent to treat leukemia.


For reaction-diffusion processes without exclusion, in which the particles can exist in the same site of a one-dimensional lattice, we study all the integrable models which can be obtained by imposing a boundary condition on the master equation of the asymmetric diffusion process. The annihilation process is also added. The Bethe ansatz solution and the exact N-particle conditional probabilities are obtained.


Owing to the development of modern semiconductor technology, it is possible to implement a digital controller for low-power high switching frequency DC-DC power converter in FPGA and ASIC. This thesis is intended to propose digital controllers with high performance, low power consumption and simple implementation architecture. Besides existing digital control-laws, such as PID, RST, tri-mode and sliding-mode (SM), a novel digital control-law, direct control with dual-state-variable prediction (DDP control), for the buck converter is proposed based on the principle of predictive control. Compared to traditional current-mode predictive control, the predictions of the inductor current and the output voltage are performed at the same time by adding a control variable to the DPWM signal. DDP control exhibits very high dynamic transient performances under both load variations and reference changes. Experimental results in FPGA verify the performances at switching frequency up to 4MHz. For the boost converter exhibiting more serious nonlinearity, linear PID and nonlinear SM controllers are designed and implemented in FPGA to verify the performances. A digital control requires a DPWM. Sigma-Delta DPWM is therefore a good candidate regarding the implementation complexity and performances. An idle-tone free condition for Sigma-Delta DPWM is considered to reduce the inherent tone-noise under DC-excitation compared to the classic approach. A guideline for Sigma-Delta DPWM helps to satisfy proposed condition. In addition, an 1-1 MASH Sigma-Delta DPWM with a feasible dither generation module is proposed to further restrain the idle-tone effect without deteriorating the closed-loop stability as well as to preserve a reasonable cost in hardware resources. The FPGA-based experimental results verify the performances of proposed DPWM in steady-state and transient-state. Two ASICs in 0.35µm CMOS process are implemented including the tri-mode controller for buck converter and the PID and SM controllers for the buck and boost converters respectively. The lab-scale tests are designed to lead to a power assessment model suggesting feasible applications. For the tri-mode controller, the measured power consumption is only 24.56mW/MHz when the time ratio of stand-by operation mode is 0.7. As specific power optimization strategies in RTL and system-level are applied to the latter chip, the measured power consumptions of the SM controllers for buck converter and boost converter are 4.46mW/MHz and 4.79mW/MHz respectively. The power consumption is foreseen as less than 1mW/MHz when the process scales down to nanometer technologies based on the power-scaling model. Compared to the state-of-the-art analog counterpart, the prototype ICs are proven to achieve comparable or even higher power efficiency for low-to-medium power applications with the benefit of better accuracy and better flexibility.


This paper concerns the effect of employment status on second- and third-birth intensities for Norwegian mothers in the period 1994-2002. Due to unobserved heterogeneity possibly affecting both the birth and the employment processes we employ a simultaneous equations approach for hazard models, originally suggested by Lillard (1993). Our results show that there is a slightly positive effect of currently being in employment on the second-birth intensity, whereas the third-birth intensity is larger for women who are currently non-employed, even when unobserved heterogeneity is taken into account. This suggests that even in a society such as the Norwegian in which there is a high compatibility between motherhood and labour market attachment there are still certain costs associated with childbearing and that this is taken into account by Norwegian women, in particular when it comes to the progression to third child.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
To describe the characteristics observed in patients diagnosed of hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) waiting for orthotopic liver transplantation and those who underwent liver trasplantation.

PATIENTS AND METHOD
An observational prospective descriptive study was carried out of patients waiting for liver transplantation in whom data of liver illness and lung function tests were analyzed.

RESULTS
107 patients of 53.69 years average age were studied (7.7 standard deviation). 24 of them (22.4%) had criteria of HPS. Ortodeoxia was present in the 34% of cases. The lung function tests were normal. In the comparative study between patients with HPS and no HPS, differences in diffusion were found (7.1 vs. 8.6 mmol/min/kPa; p = 0.04), as well as in the shunt (8% vs. 5.3%; p = 0.05) and the forced expiratory volume in one second (2,390 vs. 2,743 ml; p = 0.03). Seven patients were transplanted with correction of oxygenation and vascular dilatations in all of them.

