Recently, Microsoft took the lead in the development of a standard for peer-to-peer network connectivity of various intelligent appliances, wireless devices and PCs. It is called the Universal Plug and Play Device Architecture (UPnP). We construct a high-level abstract state machine (ASM) model for UPnP using AsmL. AsmL is an advanced ASM-based executable specification language that has been developed at Microsoft Research. It provides a modern specification environment that is object-oriented and component-based. AsmL is integrated into Microsoft Visual Studio, Word and COM.


Introduction This study aimed to describe the practice patterns of primary healthcare practitioners who diagnose and manage venous disease to determine differences in clinical evaluation of disease, recognition of venous ulcers, and referral patterns. Methods A survey was distributed at the August 2011 Primary Care Medical Conference (Pri-Med) in Baltimore, Maryland. Pri-med is a medical education company that caters to the continued professional development needs of a variety of physicians. Results A total of 305 surveys were completed. Of the respondents, 91% were physicians and 9% were advanced level practitioners. In all, 93% prescribed compression stockings as first-line treatment. Heterogeneous referral patterns were reported with 81% referring to vascular surgery, 25% to a vein clinic, 10% to interventional radiology, and 3% to interventional cardiology. Up to 35% responded that they met resistance (did not have their referral accepted) when attempting referral to a vascular surgery colleague. There was substantial variation when asked about the treatment of deep vein thrombosis with 88% starting anticoagulation therapy, 54% prescribing compression stockings, 40% doing a thrombophilia workup, and 25% referring for lytic therapy. Conclusion Diagnosis and management aptitude of venous disease is highly variable. Further grassroots education is required to improve diagnosis and treatment in patients with chronic venous disease.


Summary Ethnobotanical studies gather pure information that can be used to support scientific research. Traditional remedies are considered as an alternative tool to chemical treatments in health care. This study aims to investigate the knowledge of spontaneous medicinal plant used by healers and elderly people. Moreover, it focuses on consensus level estimation of used medicinal plants. An exhaustive survey was carried out in the region of Djelfa in Algeria. The information was gathered from 43 informants who responded to structured questionnaire. Survey data were quantitatively characterized by five indices, namely; relative frequency citation, medicinal use-value, family use-value, informant consensus factor and fidelity level. In the current study, 51 species belonging to 28 botanical families were recorded and 185 uses and 58 diseases were described as well. Most recipes used a single species; however, some preparations were used as a species mixture. This specific preparation is called "Djor yebrir" and it was used as a curative treatment. The most represented families were the Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Cupressaceae and Poaceae . The most cited species were Artemisia campestris L., Juniperus phoeniceae L., Teucrium polium L., Marrubium deserti (Noë) Coss., A rtemisia herba alba Asso., Ruta montana (L.) L. and Saccocalyx satureioides Coss. et Durieu. These species were mentioned to treat mainly digestive system diseases and signs and ill-defined morbid states which showed the highest consensus level. This study reveals that traditional remedies are still used in this region. This information showed the abundance of medicinal plants and the ethnobotanical knowledge in the studied region which need to be preserved, so phytochemical and biological screenings are more than needed.


Twelve theoretical models for the ultrasonic velocity in a system consisting of a solid matrix containing solid spherical inclusions have been compared with experimental data obtained from the literature. Four of the models failed to predict the experimentally observed minimum in the velocity-inclusion concentration curve, and can therefore only be considered suitable for low-concentration computations. All of the remaining models give qualitative agreement with the experimental systems considered and no one model is obviously superior to the others. There is a clear need for more high quality experimental data on solid-solid suspensions.


Principal component analysis is applied to analyze the horizontal component of geomagnetic data for the Panzhihua Ms 6.1 earthquake. We investigate temporal variations in eigenvalues and find that only the first principal component has good correlation with the Ap index for which the cross-correlation correlation R is larger than 0.6, which may imply solar-terrestrial activity. Both the second and third principal components show clear daily variation, being high during work hours and low at night and on weekends. The mean eigenvalue of the third component at night (00:00-04:00 LT) increased about 40 days before the earthquake and returned to normal 10 days before the earthquake. These features are likely to be correlated with the earthquake.


This hand book makes available information on the effects of urban agriculture in enhancing poverty reduction in Mombasa county Kenya.it provide valuable information on income generation, creation of employment, supply of food and supply of raw material as independent variables of poverty reduction. The book will be useful at all levels. Urban farming has for years served as a vital input in the livelihood strategies of urban households in developing countries . In general, urban dwellers rely on the market for food but with the tremendous surge in food prices beyond the reach of the majority of the population, the poor urbanites in Mombasa county Kenya have resorted to intensifying urban agriculture as a coping strategy to meet their immediate food requirements. This book discusses the contribution of urban agriculture to reducing food insecurity and reduction of urban poverty. Urban agriculture is a strategy that can be adapted by low income households in Mombasa county to meet their food, nutritional requirements and poverty reduction.


: The inhibitory effect of fibrinogen and its fragment D on the clotting of two fibrin monomer species has been studied. One of them (f0) lacks peptides A and B, the other (fB) preserves peptides B. The inhibitors retard the clotting of f0 but fail to influence fB polymerization. This means that the peptide B removal and appearance of the active site B in the central (E) domain of the fibrin molecule is a prerequisite for the inhibitory effect of fibrinogen or fragment D. The specificity of this effect suggests that fragment D and the periferal D-domains of fibrinogen possess a special site (B') which reacts selectively with the fibrin active site B to block polymerization. The present investigation has demonstrated the importance of the H-bond system formation for B-B' sites interaction.


Megabase-scale somatic copy number variants (CNVs) alter allelic diversity in a subset of human neocortical neurons. Reported frequencies of CNV neurons range from ∼5% of neurons in some individuals to greater than 30% in other individuals. Genome-wide and familial studies implicitly assume a constant brain genome when assessing the genetic risk architecture of neurological disease, thus it is critical to determine whether divergent reports of CNV neuron frequency reflect normal individual variation or technical differences between approaches. We generated a new dataset of over 800 human neurons from 5 neurotypical individuals and developed a computational approach that measures single cell library quality based on Bayesian Information Criterion and identifies integer-like variant segments from population-level statistics. A brain CNV atlas was assembled using our new dataset and published data from 10 additional neurotypical individuals. This atlas reveals that the frequency of neocortical CNV neurons varies widely among individuals, but that this variability is not readily accounted for by tissue quality or CNV detection approach. Rather, the age of the individual is anti-correlated with CNV neuron frequency. Fewer CNV neurons are observed in aged individuals than young individuals.


Suicidal behaviors are strongly linked with mood disorders, but the specific neurobiological and functional gene-expression correlates for this linkage remain elusive. We therefore tested the hypothesis that a convergent neuroanatomical and gene-expression signature will underlie mood disorder associated psychiatric morbidity and related suicide mortality. To do so, first, we applied an anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE) MRI meta-analysis across 72 voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies including 2387 (living) participants that identified a selectively reduced anterior insula cortex gray matter volume (GMV) as a potential neuroanatomical signature for mood disorder. This neuroanatomical signature was then specifically used to guide postmortem RNA-Sequencing studies of 100 independent donor brains with a life-time history of major depressive disorder (N=30), bipolar disorder (N=37) and non-affected controls (N=33) using a sample from the National Institute of Mental Health Brain collection core. In this latter study, factor analysis first identified a higher-order factor representing number of Axis-1 diagnoses (i.e. morbidity) and suicide-completion (i.e. suicide-mortality). Using this higher-order factor as a contrast variable, differential gene-expression changes were examined in high psychiatric morbidity and related suicide mortality versus low psychiatric morbidity and related suicide mortality in mood disorder cohorts and controls. We identified in immune, inflammasome, neurodevelopmental, and transcriptional pathways and a weighted gene co-activation network analysis identified co-activated gene modules for psychiatric morbidity and suicide-mortality outcomes. These results provide a functional gene-expression link between mood disorder associated psychiatric disease morbidity and suicide-mortality.


The author considers the interrelationship between the legislative formalization of administrative responsibility and the acceptance or non-acceptance of the ethical and legal principle of transparency of power, understood as free access to information. The universality of the right to information is substantiated. The paper shows the transition of the legislation of various countries from the principle of secrecy of any information at the disposal of state bodies to the principle of transparency, considered as freedom of search, receipt and dissemination of information. This transition is shown in dynamics as going through several stages. The author considers various models of administrative responsibility adopted in various jurisdictions, mainly in European countries, in comparison with the American model. Their mutual influence is also taken into consideration. Much attention is paid to the need for the correct application of the principle of transparency. It is noted that the declarations underlying the new rules adopted recently cannot give real innovative effects if the reforms are not accompanied by changes in organizational structures and additional financial investments. At the same time, the completeness of the transition from the secrecy regime to the principle of transparency is determined by the legal traditions that have developed in different countries.


Cobalt based perovskites have great potential for numerous applications. Contrary to a generally assumed hexagonal space group (SG P63/mmc) model as the ground state of BaCoO3 (BCO), our hybrid DFT calculations with B1WC density functional and the symmetry group-subgroup derived crystal structure model support the ground state of BCO to be indeed monoclinic, in agreement with recent experimental predictions [Chin et al., Phys. Rev. B, 2019, 100, 205139]. We found for the monoclinic BCO that the C-type anti-ferromagnetic low-spin (AFM LS) state (SG P2/c) is energetically only slightly more preferential at 0 K than the ferromagnetic (FM) LS state (SG C2/c). In turn, these monoclinic structures are energetically more favourable than the hexagonal ones, due to slight z-axis tilting. The analysis of density of states (DOS) and crystal orbital overlap population (COOP) shows a significant (almost 2 eV) separation between occupied and empty t2g states (in the spin-down channel and corresponding anti-bonding states) induced by the z-axis tilting.


