Risk prediction and dose limits for human radiation exposure are based on the assumption that risk is proportional to total dose. However, there is concern about the appropriateness of those limits for people who may be genetically cancer prone. The TP53 gene product functions in regulatory pathways for DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoints and apoptosis, processes critical in determining ionizing radiation risk for both carcinogenesis and teratogenesis. Mice that are deficient in TP53 function are cancer prone. This review examines the influence of variations in TP53 gene activity on cancer and teratogenic risk in mice exposed to radiation in vivo, and compares those observations to the assumptions and predictions of radiation risk inherent in the existing system of radiation protection. Current assumptions concerning a linear response with dose, dose additivity, lack of thresholds and dose rate reduction factors all appear incorrect at low doses. TP53 functional variations can further modify radiation risk from either high or low doses, or risk from radiation exposures combined with other stresses, and those modifications can result in both quantitative and qualitative changes in risk.


Three phase transformers have an insulation system which is a complex three dimensional structure of paper and pressboard surrounding the conductors immersed in a large volume of mineral oil. In core form transformers, a key insulation area is the region between adjacent phases which is often reinforced with vertical pressboard barriers. At the higher voltages, these pressboard barriers provide a crucial element in the insulation structure between the phases. The barriers are subjected to large electrical and thermal stresses. The pressboard barriers sit in the time varying electric field pattern generated from the transformer winding coils which are operating with 120deg phase difference. The electric field can be resolved along the surfaces of the pressboard and this is termed creep stress or tangential stress. This electric stress can lead to surface tracking along the oil-pressboard boundary layer. A large scale test facility has been developed to investigate the effects of creep stress with the goal of understanding the onset of surface tracking on the pressboard. This paper details the main features of the test platform and control equipment. Finally, the paper includes some initial results of experiments conducted to detect partial discharge under two temperature conditions.


A wide range of stereotests are available to measure stereopsis. Because each test has its own advantages and disadvantages, opinions differ on which is the preferred test to use in clinical practice. We conducted surveys comparing the use of stereotests in the British Isles and in the United States and Canada. Two online surveys were developed following consultation with eye care professionals, one for each geographical area. Both surveys included two questions on the frequency of use of different stereotests, two questions on best practice stereotests, and two questions on the usefulness of stereotests. Researchers made distinctions between appointments with children below or above 6 years old for respondents from the British Isles and below or above 5 years old for respondents from the Unites Stated and Canada. The surveys were distributed through professional organisations. We found Frisby to be the most used stereotest on the British Isles for both age groups. In the US and Canada, Titmus and Randot stereotest are more frequently used. Respondents consider these tests as the best practice stereotests. Eye care professionals agree stereotests are useful in the diagnosis and treatment decision making and even more so in obtaining an accurate measure of stereoacuity, especially with older children.


This review focuses on the various rheumatologic manifestations of hematologic diseases and is based on the English literature published over the past year. Interrelationships between leukemia, lymphoma, POEMS syndrome, multiple myeloma, hemophilia, and rheumatic manifestations are discussed. Other less common associated conditions dealt with include the RS3PE syndrome, large granular lymphocyte syndrome, and interferon-related arthritis. Finally, therapeutic measures, such as bone marrow transplantation and the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, are reviewed.


Leukemic bone marrow cells ( > 90% blasts) of a patient with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), non-treated or pretreated in vitro with a mutagenic triazene compound, were infected with HTLV-I by coculture with irradiated virus-donor cells. Immortalized, HTLV-I+, double-positive CD4/CD8 euploid T cell lines, expressing HLA class I/II monomorphic determinants, and inappropriate myeloid and progenitor cell markers (ie CD13, CD14, CD15 and CD33 antigens) were obtained. In one out of 10 triazene-pretreated samples, HTLV-I infection resulted in the appearance of a rapidly growing triploid cell line (ie MTLC1 line) showing: (1) myeloid but not lymphoid phenotype; (2) beta and delta T cell receptor in germline configuration; (3) integrated, complete and incomplete HTLV-I provirus genome (also detected in a number of MTLC1 clones); (4) a high percentage of cells positive for non-specific cross-reacting antigen (a CEA-related molecule present in myeloid cells) under the influence of gamma-interferon; (5) absence of HLA class I/II antigen expression; (6) absence of tax gene transcription. Blast cell proliferation was marginal or absent when leukemic marrow was not subjected to retroviral infection. These results show that exposure of leukemic bone marrow to HTLV-I can be followed by immortalization of T and myeloid cells. Although no data are available to establish whether tax expression played a role in the early phase of the immortalization process of MTLC1 line, tax gene product was not required for maintaining long-term growth of MTLC1 cells.


There is an increase in data intensive applications now a days. With this popularity of data intensive applications, the data requests gets flooded in the network and creates a bottleneck near the storage disks. The existing architecture contains different set of storage nodes with huge amount of disk capacity and data scattered among these storage nodes. The Application request is broken down into multiple I/O requests and routed to various storage nodes to get serviced. When considering the performance modelling of such storage nodes in network, researchers tend to propose the performance modelling of the system from the perspective of application and factors hindering the functioning of applications. None of the papers have ever discussed in detail how and what approach was adhered to realise the proposed performance modelling. This paper proposes a holistic approach for validating the proposed performance model of an embedded storage array. The holistic approach will mostly cover how the configuration and component architecture of storage array and tools are to be used for validation of mathematical model along with application workloads.


This work systematically analyzes the smoothing effect of vocabulary reduction for phrase translation models. We extensively compare various word-level vocabularies to show that the performance of smoothing is not significantly affected by the choice of vocabulary. This result provides empirical evidence that the standard phrase translation model is extremely sparse. Our experiments also reveal that vocabulary reduction is more effective for smoothing large-scale phrase tables.


An electrochemical method for the determination of the anticancer platinum drug carboplatin using a DNA-modified electrode was developed. This electrode was successfully used for the electrochemical determination of carboplatin in serum samples of patients with ovarian cancer undergoing treatment. The electrochemical results clearly demonstrated that, for low concentrations, carboplatin interacts preferentially with adenine rather than guanine groups in the DNA and they can contribute to clarifying the mechanisms of interaction of platinum anticancer drugs with DNA. The pharmacokinetics c o r m ondIng to the administration of the drug was followed electrochemically and the detection limit in serum samples was 5.7 x 10 M. Due to a similar mechanism of reaction with DNA other platinum anticancer drugs can be determined by this method.


An exchange visit was arranged between the two partners in our practice in Chagford, Devon and two partners in a practice in Canberra, Australia.This enabled us to experience a completely different type of practice and financial system with the opportunity of working closely with other colleagues, while maintaining continuity of treatment for our own patients, since only one partner was exchanged at a time.We also benefited from seeing new patients with new diseases, and felt that our patients probably benefited from seeing a new doctor. We returned to the practice refreshed and stimulated and our patients appeared to have been similarly stimulated by the impact of a different culture.


The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is an effect between green product made by the company on the decision to buy green products among young consumers in Indonesia, using green product identification as a moderating variable. This study uses multiple linear regression analysis (MRA) techniques. Data were obtained through questionnaires to 200 young consumers. The results of this study indicate that green products have a significant and positive direct influence on the purchasing decisions of young consumers. However, when green product identification is included as the moderating variable, the indirect relationship pattern between green products has a positive but insignificant effect on the purchasing decisions of young consumers. Thus, it is concluded that the decision of young consumers to buy green products is actually determined by the awareness of the importance of green products, not green product identification.


The family as one of system support for schizophrenia treatment in the primary care setting has been a challenge in integrating family services into mental health. This study aimed to review the urgent of family involvement during the treatment of schizophrenia in health mental services using the Family-Centered Care approach. A systematic review was performed using the population, intervention, comparison, outcome, study design (PICOS) framework within Scopus (27 articles), ProQuest (151 articles), Science Direct (93 articles), EBSCO (124 articles), and Springer (149 articles) published databases in the last five years using the keywords of "Family- Centered Care, nursing, AND Schizophreni*". The articles were empirical quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods studies published within 2017- 2021 where study participants were clinically diagnosed with schizophrenia and intervention approaches were within the scope of family involvement. Twenty-four articles met the inclusion criteria for review. Evidence supports a professionally engaged relationship between patients, families, and providers with open knowledge exchange, communication, and collaboration. Family-centered care requires empathy, understanding, respect, and empowerment to choose, control decisions, and empower in the treatment of schizophrenia. This study concludes the importance of family involvement in the treatment of schizophrenia from the start. Health care providers help families through the admissions process.


Chronic treatment with 0.1 microM diethylstilbestrol (DES) increased the expression of phenotypic alterations in human endometrial stromal cells pretreated with the direct-acting carcinogen N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). Abnormal morphology, expression of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, and the ability to form colonies under restrictive conditions were more pronounced after combined treatment with carcinogen and DES compared to carcinogen or DES alone. This effect did not appear to be due simply to growth enhancement by DES, because acute treatment with DES did not alter colony formation, growth rate or thymidine incorporation into DNA in stromal cell cultures. Neither did the presence of DES after the toxicity of MNNG. DES did cause shifts in the isoenzyme distribution of lactate dehydrogenase which could be indicative of a hormonal response. The results suggest that DES may act as a tumor promoter or cocarcinogen in human cells through a mechanism other than simply stimulating cell proliferation, but that other estrogenic effects may contribute to the promotional process.


Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) infections are still one of the most important etiologic pathogens of diarrhea in children worldwide. EAEC pathogenesis comprises three stages: adherence and colonization, production of toxins, and diarrhea followed by inflammation. Previous studies have demonstrated that EAEC strains have the ability to bind to fibronectin (FN); however, the role this extracellular matrix protein plays in the inflammatory response induced by EAEC remains unknown. In this study, we postulated that FN-mediated adherence of EAEC strains to epithelial cells increases the expression of pro-inflammatory genes. To verify this hypothesis, we infected HEp-2 and HT-29 cells, in both the presence and absence of FN, with EAEC reference strain 042. We quantified IL-8 secretion and the relative expression of a set of genes regulated by the NF-κB pathway. Although FN increased EAEC adherence, no changes in IL-8 protein secretion or IL8 gene expression were observed. Similar observations were found in HEp-2 cells transfected with FN-siRNA and infected with EAEC. To evaluate the involvement of AAF/II fimbriae, we infected HEp-2 and HT-29 cells, in both the presence and absence of FN, with an EAEC 042aafA mutant strain transformed with a plasmid harboring the native aafA gene with a site-directed mutation in Lys72 residue (K72A and K72R strains). No changes in IL-8 secretion were observed. Finally, SEM immunogold assay of cells incubated with FN and infected with EAEC revealed that AAF fimbriae can bind to cells either directly or mediated by FN. Our data suggests that FN participates in AAF/II fimbriae-mediated adherence of EAEC to epithelial cells, but not in the inflammatory response of cells infected by this pathogen.


Drilling and completing an oil/gas well is a time-sensitive and high-value operation, in which environment/system parameters change in unseen, unpredictable environments. Safety issues arise at every stage. Drilling principles can be taught using traditional methods, but safety and event response are difficult to teach in such formats. Here, in this article, we integrate a hardware-in-the-loop simulator, downhole physics, and auxiliary touchscreen interfaces (similar to a rig's add-on equipment) to develop a realistic, real-time drilling simulator for well control operation training. Realistic operational data are supplied to the simulator representative of downhole operations, including unplanned well events. The well plan accounts for drilling parameter changes, the pore-pressure fracture-gradient drilling window, mud weights, etc., which occur in response to the unplanned events. The developed simulator is used for hands-on training, human factor studies, model verification, and evaluating new auxiliary equipment and/or operational procedures. A critical research objective was evaluating the accuracy/realism of the developed system. To do so, eight petroleum engineering students and 11 certified drillers were trained and asked to complete a comprehensive (>6 h) drilling operation. System accuracy was measured by comparing how new versus experienced operators learned to operate the simulator, execute mission-critical tasks, and respond to unplanned events. The results validate the realism of the developed simulator and scenarios, since personnel with prior drilling experience took significantly less time to master the system.


Microalgae is highlighted as the most feasible bioenergy feedstock because it can produce high amounts of lipids, carbohydrates, and hydrogen, which are necessary compounds for the production of various biofuels, while only requiring minimal water and land due to high photosynthetic efficiency. However, there are technical limitations that negatively influence the mass production of biofuel from algae, making it economically infeasible on a commercial scale. One of these bottlenecks exist in its cultivation. The cultivation method and system are critical in determining the amount and quality of biofuel that may be generated from the microalgae. Additionally, the peak biomass concentration, and productivities for the different compounds and nutrients within microalgae do not occur at the same time. Hence, this work proposes a planning tool for microalgae cultivation systems that incorporates species selection, and cultivation and harvesting approach selection and scheduling, while balancing the minimization of environmental impact and maximization of profit realized. The capabilities of the proposed decision support model is demonstrated through a hypothetical case study. Scenario analyses is likewise conducted to establish an understanding of system behavior and performance over time and under various conditions. The results of the computational experiments show the tools capabilities in simultaneously considering algae growth rates and compound productivities in decision making, for instance biomass species that is able to generate the most of a certain high value fuel is prioritized in cultivation and harvesting.


It is proposed in the following pages to give a concise account of the progress of investigation of the lower Palæozoic rocks during the last forty years. The subject may naturally be divided into three parts: 1. The history of Silurian and Upper Cambrian in Great Britain from 1831 to 1854; 2. That of the still more ancient Palæozoic rocks in Scandinavia, Bohemia, and Great Britain up to the present time, including the recognition by Barrande of the so-called primordial Palæozoic; fauna; 3. The history of the lower Palæozoic rocks of North America.


Heterogeneous networks are rapidly emerging as one of the key enablers of beyond fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks. It is gradually becoming clear to the network operators that existing cellular networks may not be able to support the traffic demands of the future. Thus, there is an upsurge in the interest of efficiently deploying small-cell networks for accommodating a growing number of user equipment (UEs). This work further extends the state-of-the-art by proposing an optimization framework for reducing the power consumption of small-cell base stations (BSs). Specifically, a novel algorithm has been proposed which dynamically switches off the redundant small-cell BSs based on the traffic demands of the network. Due to the dynamicity of the formulated problem, a new UE admission control policy has been presented when the problem becomes infeasible to solve. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed solution, the simulation results are compared with conventional techniques. It is shown that the proposed power control solution outperforms the conventional approaches both in terms of accommodating more UEs and reducing power consumption.


Coarse resolution captured in remote sensing causes the combination of different materials in one pixel, called the mixed pixel. Spectral unmixing estimates the combination of endmembers in mixed pixels and their corresponding abundance maps in the Hyper/Multi spectral image. In this paper, a nonlinear spectral unmixing based on semi-supervised fuzzy clustering is proposed. First, pure pixels (endmembers) using Vertex Component Analysis (VCA) are extracted and those pixels are the labelled pixels where the membership value of each is 1 for the corresponding endmember and 0 for the others. Second, the semi-supervised fuzzy clustering is applied to find the membership matrix defining the fraction of the endmember in each mixed pixel and hence extract the abundance maps. The experiments were conducted on both synthetic data such as the Legendre data and real data such as Jasper Ridge data. The non-linearity of the Legendre data was performed by the Fan model on different signal-tonoise ratio values. The results of the new unmixing model show its significant performance when compared with four state-of the art unmixing algorithms


Origami has long been renowned as a simple yet creative form of art and its folding techniques have recently inspired advances in design and fabrication of miniature robots. In this work, we present the design and fabrication novelties, enhancements, and performance improvements on MinIAQ (Miniature Independently Actuated-legged Quadruped), an origami-inspired, foldable, miniature quadruped robot with individually actuated legs. The resulting robot, MinIAQ-II, has a trajectory-optimized leg actuation mechanism with longer stride, improved traction, less flexure joint bending, and smaller leg lift resulting in faster and smoother walking, better maneuverability, and higher durability and joint life. In order to maximize the joint fatigue life while keeping the leg design simple, the initial four-bar mechanism is optimized by manipulating the joint locations and changing the leg link into a non-straight knee shape with a fixed-angle lock. Despite having a 1 cm longer frame to embed its new actuation mechanism, the overall weight and dimensions are similar to its first version as its legs are no longer extended beyond its frame. As a result, MinIAQ-II is 12-cm-long, 6-cm-wide, 4.5-cm-high and weighs 23 grams. The test results demonstrate the improvement in speed over its predecessor from 0.65 to more than 0.8 bodylengths/s at 3 Hz, and an approximate decrease in body's roll ±21° to ±9° and pitch from 0°–11° to 0°–7°. The independent actuation and control over each leg enables such a robot to be used for gait studies in miniature scale, as is the next direction in our research.


Lipoma is a benign mesenchymal tumor originating from adipose tissue. The occurrence of this tumor in head and neck is less frequent and it rarely involves parotid gland. These are asymptomatic and occur both in the deep and the superficial lobe of the parotid. The most favored age group is from the fifth to sixth decade of life and is 10 times more common in the males. A 66-year-old male patient, with left parotid region lipoma is reported in this article. A fine-needle aspiration biopsy and ultrasonography were performed to establish the preoperative diagnosis and to plan the correct surgical approach. It was managed by surgical excision of lipoma with removal of cuff of superficial parotid tissue on superior aspect with preserving facial nerve. Follow-up examinations were planned to assess any facial nerve injury complications.


Background The optimal antiplatelet regimen after in-coronary intervention among patients presenting with complex coronary artery lesions or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has remained unclear. This study sought to evaluate the clinical outcomes of triple antiplatelet treatment (TAPT) (cilostazol added to aspirin plus clopidogrel) in these patients. Methods The PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and other Internet sources were searched for relevant articles. The primary end point was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization. The incidence of definite/probable stent thrombosis and bleeding were analyzed as the safety end points. Results Eleven clinical trials involving 9,553 patients were analyzed. The risk of MACE was significantly decreased following TAPT after stent implantation in the ACS subgroup (odds ratio [OR]: 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.61–0.85; P<0.001), which might mainly result from the lower risk of all-cause mortality in this subset (OR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.48–0.80; P<0.001). The risk of bleeding was not increased with respect to TAPT. Conclusion TAPT after stent implantation was associated with feasible benefits on reducing the risk of MACE, especially on reducing the incidence of all-cause mortality among patients suffering from ACS, without higher incidence of bleeding. Larger and more powerful randomized trials are still warranted to prove the superiority of TAPT for such patients.


