In 1872, when Huntington1published his famous account of "hereditary chorea," which later led to the naming of the disease for him, he stressed three essential characteristics, namely, the hereditary nature, the tendency to insanity and suicide and the age at which the onset occurs. His emphasis on the need to live to adult age in order that symptoms of the affliction may develop led for many years to the general conviction that an onset of symptoms in the third to the fifth decade of life is almost pathognomonic of Huntington's chorea; even today many neuropsychiatric texts define the disease in these terms. Prior to 1904 most of the published papers dealing with Huntington's chorea were concerned with clinical and pathologic descriptions of the disease. In 1916, Magnus2described 2 cases of Huntington's chorea in a man and woman in the thirties. Thereafter, much of the literature became


Background Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by paroxysmal episodes of fever and serosal inflammation. The classical presentation is fever and severe recurrent abdominal pain due to serositis that lasts for one to three days and the resolves spontaneously. Some people experience chills prior to the onset of fever. Objectives In this study, we aimed to determine whether the chills is the predictor factor or not for the severity score in patients with FMF. Methods Consecutively 57 patients diagnosed with FMF were recruited for this cohort study, and the patients were classified according to the Tel-Hashomer Severity Score. Pearson correlation analysis was made to find the relationships between disease severity score and clinical features of the patients. A linier regression analysis was performed to identify the possible predictors of the FMF severity score. Results The mean age was 30.72±9.99 years, 54.4% was male and 45.6% was female. There was a mean period of 16.87±10.59 years from disease onset to diagnosis. Delayed in the diagnosis time was 13.10±11.00. Patients' clinical features included peritonitis (96.5%), fever (82.5%), arthritis (38.6%), pleuritis (14%), chills (35.1%), and erysipelas-like erythema (15.8%). Thirty three percent of the patients had a history of appendicitis. Amyloidosis was not remarkably frequent in our patients (1.8%). Genetic analysis of 57 patients revealed that M694V was the most frequent mutation (70.2%), followed by M680I (21%) and V726A (21.2%). In Pearson correlation analysis chills were correlated with fever (r=0.339, p=0.01), and a history of appendicitis (r=0.416, p=0.001). Linier regression analysis showed that chill is the independent predictor factor of the FMF severity score (Adjusted r2=0.414, Beta=0.462, Std error=2.127, p=0.003). Conclusions Our study showed that chills would be a predictor factor to demonstrate the FMF severity score. Future large-scale multicenter randomized controlled studies are needed and warranted to clarify our results. Disclosure of Interest : None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.5408


This paper examines the winner's curse hypothesis and the bandwagon effect in initial public offerings (IPOs), using Malaysian IPO data from January 2001 to December 2009. The average initial return (offer-to-close) for the 160 Malaysian private placement IPOs is 18.51 percent as opposed to the average initial return (offer-to-close) of 28.84 percent for the 210 non-private placement IPOs, which gives support to the winner's curse hypothesis, where uninformed investors (using non-private placement IPOs as the proxy) demand a higher initial return in the absence of informed investors (using private placement IPOs as the proxy). The study also finds that the presence of a large number of informed investors in an IPO exercise, as compared to uninformed investors, brings with it an increased interest, or the bandwagon effect, in that particular stock, which results in higher initial return.


We review the latest results on large–scale structure based on observations of QSO clustering. We also present initial results from the 2dF QSO redshift survey. This survey currently contains over 1200 QSOs and, when complete, will comprise almost 30,000 QSOs. The 2dF QSO redshift survey will be used to provide new information on the nature and evolution of LSS over scales of 10 to 1000 Mpc.


As the results of clarification of some technical parameters of community water supply systems, examination of 780 12-year-old children and F-concentration determination in 111 water samples in 13 cities (with population 50, 000 and more) of 7 regions of Russian Federation there were determined economical and technical conditions for planning and implementation regional communal dental caries preventing programmes with the use of water fluoridation. The received data in future let us make mapping of these regions for planning and choice substantiation of dental caries preventive programmes with endogenic use of fluoride.


