The features of Baroque architecture of Prydniprovia are reviewed. The role of the Orthodox religion in cultural processes that occurred in Ukraine during the XVII – XVIII centuries, influenced by Baroque trends and phenomenon of Ukrainian cossacks is analyzed. The influence on the aesthetic ideas of the formation of cossack architecture is researched. The stylistic analysis of Cossack architecture monuments is made. It opens the possibility to confirm its authenticity, uniqueness and originality. The author admits that the churches, cathedrals, temples of the XVII – XVIII centuries in Prydniprovia formed the original authentic style where closely intertwined the unique features of Ukrainian national culture with the baroque stylistic features. The fundamental factors in its formation were historical events and the phenomenon of Ukrainian cossacks. The cossack element and canons of martial fraternity led to the emergence of particular ethnic style – Cossack Baroque style. We can see its unique features in the special aesthetics, based on profound religiosity of Ukrainian Cossacks. The research of cossack art, including its spatial forms provide opportunities for understanding those peculiarities of Ukrainian culture that are the indicators of Ukrainian spiritual culture of the XVII – XVIII centuries. The author focuses on the ratio of religious and aesthetic factors and their interpenetration in the architecture of Ukrainian cossacks. The author states that the internal integrity of the Cossack art and the role of the church as its highest display determine the unity of the struggle for the freedom and the faith that inspired the cossacks and dictated the need of ideal. A church in the culture of the Ukrainian cossacks is the aesthetic embodiment of ideal of people spiritual unity, the embodiment of all kinds of handicrafts. In the Cossack attire and appearance we see the national original combinations of aesthetics and ethics, goodness and beauty categories combinations. Among the Ukrainian churches of Cossack era is impossible to find two identical ones, each has its own character, caused by innate fascination of people by the beauty, by great potential strength, by invincible necessity to create, and the most important it is caused by the Cossacks aesthetic ideals and religious principles. The combination of ethnic items in the Cossack Art with the stylistic features of Ukrainian Baroque is laid in the base of general principles of sacred building in Zaporizhzhya region and concerns the whole monuments, which gives them the certain characteristics. Undoubtedly, the artists of the XVII – XVIII centuries solved the problems of architectural creativity by using the Baroque basis and changing their architectural beliefs. The Cossack architects worked in the conditions of free creativity, they were not limited by prepared formulas and rules. In this regard, in the architecture of the Ukrainian Cossacks we mention the emergence of the new stylistic features, observe the formation of the new baroque aesthetics, based on the use of unusual means of space design, the formation of special architectural concepts and the implementation of the original architectural logic of volume and space shapes. The author makes the conclusions that the unique architecture of the Ukrainian Cossacks is based on the simultaneous superposition of cultural and historical factors, stylistic and national traditions, with comprehensive penetration of aesthetic trends that are typical to the Baroque style. It stipulated the religious and aesthetic syncretism in the architectural art in the Cossack period.


The skull anatomy of Mussaurus patagonicus from the Upper Triassic Laguna Colorada Formation is described based on a revision of the type material and several recently found specimens. The studied material include two distinct size classes of individuals. The type material consists of extremely young individuals whereas the new specimens are interpreted as juvenile or subadult individuals. The latter are significantly larger, having a skull approximately three times longer than the type material. The skull anatomy of this taxon shows derived characters shared with some basal sauropodomorphs and eusauropods, which are absent in other basal sauropodomorphs (e.g. Thecodontosaurus, Plateosaurus). These include the presence of an extension of the infratemporal fenestra ventral to the orbit, dorsal and anterior rami of quadratojugal subperpendicular to each other, dorsoventral expansion of dentary at mandibular symphysis, slightly procumbent teeth with broad serrations restricted to the apical region (absent in some teeth). Differences among the studied specimens helps to understand the early ontogenetic changes occurring in this basal sauropodomorph, revealing major changes in the rostral and temporal regions.


The Thermal Cone Penetration Test (T-CPT) records temperature dissipation during an interruption of the Cone Penetration Test (CPT) to determine the thermal properties of the ground, taking advantage of heat generated in the cone penetrometer during normal operation. This paper compares two interpretation models for thermal conductivity. It is found that the thermal conductivity can be accurately determined. Care must be taken of the initial heat distribution and sensor location within the temperature cone to achieve accurate results. Furthermore, laboratory test data are presented that show that the full-displacement push of a penetrometer into sandy strata has limited influence on thermal conductivity values.


The aboveground carbon sequestration rate (ACSR) reflects the influence of climate change on forest dynamics. To reveal the long-term effects of climate change on forest succession and carbon sequestration, a forest landscape succession and disturbance model (LANDIS Pro7.0) was used to simulate the ACSR of a temperate forest at the community and species levels in northeastern China based on both current and predicted climatic data. On the community level, the ACSR of mixed Korean pine hardwood forests and mixed larch hardwood forests, fluctuated during the entire simulation, while a large decline of ACSR emerged in interim of simulation in spruce-fir forest and aspen-white birch forests, respectively. On the species level, the ACSR of all conifers declined greatly around 2070s except for Korean pine. The ACSR of dominant hardwoods in the Lesser Khingan Mountains area, such as Manchurian ash, Amur cork, black elm, and ribbed birch fluctuated with broad ranges, respectively. Pioneer species experienced a sharp decline around 2080s, and they would finally disappear in the simulation. The differences of the ACSR among various climates were mainly identified in mixed Korean pine hardwood forests, in all conifers, and in a few hardwoods in the last quarter of simulation. These results indicate that climate warming can influence the ACSR in the Lesser Khingan Mountains area, and the largest impact commonly emerged in the A2 scenario. The ACSR of coniferous species experienced higher impact by climate change than that of deciduous species.


The response of rice and barnyardgrass to clomazone rates (0.22, 0.45, 0.67, 0.9, and 1.12 kg ai/ha) and application timings of preplant incorporated, preemergence (PRE), and delayed PRE (DPRE) were evaluated from 1997 to 1999. Rice bleaching at 14 d after planting (DAP) increased from 5 to 35% as the clomazone rate increased. At 14 and 49 DAP, barnyardgrass control decreased with clomazone at 0.22 kg/ha compared with control at higher rates. Clomazone at 0.22 kg/ha resulted in lower grain yield. Clomazone PRE caused less rice bleaching and lower grain yield compared with DPRE timings. These results indicate that initial bleaching by high clomazone rates may not translate into yield loss. Higher clomazone rates may increase rice yield by improving weed control. Nomenclature: Clomazone; barnyardgrass, Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. #3 ECHCG; rice, Oryza sativa L., 'Lemont', 'Cypress'. Additional index words: Application timing, herbicide rate response. Abbreviations: DAP, days after planting; DPRE, delayed preemergence; PPI, preplant incorporated; PRE, preemergence.


Scheduling is essential for the proper functioning of multi-core processors for parallel processing. Scheduling of tasks onto multi-core processors is an interesting problem that is well defined and documented in the literature. Multi-core processor systems are increasingly commonplace, and have found their way into desktop machines, laptops, and even mobile devices. The rise of the multi-core processor, in which multiple CPU cores are packed onto a single chip, is the source of this proliferation. These chips have become popular as computer architects have had a difficult time making a single CPU much faster without using too much power.With the advent of multi core processors, there is a need to schedule multiple tasks on multiple cores. In this paper we are proposing a new scheduler algorithm which schedules the multiple tasks on multiple cores of a single chip processor. One task is assign to a single core and the one is on another core processor within a single chip processor for parallel processing. The main goal of this work is to allow jobs to scale well with the number of cores. The proposed algorithm will allow each processor core to execute at least one task on single instance of time. This means if the number of processor cores is four then four tasks will be execute simultaneously on all four cores.


Egress of free NeuAc from normal lysosome-rich granular fractions was assessed at NeuAc concentrations of up to 221 pmol/hexosaminidase unit, achieved by exposure of growing fibroblasts to 40-125 nM N-acetylmannosamine for up to 7 days. The normal velocity of NeuAc egress increased with NeuAc loading and with temperature, exhibiting a Q10 of 2.4, characteristic of carrier-mediated transport. Fibroblasts cultured from five patients with infantile free sialic acid storage disease (ISSD) contained approximately 139 nmol of free NeuAc/mg of whole cell protein, or 100 times the normal level. Differential centrifugation, as well as density gradient analysis using 25% Percoll, showed that the stored NeuAc cosedimented with the lysosomal enzyme beta-hexosaminidase. The velocity of appearance of free NeuAc outside ISSD granular fractions was negligible, even at initial loading levels of up to 3500 pmol/hexosaminidase unit. The lack of egress from ISSD granular fractions was found for both endogenous and N-acetylmannosamine-derived NeuAc. Fibroblasts from ISSD parents did not accumulate excess free NeuAc and did not display a velocity of NeuAc egress significantly different from normal. The defect in ISSD, like that in Salla disease, appears to be an impairment of carrier-mediated transport of free NeuAc across the lysosomal membrane. Clinical and biochemical differences between Salla disease and ISSD may reflect differences in the amount of residual NeuAc transport capacity.


This paper presents a model-based approach for developing vectorial user interfaces to an interactive applications, whether it is a web or a stand-alone applications. A vectorial user interface exhibits the capability of being rescaled in any dimension without any loss of information, while taking advantage of the screen real estate offered by the computing platform on which the interactive application is running. A model describes the vectorial user interface in order to capture its presentation and behavior in a way that is independent of any context of use. Implemented as a browser plug-in, a rendering engine parses this model at run-time so as to render the user interface bounded with the domain, thus producing together a running application. This facilitates platform adaptation, since the interface scales up or down depending on the screen resolution and user adaptation since the model can change from one session to another. The interface is then re-rendered with adaptation for the benefit of the end user. Both platform and user adaptations contribute to making the web application accessible in a ubiquitous way.


