The assessment of welfare issues has been a challenge for poultry producers, and lately
welfare standards needs to be reached in order to agree with international market demand. This research
proposes the use of continuous behavior monitoring in order to contribute for assessing welfare. A software
was developed using the language Clarium. The software managed the recording of data as well as the data
searching in the database Firebird. Both software and the observational methodology were tested in a trial
conducted inside an environmental chamber, using three genetics of broiler breeders. Behavioral pattern was
recorded and correlated to ambient thermal and aerial variation. Monitoring video cameras were placed on
the roof facing the used for registering the bird's behavior. From video camera images were recorded during
the total period when the ambient was bright, and for analyzing the video images a sample of 15min
observation in the morning and 15 min in the afternoon was used, adding up to 30 min daily observation. A
specific model so-called behavior was developed inside the software for counting specific behavior and its
frequency of occurrence, as well as its duration. Electronic identification was recorded for 24h period.
Behavioral video recording images was related to the data recorded using electronic identification..
Statistical analysis of data allowed to identify behavioral differences related to the change in thermal
environment, and ultimately indicating thermal stress and departure from welfare conditions.


Company faces a business competition that requires the company to survive or be superior to its competitors. PT. XYZ is a trading company engaged in distribution of raw materials and goods of Japanese foodand it needs the support of Accounting Information Systems (AIS) to be applied in all business processes. One of the most important business processes is purchasing and supplying of raw materials. Raw material is a resourceor materials that have a good economic value to be sold directly or processed into finished goods that will be marketed. Therefore, it is important for companies to know how to do a good internal control related to thepurchase and inventory. The methodology used in this research is to conduct a survey on the condition of the company's business processes, the study of literature with the method of analysis and design of Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD). The results of this study is the analysis and design of purchases accounting information systems, cash expense and inventory that can assist the companies in carrying out business activities and organizing internal control related to the purchase and inventory and to be able to reduce the distortionsthat occur and to maintain the smooth operation of the company. The information systems that are designed are able to help the companies in reducing errors caused by data record error transactions by employees and allow the companies to control the supply of goods.


This study examined the possible underestimation and age-trajectories of mortality at oldest-old ages in China's 2000 and 2010 censuses. By linking logit-transformed conditional probabilities of dying from 13 countries with the highest data quality in the world, this study found that many Chinese provinces had underestimations of mortality at oldest-old ages when a relatively lenient criterion was applied. When a relatively strict criterion was applied, most provinces had a 30% or more underestimation in the probability of dying. We also investigated age trajectories of death rates after age 80 in these two censuses by applying the Kannisto model. Results showed that the age trajectories were distorted in most provinces after age 95. Overall, eastern-coastal provinces had higher data quality — in terms of low underestimation rates and less distorted age trajectories — whereas western China had provinces with problematic data. Females had greater rates of underestimation yet less distorted age-trajectories than males; and the 2010 census had greater rates of underestimation yet less distorted age-trajectories than the 2000 census. We conclude that appropriate adjustments with simultaneous applications of the Kannisto model are needed for direct estimates of mortality at oldest-old ages in the 2000 and 2010 censuses for China and for its provinces.


Adolescents are especially vulnerable to mental health difficulties (Collip et al, 2008; Bhardwa, 2013; Costello et al, 2003). The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Review (DCSF & DoH, 2008) highlighted barriers to support including capacity difficulties, stigma, young people's lacking knowledge and a lack of tailored services. Research, demonstrates weaknesses within young people's knowledge and beliefs regarding mental health and mental health support and historically accumulated stigmatising attitudes. A paucity of research also exists on young people's wishes for support (Dogra, 2005; Worall-Davies & Marino-Francis, 2008). The aim of this study is to use a mental health literacy framework (Jorm, 2000) to explore the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and wishes of a community sample of young people regarding mental health and mental health support. This is to inform prevention and intervention within Hightown Local Authority and Highfields school(1).
Adopting critical realism, focus groups and thematic analysis (Guest et al, 2012; Boyatzis, 1998) were used. Main findings illustrate the young people's broad knowledge-base, largely appropriate beliefs and attitudes. Opportunities were revealed for educationally-based, preventative support which enhances detail and security of knowledge, and addresses attitudes in gender sensitive ways. At the intervention-level, preferences were indicated for tiered support, with professional support delivered externally to school. In terms of delivery of support, feeling well-supported was important, along with confidentiality, accessibility, empathy and tailored support to their needs. In carrying forward these findings, the role of the EP, alongside the school and other stakeholders, is exemplified as integral.
(1)-Pseudonyms


This paper presents the design and implementation of a new class of high-Q tunable dielectric resonator (DR) filters based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. The use of MEMS tuning elements results in the compact implementation of the proposed filters with high-Q and near to zero dc power consumption. The proposed filters consist of disk-shaped dielectric resonators with circular holes created in the center of each resonator. Three different filters are designed and measured based on different tuning elements. The first filter operates in TME mode at a center frequency of 4.72 GHz with a bandwidth of 21 MHz. MEMS contact-type switches are used as tuning elements for this filter. Measurement results demonstrate a tuning range of 160 MHz while the quality factor is above 510 (1200-510 over the tuning range). The other two implementations employ GaAs and MEMS varactors for tuning. The tunable filter with GaAs varactor has a continuous tuning range from 4.97 to 4.87 GHz with 65-MHz bandwidth and a Q value from 660 to 170. The MEMS varactor-tuned filter has a better tuning performance from 5.20 to 5.02 GHz with higher Q value from 800 to 550 over the tuning range. The proposed tuning approach is applicable to other modes at other frequencies of DR filters.


Conventional methods generate nitrile oxides from oxime halides in organic solvents under basic conditions. However, the present work revealed that water-assisted generation of nitrile oxides proceeds under mild acidic conditions (pH 4-5). Cycloadditions of nitrile oxides with alkynes and alkenes easily occurred in water without using catalysts, thus yielding isoxazoles and isoxazolines, respectively, with excellent stereoselectivity toward five- and six-membered cyclic alkenes. A double stereoselective cycloaddition of two units of a nitrile oxide with cyclohexene was also achieved, thus yielding 1,2,4-oxadiazole derivatives having a unique hybrid isoxazoline-oxadiazole skeleton. Enantiomerically pure isoxazolines were prepared from monoterpenes with a ring strain. In one case, the isoxazoline with a butterfly-like structure was simply prepared, and it might be used as a ligand in asymmetric catalysis.


The jamming transitions for granules growing field of interest in robotics for use in variable stiffness mechanisms. However, the traditional use of air pressure to control the jamming transition requires heavy vacuums, reducing the mobility of the robot. Thus, we propose the use of water as a hydraulic fluid to control the transition between free and clustered granules. This paper presents comparative studies that show that a hydraulic granular jammed finger joint can both achieve the same stiffness level and maintain the same hysteresis level of a pneumatic system, with only a small volume of fluid.


This chapter discusses why a prohibition on the commercial sale of gametes is both desirable as well as reconcilable with fundamental rights and freedoms. The chapter takes as a starting point a Canadian Supreme Court decision which invalidated some provisions of the Canadian Assisted Human Reproduction Act, but left in place provisions that allow the government to introduce regulations for the reimbursement of gamete donors and surrogates. Building on Margaret Jane Radin's seminal work on Contested Commodities, the author suggests that criminal sanctions prohibiting the commercialization of gametes are legitimate and aim at confirming a richer concept of individual autonomy and at protecting human dignity. The author further discusses why, regardless of changes in how we value assisted human reproduction itself, reproductive goods should continue to be awarded special status outside of the commercial market. To justify the claim for a prohibitory approach, the author emphasizes in particular the inherently relational nature of reproductive goods, the profound link to identity and personhood, and equity concerns related to market-driven selection of essential human traits. The author further argues that the criminal prohibition of market-oriented sale can be reconciled with an enabling state-regulated reimbursement scheme. The chapter also engages with the arguments that restricting commercial sale could violate fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly the right to security of the person and equality rights. The chapter discusses why these arguments ignore the significant more long-term impact of untrammelled commercialization on human personhood and on widely shared societal values.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Lateral elbow pain has several causes, which can make diagnosis difficult. The purpose of this case report is to describe the examination of and the intervention for a patient with chronic lateral elbow pain who had signs of nerve entrapment.

CASE DESCRIPTION
The patient was a 43-year-old woman who had right lateral elbow pain for about 4 months, which she attributed to extensive keyboard work on a computer. She had a reduction in joint passive range of motion during "neural tension testing," an examination procedure to detect nerve entrapment. This sign, in combination with other findings, suggested that the patient had a mild entrapment of the deep radial nerve (radial tunnel syndrome). The patient was treated 14 times over a 10-week period with "neural mobilization techniques," which are designed to free nerves for movement; ultrasound; strengthening exercises; and stretching.

OUTCOMES
The patient had minimal symptoms at discharge, was pain-free, and had resumed all activities at a 4-month follow-up visit.

DISCUSSION
Neural tension testing may be a useful examination procedure and mobilization may be useful for intervention for patients who have lateral elbow pain.


Abstract Purpose: To examine the test–retest reliability of spatio-temporal gait parameters during performance of single- and dual-tasking in post-stroke patients. Method: This study was conducted using a single-group repeated-measures design, involving a baseline measurement session and a follow-up session two days later. Forty-three chronic stroke patients (>6 months) participated in this study. Spatio-temporal gait parameters under the single- and dual-task conditions at a self-selected comfortable gait speed were measured using the GAITRite walkway system. Intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC(2,1)] were calculated for determination of reliability between sessions. The level of agreement between the two sessions was determined using Bland–Altman 95% limits of the agreement plots. Results: In all gait parameters, a significant difference was observed between the single- and dual-task conditions (p < 0.05). For the single condition, ICC (95% CI) was very good for all measures, ranging from 0.98 to 0.99 (0.97–0.99). In addition, for the dual-task condition, ICC (95% CI) was good to very good for all measures, ranging from 0.69 to 0.90 (0.49–0.99). Conclusions: The results of current study demonstrated that the test–retest reliability of the GAITRite system for measurement of spatio-temporal gait parameters under single- and dual-task conditions was good to very good. Therefore, we suggest that measurement of spatio-temporal gait parameters under a dual-task condition using the GAITRite system would be useful for clinical assessment in post-stroke patients. Implications for Rehabilitation Improvement of walking ability provides opportunities for stroke patients to participate in the community. Our finding, additional cognitive tasks can interfere with the independently basic activities of daily living in stroke patients, may provide basic information for use in development of rehabilitation programs for stroke patients. Spatio-temporal gait parameters under the dual-task condition measured using the GAITRite system may be useful for clinical assessment in post-stroke patients.