This research was conducted to evaluate the effects of trehalose level in tris based diluter to crossbreed Etawah goat spermatozoa quality after storage at room temperature. Semen obtained from five buckscross breed Etawah goat with minimum requirements: individual motility 70% and mass motility 2+. This method of this research was experimental laboratory method by four treatments trehalosae level 0, 1, 2 and 3%. The design was Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and if there are differences, it would be continued by Duncan Multiple Range Test. The results showed that trehalose level was hight significant different (P<0.01) for percentage of individual motility on 2 hours at room temperature storage, and significant different (P<0.05) for percentage of live spermatozoa on 6 hours at room temperature storage. It can be concluded that 2% trehalose level have the best percentage of motility on 2 hours room temperature storage and 3% trehalose level have the best percentage of spermatozoa life on after 6 hours at room temperature storage. In tris based diluter trehalose was not effective for spermatozoa storage in room temperature.


Video capsule endoscopy provides a noninvasive diagnostic approach to the entire small intestine. The main indications are suspected chronic or recurrent obscure intestinal bleeding, which can-not be clarified by esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy and colonoscopy. Further indications are polyposis syndromes, suspected Crohn's disease and malignomas of the small bowels. Esophago-gastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy are essential preceding diagnostic procedures before capsule endoscopy.


144Ce was extracted with acetylacetone in a benzene or in a carbon tetrachloride solution by shaking for 3 min. at a pH range of 4∼9. Though an oxidizing agent such as bromate was not always necessary, the presence of bromate makes the time for extraction shorter. Decontamination from other fission products, 90Sr (90Y), 106Ru, 137Cs, and rere earths (e.g.,152,154Eu), expect 95Zr (95Nb), was found to be negligible. The contamination of 95Zr (95Nb)) was reduced to a negligible amount by repeating the cycle of extraction and stripping or by masking 144Ce with thiocyanate. The separation of 144Ce from fission products with acetylacetone was attempted. 144Pr with a radio-chemical purity of more than 99% was easily obtained by washing the organic phase with an acetate buffer solution of pH 5∼8.


Background: Domestic violence is frequently studied, yet, questions concerning its causes and consequences still remain to be elucidated. Previous findings suggest that the degree to which women are willing to forgive their abuser plays a significant role in their intention to remain in a relationship. This study employed the Functional Theory of Cognition to address this matter. Methods: 100 female victims expressed their willingness to forgive an abuser while judging 48 scenarios. Six between-subject factors were studied: couple commitment, aggression context, type of abuse, the abused woman's response, recurrence of the abuse and presence of apologies. Results: factorial ANOVAS evidenced a significant effect of four factors: type of abuse, the abused woman's reaction, recurrence of the abuse and presence of apologies. A cluster analysis evidenced three groups of participants: those that never forgive, those that always forgive and those that forgive while considering the same factors as the total sample. Discussion: Findings contribute to the understanding of domestic violence victims' decision making processes which can be crucial for their health and well-being.


Many studies have reported horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events from eukaryotes, especially fungi. However, only a few investigations summarized multiple interkingdom HGTs involving important phytopathogenic species of Pyrenophora and few have investigated the genetic contributions of HGTs to fungi. We investigated HGT events in P. teres and P. tritici-repentis and discovered that both species harbored 14 HGT genes derived from bacteria and plants, including 12 HGT genes that occurred in both species. One gene coding a leucine-rich repeat protein was present in both species of Pyrenophora and it may have been transferred from a host plant. The transfer of genes from a host plant to pathogenic fungi has been reported rarely and we discovered the first evidence for this transfer in phytopathogenic Pyrenophora. Two HGTs in Pyrenophora underwent subsequent duplications. Some HGT genes had homologs in a few other fungi, indicating relatively ancient transfer events. Functional analyses indicated that half of the HGT genes encoded extracellular proteins and these may have facilitated the infection of plants by Pyrenophora via interference with plant defense-response and the degradation of plant cell walls. Some other HGT genes appeared to participate in carbohydrate metabolism. Together, these functions implied that HGTs may have led to highly efficient mechanisms of infection as well as the utilization of host carbohydrates. Evolutionary analyses indicated that HGT genes experienced amelioration, purifying selection, and accelerated evolution. These appeared to constitute adaptations to the background genome of the recipient. The discovery of multiple interkingdom HGTs in Pyrenophora, their significance to infection, and their adaptive evolution, provided valuable insights into the evolutionary significance of interkingdom HGTs from multiple donors.


In far field RFID systems, tag collision resolution is significantly important for fast tag identification. In this paper, we propose an accurate tag estimation method and an effective tag anti-collision protocol. Performance evaluation that the proposed estimation and anti-collision algorithm consumes 10-15% less time slots than the binary tree protocol and DFSA. The proposed algorithm has the tolerance to inaccuracy of tag estimation.