Abstract Phosphorus (P) transported from agricultural fields can be a major contributor to eutrophication of aquatic systems. Alaquods and Paleudults with subsurface Bh and Bt horizons, respectively, occur extensively in the coastal plains of southeastern United States. Environmental risk of P loss from soil horizons can be evaluated using P saturation ratio ((PSR) molar ratio of P to (Al + Fe)) and soil P storage capacity (SPSC) concepts. The change point (zero SPSC) amounts to a threshold PSR value above which P runoff or leaching risk increases. The objective of this study was to compare P release behavior using PSR and SPSC and relate P release to the compositional differences among Alaquod and Paleudult subsurface horizons. Results indicate that most Bt horizons have high SPSC and minimal equilibrium P concentrations (EPC0). Phosphorus retention at environmentally relevant solution concentration was controlled mainly by noncrystalline metal oxides despite relative abundance of crystalline components. The Bt samples have high Langmuir adsorption maximum Smax caused by the relative abundance of crystalline components that contribute to P sorption at higher solution concentrations (above the threshold PSR); however, the risk of P loss is most closely tied to noncrystalline metal oxides, as observed in other sandy soils of Florida. Therefore, the PSR and SPSC concepts originally developed for sandy soils are likely applicable to loamy or clayey horizons of coastal plain soils. Furthermore, the relationship of PSR and SPSC to EPC0 suggests that these parameters can be used to predict EPC0 obtained through the generation of time-consuming Langmuir isotherms.


Ionic liquid ferrofluids have been prepared containing both bare and sterically stabilized 8-12 nm diameter superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, which remain stable for several months in both protic ethylammonium and aprotic imidazolium room-temperature ionic liquids. These ferrofluids exhibit spiking in static magnetic fields similar to conventional aqueous and nonaqueous ferrofluids. Ferrofluid stability was verified by following the flocculation and settling behavior of dilute nanoparticle dispersions. Although bare nanoparticles showed excellent stability in some ILs, they were unstable in others, and exhibited limited water tolerance. Stability was achieved by incorporating a thin polymeric steric stabilization layer designed to be compatible with the IL. This confers the added benefit of imbuing the ILF with a high tolerance to water.


Designing a speech-to-intent (S2I) agent which maps the users' spoken commands to the agents' desired task actions can be challenging due to the diverse grammatical and lexical preference of different users. As a remedy, we discuss a user-taught S2I system in this paper. The user-taught system learns from scratch from the users' spoken input with action demonstration, which ensure it is fully matched to the users' way of formulating intents and their articulation habits. The main issue is the scarce training data due to the user effort involved. Existing state-of-art approaches in this setting are based on non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) and capsule networks. In this paper we combine the encoder of an end-to-end ASR system with the prior NMF/capsule network-based user-taught decoder, and investigate whether pre-training methodology can reduce training data requirements for the NMF and capsule network. Experimental results show the pre-trained ASR-NMF framework significantly outperforms other models, and also, we discuss limitations of pre-training with different types of command-and-control(C&C) applications.


Three large batches were prepared of lyzed splenocytic leukocyte dialyzate from SPF outbred mice, immunized with a live attenuated virus from the tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) complex. Total mass of freeze-dried dialyzates was 1.73 g. One mg of respective batches contained 2 X 10(5), 2 X 10(4) and 2 X 10(3) units of the transfer factor, specific for the flavivirus group-antigen, as estimated according to the capacity to induce specifically cytotoxic T-cells in the recipient C3H mice. The amount of protein and orcinol-reactive material (purine-bound ribose), the presumed components of the inducer's substrate, ranged in individual dialyzates from 9.9-12.4 and 0.72-0.80% of their dry mass. Materials from each batch obtained after double precipitation by ethanol were subjected to permeation chromatography on Sephadex G-25 columns and subsequent lyophilization of the peak with specific inducing activity. The final product represented on average 3.7 per cent of dry mass of the starting material. In comparison to the crude material, in one mg of the final product the protein and the orcinol-reactive material were reduced by 80 and 37 per cent, respectively, but an increment in the antigen-specific inducing capacity comprising 2-3 log10 units was observed. These findings add to the concept that a) macromolecules carrying the inducing activity can be separated from other constituents of the crude dialyzate and b) an increase in antigen-specific inducing activity titre was, besides partial concentration, mainly due to removal of suppressor or inhibitory factor(s) present in the crude dialysates and probably acting in vivo.


The present study investigated the relationship between purpose in life, hope, coping, and spiritual sensitivity among a sample of 166 first year psychology students. Family support and hopefulness predicted strong purpose in life. Inward sensitivity, together with agency thinking as part of hopefulness, notably increased the predictive variance of strong purpose in life. Positive correlations were also found between all variables, as well as low indications of suicidal ideation. These findings, particularly that for inward sensitivity, are able to contribute to programs that personally support first-year university students, especially in the early months of this experience.


This guide is for students taking the Information Literacy in the Health Sciences Proficiency Exam. This guide can be used while taking the test.


Abstract: σ receptors have been identified in many brain areas and are especially abundant in those regions known to be involved in control of movement. σ receptors have been located autoradiographically in the granule cell layer of cerebellum in adult rat brain. In the current study, we identified σ receptors in rat neonatal granule cells in culture using radioligand binding. The tritium labeled form of the putative σ antagonist haloperidol bound with high affinity to membranes prepared from these cells, and ligands selective for σ receptors competed well against [3H]haloperidol binding. The excitatory amino acid N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate and the direct phospholipase A2 activator melittin stimulated the release of [3H]arachidonic acid from cerebellar granule cells. The N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate‐stimulated, but not the melittin‐stimulated, release was inhibited in a concentration‐dependent manner by the σ‐selective agonist (+)‐pentazocine. In addition, the novel σ1 agonist BD737 inhibited N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate‐stimulated release. Pentazocine inhibition was almost completely reversed by the σ antagonists NPC‐16377 and opipramol. A 1 µM concentration of the phencyclidine receptor‐selective ligand MK‐801 inhibited ∼65% of N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate‐stimulated release. These results suggest that σ receptors may play a role in modulating arachidonic acid release in cerebellar granule cells.


Obesity is a multifarious disorder involving developmental, behavioral, biological, environmental, and hereditary components; it is a major medical health issue. The greatest predominant cause of childhood obesity is a discrepancy in energy balance. The physicians have commonly depended on changes in food consumption with exercise since there is no single treatment choice for obesity treatment . The prevention of childhood obesity is considered as the enduring, cost-effective solution to the problem of obesity, effective methods for it still indescribable. In summary, this study will overview the implications, and treatment options available for childhood obesity.


Analyzing authorship of online texts is an important analysis task in security-related areas such as cybercrime investigation and counter-terrorism, and in any field of endeavor in which authorship may be uncertain or obfuscated. This paper presents an automated approach for authorship analysis using machine learning methods, a robust stylometric feature set, and a series of visualizations designed to facilitate analysis at the feature, author, and message levels. A testbed consisting of 506,554 forum messages, in English and Arabic, from 14,901 authors was first constructed. A prototype portal system was then developed to support feasibility analysis of the approach. A preliminary evaluation to assess the efficacy of the text visualizations was conducted. The evaluation showed that task performance with the visualization functions was more accurate and more efficient than task performance without the visualizations.


Convolutional dictionary learning (CDL) estimates shift invariant basis adapted to multidimensional data. CDL has proven useful for image denoising or inpainting, as well as for pattern discovery on multivariate signals. As estimated patterns can be positioned anywhere in signals or images, optimization techniques face the difficulty of working in extremely high dimensions with millions of pixels or time samples, contrarily to standard patch-based dictionary learning. To address this optimization problem, this work proposes a distributed and asynchronous algorithm, employing locally greedy coordinate descent and an asynchronous locking mechanism that does not require a central server. This algorithm can be used to distribute the computation on a number of workers which scales linearly with the encoded signal's size. Experiments confirm the scaling properties which allows us to learn patterns on large scales images from the Hubble Space Telescope.


The population of acquiring English as a foreign language in China is the largest all over the world. More and more native English speaking teachers have come to China to teach the English language since the reform and opening-up policies were launched in China. The issue whether native or non-native English speaking teachers is better in China has been long contested in some studies since then. The article demonstrates some contested notions of the issue in the area of TESL in China in general. It discusses from perspectives such as language competence, qualifications, English varieties and teaching effectiveness of NESTs and NNESTs and aims to offer English language educators and learners insights of their different teaching styles. By clarifying the contested notions, it is able to propose better teaching methods that make the best of advantages of NESTs and NNESTs in TEFL of China [1].


functions of the placenta have set off a great fluttering in the endocrine and obstetrical dovecotes. From Aberdeen to Buenos Aires they have met to compare notes in many languages. There can hardly be a better example than the published transactions of a recent colloquium held in South America and published in English by French editors, largely concerned with papers read by Japanese and American scientists.6


Cardiac electrical stimulation is a rarely used but required skill for pediatric emergency physicians. Children who are in cardiac arrest or who demonstrate evidence of hypoperfusion because of cardiac reasons require rapid diagnosis and intervention to minimize patient morbidity and mortality. Both hospital- and community-based personnel must have sufficient access to, and knowledge of, appropriate equipment to provide potentially lifesaving defibrillation, cardioversion, or cardiac pacing. In this review, we will discuss the primary clinical indications for cardioelectrical stimulation in pediatric patients, including the use of automated external defibrillators, internal defibrillators, and pacemakers. We discuss the types of devices that are currently available, emergency management of internal defibrillation and pacemaker devices, and the role of advocacy in improving delivery of emergency cardiovascular care of pediatric patients in the community.