The role of a rural library in developing an information society has long been realized by the government. The literature review indicates that the growth of the information society has forced the work environment and of librarians, especially in delivering services to the communities. Therefore, the rural libraries are being subjected to respond to the new changes. To ensure them to participate in the information society, there have to be appropriately trained workers in place; the rural librarian is required to put the element that promotes the use of information and rural library resources effectively. They should strengthen the function of a rural library staff as information intermediaries and increased their competencies to enable them to teachlibrary users to use the information they need for. The required competencies will be discussed in this paper.


Forest fires are responsible for important modifications in terms of hillslope dynamics, resulting often in increased erosion rates and, as a consequence of this, land loss. Higher rates of surface runoff, formation of gullies and holes or even soil destructuration are some of the consequences of forest fires to the physical space. In this sense, the need to employ techniques to mitigate its effects is urgent. In this paper it is our intention to analyse some examples describing the consequences of forest fires in terms of hillslope dynamics in Northern Portugal and also the development of a methodology focussing on the analysis of gully risk by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software in a region where burned areas are considered high risk areas as far as the formation of this geomorphological process is concerned.


To compare Quality Of Life (QoL) outcomes amongst patients undergoing elective Open abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR) with Synthetic Mesh versus Biosynthetic mesh, using the Carolinas Comfort scale (CCS) questionnaire.

 This is a retrospective study with longitudinal prospective questionnaire extension of all patients who have undergone AWR within last four years by the same AWR surgeon and Plastic surgeon team with no recurrence. Four groups of patients were compared based on time from surgery (more or less than eight months) and use of synthetic or biosynthetic mesh. The rationale behind it is based on characteristics of the biosynthetic mesh data showing complete disappearance by eight-months and replacement by a scaffolding tissue as an ingrown matrix and collagen.

 There were eight patients in each group (total 32 patients). 16 patients had repair with Bio A mesh and 16 with Dynamesh CICAT. Using two-way ANOVA and post HOC Turkey's difference test, we found a significantly lower score (p<0.05) in the patients who had a repair with the Bio Synthetic mesh. Maximum score on the CCS is 115 points but except for one outlier of 70 points, none of the remaining 31 patients had a score higher than 50. Patients scored higher on questions related to bending, sitting up and exercise.

 This outcome provides a review of current surgical practises and meshes, helping surgeons & patients make better informed decisions. Bio-synthetic meshes have better comfort outcomes for patients with lower CCS scores in the long term.


Social resilience concepts are gaining momentum in environmental planning through an emerging understanding of the socio-ecological nature of biophysical systems. There is a disconnect, however, between these concepts and the sociological and psychological literature related to social resilience. Further still, both schools of thought are not well connected to the concepts of social assessment (SA) and social impact assessment (SIA) that are the more standard tools supporting planning and decision-making. This raises questions as to how emerging social resilience concepts can translate into improved SA/SIA practices to inform regional-scale adaptation. Through a review of the literature, this paper suggests that more cross-disciplinary integration is needed if social resilience concepts are to have a genuine impact in helping vulnerable regions tackle climate change.


Holographic optical lens elements (HOES) are volume gratings in thick material such as dichromated gelatine (DCG) which suffer from the wavelength mismatch between the recording process and the practical application e.g., at laser diode wavelengths. Wavelength mismatch between recording and reconstruction is caused by the fact that the best recording materials are sensitive only in the blue region of the spectrum. The advantage of volume gratings (thickness 13pin) is the large angle of deflection of the first diffraction order with a high diffraction efficiency. An optimized recording geometry using only spherical wave fronts allows on the one hand for the elimination of one of the third order aberrations (predominantly: astigmatism) or on the other hand for the fulfillment of the Bragg condition. To optimize the properties of holographic optical lens elements with one aspheric recording wave a kind of iterative procedure for the manufacturing is proposed /1,2/. Each iteration consists of three different steps (fig. 1):


During last few years, along with blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies have found huge attention from both commercial and scientific perspectives. Cryptocurrencies are digital coins which use cryptographic tools to allow secure peer-to-peer monetary transactions. Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency that allows direct payments between pseudonyms without any third party. If a user's pseudonym is linked to her identity, all her transactions will be traceable, which will violate her privacy. To address this, various privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies have been proposed that use different cryptographic tools to achieve anonymous transactions. Zerocash is one of the most popular ones that uses zero-knowledge proofs to hide the source, destination and value of each transaction. This thesis consists of two main parts. In the first part, after a short overview of some cryptocurrencies (precisely Bitcoin, Monero and Zerocoin), we will explain the construction of Zerocash cryptocurrency and discuss the intuition behind the construction. More precisely, we will introduce the deployed primitives and will discuss the role of each primitive in the construction of the coin. In particular, we explain zero-knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (a.k.a. zk-SNARKs) that play the main role in achieving strong privacy in Zerocash. Due to the importance of zk-SNARKs in privacy-preserving applications, in the second part of the thesis, we will present a new variation of Groth's 2016 zk-SNARK that currently is the most efficient pairing-based scheme. The main difference between the proposed variation and the original one is that unlike the original version, new variation guarantees nonmalleability of generated proofs. Our analysis shows that the proposed changes have minimal effects on the efficiency of the original scheme and particularly it outperforms Groth and Maller's 2017 zk-SNARK that also guarantees non-malleability of proofs.


The protective effect of dental scaling in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains inconclusive. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between dental scaling and the development of PD. A retrospective nested case-control study was performed using the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. The authors identified 4765 patients with newly diagnosed PD from 2005 to 2013 and 19,060 individuals without PD by matching sex, age, and index year. In subgroup 1, with individuals aged 40–69 years, individuals without periodontal inflammatory disease (PID) showed a protective effect of dental scaling against PD development, especially for dental scaling over five consecutive years (adjusted odds ratio = 0.204, 95% CI = 0.047–0.886, p = 0.0399). In general, the protective effect of dental scaling showed greater benefit for individuals with PID than for those without PID, regardless of whether dental scaling was performed for five consecutive years. In subgroup 2, with patients aged ≥70 years, the discontinued (not five consecutive years) scaling showed increased risk of PD. This was the first study to show that patients without PID who underwent dental scaling over five consecutive years had a significantly lower risk of developing PD. These findings emphasize the value of early and consecutive dental scaling to prevent the development of PD.


The most frequent ovarian tumour is cancer of the superficial epithelial layer. Sex cord mesenchymal tumours, lipoid cell tumours, germ cell tumours, gonadoblastomas, non-specific soft tissue tumours and metastatic tumours are rare. All these tumours are dissimilar, but they can be distinguished from the common ovarian adenocarcinoma by certain characteristics. It is among these rare tumours that cancers with feminizing effect (granula and theca cell tumours) or masculinizing effects (lipoid cell tumours, androblastomas) can be found. These tumours often affect children or young subjects; they are more belatedly and more rarely bilateral and they raise the problem of the conservative treatment of ovarian and reproductive functions. Among them, granula cell tumours sometimes recur after a long period, dysgerminoma is radio-sensitive and of good prognosis, and the prognosis of non-seminoma tumours has been much improved by chemotherapy. Most metastatic tumours are consecutive to endometrial, mammary or gastrointestinal cancer, the latter being the usual origin of Krukenberg's tumour.


The paper deals with improvement of procedures for autografting a greater omental fragment to the vascular layer of the brain in its experimental ischemic lesions. The findings suggest that a functional vasculature has formed between the omentum and the meninx vasculosa just at hour 24 postautografting. This provides evidence to recommend the method for clinical application to compensate cerebral circulatory disorders in tumor-induced and vascular abnormalities in the brain.


In this paper we describe a perception experiment on intoxicated and sober speech of 161 speakers recorded in the German Alcohol Language Corpus. 72 listeners achieved an average discrimination rate of 63.1% when asked to choose from pairs of stimuli which one sounded intoxicated. Perception results were not gender-dependent and no hidden effects were found in a control group test. Since earlier studies reported higher fundamental frequency for intoxicated speakers, the influence of fundamental frequency as a potential acoustic cue in human perception of intoxication was analyzed. Results show a significantly higher detection rate for speakers who produce a higher fundamental frequency when being intoxicated, and a higher success rate for listeners who show a general preference for choosing the stimulus with higher fundamental frequency. However, human listeners do not consistently exploit this acoustic cue, since a simple algorithm which always classifies the stimulus with higher fundamental frequency as intoxicated would lead to a better performance of 82% discrimination rate.


Porphyran is a sulfate galactan in the cell wall of Porphyra. Its acid hydrolysis product, oligo-porphyran (OP), was prepared and the structure studied by electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-TOF-MS). This oligosaccharide was mainly composed of monosulfate-oligo-galactan, disufate-oligo-galactan, trisulfate-oligo-galactan, trisulfate oligo-methyl-galactan, and 3,6-anhydrogalactose with the degree of polymerization ranging from 1 to 8. The effects of OP were investigated in the glycerol-induced acute renal failure (ARF) model. Compared with the normal group, rats from the glycerol-induced group exhibited collecting duct and medullary ascending limb dilation and casts. The OP-treated group exerted a protective effect against glycerol-induced changes. The results showed that the administration of OP markedly decreased mortality in female ARF rats. For male ARF rats, all of which survived, OP significantly decreased the blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine levels. Ion levels in plasma and urine were significantly changed in ARF rats, whereas OP treatment almost recovered ion levels back to normal. This study showed a noticeable renal morphologic and functional protection by OP in glycerol-induced ARF rats.