Objective:The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of superpulsed, low-level laser therapy (SLLLT) on neurosensory recovery of the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) after oral surgical injury. Background Data:A survey of the literature reveals the uncertainty of outcomes for the surgical management of IAN injury and the efficacy of low-level laser therapy in the treatment of IAN injury. Methods:In this study, the authors report the results for SLLLT in 57 patients affected by paresthesia of the lip, chin, gingival, and buccal regions. Each patient was subjected to 10 laser treatments, once a week, with a GaAs diode laser. Clinical neurosensory tests (soft touch, 2-point discrimination, pin prick, thermal test) and the visual analogue scale were used before every treatment to evaluate the extent of neurosensory recovery. Results:The authors' results demonstrate that 83.3% of the patients had a significant neurosensory recovery, as evident in the objective and subjective tests. Conclusion:The results reported in this study indicate that SLLLT has the potential to improve neurosensory recovery in patients with IAN paresthesia.


Modeling the interior of exoplanets is essential to go further than the conclusions provided by mean density measurements. In addition to the still limited precision on the planets' fundamental parameters, models are limited by the existence of degeneracies on their compositions. Here, we present a model of internal structure dedicated to the study of solid planets up to ∼10 Earth masses, i.e., super-Earths. When the measurement is available, the assumption that the bulk Fe/Si ratio of a planet is similar to that of its host star allows us to significantly reduce the existing degeneracy and more precisely constrain the planet's composition. Based on our model, we provide an update of the mass–radius relationships used to provide a first estimate of a planet's composition from density measurements. Our model is also applied to the cases of two well-known exoplanets, CoRoT-7b and Kepler-10b, using their recently updated parameters. The core mass fractions of CoRoT-7b and Kepler-10b are found to lie within the 10%–37% and 10%–33% ranges, respectively, allowing both planets to be compatible with an Earth-like composition. We also extend the recent study of Proxima Centauri b and show that its radius may reach 1.94 in the case of a 5 planet, as there is a 96.7% probability that the real mass of Proxima Centauri b is below this value.


Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs), such as mulch biowalls, have been installed at numerous groundwater cleanup sites, and laboratory and field studies have demonstrated biotic and abiotic processes that degrade chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in groundwater passing through these engineered remedies. However, the longevity of mulch biowalls remains a fundamental research question. Soil and groundwater sampling at seven mulch biowalls at Altus Air Force Base (AFB) approximately 10 years after installation demonstrated the ongoing degradation of CVOCs. Trichloroethene was not detected in five of seven groundwater samples collected from the biowall despite upgradient detections above federal drinking water standards. Microbial sampling established the presence of key dechlorinating bacteria and the abundance of genes encoding specific enzymes for degradation, high methane concentrations, low sulfate concentrations, and negative oxidation‐reduction potential, all indicative of highly reducing conditions within the biowalls and favorable conditions for CVOC destruction via microbial reductive dechlorination. High cellulose content (>79%) of the mulch, elevated total organic carbon (TOC) content in groundwater, and elevated potentially bioavailable organic carbon (PBOC) measurements in soil samples further supports an ongoing, long‐lived source of carbon. These results demonstrate the ongoing and long‐term efficacy of the mulch biowalls at Altus AFB. In addition, concentrations of bacteria, TOC, PBOC, and other geochemical parameters suggest a modest impact of the biowalls downgradient. The continued presence of CVOCs downgradient may be attributable to back diffusion from low‐permeability shale. However, the biowalls continue to provide benefits by removing CVOCs in groundwater, thus reducing further CVOC loading to the downgradient, low‐permeability strata.


It has been previously shown that the diffraction quality of protein crystals strongly depends on mass transport during their growth. In fact, several studies support the idea that the higher the contribution of the diffusion during mass transport, the better the diffraction quality of the crystals. In this work, we have compared the crystal quality of two model (thaumatin and insulin) and two target (HBII and HBII-III) proteins grown by two different methods to reduce/eliminate convective mass transport: crystal growth in agarose gels and crystal growth in solution under microgravity. In both cases, we used identical counterdiffusion crystallization setups and the same data collection protocols. Additionally, critical parameters such as reactor geometry, stock batches of proteins and other chemicals, temperature, and duration of the experiments were carefully monitored. The diffraction datasets have been analyzed using a principal component analysis (PCA) to determine possible trends in quality indicators. The relevant indicators show that, for the purpose of structural crystallography, there are no obvious differences between crystals grown under reduced convective flow in space and convection-free conditions in agarose gel, indicating that the key factor contributing to crystal quality is the reduced convection environment and not how this reduced convection is achieved. This means that the possible detrimental effect on crystal quality due to the incorporation of gel fibers into the protein crystals is insignificant compared to the positive impact of an optimal convection-free environment provided by gels. Moreover, our results confirm that the counterdiffusion technique optimizes protein crystal quality and validates both environments in order to deliver high quality protein crystals, although other considerations, such as protein/gel interactions, must be considered when defining the optimal crystallization setup.