The CW domain binds to histone tail modifications found in different protein families involved in epigenetic regulation and chromatin remodeling. CW domains recognize the methylation state of the fourth lysine on histone 3 and could, therefore, be viewed as a reader of epigenetic information. The specificity toward different methylation states such as me1, me2, or me3 depends on the particular CW subtype. For example, the CW domain of ASHH2 methyltransferase binds preferentially to H3K4me1, and MORC3 binds to both H3K4me2 and me3 modifications, while ZCWPW1 is more specific to H3K4me3. The structural basis for these preferential bindings is not well understood, and recent research suggests that a more complete picture will emerge if dynamical and energetic assessments are included in the analysis of interactions. This study uses fold assessment by NMR in combination with mutagenesis, ITC affinity measurements, and thermal denaturation studies to investigate possible couplings between ASHH2 CW selectivity toward H3K4me1 and the stabilization of the domain and loops implicated in binding. The key elements of the binding site—the two tryptophans and the α1-helix form and maintain the binding pocket— were perturbed by mutagenesis and investigated. Results show that the α1-helix maintains the overall stability of the fold via the I915 and L919 residues and that the correct binding consolidates the loops designated as η1 and η3, as well as the C-terminal. This consolidation is incomplete for H3K4me3 binding to CW, which experiences a decrease in overall thermal stability on binding. Loop mutations not directly involved in the binding site, nonetheless, affect the equilibrium positions of the key residues.


The role of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling in vascular biology has first been highlighted in embryos by Pepicelli et al. in 1998 and Rowitch et al. in 1999. Since then, the proangiogenic role of the Hh ligands has been confirmed in adults, especially under pathologic conditions. More recently, the Hh signaling has been proposed to improve vascular integrity especially at the blood–brain barrier (BBB). However, molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the role of the Hh signaling in vascular biology remain poorly understood and conflicting results have been reported. As a matter of fact, in several settings, it is currently not clear whether Hh ligands promote vessel integrity and quiescence or destabilize vessels to promote angiogenesis. The present review relates the current knowledge regarding the role of the Hh signaling in vasculature development, maturation and maintenance, discusses the underlying proposed mechanisms and highlights controversial data which may serve as a guideline for future research. Most importantly, fully understanding such mechanisms is critical for the development of safe and efficient therapies to target the Hh signaling in both cancer and cardiovascular/cerebrovascular diseases.


Worldwide breast cancer remains as the most common malignancy in women and the numbers who form a subgroup with dense breast parenchyma are substantial. In addition to mammography, the adjuncts used for further evaluation of dense breasts have been anatomically based modalities such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. The practice of functionally based imaging of breasts is relatively new but has undergone rapid progress over the past few years with promising results. The value of positron emission mammography is demonstrated in patients with dense breasts and mammographically occult disease.


In the past thirteen years, since Graham 1 performed the first pneumonectomy for carcinoma of the lung, one can safely state that the development of a safe surgical technic for pneumonectomy has far surpassed the clinical advances for the earlier diagnosis of this lesion. Since carcinoma of the lung contributes 10 per cent of all adult male cancers coming to autopsy and is second only to carcinoma of the stomach, it behooves the clinician to bend every effort to diagnose the disease earlier if a successful surgical cure is to be secured. The low surgical mortality of pneumonectomy should be a vital stimulus to all of us to make an early diagnosis of a common disease that can be cured only by surgical extirpation. The actual incidence of the disease is on the increase, according to reliable statistics. The greatest number of cases occur between the ages of 40 and


Proton and Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) binding by ligand H(2)L, containing two bis(aminoethyl)amine (dien) units connected by a 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (DCF) unit has been analyzed by means of potentiometric, UV-vis and fluorescence emission measurements. Considering proton binding, the ligand in its fully deprotonated form, L(2-), binds up to four acidic protons in the alkaline pH region. These protonation steps occur on the amine groups, whereas protonation of DCF takes place only below pH 4. In metal complexation, the ligand displays a marked selectivity for Zn(II) over Cd(II) and Pb(II), due to the better accommodation of the smaller and harder Zn(II) ion within the binding pocket generated by a dien unit and the adjacent deprotonated oxygen. The fluorescence emission study points out that Zn(II) binding is accompanied by a marked increase of the DCF emission from neutral to slightly alkaline pH values, where protonated forms of the complex are present in solution. The system is weakly emissive at slightly acidic pH values, where Zn(II) is essentially not bound to the receptor and above pH 9.5, probably due to the formation of the not protonated [ZnL] complex. Cd(II) binding gives rise to a much less intense increase of the emission only above pH 8.5, whereas Cu(II) and Pb(II) complexation leads to fluorescence quenching. Furthermore, the interaction of H(2)L with cells was investigated to explore its application as a new sensor for the evaluation of cellular Zn(II) content and distribution.


Hemophilia A is the most common inherited coagulation factor disorder in dogs. It manifests as excessive bleeding resulting from pathogenic variants in the X-chromosomal F8 gene encoding coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) protein. In this study, we performed careful clinical phenotyping to confirm hemophilia A in two distinct Labrador Retriever (LR) pedigrees. Whole-genome sequencing on an affected dog from litter 1 identified a case-specific frameshift deletion variant in F8 predicted to cause a premature stop codon (c.2923_2924del, p.(E975Kfs*8)). This variant was hemizygous in all the affected males from litter 1 (n = 3), while all the unaffected LRs in the pedigree were heterozygous or wild-type (n = 22). Additionally, screened samples from 199 LRs were all found to be wild-type. As a result of this study, a gene test can now be developed to screen dogs before breeding to prevent further cases. However, it is important to note that the affected LR with decreased FVIII activity from litter 2 was wild-type for the identified deletion variant, and no segregating F8 variants were detected when this dog's DNA sample was whole-genome sequenced. Thus, the cause of decreased FVIII activity in this dog remains to be unraveled in future studies.


In his 1959 essay "Homage to Santa Rosalia," G. Evelyn Hutchinson famously asked, "Why is there such an enormous number of animal species?" At the time, he felt dissatisfied that no theory could yet predict the number of animal species on Earth to within an order of magnitude. Great progress toward a general theory of biological diversity has been made since—the field of community ecology has incorporated many of the ideas in "Homage to Santa Rosalia"—but we are still short of a theory that can predict the number of animal species. We are also short of a theory that can predict how many of these species will become extinct over the next 50 years. Hutchinson foresaw the importance of many of the factors currently driving global change, including the social factors. By the 1950s, he was concerned that human transformation of the biosphere was so great that developing a theory of diversity might be precluded by the irreversible loss of biodiversity. It is fascinating to read Hutchinson's writings from our perspective in the 21st century because he clearly laid the foundations of biodiversity science. Biodiversity science is the emerging transdisciplinary field that integrates taxonomy, systematics, ecology, evolution, and conservation biology with the social and economic aspects of governance of biological diversity. The recent publication of 2 books focused on Hutchinson and his writings make it easier than ever to appreciate his extraordinary influence. G. Evelyn Hutchinson and the Invention of Modern Ecology by N. G. Slack conveys much of what was inspiring about the man. The other, The Art of Ecology: Writings of G. Evelyn Hutchinson, edited by D. K. Skelly, D. M. Post, and M. D. Smith (all faculty at Yale University, Hutchinson's academic home), conveys the breadth of his writings. These books complement each other nicely, and when read together, foster a deep appreciation of Hutchinson the scientist, his approaches, and his ideas. One can read the classic papers on n-dimensional niche space and paradox of the plankton, and in the same sitting, learn the story of how Hutchinson came to be a professor at Yale without a PhD. The Art of Ecology is a valuable anthology, containing Hutchinson's writings on 5 broad themes: his life story, his vision for science, his contributions to limnology and theory, and his passion for museums. An introductory essay accompanies each section. For example, Sharon Kingsland's "Introduction" provides an insightful comparison between Hutchinson and von Humboldt and their shared vision on the aesthetic and intellectual value of science as a means for personal development through the contemplation of nature. Kingsland's chapter also reminds us of the great value Hutchinson placed on the historical roots of ideas, as shown by the many footnotes that detail his writing. Hutchinson is perhaps best known for his seminal contributions to limnology and community ecology. We find most of his classic papers from "Copepodology for Ornithologists" to "The Paradox of the Plankton" in this anthology. Most of us will not have read these since graduate school, but again we see the benefits of having them gathered together. It becomes easier to appreciate that Hutchinson was driven by a fundamental curiosity for nature, coupled with a desire to enhance the appreciation of the diversity of all organisms, even the most cryptic and uncharismatic. Ultimately, he advanced general theory by challenging ecologists to consider the embellishments of natural systems (e.g., nonequilibrium dynamics, multidimensional niches) necessary to explain the remarkable diversity of all groups from copepods and diatoms to beetles and warblers. Slack's book is largely a detailed biography of the man many consider the father of modern ecology (even if Hutchinson himself did not) and of limnology. In addition to insight into the man's family life as a child and adult, we learn about his professional relationships, largely through Slack's perusal of the enormous collection of his letters in the Yale archives. Furthermore, as evidenced by the presence of the oft-cited Hutchinson "intellectual family tree" (Edmondson 1971), he left a large legacy through his students, including many pioneering