CONCLUSIONS
HPS is a frequent illness in patients waiting for orthotopic liver transplantation. The main alteration in the blood oxygenation seems owe to shunt, and the diffusion tests is the analysis that could best differentiate patients with HPS. Orthotopic liver transplantation corrects the syndrome in all cases.


Roentgen studies have been performed in 340 patients with deforming arthrosis of the knee, hip and ankle joints, the patients' age was 18-60 years and above. Complex of measurements, characterizing roentgen-and-anatomical changes in the joints, has been analyzed to assess the degree of dystrophic manifestations with scoring the degree of process severity before and after conservative treatment. The results obtained have demonstrated that idiopathic, dysplastic arthorses of I-II stages dominate in all the groups with more stable values for the hip and the ankle. There were no evident signs of x-ray picture worsening after 1-3 years in 92-95% of patients through the treatment performed.


The increasing role of private sector agencies in the provision of supply teachers across Britain's schools raises three inter-related issues that need to be addressed during the current process of re-assessing the medium and long-term viability of this policy option. First, there is a danger that educational concerns and equity of teaching provision across schools conflict with the private sector concern to maximize agency revenue. Secondly, the legal definition of the agency as 'employer' and supply teacher as 'self employed' leaves many unanswered questions regarding how the employment relationship is defined and managed in practice; ambiguities over whether the school or the agency bears the risk and the extent to which the supply teacher is free to bargain individual terms and conditions, raise problems regarding quality of supply teaching and equity of status of supply teachers compared to permanently employed teachers. Thirdly, increased use of the contract as a means of delivering teaching potentially conflicts with longstanding notions of what constitutes professional duties and obligations among teachers - factors that are difficult to write into a contract. This paper explores these issues drawing on 60 interviews with a mix of supply teachers, school teachers, and employees from two branches of a large teacher agency. It concludes that new models of providing temporary teaching cover are needed both to address problems of escalating costs and quality standards and to enshrine common notions of professionalism and equity of terms and conditions among all teachers.


Introduction Several studies have shown that stroke survivors report experiencing high and unremitting levels of stress, which can negatively affect brain repair processes and psychological outcomes and thereby compromise recovery. However, it is presently unclear which interventions have been trialled to manage stress in stroke survivors and whether they translate to clinically relevant outcomes. The aim of this scoping review will be to examine stress management interventions in stroke survivors in order to map the types of interventions trialled, commonly reported stress outcome measures and whether a reduction in stress contributes to reductions in relevant clinical outcomes. Methods and analysis The methodological framework described in Arksey and O'Malley will be applied to this review. A draft search strategy was developed in collaboration with an experienced senior health research librarian. A systematic search of Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane library, PsycInfo and Clinicaltrials.gov as well as hand searching of reference lists and reviews will identify relevant studies for inclusion. To be eligible for inclusion, studies must report on the outcomes of an intervention targeting stress management and resilience in stroke survivors. Study selection and critical appraisal of selected studies will be carried out independently by two authors, with discrepancies resolved by consensus. Data will be charted using a standard extraction form. Results will be tabulated and narratively summarised to highlight findings relevant to our research questions and to inform recommendations for future research. Ethics and dissemination This study does not require ethics approval. This scoping review will provide a synthesis of evidence for stress management interventions in stroke survivors. It will identify and clarify the gaps in stress research specific to stroke pathologies and highlight promising interventions for future research. Findings will be relevant to researchers and healthcare workers and will be disseminated via publications in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences.


Improvement of safety and health in the workplace can bring economic benefits for both the individual worker, company and the society as a whole. Employers and decision makers can be convinced of the profitability of improving working conditions by making financial and economic estimations. This booklet shows how to make an economic estimation of improved working conditions. It discusses the most important pitfalls and explanations about relevant principles and provides practical outlines, references and suggestions for further reading. Background information explains how safety and health at work affects costs and benefits in companies. The context in which evaluations usually take place is described to understand the results of an evaluation and to decide how an economic assessment is going to be performed. The book shows how the economic asessment can be made in five steps: preparing, selecting variables and indicators, finding data, valuation and calculations, and interpretation, use and refinement of results.