Air pollution represents a major public health threat in India affecting 19% of the world's population at extreme levels. Despite this, research in India lags behind in large part due to a lack of comprehensive air pollution exposure assessment that can be used in conjunction with health data to investigate health effects. Our vision is to provide a consortium to rapidly expand the evidence base of the multiple effects of ambient air pollution. We intend to leapfrog current limitations of exposure assessment by developing a machine-learned satellite-informed spatiotemporal model to estimate daily levels of ambient fine particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) at a fine spatial scale across all of India. To catalyze health effects research on an unprecedented scale, we will make the output from this model publicly available. In addition, we will also apply these PM2.5 estimates to study the health outcomes of greatest public health importance in India, including cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pregnancy (and birth) outcomes, and cognitive development and/or decline. Thus, our efforts will directly generate actionable new evidence on the myriad effects of air pollution on health that can inform policy decisions, while providing a comprehensive and publicly available resource for future studies on both exposure and health effects. In this commentary, we discuss the motivation, rationale, and vision for our consortium and a path forward for reducing the enormous burden of disease from air pollution in India.


Observations of HF signal powers on two circuits in North America have been compared with the values predicted by two HF propagation programs, Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program (VOACAP) and Advanced Stand Alone Prediction System (ASAPS). Neither program consistently provided the more reliable predicted signal powers. For the longer circuit considered (2820 km WWV Fort Collins to Hanscom Air Force Base), ASAPS was found to be the more accurate program for the lower frequencies (at night), while VOACAP was the more accurate for the higher frequencies (during the day). The RMS errors ranged from a few decibels to 15 dB. For daytime 7.335 MHz propagation on the 490 km CHU Ottawa to Hanscom Air Force Base circuit, the VOACAP RMS errors (∼4 dB) were less than the ASAPS RMS errors (∼8 dB). The errors for the two programs were very similar for 3.330 MHz propagation, peaking at ∼9 dB just after sunrise and just before sunset and ∼3 dB during the night.


ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) by either the endobronchial valve (EBV) or coil (EBC) procedure is recommended for severe emphysematous patients. BLVR applications generally help healthy lung areas ventilate more comfortably by reducing the hyperinflation and improving the contraction capacity of diaphragm. OBJECTIVES: Compare our experience with valve and coil BLVR devices. DESIGN: Retrospective. SETTING: Single tertiary care centre. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Demographic data, vital signs, pulmonary function tests (PFTs), the six-minute walking test (6MWT), vital signs, arterial blood gases and complications were recorded. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in PFTs and completion of the 6MWT. SAMPLE SIZE: 60 Turkish men with a diagnosis of chronic pulmonary lung disease. RESULTS: Clinical and demographic characteristics were similar in patients who underwent EBV and EBC. Thirty (96.8%) EBV patients and 27 (93.1%) of the EBC patients were able to properly complete the PFT before the procedures, but all complied after the procedures. Significant improvement in PFTs were achieved after the procedure and there were no statistically significant differences in post-procedure performance. For the 6MWT, the completion rate improved from 15 (48.4%) to 19 (61.3%) patients in the EBV patients (P=.125) and from 19 (65.5%) to 21 (72.4%) patients in the EBC patients (P=.500). There was no significant difference in completion rates for the walking test for either group (median 32 meters in EBV patients and 37 meters in EBC patients; P=.652). Vital signs and arterial blood gases were similar in the two groups. The rates of complications were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: Endobronchial valves and coils are safe and effective methods for BLVR for patients with severe emphysema. LIMITATIONS: Relatively small sample, retrospective design, single-centre retrospective study. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.


Background and objectives: Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) infections have been the cause of threatening outbreaks for many years. Apart from several physical and chemical methods to prevent tick bites, active vaccination of people highly exposed to infection is still the most important strategy of prevention. However, in some subjects, the lack of or low response to TBEV antigens is observed. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence of seronegative rate for anti-TBEV antibodies and the risk factors for waning immunity. Materials and Methods: 2315 at least primary vaccinated subjects from the high risk group for TBEV infections participated in this study. A commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test was used for the assessment of anti-TBEV IgG serum level. Results: Data showed that 86.2% of subjects who underwent vaccination were positive for anti-TBEV antibodies within 5 years. As much as 13.8% of subjects that underwent primary or primary and booster vaccination were barely protected after vaccination. Women and subjects under 60 years underwent more effective protection but sex and older age was not a risk factor for being a subject of waning immunity. A logistic regression showed that both a longer time since the vaccination and a lower number of booster doses constantly increased the chance of lost anti-TBEV antibodies. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the vaccination schedule should be reevaluated. The extension of the interval of booster immunization is risky and all subjects should be surrounded by care consisting of more frequent monitoring of serum antibodies by personalized schedule to adjust the frequency of subsequent doses of booster vaccination.


The presence of a corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) behaving as a peptide with a molecular weight of about 5000 was established after purification of porcine hypothalamic extracts by gel filtration on Sephadex G-25 and then on Sephadex G-50. Purified CRF stimulated the release of corticotropin (ACTH) in three in vitro systems: isolated rat pituitary quarters, monolayer cultures of dispersed pituitary cells, and superfused pituitary cells on a column. A linear logarithmic dose-response relationship existed between 50 and 200 micrograms of CRF preparations per ml and the total amount of ACTH released by the superfused pituitary cells. The pituitary ACTH response to CRF in the pituitary quarters system was also approximately linearly related to the logarithm of the dose of CRF. CRF also stimulated in vivo release of ACTH in rats pretreated with chlorpromazine, morphine, and Nembutal. CRF activity was labile to digestion with trypsin and chymotrypsin and was partially destroyed by pepsin. The evidence indicates that CRF of porcine origin is a polypeptide of a higher molecular weight than previously assumed.


OBJECTIVE
A randomized, controlled trial of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) for drinking and related problems among at-risk and dependent drinkers was conducted in an emergency department (ED) in Sosnowiec, Poland, among patients ages 18 years and older.

METHOD
Data were collected over a 23-week period, from 4:00 PM to midnight, and resulted in 446 patients being recruited into the study (90% of those who screened positive) and randomized to three conditions following a two-stage process: screened only (n = 147), assessed (n = 152), and received intervention (n = 147). Patients in the assessment (85%) and intervention (83%) conditions were blindly reassessed at 3 months via a telephone interview.

RESULTS
At 3-month follow-up, both groups showed significant decreases in the proportion who were positive for at-risk drinking, the primary outcome variable. Both groups also showed significant decreases in drinking days per week, drinks per drinking day, maximum drinks per occasion, and negative consequences of drinking. Using analysis of covariance to control for baseline measures and demographic characteristics, no difference in outcome measures was found between intervention and assessment conditions. Subgroup analysis found some significant interactions between intervention and secondary outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS
Although the main findings were similar to those from other brief-intervention studies in Western cultures, findings here also suggest that intervention may have differential benefits for specific subgroups of patients in the ED, an area of research that may warrant additional study of brief intervention in the ED setting.


Electricity grid interconnections have played a key role in the history of electric power systems. Most national and regional power systems that exist today began many decades ago as isolated systems, often as a single generator in a large city. As power systems expanded out from their urban cores, interconnections among neighboring systems became increasingly common 8. Groups of utilities began to form power pools, allowing them to trade electricity and share capacity reserves. The first power pool in the United States was formed in the Connecticut Valley in 925 9. As transmission technologies improved, long distance interconnections developed, sometimes crossing national borders. The first international intercon-nections in Europe came in 906, when Switzerland built transmission links to France and Italy. One of the great engineering achievements of the last century has been the evolution of large synchronous alternating current (AC) power grids, in which all the interconnected systems maintain the same precise electrical frequency. Today, the North American power system is composed of four giant synchronous systems, namely the Eastern, Western, Texas, and Quebec interconnections. The Eastern interconnection by itself has been called the largest machine in the world, consisting of thousands of generators, millions of kilometers of transmission and distribution lines, and more than a billion different electrical loads. Despite this complexity, the network operates in synchronism as a single system. So does the Western European interconnection, which reaches from the UK and Scandinavia to Italy and Greece, embracing along the way much of Eastern Europe (for example, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic). Synchronous interconnections among countries are expanding in Central and South America, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East 0. At the same time that synchronous AC networks have reached the continental scale, the use of high voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnections is also rapidly expanding as a result of technical progress over the last two decades. HVDC permits the asynchronous interconnection of networks that operate at different frequencies, or are otherwise incompatible, allowing them to exchange power without requiring the tight coordination of a synchronous network. HVDC has other advantages as well, especially for transmitting large amounts of power over very long distances. Fundamentals of both AC and DC interconnections are discussed below in Sections 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4 of this Chapter.


Non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTMs) comprise a large group of organisms that are phenotypically diverse. Analysis of the growing number of completed NTM genomes has revealed both significant intra-genus genetic diversity, and a high percentage of predicted genes that appear to be unique to this group. Most NTMs have not been studied, however, the rise in NTM infections in several countries has prompted increasing interest in these organisms. Mycobacterial research has recently benefitted from the development of new genetic tools and a growing number of studies describing the genetic manipulation of NTMs have now been reported. In this review, we discuss the use of both site-specific and random mutagenesis tools in NTMs, highlighting the challenges that exist in applying these techniques to this diverse group of organisms.