Recently it has become clear that abnormalities of the lipid metabolism may play a large role in the progression of renal diseases. To investigate the relationship between lipids and kidney tissues, the authors employed an immunofluorescent technique to determine the presence of apolipoprotein (apo) B and E in kidney tissue, particularly the glomeruli, and analyzed the relationship between their deposition and the clinical and histological findings of a total of 49 patients with persistent proteinuria and/or hematuria (age range: 10 to 62 years). The patients were divided into 4 groups, as follows: both apoB and apoE negative cases (Group 1; 17 cases), apoB alone positive (Group 2; 7 cases), apoE alone positive (Group 3; 10 cases) and both apoB and apoE positive cases (Group 4; 15 cases). Group 2 had more severe proteinuria and a higher level of total cholesterol than Group 1. Group 3 exhibited a higher incidence of glomerular adhesion and interstitial changes than Group 1. Group 4, on the other hand, exhibited more severe mesangial hypercellularity and a higher incidence of glomerular sclerosis and interstitial scarrings than Group 1, a higher incidence of glomerular sclerosis than Group 2, more severe proteinuria, higher serum levels of total cholesterol, and lower serum levels of total protein than Groups 1 and 3 and higher level of uric acid than Group 1. These results suggest that the deposition of apoB and apoE accelerates the progression of mesangial lesions, resulting in greater proteinuria and glomerular sclerosis.


In a prospective study involving eight veterinary clinics during 1995 and 1996, samples from first-time and recurrent cases of canine pyoderma were collected by a needle technique. Three hundred and ninety-four staphylococci were isolated and their susceptibility to various antimicrobial drugs was assessed by a microdilution technique. Resistance to macrolides, lincosamides, fusidic acid, tetracycline and streptomycin was significantly more common in isolates from the recurrent cases than from the first-time cases; 20 per cent of the isolates from the first-time cases were resistant to three or more of the antimicrobials tested, compared with 45 per cent of those from the recurrent cases. Coresistance between macrolidelincosamides, tetracyclines and streptomycin was common. No resistance to penicillinase-stable β-lactams was observed. A comparison with earlier studies indicated that there had been a marked increase in resistance during the previous five years.


The revolution of mobile phones era has brought the innovative smartphones technology. As a result, research addressing information access in smartphones environment has proliferated. The important feature of smartphones is to restrict the behavior of users using applications and services to a certain level and the existing access control mechanism on smartphones mostly holds a coarsegrained. To enhance this into fine-grained manner, it is practical to use context-related information to specify what resources and services an application should be authorized access to. This paper proposes a finer access control mechanism which is context-related role based access control (CtRBAC). CtRBAC is based on traditional role based access control by incorporating with the contextual information of user and system environment. CtRBAC categorizes the mobile phone users according to their access rights of device's resources and services. By using simple policy and context, the system fulfills necessity of existing access control mechanism.


This paper presents the probabilistic analysis of surface crack in round bars subjected to tension stress using Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS). A probabilistic model based on an elastic finite element analysis (FEA) was developed to evaluate the failure probability obtained using a K-estimation method. This method is based on the stress intensity factor (SIF) where the failure occurred when the SIF was assumed to exceed the critical SIF. It was found that, the K-estimation method was adequate to evaluate the failure probability of the bars when compared with the results obtained using the probabilistic FEA approach. The advantage of K-estimation methods was the reduction of the computational time and cost significantly.


Abstract In the present study, the chloroplast genome of Chaetoceros gracilis was sequenced using the PacBio sequencing platform and phylogenetic analysis was conducted using 38 other complete chloroplast genomes of the Bacillariophyta. The chloroplast genome of C. gracilis was 116,421 bp in length with the typical quadripartite structure, including a large single copy (LSC) region of 61,904 bp, a small single copy (SSC) region of 39,367 bp, and a pair of inverted repeats (IR) regions of 7575 bp. The overall GC content of C. gracilis chloroplast genome was 30.79%. This genome encoded 131 genes incuding 93 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes and 8 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. Phylogenetic results exhibited that three Chaetoceros species were clustered together. Chaetoceros gracilis was closely related with Chaetoceros muelleri, and then formed a clade with Chaetoceros simplex with 100% bootstrap value This study will facilitate species identification and study of evolutionary in the family Chaetoceroceae.


Background Mobile health (mHealth) is a rapidly emerging market, which has been implemented in a variety of different disease areas. Tuberculosis remains one of the most common causes of death from an infectious disease worldwide, and mHealth apps offer an important contribution to the improvement of tuberculosis treatment. In particular, apps facilitating dose individualization, adherence monitoring, or provision of information and education about the disease can be powerful tools to prevent the development of drug-resistant tuberculosis or disease relapse. Objective The aim of this review was to identify, describe, and categorize mobile and Web-based apps related to tuberculosis that are currently available. Methods PubMed, Google Play Store, Apple Store, Amazon, and Google were searched between February and July 2019 using a combination of 20 keywords. Apps were included in the analysis if they focused on tuberculosis, and were excluded if they were related to other disease areas or if they were games unrelated to tuberculosis. All apps matching the inclusion criteria were classified into the following five categories: adherence monitoring, individualized dosing, eLearning/information, diagnosis, and others. The included apps were then summarized and described based on publicly available information using 12 characteristics. Results Fifty-five mHealth apps met the inclusion criteria and were included in this analysis. Of the 55 apps, 8 (15%) were intended to monitor patients' adherence, 6 (11%) were designed for dosage adjustment, 29 (53%) were designed for eLearning/information, 3 (6%) were focused on tuberculosis diagnosis, and 9 (16%) were related to other purposes. Conclusions The number of mHealth apps related to tuberculosis has increased during the past 3 years. Although some of the discovered apps seem promising, many were found to contain errors or provided harmful or wrong information. Moreover, the majority of mHealth apps currently on the market are focused on making information about tuberculosis available (29/55, 53%). Thus, this review highlights a need for new, high-quality mHealth apps supporting tuberculosis treatment, especially those supporting individualized optimized treatment through model-informed precision dosing and video observed treatment.


Objective: To assess the pharyngeal airway dimension in different types of malocclusion. Materials and Methods: Literature was searched through PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and All EBM Reviews. The inclusion criteria consisted of studies written in English; published in the past three decades; concerning the pharyngeal airway dimension in different types of malocclusion. Results: Our search strategy identified (PUBMED -22, AND MeSH -22) titles and abstracts of studies which were independently assessed. We also ran a free text search on Google Scholar for any further potentially eligible trials which resulted in the identification of 1 published. Full text copies of these studies were obtained from the Internet, and were then subjected to further assessment. We also checked the bibliographical references of these papers for any relevant studies and found all the included articles were found through electronic search. Conclusion: The pharyngeal airway dimensions are subjected to change with different malocclsuion and Narrow pharyngeal airway space is one of the predisposing factors for mouth breathing and obstructive sleep apnoea.


Objective. Teamwork is a necessary pharmacist skill, but early pharmacy and interprofessional education frequently lack direct instruction on conflict management skills within team communication. Mindset may also impact team functioning. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a teamwork workshop on growth mindset and team communication. Methods. A multi-week workshop was developed for first-year pharmacy students. The workshop included completion of StrengthFinders2.0, a session on identifying individual and team member strengths, a session on situational communication and conflict resolution models, and two pharmacy scenarios requiring conflict resolution. The workshop was delivered to two intervention groups (Fall2019 and Fall2018) and compared to a control group (Fall2017). A pre-post survey measured change in growth mindset and team communication utilizing the validated "Growth Mindset and Team Communication" (GMTC) tool. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, and chi-square tests to compare difference and association. Focus groups were conducted in Fall2017 and Fall2018 to assess qualitative student views regarding teamwork. Results. Comparing preand post-survey assessments, the team communication subscale increased significantly for the intervention group compared to the control group which had no significant change. Qualitative results of focus groups reflected overall positive views of team communication and collaboration, which was contextualized by discussions of advantages and challenges during teamwork. Conclusion. The teamwork workshop affected team communication abilities. An early workshop may provide necessary teamwork skills for team improvement. Future work will focus on longitudinal measurement of self-views to determine the long-term impact of teamwork training interventions.


Water samples collected over a period of two years from the gradient zone of the Vellar Estuary, Tamil Nadu, India were analysed for PO4-P, NO2-N, NO3-N and SiO3-Si. Reactive phosphorus (PO4-P) showed wide fluctuations and inconsistent seasonal variations. Nitrite and nitrate values were high during monsoon and low during summer. Unlike other nutrients, silicate was high in the surface waters and showed significant negative relationship with salinity. Wide fluctuations in the N:P ratio was discernible


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate whether an engineered synthetic decapeptide (KP) derived from the sequence of a recombinant anti-idiotypic antibody, that represents the internal image of a Pichia anomala killer toxin, could be fungicidal in vitro and therapeutic in vivo against Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM).

METHODS
Fungicidal activity of KP was assessed in vitro and in vivo by inhibition of colony forming units and by histological examination, 8 days after infection, of organs from mice intravenously injected with a virulent strain of P. brasiliensis (3 x 10(6) yeast cells) and intraperitoneally treated with KP (3.3 microg/g body weight, three doses), in comparison with control animals equally administered with a scrambled decapeptide (SP).

RESULTS
KP but not SP was fungicidal in vitro at 39 ng/multiply-budding yeast cell and less efficiently in its D-isomeric form (0.31 microg/multiply-budding yeast cell). It was also able to markedly reduce the fungal load in organs (liver, lung, spleen) of infected animals.