ABSTRACT A better understanding of the immune response to live and formalin-inactivated respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is important for developing nonlive vaccines. In this study, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I- and II-restricted, RSV-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte precursor (CTLp) frequencies were determined in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples and spleen lymphocytes of BALB/c mice intranasally infected with live RSV or intramuscularly inoculated with formalin-inactivated RSV (FI-RSV). After RSV infection, both class I- and class II-restricted CTLps were detected by day 4 or 5 postinfection (p.i.). Peak CTLp frequencies were detected by day 7 p.i. The class II-restricted CTLp frequencies in the BAL following RSV infection were less than class I-restricted CTLp frequencies through day 14 p.i., during which class I-restricted CTLp frequencies remained elevated, but then declined by 48 days p.i. The frequencies of class II-restricted CTLps in the BAL were 2- to 10-fold less than those of class I-restricted CTLps. For spleen cells, frequencies of both MHC class I- and II-restricted CTLps to live RSV were similar. In contrast, class II-restricted CTLps predominated in FI-RSV-vaccinated mice. RSV challenge of vaccinated mice resulted in an increase in the frequency of class I-restricted CTLps at day 3 p.i. but did not enhance class II-restricted CTLp frequencies. These studies demonstrate differences in the CTLp response to live RSV infection compared with FI-RSV immunization and help define possible mechanisms of enhanced disease after FI-RSV immunization. In addition, these studies provide a quantitative means to address potential vaccine candidates by examining both MHC class I- and II-restricted CTLp frequencies.


Primary ovarian pregnancy is a rare entity, the incidence being 1 in 25,000 to 40,000 pregnancies. The diagnosis is difficult and still continues to challenge the clinicians. A case of ovarian pregnancy is reported here. The patient underwent laparotomy with right sided oophorectomy. Histopathological examination confirmed it to be an ovarian pregnancy.


Nonopiate aspects of analgesia are discussed in brief from the historical point of view. The existence of adrenergic mechanisms inhibiting pain responses has been proved and they were measured by different analgesimetric procedures at the level of cerebral and spinal alpha 2 and alpha 1 adrenoceptors, respectively. A comparative analysis has shown the advantages of clopheline over conventional opiate analgesics. Preliminary clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of antinociceptive and hemodynamic effects of clopheline (clonidine) in different pain syndromes. The prospects of clinical application of clopheline-like and other adrenopositive drugs are discussed.


was enacting an increasingly repressive legal code which, inter alia, seriously diminished workers' rights. It would of course be depressing if this was the end of the story. But Lewis, whose work formally ends with the collapse of the TLC, takes us close to the present in his final chapter, which shows how multi-racial and radical trade unionism did not disappear with the end of the Council alliance but held on and re-emerged in the early 1970s and is now a major force in South African politics. Labour processes, trades union strategy, industrial law and so forth seldom produce " couldn't put it down ' reading and Lewis, to be fair, cannot make the technicalities and, above all, the inevitable strings of initials, stirring matter. But he does his very best, and his is a very good attempt to make an arid subject as free of jargon and technicalities as possible. He spares his readers endless definition and displays his knowledge without laundry-lists, unnecessary neologisms and flash but unconvincing comparison. In the best sense of the word, Lewis has done a very workmanlike job on difficult material and has made accessible an important chapter of modern South African history.


Differentiation of skeletal muscle cells, like most other cell types, requires a permanent exit from the cell cycle. The epigenetic programming underlying these distinct cellular states is not fully understood. In this study, we provide evidence that the lysine methyltransferase G9a functions as a central axis to regulate proliferation and differentiation of skeletal muscle cells. Transcriptome analysis of G9a knockdown cells revealed deregulation of many cell cycle regulatory genes. We demonstrate that G9a enhances cellular proliferation by two distinct mechanisms. G9a blocks cell cycle exit via methylation-dependent transcriptional repression of the MyoD target genes p21Cip/Waf1 and Rb1. In addition, it activates E2F1-target genes in a methyltransferase activity-independent manner. We show that G9a is present in the E2F1/PCAF complex, and enhances PCAF occupancy and histone acetylation marks at E2F1-target promoters. Interestingly, G9a preferentially associates with E2F1 at the G1/S phase and with MyoD at the G2/M phase. Our results provide evidence that G9a functions both as a co-activator and a co-repressor to enhance cellular proliferation and inhibit myogenic differentiation.