Historical structures are among the remains of our rich cultural heritage. They should be
valued and well preserved. The typical historical structures is very rigid. Consequently, they
have important enemies; foundation problems and earthquakes. Such structures being
centuries old, they have gained equilibrium of soil-foundation-structure interaction, so no
support movement is to be expected. However, earthquakes still pose an everlasting danger,
as they have destroyed so many historical structures in the past.
How safe is a historical structure under a major credible earthquake? This question can be
answered by determining the load effects on the structure and the strength capacity. The ratio
of strengthlload effect will yield a quantitative safety factor.
The dynamics analysis of the three dimensional structure is performed. Then, the structure is
discriticized to single out the vulnerable elements. The arches and piers Seem to be the
elements most susceptible to failure. The strength interaction diagram are developed between
normal forces and moments for the vulnerable piers and arches. Thus, the factor of safety for
the total structure can be determined.
The method of analysis has been applied to Mihrimah Mosque of Master Architect Sinan
(1565). The results show that the piers and arches are very safe under own weight, the factor
of safety being in the range of 56. Under the credible earthquake, the factor of safety is
reduced, but still adequate as 2-3.


Calcium-Strontium hydroxyapatite (HAP) solid solutions in the presence and absence of diethylamine (DEA) were prepared by the method of co-precipitation from basic media. The samples were heated at 773.15K in a furnace. Characterization of the samples by x-ray powder diffractometry, atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and UV- visible spectrometry revealed that calcium –strontium HAP solid solutions at an elevated temperature of 773.15K were unstable and underwent transformation into other phosphates possibly beta tricalcium phosphate(β-TCP). Solid solutions synthesized in the presence of DEA show remarkable stability and enhanced crystallinity at that temperature. The stability was probably due to the added organic molecule which acted as a template.


In retrospect it is difficult to accept that Western democracies have implicitly supported, or at least tolerated, the legalized system of white supremacy in South Africa known as apartheid. Renate Pratt's new book, In Good Faith, explains why the Christian churches were among the first to publicly protest, and why they provided such cogent and determined international support for the struggle against apartheid. The Taskforce on the Churches and Corporate Responsibility is a coalition of Christian churches that for nearly twenty years was one of Canada's leading anti-apartheid advocates. As the first co-ordinator of this Taskforce, Renate Pratt was at the centre of the early anti-apartheid initiatives in Canada and consequently is able to supply a clear and accurate view. The book traces the history of exchanges between the Taskforce and successive ministers and senior civil servants of the Department of External Affairs. It details the reluctant and weak responses offered by the Canadian government and business community right up to the time of Nelson Mandela's release from prison. In Good Faith will be of particular interest to Canadian Christians concerned with ecumenical co-operation and with the social and political dimensions of their faith. Equally, it will appeal to those interested in the impact of public interest organizations on public policy or the relationship between politics and business interests.


Large-scale environmental assessments involve the participation of many scientific disciplines, even more so when repeated throughout the decades and be implemented in institutionalized context such as the IPCC and the IPBES. Although the purported function of these international organizations is to provide a working interface between science and the decision-making circles at international level, the "boundary work" concerns as much the coordination between scientific disciplines not used to work together and lacking a common language, as it defines the interactions between the world of politics and that of scientists. The development of common standards for scientific evidence and plausibility is crucial, both within and then between the natural and social sciences. The challenge is to produce statements of greater clarity than otherwise found in scientific publications for the use of policymakers, without compromising the established scientific standards. The institutional similarities between these two international organizations are deliberate and originate from the same willingness of the UN member states to retain some control over potentially far-reaching scientific assessments (see chap. 2 above). Institutional differences are largely a consequence of more than two decades of experience between the establishment of the IPCC and that of IPBES, and the creation of a more favourable political "climate" during this time: Today, many member states recognise more clearly the potential for valuable policy support provided by science-policy interfaces as compared to the 1980s. Likewise, lobbying groups from all kinds of political background sense the need to actively relate to the existing science-policy interface. The development of IPBES will hopefully benefit from the IPCC experience in both areas, interaction with policymakers and complex scientific coordination. Therefore, it is important to understand the nature of the IPCC and its limits and shortcomings, and also to understand the differences between the two institutions. The first section of this chapter reviews the social sciences literature devoted to the IPCC and its reports without endorsing all the opinions expressed, to reflect on the kinds of problems and challenges the IPBES will have to face. The second section, based on the personal experience of the second co-author, both in the IPCC and in the nascent IPBES, illustrates these problems and emphasises the specificities of the IPBES in its early stages. The ambiguities of the IPCC "model"