Using a large hand-collected sample of all blockholders (ownership ≥ 5%) of S&P 1500 firms for the years 2002-2009, we first document significant individual blockholder effects on earnings management (accrual-based earnings management, real earnings management, and restatements). This association is driven primarily by these large shareholders influencing rather than selecting firms' financial reporting practices. Second, the market's reaction to earnings announcements suggests that investors recognize the heterogeneity in blockholders' influence on earnings management. The results highlight the highly individualized effects of blockholders and a mechanism through which shareholders impact reported earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


High frequency planar transformer (HFPT) is an up-and-coming technology which can be used for designing a contact-less battery charging platform. In this paper, fractal-based high frequency planar transformers are presented with two different structures: 4-to-1 and 16-to-4 turn ratio. Because they are PCB-based transformers, two cases of 0.8 mm and 1.6 mm thickness were investigated. A finite-element method has been used to calculate the magnetic field. LLC resonant converter has been designed to improve the conversion efficiency. The voltage ratio has been measured with and without a capacitor at the primary side. The winding with a capacitor can increase the efficiency without any distortion and harmonics.


AIM
Evaluate the serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in the prognosis of lung cancer patients.

METHODS
Fifty-four serum samples were analyzed for VEGF concentrations (79.3% nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 20.7% small cell lung cancer).

RESULTS
Patients with serum VEGF-A levels higher than the mean of the patients studied (434.93 pg/mL) presented a shorter median survival time than those with lower levels (p =.04), as in patients with NSCLC tumors (p =.04) and in those with stages I-II (p <.05), and high serum VEGF-A levels.

CONCLUSION
Elevated VEGF serum levels have a negative prognostic impact on survival in NSCLC and early stages of lung cancer patients.


There is a large body of literature that strongly suggests that role stress is harmful to correctional staff. Past research has found that role stress is linked to lower job satisfaction, lower organizational commitment, greater job stress, and intention to quit. The bulk of the literature has looked at the consequences of role stress; this study examined the potential antecedents of role stress for correctional staff. While controlling for the shared effects of the personal characteristics of gender, age, position, tenure, educational level, race, and supervisory status, this study examined whether different aspects of the work environment (i.e., input into decision making, supervision, formalization, integration, job performance, and instrumental communication) were linked to role stress using survey data of correctional staff at a Midwestern prison. Ordinary least squares multiple regression analysis indicated that the personal characteristics of position and tenure had statistically significant associations with role stress. Specifically, noncustody staff and staff with higher tenure reported greater role stress than custody staff and staff with less tenure. With regard to the work environment variables, input into decision making, supervision, formalization, integration, and instrumental communication all had a significant negative relationship with role stress, whereas job performance feedback did not.


In compliance with EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a digital Land Parcel Information System (LPIS) exists in The Netherlands. However, its content is basically limited to the primarily (net) agricultural area. So far landscape features defined by the CAP EC law were not yet included. In commensurate with the possibility to add distinct landscape features to the area recorded in the LPIS, The Netherlands are seeking to find a digital procedure for their recording. This study is a reconnaissance of the possibilities for automated recognition of landscape features, using high resolution geo-datasets and aerial photography, including the infrared bands. The overall conclusion is, that technically it seems well possible to record small landscape features from existing datasets. The study was performed on a spatially limited area in The Netherlands. The results of this study show that several distinct landscape features can be recorded and differentiated in an automatic way to minimize the overall manual procedures for their recording appropriately. However, the operationalization of the determined procedures (i.e. data availability, storage space, processing capacity) necessary to apply the procedure on a nationwide scale are not subject to this study and will be subject to further investigations.


Eighty-four colostrum-deprived piglets aged 1 day were inoculated with either a Korean strain of transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) or one of two American strains (Purdue and Miller). The purpose was to compare, by morphometric analysis and in-situ hybridization, the Korean strain with the two American strains in respect of pathogenicity and viral distribution over a period of 72 h. The progression of infection in pigs infected with the Korean strain was much slower than that in pigs infected with either of the two American strains. At 6 h post-inoculation (hpi), the mean score of the villous height/crypt depth (VH/CD) ratio of pigs inoculated with the Purdue or Miller strain was significantly less than that of pigs inoculated with the Korean strain or uninfected control pigs. At 12-72 hpi, however, the VH/CD ratio of all infected pigs was significantly less than that of control pigs. In-situ hybridization showed significant differences between the Korean and American strains in terms of the amount of TGEV nucleic acid at 6, 12 and 60 hpi. TGEV nucleic acid was detected in the duodenum, jejunum and ileum of pigs inoculated with the Purdue or Miller strain but only in the jejunum and ileum of those inoculated with the Korean strain. The results suggested that the Korean strain was less virulent than the two American strains.


Worldwide about 1 in 1000 adults every year has a sudden cardiac arrest in out-of-hospital. That means 350,000-400,000 persons in the USA alone, 60,000 persons in Italy. Over 70% of times sudden cardiac arrest occurs at home, the remaining 30% in public settings. The chain of survival concept emphasizes four links associated with survival after sudden cardiac arrest corresponding each with a set of actions that have been done as soon as possible--the early access, the early CPR, the early defibrillation, the early ACLS; in order to develop strength in each link, separate specialized programs are needed, but all of the links must be well connected. The Utstein Style was developed by a task force who suggested a series of recommendations as a starting point for more effective exchange of information about out-of hospital cardiac arrest. The Utstein Style includes a glossary of terms, a template for reporting data from resuscitation studies on cardiac arrest, definitions for time points and time intervals related to an intervention in a resuscitation attempt, definitions of clinical items and outcomes that should be included in reports, and recommendations for the descriptions for how different EMS systems are organized.


Entrainment of wheel-running activity rhythms was compared in hamsters exposed to daily light-dark (LD) cycles with abrupt transitions between 0 and 10 lux or with artificial twilights simulating summer solstice conditions at 41°N latitude but truncated at 10 lux. The photoperiod in LD-rectangular was set at 16.24 h, equating the total light (in lux • min) emitted under the two schedules. The LD cycles were maintained for 35 days and were followed by 14 days of constant darkness (DD). Half the animals in each condition had access to a dark nest box connected to the outer compartment by a tunnel, the remaining animals being confined to a single compartment. Body temperature and locomotor activity inside the nest boxes were recorded by telemetry. Movements between the nest box and the outer compartment were monitored and the data were used to calculate light exposure at different times of the day. In all groups, the phase angle difference between wheel-running onset and dusk was more positive than that between activity offset and dawn. Hamsters with access to nest boxes, however, had later onsets, earlier offsets, and shorter activity durations (αs) than those without. These effects could be accounted for by the difference in light exposure between the nest and no-nest animals, particularly light exposure in the morning. The inclusion of twilights also resulted in later onsets and shorter αs, but the differences were relatively small and were only observed in the nest animals. The day-to-day variability in activity onset was negatively correlated with onset time and was smaller in the twilight/nest animals than in the other three groups. Most animals showed an expansion of α during the first few days of DD, resulting from a rapid advance of activity onsets relative to offsets. The period of the rhythms, determined from the first five activity onsets in DD, was negatively correlated with the balance of evening and morning light exposure. These results are discussed in the context of nonparametric entrainment of compound pacemakers.


Weather radar observations are called to play an important role in offshore wind energy. In particular, they can enable the monitoring of weather conditions in the vicinity of large-scale offshore wind farms and thereby notify the arrival of precipitation systems associated with severe wind fluctuations. The information they provide could then be integrated into an advanced prediction system for improving offshore wind power predictability and controllability. In this paper, we address the automatic classification of offshore wind regimes (i.e., wind fluctuations with specific frequency and amplitude) using reflectivity observations from a single weather radar system. A categorical sequence of most likely wind regimes is estimated from a wind speed time series by combining a Markov-Switching model and a global decoding technique, the Viterbi algorithm. In parallel, attributes of precipitation systems are extracted from weather radar images. These attributes describe the global intensity, spatial continuity and motion of precipitation echoes on the images. Finally, a CART classification tree is used to find the broad relationships between precipitation attributes and wind regimes.


Introduction Methods Metabolic Statistical Psychologic Metabolic Observations Eosinophile level Urinary total 17-hydroxycorticoid excretion Urinary 17-ketosteroid excretion Uropepsin excretion Correlations between 17-hydroxycorticoids, 17-ketosteroids, and uropepsin values Complementary studies Long-distance running Studies on 17-hydroxycorticoid excretion in sweat "Utilization" studies Metabolic Interpretations Adrenocortical secretory response to the race "Increased utilization" Eosinophile levels and 17-hydroxycorticoid excretion Physical exercise vs. psychological stress Psychological Observations Group Rorschach Thematic Apperception Test Personal interviews Psychological Interpretation Summary of psychological findings on the crew Supplementary studies of psychologic stress and adrenal cortical activation Metabolic and Psychological Correlation Conclusions References INTRODUCTION Evaluation of the role of the adrenal cortex in the response of man to stressful situations continues to be a problem of major interest to medical investigators. Earlier studies suggested that the adrenal cortex responds actively and promptly to many, but not all, psychic and physical stresses. 1 In many of the studies, changes in the level of circulating


Mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) are useful and relatively accessible sources of molecular data to explore and understand the evolutionary history and relationships of eukaryotic organisms across diverse taxonomic levels. The availability of complete mitogenomes from Platyhelminthes is limited; of the 40 or so published most are from parasitic flatworms (Neodermata). Here, we present the mitogenomes of two free-living flatworms (Tricladida): the complete genome of the freshwater species Crenobia alpina (Planariidae) and a nearly complete genome of the land planarian Obama sp. (Geoplanidae). Moreover, we have reanotated the published mitogenome of the species Dugesia japonica (Dugesiidae). This contribution almost doubles the total number of mtDNAs published for Tricladida, a species-rich group including model organisms and economically important invasive species. We took the opportunity to conduct comparative mitogenomic analyses between available free-living and selected parasitic flatworms in order to gain insights into the putative effect of life cycle on nucleotide composition through mutation and natural selection. Unexpectedly, we did not find any molecular hallmark of a selective relaxation in mitogenomes of parasitic flatworms; on the contrary, three out of the four studied free-living triclad mitogenomes exhibit higher A+T content and selective relaxation levels. Additionally, we provide new and valuable molecular data to develop markers for future phylogenetic studies on planariids and geoplanids.