CONCLUSIONS
The therapeutic effect observed opens the way for using the antifungal peptide as an alternative control of PCM in association with conventional antifungal drugs.


COVID-19 is an epidemic that has been multiplying rapidly across the globe To order to regulate its growth, several nations have implemented home-stay or lockout policies Prolonged domestic residency, though, can cause worse effects such as economic instability, homelessness, food shortages and individuals' mental health issues This article presents an intelligent consumer electronics solution for secure & gradual launch after residence restrictions have been lifted Completely automatic hand sanitizer supplier to prevent quickly spreading novel corona virus It is implemented to restrict the development of new positive cases through auto touch tracking and by promoting critical social distancing


Objective The present study aimed to investigate the clinical application value of the radiomics model based on gray-scale ultrasound (GSUS) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) images in the differentiation of inflammatory mass stage periductal mastitis/duct ectasia (IMSPDM/DE) and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Methods In this retrospective study, 254 patients (IMSPDM/DE: 129; IDC:125) were enrolled between January 2018 and December 2020 as a training cohort to develop the classification models. The radiomics features were extracted from the GSUS and CEUS images. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model was employed to select the corresponding features. Based on these selected features, logistic regression analysis was used to aid the construction of these three radiomics signatures (GSUS, CEUS and GSCEUS radiomics signature). In addition, 80 patients (IMSPDM/DE:40; IDC:40) were recruited between January 2021 and November 2021 and were used as the validation cohort. The best radiomics signature was selected. Based on the clinical parameters and the radiomics signature, a classification model was built. Finally, the classification model was assessed using nomogram and decision curve analyses. Results Three radiomics signatures were able to differentiate IMSPDM/DE from IDC. The GSCEUS radiomics signature outperformed the other two radiomics signatures and the AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were estimated to be 0.876, 0.756, 0.804, and 0.798 in the training cohort and 0.796, 0.675, 0.838 and 0.763 in the validation cohort, respectively. The lower patient age (p<0.001), higher neutrophil count (p<0.001), lack of pausimenia (p=0.023) and GSCEUS radiomics features (p<0.001) were independent risk factors of IMSPDM/DE. The classification model that included the clinical factors and the GSCEUS radiomics signature outperformed the GSCEUS radiomics signature alone (the AUC values of the training and validation cohorts were 0.962 and 0.891, respectively). The nomogram was applied to the validation cohort, reaching optimal discrimination, with an AUC value of 0.891, a sensitivity of 0.888, and a specificity of 0.750. Conclusions The present study combined the clinical parameters with the GSCEUS radiomics signature and developed a nomogram. This GSCEUS radiomics-based classification model could be used to differentiate IMSPDM/DE from IDC in a non-invasive manner.


The authors present a retrospective study of 492 cases of chronic osteomyelitis treated with active immunotherapy to complement surgical and antibiotic treatment. The systematic application of this treatment, which is based on the use of antistaphylococcal vaccines and/or auto-vaccines resulted in the osteomyelitic process being cured in 80 per cent of cases, with complete closure of the fistulae maintained for at least three years. The authors also report the preliminary results obtained with passive immunotherapy in twenty-six patients with chronic osteomyelitis that had proved resistant to all other forms of treatment. Sero-immunological investigations in these patients revealed a deficiency in the opsonifying capacity of the serum. Treatment with opsonin precursors produced complete recession of symptoms and clinical signs, maintained for at least a year, in 50 per cent of these patients.


BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Systemic lupus erythmatosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease and more than 100 auto antibodies have been detected in SLE. The present study was designed to determine the presence of anti-thyroid antibodies (ATA) in SLE patients.

METHODS: It was a descriptive study and 42-SLE patients positive for anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) and or anti-ds DNA (ds-DNA) antibodies were selected from Department of Rheumatology, Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore. Blood sample was collected and ATA was determined by indirect immunofluorescence technique.

RESULTS: Thirty-nine (39) (92.9%) and 32 (76.2%) patients had ANA and ds-DNA antibodies respectively. On comparison, it was not statistically significant. Twenty- three (23) (54.76%) subjects had ATA and on comparison, it was not statistically significant. All the positive patients for ATA were females.

CONCLUSION: Sensitivity of ANA and ds-DNA positive suspected SLE subjects to have ATA in their serum was 74%. About 55% of SLE patients were positive for ATA.


ABSTRACT This case explores the switch from semi-computerized to an online employment application system. This case documents the struggles experienced with user expectations related to requirements and how customization of a third-party product derailed the project's success. The project was eventually implemented, but not without a significant development effort to customize. The end project was over budget, over time, and did not have all of the functionality that the users were expecting. Key factors leading to the project failure were: lack of user involvement and participation throughout the project including documentation of requirements for the target system, lack of a dedicated project manager, resistance to the change, poor communication, inadequate requirements, and issues with the chosen software development methodology.


Grid Computing has emerged as core computing technology in many distributed applications initiated by different organizations all over the world. It aims to enable large scale resource sharing. Security is a big and challenging issue as a grid service may impact number of other services/resources distributed over wide area networks. The dynamic and multi- institutional nature of grid applications introduces challenging security issues that require new technical approaches. This paper proposes, at an abstract level, a framework for handling security issues in grids. The framework is capable of addressing both, generic as well as application specific security issues of grid services.


E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Background: Visual function impairment in early childhood affects the development of child's perception of the world. There is an increase in the importance of studies on not only characteristics of vision impairment, but also on the impact of these characteristics on the quality of life (QoL), for predicting subsequent full-blown socialization of the child and the potential for effective treatment of a detected eye condition or correction of an eye with a refractive error. Purpose: To examine the impact of eye disease on the components of QoL of children from various age groups. Material and Methods: Eight hundred and twenty-four parents of children of various age groups voluntarily and anonymously responded to the adapted version of the Children's Visual Function Questionnaire (CVFQ) while their children were having an examination of eye functions. Results: The presence of eye disease affected child QoL, with a reduction in the mean total score of child QoL of 17.8% for the age cohort of children under 3 years of age, and of 19.3% for the age cohort of children above 3 years of age. Visual function impairment affected the scores of General Health, General Vision, Competence and Personality domains, particularly, the score of the child's capacity to get along well with peers and friends. Conclusion: Studies on child quality of life demonstrate the impact of visual function impairment on the child's potential for socialization, and still provide a means for getting feedback from the patient when there is a need for prolonged observation of changes in his/her visual functions.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] to prealbumin (PA) ratio and the N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ratio for the prediction of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

METHODS
A 1:1 matched case-control study was performed to retrospectively analyze ACS patients who underwent PCI from January 2022 to June 2022. Patients with MACE were selected as the case group (n = 55), and age- and gender-matched patients without MACE were selected as the control group (n = 55). Clinical data for the two groups was compared by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Risk factors and the odds ratio (OR) for MACE in ACS patients were evaluated, and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were used to evaluate the Lp(a)/PA ratio, the NT-proBNP/LVEF ratio, and their combination for the prediction of MACE in ACS patients.

RESULTS
The MACE and non-MACE groups showed statistically significant differences for time from onset to PCI, LVEF, NT-proBNP, white blood cell (WBC), Lp(a), PA, Lp(a)/PA, NT-proBNP/LVEF, number of catheterizations, number of implanted stents >2, and support diameter >3 (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that LVEF, Lp(a)/PA and NT-proBNP/LVEF were independent risk factors for MACE. ROC curve analysis for Lp(a)/PA showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for the prediction of MACE was 0.779 (0.693-0.864), the cut-off point was 1.36, the sensitivity was 69.1%, and the specificity was 74.5%. The AUC for NT-proBNP/LVEF in predicting MACE was 0.827 (0.75-0.904), the cut-off point was 61.04, the sensitivity was 65.5%, and the specificity was 92.7%. For the combination of Lp(a)/PA and NT-proBNP/LVEF, the AUC for the prediction of MACE was 0.889 (0.830-0.947), the cut-off point was 0.37, the sensitivity was 81.8%, and the specificity was 81.8%.

CONCLUSION
The combination of Lp(a)/PA and NT-proBNP/LVEF at admission showed good predictive value for the occurrence of MACE in ACS patients after PCI.


A comparative study has been performed for silicon microclusters, Si3 and Si4, considering fifteen different empirical potential energy functions. It has been found that only two of the empirical potential energy functions give linear structure more stable for Si3, the remaining potential functions give triangular structure as more stable. In the case of Si4 microclusters eight potential functions give open tetrahedral structure as more stable, two functions give perfect tetrahedral as more stable, three functions give square structure as more stable, and two functions give linear structure as more stable.


Constipation is a common condition affecting approximately 16.5% of population in Korea. Evaluation of constipation should be done with a history and physical examination at first. In patients with alarm sign, blood test, radiography or colonoscopy should be considered. Additionally, for defining the pathophysiology and treatment of severe constipation, physiologic studies are needed. Treatment of constipation based on the pathophysiology is generally successful. Exercise and fiber are helpful in some patients with constipation. The laxative including osmotic agent, stimulant laxatives and stool softer have been shown to be more effective than placebo at relieving symptoms of constipation. Traditional laxatives are not tolerated and are not effective in all patients with constipation. Promising drug classes, new enterokinetic agents such as 5-hydroxytyptamine-4 receptor agonists and chloride channel activators could be effective in patients with severe constipation. Biofeedback could relieve symptoms in selected patients with pelvic floor dysfunction and severe constipation. Surgical treatment could be helpful in carefully selected patients with refractory constipation. (Korean J Med 2012;83:568-579)


Factory automation robot systems often depend on specially-made jigs that precisely position each part, which increases the system's cost and limits flexibility. We propose a method to determine the 3D pose of an object with high precision and confidence, using only parallel robotic grippers and no parts-specific jigs. Our method automatically generates a sequence of actions that ensures that the real-world position of the physical object matches the system's assumed pose to sub-mm precision. Furthermore, we propose the use of "extrinsic" actions, which use gravity, the environment and the gripper geometry to significantly reduce or even eliminate the uncertainty about an object's pose. We show in simulated and real-robot experiments that our method outperforms our previous work, at success rates over 95%.