Real-time human movement inertial measurement unit (IMU) signals are central to many emerging medical and technological applications, yet few techniques have been proposed to process and represent this information modality in an efficient manner. In this paper, we explore methods for the lossless compression of human movement IMU data and compute compression ratios as compared with traditional representation formats on a public corpus of human movement IMU signals for walking, running, sitting, standing, and biking human movement activities. Delta coding was the highest performing compression method which compressed walking, running, and biking data by a factor of 10 and compressed sitting and standing data by a factor of 18 relative to the original CSV formats. Furthermore, delta encoding was shown to approach the a posteriori optimal linear compression level. All methods were implemented and released as open source C code using fixed point computation which can be integrated into a variety of computational platforms. These results could serve to inform and enable human movement data compression in a variety of emerging medical and technological applications.


b-Carotene rich defatted soy flour fortified biscuits were prepared using different levels of carrot powder only, carrot powder with egg, and carrot powder with ascorbic acid, and evaluated for its physical properties, nutritional composition and sensory characteristics. Expansion in diameter (1.059 to 1.280) and spread ratio (5.73 to 6.78) was decreased with increased proportion of carrot powder in all three types of biscuits. The breaking hardness of biscuits with carrot powder only and with carrot powder and ascorbic acid was at par while biscuit samples with carrot powder and egg were softer as showed by significantly lower breaking hardness as compared to the former two types of biscuit samples. Minimum lightness (L* values) and maximum redness (a* values) was observed in the biscuits samples with ascorbic acid than the other two types of biscuits. With increasing proportion of carrot powder in flour blends, protein content (7.43 to 8.02%) was decreased while ash, crude fibre and b-carotene content were enhanced. b-carotene content in all three types of biscuits was in the range of 0.56 to 3.72 mg/100 g biscuits. Although all three types of biscuits were well accepted in sensory evaluation but overall mean acceptability scores more than 8 were observed for biscuits samples prepared from flour blends containing carrot powder up to 7.5%, which will also be helpful in providing daily dietary requirement of b-carotene to the consumers at 100 g consumption level of these carotene rich biscuits.

 Key words: Carrot powder, b-carotene rich biscuits, defatted soy flour fortified biscuits, ascorbic acid, biscuit colour, breaking hardness, sensory acceptability.


Extensive simulations of large recurrent networks of integrate-and-re exci-tatory and inhibitory neurons in realistic cortical conditions (before and after Hebbian unsupervised learning of uncorrelated stimuli) exhibit a rich phe-nomenology of stochastic neural spike dynamics, and in particular, coexistence between two types of stable states: spontaneous activity, upon stimulation by an unlearned stimulus; and`working memory' states strongly correlated with learned stimuli. Firing rates have very wide distributions, due to the variability in the connectivity from neuron to neuron. ISI histograms are exponential, except for small intervals. Thus the spike emission processes are well approximated by a Poisson process. The variability of the spike emission process is eeectively controlled by the magnitude of the post-spike reset potential relative to the mean depolarization of the cell. Cross-correlations (CC) exhibit a central peak near zero delay, anked by damped oscillations. The magnitude of the central peak in the CCs depends both on the probability that a spike emitted by a neuron aaects another randomly chosen neuron and on ring rates. It increases when average rates decrease. Individual CCs depend very weakly on the synaptic interactions between the pairs of neurons. The dependence of individual CCs on the rates of the pair of neurons is in agreement with experimental data. The distribution of ring rates among neurons is in very good agreement with a simple theory, indicating that correlations between spike emission processes in the network are eeectively small. 1 Modeling the dynamical activity in cortex is becoming increasingly realistic as to allow direct confrontation with data of single and of multiple electrode recordings. The confrontation includes, beyond mean spike rates in spontaneous and in selective activity, also single cell spike statistics and cross correlations The question that naturally poses itself is: how much complexity of the neural elements and how much speciic structure of the neural assembly are actually indispensable for the reproduction of the experimental data? Most of the work cited above has dealt with visual cortex, where data is more accessible and hypotheses about geometric connectivity structure are plausible. Moreover, in visual cortex neural dynamics is investigated in the presence of visual stimuli, which in turn relate to the assembly structure via receptive elds and tuning properties of cells. We have been motivated by delay activity in associative cortex (Miyashita 1993, Wilson et al 1993, Goldman-Rakic et al 1990, Fuster 1995). Such delay activity could be sustained by the synaptic eecacies formed …


Several unusual abnormalities are presented in this abstract of a lecture on surgical diseases of the mandible. The importance of physical signs in clinical dental surgery is emphasized. A protocol of treatment of mandibular condylar hyperplasia and masseteric hypertrophy is suggested.


BACKGROUND: In dogs, Achilles tendon rupture is an important clinical issue. Treatment of the ruptured tendon remains a controversial problem. However, surgical intervention, by the using of different biological scaffolds, has been recognized as the most effective approach for the repair of such cases. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of platelets-plasma rich protein (PRP) and autogenous peritoneal scaffold to improve the healing process of ruptured Achilles tendon in dogs. METHODS: Eighteen healthy dogs of the local breed were randomly allocated into three equal groups. Achilles tendon of the hind limbs were prepared aseptically and transected transversely. In the control group, the tendon was reconstructed with the traditional suture using modified Kessler techniques. In the peritoneal scaffold group, a combination of traditional suture and the autogenous peritoneal scaffold was used to augment the defected tendon. In the peritoneal scaffold with the PRP group, the induced rupture was treated as similar to the peritoneal scaffold group and supported by a topical application of PRP. In addition to the gross observation, the healing process was evaluated with histopathological and sonographic investigations at 15, 30, and 60 days post-operative. RESULTS: By comparison with control, the utilizing of autologous peritoneum scaffold augmented with PRP revealed a valuable impact on Achilles tendon healing. This impact was manifested by improved fibroblastic proliferation, reduced adhesion, and improved mechanical function of the tendon. Also, the sonographic examination of the fibrosis site demonstrated the presence of hyperechoic spots. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that utilizing both the peritoneal scaffold augmented and PRP along with the traditional suture revealed remarkable optimistic effects on healing of the ruptured Achilles tendon in dogs.


Although thiazolidinediones and magnesium supplementation improves insulin action and increases HDL-cholesterol, the potential link between serum magnesium and thiazolidinediones has received little attention. Focusing on the increase of serum magnesium, 63 eligible subjects were enrolled and randomly allocated to receive either 30 mg Pioglitazone once daily (Group A) or lifestyle intervention (Group B) during 12 weeks. Subjects were eligible if they were glucose-intolerant, and excluded if they had high blood pressure, diabetes or abnormal liver function tests. The personnel assessing outcomes were blinded to group assignment. Of the 63 eligible subjects, 3 dropped out (one in group A, and two in Group B) because they moved out of the city. So, 30 subjects in each group, who satisfactorily completed the follow-up, were included in the analysis of data. There were no serious adverse events or side effects due to Pioglitazone or lifestyle intervention. At baseline, the groups did not differ significantly in serum magnesium levels 1.73 +/- 0.17 versus 1.72 +/- 0.14 mg/dl, p = 0.80. Subjects who received Pioglitazone significantly increased their serum magnesium to 1.93 +/- 0.16 mg/dl whereas in the lifestyle intervention group the increase was 1.74 +/- 0.25 mg/dl, p < 0.0001. What this study showed was a significant increase in the serum magnesium levels of glucose-intolerant subjects who received 30 mg Pioglitazone once daily.


Among the dehumanizing effects of the Conservative Revolution, which occurred during the last third of the Twentieth Century around the world and in our America, has been the unjustifiable possibility of associating democracy with neoliberal ideology, says Hugo D. Biagini in this essay. This Argentine philospher criticizes the present political model that has provoked a divorce between politics and citizenship. And he lets us see that an approach through period of mass movements —including indigenous movements— is the only agency capable of concretizing democracy.


Objective This study sought to investigate associations between serum total and free 25(OH)D and bacterial vaginosis (BV) in early and later pregnancy among US black women to provide insight into the most clinically relevant measure of vitamin D status among pregnant black women with respect to risk for BV as well as insights into critical time points for measuring and/or addressing vitamin D status in pregnancy. Methods Data and biospecimens were derived from a subsample (N = 137) of women from the Emory University African American Vaginal, Oral, and Gut Microbiome in Pregnancy Cohort, for whom data related to vitamin D status (serum assays for total and free 25(OH)D) and Nugent score of Gram stained vaginal specimens in early (8-14 weeks) and later (24-30 weeks) were available. We compared total and free 25(OH)D concentrations for women according to Nugent score category (normal flora, intermediate flora, and BV) and assessed the odds of BV according to measures of vitamin D status. Results Thirty-seven (27%) women had adequate vitamin D status at baseline, whereas 70 (51%) had insufficient vitamin D and 30 (22%) were vitamin D deficient; there were not significant differences in the proportion of women with adequate, insufficient, or deficient vitamin D according to Nugent score category. However, the odds of BV later in pregnancy were significantly higher for women who experienced a smaller rise in total 25(OH)D and free 25(OH)D from 8-14 through 24-30 weeks gestation. Conclusion The change in measures of vitamin D status from early to later pregnancy is associated with the occurrence of BV in pregnancy. Further research is needed to examine the association between the change in vitamin D status over pregnancy and the occurrence of BV and other measures of vaginal microbial composition as well as to identify factors that influence change in vitamin D status over pregnancy.


BACKGROUND
The mechanisms controlling evolutionary shifts between dry and fleshy fruits in angiosperms are poorly understood. In Solanaceae, Cestrum and Brugmansia represent cases of convergent evolution of fleshy and dry fruits, respectively. Here we study the anatomical and genetic bases of the independent origin of fleshy fruits in Cestrum and the reversion to dry dehiscent fruits in Brugmansia. We also characterize the expression of candidate fruit development genes, including ALCATRAZ/SPATULA, FRUITFULL, HECATE1/2/3, REPLUMLESS and SHATTERPROOF.