Introduction: In 2016, a new definition of sepsis and septic shock was adopted. Some studies based on the general population demonstrated that the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score is more accurate than the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria to predict hospital mortality of infected patients requiring intensive care. Patients and Method: We have analyzed all the records of patients with cancer admitted for a suspected infection between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2016, in our oncological intensive care unit (ICU). Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score and quick SOFA (qSOFA) score as well as SIRS criteria were calculated. We analyzed the accuracy of each score to predict hospital mortality in the setting of the new and old definitions of septic shock. Results: Our study includes 241 patients with a solid tumor and 112 with a hematological malignancy. The hospital mortality rate is 37% (68% in patients with septic shock according to the new definition and 60% according to old definition) between 2013 and 2016. To predict hospital mortality, the SOFA score has an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.74 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68-0.79), the qSOFA of 0.65 (95% CI, 0.59-0.70), and the SIRS criteria of 0.58 (95% CI, 0.52-0.63). In multivariate analysis, a higher SOFA score or a higher qSOFA score indicates poor prognosis: odds ratio (OR) per 1-point increase by 1.28 (95% CI, 1.18-1.39) and 1.48 (95% CI, 1.04-2.11), respectively. Complete remission is a good prognostic factor for hospital mortality: OR 0.39 (95% CI, 0.22-0.67). Conclusion: The new definition of sepsis and septic shock is applicable in an ICU oncological population with the same reliability as in the general population. The SOFA score is more accurate than qSOFA and SIRS criteria to predict hospital mortality.


Severe chronic chest disease is the most serious complication in patients with antibody deficiency syndromes. IgG-subclass-deficiencies were a frequent finding in patients with obstructive lung disease and in patients with sinopulmonary infections. In the patient population referred to us for immunological investigation recurrent infection of the upper and lower respiratory tract was the most common reason to suspect undue susceptibility to infection. In 1034 pediatric patients analyzed 299 were found to be deficient in one of several IgG subclasses. In a group of 30 children, all of whom had severe lung disease and normal concentrations of serum IgG, IgA and IgM, airway-obstruction has been diagnosed in 19. 20 of the 30 patients had IgG-subclass-deficiency. The large percentage of IgG-subclass-deficiencies in this group of patients indicates that immunological disregulation is likely to contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic lung disease.


Mixed cryoglobulinemia and hepatitis C virus infection are strongly connected and the therapeutic approach is standardized according to the severity of the symptoms. We report the difficult management of 59 year old female HCV patient presenting cutaneous lesions and arthralgia due to mixed cryoglobulinemia. No therapy was able to achieve a complete remission and during the six years of active disease we observed several clinical recurrences. The intensive plasmapheresis regimen led to a complete remission of the symptoms but it was associated with severe complications. In this case report we describe an episode of acute necrotizing pancreatitis due to intravascular haemolysis following therapeutic plasmapheresis. To the best of our knowledge the association between plasmapheresis and acute pancreatitis has not been previously described.


Flexible Polymer-Ceramic Composite Materials for High Sensitive Pressure Sensing Applications in Harsh Environments Kavin Sivaneri Varadharajan Idhaiam Robotics aligned with completing physical activities in the space environments will require a new suit of solid-state sensors that are versatile and robust, and will provide precise information about contact events with various space assets. One of the vital sensing mechanisms is the "feelof-touch" or "tactile/haptic" feedback to the robotic system. Current robotics tactile/force sensor use mechanical switches for the feedback to determine whether the end-effector is in contact, which does not provide sufficient information regarding the local force and point-of-contact for the robotic end-effector. To tackle these challenges, the current work focusses on the development of flexible tactile sensor arrays that conform to the geometry of the end-effector and provide information about contact location, force magnitude, and force type. The sensor arrays were also composed of robust materials sufficient for the desired space application; the sensor system was designed to withstand the harsh environment, temperature fluctuations, and desired sensitivity. In this research, tactile sensor arrays were fabricated and tested, which were flexible, thick film, capacitive sensors that are composed of a 2:2 laminar polymer-ceramic composite. The composite was composed of four distinct layers, which consist of a polyimide support (Kapton film), patterned Pt electrodes, a compliant elastomer layer, and a ceramic dielectric layer (HfO2). Three different capacitive sensor architectures were developed to study the influence of the dielectric HfO2 layer on the sensitivity of the sensor. The baseline architecture was composed the compliant elastomer layer (Arathane 5753 A/B) sandwiched between the Pt electrodes. A bi-layer architecture was also fabricated with an additional HfO2 thin film deposited onto the elastomer in order to magnify the capacitive response of the sensor structure. In a tri-layer architecture, the HfO2 layer was sandwiched between elastomer layers to understand the influence of the additional elastomer layer on the sensitivity and pressure distribution across the sensor structure. These materials were tested over a wide temperature range from -60 to 120 C. The fabricated sensor showed good sensitivity and cycle stability between 0 and 360 kPa. The influence of temperature variations on the capacitive and mechanical properties of the composites was also studied in detail. Thermomechanical loading cycles were performed with an in situ electrical acquisition to characterize the sensor. Chemical and structural characterization of the HfO2 layer deposited on the flexible substrate was evaluated by a combination of conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM), raman spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the optical properties were analyzed by ultra-violet visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis). Embedding strategies were proposed and developed to shield the sensors against the direct exposure to cosmic rays, atomic oxygen, ultraviolet rays, and damages caused by direct contact with other objects in space. The sensors were embedded in a 3D printed prototype which mimics the actual geometry of the gripper tool, a silicone layer was used to provide the mechanical compliance and to support the top plate holding the sensor. The embedded prototype was tested in a mechanical analyzer to study the capacitive response and analyze the influence of the residual capacitance from the silicone layer and the top plate. The final prototype was built and demonstrated with the customized electronics and a software program to directly read-out the pressure/force signal from the sensor.


The fertilizer management practices have not ensure the desired improvement in yield for okra (Abelmoschusesculentus L. Moench) due to differences in fertilizer types. The search continues for nutrient sources that would provide adequate nutrition for the crop on the season. A pot experiment was carried out at the Teaching and Research Farm, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria to evaluate the growth and fruit yield responses of okra (Abelmoschusesculentus L. Moench) to the application of air-dried milled moringa leaf (MML), poultry manure (PM) and NPK fertilizer. The MML was applied at 400, 800, and 1200 kg/ha; NPK 15-15-15 at 250 kg/ha and PM at 10 t/ha separately and in all possible combinations in completely randomized design in three replicates. The parameters measured were plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, leaf area, number of fruits and fruit weight. The single treatments differed significantly (P = 0.05) with the combinations of the treatments giving better performance. The 800 kg/ha MML + PM treatment gave the tallest plants (103.33 cm) and followed by single application of PM (102.33 cm). The application of 400 kg/ha MML + PM + NPK produced the highest number of fruits but 800 kg/ha MML + PM + NPK gave the highest fresh fruit (42.70 g) and dry fruit (20.50 g) weight. 800 kg/ha gave best growth performance among MML but 1200 kg/ha gave best yield. This suggests that MML can be used as source of nutrients to grow okra.


The environment is crucial in economic development. However, the impact of the environment on cities, especially, on urban innovation still needs more attention. Based on city-level and PM2.5 data from 280 prefecture-level cities and municipalities in China from 2003 to 2016, we empirically studied the influence of haze on urban innovation and its mechanism. The results show that (1) haze has a significant negative impact on urban innovation, which varies with regions, resource-dependent cities, provincial capital cities, and sub-provincial cities. (2) This result appears to be driven by industrial structure. By influencing the development of the service industry, haze affects the level of urban innovation. (3) In particular, advanced producer services and basic producer services are heterogeneous. Advanced producer services have a stronger impact on innovation, while basic producer services are more sensitive to haze. We used the Instrumental Variable (IV) regression to address endogeneity, the conclusion remains robust.


Fungal endophytes are microorganisms that colonize living,internal tissues of plants without causing any immediate,overtly negative effects.Many fungal endophytes produce secondary metabolites and some of these compounds exhibit antifungal and antibacterial activity that strongly inhibits the growth of other microorganisms.Antimicrobial strains are widely distributed among endophytic fungi and do not cause any obvious symptoms on host plants.Infected hosts usually grow quickly,have strong resistance to adverse conditions and diseases,and are immune to herbivory in comparison with uninfected plants.Endophyte-infected plants thus have competitive advantage.Endophytes act as biological control agents by inhibiting pathogen growth by the production of antibiotics,hydrolases,plant growth regulators and alkaloids.They also compete with pathogens for nutrition,enhancing resistance of host plants to diseases and inducing systemic resistance.Endophytic fungi are therefore biological control agents with great potential for applied use. We investigated the antimicrobial properties of an endophytic fungus Chaetomium globosum L18 from a traditional Chinese medicinal plant Curcuma wenyujin Y.H.Chen et C.Ling(Zingiberaceae),on several conventional plant pathogens,using in vitro culturing methods.We thus present a preliminary discussion of the antimicrobial spectrum and antagonistic mechanisms of Chaetomium globosum L18.This fungus had different inhibitory actions on plant pathogenic fungi and bacteria,and wide-ranging inhibitory effects.There was significant difference(P0.05) on inhibition of different plant pathogenic bacteria;and the inhibition rate was up to 92.9%.Our inhibition experiment showed that competition and mycoparasitism were the main antagonistic mechanisms.When two strains intersected with pathogenic fungi on co-culturing plates,plant pathogens were surrounded,and the margins of colonies gradually collapsed and shriveled.The pathogens stopped growing and began to die;and Chaetomium globosum L18 colonized the nutritious space.Chaetomium globosum L18 parasitized pathogens by parallel intergrowth,intertwining,and even penetrating their mycelia.Our fermented product test showed that Chaetomium globosum L18 was able to strongly inhibit mycelial growth and spore germination.Its presence resulted in mycelia that were twisted and inflated,with increased abnormal branching,broken mycelial walls,and cell contents released.Spores were reduced in number and deformed;germination rate and germination tube length were decreased.