Motivation Klebsiella species are increasingly multidrug resistant pathogens affecting human and animal health and are widely distributed in the environment. Among these, the Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex (KpSC), which includes seven phylogroups, is an important cause of community and hospital infections. In addition, the Klebsiella oxytoca species complex (KoSC) also causes hospital infections and antibiotic-associated haemorrhagic colitis. The unsuitability of widely used clinical microbiology methods to distinguish species within each of these species complexes leads to high rates of misidentifications that are masking the true clinical significance and potential epidemiological specificities of individual species. Results We developed a web-based tool, Klebsiella MALDI TypeR, a platform-independent and user-friendly application that enables uploading raw data from MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer to identify Klebsiella isolates at the species complex and phylogroup levels. The tool is based on a database of previously identified biomarkers that are specific for either the species complex, individual phylogroups, or related phylogroups, and is available at https://maldityper.pasteur.fr.


Inspecting protein and ligand electrostatic potential (ESP) surfaces in order to optimize electrostatic complementarity is a key activity in drug design. These ESP surfaces need to reflect the true electrostatic nature of the molecules, which typically means time-consuming high-level quantum mechanics (QM) calculations are required. For interactive design much faster alternative methods are required. Here, we present a graph convolutional deep neural network (DNN) model, trained on ESP surfaces derived from high quality QM calculations, that generates ESP surfaces for ligands in a fraction of a second. Additionally, we describe a method for constructing fast QM-trained ESP surfaces for proteins. We show that the DNN model generates ESP surfaces that are in good agreement with QM and that the ESP values correlate well with experimental properties relevant to medicinal chemistry. We believe that these high-quality, interactive ESP surfaces form a powerful tool for driving drug discovery programs forward. The trained model and associated code are available from https://github.com/AstexUK/ESP_DNN .


Summary: As with other methods long used in intensive care units (ICU) and operating rooms (OR), the goal of neuroscience ICU continuous EEG (NICUCEEG) and evoked potential (NICU-EP) monitoring is to extend our powers of observation to detect abnormalities at a reversible stage. EEG is an appropriate monitoring tool because it is linked to cerebral metabolism, is sensitive to ischemia and hypoxemia, correlates with cerebral topography, detects neuronal dysfunction at a reversible stage, and is the best method for detecting seizure activity. When applied systematically, it can impact medical decision-making in 81% of monitored patients. It is useful in monitoring precarious cerebral perfusion at the bedside, and it has revealed that nonconvulsive seizures, undetectable otherwise, occur in 34% of NICU patients. In convulsive status epilepticus, NICUCEEG can help avoid undertreatment and overtreatment. In comatose patients, it can provide useful prognostic information as well as detect potentially treatable causes. Traditional impediments to its application are yielding to technological advances and educational efforts. Real-time digitized EEG in particular has been a major advance. Within limits, somatosensory evoked potential monitoring (ICU-SEP) is useful in the prognosis of coma, but it is less helpful in monitoring focal cerebral ischemia. Brainstem auditory evoked potential monitoring has a relatively restricted role in the NICU but is helpful in distinguishing structural from nonstructural causes of coma and can supplement ICU-SEP in predicting outcome.


Background: Adolescent spasmodic valgus foot is usually associated with resistant pain and deformity. It shows controversy regarding its incidence, etiology, and treatment. Our study aimed to evaluate the functional outcome after the nonsurgical treatment for such condition. Methods: This study included 50 planovalgus feet secondary to peroneal or peroneo-extensor spasm in 33 adolescents with a mean age of 14 ± 2.8 years. The procedure included foot manipulation under general anesthesia, sinus tarsi injection with corticosteroids, and a walking cast in the neutral position. Patients were evaluated functionally (using the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS)) and radiologically before the procedure, after cast removal, and 3, 9, and 18 months later with special attention given for recurrence during the follow-up period with a mean duration of 22.5 ± 3.5 months. Results: Once general anesthesia had been conducted, the deformity was corrected without any manipulation, and full passive inversion could be easily obtained in 26 feet, the deformity was corrected only after manipulation, and full passive inversion had been obtained in 14 feet, while 10 feet remained stiff even after manipulation. The mean AOFAS score was significantly improved (p < 0.001) from 40.9 ± 3.5 at presentation to 73.56 ± 5.2 at the last follow-up in which 12 feet was painless and freely mobile and 24 feet had partial relapse, while 14 feet had complete relapse. Conclusion: The nonsurgical treatment for adolescent spasmodic valgus foot could be a simple and effective treatment. Apart from limited complete recurrence, the overall functional outcome was satisfactory. Level of evidence: type IV case series.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

The ATP-binding cassette, subfamily G, isoform 2 protein (ABCG2) is a vital member of the ABC transporter superfamily, which has been involved in multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer. Its diverse range of substrates includes many antineoplastic agents such as doxorubicin and mitoxantrone. ABCG2 expression has been significantly increased in some solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, which is correlated to poorer clinical outcomes. In addition, ABCG2 expression is a distinguishing feature of cancer stem cells, whereby this membranous transporter imparts resistance to the chemotherapeutic drugs. To enhance the chemosensitivity of cancer cells, attention has been focused on MDR modulators. In this study, we investigated the ability of sodium channel blocker, A-803467 to reverse ABCG2-mediated MDR. We found that A-803467 at non-toxic concentration could significantly increase the cellular sensitivity to ABCG2 substrates in drug-resistant cells overexpressing either wild-type or mutant ABCG2. Mechanistic studies indicated that A-803467 (7.5 μM) significantly increased the intracellular accumulation resulted from inhibition of the efflux of mitoxantrone by inhibiting the transport activity without altering expression level of ABCG2 protein. Furthermore, ATPase analysis indicates that A-803467 stimulates the ATPase activity in membranes overexpressing ABCG2. Our findings suggest that A-803467 has the potential to be used in combination with ABCG2 chemotherapeutic substrates to augment the response in drug resistant cancers.

Citation Format: Nagaraju Anreddy. A-803467, a sodium channel blocker, reverses ABCG2-mediated MDR. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1967. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1967


AIM
To understand how nurses contribute to postoperative pain management in a surgical setting and to identify barriers to achieving optimal postoperative pain alleviation.

BACKGROUND
Postoperative pain is inadequately managed. Nurses play an important role in assessment, treatment and evaluation of postoperative pain in surgical wards, but combined observational and interview studies about how they approach these activities have rarely been undertaken.

DESIGN AND METHODS
The study design is descriptive. Observations and in-depth interviews were conducted with nine nurses on three surgical wards at two hospitals. Each nurse was observed during five shifts, day and night, and interviewed after the final observation. The collection and analysis of data followed principles of qualitative research.

FINDINGS
One main theme emerged about the nurses' approach to postoperative pain management: a discrepancy between what the nurses said they did and what they actually did.

CONCLUSION
The study revealed a gap between what nurses said and did in postoperative pain management, and this gap was smaller when the nurses took an active approach. An active approach towards patients about postoperative pain seemed to enhance pain alleviation.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
Nursing education and practice both need to promote knowledge of pain and pain management, as well as empathy and empathic communication in relation to pain. They need to collaborate in guiding nurses to act in accord with theoretical knowledge and so enhance competence in nursing actions related to postoperative pain management.


Vesiculo-bullous dermatitis of pigs characterised by presence of vesicles and bullae on the snout and feet of white skinned pigs was reproduced experimentally. Leaves of parsnips (Pastinaca sativa), or celery (Apium graveolens) infected with the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were fed or rubbed on the snouts and feet of white skinned pigs. Pigs were then exposed to sunlight or to UV light of intensity approximately 212 m W/M2 at a wavelength 340-360 nm for eight hours per day until vesicles developed. All treated pigs developed lesions on the snouts, and less frequently on the feet. Lesions were characterised by the appearance of erythema at 24 hours after treatment. Vesicles developed at 48 hours and became maximal by 72 hours. Pigs treated with plant material without exposure to UV light or exposed to UV light without contact with plant material did not develop lesions. The experimental lesions closely resemble those observed in several field cases in 1984 and 1985 in New Zealand and to lesions present in three well publicized foot and mouth disease scares at Warkworth, and Temuka in New Zealand and Legana in Tasmania.


Through cation exchange capacity assay, nitrogen adsorption-desorption surface area measurements, scanning electron microscopic imaging, infrared spectra and elemental analyses, we characterized biochar materials produced from cornstover under two different pyrolysis conditions, fast pyrolysis at 450 °C and gasification at 700 °C. Our experimental results showed that the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the fast-pyrolytic char is about twice as high as that of the gasification char as well as that of a standard soil sample. The CEC values correlate well with the increase in the ratios of the oxygen atoms to the carbon atoms (O:C ratios) in the biochar materials. The higher O:C ratio was consistent with the presence of more hydroxyl, carboxylate, and carbonyl groups in the fast pyrolysis char. These results show how control of biomass pyrolysis conditions can improve biochar properties for soil amendment and carbon sequestration. Since the CEC of the fast-pyrolytic cornstover char can be about double that of a standard soil sample, this type of biochar products would be suitable for improvement of soil properties such as CEC, and at the same time, can serve as a carbon sequestration agent.