METHODS
We identify anatomical changes to establish developmental stages in the ovary-to-fruit transition in Cestrum nocturnum and Brugmansia suaveolens. We generate reference transcriptomes for both species, isolate homologs for all genes in the fruit genetic regulatory network (GRN) and perform gene expression analyses for ALC/SPT, FUL, HEC1/2/3, RPL and SHP throughout fruit development. Finally, we compare our results to expression patterns found in typical capsules of Nicotiana tabacum and berries of Solanum lycopersicum available in public repositories.

RESULTS
We have identified homologous, homoplasious and unique anatomical features in C.nocturnum and B. suaveolens fruits, resulting in their final appearance. Expression patterns suggest that FUL, SHP and SPT might control homologous characteristics, while ALC and RPL likely contribute to homoplasious anatomical features.

CONCLUSIONS
The convergent anatomical features in Cestrum and Brugmansia fruits are likely the result of changes in ALC and RPL expression patterns. The fruit GRN changes considerably in these genera when compared to typical capsules and berries of Solanaceae, particularly in B. suaveolens, where expression of FUL2 and RPL1 is lacking.


Lignocellulosic biofules are considered to be promising alternative energy sources. Cost-effective production of biofules is contingent upon a deeper understanding of biomass structure and molecular mechanisms to converting plant cell wall materials to fermentable sugars. Advanced tools have been used to characterize plant cell wall chemistry and structure at the nanometer scale, and to visualize interactions between cellulolytic enzymes and substrates, which have provided new insights into design of the bioprocessing and improvement of catalysts. Here, review is given to these advances in understanding biomass conversion processes using spectroscopic and imaging techniques, such as atomic force microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, Fourier transform infrared and Raman microspectroscopy, TEM and SEM.


Various platinum-group minerals (PGM), phases rich in the platinum-group elements (PGE), and unusual species occur in the Kirakkajuppura area, Penikat layered complex, Finland. The PGM are intimately associated with actinolite and clinochlore. The base-metal sulfides [chalcopyrite, millerite, bornite, chalcocite, ferroan chalcocite(?), digenite or roxbyite: Cu9S5] are in minor or trace amounts. The observed PGM and rare species are: vysotskite–braggite series [PdS–(Pt,Pd)S], zvyagintsevite [Pd3Pb], a zvyagintsevite-like phase [(Pd,Pt)3(Pb,Cu)], unnamed Pd–Pb oxide [Pd7PbO8 or Pd3.5Pb0.5O4], various Cu–Fe–PGE thiospinels (large grains and unusual micro-aggregates), laflammeite [Pd3Pb2S2], laurite–erlichmanite series [(Ru,Os,Ir)(S,As)2 –(Os,Ru,Ir)(S,As)2], irarsite–hollingworthite series [(Ir,Rh,Ru)As1− x S1+ x – (Rh,Ir,Ru)As1− x S1+ x ; x ≤ 0.2], konderite-like Pb–(Pd)-rich sulfides and a Fe-dominant analogue of konderite [(Cu,Ni,Fe)3+ x (Fe,Pb)(Rh,Ir,Pd)8− x S16; x < 0.5], unnamed Rh1− x (Ni,Fe,Cu)2+ x S3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1), a Pd–Pt–Cu alloy [Pt-rich, Cu-rich palladium: Pd89.42–91.22Pt5.94–6.16Cu2.62–4.64], skaergaardite–hongshiite [(Pd0.92 Pt0.10)∑ 1.02Cu0.98], keithconnite [Pd20(Te,Bi)7], plumbian keithconnite [Pd20(Te6Pb)], unnamed Pd5(As,Te,Sn,Pb)2, Pd-rich, Cu-rich gold [Au76.1–81.1Pd13.7–16.0Cu6.1–6.3Ag1.2–3.4], Zn-rich copper (natural?), unnamed Pb4O(VO4)2, and an undefined Pb-rich iron silicate (hydrous?). In addition, unnamed (Th,Ca)(V5+,Si,P)O4 and associated baddeleyite, barite, and a phosphatian huttonite or thorite occur in a pegmatitic gabbro from Kirakkajuppura. The Kirakkajuppura PGE mineralization probably formed by efficient hydrothermal remobilization and transport of PGE from their "primary" zones [Pd–Pt zones associated with the low-sulfide SJ reef and Ru–Os-mineralized chromitite zones], resulting in the local deposition of the extremely S-poor, PGE-rich assemblage, which is intimately associated with hydrous silicates and is located near the northern end of the Penikat complex.


An image scaling process is necessary when the resolution of a stream image is different from the screen resolution of a digital display device. Image scaling addresses the problem of generating an image of new resolution from a source image. Conventional image interpolation methods suffer blurring problems in edge regions, so it is hard to produce sharp and clear visual effects. In this paper, we propose an adaptive image interpolation algorithm which keeps the edges sharp and provides good image quality. In the region around a pixel to be interpolated this algorithm checks whether there is an edge or not. An interpolation method is then selected according to the existence and the direction of an edge in that region. Experimental results demonstrate that good image quality can be achieved.


Gender and food security are highly correlated. The specific aims this study are (1) to analyze working time allocation based on gender, (2) to examine the income contribution of women to family income, and (3) to evaluate factors affecting food security at household level. The phenomena of gender inequality and the high rate of malnutrition cases in the District of South Konawe indicate the persistent of food insecurity problems in household level. Descriptive-qualitative analysis was employed to examine the first two objectives, while econometric approach was used to analyze the last. Due to the dependent variable has biner characteristic, logit model was employed, and since the cumulative distribution of dependent variables was nonlinear, maximum likelihood was employed to estimate the parameter. The results of this study were : (1) gender working time allocation shows different pattern between man and women, while women working time allocations was focused on domestic activities, man working time allocation was concentrated on farming activities, (2) women contribute more income from nonfarm activities compared to man did, and (3) factors considered to affect the food security at farmer's household level were family size, gender based income of non farm activities, and on-farm income.


This article examines the issue of rubber in US–Indonesian relations in the 1950s. Indonesia, attempting to promote its economic development, sought to sell natural rubber to the Communist People's Republic of China. In so doing, it risked alienating the United States, which for its part led anti-PRC trade embargo efforts while at that same time attempting to woo Third World neutrals such as Indonesia. The article explores the course and complexities of this issue on both sides, and concludes that, in the end, Washington decided that enforcing an increasingly questionable rubber embargo was not worth a rupture in relations with Jakarta. It also finds that President Eisenhower, although keenly aware of the issues at stake, did not provide the decisive leadership that would allow Washington to take the initiative, rather than react to circumstances, regarding the sale of rubber to the People's Republic of China.


BACKGROUND
Abduction weakness and limping is a well-recognized complication of closed antegrade insertion of femoral nails. Iatrogenic injuries to the superior gluteal nerve and the gluteus medius muscle are the most likely contributing factors. The purpose of this study of cadavers was to assess the risk of nerve and muscle injury with various lower-limb positions used during nail insertion.

METHODS
We studied thirteen hips of ten formalin-fixed adult cadavers. With the cadaver in the full lateral position, a 9-mm reamer was introduced in a retrograde fashion from the intercondylar notch and passed through the gluteus medius muscle. The distance between the point of entry of the reamer into the undersurface of this muscle and the inferior main branch of the superior gluteal nerve (the nerve-reamer distance) and the distance between the entry and exit points of the reamer in the gluteus medius muscle (the intramuscle distance) were measured in three different hip positions: 15 degrees of flexion and 15 degrees of adduction (Position 1), 30 degrees of flexion and 30 degrees of adduction (Position 2), and 60 degrees of flexion and 30 degrees of adduction (Position 3).

RESULTS
In Position 1, the average nerve-reamer distance was 7 mm and the average intramuscle distance was 24 mm. In three hips the reamer injured the nerve directly, and in two other hips the distance was <or=5 mm. In Position 2, the average nerve-reamer distance was 21 mm and the average intramuscle distance was 18 mm. In Position 3, the average nerve-reamer distance was 33 mm and the average intramuscle distance was 11 mm. None of the reamers in this position came closer than 20 mm to the nerve.

CONCLUSIONS
The risk of injury to the superior gluteal nerve and the gluteus medius muscle during closed antegrade insertion of a femoral nail is lessened by increasing the amount of hip flexion and adduction.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
The risk of injury to both the superior gluteal nerve and the gluteus medius muscle is higher with limited degrees of hip flexion and adduction, such as are possible in the supine position on a fracture table, than it is with greater degrees of hip flexion and adduction, which are possible in the lateral position on a fracture table or in the so-called sloppy lateral position on an ordinary table. Therefore, insertion of a femoral nail with the hip in increased flexion and adduction might help to lower the risk of injuries to the superior gluteal nerve and the gluteus medius muscle.