Abstract Doppler imaging of early-type magnetic stars is the most advanced method to interpret their line profile variations. DI allows us to study directly a complex interplay between chemical spots, magnetic fields, and the mass loss. Here we outline the general principles of the surface mapping of stars, discuss adaption of this technique to early-type stars and present several recent examples of the abundance and magnetic mapping performed for rapidly rotating early-B stars. In particular, we present the first Doppler images for the very fast rotating He-rich star HR 7355 and a reconstruction of magnetic field for the well-known Bp star σ Ori E. We also present new magnetic maps for the He-strong star HD 37776, which possesses one of the most complex magnetic field topologies among the upper main sequence stars.


Classical adaptation approaches are generally used for speaker or environment adaptation of speech recognition systems. In this paper, we use such techniques for the incremental training of client models in a speaker verification system. The initial model is trained on a very limited amount of data and then progressively updated with access data, using a segmental-EM procedure. In supervised mode (i.e. when access utterances are certified), the incremental approach yields equivalent performance to the batch one. We also investigate on the impact of various scenarios of impostor attacks during the incremental enrollment phase. All results are obtained with the Picassoft platform-the state-of-the-art speaker verification system developed in the PICASSO project.


Modern programming languages support a rich set of features that provide significant software engineering benefits. However, these features often degrade performance and require complex and multilayered runtime systems. These runtime systems interact with the application, making it harder to understand and tune overall system performance. Thus, understanding the performance of modern systems requires profiling information spanning all levels of the execution stack, such as the hardware, operating system, virtual machine, and application.
In this work we introduce a methodology, called temporal vertical profiling, that enables this level of understanding. We illustrate the efficacy of this approach by providing deep understanding of performance problems of a number of Java applications running on a virtual machine with vertical profiling support. Even with our methodology, this task is labor intensive. To alleviate this problem, we present techniques to automate parts of the temporal vertical profiling approach.
Our methodology is based on the reasoning about relationships between the temporal traces of performance metric values measured in the various subsystems on all layers of a computer system. We show how to automate important steps of our methodology: Our trace alignment technique aligns traces obtained from separate runs so that one can reason across the traces; and our correlation-based ranking and causality-based filtering techniques sift through hundreds of metrics to find ones that have a bearing on a performance anomaly of interest. We implemented these techniques in our temporal vertical profiling infrastructure and were able to significantly speed up the search for the causes of bad performance.
By incorporating temporal vertical profiling into a programming environment, programmers will be able to understand how their programs interact with the underlying abstraction levels, from application server, virtual machine, and operating system, all the way down to the hardware.


The records of all dogs and cats receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN) over a 43-month period were examined retrospectively. Dextrose, amino acids, lipids, electrolytes, and vitamins were administered by central venous catheter according to published nutrient recommendations; 72 dogs and 12 cats were studied, accounting for 380 patient days of TPN. Duration of TPN administration was 1-14 days with a mean of 4.5 days. Most animals required TPN because of gastrointestinal dysfunction, and more than half of them gained weight during TPN administration. Mechanical complications were frequent. Metabolic complications, especially lipid and glucose intolerance, were also commonly seen. Septic complications were the least frequently encountered, but resulted in patient morbidity and may have contributed to mortality. Most animals receiving TPN were returned to enteral nutrition and discharged. For critically ill animals unable to tolerate enteral alimentation, TPN can be supportive therapy in the treatment of the primary disease.


[1] A method is introduced for diagnosing mixing between the polar vortex and midlatitudes from tracer data. Tracers with different photochemical activities and lifetimes usually exhibit curved tracer-tracer correlation functions on an isentropic surface. The effect of mixing events is to populate the inner side of such a curve. Using simultaneous measurements of trace gases or model results, we exploit this process to calculate the distribution of recent origins in tracer space prior to such a mixing event. The method relies on both hemispheric and local data and is applicable to situations where mixing is nonlocal in tracer space. It is applied to measurements taken during the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment/Third European Stratospheric Experiment on Ozone 2000 (SOLVE/THESEO 2000) winter campaign and to a chemical transport model simulation covering the same winter. In one of the cases studied, a vortex breakup and subsequent remerger of the vortex fragments in March 2000 results in significant diagnosed mixing. In a further example, an elongated filament shed off the polar vortex is characterized by anomalous composition. For the two high-altitude aircraft flights of the SOLVE campaign that probe the vortex boundary, a correspondence is found for mixing diagnosed in the measurements and in the model. Mixing timescales considered here are given by the life span of planetary waves, up to a few weeks.


Indium Phosphide Gunn Diodes have been used to develop self -mixing oscillators in the 60-GHz region using dielectric image line techniques. Experiments have been performed to measure conversion characteristics and minimum detectable signal. Applications are suggested based on minimum detectable signal for systems requiring small size and low cost.


Interactive video services such as video conferencing, distance learning, and online video games over the Internet and wireless networks are becoming increasingly prevalent. Because of limited bandwidth on networks and the bandwidth-hungry nature of video, interactive video requires extremely efficient resource management to gain real-time performance. Unlike pregenerated video whose traffic profiles can be computed in advance, efficiency and accuracy of dynamic resource allocation methods for interactive video depend critically on the performance of traffic prediction. Using either traffic data or image features, existing traffic prediction schemes can only provide a short-term traffic prediction. Based on a three-dimensional object's motion, this paper presents a new bandwidth prediction approach for video conferencing. We show that there is a strong correlation between video conferencing traffic and real motion of objects. The real motion can be predicted by the powerful technique Kalman filtering, and the estimated motion is used to make a long-term bandwidth prediction. The new traffic prediction model is tested and compared with the frame-based adaptive normalized least mean square error linear predictor and optical flow-based method with Kalman filtering. Experimental results show that our proposed traffic prediction model achieves much higher accuracy in long-term traffic prediction, which provides the possibility for networks to allocate resources efficiently for video conferencing services.


Mycoplasma genitalium accounts for as much as 15 to 20% of cases of male nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) (7). It is also implicated in female cervicitis and increasingly so in pelvic inflammatory disease (3). Since it is a fastidious microorganism that is very difficult to culture, nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) have become invaluable in its detection and microbiological evaluation.

Currently recommended treatments of NGU include multidoses of doxycycline (100 mg twice daily for 7 days) or a single dose of azithromycin (1 g). With regard to M. genitalium-positive NGU, a recent randomized study has shown multidose treatment with doxycycline to be inferior to single-dose azithromycin (cure rates of 45% versus 87%, respectively) (8). However, even single-dose azithromycin can be associated with treatment failure rates of up to 28% (2). An extended 5-day course of azithromycin (500 mg on day 1, followed by 250 mg on days 2 to 5) has a much higher cure rate of up to 96% (1) but becomes less efficacious when used after initial treatment failure with single-dose azithromycin (6).

Jensen et al. (4) have shown that macrolide resistance in M. genitalium can be induced by insufficient therapy with single-dose azithromycin and found the resistance to be strongly associated with three single-base mutations (A2058C, A2058G, A2059G) in region V of the 23S rRNA gene (4). They developed a conventional PCR to detect all of these mutations.

In September 2009, we started M. genitalium NAAT testing of genital samples from selected patients with recurrent NGU at the Christchurch Sexual Health Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand. The PCR was performed as described by Jensen et al. (5) with the 2× Universal TaqMan gene expression master mix (Applied Biosystems, Life Technologies, Foster City, CA). Between September 2009 and October 2010, 52 samples were collected and M. genitalium was detected in 11 (21%) samples. The nucleic acid extracts were stored at −80°C until October 2010, when we retrospectively performed PCR and DNA sequencing on these extracts to look for the single-base mutations mentioned above, using the method described by Jensen et al. (4).

Of the 11 nucleic acid extracts, we were able to amplify and sequence the 23S rRNA genes of 9 extracts. PCR of the other 2 nucleic acid extracts did not yield an amplicon upon repeat testing, probably due to nucleic acid degradation during storage. Of the 9 sequenced nucleic acid extracts, 4 extracts contained the A2059G mutation, whereas none contained mutations at position 2058.

We retrospectively reviewed the notes for the relevant patients (those with extracts containing the mutation) and found that all four patients had previously been treated multiple times for sexually transmitted infections. We were able to determine that three of these patients had received single-dose azithromycin between 34 and 58 days preceding the positive test for M. genitalium; the fourth patient had also received single-dose azithromycin in the few weeks preceding a positive test, but we were unable to determine the exact time frame. All four patients had received an extended course of azithromycin following the diagnosis of M. genitalium urethritis: two experienced treatment failure, whereas the other two were subsequently cured, based on the fact that M. genitalium DNA was no longer detectable.

Of the 5 patients whose M. genitalium extracts did not contain any of the macrolide resistance mutations (of the 9 extracts whose rRNA genes we were able to amplify and sequence), 3 had experienced successful empirical therapy with single-dose azithromycin (2 patients) or extended-dose azithromycin (1 patient); 1 patient was lost to follow up. The remaining 1 patient had received treatment with single-dose azithromycin, but upon subsequent testing, M. genitalium DNA was detectable and in this case contained the A2059G mutation, and the patient was included in our group above. This nicely demonstrates the induction of macrolide resistance by single-dose azithromycin treatment.

To our knowledge, this is the first report from New Zealand describing macrolide resistance in M. genitalium. Despite a very limited number of samples, we have evidence that the A2059G mutation conferring induced macrolide resistance is present at a high frequency in M. genitalium extracts from patients with recurrent NGU at the Christchurch Sexual Health Centre. This brings into question whether or not single-dose azithromycin should be the first-line treatment of choice for M. genitalium-positive urethritis. At the Christchurch Sexual Health Centre, the current practice is to prescribe an extended course of azithromycin for all cases of M. genitalium-positive urethritis (primarily because moxifloxacin is currently not readily accessible in New Zealand). We also note with interest that in two patients with the resistant isolate, infection was still cleared with an extended course of azithromycin. This would suggest that macrolide resistance conferred by the A2059G mutation was not absolute. Clearly, the subject of macrolide resistance in M. genitalium requires more study.