Objective To evaluate the conversion of opioid-experienced patients with chronic moderate-to-severe pain to extended-release morphine sulfate with sequestered naltrexone hydrochloride (MSN) using a standardized conversion guide. Methods This open-label, single-arm study was conducted in 157 primary care centers in the United States. A total of 684 opioid-experienced adults with chronic moderate-to-severe pain were converted to oral administration of MSN from transdermal fentanyl and oral formulations of hydrocodone, hydromorphone, methadone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, and other morphine products using a standardized conversion guide. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients achieving a stable MSN dose within a 6-week titration phase. Secondary endpoints included duration of time to stable dose, number of titration steps, safety and efficacy measures, and investigator assessment of conversion guide utility. Results Of the 684 patients, 51.3% were converted to a stable dose of MSN (95% confidence interval: 47.5%, 55.1%). The mean (standard deviation) number of days to stable dose was 20 (8.94), and number of titration steps to stable dose was 2.4 (1.37). The majority of adverse events were mild/moderate and consistent with opioid therapy. Mean pain scores at stable dose decreased from baseline. Investigators were generally satisfied with the conversion guide and, in 94% of cases, reported they would use it again. Conclusion Conversion to MSN treatment using the standardized MSN conversion guide was an attainable goal in approximately half of the population of opioid-experienced patients with chronic moderate-to-severe pain. Investigators found the guide to be a useful tool to assist conversion of opioid-experienced patients to MSN.


The use of robotic systems in physical rehabilitation protocols has become increasingly attractive and has been given more focus in the last decade as a result of the high prevalence of motor deficits in the population, which is linked to an overburdened healthcare system. In accordance with current trends, three robotic devices have been designed, called ParReEx Elbow, ParReEx Wrist, and ASPIRE, which were designed to improve upper-limb medical recovery (shoulder, elbow, forearm, and wrist). The three automated systems were tested in a hospital setting with 23 patients (12 men and 11 women) suffering from motor deficits caused by various neurological diseases such as stroke, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The patients were divided into three groups based on their pathology (vascular, extrapyramidal, and neuromuscular). Objective clinical measures, such as the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale, goniometry, and dynamometry, were used to compare pre- and post-rehabilitation assessments for both robotic-aided and manual physical rehabilitation therapy. The results of these tests showed that, with the exception of a few minor differences in muscular strength recovery, the robotic-assisted rehabilitation methods performed equally as well as the manual techniques, though only minor improvements were validated during short-term rehabilitation. The greatest achievements were obtained in the goniometric analysis where some rehabilitation amplitudes increased by over 40% in the vascular group, but the same analysis returned regressions in the neuromuscular group. The MRC scale analysis returned no significant differences, with most regressions occurring in the neuromuscular group. The dynamometric analysis mostly returned improvements, but the highest value evolution was 19.07%, which also in the vascular group. While the results were encouraging, more research is needed with a larger sample size and a longer study period in order to provide more information regarding the efficacy of both rehabilitation methods in neurological illnesses.


Hitherto unknown nucleoside analogues incorporating the five naturally occurring nucleic acid bases built on a 2-oxabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane template were synthesized. The synthesis of these new conformationally restricted nucleoside analogues involved the preparation of a suitable sugar precursor bearing the 2-oxabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane scaffold. This sugar was readily obtained from [(3aS,6aS)-2,2-dimethyl-3a,6a-dihydrofuro[2,3-d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl]methyl benzyl ether (4) following a Simons-Smith-type cyclopropanation reaction. Finally, glycosylation reactions and deprotection provided the nucleoside analogues. Using nucleoside 14 bearing thymine base as a model, we found that the conformation of such nucleoside analogue was restricted toward a (0)T(1) conformation.


Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of standardized ultrasonography during early pregnancy in fetal malformation screening.
Methods: From July 2015 to July 2017, 2534 pregnant women enrolled in our hospital to receive fetal malformation screening during early pregnancy were selected as the objects. All pregnant were given standardized ultrasonography at 11~13+6 w of gestation to acquire the information of baby's Crown Rump Length (CRL), Nuchal Translucency (NT), fetal abnormalities and chromosomal abnormalities. The effect of ultrasound was analysed by comparing its result with the result of induction delivery.
Results: In these 2534 pregnant women, 25 cases of fetal malformation were detected by standardized ultrasonography during early pregnancy with the diagnostic accuracy rate highly reaching 96%. CRL and NT of the parturient women at 13-13+6 w of gestation were significantly higher than those of the pregnant at 12-13+6 w and 11-12+6 w of gestation; The CRL and NT of the parturient women at 12-13+6 w of gestation were obviously higher than those of the women at 11-12+6 w of gestation and the difference had statistical significance (P<0.05). The ultrasound examination result showed that in these 2534 pregnant women 33 cases were fetal NT thickening. NT thickening of 3.0-4.9 mm was found in 20 cases in which there were 2 cases of induction delivery and 18 cases of normal postpartum. NT thickening of 5.0-6.0 mm was seen in 7 cases in which there were 4 cases of chromosome abnormalities, 4 cases of induction delivery and 3 cases of normal postpartum. NT thickening beyond 6.0 mm was observed in 6 cases in which there were 6 cases of induction delivery with no normal postpartum. The fetal normal rate after delivery of the women with NT thickening beyond 6.0 mm was significantly lower than that of those with NT thickening of 5.0-6.0 mm and NT thickening of 3.0-4.9 mm of statistical significance (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Standardized ultrasonography in early pregnancy has good effects in fetal malformation screening.


Thymus lymphocytes-subpopulations (T-helper T4 and T-suppressorcells T8) were determined in inner ear diseases (e.g. sudden hearing loss, neuronitis vestibularis, Morbus Menière, Bell's Palsy) by specific monoclonal antibodies. T-cell subset ratio (T4/T8) was elevated (less than 3) in about 50% of all patients. DR-typifying was performed because of the well-known control of the immunoregulation through the class II HLA-DR antigens. There was a relative risk of 5.2 in peripheral vestibular lesion (neuronitis vestibularis). The relative risk of autoimmune diseases is found at this level.


—Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is es- sential to redefining transportation by providing real-time, highly reliable, and actionable information flows to enable safety, mobil- ity and environmental applications. V2X communications and its solutions enable the exchange of information (e.g., Basic Safety Messages) between vehicles, and between vehicle and network infrastructure. To ensure data quality, and hence proper action, V2X data must be authenticated and correct. In this paper, we propose an extensive attack platform, called VASP, which contains 68 BSM attacks. This platform is used to enhance V2X threat assessment, design relevant detectors, guide standardization and prioritization for deployment. The objective is to provide to the security community the tool to help build a more robust V2X system.


Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) predominantly affects older adults, a population with a poor prognosis, due to age, comorbidities and forms of disease. We present a retrospective study of 45 patients older than 60 years of age, with AML, who were diagnosed and/or treated in our clinic in the year 2001. Our study refers to 32 men, 63-80 years of age and 13 women, 62-85 years of age. Fourteen of them were diagnosed as de novo leukemia while 31 developed secondary leukemia, due to myelodysplasia, chronic myeloid leukemia and essential thrombocytemia. A therapeutic protocol that included 2 courses of induction chemotherapy with idarubicin 8mg/m2 for 3 days, aracytin 100 mg/m2 for 5 days and etoposide 75 mg/m2 for 5 days, followed by 2 courses of consolidation chemotherapy with aracytin 800 mg/m2/d for 4 days, was administered. In patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia we additionally administered all trans retinoic acid. Those with erythroleukemia also received erythropoietin, 10,000 IU 3 times a week. All patients received supportive therapy with blood products and G-CSF during blood marrow aplasia. Four patients refused therapy and three patients received only blood product support because of poor performance status. Nine out of the 38 patients who received chemotherapy (23.7%) achieved a complete remission after treatment, while, 13 out of 38 (34.2%) only a partial one (overall remission rate: 57.9 %). Ten patients relapsed in <6 months and 12 patients relapsed in >6 months. Patients who received only supportive treatment died 2-5 months after initial diagnosis. During therapy, 16 patients (42.1%) died due to: infection, cerebrovascular or gastrointestinal bleeding and acute myocardial infarction. In conclusion, it appears that a high percentage of the elderly patients with AML, despite the unfavourable prognosis, responded to chemotherapy (57.9%) and achieved longer survival durations compared to patients who refused therapy or received supportive treatment alone. Unfortunately, a large number of them exhibited serious complications during treatment, with a mortal outcome. Close follow-up and supportive care highly contributed to an improvement of treatment outcome in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia.


Background
The application of hematopoietic cell transplantation for induction of immune tolerance has been limited by toxicities associated with conditioning regimens and to graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Decades of animal studies have culminated into sufficient control of these two problems, making immune tolerance a viable alternative to life-long application of immunosuppressive drugs to prevent allograft rejection.

Methods
Studies in mice have paved the way for the application of HCT with limited toxicity in large animal models. Resultant studies in the pig, dog, and ultimately the nonhuman primate have led to appropriate methods for achieving nonmyeloablative irradiation protocols, dose, and timing of post-grafting immunosuppressive drugs, monoclonal antibody therapy, and biologicals for costimulatory molecule blockade. The genetics field has been extensively evaluated in appreciation of the ultimate need to obtain organs from MHC-mismatched unrelated donors.

Results
Nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens have been shown to be successful in inducing immune tolerance across all three animal models. Postgrafting immunosuppression is also important in assuring sustained donor hematopoiesis for tolerance. Donor chimerism need not be permanent to establish stable engraftment of donor organs, thereby essentially eliminating the risk of GVHD. Using nonmyeloablative HCT with monoclonal antibody immunosuppression, the kidney has been successfully transplanted in MHC-mismatched nonhuman primates.