This thesis outlines and provides direct evidence for transcription factor-mediated instructive regulation of the 11-10 gene in CD4 T cells. Firstly, I describe transcription factors that are differentially expressed in populations of IL-10-producing CD4 T cells. Genome-wide mRNA profiles (GeneChip) are used from six populations of CD4 T populations which represent both temporal and lineage-specific time-points within naive, effector and regulatory CD4 T cell populations. Secondly, validation experiments (qPCR) verified whether transcription factors isolated from the genome-wide profiling experiments (GeneChip) were quantitatively expressed in IL-10-producing populations. Thirdly, comparative genomics was used to analyze in silico the 11-10 locus for conserved putative transcription factor binding sites at potential regulatory regions. Selected transcription factors were retro-virally transduced into primary naive CD4 T cells and analyzed for their ability to induce IL-10 expression in a variety of differentiation conditions. Finally, the role of functionally validated transcription factors inducing IL-10 production was investigated at the molecular level, via their presence at specific locations at the 11-10 locus in vivo and in chromatin modifications. One example, GATA-3, shown here to be differentially expressed in IL-10-producing CD4 T cell populations, instructing modifications at the 11-10 locus and inducing IL-10 production in CD4 T cells. The second aim of this thesis was to investigate — at the transcription factor-level -- the comparison of two phenotypically different CD4 regulatory T cell populations (CD25+Treg and IL-10-Treg). On one hand, both CD4 T regulatory cell populations are similar in that they do not produce effector upon secondary stimuli, both are anergic, and both suppress CD4 T cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo (as shown by their ability to abrogate multiple autoimmune and allergic disease animal models). On the other hand, CD25+Treg are phenotypically described by their expression of the lineage-specific transcription factor, FoxP3, and IL-10- Treg do not express FoxP3. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms as to how IL-10- Treg do not express effector cytokines, are anergic and suppress CD4 T cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo without the expression of FoxP3 is investigated in this thesis. This thesis concludes by providing strong evidence that IL-10-Treg down-regulate key NF-kB and AP-1 family transcripts and inhibit NFAT transcriptional activity, thereby compensating for FoxP3 expression, which is necessary in natural occurring CD25+Treg.


People learn from tests. Providing tests often enhances retention more than additional study opportunities, but is this testing effect mediated by processes related to retrieval that are fundamentally different from study processes? Some previous studies have reported that testing enhances retention relative to additional studying, but only after a relatively long retention interval. To the extent that this interaction with retention interval dissociates the effects of studying and testing, it may provide crucial evidence for different underlying processes. However, these findings can be questioned because of methodological differences between the study and the test conditions. In two experiments, we eliminated or minimized the confounds that rendered the previous findings equivocal and still obtained the critical interaction. Our results strengthen the evidence for the involvement of different processes underlying the effects of studying and testing, and support the hypothesis that the testing effect is grounded in retrieval-related processes.


OLFACTION IS CONSIDERED TO BE a primitive sensory system in evolutionary terms, yet it has proven to be biologically complex. It is commonly thought that the sense of smell in humans is less developed than in most other vertebrate species, yet we are able to detect and, with training, discriminate among thousands of different odors. We accomplish this with a population of ;1,000,000 olfactory receptor neurons that express ;1,000 different types of odorant receptor molecules (ORs). The binding of odorant molecules to ORs triggers a biochemical cascade in the olfactory receptor neurons, which culminates in the generation of a receptor current and action potentials that are transmitted to the olfactory bulb (6). Recent advances in molecular biology and genetics have allowed researchers to focus their attention on the identity, expression pattern, and ligand specificity of ORs. Odorant information is first encoded by olfactory receptor neurons, which typically express one type of OR (1). Many different odorants can stimulate one cell (and thus one type of OR), and one odorant can activate cells that express different types of ORs (in different cells); thus the code is hypothesized to be a combinatorial code (3). Because axons of cells expressing the same OR project into one (or a few) glomerulus in the olfactory bulb, this combinatorial code is directly translated into a glomerular code, where odorant identity is discriminated by a specific pattern of activation across the glomeruli in the olfactory bulb (4). Based on this scheme, it is easy to consider olfactory neurons as merely the bearers of ORs and that OR identity alone determines the cell's stimulus-encoding capability. However, physiological studies on olfactory receptor neurons demonstrate that this is not the case. Olfactory neurons are active participants in olfactory coding, filtering the odor information before sending a neural signal to the olfactory bulb. When stimulated with odorants, olfactory neurons can generate excitatory or inhibitory responses, or a combination of both. The results from the current article in focus by Sanhueza et al. (Ref. 5, see p. C31 in this issue) add a twist to the study of the complex nature of the olfactory neuron. This study is the latest installment in a body of work that elucidates the nature of odorant-elicited inhibition and suppression. This work shows that olfactory cell responses can be excitatory, inhibitory, and suppressed by the application of odorants at relatively high concentrations. Suppression occurs in a large majority of cells and affects the net current that is generated by the cells in response to a stimulus. Furthermore, some cells respond to odorant mixtures with all three types of responses: excitation, inhibition, and suppression. Although it is not certain whether individual odorants can produce all three effects or whether each component of the mixture produces one type of response and the net output of the cell integrates these individual response types, these findings imply that a single olfactory neuron is capable of responding to different odorant mixtures with different currents and, consequently, different spiking outputs. The data presented in this manuscript provide a cellular mechanistic basis for neurophysiological data (extracellularly recorded spikes): receptor cell output is dependent not only on stimulus quality but also on intensity and duration. Given the same stimulus, some cells respond to stimulus onset with phasic bursts followed by tonic activity for the duration of the stimulus pulse, others respond only to stimulus onset, and still others respond to both stimulus onset and removal. Other cells maintain tonic firing activity and lower their firing activity when the stimulus is delivered (2). It is also known that mixture interactions at the single cell level can significantly alter cell spiking activity, either enhancing or suppressing spike output. Thus, although the anatomic and molecular biological data provide clear-cut hypotheses on the coding of olfactory stimuli, the issue of coding is far from resolved. Olfactory neurons act as dynamic filters that constantly modulate their firing activity based on the stimulus quality (mixtures vs. single odorants), intenAddress for reprint requests and other correspondence: G. Gomez, Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308 (E-mail: email@example.com). Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 279: C19–C20, 2000.


The end point of immune and nonimmune renal injury typically involves glomerular and tubulointerstitial fibrosis. Although numerous studies have focused on the events that lead to renal fibrosis, less is known about the mechanisms that promote cellular repair and tissue remodeling. Described is a model of renal injury and repair after the reversal of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) in male C57bl/6J mice. Male mice (20 to 25 g) underwent 10 d of UUO with or without 1, 2, 4, or 6 wk of reversal of UUO (R-UUO). UUO resulted in cortical tubular cell atrophy and tubular dilation in conjunction with an almost complete ablation of the outer medulla. This was associated with interstitial macrophage infiltration; increased hydroxyproline content; and upregulated type I, III, IV, and V collagen expression. The volume density of kidney occupied by renal tubules that exhibited a brush border was measured as an assessment of the degree of repair after R-UUO. After 6 wk of R-UUO, there was an increase in the area of kidney occupied by repaired tubules (83.7 +/- 5.9%), compared with 10 d UUO kidneys (32.6 +/- 7.3%). This coincided with reduced macrophage numbers, decreased hydroxyproline content, and reduced collagen accumulation and interstitial matrix expansion, compared with obstructed kidneys from UUO mice. GFR in the 6-wk R-UUO kidneys was restored to 43 to 88% of the GFR in the contralateral unobstructed kidneys. This study describes the regenerative potential of the kidney after the established interstitial matrix expansion and medullary ablation associated with UUO in the adult mouse.


Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is the precursor of flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide—essential cofactors for a wide variety of enzymes involving in numerous metabolic processes. In this study, a partial-length cDNA encoding bifunctional GTP cyclohydrolase II/3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone-4-phosphate synthase (LcRIBA), 2 full-length cDNAs encoding lumazine synthase (LcLS1 and LcLS2), and a full-length cDNA encoding riboflavin synthase (LcRS) were isolated from Lycium chinense, an important traditional medicinal plant. Sequence analyses showed that these genes exhibited high identities with their orthologous genes as well as having the same common features related to plant riboflavin biosynthetic genes. LcRIBA, like other plant RIBAs, contained a DHBPS region in its N terminus and a GCHII region in its C-terminal part. LcLSs and LcRS carried an N-terminal extension found in plant riboflavin biosynthetic genes unlike the orthologous microbial genes. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that 4 riboflavin biosynthetic genes were constitutively expressed in all organs examined of L. chinense plants with the highest expression levels found in the leaves or red fruits. LcRIBA, which catalyzes 2 initial reactions in riboflavin biosynthetic pathway, was the highest transcript in the leaves, and hence, the richest content of riboflavin was detected in this organ. Our study might provide the basis for investigating the contribution of riboflavin in diverse biological activities of L. chinense and may facilitate the metabolic engineering of vitamin B2 in crop plants.


In the present article, the analytical overview of the worldwide modern approaches to the development of electromagnetic railguns (RG) was carried out. The major physical effects in the RG were analyzed, and the corresponding ways of increasing the RGs efficiency were showed up. Considering the wide range of the proposed ER configurations, their generalization and comparative analysis is highly needed. Thus, the comparison of the most advanced configurations of the ER - conventional RG, augmented, multi-turn, and multistage segmented RG was carried out. Finally, the variation of the multistage segmented RG, proposed by authors, has been described. This type of ER allows for the sufficient decrement of the ERs resistance by splitting the rails on mutually insulated segments, and commutating those segments without additional control equipment, but only by synchronized movement of the armature. References 15, figures 8.


Objective: This study investigated levels of interleukin (IL)-34, a proinflammatory cytokine, in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: Following coronary artery angiography, 91 patients with CAD (including stable and unstable angina pectoris) were divided into two groups, the CAD group (coronary artery stenosis ≥ 50%) and the control group (coronary artery stenosis < 50%). Serum levels of factors including IL-34 and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured. Results: IL-34 and hs- CRP levels were significantly higher in the CAD group than in the control group (191.3 ± 17.9 pg/ml versus 125.4 ± 14.8 pg/ml and 3.08 ± 1.81 mg/ml versus 1.42 ± 1.01 mg/ml, respectively), with a significantly positive correlation between IL-34 and hs-CRP levels in the CAD group. Multiple regression analysis showed that IL-34 and hs-CRP levels were independent predictors of CAD (IL-34: odds ratio [OR] 2.073, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.419, 2.672; hs-CRP: OR 1.878, 95% CI 1.172, 2.531). Conclusions: IL-34 levels were significantly increased in patients with CAD, and positively correlated with hs- CRP levels, suggesting that IL-34 may be an independent predictor of CAD.