The tandem P domain potassium channels, TREK1 and TASK1, are expressed throughout the brain but expression patterns do not significantly overlap. Since normal pO2 in central nervous tissue is as low as 20 mmHg and can decrease even further in ischemic disease, it is important that the behaviour of human brain ion channels is studied under conditions of acute and chronic hypoxia. This is especially true for brain‐expressed tandem P‐domain channels principally because they are important contributors to neuronal resting membrane potential and excitability. Here, we discuss some recent data derived from two recombinant tandem P‐domain potassium channels, hTREK1 and hTASK1. Hypoxia represents a potent inhibitory influence on both channel types and occludes the activation by arachidonic acid, intracellular acidosis and membrane deformation of TREK1. This casts doubt on the idea that TREK1 activation during brain ischemia might facilitate neuroprotection via hyperpolarising neurons in which it is expressed. Interestingly, hypoxia is unable to regulate alkalotic inhibition of TREK1 suggesting that this channel may be more intimately involved in control of excitability during physiological or pathological alkalosis.


We consider streaming of video sequences over both constant and variable bit-rate (VBR) channels. Our goal is to enable decoding of each video unit before exceeding its displaying deadline and, hence, to guarantee successful sequence presentation even if the media rate does not match the channel rate. In this work, we show that the separation between a delay jitter buffer and a decoder buffer is in general suboptimal for VBR video transmitted over VBR channels. We specify the minimum initial delay and the minimum required buffer for a given video stream and a deterministic VBR channel. In addition, we provide some probabilistic statements in case that we observe a random behavior of the channel bit rate. A specific example tailored to wireless video streaming is discussed in greater detail and bounds are derived which allow guaranteeing a certain quality-of-service even for random VBR channels in a wireless environment. Simulation results validate the findings.


This paper deals with the identification of highly similar loads in Smart Grids. The goal is to apply load characterization techniques to define a unique load signature. In this work is used a platform composed of four fluorescent lamps with the same technical data and from the same manufacturer. Fluorescent lamps can be driven individually or together allowing for 16 different operating configurations, this means, from no one lamp turned on to all the lamps turned on. For each configuration, 150 voltage cycles and 150 cycles of total circuit current are collected at a frequency of 25 kHz. Then, two forms of load signatures are tested, one where the signature is composed of 14 characteristics and another one, based on the entropy of Shannon and Renyi, where the signature can have 5, 15, 45 or 85 characteristics. After defining the signature, it is necessary to go through the classification system to find the lowest error rate of the identification system. In this work, five classifiers were tested. The lowest error rate found was 25.63% and is close to the literature when the scenario is composed of different loads, thus proving the efficiency of the presented method.


M. A. Epstein et al. report a specific immunofluorescence test for the Herpes type EB virus associated with strains of Burkitt lymphoblasts. Antiserum pre pared in rabbits against the EB3 virus consistently gave brilliant staining of a small proportion of cells in all EB3 cultures, but failed to react with normal human lymphoid cells or other human tissue culture cells. The specificity of the immunofluorescence test was authenticated by electron microscopy. When exam ined by both methods in parallel studies, one third as many fluorescing cells were found than cells containing virus. Fluorescent cells also examined by electron microscopy contained EB virus whereas neighboring cells did not. The immunofluorescent test should be a useful new method for studying the proper ties of the Herpes-type EB virus. [March] In an accompanying paper, M. A. Epstein et al. used the immunofluorescence test to study Herpes-type EB virus in four lines of cultured Burkitt lympho blasts and a strain of human leukemic cells. A proportion of cells in each cell line showed brilliant fluorescence when tested against antiserum to the EB3 virus, indicating that all the strains carry an immunologically identical or at least closely related virus. All of the strains showed virus containing cells by electron microscopy, and a constant relationship between the number of these cells and the incidence of fluorescent cells was found. No fluorescence occurred when the antiserum was tested against cultures heavily infected with herpes simplex, cytomegalovirus and variacella virus, indicating that the agent is entirely separate from known herpes viruses tested. The significance of the EB virus to the causation of leukemia and lymphoma remains unknown. [March] Paul Gerber et al. found Herpes-like virus in continuously growing cultures of leukocytes derived from six normal human donors. The autonomously grow ing cultures consist mainly of immature lymphoblastoid cells. The ultrastruc tural features of some of the cells are identical to those seen in human leukemic lymphoblasts. Herpes-like virus (HLV) morphologically indistinguishable from HLV associated with certain Burkitt cell cultures were found in four of the normal cell lines, in 0.1 to 5.0 per cent of the cells. Attempts to isolate the virus


Heat stress (HS) is the most substantial environmental issue in rabbit health status impairment, which can lower productivity. Maca is a common medicinal plant with important biological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-fatigue, and neuroprotective effects. The present research explored the alleged protective role of Maca extract in alleviating the adverse impact of HS on rabbits. Growing V-line 6-week-old buck rabbits (N = 48) were orally administered Maca extract at levels of 0 (MAC0), 200 (MAC2), 400 (MAC4), or 600 (MAC6) mg/head twice per week. Compared to the control groups, rabbits provided Maca had better growth performance, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Liver and tests weights were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in Maca treated groups compared to the control. hemoglobin, white blood cell, red blood corpuscles, platelet count, hematocrit, and lymphocytes were significantly increased in the MAC4 group compared with the control group. MAC4 treatment significantly reduced aspartate aminotransferase and malondialdehyde levels compared with other groups. Moreover, the concentrations of total bilirubin, creatinine, glucose, total cholesterol, and triglycerides were lower (p < 0.05) in the MAC4 group than in the controls. Oral administration of Maca improved cortisol and testosterone values, total antioxidant capacity, and superoxide dismutase. The MAC4 group exhibited significant improvement (p < 0.05) in sperm motility, survival, membrane functionality, concentration, and libido, with a significant decrease in abnormal sperm compared with the control group. Also, aforementioned group showed sperm cells with a normal structure and intact plasma membranes, acrosomes, and well-organised axonemal components. Histopathological screening of liver sections showed moderate to severe degenerative and necrotic changes in rabbits exposed to HS, which were alleviated with Maca oral administration. In conclusion, oral administration of Maca extract at 400 or 600 mg/head-weekly enhanced growth performance, hemato-biochemical attributes, antioxidant status, and semen quality in rabbits during the hot season.


The studies in this report analyze the effects of decoupled payments in the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act on recipient households, and assess land, labor, risk management, and capital market conditions that can lead to links between decoupled payments and production choices. Each study contributes a different perspective to understanding the response of U.S. farm households and production to decoupled income transfers. Some use new microdata on farm households collected through USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), initiated in 1996, and its predecessor survey. These data are used to compare household and producer behavior and outcomes before and after the FAIR Act. Other studies use applied or conceptual models to characterize the impact of introducing decoupled payments. Collectively, the chapters represent an early stage in the empirical analysis of decoupled payments. The studies address many aspects of the payments' household impacts but remaining issues call for additional analysis. As the analytical paradigm changes with the evolution of farm programs, the development of appropriate data and models will improve our understanding of farm program impacts on the behavior and well-being of U.S. farm households, and the agricultural sector.


Multivariate time series analysis is becoming an integral part of data analysis pipelines. Understanding the individual time point connections between covariates as well as how these connections change in time is non-trivial. To this aim, we propose a novel method that leverages on Hidden Markov Models and Gaussian Graphical Models -- Time Adaptive Gaussian Model (TAGM). Our model is a generalization of state-of-the-art methods for the inference of temporal graphical models, its formulation leverages on both aspects of these models providing better results than current methods. In particular,it performs pattern recognition by clustering data points in time; and, it finds probabilistic (and possibly causal) relationships among the observed variables. Compared to current methods for temporal network inference, it reduces the basic assumptions while still showing good inference performances.


The "uphill (against the concentration gradient)" accumulation of a hydrophobic cation (rhodamine 6G, R6G+) into the inner phase of a giant unilamellar vesicle (GUV) was realized with the concentration gradient of the counter anion (X- = ClO4-, BF4-, or Br-) in the presence of phosphate buffer (P-, pH = 7) in the inner and outer phase of the GUV and detected as the increase of the R6G+ fluorescence intensity in the inner phase using a confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscope. The addition of X- in the outer phase of the GUV caused the accumulation of R6G+ in the inner phase. The degree and kinetics of the accumulation were dependent on the concentration and type of X-; e.g., the inner concentration of R6G+ reached 2.5 times that in the outer phase of GUV after adding 10 mM ClO4-. The accumulation was theoretically simulated by assuming the distribution of ion pairs (R6G+ and X-, R6G+, and P-) between the aqueous phase and the lipid bilayer membrane (ion pair distribution model) and the transmembrane fluxes of R6G+, X- and P-. The theoretical simulation rationalized the accumulation degree and kinetics of the experimental results. The accumulation of the target cation by the concentration gradient of the counter anion demonstrated in this study can be an effective method for the preparation of liposomal drugs.