Conclusions
Nonmyeloablative HCT for the establishment of temporary mixed chimerism has led to the establishment of stable tolerance against solid organ allografts in large animal models. The kidney, considered a tolerogenic organ, has been successfully transplanted in the clinic. Other organs such as heart, lung, and vascularized composite allografts (face and hands), remain distant possibilities. Further study in large animal models will be required to improve tolerance against these organs before success can be attained in the clinic.


This paper shows a general view of Spain situation concerning Information Society, as well as, reviews which are the main impulsive measures developed by public administrations in order to achieve great advance in use and exploitation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). For that purpose, fi rst, this paper presents a background review about the importance of these technologies for productivity and behavior of economies very different from each other such as the United States, European Union or Spain. Following that, the initiative i2010 is presented along with its main performances within Plan Avanza, and fi nally, the importance of ICT sector in Spain and support measures are reviewed.


Abstract Purpose To compare the efficacy and safety of focused ultrasound (FUS) therapy and cryotherapy for cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL). Methods In this retrospective study, data pertaining to women treated for cervical SIL with FUS therapy or cryotherapy at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between 21 April 2018 and 31 August 2020 were obtained. The patients were followed up after 3–6 and 6–12 months. The proportions of women with no evidence of disease, recurrent disease, clearance of the human papillomavirus (HPV) and adverse effects or complications were determined. Results Of the 250 women with complete data who were included in the study, 144 and 106 received FUS therapy and cryotherapy, respectively. Overall, FUS therapy was observed to be more effective than cryotherapy (91.7 vs. 79.2%, p = 0.005). Statistically significant differences were noted in the treatment efficacy for patients with low-grade SIL (LSIL) (92.3 vs. 80.2%, p = 0.011). However, there were no significant differences in the treatment efficacy for patients with high-grade SIL (HSIL) (88.9 vs. 75.0%, p = 0.390). The recurrence rates in patients with LSIL treated with FUS therapy or cryotherapy showed no significant differences at the 6–12-month follow-up (1.0 vs. 6.0%, p = 0.163). Furthermore, there was no recurrence in patients with HSIL, either in the FUS or cryotherapy group. FUS therapy and cryotherapy resulted in similar HPV clearance at the 3–6-month follow-up (77.1 vs. 64.8%, p = 0.057). No statistically significant differences were observed in the complication rates between the two groups (3.5 vs. 1.9%, p = 0.717). Conclusion The results of this study suggest that FUS therapy is superior to cryotherapy in the treatment of cervical LSIL.


This paper presents a practical methodology of obtaining a robust optimal solution for a multi U-slot PIFA (Planar Inverted F-Antenna) structure with triple bands of 433 MHz, 912 MHz and 2.45 GHz. Using evolutionary strategy, a global optimum is first sought out in terms of the dimensions of the slots and shorting strip. Then, starting with the optimized values, Taguchi quality method is carried out in order to obtain a robust design of the antenna against the changes of uncontrollable factors such as material property and feed position. To prove the validity of the proposed method, the performance of the antenna is predicted by general-purpose electromagnetic software and also compared to experimental results.


This study investigated the effects of a hemicellulase dosage (20, 40, and 60 mg kg−1 of flour) on the bread quality and rheological properties of wheat aleurone-rich flour. The results showed that hemicellulase could soften dough and improve extensibility. At the optimum hemicellulase dosage (40 mg kg−1 of flour), the bread specific volume increased by 40.91% and firmness of breadcrumb decreased by 104.57% compared to those of the control. Intermolecular forces indicated that the gluten network during the proofing was mainly strengthened via disulfide bonds, hydrophobic interactions, and hydrogen bonds but not through ionic bonds after hemicellulase addition. Fourier infrared spectroscopy indicated that the hydrolytic activity of hemicellulase catalyzed the transition from α-helix to β-sheet, which verified that viscoelasticity of gluten was enhanced at a dosage of 40 mg kg−1 of flour. These results suggested that hydrolyzation of hemicellulase contributed to the structural of gluten changes, thereby improving the quality of wheat aleurone-rich bread.


Background: While the past decades have seen unprecedented efforts directed towards genotyping, parallel efforts are required on the side of phenotyping in order to understand how genetic variation relates to clinical manifestations. The potential of using coarse phenotypes (at the disease level) based on electronic health record (EHR) data for genomic studies has been demonstrated. However, the study of rare syndromes will likely require detailed phenotyping. Specialized ontologies of phenotypic abnormalities, such as the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO), are currently used for the annotation of phenotypes in databases. However, the use of EHR data for translational research is predicated on the analysis of phenotypes coded natively with terminologies such as SNOMED CT, and therefore on the coverage of such phenotypes in SNOMED CT. Methods: We map HPO terms (April 2014) to the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) Metathesaurus (2013AB) using exact and normalized matches, followed by semantic filtering. Then we map HPO classes to SNOMED CT concepts (July 2013) through UMLS concepts. We also compare these lexical mappings to the cross-references to SNOMED CT provided by HPO. Results: We extracted for 10,491 HPO phenotypes (classes), their preferred terms (one per class) and 5,923 synonyms, along with the cross-references to SNOMED CT provided by HPO for 267 classes. In total, some cross-reference or lexical mapping to UMLS was found for 5,858 HPO classes (56%). Using the lexical mappings to UMLS obtained for 5,650 HPO classes (54%), we derived mappings to SNOMED CT for 3,116 classes (30%). Although coverage is partial, SNOMED CT is the source vocabulary in the UMLS for which the coverage of HPO phenotypes is the highest. HPO only provides cross-references to SNOMED CT for 3% of its classes, which is in contrast to the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), to which most cross references are provided (covering 10% of the classes). Conclusions: Although our mapping has not been validated, this investigation suggests that our approach to mapping HPO classes to SNOMED CT through the UMLS yields significantly more links between HPO and SNOMED CT than are provided in HPO through cross-references. This approach can therefore facilitate the interoperability between these two terminological resources. However, harmonization between HPO and SNOMED CT is needed to ensure that detailed phenotypic information can be captured in clinical repositories. References 1 Kohler, S., et al. (2014) The Human Phenotype Ontology project: linking molecular biology and disease through phenotype data, Nucleic Acids Res, 42, D966-974.


This paper presents new evidence on the flexibility of the Hungarian labor market, with special emphasis on wages. The results are based on a new survey on wage setting among Hungarian firms. The survey is part of the Eurosystem Wage Dynamics Network (WDN), and it is a harmonized questionnaire administered in 17 countries in Europe, including almost all Euro Area countries as well as five Central and Eastern European countries. The survey results show that the Hungarian labor market, while institutionally flexible, appears to be surprisingly rigid. The survey evidence points to low turnover and possibly more rigid wages than previously thought.


The increase in female labor force participation coupled with a higher number of women reaching retirement unmarried has increased the share of women claiming Social Security benefits earned through their own job histories. But they still bear the lion's share of caregiving responsibilities, and the previous literature has provided clear evidence that motherhood reduces earnings during the childbearing and child-rearing years. What remains understudied is the extent to which mothers face lower lifetime earnings and, consequently, lower Social Security income. This paper uses the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) linked to administrative earnings records to answer three questions. First, how much less do mothers earn over their careers compared to childless women, and how much less do they earn for each additional child? Second, how do Social Security benefits differ between mothers and non-mothers? Third, how does each of the existing elements of the Social Security system that indirectly help mothers – namely, spousal benefits and the progressivity of the benefit formula – contribute to reducing the motherhood penalty?


Exercise is a voluntary stressor. It activates the sympathetic nervous system  (SNS) as well as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which results in an increase of cortisol secretion. Very little is known however about adrenocortical  response at basal state, just before the onset of exercise (pre-exercise) and  immediately after exercise (post-exercise) with relationship to gender especially in this environment. This study is therefore aimed at investigating the cortisol  response during competitive athletics in male and female athletes during the basal  state, just before the exercise commences, and after the exercise. Twenty male and female athletes (22.13 ± 3.37 years) participated in this study. They were divided  into two groups based on gender. Each Group consisted of 10 athletes who  participated in a 30-minute competitive sprint round the track. Blood samples were taken at basal states, pre-exercise and post-exercise states for the analysis of  cortisol using an ELISA cortisol kit. From the results, the pre-exercise and post  exercise cortisol levels were significantly higher than at the basal state in both male and female athletes. Also, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the  cortisol level during basal and pre-exercise states between the male and female  athletes. The female athletes had a significant (p<0.05) higher cortisol level in the post-exercise state compared to male athletes. conclusively, exercise increases cortisol levels during the anticipation state of exercise and after strenuous exercise in male and female athletes and the female athletes' hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis maybe more responsive in the secretion of cortisol during strenuous exercise hence the greater increase seen. Keywords: Adrenocortical response, Athletes, Competitive athletics, Nigerians


Statistical shape model (SSM) is to model the shape variation of an object. The statistical shape models are constructed by analysis of the positions of a set of landmark points based and use the surface information. In this paper, we propose a new PCA based statistical shape modeling technique and its application to medical applications. In the proposed method, boundary points of each slice are used as surface points and distance of these points to the corresponding slice center are used to represent the shape instead of their coordinates.


This case study describes the use of a multi component behavioural programme in the treatment of a 13-year-old girl with multiple phobias of injections, dental and medical procedures who faced major surgery within 6 months. The treatment involved coping skills training, systematic desensitization, in vivo desensitization with participant modelling and homework assignments. Measures of anxiety via SUDS ratings, behavioural approach tests and self-report measures demonstrated the effectiveness of the treatment program and the subsequent maintenance of treatment effects at 8 months follow-up.