Background Maximizing the skeletal peak bone mass in early life is thought to predict a relatively higher bone mass and hence greater fracture risk reduction later in life. Accordingly, there has been considerable research aiming to understand in which extent modifiable environmental factors, such as nutrition, act on bone accrual during adolescence. Even though some isolated nutrients have been identified as determinants of bone accrual, it seems more interesting to assess the impact of overall diet in bone quality, in order to design realistic public health interventions. Assessing the compliance of an individual's diet with a priori-defined dietary patterns, i.e. patterns defined based on presumed health effects, allows to uncover potential associations between diet in its entirety and bone quality indices. Objectives To quantify the association between forearm bone mineral density in early and late adolescence and adherence to a priori defined dietary patterns. Methods We analysed prospective data from 1180 adolescents (50.7% males) from the EPITeen cohort (adolescents born in 1990 and present at schools in Porto during the 2003/2004 school year) assessed at 13 and at 17 years old. In both evaluations, a physical examination including height, weight and forearm bone mineral density (BMD) using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was carried out. Dietary intake was assessed at 13 using a validated food frequency questionnaire and adherence to a priori defined dietary patterns was measured using a Mediterranean Diet Quality Index, a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Index and the Oslo Health Study (OHS) Dietary Index. Using tertiles of adherence to a priori patterns as the main exposure, associations were estimated cross-sectionally (with BMD at the age of 13) and prospectively (with BMD at 17 and bone gain between 13 and 17 years) using linear regression coefficients. All analyses were adjusted for BMI, total energy intake and, in girls, for menarche age. Results Mean (SD) forearm BMD increased from 0.368 (0.055) at 13 years-old to 0.440 (0.051) g/cm2 at 17 years-old in girls and from 0.342 (0.050) to 0.452 (0.075) g/cm2 in boys. We observed no significant differences in mean BMD at 13 and 17 years of age by tertiles of adherence to the differenta priori dietary patterns. No associations were identified with adherence to any of the a priori dietary patterns and BMD at 13 or 17 or BMD gain in girls. However, among boys, a significant linear trend towards increased BMD at 17 with increasing adherence to the Mediterranean Diet pattern was observed, being the average BMD (mg/cm2) significantly higher in boys in the highest tertile of adherence (1.08, 95%CI: 0.53; 2.68) when compared to those in the lowest tertile. Conclusions Significant relationships were not apparent between the a priori dietary patterns used and forearm BMD in early or late adolescence. The selected dietary patterns may not capture the elements of diet that are truly important in determining adolescent bone quality or, given the relative adequacy of nutrient intake in high-income populations, dietary patterns may not add substantially to other determinants of BMD at this age. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Bone marrow smears of necrotic tumor cells stained with Romanowsky dyes frequently have a definite reddish color that contrasts so strikingly with the blue color of normal marrow that necrosis may be suspected from gross examination. The bone marrow cells appear "smudged" and are difficult to identify on microscopic examination. Commonly, only a small amount of material is obtainable by ordinary needle aspiration of bone marrow containing necrotic tumor, and all of it is used to make smears. It is therefore important to recognize that bone marrow smears with a reddish gross appearance and in which the cells appear distorted and are difficult to identify may represent necrotic tumor and not an artifact produced by poor techniques.


Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are rare congenital conditions with a prevalence of less than 1% and are mostly asymptomatic. However, these malformations can suddenly cause intense pain or bleeding, leading to life-threatening medical problems. This report presents a case of an unexpected death in a 37-year-old previously healthy woman due to an intra-cerebellum arteriovenous malformation rupture identified during autopsy. While infective processes where preliminarily excluded, a Post Mortem Computed Tomography (PMCT) identified a tetra ventricular hemorrhage and intra-cerebellum hemorrhage. Toxicological examination was negative for most substances of abuse. During autopsy an intense hemorrhagic infiltrate in the subarachnoid space was observed. After formalin fixation of the brain the cerebellum showed hemorrhagic infarction on fourth ventricle sides, as well as several small reddish infarctions across the entire cerebellum parenchyma. Histological examination of the brain and cerebellum showed a suffusion of erythrocytes in the sub-arachnoid region. Evidence of an arterio-venous malformation, with several intertwine vessels of variable diameter, surrounded by hemorrhagic evidence. The autopsy played a crucial role in identifying the location and the possibly affected vessel, as well as defining the cause of death. It is necessary to have a greater number of autopsies to make an epidemiological contribution. Furthermore, it is crucial to create a multicenter data network with other authors from other departments to improve information about epidemiological, clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic data. Most brain AVMs as cause of death are often undiscovered.


Different entry and exit times and overlapping generations of players are common in real-life game situations. In addition, durable strategies which have effects over a period of time are no less common than nondurable strategies which have only one-shot effects. This paper develops a new class of dynamic games which contains durable strategies with asynchronous players' horizons. The optimization techniques for solving asynchronous horizons durable strategies control are derived. Noncooperative game equilibria and cooperative optimal solution are presented. An asynchronous horizons durable strategies dynamic environmental game is provided to analyze the seemingly catastrophe-bound environmental degradation problem. The Price of Anarchy (PoA) in cross-generational exploitation of environmental commons is calibrated. A cooperative solution with a dynamically stable compensatory scheme is presented to alleviate the problem.


ABSTRACT Mathematics education needs a better appreciation of the dominant power structures in the educational field: Bourdieu's theory of capital provides a good starting point. We argue from Bourdieu's perspective that school mathematics provides capital that is finely tuned to generationally reproduce the social structures that serve to keep the powerful in power, while ensuring that less powerful groups are led to accept their own failure in mathematics. Bourdieu's perspective thereby highlights theoretical inadequacies in much mathematics education research, insofar as it presumes a consensus about a 'what works agenda' for improving achievement for all. Drawing on one case where we manufactured awkward facts, we illustrate a Bourdieusian interpretation of mathematics capital as reproductive, and the crucial role of its cultural arbitrary. We then criticise the Bourdieusian concept of 'mathematical capital' as the value of mathematical competence in practice and propose to extend his tools to include the contradictory 'use' and 'exchange' values of mathematics instead: we will show how this conceptualisation goes 'beyond Bourdieu' and helps explain how teaching-learning might (ideally) produce 'cultural use value' in mathematical competence, while still recognising the contradictions teachers and learners face. Finally, we suggest how critical education research generally can benefit from this theoretical framework: (1) in exposing the interest of the dominant classes; but also (2) in researching critical pedagogic alternatives that challenge orthodoxy in educational policy and practice both in mathematics education and more generally.


: Purpose: This study aims to determine the influence of ethical leadership and organisational culture on employee commitment in a South African local government municipality in Gauteng Province. Design/methodology/approach: The authors adopted a cross-sectional quantitative research design. Primary data was gathered by administering a five-point Likert scale questionnaire to respondents online. Respondents were selected through the probability simple random sampling technique. Field data were analysed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS version 27) aided by descriptive tools of standard deviation, mean and frequency while the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlation analysis, and structural equation model (SEM) were used to make inferences from the data. The authors employed correlation to assess the relationship between ethical leadership, organisational culture, and employee commitment. Findings: The outcomes of the study indicated positive correlations between the variables. This implies that an increase in one variable means a similar increase in the other. However, it emerged that organizational culture influences employee commitment more than ethical leadership. Practical implications: Regarding the influence of ethical leadership, it is recommended that organisations such as the local municipalities need focus on human resource development programmes, institute mentorship, and training initiatives to assist managers. The municipalities must further reinforce empowerment traits, and establish staff development centres to enhance existing the performance of municipal leaders in management positions. Besides, it is recommended that the management of municipalities practice "the leading by example phenomenon" and "the role modeling culture" to improve employee performance and commitment. Originality/value: Though there has been several empirical studies on ethical leadership and organisational culture, the analytical framework adopted outlines practical approaches that municipal managers need to adopt to enhance ethical leadership and culture in organisations.


The reflection and transmission coefficients of holographic Fabry-Perot filters (HFPF's) are derived. Angular selectivities and wavelength sensitivities of the HFPF's on transmitted light are investigated. The effects of transmission by a HFPF on the spectrum and on the coherence properties of a partially coherent incident light are also analyzed. Numerical examples are presented for the case in which the incident light is generated by a Gaussian Schell-model source.


ABSTRACT Physical activity has been linked to better cognitive function in older adults, especially for executive control processes. Researchers have suggested that temporal processing of durations less than 1 second is automatic and engages motor processes, while timing of longer durations engages executive processes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a higher level of physical activity is associated with better reproduction performance in older adults, especially for durations in the "cognitive" range (i.e., longer than 1 s). Older right-handed adults completed a temporal reproduction task with five target durations (300, 650, 1000, 1350, and 1700 ms). Physical activity level was assessed via estimation of VO2 peak using a self-report activity scale. Results indicated that higher physical activity level was associated with better timing accuracy and that this effect was dependent on target duration. Namely, the relationship between physical activity and timing accuracy was strongest at the longest durations. Therefore, greater physical activity in older adults may have specific benefits linked to better executive functions.