Each tumor is a combination of several dozen to several hundred potentially highly functional somatic mutation variants, along with a much larger number of potentially highly functional germ mutation variants. The combined action of all gene variations leads to the development and clinical diversity of malignancies. Their changes can lead to violations of gene expression and regulation and the appearance of proteins with altered functional properties. Polymorphism at the phenotype level is explained by the simultaneous existence of both a wild-type allele and a series of mutant alleles in the same population. Mutations change the gene product, and as a result, the functions of the gene product are changed. This can lead to changes in the phenotype.
Materials and methods: Markers are studied (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) in people with malignant neoplasms breast, associated with a metabolic syndrome, and also in representatives of test groups (malignant neoplasm without metabolic syndrome's), allowing predict association development of disease. The results are received thanks to examining of 250 patients.
Results: The association of polymorphism's rs11868035 (p = 0.01481525) based on 5 inheritance models' polymorphisms with a risk of development breast cancer glands in patients with a metabolic syndrome in Ka-zakh populations was identified.


Participants in the current study were 75 males, including 25 Canadian soldiers, 25 heavy gamers who play military based video games such as "Call of Duty," and a control group comprised of 25 males. One dream per participant was analyzed using Hall and Van de Castle content analysis guidelines, including aggression, threat, and previously established scales for intensity of aggression and emotion. The dreams of soldiers had a higher frequency of both aggression and threat, and were also more intense in aggression and emotion than both the heavy gamers and the controls. These findings suggest that exposure to real life violence and threat (as well as the emotional significance of the experience) is more frequently incorporated into dream imagery than simulated or virtual threat. Limitations and directions for future studies are discussed.


A change has taken place in the role ascribed families in the treatment of schizophrenia. Rather than being implicated etiologically, families are seen more as the natural support system in preventing relapse of schizophrenic illness after discharge from hospital. The factors predicting relapse are reviewed including expressed emotion, communication deviance and medication compliance. From these, a set of objectives for treatment have been derived and the behavioural family intervention programme of Falloon and Liberman is described. Outcome research on the efficacy of this and the psychoeducational family approaches show short term benefits in relapse prevention and symptom amelioration but that more long term follow up data are needed. Further research also needs to address the relationship between outcome, specific treatment modality, medication use and the behavioural disturbance of the patient.