PURPOSE: to check if individuals with lingual frenulum alteration demonstrate chewing interference. METHODS: the casuistry of this research was carried out with two groups, a target and a control group, each one with ten individuals. The target group had lingual frenulum alteration. All subjects were submitted to lingual frenulum and chewing evaluation protocols. This procedure was recorded. RESULTS: the collected samples showed that individuals with lingual frenulum alteration have 5.447 times more chances of show tongue mobility alteration than individuals with normal frenulum. Subjects with tongue mobility alteration haven't kept regularity when it comes to mastication period. As for the chewing, on the grinding mode, 100% of the control group used the back teeth. Among the subjects with frenulum alteration, 47% used the back teeth and 53% chewed with the front teeth and/or mashing with the tongue. Regarding muscle atypical movements, individuals with frenulum alteration have 5.714 times more chances to show them during the chewing than individuals from the control group. CONCLUSION: individuals with lingual frenulum alteration showed tongue mobility alteration and mastication alterations.


A growing number of measurements in the commercial and industrial sectors need to refer to traceability to national and international standards. Instrument and reference standard calibration is resource and time consuming. Since many available digital instruments are provided with some communication interfaces and Internet-enabled metrology has rapidly been developing in recent years, it is possible to create an actual remote calibration system with remote control capabilities. This approach addresses a wide range of possible applications that can drive many kinds of different devices and can be easily upgraded. This paper focuses on some of the security problems regarding remotely executed Internet-enabled calibration processes.


Abstract Additive manufacturing is an industrial technology whereby three-dimensional visual computer models are fabricated into physical components by selectively curing, depositing, or consolidating various materials in consecutive layers. Although initially developed for production of simulated models, the technology has undergone vast improvements and is currently increasingly being used for the production of end-use components in various aerospace, automotive, and biomedical specialties. The ability of this technology to be used for the manufacture of solid-mesh-foam monolithic and coated components of complex geometries previously considered unmanufacturable has attracted the attention of implant manufacturers, bioengineers, and orthopedic surgeons. Currently, there is a paucity of reports describing this fabrication method in the orthopedic literature. Therefore, we aimed to briefly describe this technology, some of the applications in other orthopedic subspecialties, its present use in hip and knee arthroplasty, and concerns with the present form of the technology. As there are few reports of clinical trials presently available, the true benefits of this technology can only be realized when studies evaluating the clinical and radiographic outcomes of cementless implants manufactured with additive manufacturing report durable fixation, less stress shielding, and better implant survivorship. Nevertheless, the authors believe that this technology holds great promise and may potentially change the conventional methods of casting, machining, and tooling for implant manufacturing in the future.


Plagioclase ultraphyric basalts (PUBs) have been sampled along most mid‐ocean ridges with ultraslow to intermediate spreading rates. Over the past 40 years, the prevalent models for their origin assume positive buoyancy of plagioclase in basaltic liquids resulting in selective concentration of plagioclase phenocrysts by floatation. However, when the global population of PUB lavas is examined, this hypothesis becomes less compelling. PUB host lavas demonstrate a large range of compositions and densities, similar to aphyric glasses from the same ridge segments. Most importantly, the majority of PUB host liquids are less dense than their phenocryst cargo, meaning that plagioclase floatation within a magma chamber cannot be the driving force for phenocryst enrichment. Furthermore, PUB lavas have never been sampled on axis at fast‐spreading centers or from locations with noted contemporaneous axial magma chambers, where PUBs should be abundant if plagioclase is buoyant in mid‐ocean ridge basalt (MORB). Instead, we argue that the high modal abundance of plagioclase results from interaction between magma and preexisting zones of crystal cumulates within the lower crust, possibly followed by loss of olivine during magma ascent. PUBs erupt when the magma maintains an ascent velocity greater than the settling rate of the plagioclase phenocrysts, which precludes long crustal residence times for these magmas. In addition to being a proxy for lower spreading rates, our findings also suggest that PUB eruption can also be used as a proxy for the absence of a magma chamber or transport through a conduit system that bypassed an axial chamber.


As an approach to reduce the computational complexity of Filtered-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (F-OFDM), we removed restrictions on filter lengths in F-OFDM and then applied linear pre- and post-processing for a transmitter and receiver using the singular value decomposition (SVD) method in order to solve the data distortion caused by the use of filter lengths much shorter than the symbol duration. This new F-OFDM has been given the designation SVD-based F-OFDM (SF-OFDM). Numerical results show that SF-OFDM has much lower complexity than F-OFDM, especially when transmitting small numbers of resource blocks. SF-OFDM also has nearly the same bit error rate performance as conventional F-OFDM. Moreover, SF-OFDM retains a much lower out-of-band emission than cyclic prefix (CP)-OFDM, while at the same time having a similar level of peak to average power ratio compared to CP-OFDM.


A series of numerical simulation has been carried out to study thermo-hydraulic characteristics of a primary surface type heat exchanger, which is designed for the evaporator and condenser of a geothermal ORC. Working fluid is geothermal water at hot side and R-245fa, which is a refrigerant designed for ORC, at cold side. Amplitude ratio of the channel and Reynolds number are considered as design parameters. Nusselt number is presented for the Reynolds number ranging from 50 to 150 and compared to analytic solutions. The result shows that higher amplitude ratio channel gives better heat transfer performance within the range of investigation.


Layer streaming has received extensive attention due to the highly heterogeneous access to the Internet. In the three-tier networking architecture, proxies can improve the quality of service of clients. The system performance can further be improved via co-operation of the proxies. Here, user mobility is taken into consideration, i.e., mobile clients can switch to a proxy dynamically. Proxy Handoff is defined to have applications executed smoothly when mobile clients move in the server-proxy-client architecture. First, proxy handoff employs application-layer anycast to select one of the candidate proxies as the next proxy based on 1) the network condition between the mobile client and each candidate proxy and 2) the load balance among the candidate proxies.


We have been examining a number of chemically modified mineral fibers, derived from amosite asbestos, by in vitro methods to clarify the role of the fiber surface in determining biological activity. The various fibers have identical size distributions but differ in their affinities for components of the cell membrane. They were treated with boiling toluene or chemically modified by treatment with alkyldimethylchlorosilanes (R = C8, C18) that react with free-surface hydroxyl groups to form the corresponding siloxanes. Fibers in MEM supplemented with 15% fetal calf serum were added to a suspension of V79-4 cells labeled with tritiated thymidine and the mixture was incubated. Aliquots of this mixture were spun down on a density gradient to determine the degree of cell-fiber interaction. At 37 degrees C native amosite (UICC standard) stuck to cells within 15 min of incubation, and the amount of sticking was maximum within 70 min. Decreasing the temperature decreased the amount of sticking, and at 20 degrees C no sticking was observable. The chemically modified amosite and the amosite treated with boiling toluene did not stick to the cells even after 70 min. Soaking the toluene-treated amosite with aqueous solutions at room temperature for 48 hr produced a material that had the same sticking properties as the original untreated fiber. These results indicate that the silanol content, and possibly the degree of hydration of the fiber surface, is important for a fiber to stick to a cell surface.


Pathogenicity of feline reovirus serotype 2 isolates, Nos. 114 and 140 strains recovered from the feces of cats with diarrhea, was experimentally determined. Kittens orally inoculated with No. 114 strain did not show any clinical signs. Fecal consistency of kittens inoculated with No. 140 strain became rather diarrheic on the 3rd and 4th days after inoculation, but any other clinical abnormalities were not observed. Virus was excreted for the first five to six days after inoculation. Seroconversion was observed in the sera of all the inoculated kittens. Virus excretion and seroconversion were also noted in all contact control kittens. These results may indicate that feline reovirus serotype 2 is mildly pathogenic in cats.


This study explored attachment networks in committed couples who differed in parenting choice and relationship status. Attachment networks were defined in terms of attachment functions, attachment strength, the presence of a primary figure, and full-blown attachments. Participants were 198 couples, married or cohabiting, either expecting their first child or childless-by-choice. Results indicated that participants relied most strongly on partners for all attachment functions except secure base, for which they relied on mothers to a similar extent. Furthermore, expectant women reported more proximity seeking and stronger attachments to mothers, while expectant men relied more on fathers for safe haven. Married participants indicated less proximity seeking to partners than cohabiting couples, and married women reported less reliance on partners for safe haven than married men and cohabiting women. This study supports previous findings underlining the particular importance of partners for members of committed couples. Further, it extends past research by showing the robustness of this finding across parenting choice, and by revealing gender differences in the attachment networks of committed couples.


Some Factor's That Affecting The Mathematic Teacher Performance For Junior High School In Medan. This research will examine the effect of direct and indirect of the Organizational Knowledge towards the achievement motivation, decision making, organizational commitment, the performance of mathematics teacher. The research method is a method of surveying the number of respondents as many as 102 teachers of mathematics taken by stratified proportional random sampling. The research found there is a direct influence of organizational knowledge on achievement motivation, decision making, organizational commitment and the performance of math teacher respectively 16.3%, 13.1%, 12.2% and 4.54%. Achievement motivation, decision making, and organizational commitment have directly effects on the performance of mathematics teacher. The magnitude of changes in performance that can directly determine organizational knowledge, achievement motivation, decision-making and organizational commitment respectively are 10.24%, 12.32%, 3.42% and 2.92%. To teachers of mathematics, in order to improve the understanding of the knowledge of the organization, increase achievement motivation through desire superior achievement and improvement of organizational commitment. For heads and school inspectors, need to improve clinical supervision and foster good communication increases the openness and good cooperation with teachers of mathematics, and for the head of the city education field, is expected to give a briefing and training for teachers, race through the efforts competitions drafting paper development learning mathematics.