Primates play an important role in protecting the forest. Rentap Hill neighborhood has been designated as Protected Forest Menhutbun through Decree No. 405 / KPTS--II 1999 Dated June 14, 1999. Rentap Protected Forest Hill has an area of about 750 ha, with a total length of 9.70 km and a height limit of 50-658 m asl. This study aims to find out the type - the type of primates in Forest Hill Rentap Hedges. The method used is the transect method with the path length of 500 m, width of track: 100 m. The tools used in this study is the location map, compass, camera, meter, tally sheet, primate identification books, binoculars and GPS. The number of primates are found at least 138 individuals consisting of 3 individual species in secondary forests as much as 74 tails, while the forest around the village as much as 64 tails. Secondary forest has a diversity index that is higher by (1.007782), the forest around perkampungan (0.692658), suggesting that the high number of primate species in a habitat causes the higher the index value. Forests around the township has a greater dominance index is (0.500488) compared to secondary forests by (0.386777). Secondary forest has an index higher species richness of (1.069958) than the forest around the village of (0.553655). Similarity index between secondary forest types and forest around the village of (0.434782), this value indicates the level of similarity of constituent populations are not much different. Hunting primates in locations Protect Forest Hill Rentap, it should be done in collaboration between community protection or in the vicinity of natural resource conservation efforts in order to avoid scarcity and even extinction as klampiau primates, kukang, as well as other wildlife. Keyword: Species diversity index, dominance index, Protected Forest Hill Rentap


Prior studies have investigated whether the expectation that one will explain materials promotes text comprehension during learning. Such research, however, has had inconsistent results, which suggests that the effects of explanation expectancy depend on individual difference factors. In the present study, an experiment with 8th-grade students examined whether their metacognitive knowledge about explanation (elaborative explaining orientation) moderated the effects of explanation expectancy on text comprehension. Before studying the text, students in the experimental condition were instructed that they would have to explain the content of the text to another person. All the students then read the text, and answered test questions. Students in the experimental group had low text comprehension scores, but only for students with low orientation to elaborate and organize a passage when explaining. The findings demonstrated that moderating factors including metacognitive knowledge about explanation could cause the inconsistent results of previous research.


The correlation of genotype to phenotype in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency has been investigated thoroughly since the mapping of the CYP21 gene to the short arm of chromosome 6. In most instances, it is possible to accurately predict the phenotype based on genoytpe; however, in a small number of patients, individuals with identical mutations demonstrate variable phenotypes. We report two HLA-identical brothers who represent a striking case of genotype-phenotype nonconcordance in CAH. Molecular genetic analysis showed both patients had mutations in intron 2 and exon 10 of CYP21. Both brothers underwent salt-deprivation tests at similar ages over three separate hospital admissions. Patient 1 was diagnosed with simple virilizing CAH and was able to maintain sodium balance during salt deprivation tests. Patient 2, 3 years younger, was diagnosed with salt-wasting CAH and was unable to maintain sodium balance but progressively increased his aldosterone secretion with age.


Out-of-wedlock pregnancies among adolescents from impoverished families and the decision of these girls to have their babies rather than to seek an abortion represent on adaptation to the circumstances of poverty. The authors content that a national family policy might help some of these girls avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy and childbearing.


Joan of Arc is hailed as the maiden prophesised to save France and her courage, dedication, eloquence and martyrdom make her an enduring inspiration. Acclaimed author Tabatha Yeatts depicts Saint Joan's remarkable story, from her first experience of hearing sacred voices to her canonization. Learn all about Joan of Arc's childhood in war-torn France; ride with the young warrior into battle after battle and see how she helped a king win his rightful crown; and, find out about her terror-filled final days and how, finally, her reputation was gloriously, posthumously restored.


Beef allergies are relatively rare, especially in adults. However, clinical manifestations can vary from urticaria, angioedema, anaphylaxis to gastrointestinal symptoms. Currently available tests, such as skin testing or in vitro determination of beef-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE), do not provide an accurate diagnosis of beef allergy. The recent development of the basophil activation test (BAT) presents a new opportunity for the diagnosis of food allergies. Here, we report a 37-year-old woman with a history of recurrent generalised urticaria, nausea, vomiting and hypotension after ingestion of beef, suggesting a beef allergy. Although the skin prick test and serum specific IgE to beef, pork and milk allergens showed negative results using commercial kits, the BAT showed significant upregulation of CD203c in a dose-dependent manner compared to both non-atopic and atopic controls. To our knowledge, this is the first case study of beef allergy consisting of a non-IgE-mediated reaction. The detection of food allergies using direct basophil activation is suggested to complement conventional diagnostic tests.


Carbonaceous materials are widely applied as materials that absorb electromagnetic radiation, whether in the form of carbon fibers, nanotubes and graphene. In this work the carbon fiber from raw material textile polyacrylonitrile was used in two distinct forms, felt and particulates. The carbon fiber felt samples showed real and imaginary permissiveness about four times higher than those in particulate form and also a reflection of up to 93% of the incident radiation. The study of the particulate fibers was carried out with particles of sizes smaller than 25um and 2553um and embedded in an epoxy resin matrix in two concentrations of mass, 25% and 50% of carbon fiber. The best attenuation occurred for samples with particulate size 25-53um, where the concentration of 50% attenuated until 60% and the samples with 25% carbon fiber concentration


Hydrotropic salts, which can increase the solubility of organic materials in aqueous solutions, are useful to tertiary oil recovery. We have examined effects on solubility of hydrocarbons in water (with and without alcohols) through addition of inorganic hydrotropic salts, such as perchlorates, thiocyanates, and iodides - high in the usual Hofmeister series - and of organic salts such as short chain alkyl benzene sulfonates and other salts based on substituted benzene derivatives. Although the inorganic salts are relatively ineffective in increasing solubility of hydrocarbons in water, many of the organic salts are excellent hydrotropic agents for hydrocarbons. We have examined the phase relationships for several series of aromatic salts such as sulfonates, carboxylates and hydroxycarboxylates, as a function of alkyl-carbon substitution in three-component (hydrocarbon, salt, water) and in four-component (hydrocarbon, salt, alcohol, water) systems. We have also examined miscibility relationships for a given hydrotropic salt as the chain length of alkanes and alkyl benzenes is systematically varied. While miscibilities decrease with increase in chain length of the hydrocarbon, the hydrotropic properties in these systems increase rapidly with the number of alkyl carbons on the benzene ring of the salts and they are relatively insensitive to the type of charged groupmore » (sulfonate vs carboxylate) attached to the benzene ring. However, there were significant increases in hydrotropy as one goes from equally substituted sulfonates or carboxylates to salicylates. A number of salts have been identified which have much greater hydrotropic properties for hydrocarbons than such well-known hydrotropic materials as toluene and xylene sulfonates.« less


Water is an ever-present component in the air, and competitive adsorption of water is a major challenge in many applications of adsorbents, including capture of toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) from the atmosphere. For metal–organic framework (MOF) adsorbents, the presence of water often leads to major material instabilities that could limit their practical performance. MOFs displaying hydrophobic behavior might be useful in overcoming these problems. In this work, we present a new computational strategy to quickly identify hydrophobic MOFs based on their water Henry's constants. Starting with a database of 137 953 hypothetical MOFs, we identified 45 975 structures as hydrophobic based on their simulated water Henry's constants. Using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations, we further analyzed 2777 of these hydrophobic materials whose linkers did not contain chemical functionalization. The results show insignificant water uptake in the identified MOFs, confirming their hydrophobic nature. The capability of the hydrophobic MOFs was assessed for ammonia capture under humid conditions, and analysis of the data generated from this high-throughput computational screening revealed the role of the textural properties and surface chemistry on the removal of toxic compounds. The results suggest that if materials are too hydrophilic, they adsorb too much water and show little or no selectivity towards TICs. On the other hand, if they are too hydrophobic, they adsorb too little ammonia.


Background: Diabetes mellitus Type 1 (T1DM) is associated with metabolic and microvascular diseases as part of a multi-organ and multi-systemic disorder. The dense network of capillary vessels in the lungs may change during the course of the development of microangiopathy. The connective tissue as well as alveoli may be subjected to non-enzymatic glycosylation of proteins which may in turn affect pulmonary function. Previous studies investigating lung function in patients with type 1 diabetes have only been performed on small numbers of patients. Our study is based on population data of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). Objective: To investigate the influence of metabolic control on pulmonary system function and to establish a decreased pulmonary system function as a late complication of T1DM in a population based setting. Methods: The study is a case matched study with multiple controls based on participants with T1DM (SHIP-DM-1, n=73) and non-diabetics (SHIP-1, n=292) from the population based study of Pomerania. Data on lung function and exercise performance stratified by age, sex, body mass index and smoking habits in participants with T1DM and without diabetes were matched. Results: Participants with T1DM showed a significantly lower total lung capacity, residual volume and forced vital capacity. The transfer factor for carbon monoxide, the maximum power output and oxygen uptake during exercise were significantly decreased in comparison to the general population without diabetes. Conclusion: The pattern of abnormal pulmonary function as observed in the present study with a reduction in lung volume parameters and reduced oxygen uptake in participants with T1DM suggests a restrictive type of lung disease caused by an intrinsic lung tissue derangement as well as pulmonary microangiopathy.


The article analyzes the existing systems of electromechanical transmission of mining trucks BelAZ. The influence of the load nature created by the uncontrolled rectifier on the power factor and mass-dimensional indicators of the electromechanical transmission isassessed. Variants of modernization of the AC-electromechanical transmission system are proposed, which provide power factor correction. The influence of the proposed options on the overall dimensions of the electromechanical transmission is considered. Based on the assessment, a modernization option was chosen that provides the required power factor with minimal impact on the overall dimensions of the electromechanical transmission. The results of modeling the operation of the existing electromechanical transmission and the modernized electromechanical transmission system using the most promising modernization option are presented.