Background Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) treatment targets remission or low disease activity. Patient Registries offer real-world data about effectiveness on long term. Comparing different tools for assessing effectiveness (disease activity, functional status and utility) could provide a more comprehensive approach on the term "achieve and maintain" the therapeutic goal, as a measure of efficacy. Objectives To evaluate interrelations of disease activity – functional status – utility in a group of RA patients, treated with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) antagonists and anti CD20 molecule, as well as any factor that could influence it. Methods Cross-sectional study carried out over a cohort of RA patients in Romania. Data was gathered from the Romanian Registry of Rheumatic Diseases and included only RA patients treated with biologics, for who were available all three variables under study: EQ5D (for utility), HAQ score (for functional status), and DAS28 and SDAI (for disease activity). The interrelations of the efficacy parameters were analyzed using correlation tests, T test, ANOVA. Results The study cohort included 777 RA patients, mean age 58.72 (±12.37) yrs, 84.4% women, mean RA duration 14.08 (±8.33) yrs, 77.1% retired, treated with etanercept (30.6%), adalimumab (22.7%), infliximab (original 6.3%, biosimilars 0.7%), rituximab (26.3%) with a mean treatment duration 174.90 (±143.40) weeks; 27.3% used steroids (20.2% with <7.5mg daily); mean current DAS28 score = 3.66 (±1.52), mean delta DAS28 = 0.13 (±1.28), mean SDAI = 14.27 (±13.79), mean HAQ score = 1.14 (±0.64), mean EQ5D = 0.61±0.31. There was a strong positive correlation between HAQ score and DAS28, as well as SDAI: r=0.5 (p<0.001) and a negative association between HAQ and EQ5D: r= -0.6 (p<0.001). Utility score showed a strong negative association with DAS28 and with SDAI: r= -0.7 (p<0.001), whereas disease activity dynamics (delta DAS28 for the last 6 months) had a poor negative association with EQ5D: r= -0.2 (p<0.01), but not with HAQ. Patient global assessment (PGA) on disease activity had a significant association both with HAQ (r=0.6, p<0.001) and EQ5D (r= -0.6, p<0.01). Analyzing distribution of EQ5D and HAQ in DAS28 categories, there was a significant difference between categories (p<0.001); for EQ5D-DAS28: <2.6 = 0.81 (±0.19), 2.6–3.2 = 0.68 (±0.17), 3.2–5.1 = 0.63 (±0.18), >5.1 = 0.16 (±.38); for HAQ-DAS28: <2.6 = 0.73 (±0.57), 2.6–3.2 = 0.98 (±0.5), 3.2–5.1 = 1.25 (±0.52), >5.1 = 1.76 (±0.56). Steroids use belongs to more active disease; doses >7.5 mg/day represent a cutoff for patients with severe disease activity [HDA]. Disease duration had not any influence on EQ5D, HAQ or DAS28, as well as all other factors (age, sex, residency, education, work status). Conclusions Disease activity influences the patient well-being and functionality. Considering the dynamics of disease activity over time and the fluctuating values of utility and HAQ score within DAS28 categories, analyzing treatment efficacy from a combined perspective may be helpful in evaluating the time trends on achieving and maintaining the therapeutic goals. Disclosure of Interest None declared


The optical Kerr effect (OKE) and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) signals of MgCl2 aqueous solutions were modeled based on the same group of molecular dynamics simulation trajectories. Plausible agreement between the simulations and the experiments allows us to analyze the microscopic origin of the different concentration dependences of relaxation times probed by these two techniques. Our simulations suggest that a significant amount of cations and anions associate in the solutions due to the ion pairing effect. These ion assemblies as well as the free cations form suspending clusters together with the water molecules in their cation hydration shells. The dynamics of water molecules in these clusters is significantly hindered, while that of other water molecules remains largely unaffected. The relaxation times measured by OKE and DRS have different concentration dependences because DRS probes only the rotational dynamics of water molecules outside of the cluster while OKE contains the information of dynamics of all of the water molecules in the solutions. Such findings provide us a microscopic picture on how the ion hydration affects the water dynamics in certain ionic solutions in which ion pairing plays an important role.


Abstract—This paper presented a video watermarking algorithm based on wavelet chaotic neural network. First, to enhance binary image's security, the algorithm encrypted it with double chaotic based on Arnold and Logistic map, Then, the host video was divided into some equal frames and distilled the key frame through chaotic sequence which generated by Logistic. Meanwhile, we distilled the low frequency coefficients of luminance component and self-adaptively embedded the processed image watermark into the low frequency coefficients of the wavelet transformed luminance component with the wavelet neural network. The experimental result suggested that the presented algorithm has better invisibility and robustness against noise, Gaussian filter, rotation, frame loss and other attacks.


This chapter provides a brief introduction to forensic voice comparison. It describes different approaches that have been used to extract information from voice recordings: auditory, spectrographic, acoustic-phonetic, and automatic approaches. It also describes different frameworks that have been used to draw inferences from such information: likelihood-ratio, posterior-probability, identification/exclusion/inconclusive, and the UK framework. In addition, the chapter describes empirical validation of forensic voice comparison systems and briefly discusses legal admissibility.