This paper tries to find the variables that banks managers in Palestine use to evaluate their bank performance. We used Balanced Scorecard method developed by Kaplan and Norton (1992) which uses 4 groups of measures: Financial, customer satisfactions, innovation of product and services, and measures to judge commitment, learning, and growth of the employees. We applied these measures to Palestinian Banks using a sample representing 43% of the banks and branches in the West Bank. A questionnaire was distributed and filled by both bank managers of head office and branch. The ratio percentages and independent t-test where used. It was found that Palestinian banks use different measures than banks in other countries. Palestinian Banks use share price and net income as the most important financial measure, number of new customers for customer satisfaction, number of new products and services for innovation of product and services and number of seminars, lectures and training for judging the commitment, learning and growth of employees. The paper also tested the existence of statistical differences between foreign and local banks and between head offices and branches . The hypothesis testing results show mixed results between foreign and local banks and reject most hypothesis between head office and branch, which agrees with the agency problems and the concentration differences between head office manager and branch manager


This Article is part of a Howard Law Journal Symposium on "Collateral Consequences: Who Really Pays the Price for Criminal Justice?," as well as my larger book project, Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century (The New Press, 2011). It considers state and federal government expansion of genetic surveillance as a collateral consequence of a criminal record in the context of a new biopolitics of race in America. Part I reviews the expansion of DNA data banking by states and the federal government, extending the collateral impact of a criminal record — in the form of becoming a permanent suspect — to growing categories of people. Part II argues that the benefits of this genetic surveillance in terms of crime detection, exonerations of innocent inmates, and public safety do not outweigh the unmerited collateral penalty of state invasion of individuals' privacy and the larger harms to democracy. These harms are exacerbated by the disproportionate collection of DNA from African Americans as a result of deep racial biases in law enforcement. Part III explains why DNA databases reflect and help to perpetuate an oppressive system of criminal justice. Finally, Part IV elaborates the racial harms that are caused by genetic surveillance that targets large numbers of African Americans, putting into practice deep-seated stereotypes about blacks' inherent criminality. Far from correcting racial bias in law enforcement, the state's use of DNA to designate millions of permanent suspects reinforces the roots of racial injustice.


Complex event detection is very challenging in open source such as You-Tube videos, which usually comprise very diverse visual contents involving various object, scene and action concepts. Not all of them, however, are relevant to the event. In other words, a video may contain a lot of "junk" information which is harmful for recognition. Hence, we propose a semantic pooling approach to tackle this issue. Unlike the conventional pooling over the entire video or specific spatial regions of a video, we employ a discriminative approach to acquire abstract semantic "regions" for pooling. For this purpose, we first associate low-level visual words with semantic concepts via their co-occurrence relationship. We then pool the low-level features separately according to their semantic information. The proposed semantic pooling strategy also provides a new mechanism for incorporating semantic concepts for low-level feature based event recognition. We evaluate our approach on TRECVID MED [1] dataset and the results show that semantic pooling consistently improves the performance compared with conventional pooling strategies.


It was observed before that due to convergence in the olfactory system a possible amplification can be as large as the degree of convergence. This is in the case when a single impulse from the converging inputs is enough to trigger the secondary neuron. On the other hand, if a number of impulses are required for triggering, a gain in discriminating ability may be obtained along with decrease in sensitivity gained due to the convergence. We discuss this trade-off in terms of concrete estimates using olfactory sensory neuron and the set of its receptor proteins as an example of system with convergence.


Purpose: This study was to explore the relationship between the learning styles and caring behaviors of nursing students in a 5-year associate degree nursing program and 4-year and 2-year bachelor of science nursing programs. Methods: Two measurement instruments were used: the Chinese version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to identify learning styles and the Caring Behavior Scale (CBS) to measure caring behaviors. The research period was from 2015 to 2016. Ethical approval was granted. To analyze the study data, descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance and an independent t-test were performed. Results: Three common learning styles were found: ENFP (extraversion, intuition, feeling, perceiving), ISTJ (introversion, sensing, thinking, judging) and ISFJ (introversion, sensing, feeling, judging). The results indicated that caring behaviors are significantly related to learning styles. Moreover, there was a significant difference between caring behaviors and subscales extraversion/introversion, respectively. Conclusion: The information about learning style and caring behavior is a major consideration while planning for successful nursing education. Further research is recommended. This study provides a reference for the design of nursing curricula, as well as the use of varied teaching strategies to appropriately respond to students' needs, so that they can mitigate problematic learning situations and provide quality of care in the workplace.


The Carpathians belong to the European Alpine system, which was formed during the convergence and collision of the European and African plates. The Polish segment of the Western Outer Carpathians is a north-verging thrust-and-fold belt composed largely of Lower Cretaceous to lower Miocene flysch. The belt comprises five rootless nappes: Skole, Subsilesian, Silesian, Dukla and Magura nappes. This paper presents the results of anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), anisotropy of magnetic remanence (Anisotropy of Anhysteric Remanent Magnetization, AARM) and isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) studies performed both in Oligocene turbidite sequences in the frontal part of the Dukla nappe and in olistostrome complex of the Lipowica quarry, topping the Silesian nappe in front of the Dukla nappe.
For the study 102 individually oriented cores were drilled at nine geographically distributed localities. At each locality claystones were sampled, except Lipowica quarry, where silt and sandstone were also drilled. The AMS measurements showed that, the magnetic fabrics were dominantly foliated, with a weak but in the most cases well defined lineations, which correlate to the local strikes. At four localities the AMS lineations are aligned with the general (NW-SE) tectonic trend of the unit. The samples from Lipowica quarry and three other localities exhibit different, but still horizontal AMS lineations. At locality 6, the AMS lineation is vertical. In this case the question was if this peculiarity is due to strong deformation or mineralogical reasons.
Because of the relatively low susceptibilities (1-3*10-4 SI), paramagnetic minerals can be importantcontributors to the AMS fabric. In order to study the magnetic fabric of the ferromagnetic mineral, which, according to the IRM measurements, most probably magnetite, AARM measurements were carried out so far on the samples from three localities and compared with the AMS fabric. We observed that, the difference between the AMS and AARM lineations at locality 8 is small. At locality 6 the AARM fabric is "normal" and parallel to the main tectonic trend of the Dukla nappe, and so becomes the AMS fabric after thermal demagnetization at 460°C. We interpret these phenomena as related to the presence of siderite in the rock, which is a paramagnetic mineral, known for its ability of creating inverse fabric in sediments. Concerning locality 1, the directions of the AMS and AARM lineations are quite different in all three rock types studied, but none of them are aligned with the main tectonic trend of the Dukla nappe.
The above results outline a really complicated picture of the deformation history of the Dukla nappe, where the documented or suspected presence of the olistoliths may explain the often occurring local anomalies. Further AARM measurements are planned in the near future in order to understand better the tectonics of the Dukla nappe.


Background

this study was conducted to explore the ecosystem services of urban forests in Adama city, central Ethiopia. Attempts were made to quantify the carbon storage and sequestration, air pollution removal and hydrological benefits of urban trees. The urban forest stracture and composition of the city was surveyed and analyzed. The i-Tree Eco Model was employed to analyze the ecosystem services based on the current urban forests structure of the city.
Results

the result revealed that the urban trees of the Adama city stored a total of 116,000 tons of carbon. The tree species identified with higher CO2 sequestration per year were Melia azedarach (15%), Eucalyptusglobulus (8%, Carica papaya(7%), and Delonix regia (6%). Approximately 22, 12, 10 and 4% of carbon were stored by Eucalyptus globulus, Melia azedarach, Carica papaya and Delonix regia tree species respectively. Moreover, trees and shrubs spps. in the city removed about 188 thousand tons of air pollutants caused by O3, CO, NO2, PM2.5 and SO2 per year. In Adama, 35% of the urban trees' VOC emissions were from Eucalyptus cinerea and Eucalyptus globulus. The monetary value of Adama urban forest in terms of carbon storage, carbon sequestration, and pollution removal was estimated to 43,781, 3,121 yr− 1 and 320,915,596 USD yr− 1, respectively.
Conclusions

it was concluded that significant quantiy of CO2 and air pollutnants were found being removed by the exotic tree and shrub species. However, every plant species found in the city does not mean ecologically important due their VOC emitting nature. Thus, proper planning and inventories of urban forests should be put in place by the key stakeholders such as government, urban foresters and city dwellers as urban trees mitigates climate changes and essential to alleviate urban pollution besides the trees add esthetic value to the city.


Information and communications technology (ICT) has generated a great revolution in the way to access and transfer information. ICT has also created new communication paradigms. In particular, in the field of culture, this technological evolution allows for improving the interactivity between the user and the digital environment. It also permits to store and deliver cultural contents anywhere using the connectivity provided by communication networks and, especially, by wireless networks. Gamification is a technique that uses playful data feeds to offer contents that might be tedious in a more enjoyable manner. In this context, a game such as Geocatching helps offer cultural information about a very popular event in the city of Badalona; 'La cremada del dimoni'. On the other hand, there is a lack of knowledge about this festivity among the population. The Department of Culture of Badalona City Council has established an itinerary through the city -La Ruta del Dimoni- that explains in detail the history of the festivity previously mentioned - which dates back to 1940- and its evolution over time. However, the current Geocatching itinerary is done with GPS devices and papers and its management is quite complex. This project has analysed the current situation of the system and has developed a mobile phone application to simplify the ongoing operation of this system and offers significant improvements. That will be explained in this document


The current curability of breast cancer is reviewed. The four different stages of the disease are considered: operable breast cancer, primarily inoperable cases, local recurrences and advanced, metastatic disease. Despite progress in recent years, the latter three stages of the disease must still be regarded as incurable. Furthermore, it is still too early to provide a definite assessment of the relative merits of adjuvant chemotherapy in operable breast cancer. In view of the wellknown heterogeneity of the disease, a longer follow-up will be required for all the studies carried out in the last decade. However, currently available data suggest that adjuvant chemotherapy is increasing overall survival after radical surgery, at any rate in some subsets of patients.