Background: Poultry feed occupies the largest cost of poultry production, which is estimated up to 70%. Moreover, it is pressure on the agricultural industry to reduce emissions and improve its environmental footprint, simultaneously increasing output to meet the growing demand for protein worldwide. Therefore, improving feed efficiency (FE) play an important role to improve profits and their environmental footprint in broiler production. In this study, using imputed whole genome sequencing (WGS) data, genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) was performed to identify SNPs and genes associated with residual feed intake (RFI) and its component traits. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis between high- and low-RFI groups was performed to validate candidate genes from GWAS.
Results: Results showed that heritability estimates of average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) , and RFI were 0.29 (0.004), 0.37 (0.005), and 0.38 (0.004), respectively. Using imputed sequence-based GWAS, we identified seven significant SNPs and five candidate genes ( MTSS I-BAR domain containing 1, MTSS1; folliculin, FLCN; COP9 signalosome subunit 3, COPS3; 5',3'-nucleotidase, mitochondrial, NT5M; and gametocyte specific factor 1, GTSF1) associated with RFI, twenty significant SNPs and one candidate gene ( inositol polyphosphate multikinase, IPMK ) associated with ADG, and one significant SNP and one candidate gene ( coatomer protein complex subunit alpha, COPA ) associated with ADFI. After performing transcriptomic analysis between high- and low-RFI groups, both 38 up-regulated and 26 down-regulated genes were identified in high-RFI group. Furthermore, integrating regional conditional GWAS and transcriptome analysis, ras related dexamethasone induced 1 (RASD1) was the only one overlapped gene associated with RFI, which also suggested that the region (GGA14: 4767015 -4882318) is a new quantitative trait locus (QTL) associated with RFI.
Conclusions: In conclusions, using imputed sequence-based GWAS is an efficient method to identify significant SNPs and candidate genes in chicken. Our results provide valuable insights into the genetic mechanisms of RFI and component traits, which would further improve the genetic gain of feed efficiency rapidly and cost-effectively in the context of marker-assisted breeding selection.
Keywords: Whole genome sequence, GWAS, transcriptome analysis, feed efficiency, chickens.


Presented herein are detailed optical, thermal, spectroscopic and structural analyses of the phase transformation occurring in tapentadol hydrochloride (C14H24NO+·Cl-), a phenomenon already reported [Fischer et al. (2006); Patent: WO 2006000441 A2]. The thermal behaviour of the compound was studied using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and Raman scattering measurements. The compound undergoes a first-order reversible phase transition at Theat = 318.0 (1) K, Tcool = 300.0 (1) K, as assessed by the coexistence of both phases in the vicinity of the transition and the abrupt changes observed in the unit-cell parameters with temperature. The process is accompanied by clear thermosalient behaviour, with a conspicuous movement of the samples. On cooling, the transformation leads from a P212121 symmetry (Z' = 1) to P21, with an abrupt change in β [90 ↔ 94.78 (1)°] and duplication of the asymmetric unit contents (Z' = 2). The main structural differences observed across the transition are extremely small, with almost no changes in the stronger, non-covalent interaction scheme involving the `conventional' (N-H...Cl, O-H...Cl) hydrogen bonds.


Biodiversity conservation cannot operate in Central Eastern European countries without a well-established monitoring system, that is dependent on the citizen scientists input. Here we analyse, based on a Polish case: (1) The contribution of NGOs to the national nature monitoring scheme and their collaboration with governmental and scientifi c institutions and (2) the motivation of citizen scientists to volunteer for NGOs' monitoring activities. The study comprises a focus group interview, 30 in-depth interviews with coordinators, citizen scientists, experts and a 23 days long participant observation of a model NGO. We have assessed the monitoring input of NGOs as being a contributory factor infl uencing the biodiversity conservation effectiveness. The cooperation between governmental, scientifi c institutions and NGOs exists, but is dependent on national funding. Although NGOs highlight the lack of coherence in monitoring methodology, they are willing to join the biodiversity monitoring, especially at the European Ecological Network – Natura 2000 sites. On the other hand the trust concerning cooperation with citizen scientists is limited. However, despite this, they still turned out to be trustworthy partners. The most effective way to maintain cooperation with citizen scientists is to create a bond in a group and to provide them with the opportunity to develop their passion for nature. Our fi ndings have shed light on the growing importance of citizen scientists in biodiversity governance, providing recommendations for development of the effective monitoring schemes based on the volunteer work of citizen scientists. 94 Małgorzata Grodzińska-Jurczak, Hanna Kobierska, Joanna Tusznio


A 2012 quantum experiment factored 143 after performing some simplifications classically. Further research demonstrated that that experiment arguably performed the quantum factorizations of other numbers too, such as 56153. This paper characterizes the numbers factored by the 2012 experiment, demonstrates that there are infinitely many of these numbers if the Bateman-Horn conjecture is correct, and provides N2000 ≈ 7.86 ·102000 as an explicit example. Finally, we show that, in asymptotic terms, most of the work in these factorizations was done classically. These quantum factorizations therefore do not seem to indicate progress toward factoring large RSA moduli.


A new series Er:LuxGd1-xVO4 (x=0.1,0.24,0.48,0.57,0.79 and 0.9)mixed laser crystals have been successfully grown by the Czochralski method with 1% Er3+ concentration.The thermal properties of Er:LuxGd1-xVO4crystals series crystals were investigated systematically, including the thermal expansion, specific heat, thermal diffusion coefficients, and thermal conductivities. The anisotropy and variation of the thermal properties with the component x were also achieved and discussed based on their structure. All the results showed that this mixed crystals should have promising applications in the moderate-power lasers.


An examination of a group of dithiocarbamate chelating agents derived from various alkylamines and lactose reveals that the relative potencies in the mobilization of intracellular cadmium from renal and hepatic deposits in mice are highly dependent upon the size and nature of the alkyl groups. For those compounds containing straight-chain alkyl groups, the potency drops off as the number of carbon atoms is increased beyond seven. Branched-chain alkyl groups are more effective in promoting the removal of cadmium than straight-chain alkyl groups with the same number of carbon atoms. The fact that these compounds are effective in the mobilization of intracellular cadmium deposits suggests that the size and shape of the alkyl group are important in the determination of the facility with which the compound can pass through cellular membranes. Straight-chain derivatives with 10 or more carbon atoms were more toxic than those with nine or fewer carbon atoms. Of the new compounds, four (the n-hexyl, n-heptyl, n-octyl, and 2-ethylhexyl derivatives) are more effective than the corresponding benzyl derivative in inducing a reduction of hepatic cadmium levels from animals given cadmium at least 1 week previously. The results obtained indicate that modest modifications in the groups on the basic dithiocarbamate structure can produce agents of significantly enhanced effectiveness for the removal of cadmium from its hepatic deposits.


Today, the main problem of banking institutions is a significant level of staff turnover, which leads to a decrease in the stability and prospects of the financial sector in general. The purpose of each bank is to meet the needs of clients and to generate profit from its activities. To ensure the efficiency of its work, the bank uses staff, which, in turn, utilizing the knowledge, professional skills and professionalism, is one of the most important resources of this institution. In the current state of the domestic economy, banking institutions and enterprises are trying to introduce new standards of work with personnel to increase the efficiency of their activities. The problem of staff turnover is common in the banking sector. Most of banks suffer from a permanent shift in the staffing of the internal reserve, and stressful situations resulting from this. To analyze the causes and solve the problems of staff turnover at the level of strategic and tactical planning. To study the social and psychological methods of managing the authors of the article developed the questionnaire that allows them to analyze the staff's satisfaction with the style of leadership, the degree of motivation, and to identify the features of personnel management, the impact of social and psychological aspects of management on staff turnover. Based on the answers to the questionnaire, the index of satisfaction was calculated and the factors causing the greatest satisfaction and the greatest dissatisfaction of the personnel by work organization in PJSC CB «PrivatBank» were determined. The article proposes concrete ways to reduce staff turnover. These propositions and developments can be actively used in the practical sphere of PJSC CB «PrivatBank», which will improve the psychological climate in the team, increase the efficiency of work of the employees and increase their level of loyalty to the bank.


The existence of naturally-occurring, tumor-reactive T-cells in human cancer has rationalized the application of immunotherapy in oncology, however the immunobiology of spontaneous tumor-reactive T-cells in cancer is not well-defined due to difficulties in identifying and validating these responses. The ability to identify and characterize rare tumor-reactive T cells has strong prognostic value and holds the potential to enable various forms of immunotherapy, including adoptive T cell therapy, TCR gene therapy and immune checkpoint inhibition. In our attempt to explore the immunobiology of naturally-occurring immune responses in patients, we have now elucidated CD137 as a biomarker for bona fide naturally-occurring, tumor-reactive T-cells in cancer and developed a rapid, accurate system to comprehensively isolate tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) with tumor-rejecting capability directly from resected tumors. CD137+ TILs from various tumor types recognized autologous and HLA-matched tumor in an HLA-restricted manner, resulting in proflammatory cytokine production and cancer killing in vitro, and tumor growth inhibition in vivo; CD137-negative TILs did not. More so, multiparameter phenotyping of the CD137+ TIL subset revealed a vast network of expressed negative immunoregulatory molecules and opportunities for immune checkpoint inhibition. Our findings implicate a role for CD137 in the immunobiology of human cancer where it is preferentially expressed on the tumor-reactive TIL subset, and provides a new roadmap for the rational design of cancer immunotherapy trials. Citation Format: Daniel J. Powell, Jr. Identification and enrichment for rare naturally occurring tumor-reactive T cells in the tumor microenvironment reveals new and diverse opportunities for cancer immunotherapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy: A New Chapter; December 1-4, 2014; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2015;3(10 Suppl):Abstract nr A85.