Di (n-butyl) phthalate (DBP), a potential endocrine disruptor, adversely affects male reproductive function via activation of oxidative stress. This study was conducted to investigate the protective effects of vitamin E (Vit E) and selenium (Se) on DBP-induced testicular damage. Prepubertal rats were given 500 mg DBP/kg alone and in combination with Vit E (250 mg/kg) & Se (1 mg/kg) by oral gavage for 7 days and sacrificed at day 1 (D1), D30 and D45 after administration. Testicular section of DBP-treated rats showed markedly distorted seminiferous tubules, no spermatids and a reduction in the thickness of their epithelial lining, compared to the control. In contrast, co-administration of Vit E & Se protected the seminiferous tubules and regained its normal architecture to the control level. To clarify whether spermatogenic cells differentiate into mature spermatids in the treated testes at the end of first wave of spermatogenesis, immunostaining for Hsc 70t, a specific marker for spermatids, was carried out. As a result, the increase in maturation of spermatids in Vit E & Se+DBP-treated testes, compared to the DBP-treated, was demonstrated. For example, the most advanced spermatids in the tubules from rats in the DBP-treated groups were steps 8-9 at D45 of recovery, while those of the DBP+Vit E & Se-treated were steps 14-19 that were more or less similar to the control group. These results show for the first time that prepubertal administration of Vit E & Se have protective effects on DBP-induced testicular damage and restoration of normal spermatogenesis.


In 2011, the Swedish National Agency for Education introduced a new national curriculum. The curriculum contained a number of new terms. One in particular proved problematic for physical educators – complex movement. The confusion surrounding the term could be seen as somewhat unexpected since movement is and has been a central element of practically all physical education (PE) curricula. The specific aim of this paper is to identify how the discourse regarding complex movement is assembled, and by doing so, provide insights into the meaning(s) of complex movement within the context of PE policy in Sweden. Following Englund and Quennerstedt (2008), the study is framed within a Swedish curriculum theory tradition and six policy texts are examined using a discourse analytic methodology. The results suggest three different inferences of complex movement discourse: advanced with a wide meaning; context-dependent and related to sports for older pupils; and knowledge-dependent where different views about knowledge exist. From these results, three discussion points are raised related to: the diversity of possible meanings presented in policy; the connection between knowledge and understanding; and the probability of different audiences reading the texts in different ways. The paper is concluded with a consideration of the consequences of different inferences concerning complex movement and whether greater consensus is necessary.


We report the properties of two new isostructural compounds, U3Bi4Ni3 and U3Bi4Rh3. The first of these compounds is non-metallic, and the second is a nearly ferromagnetic metal, both as anticipated from their electron count relative to other U-based members of the larger 3-4-3 family. For U3Bi4Rh3, a logarithmic increase of C/T below 3 K, a resistivity proportional to T^4/3, and the recovery of Fermi-liquid behavior in both properties with applied fields greater than 3T, suggest that U3Bi4Rh3 may be a new example of a material displaying ferromagnetic quantum criticality.


Exhibitor-dispensing container containers of liquefied gases, comprising a cage of cylindrical contour, whose foundation runs a coaxial column (20) fixed, on which are placed two circular platforms (21, 22) located at different height, independently rotating on the column, which also support in near its periphery rolling elements (38) points, and defining floors which are accessible through doors (35, 36). Platforms (21, 22) are also carriers of armor (31) for lashing containers (4).


Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix, and it is the fourth most common cause of death in women. Overexpression of fibronectin 1 (FN1) was observed in many tumors and associated with the survival and metastasis of cancer cells. However, the mechanism by which FN1 promotes cervical cancer cell viability, migration, adhesion, and invasion, and inhibits cell apoptosis through focal adhesion kinase (FAK) signaling pathway remains to be investigated. Our results demonstrated that FN1 was upregulated in patients with cervical cancer and higher FN1 expression correlated with a poor prognosis for patients with cervical cancer. FN1 knockdown by small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibited SiHa cell viability, migration, invasion, and adhesion, and promoted cell apoptosis. FN1 overexpression in CaSki cell promoted cell viability, migration, invasion, and adhesion, and inhibited cell apoptosis. Further, phosphorylation of FAK, a main downstream signaling molecule of FN1, and the protein expression of Bcl‐2/Bax, matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP‐2), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP‐9), and N‐cadherin was upregulated in CaSki cells with FN1 overexpression, but caspase‐3 protein expression was downregulated. The FAK phosphorylation inhibitor PF573228 inhibited FN1 overexpression‐induced expression of those proteins in CaSki cells with FN1 overexpression. In vivo experiment demonstrated that FN1 knockdown significantly inhibited FN1 expression, phosphorylation of FAK, and tumor growth in xenograft from the nude mice. These results suggest that FN1 regulates the viability, apoptosis, migration, invasion, and adhesion of cervical cancer cells through the FAK signaling pathway and is a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of cervical cancer.