Introduction: Open abdomen (OA) spans an entire spectrum of traumatic and nontraumatic indications. We hypothesize that uniformly managed OA patients have favorable outcomes regardless of the initial traumatic or nontraumatic etiology. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective review of OA patients from 2001 to 2006. A comparison was carried out between NTP and trauma OA patients, examining patient demographics, physiologic parameters, resource utilization, and outcome measures. Results: There were 60 OA patients (35 nontrauma patients [NTPs], 25 trauma patients [TPs]). NTPs were significantly older than TPs (60.9 vs. 38.3 years). The initial mean pH, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS), and predicted and observed 28-day mortality were similar for both groups. The initial base deficit was 5.53 in NTP and 10.4 in TP (P = 0.0191). Lactic acid levels were 3.54 in NTP and 5.57 in TP (P = 0.0326). Time to abdominal closure was 18.2 days for TP and 20.7 days for NTP. NTP had longer mean Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stays (11.6 vs. 8.5 days, P= 0.0438). NTP had more abscesses (20.0% vs. 8.00%), fistulae (17.1% vs. 8.00%), and enteric leaks (11.4% vs. 4.00%) than TP. The average number of procedures per patient was 5.81 for NTP and 6.24 for TP (mean 4.34 days between procedures for NTP and 2.38 days for TP). Conclusions: TP and NTP undergoing OA showed many similarities. Outcomes for OA patients were similar regardless of the initial diagnosis. A trend was observed toward more postoperative complications in the NTP and greater initial physiologic derangement in TP. NTP had longer mean ICU stays. The mortality for both groups was half of that predicted by SAPS II score, likely due to the physiologic benefits of OA. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Patient care; Medical knowledge; Practice based learning and improvement; Systems based practice. Republished with permission from: Stawicki SP, Cipolla J, Bria C. Comparison of open abdomens in nontrauma and trauma patients: A retrospective study. OPUS 12 Scientist. 2007;1(1):1-8.


Background Absence of co-stimulation (Signal 2) in the presence of TCR-stimulation (Signal-1) has been linked to the induction of tolerance, deletion or anergy. Abatacept is a CTLA-4-Ig molecule that binds with high affinity to CD80/86 on antigen presenting cells. It modulates CD28-mediated T cell co-stimulation and is currently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, however it is unknown if its use leads to the development of immunological tolerance. Objectives To gain a greater understanding of the mode of action of Abatacept by investigating in vivo its ability to induce antigen-specific immunological tolerance. Methods We employed TcR transgenic mice, oral tolerance and adoptive transfer systems1 to investigate whether abatacept can induce a state of immunological tolerance during primary antigen encounter. Results We demonstrate that while abatacept treatment significantly modulates antigen specific T cell priming in vivo, this condition does not replicate the phenotype and functional state of T cell tolerance. T cells tolerised by antigen feeding were unable to produce IL-2 after ex-vivo restimulation, in contrast T cells primed in the presence of abatacept produced copious amounts of this cytokine and resembled naïve T cells. Furthermore, T cells primed in the presence of abatacept were characterised by the absence of CD25+ FoxP3+, more resembling naïve than tolerised T cells. Compared with abatacept treatment, tolerised T cells exhibited a significantly higher proportion of CD25+ FoxP3+ T cells and expressed higher levels of inhibitory molecules, such as CTLA-4. However, while transgenic T cells in tolerised mice expressed an antigen-experienced phenotype (CD44highCD62L-), abatacept treatment significantly inhibited T cell activation, as demonstrated by the high proportion of CD44lowCD62L+ transgenic T cells in these mice. Moreover, upon secondary in vivo exposure to antigen, abatacept treated T cells expanded to the same degree as naïve or primed T cells and to a significantly greater extent than tolerised T cells. Conclusions In this study we demonstrate that abatacept does not induce a state of immunological tolerance after primary antigen encounter, however it significantly inhibits T cell activation. References Rush CM, Millington OR, Hutchison S, Bryson K, Brewer JM, Garside P. Characterization of CD4+ T-cell–dendritic cell interactions during secondary antigen exposure in tolerance and priming. Immunology 2009;128(4):463-471. Disclosure of Interest A. Patakas Grant/Research support from: This research was funded by BMS that has financial interest in Abatacept, S. Nadler: None Declared, J. Brewer: None Declared, I. McInnes: None Declared, P. Garside: None Declared


The aim of this thesis is to provide guidance and information that will assist forensic speech scientists, and phoneticians generally, in making more accurate formant measurements, using commonly available speech analysis tools. Formant measurements are an important speech feature that are often examined in forensic casework, and are used widely in many other areas within the field of phonetics. However, the performance of software currently used by analysts has not been subject to detailed investigation. This thesis reports on a series of experiments that examine the influence that the analysis tools, analysis settings and speakers have on formant measurements.

The influence of these three factors was assessed by examining formant measurement errors and their behaviour. This was done using both synthetic and real speech. The synthetic speech was generated with known formant values so that the measurement errors could be calculated precisely. To investigate the influence of different speakers on measurement performance, synthetic speakers were created with different third formant structures and with different glottal source signals. These speakers' synthetic vowels were analysed using Praat's normal formant measuring tool across a range of LPC orders.

The real speech was from a subset of 186 speakers from the TIMIT corpus. The measurements from these speakers were compared with a set of hand-corrected reference formant values to establish the performance of four measurement tools across a range of analysis parameters and measurement strategies.

The analysis of the measurement errors explored the relationships between the analysis tools, the analysis parameters and the speakers, and also examined how the errors varied over the vowel space. LPC order was found to have the greatest influence on the magnitude of the errors and their overall behaviour was closely associated with the underlying measurement process used by the tools. The performance of the formant trackers tended to be better than the simple Praat measuring tool, and allowing the LPC order to vary across tokens improved the performance for all tools. The performance was found to differ across speakers, and for each real speaker, the best performance was obtained when the measurements were made with a range of LPC orders, rather than being restricted to just one.

The most significant guidance that arises from the results is that analysts should have an understanding of the basis of LPC analysis and know how it is applied to obtain formant measurements in the software that they use. They should also understand the influence of LPC order and the other analysis parameters concerning formant tracking. This will enable them to select the most appropriate settings and avoid making unreliable measurements.


Abstract:This paper discusses the concept of personal property as an ideological construct of Soviet power in its agricultural application. The case in point is the collectivized reindeer husbandry of the Russian Far North. I argue that personal property, as it developed in Soviet agricultural history, was a critical, informally employed tool in the creation of an existentially secure, paternalistic reality, represented by the Soviet farm (sovkhoz). "Sovkhoism" is introduced as a cover term for the practices and general worldview symbolized by the sovkhoz. A methodological claim I make is that reindeer husbandry provides the best possible example of how sovkhoism was engendered and developed. The paper also looks at post-Soviet reinterpretations of sovkhoism and makes predictions for its future. I conclude that the study of personal property and the worldview of sovkhoism calls attention to the role of mixed property categories and, further, the blurring of categorial distinctions in general. The blurring of the line between private and public (collective) property in the case discussed, with its lasting attractiveness for powered and disempowered actors alike, provides a hitherto ignored explanation for the popularity of Soviet and Soviet-like regimes.


Abstract Objective To explore diverse provider perspectives on: strategies for addressing patient medication cost barriers; patient medication cost information gaps; current medication cost-related informatics tools; and design features for future tool development. Materials and Methods We conducted 38 semistructured interviews with providers (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and administrators) in a Midwestern health system in the United States. We used 3 rounds of qualitative coding to identify themes. Results Providers lacked access to information about: patients' ability to pay for medications; true costs of full medication regimens; and cost impacts of patient insurance changes. Some providers said that while existing cost-related tools were helpful, they contained unclear insurance information and several questioned the information's quality. Cost-related information was not available to everyone who needed it and was not always available when needed. Fragmentation of information across sources made cost-alleviation information difficult to access. Providers desired future tools to compare medication costs more directly; provide quick references on costs to facilitate clinical conversations; streamline medication resource referrals; and provide centrally accessible visual summaries of patient affordability challenges. Discussion These findings can inform the next generation of informatics tools for minimizing patients' out-of-pocket costs. Future tools should support the work of a wider range of providers and situations and use cases than current tools do. Such tools would have the potential to improve prescribing decisions and better link patients to resources. Conclusion Results identified opportunities to fill multidisciplinary providers' information gaps and ways in which new tools could better support medication affordability for patients.


Background: Studies on atrial fibrillation (AF) in decompensated heart failure (DHF) are scarce in Brazil. Objectives: To determine AF prevalence, its types and associated factors in patients hospitalized due to DHF; to assess their thromboembolic risk profile and anticoagulation rate; and to assess the impact of AF on in-hospital mortality and hospital length of stay. Methods: Retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study of incident cases including 659 consecutive hospitalizations due to DHF, from 01/01/2006 to 12/31/2011. The thromboembolic risk was assessed by using CHADSVASc score. On univariate analysis, the chi-square, Student t and Mann Whitney tests were used. On multivariate analysis, logistic regression was used. Results: The prevalence of AF was 40%, and the permanent type predominated (73.5%). On multivariate model, AF associated with advanced age (p < 0.0001), non-ischemic etiology (p = 0.02), right ventricular dysfunction (p = 0.03), lower systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p = 0.02), higher ejection fraction (EF) (p < 0.0001) and enlarged left atrium (LA) (p < 0.0001). The median CHADSVASc score was 4, and 90% of the cases had it ≥ 2. The anticoagulation rate was 52.8% on admission and 66.8% on discharge, being lower for higher scores. The group with AF had higher in-hospital mortality (11.0% versus 8.1%, p = 0.21) and longer hospital length of stay (20.5 ± 16 versus 16.3 ± 12, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Atrial fibrillation is frequent in DHF, the most prevalent type being permanent AF. Atrial fibrillation is associated with more advanced age, non-ischemic etiology, right ventricular dysfunction, lower SBP, higher EF and enlarged LA. Despite the high thromboembolic risk profile, anticoagulation is underutilized. The presence of AF is associated with longer hospital length of stay and high mortality.


Chapter 3 entertains the idea that children's literature might also be called a literature for minors, and even a minor literature as conceptualized by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. Children are legally minors, but adults can be minors too, culturally if not also legally. Such an understanding of children's literature broadens our sense of its purpose. The chapter begins with Walter Benjamin's attention to childhood and children's forms as a baseline for critical thinking about "minors." It then traces the reception history of Lewis Carroll's Alice, the Anglophone children's classic that most closely approaches recognition as theory. Finally, the chapter explores the idea that some children's literature functions as queer theory for kids, discussing a wide range of texts including A Series of Unfortunate Events. The chapter concludes with a reading of Alison Bechdel's memoir Are You My Mother?, seemingly for adults but preoccupied with queer childhood.