Familial hypercholesterolemia is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by a mutation of the gene for the low-density lipoprotein receptor and is characterized by rapidly progressing coronary atherosclerosis. We assessed the long-term results of coronary artery bypass grafting performed during the past 13 years in 62 patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, whose mean plasma total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was 327 mg/dl and 238 mg/dl, respectively. The patients had severe coronary atherosclerosis, with coronary stenosis index of 19.7, and the prevalence of extracoronary atherosclerotic lesions was 27%. Sixty-one patients underwent successful coronary artery bypass operation, with an average of 2.5 grafts, and the coronary stenosis index decreased to 7.1. After operation, all patients consumed a cholesterol-lowering diet and received drug therapy with pravastatin, probucol, or cholestyramine. Seven patients who were resistant to drug therapy were treated with plasma low-density lipoprotein apheresis. The cholesterol-lowering therapy reduced plasma total cholesterol level by 37%, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level by 42%, and low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio by 37% (p < 0.001). During the follow-up period (mean, 52 months; range, 10 to 157 months), there was no cardiac death, but three patients died of malignant disease. The actuarial survival rate was 95% at 5 years and 89% at 12 years after operation. The actuarial freedom from recurrent angina was 90% at 5 years and 53% at 11 years after operation. Four patients underwent reoperation, an average of 8 years postoperatively, because of vein graft atherosclerosis. In spite of severe coronary atherosclerosis, these patients with familial hypercholesterolemia showed good long-term outcome after coronary artery bypass operation. The present findings suggest that aggressive use of arterial grafts, intensive cholesterollowering drug therapy, and low-density lipoprotein apheresis may be useful in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia. (J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG 1995;109:364-9)


Carrying Capacity is based on understanding the limits of acceptable change in indicators of environmental quality, is widely used in urban, regional and tourism planning. Therefore, a scientific, applied understanding of the estimation of carrying capacity and creating consensus amongst planners, researchers and executives of development programmers are prerequisites of the application of this method. The study adopted a descriptiveanalytical method and was conducted as a documentary study. The methodological concepts, components and framework of quantitative estimation of carrying capacity of land zones were identified through a systematic study. The analysis was conducted based on a sample of quantitative usage of carrying capacity in tourism development planning to determine the ecological capability of Forest Park Heydareh (Velayat) in Hamadan city using ArcGIS software in synthesis and overlapping the layers. The analysis was carried out using paired comparison method and an hourly model, which aimed to develop approaches to protect and increase the environmental capability of tourism industry in the studied area. The results showed that considerable decrease in the estimated allowable number of visitors - resulted from imposing ecological limitations and encouraging the private sector, NGOs and mass media about environmental knowledge and ecotourism – may significantly influence the planning process the Forest Park Heydareh (Velayat) in Hamadan city.


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This paper presents a novel approach, termed GPU-CDT, to compute the constrained Delaunay triangulation (CDT) for a planar straight line graph (PSLG), consisting of points and edges, using the graphics processing unit (GPU). Although there are many algorithms for constructing the 2D CDT using the CPU, there has been no known prior approach using the parallel computing power of the GPU efficiently. For the special case of the CDT problem with PSLGs consisting of just points, which is the normal Delaunay triangulation problem, a hybrid approach has recently been proposed that uses the GPU together with the CPU to partially speed up the computation. Our GPU-CDT works for such special case too, but the whole computation is fully accelerated by the GPU. Our implementation using the CUDA programming model on nVidia GPUs is numerically robust and runs several times faster than any existing CPU algorithms as well as the prior GPU-CPU hybrid approach. This result is reflected in our experiment with both randomly generated PSLGs and real world GIS data, with millions of points and edges.


Position determination using satellite navigation system has grown significantly. It provides geospatial with global coverage called GNSS (Global Navigation System Satellite). GNSS satellites consists of GLONASS, GPS (Global positioning system) and Galileo.GPS is the most commonly used system and it is known to its capability to determine 3D position on the surface of the earth. In order to determine the position, a GPS receiver must be able to receive signals from at least four GPS satellites. However, the determination of position in condensed areas such as tunnels, area surrounded by high rise buildings, highly forested and in other closely-knit areas is not achieved because satellite signals cannot reach the receiver in the above-mentioned areas and also others where the signals are reflected before being received by a GPS receiver. In this paper, we present the algorithm to fuse GPS and the inertial measurement unit (IMU) to enable positioning in the above-mentioned Condensed Areas. The standard deviations of the two measurements show that GPS-IMU is better than GPS alone, the standard deviation when satellite outages occurred is - 4.57475 for GPS-IMU measurements and 0.218675 for GPS observations. We presented the results in graphics and it shows that GPS measurements are easily disturbed by external influence such as multipath but GPS-IMU graphic is continuous and robust. The advantages and disadvantages of GPS and INS are complementary and make them work together to enable the accurate measurements in the areas mentioned above. Integration of INS and GNSS can be classified into three types, loosely coupled Kalman filter, tightly coupled Kalman filters and ultratight coupled Kalman filter. In this research we used loosely coupled Kalman filter and tightly coupled Kalman filters to combine GPS and INS in one system.


The aim of the present study was to compare the value of telmisartan and enalapril on ventricular remodeling and kidney prognosis of patients with coronary artery disease complicated with diabetic nephropathy, and provide discussion on clinical reasonably chosen medicine. A total of 60 cases of coronary artery disease complicated with diabetic nephropathy were randomly divided for telmisartan (80 mg/day) treatment (n=32), enalapril (10 mg/day) treatment (n=28), while the rest of the therapy was kept the same. After 12 weeks, the clinical effects were compared between different groups. It was found that in comparison with enalapril group, the left ventricular ejection fraction of telmisartan group was significantly higher, and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter was significantly lower (P<0.05). The serum creatinine level and 24-h protein of telmisartan group were significantly lower than that for the enalapril group (P<0.05). In conclusion, the regular telmisartan treatment for patients with coronary artery disease complicated with diabetic nephropathy is better than enalapril on ventricular remodeling and kidney prognosis.


Background Methotrexate (MTX) is a well established drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Pharmacological studies have shown, that most of the drug is eliminated by the kidneys. This results in a short plasma half-life and low concentrations of MTX in inflamed joints. In studies with tumour-bearing rats we showed, that due to the pathophysiological conditions in solid tumours and the high demand of tumour cells for amino acids and energy, albumin accumulates in tumours (up to 20% of the initially injected amount) and only a relatively small proportion is found in the liver (about 6%). Covalent coupling of MTX, fluorescent dyes and radioactive labels in a 1:1 molar ratio to albumin leads to conjugates which behave in-vivo like native albumin. In phase I clinical trials with tumour patients MTX-HSA showed promising results and relatively high dosages were well tolerated over several years. Like tumour cells, synovial cells of patients with RA show a high rate of proliferation and are in an active metabolic state. The plasma protein albumin might therefore be an appropriate carrier to increase drug concentrations in inflamed joints. Objectives To proof if albumin is a suitable drug carrier to target MTX to inflamed joints in an RA animal model and isolated human RA synoviocytes. Methods Laseroptic, scintigraphic and radiopharmacokinetic experiments with fluorescent and radioactive labelled albumin were performed to study the distribution of albumin in mice with and without CIA (n = 5 each point of the time course). The uptake of fluorescence labelled albumin by human RA synoviocytes was investigated by laser scanning microscopy in-vitro. The pharmacokinetics of MTX in arthritic mice was studied using 3H-labelled MTX. The therapeutic efficiency of MTX-HSA, MTX and a combination of both drugs (injected in different dosages 2×/week) was investigated by its ability to inhibit the development of arthritis (n = 3–35/group). Results About 3% of the initially injected radioactive albumin was detected in each inflamed paw within a few hours after application, while in healthy paws only 0.3% of the tracer was found (accumulation by a factor of 6 in respect to the weight of the paws). Scintigraphic scans confirmed this results. Only 0.03% of 3H-MTX was measured in the inflamed paws. In the liver only 7% of the radiolabeled albumin but 27% of 3H-MTX was found. Illumination by laser light after injection of fluorescent labelled albumin showed strong fluorescence in arthritic but not in healthy joints of paws affected by CIA. The examination of human synoviocytes in-vitro showed catabolism of albumin in lysosomes. In equivalent dosages (7.5 mg MTX/kg twice a week) MTX-HSA was significantly (p = 0.017) superior to MTX in inhibiting the development of CIA (control: 68% arthritis incidence, MTX: 57%, MTX-HSA 28%). To achieve a comparable result as MTX-HSA almost a five times higher dosage of MTX (35 mg/kg) was necessary (37% arthr. inc.). Both drugs act synergistically (3.75 mg/kg MTX plus 0.8 mg/kg MTX-HSA: 29% arthr. inc.) in respect that 1.6 mg/kg MTX-HSA had no significant effect (57%). Conclusion Using albumin as drug carrier allows to target drugs such as MTX specifically to inflamed joints. This might increase the therapeutic efficacy of MTX in human RA. Clinical trials to proof this concept are in preparation.