We develop two new estimators for a general class of stationary GARCH models with possibly heavy tailed asymmetrically distributed errors, covering processes with symmetric and asymmetric feedback like GARCH, Asymmetric GARCH, VGARCH and Quadratic GARCH. The first estimator arises from negligibly trimming QML criterion equations according to error extremes. The second imbeds negligibly transformed errors into QML score equations for a Method of Moments estimator. In this case we exploit a sub-class of redescending transforms that includes tail-trimming and functions popular in the robust estimation literature, and we re-center the transformed errors to minimize small sample bias. The negligible transforms allow both identification of the true parameter and asymptotic normality. We present a consistent estimator of the covariance matrix that permits classic inference without knowledge of the rate of convergence. A simulation study shows both of our estimators trump existing ones for sharpness and approximate normality including QML, Log-LAD, and two types of non-Gaussian QML (Laplace and Power-Law). Finally, we apply the tail-trimmed QML estimator to financial data.


In recent years, not only the cultivation area of Jujube in Korea but also the number of pest species has increased. The farmers farming environmentally friendly are in great difficulty because there are no effective control devices. This study was conducted to investigate the control effect of the insect screen net on three pest species (Apolygus spinolae, Dasineura sp. and Carposina sasakii) in Jujube orchard when the pests were blocked by insect screen net. For the first and second surveys, the damage rates by A. spinolae were 9.06, 13.95% in 50 mesh, 4.75, 10.17% in 25 mesh, 5.68, 11.84% in 18mesh mesh of insect screen net and 21.6, 36.34% in untreated insect screen net, respectively. The damage rates by Dasineura sp. were 0.54, 0.13% in 50 mesh, 0.93, 2.84% in 25 mesh, 1.05, 13.45% in 18 mesh mesh of insect screen net and 11.1, 26.65% in untreated insect screen net. Carposina sasakii were completely blocked in all the treatments. Damages on Jujube were not observed by insect screen net. Therefore, insect screen net is effective on insect pest control for Jujube.


In this paper, we present a detailed study on the critical property around the ferromagnetic (FM)-paramagnetic phase transition of Pr0.6Sr0.4MnO3 nanoparticles (NPs) with different crystallite sizes (d = 39-88 nm), which were synthesized by the combination of the solid-state reaction and mechanical milling methods. The magnetic results show that the samples undergo the second-order phase transition. The values of the Curie temperature (TC) slightly decrease from 291 to 286 K while the saturation magnetization (MS) decreases from 89.7 to 76.3 emu/g and the coercivity (HC) increases from 322 to 585 Oe with decreasing d from 88 to 39 nm, respectively. Based on the modified Arrott plot method and the isothermal magnetization data around TC, we have determined the values of critical exponents (β, y, and S) and TC for the samples. The critical exponents β = 0.486 - 0.495, y = 1.009 - 1.042, and S = 3.038 - 3.118 obtained are close to those expected for the mean field theory (β = 0.5, y = 1, and S = 3). This proves that long-range FM interactions are present in the NPs. Furthermore, β values are smaller than 0.5, indicating the existence of magnetic inhomogeneity in the NPs. Besides the investigation into the critical behavior, the magnetocaloric effect of the NPs is also investigated.


Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common tumors in the world and is often found at an advanced stage. Gene mutations and changes in lncRNA expression often led to the occurrence of GC. In this study, we explored the function of Chromodomain Helicase DNA (CHD) genes and a multi-gene prognostic model was established for its co-expressed lncRNA.Methods: We used the "Limma" package of R software to analyze the expression differences of CHDs genes. Use Kaplan-Meier curve to plot the relationship between risk score and patient survival time. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to describe the reliability of the model. The data used is obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and CellMiner database. Results: We found that CHDs gene mutations had significant statistical differences with tumor mutation load and were involved in biological functions such as DNA winding and transcription. 10 CHDs gene-related lncRNAs were used to establish a prognosis model for GC patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis proved that risk score could be an independent prognostic factor. Conclusion: In our study, we developed a novel prognostic model using 10 CHDs-related lncRNAs to predict individualized survival in patients with GC.