The numbers of children under the age of 18 being incarcerated in England and Wales has decreased of late, with official figures indicating that the current population of just over 1500 has halved during the last decade. But levels of reoffending among children released from prison remain the highest, with three out of four young people being reconvicted within one year of release from juvenile custody. Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of community-based sports projects target children and young people, when it comes to incarcerated populations, sporting initiatives are less prevalent. Where sport has become well established as a useful social cohesion/inclusion strategy in community settings, some of these approaches have been translated into custodial settings. Resulting research has often proclaimed sporting pursuits as a modern-day panacea in terms of their social, psychological and emotional benefits, yet few studies have explored the nuances of sports-based interventions within secure settings. This paper comprises a small-scale, qualitative study of one such intervention in a Young Offender Institution in the South of England. Placing respondent accounts at the centre of the analysis, the paper sheds light on the practicalities of programme delivery by uncovering the motivating factors behind participant engagement whilst exploring broader notions of personal development. The paper concludes by highlighting that sport/physical activity can confer significant psychosocial benefits and promote the rehabilitation of young people leaving custody, particularly when integrated into wider programmes of support and provision.


The paper presents the main causes of the sea accidents and disasters, which call for the implementation of a sea pollution and safety management system (SMS) in the navigation companies, for certification purposes, in compliance with the International Management Code for the safe vessel operation and pollution prevention (ISM). For this purpose the objectives of the ISM codes are presented and which are to be found in the implemented Management System. From the main causes of the safety deficiencies in vessel operation, by applying the cause-effect method, it was found necessary to implement a sea pollution and safety management system in the navigation companies able to provide more safety in ship operation , an implementation in the absence of which the international traffic would no longer be possible. Thus the basic SMS implementation stages have been established taking into account the related international legislation.


Outsourced PCB fabrication necessitates increased hardware assurance capabilities. Several assurance techniques based on AOI have been proposed that leverage PCB images acquired using digital cameras. We review state-of-the-art AOI techniques and observe a strong, rapid trend toward ML solutions. These require significant amounts of labeled ground truth data, which is lacking in the publicly available PCB data space. We contribute the FPIC dataset to address this need. Additionally, we outline new hardware security methodologies enabled by our dataset.


Campylobacter jejuni is a common agent of enterocolitis in humans. Campylobacteriosis has been recognized as a zoonotic disease whose reservoir is the intestinal flora of poultry. The reposition of fluid and electrolytes is the recommended treatment, and antimicrobials are required only in severe and/or in prolonged disease. Given the emergence of resistance to drugs commonly used in the treatment of acute diarrhea, we studied the antimicrobial susceptibility of 73 strains of Campylobacter jejuni isolated from stool culture. The antimicrobials tested were: erythromycin, azithromycin, ampicillin and ciprofloxacin. Of the 73 strains tested by E-test, 32.4% were resistant to ciprofloxacin and 6.4% were resistant to ampicillin. Resistance to erythromycin and azithromycin was not detected. The surveillance of antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter jejuni is important in the evaluation of empirically used antimicrobials in the treatment of bacterial enterocolitis.