The limitations of the usual types of standard-signal generators are discussed and alternative generating schemes applicable to frequency measurements in the microwave region are analyzed. A secondary frequency standard is described which nakes use of a multiplier chain based on a stabilized quartz-crystal oscillator. The voltages at different frequencies are summed and applied to a silicon-crystal harmonic generator. It is pointed out that the silicon crystal is an excellent nonlinear element for the generation of harmonics in the microwave range. The result is an extremely wide output-frequency spectrum. In the particular frequency standard described, frequencies are generated to at least 10,000 megacycles. Identification of the harmonic frequencies is by means of a coaxial-line-type wavemeter, and detection is by means of a super-heterodyne detector. The standard has been successfully employed in the microwave range, being no more difficult to use than the conventional secondary standards used for frequencies below 50 megacycles.


N-(Nitrosomethyl)urea (NMU) was characterized in carcinogenic nitrosated fish sauce recently (Deng et al. J. Agric. Food Chem. 1998, 46, 202-205; Biomed. Environ. Sci. 1999, 12, 54-61). To study the possibility of intragastric synthesis of NMU, experimental mini-pigs surgically fitted with a flexible stomach cannula and human volunteers were used. Fish sauce samples (20-30 mL) and nitrite were injected into the gastric lumen through the cannula for pigs or taken orally for human volunteers. Gastric juice samples were taken out 30 min later. Concentration of NMU in condensed extracts of these samples was analyzed with HPLC-photohydrolysis-pyrolysis-thermal energy analyzer. Results showed that there was formation of NMU in the gastric lumen of both models in vivo and that the formation of NMU was nitrite- and pH-dependent. NMU was also detectable in the condensed extract of 100 mL of a mixture of pooled fasting human gastric juice samples and fish sauce sample (9:1, v/v) after treatment with 500 micromol/L of nitrite in vitro. In conclusion, there is intragastric formation of NMU, even at natural amounts of nitrite.


If one will examine the various text-books on ophthalmology, he will be unable to find any reference to the subject of the treatment of lachrymal stenosis in infants. The conclusion therefore derived is, that such a condition in infants is treated in the same manner as in adults. This I consider erroneous teaching. Very grave injury would frequently be done to the lachrymal passages of these tender little individuals if the same ruthless probing and cutting were done as is frequently the case among adults. During the last four years of my practice, I have had six cases of lachrymal stenosis in infants, all of which recovered perfectly without instrumental interference, and one case presented some such striking features, whether as a coincident or as a causal relationship I do not know, that I shall take the liberty of referring to it more in detail. In speaking of lachrymal stenosis


The System Engineering Data Representation and Exchange Standardisation (SEDRES) Project is a European initiative towards the development of a standardised data exchange capability for use between the different tools used in System Engineering. A significant issue arising from the Project is the usability of such a data transfer capability, and its effectiveness in the System Engineering process, especially in its application in the support of Integrated Product Teams. This paper addresses the Test & Evaluation programme within SEDRES and its focus on the Usability issues for tool data transfer. It concludes with a comparison of the SEDRES capability with a proposed Integrated System Engineering Environment (ISEE) Model set out in a 1996 INCOSE report (INCOSE 1996).


Thanks to the dynamic and decentralized nature of their infrastructure, mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET) contribute significantly to the deployment of services in pervasive environments. In the small area environments (houses, workplaces, hotspots, public areas, etc), these networks are not completely as secure as expected, according to user privacy. Within this kind of environment, it is still a challenging task to provide user authentication, without revealing the identity and/or the location of the communicating nodes. In this paper, we propose a new protocol called APP aiming to preserve user anonymity while providing authentication and secure routing among users within small area networks.


During the rough marine environment, heave compensation is used to offset the heave motion of the vessel when a marine crane lifts and lands the load. Thus, load motion and vessel motion are realized decoupled. In previous studies, the interference items such as hydraulic cylinder friction, underwater drag force and nonlinear friction in the active heave compensation system of a marine hydraulic crane are compensated as a concentrated interference force to be estimated. In this paper, we disassembled the interference items; the disturbance observer and adaptive rate are designed to estimate unmodeled disturbance force and system uncertain parameters, respectively; and we designed an active heave compensator with the adaptive nonlinear cascade controller which has the disturbance observer (DOB-ANCC). For the heave compensation of load displacement, this paper derived the control law of the nonlinear system model based on the backstepping method. The outer loop control is displacement control and the inner loop control is pressure control. The simulation verifies the effectiveness of the control strategy proposed in this paper and the availability of heave displacement compensation for a marine crane hoisting load. The compensation efficiency of the designed controller (DOB-ANCC) for the heave motion of the load can reach more than 95%, and the maximum displacement tracking error of the controller can reach ± 0.035 m.


Abstract Background: This study is aimed to analyze the effect of social distancing on functional outcomes (potency, continence recovery, and quality of life) on patients undergoing open radical prostatectomy (ORP) and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: We retrospectively assessed functional outcomes of 55 consecutive patients who underwent radical prostatectomy during the COVID-19 pandemic (group A: 12 ORP and 15 RARP) and compared these data with patients from the previous year (group B: 13 ORP and 15 RARP). Propensity-score matching was performed to analyze variables associated with potency, continence recovery and compared between the groups at 1 and 3months. Results: Patients from group A were less interested in postsurgical rehabilitation compared to those from group B (95.7% vs. 56.2%, p = 0.042). Continence recovery among group B patients also tended to be higher for RARP (p = 0.06) and ORP (p = 0.08) at 1 month, although statistical significance was not reached. The cumulative continence recovery at 3 months among group B patients was higher and statistically significantly advantageous for RARP (p = 0.00) and ORP (p < 0.01). Potency rates among younger group B patients following bilateral nerve-sparing procedures were statistically significantly advantageous for RARP (p = 0.026) and ORP (p = 0.011). Conclusions: Our results highlight the large impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on functional outcomes following radical prostatectomy. Future design and planning of home-based models for improved post-operative care should consider this evidence.


According to a model that has prevailed since the early 1990s, nuclear import complexes need to dock to the cytoplasmic filaments of the nuclear pore complex (NPC) before they can be translocated to the nucleus. On page 63, Walther et al. overturn this idea, demonstrating that cytoplasmic filaments have no essential function in the nuclear import of bulk cargos. The results also provide new insights on the composition of the filaments.

Figure

Cytoplasmic filaments (blue) are not needed for nuclear import (red).

Using the Xenopus egg extract system, the authors analyzed two cytoplasmically oriented nucleoporins, CAN/Nup214 and RanBP2/Nup358. CAN/Nup214 was previously thought to be a component of the cytoplasmic filaments, but in the new work it appears to be located near the entrance to the translocation channel in the NPC. RanBP2/Nup358, however, is an essential component of the cytoplasmic filaments: depleting this protein causes NPCs to form without cytoplasmic filaments. Surprisingly, NPCs lacking cytoplasmic filaments show no deficiency in nuclear import, indicating that the filaments are dispensable for this function.

Walther et al. propose that instead of being an obligatory stop on the nuclear import pathway, NPC cytoplasmic filaments of RanBP2/Nup358 may arrest import complexes to allow specific modifications before they enter the nucleus.

For a nuclear pore to form, the inner and outer membranes of the nucleus must fuse. This process is thought to involve the integral membrane protein gp210, which has a short COOH-terminal tail extending into the cytoplasm. Drummond and Wilson, reporting on page 53, now provide strong evidence to support this idea and present a new model to help explain nuclear pore formation.

Recombinant gp210 tail polypeptides, or antibodies against the tail, stop nuclear pore formation at an early stage. The polypeptides also cause the accumulation of "mini-pores," which appear to represent an intermediate that is unable to dilate into a full-size pore. The authors suggest that specific nucleoporins may bind to the gp210 tails around these mini-pores, forming spokes or struts that dilate the pore. ▪


While fatherhood and male involvement in family life have been the focus of much research during the past few decades, we know less about men's involvement in the stage that precedes fatherhood and reproductive decision-making, their awareness of and sense of responsibility for reproductive health and fertility. This article draws attention to how men talk about fertility and reproductive intentions, focusing on how their perceptions and knowledge of fertility and procreation are structured around social norms and expectations. The study was based on interviews with 25 men in reproductive age with no prior history of infertility, including men with as well as without children and men of different sexual orientations and gender diversity. Our findings indicate a tension between, on the one hand, a general tendency among the men to take their fertility for granted and neither think nor talk about it, and, on the other hand, a latent concern about possible infertility which seemed to be activated in the interview situation. These findings raise questions of how conversations about fertility might impact men's thinking about their own fertility that call for further exploration and that are of significance in considerations of how to promote fertility awareness and reproductive health.


Parasitological investigation of dogs disposed off in non-descript abattoirs was carried out in two communities (Basawa and Angwagodo) in Zaria. Intestines from seventy (70) adult dogs were collected, and standard procedures were followed to determine their parasite loads. A total of sixty-three dogs (90.00%) were positive for different species of helminthes. The helminthes recovered were Dipylidium caninum, Taenia spp, Ancylostoma caninum and Toxocara canis. D. caninum was present in thirty five dogs (50.00%), Taenia spp in twenty dogs (28.57%). Ancylostoma caninum in twenty five dogs (35.71%) and Toxocara canis in four dogs (5.71%). There were no statistically significant associations between the location of study and frequency of recovery of each helminthes (P>0.05). Toxocara canis was only detected at Angwagodo. The mean worm load by location was higher at Angwagodo (24.59+55.03) than Basawa (8.66+9.44). The sex of the dog had no significant effect on the recovery of each helminthes (P>0.05). However, female dogs had a higher worm load (22.14+57.41) than the male dogs (12.12+18.44). The result of this study suggests that about 90% of the dog population in Zaria may be contributing to the contamination of the environment with eggs of zoonotic helminthes. Key words: Intestinal helminthes, Dogs, Non-descript Abattoirs, Zaria.