AbstractMagnetic activated carbon (MAC) was prepared, characterized, and investigated to quantify the effects of pretreatment in a membrane filtration system. The effects of MAC on membrane parameters like percent retention, permeate flux, and backwash times were compared to that of powdered activated carbon (PAC). The prepared adsorbent has magnetization values 10 JT−1 kg−1 and point of zero charge value of 8.67. The effects of both adsorbents on membrane parameters were almost same. However, the secondary problems like cake formation have been observed for PAC was not observed due to the fact that MAC was removed from slurry through magnet. Also, PAC caused blackening of flow meter and pipes when used in combination with ultrafiltration membrane (UF) in a hybrid manner. The backwash time was shortest for MAC/UF hybrid process as compared to PAC/UF operation.


Background Romania fully reimburses through the National Insurance Health House (NIHH) six biological products for patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), non-responders to at least 2 conventional remissive drugs: infliximab (IFX) original and biosimilars: inflectra (IFN), remsima (REM), etanercept (ETA), adalimumab (ADA), rituximab (RTX). All RA patients treated with biologics are registered in the national electronic database of the Romanian Registry of Rheumatic Diseases (RRBR) - application developed in 2013. Currently, 39.000 cases of RA are treated in Romania, according to NIHH data. Objectives Characteristics of RA population treated with biological agents in Romania, efficacy and safety data from RRBR, after 2 years of initiation. Methods Observational cross sectional study, which included all RA patients treated with biologics. Results 4470 RA patients were included, mean age 57.11 years (±12.02), 85.5% women, mean RA duration 13.51 years (±7.97), 64.8% living in urban areas, 77.4% retired (50% of them permanently work disabled due to RA), 33% with elementary education; mean body mass index (BMI) 26.09 (±4.60). Current treatment: 7.27% IFX, 0.08% IFN, 0.23% REM, 20,74% ADA, 27.21% ETA, 39.91% RTX. Methotrexate is used in 56.3% cases, leflunomide in 41.2%, sulphasalasine in 12.6% and hydroxychloroquine in 9.4%. 23% patients use steroids (20.8% <10mg prednisone daily). The current mean DAS28 is 2.86 (±1.32) and SDAI 6.88 (±7.98); 52.4% cases are in remission (according to DAS28), but only 41.4% according to SDAI; 21.5% cases are in LDA (according to DAS28) and 41.8% (SDAI). Mean EuroQoL 5D (EQ-5D) is 0.73 (±0.26). There is a strong negative association between EQ-5D and DAS28 (r = - 0.7, p<0.01). DAS28 levels correlate positively with BMI (r =0.2, p<0.05). On safety issues, 105 severe adverse events have been reported (2.34%), 21 infections, other than tuberculosis (TB), 21 cases of TB, 15 solid malignancies, 1 case of Hodgkin lymphoma, 11 major cardiovascular events; 13 cases were fatal. Conclusions In Romania, the use of biologics in RA is on a positive trend (11.5% of all RA treated cases). 1/3 of patients have low education and 38.7% are permanently work disabled. Overall treatment efficacy of biological class in terms of T2T strategy (remission) reaches 52.4% (DAS28) and 41.4% (SDAI). Compared with other patients Registries from Europe or USA (1) in Romania there is a higher proportion of women treated and the percentage of steroids use is lower; DAS28 value is significantly lower (near-remission) compared to literature data (1), probably due to the strict evaluations imposed by the NIHH, while the adverse events seem less common (perhaps a lack of registration of all clinical situations). The impact of active disease on quality of life (EQ-5D) is major. References Curtis JR, Jain A, AsklingJ et al. A Comparison of Patient Characteristics and Outcomes in Selected European and U.S. Rheumatoid Arthritis Registries, Semin Arthritis Rheum. Aug 2010; 40(1): 2–14.e1., doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2010.03.003, PMCID: PMC2958101, NIHMSID: NIHMS234142 Disclosure of Interest None declared


ABSTRACT Light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walker), eggs were subjected to oxygenated phosphine fumigation treatments under 70% oxygen on cut flowers to determine efficacy and safety. Five cut flower species: roses, lilies, tulips, gerbera daisy, and pompon chrysanthemums, were fumigated in separate groups with 2,500 ppm phosphine for 72 h at 5°C. Egg mortality and postharvest quality of cut flowers were determined after fumigation. Egg mortalities of 99.7–100% were achieved among the cut flower species. The treatment was safe to all cut flowers except gerbera daisy. A 96-h fumigation treatment with 2,200 ppm phosphine of eggs on chrysanthemums cut flowers also did not achieve complete control of light brown apple moth eggs. A simulation of fumigation in hermetically sealed fumigation chambers with gerbera daisy showed significant accumulations of carbon dioxide and ethylene by the end of 72-h sealing. However, oxygenated phosphine fumigations with carbon dioxide and ethylene absorbents did not reduce the injury to gerbera daisy, indicating that it is likely that phosphine may directly cause the injury to gerbera daisy cut flowers. The study demonstrated that oxygenated phosphine fumigation is effective against light brown apple moth eggs. However, it may not be able to achieve the probit9 quarantine level of control and the treatment was safe to most of the cut flower species.


Semiotic objections to markets urge us not to place a good on the market because of the message that doing so would send. Brennan and Jaworski reject them on the grounds that either the contingent semiotics of a market can be changed or the weakness of semiotic reasons allows them to be ignored. The scope of their argument neglects the impure semiotic objections that claim that the message a market sends causes, constitutes, or involves a nonsemiotic wrong. These are the most compelling class of semiotic objections and are the kind actually advanced in the literature. Rather than focusing on the necessity or contingency of a market's semiotics, we should instead attend to a semiotic objection's most important feature: its purity or impurity.


The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and mechanism of quinolone resistance among selected nontyphoid Salmonella (NTS) isolates. A total of 1279 NTS isolated from food animals (n=692) and humans (n=587) between 1995 and 2009 were investigated by serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, screening for plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes qnr, aac(6')-Ib-cr, and qepA and mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) of gyrA and parC by PCR, and DNA sequencing. Three hundred thirty (47.7%) of 692 animal isolates and 177 (30.2%) of 587 human isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid. Most animal (94.8%, 313/330) and human (99.4%, 176/177) NTS exhibited decreased ciprofloxacin susceptibility (minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC]: 0.125-2 mg/L). None of them carried qnr or qepA gene. However, aac(6')-Ib was identified in six animal isolates, of which four carried aac(6')-Ib-cr gene. Based on antimicrobial resistance profile, year of isolation, MIC for quinolones and fluoroquinolones, and isolation frequency of serotype, 114 animal and 83 human isolates were tested for QRDR mutations. All contained a single mutation within the QRDR of gyrA at either codon 87 or 83, and 41 of them contained an additional mutation in parC. The most prevalent mutation was Asp87-Tyr (n=107), followed by Asp87-Gly (n=28), Asp87-Asn (n=26), Ser83-Tyr (n=22), and Ser83-Phe (n=14). Point mutations in parC were observed outside the QRDR, which included 40 isolates with Thr57-Ser substitution and 1 Salmonella Typhimurium with a novel Glu51-Lys substitution. In conclusion, a point mutation within the QRDR of gyrA was primarily responsible for quinolone resistance and reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones in NTS in Korea. To our knowledge, this is the first report of occurrence of aac(6')-Ib-cr gene among NTS in Korea. The spread of NTS carrying aac(6')-Ib-cr is of serious concern and should be carefully monitored.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

Recently, it has been reported that tumor microenvironment is important for tumor progression and metastasis. We have reported that tumor endothelial cells (TECs) differ from their normal counterparts, in many aspects. For example, TECs upregulate several genes, have cytogenetical abnormalities and respond differently to the growth factors such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or some anticancer drugs (Hida et al., Cancer Res 2004, Cancer Sci 2008). In this study, we focused on the interaction between tumor cells and endothelial cells to address the mechanism of TEC abnormality.

We demonstrate that cultured conditioned medium (CM) from melanoma cells cause several phenotypic changes in Human Microvascular Endothelial Cells (HMVEC). The cell proliferation of HMVEC was stimulated by melanoma CM. Furthermore, the expression level of Multi Drug Resistance Gene (MDR) was upregulated by melanoma CM treatment and HMVEC got less sensitive to Paclitaxel. It was suggested that some factors released from melanoma cause abmormalities in HMVEC phenotype. The study to elucidate mechanisms of these results are ongoing.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2376.


THAI ("toe-to-heel" air injection) is a novel thermal enhanced oil recovery method that has been studied in the case of conventional sandstone systems. It involves vertical injection and horizontal producer wells in a line drive configuration and is regarded as a promising tool for some reservoirs. However, its applicability on fractured carbonate rocks as an in-situ combustion-based method remains questionable. The aim of the present work was to study the feasibility of the THAI process in the presence of parallelepiped networked fractures to study how the presence of networked fractures affects on the process outcome. Both conventional and fractured THAI models and the effect of different operational and reservoir parameters on the process performance have been considered. Networked fractures reduced the performance of the THAI process. Parameters such as ultimate oil recovery factor, °API quality of the produced oil, front temperature and sweep efficiency were all reduced in non-conventional model as compared to the conventional one, but the process has high performance even after. In the case of networked fractures, the air injection rate should be optimized since the ultimate oil recovery is reduced after a limit, and there is also higher possibility of carbonate rock decomposition, oxygen breakthrough and water emulsions production for higher injection rates. Heterogeneity ratio reduction from 1000 to 100 has a significant effect on process performance since the combustion fronts in matrix and fractures systems have higher opportunity to become coupled together. THAI process start up should be optimally chosen for a system, considering the fact that the higher initial oil saturation at the start, leads to the higher ultimate oil recovery.