The two lowest-energy gas-phase conformers, Ala-I and Ala-IIA, of the natural amino acid L-alanine (Ala) have been investigated by means of rigorous ab initio computations. Born-Oppenheimer (BO) equilibrium structures (re ) were fully optimized at the coupled-cluster (CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ) level of electronic structure theory. Corresponding semiexperimental (SE) equilibrium structures (re ) of each conformer were determined for the first time by least-squares refinement of 11-15 structural parameters on modified, experimental rotational constant data from 10 isotopologues. The SE equilibrium rotational constants were obtained by, first, refitting Fourier transform microwave spectra using the method of predicate observations and, second, correcting the resulting effective rotational constants with theoretical vibration-rotation interaction constants (Ri). Careful analysis is made of the procedures to account for vibrational distortion, which proves essential to defining precise structures in flexible molecules such as Ala. Because Ala possesses no symmetry, has several large-amplitude nuclear motions, and exhibits conformers with different hydrogen bonding patterns, it is one of the most difficult cases where reliable equilibrium structures have now been determined. The relative energy of the alanine conformers was pinpointed using first-principles composite focal point analyses (FPA), which employed extrapolations using basis sets as large as aug-cc-pV5Z and electron correlation treatments as extensive as CCSD(T). The FPA computations place the Ala-IIA equilibrium structure higher in energy than that of Ala-I by a mere 0.45 kJ mol -1 (38 cm -1 ), showing that the two lowest-lying conformers of alanine are nearly isoenergetic; inclusion of zero-point vibrational energy increases the relative energy to 2.11 kJ mol -1 (176 cm -1 ). The yet unobserved Ala-IIB conformer is found to be separated from Ala-IIA by a vibrationally adiabatic isomerization barrier of only 16 cm -1 .


The predictions of a multichannel Landau-Zener model, which includes Taulbjerg's fnl factor, for single-electron capture by multicharged ions, have been compared with different kinds of experimental results (electron, X, UV and energy gain spectroscopies). A reasonable agreement has been found for the populations of individual nl sublevels of capture when the electron-core interaction prevails over the l Stark mixing and when the rotational coupling can be ignored. This model has been tested with large core ions such as Ar8+ (2p6), Ar8+(2p53s 3P) and with ground state (C4+, N5+, O6+, Ne8+) and metastable 1s2s 3S (C4+, N5+) helium-like ions on various targets, below 0.5 au collision velocity.


OBJECTIVES
We sought to evaluate the impact of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and medical treatment on self-perceived quality of life among patients with angina.

BACKGROUND
The second Randomized Intervention Treatment of Angina trial (RITA-2) implemented initial policies of PTCA or continued medical treatment in patients with angina, allowing assessment of long-term health consequences.

METHODS
A total of 1,018 patients were randomly assigned (504 to PTCA and 514 to medical treatment). The short form 36 (SF-36) self-administered quality-of-life questionnaire was completed at randomization and three months, one year and three years later. To date, 98% of patients reached one year and 67% reached three years.

RESULTS
The PTCA group had significantly greater improvements in physical functioning, vitality and general health at both three months and one year, but not at three years. These quality-of-life scores were strongly related to breathlessness, angina grade and treadmill exercise time both at baseline and at one year. The treatment differences in quality of life are explained by the PTCA group's improvements in breathlessness, angina and exercise time. The attenuation of treatment difference at three years is partly attributed to 27% of medically treated patients receiving nonrandomized interventions in the interim. For both groups, there were also improvements in ratings of physical role functioning, emotional role functioning, social functioning, pain and mental health, but for these the superiority of PTCA over medical treatment was less pronounced. After one year, 33% and 22% of the PTCA and medical groups, respectively, rated their health much better.

CONCLUSIONS
Coronary angioplasty substantially improves patient-perceived quality of life, especially physical functioning and vitality, as compared with continued medical treatment. These differences are attributed to alleviation of cardiac symptoms (specifically, breathlessness and angina), but must be balanced against the small procedure-related risks of PTCA.


The purpose of this multi-case study was to discover the causes of low self-efficacy for math for a group of historically low-performing 7 th grade students at a high-poverty urban middle school. Bandura's (1986) Social Cognitive Theory, specifically the concept of self-efficacy. Qualitative methods were used to collect data, including structured one-on-one interviews and classroom observations. In addition, a student survey provided data on student self-efficacy and offered further insight into individual student perceptions. The cross-case analysis surfaced evidence for each of the four sources of self-efficacy. The findings of this study can provide educators with insights into the causes of low self-efficacy for students at the middle grade level and allow researchers to theorize about a broader set of cases related to learning math.