See-through screens (STS) have found important applications in remote collaboration systems to enhance non-verbal communication and gaze awareness. Existing STS designs often sacrifice the display quality significantly, rendering low-contrast images that discount the overall user experience. In this paper, we present a novel see-through screen solution based on weave fabrics. Such fabrics are known to be acoustically transparent and used to build professional projection screens for Hollywood studios. We place a cam-era immediately behind the screen and synchronize it with a 120Hz projector to perform time-multiplexing display and video capture. By focusing the camera at the user 4–5 feet away from the screen, the image of the weave fabric will be severely blurred. We present the imaging principle of the setup, and derive image processing techniques to enhance the quality of the captured video. The overall system is low cost, has much better display quality than existing systems, and can be used to build wall-size see-through screens for various applications.


The possible relationship between red blood cell (RBC) deformability and secondary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) in 23 patients on maintenance hemodialysis was examined. Secondary HPT was evaluated by means of serum biochemistry (parathyroid hormone, calcium, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase) and radiographic examinations. This study showed that RBC deformability is markedly reduced in hemodialyzed patients when compared with normal controls. No significant correlation between RBC deformability and the hematochemical changes associated with secondary HPT was found. No difference in RBC deformability was observed as far as the activity (alkaline phosphatase) and the severity (radiographic findings) of secondary HPT are concerned. Effective treatment of secondary HPT by either pharmacological means (1 alpha, 25-dihydroxycholecalciferol therapy) or surgical removal was not associated with consequent improvement in RBC deformability. It is concluded that secondary HPT is probably not a major factor influencing RBC deformability in uremic patients on maintenance hemodialysis.


A scheme is suggested for the generation of multi-atom maximally entangled states with a cavity in a thermal state. In this scheme several appropriately prepared two-level atoms are simultaneously sent through the nonresonant cavity. We divide the whole atom-cavity interaction time into two equal parts. At the end of the first part a π pulse is applied to the atoms using a classical field. Then the photon-number-dependent shifts on the atomic states are cancelled and the atomic system finally evolves to a maximally entangled state.


There are basic principles and techniques of measurement that are relevant across biomedical disciplines. The purpose of this article is to explain some of the most important of these for medical rehabilitation, to illustrate how to use them to choose assessment instruments and to describe the nature of measurement in medical rehabilitation by examples in brain injury rehabilitation. Reliability is basic to any scientific measure. Validity, the ultimate criterion, is closely associated with the purpose of the measure. Content validity, criterion validity and construct validity are explained. Sensitivity to rehabilitative interventions and significance in patients' real lives (ecological validity) are emphasized. Measures of functional outcomes (disability) may show improvement after rehabilitation even when impairment measures do not. An extensive but selected list of measures of coma, global status, disabilities, communicative and cognitive impairments, and handicaps is presented, and their main uses are illustrated. Examples illustrate how to choose measures to study comprehensive program-level outcomes, to study learning-based interventions and to develop a general purpose database. Although there are many measures of activities of daily living and mobility, little published evidence of reliability and validity could be found even for some wellknown scales. Ecologically valid and sensitive outcome measures are especially needed. Studies of the clinical utility of measures were also scarce. Many of these gaps can be spanned by clinical researchers with limited resources. Physical medicine and rehabilitation will benefit from formal studies of the reliabilities and validities of both its old and its new measurement instruments and by increased sophistication in choice of measures.


Acute lymphoblastic leukemia which developed after first primary solid organ malignancy (1M) considered as secondary acute lymphoblastic leukemia (sALL) and it is rare. The observational study that researches for(sALL) in worldwide and even in Iraq is limited. This study investigated (sALL) among 50 (ALL) Iraqi patients (30 children; 20 adults). Five (4 female;1 male) out of  50 (ALL) patients (10%) were with(sALL) .They asked through questionnaire form about their age , 1M , latency period and immunophenotype .They were in 14-40 years age group and with previous malignancies breast , ovary, lung and thyroid cancers. The median latency period (from 1M to sALL) was 30 months. Four of (sALL) were with B cell immunophenotype , while one was with T cell. This observational study gives an evidence of the present of (sALL) among (ALL)  Iraqi patients after 1M in the adults . Since it is the first time to address the idea of this review article and has not been addressed previously, there is a need for a wide approach on this group of  (sALL)  patients,  including surveillance epidemiology , molecular and cytogenetic study.


In post-conflict states, environmental problems are often neglected regardless of their severity. According to UN data, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is one of the countries with the worst air pollution in the world, which has serious consequences for people's health and the economy. Given the importance of this issue, the paper investigates why it is not on the agenda of policymakers, by applying Kingdon's multiple streams model. The analysis leads to the conclusion that of the three streams (problem, policy, and politics), the politics stream remains the most problematic one. However, the author argues that Kingdon's original model is deficient in explaining why this problem is off the agenda, since it only includes domestic actors, while in the case of post-conflict BiH, as well as some other post-conflict countries, international actors play a significant role. In order to overcome this shortcoming, the model itself is enhanced by an insight into the role that international actors played in relation to this problem. It is concluded that the problems of environmental protection were largely ignored by international actors as well, primarily due to the nature of the liberal model of peacebuilding, that predominantly focused on building democratic institutions.


The main objective of this study is to assess the smallholder women participation in FTC at Buno Bedele zone, southwestern Ethiopia. The researcher has forwarded three research questions and formulated three research objectives. What status of participation of women in FTC? What were the major challenges women faced to participating in FTC?, what is factors that affecting the women farmers' to participating in FTC?. Multi stage random sampling techniques were employed to select a total of 72 respondents from nine Kebeles. Data were collected from both secondary and primary sources. Finally the data were analyzed by descriptive and econometrics methods. According to the finding of the research hiring and transfer practice, social barriers such as house hold activities and family care contributed in limiting the participation of women in FTC. The logit estimation technique was estimating the factors that affecting women participation in to FTC. Specifically, women participation in to FTC is significantly influenced by the levels of education, membership to cooperative, extension contact frequencies, and family size. Therefore, policy aimed to accelerate agricultural development in the area could be successful if these factors and problems are taken into consideration to participating women farmers in to FTC. The absence of proper implementation of government policies such as affirmative action and gender quota should be resolved.


Acute nontraumatic myelopathies include vascular etiologies most commonly caused by atherosclerotic vascular disease. Other causes that have been reported to occur with varying frequencies include thrombosis, embolism of thrombi and tumor, arteritis, hypotension, dissecting aortic aneurysm, sickle cell disease, intervertebral disk herniation, vertebral body subluxation and iatrogenic causes, usually angiography or surgery. In case of acutely progressing spinal cord syndromes, the diagnosis often given is of transverse myelitis or unknown cause of infarction. Fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE) is possible cause of spinal ischemia due to embolization of nucleus pulposus fragments through retrograde spinal artery flow. A young woman after intensive exercise developed profound weakness of her upper extremities, progressing to flaccid quadriplegia with sensory level from C3 dermatome. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed linear hyperintense intramedullary lesion from C2 to Th2 confined to anterior horn area, with typical"owl's eye" appearance. Although exact mechanism of patient's neurological syndrome remains undetermined, we suspected a cord infarction due to FCE related to her vigorous physical exercise.


The Blue Eagle emblem was created by the Roosevelt Administration in July of 1933 to give firms an incentive to comply with the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act. Members of the Administration, including Roosevelt himself encouraged consumers to go on a nationwide shopping spree at Blue Eagle firms and to essentially boycott non-complying firms who were not allowed to display the emblem. While the Blue Eagle has received little attention from economists, most historical accounts of the New Deal, at minimum, make reference to the emblem's attempt to modify economic behavior. This paper outlines the rise and fall of the emblem as an economic tool. It concludes that the emblem initially had economic meaning, but this began to fade in the late fall of 1933 and the emblem became largely meaningless by the spring of 1934. This conclusion is supported by an analysis of the emblem's presence in newspaper advertisements between 1933 and 1935.


Recently, 3D-printed scaffolds for the controlled release of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) freeze-dried secretome (Lyosecretome) have been proposed to enhance scaffold osteoinduction and osteoconduction; coprinting of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) with alginate hydrogels allows adequate mechanical strength to be combined with the modulable kinetics of the active principle release. This study represents the feasibility study for the sterile production of coprinted scaffolds and the proof of concept for their in vitro biological efficacy. Sterile scaffolds were obtained, and Lyosecretome enhanced their colonization by MSCs, sustaining differentiation towards the bone line in an osteogenic medium. Indeed, after 14 days, the amount of mineralized matrix detected by alizarin red was significantly higher for the Lyosecretome scaffolds. The amount of osteocalcin, a specific bone matrix protein, was significantly higher at all the times considered (14 and 28 days) for the Lyosecretome scaffolds. Confocal microscopy further confirmed such results, demonstrating improved osteogenesis with the Lyosecretome scaffolds after 14 and 28 days. Overall, these results prove the role of MSC secretome, coprinted in PCL/alginate scaffolds, in inducing bone regeneration; sterile scaffolds containing MSC secretome are now available for in vivo pre-clinical tests of bone regeneration.