This work presents the properties of nanocrystalline SiC(nc-SiC) films prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition. A p-type silicon wafer with resistivity 2–7 Ωcm and (100) orientation was used as the substrate for the nc-SiC:H films. The concentration of species in the SiC films was determined by RBS and ERD. Chemical compositions were analyzed by IR spectroscopy. Film morphology was assessed by AFM. The RBS results showed the main concentrations of Si and C in the films. The concentration of hydrogen was approximately 20 at.%. IR results showed the presence of Si-C, Si-O, Si-N, Si-H, N-H, C-H, C-N specific bonds. Results of current-voltage (I–V) measurements before and after samples irradiation by neutrons are presented.


Abstract. Purpose: Detailed blood flow studies may contribute to improvements in carotid artery stenting. High-frame-rate contrast-enhanced ultrasound followed by particle image velocimetry (PIV), also called echoPIV, is a technique to study blood flow patterns in detail. The performance of echoPIV in presence of a stent has not yet been studied extensively. We compared the performance of echoPIV in stented and nonstented regions in an in vitro flow setup. Approach: A carotid artery stent was deployed in a vessel-mimicking phantom. High-frame-rate contrast-enhanced ultrasound images were acquired with various settings. Signal intensities of the contrast agent, velocity values, and flow profiles were calculated. Results: The results showed decreased signal intensities and correlation coefficients inside the stent, however, PIV analysis in the stent still resulted in plausible flow vectors. Conclusions: Velocity values and laminar flow profiles can be measured in vitro in stented arteries using echoPIV.


The methyltransferases initiating methanogenesis from trimethylamine, dimethylamine and monomethylamine possess a novel residue, pyrrolysine. Pyrrolysine is the 22nd amino acid, because it is encoded by a single amber (UAG) codon in methylamine methyltransferase transcripts. A dedicated tRNACUA for pyrrolysine, tRNAPyl, is charged by a pyrrolysyl‐tRNA synthetase with pyrrolysine. As the first step towards the genetic analysis of UAG translation as pyrrolysine, a 761 base‐pair genomic segment in Methanosarcina acetivorans containing the pylT gene (encoding tRNAPyl) was deleted and replaced by a puromycin resistance cassette. The ΔppylT mutant lacks detectable tRNAPyl, but grows as wild‐type on methanol or acetate. Unlike wild‐type, the ΔppylT strain cannot grow on any methylamine, nor use monomethylamine as sole nitrogen source. Wild‐type cells, but not ΔppylT, have monomethylamine methyltransferase activity during growth on methanol. Immunoblot analysis indicated monomethylamine methyltransferase was absent in ΔppylT. The phenotype of ΔppylT reveals the deficiency in methylamine metabolism expected of a Methanosarcina species unable to decode UAG codons as pyrrolysine, but also that loss of pylT does not compromise growth on other substrates. These results indicate that in‐depth genetic analysis of UAG translation as pyrrolysine is feasible, as deletion of pylT is conditionally lethal depending on growth substrate.


Traditionally,language is considered to be a grammar vocabulary dichotomy system,and grammar and vocabulary seem to be independent of each other.This deep-rooted notion is particularly prevalent in Chinese English teaching and learning.Michael Lewis,the author of the Lexical Approach challenged the standard view of dividing language teaching into grammar and vocabulary.He believes that language is grammaticalised lexis,not lexicalized grammar,and lexis is the core of language learning while grammar is subordinate to it.This paper intends to explore its theoretical foundations and emphasize the great significance of the Lexical Approach to college English teaching in China.


Tourism plays an important role in the economies of many countries. Tourism can secure employment, foreign exchange earnings, investment and regional development. To attract more tourists and local visitors, many stakeholders such as natural parks, museums, art galleries, hotels and restaurants provide personalised services to meet individual needs. With the increasing number of tourists comes an increased demand for guides at education-oriented leisure centers. Each provided needs unique way to present their services. In this study, these educational leisure centres are coarsely divided into art and science. This paper introduces the architecture of the proposed guide system including a PDA-based recommendation guide for art museums and an Radiofrequency identification-based interactive learning system using collaborative filtering technology for science and engineering education. Evaluations of the two systems reveal that the system inspires and nurtures visitors' interest in science and arts.


Synthesis and study of new N-alkyl-2-benzylsulfanyl-pyrimidines concentration influences on multidrug resistant bacteria growth are presented in this article. This novel series are compounds 3a-k derived from 1-ethyl or 1-benzyl-2- benzylsulfanyl -6-methyl-4-phenyl-1,4- dihydropyrimidine-5-carboxylates. They were obtained by condensation reaction between 2- benzylsulfanyl-pyrimidines (1) and benzyl chloride or ethyl bromide (2) in the presence of potassium carbonate (K2CO3). The compounds synthesized were characterized by 1H, 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectra and High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS). Among these compounds, ten were evaluated for their potential antibacterial activity on multidrug-resistant strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The results showed a negative influence against the tested bacteria growth. Compounds 3b, 3d, 3f, 3h, 3e and 3k were more potent on S. aureus with IC50 ranging from 6.04 to 28.59 µg / mL The compounds 3b, 3c, 3f, 3g, 3h and 3j were more active on E. coli with IC50 between 7.21 and 26.59 µg / mL.


Implementing new occupations in social care services as a solution to social problems challenges the knowledge base for social care. This has been particularly evident in services for persons with disabilities. Social policy has emphasized influence over services for persons with disabilities and hence has implemented personal assistance and case management services. Using these as examples, this article explores the professional logic developed, and the ways it relate to existing social professions. The results are presented in a typology defining two occupations as examples of a professional logic based on users' knowledge. This logic, here called 'user-mandated professionalism', is denoted by wide discretion, relationships with users built on trust, and legitimacy mainly stemming from user organizations. The analysis then raises the challenge for social professionals in social care occupations based on users' knowledge to be explicit about the knowledge base they build on in their arguments and in decision-making.


Bacteria have often been thought of as bags of proteins and nucleotides, without internal structure. But, as discussed by Losick and Shapiro in their Perspective, evidence is accumulating that bacterial proteins do have specified locations within the cell. The most recent result to support this view is presented in this issue by
 Lemon and Grossman, who show that the DNA replication apparatus of bacteria are confined to the center of the cell. Losick and Shapiro discuss these findings.


Detecting community structure in complex networks is a fundamental but challenging topic in network science. Modularity measures, such as widely used modularity function Q and recently suggested modularity density D, play critical roles as quality indices in partitioning a network into communities. In this letter, we reveal the complex behaviors of modularity optimization under different community definitions by an analytic study. Surprisingly, we find that in addition to the resolution limit of Q revealed in a recent study, both Q and D suffer from a more serious limitation, i.e. some derived communities do not satisfy the weak community definition or even the most weak community definition. Especially, the latter case, called as misidentification, implies that these communities may have sparser connection within them than between them, which violates the basic intuitive sense for a subgraph to be a community. Using a discrete convex optimization framework, we investigate the underlying causes for these limitations and provide insights on choices of the modularity measures in applications. Numerical experiments on artificial and real-life networks confirm the theoretical analysis.


Tardive dyskinesia (TD) remains a relevant clinical problem despite the increasing use of new-generation antipsychotics. Antipsychotic-induced tardive syndromes are difficult to treat and have a low tendency of remission. Therefore, prophylaxis is of utmost importance, with the responsible use of antipsychotics as a prime desideratum. With respect to managing tardive dyskinesia, discontinuing the antipsychotic, if possible, albeit not backed up by unequivocal evidence, is still the main recommendation. If this is not possible, the switch to an antipsychotic with a lower TD risk is the next-preferred option. Other symptomatic treatments have been explored, but clinical trials have provided inhomogeneous results and only very few compounds are approved for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia. This manuscript summarizes the current evidence with respect to the phenomenology, course, prevention and treatment of tardive syndromes.


Political sociology suggests two inter-related leadership trends in advanced democracies: the increasing prominence of political leaders, and the waning influence on of political parties, especially the ideological-programmatic 'mass parties' or Volksparteien. These trends intensified and reinforced each other over the last 30-40 years resulting in a rapidly changing physiognomy of contemporary democracy. Democratic politics becomes more elite driven and more populist in style. Political elite structure increasingly resembles what Weber labelled 'leader democracy'. This is in clear contrast with 'party democracy' – a typically party-dominated power configuration predominant in the post-WWII decades, when political power was concentrated in the hands of political directorates of major parties often allied with the top government bureaucrats. The shift towards 'leader democracy' has coincided with the process of party-voter dealignment and decline of political parties, the raise of the electronic mass media, and the ascendancy of powerful leaders-reformers in the 'core' liberal democracies. The sociological argument about the shift is anchored in a theoretical framework derived from works of Max Weber and Joseph Schumpeter. It depicts democratic political leaders as key political actors embedded in broader elites, motivated by determination and commitment, and empowered by the resources of modern states and the mass media


To investigate the pathogenesis of human T-cell leukemia virus type I associated arthropathy, the mode of proviral integration in the pathological lesions was analyzed using ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of these patients possessed multiple dominant clones of the virus-infected cells. On the other hand, synovial fluid cells of the affected joints exhibited fewer dominant clones even though the copy numbers of the provirus were comparable to those of PBMC. Thus, restricted HTLV-I infected T cell clones may proliferate and expand in the lesions.