This study investigated the ways in which second-career mathematics teachers exhibit and discuss their knowledge of mathematical connections. Results indicated that the secondcareer teachers were most likely to exhibit knowledge of mathematical connections when creating a mathematics problem from a given topic and when making a mathematical connection to a context outside of mathematics. The data analysis indicated that those second-career teachers that exhibited knowledge of mathematical connections were hesitant to use this knowledge in their teaching for reasons including their own perception of students' ability. The implications of these findings inform future preparation and recruitment of second-career mathematics teachers.


The best conference presentations tell a story with an interesting introduction, details in the middle, and a conclusion that leads to new research, questions or answers about practice, and perhaps further research on the topic. So, too, do journal articles, and this publication is dependent on the rigors of quality research to tell stories about our patients and their experiences and make suggestions on how we can effect change.


abstract A precise model for relocation of earthquakes of a region or the multiple ruptures of a large earthquake, using P -wave arrival-time difference data, is given by the equation of condition of the standard single-event location model (Geiger model). The use of P -wave arrival-time differences provides ray path redundancies from earthquakes in a limited source region to a given station set. Thus, this relocation model implicitly compensates certain time anomalies caused by lateral velocity heterogeneities, leading to good relative locations without the requirement of a set of master residuals. Because the solution vector of the arrival-time difference model may be significantly nonzero at convergence, the second-order terms of the Geiger model are derived and used to determine the size of the neighborhood in which this arrival-time difference formulation will give acceptable location resolution. Evaluation of these second-order terms shows that accurate, teleseismically-determined relative locations are possible with the arrival-time difference method for events within 2 1 2 ° distance of a reference earthquake9s epicenter. The use of this relocation method with teleseismic data requires independent depth information. The cosine term relative location model, often used with arrival-time difference data to graphically locate multiple ruptures, is an approximation to the Geiger model as it is used here.


The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of plaque accumulation in conjunction with or without placement of plaque-retaining ligatures on peri-implant and periodontal tissues. Four cynomolgus monkeys received 2 ITI (Type F) dental implants in edentulous areas of each side of the mandible. Following a healing period of 2 months with regular prophylaxis procedures twice per week, plaque was allowed to accumulate. After 1 month (day 0), silk ligatures were placed around 1 of the 2 implants. The third molars served as controls and were ligated as well. Clinical examinations comprising Plaque Index (PlI), Gingival Index (GI), probing depth (PD) and loss of attachment (LA) were performed at the test and control sites before and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 months after ligature placement. Sixty and 30 days prior to ligation and at 2, 5, 6 and 8 months following ligation, standardized radiographs were obtained and subtracted from a baseline radiograph obtained at the time of ligation. PlI and GI scores increased significantly following the elimination of prophylaxis procedures. After ligation, these indices continued to increase and reached values significantly higher in ligated implant (LI) and ligated teeth (LT) sites than in non-ligated teeth (NLI) sites. PD also increased after plawue accumulation and ligature placement. Significantly greater PD values were noted in LI and LT sites than in NLI sites.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Degradation analysis is very useful in reliability assessment for complex systems and highly reliable products, because few or even no failures are expected in a reasonable life test span for them. In order to further our study on degradation analysis, a novel Wiener process degradation model subject to measurement errors is proposed. Two transformed time scales are involved to depict the statistical property evolution over time. A situation where one transformed time scale illustrates a linear form for the degradation trend and the other transformed time scale shows a generalized quadratic form for the degradation variance is discussed particularly. A one‐stage maximum likelihood estimation of parameters is constructed. The statistical inferences of this model are further discussed. The proposed method is illustrated and verified in a comprehensive simulation study and two real applications for indium tin oxide (ITO) conductive film and light emitting diode (LED). The Wiener process model with mixed effects is considered as a reference. Comparisons show that the proposed method is more general and flexible, and can provide reasonable results, even in considerably small sample size circumstance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA) is the new breed of metaheuristic for the general optimization problem. In this paper, an improved algorithm based on Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA), called imFPA, has been proposed. In imFPA, the static selection probability is replaced by the dynamic solution selection probability in order to enhance the diversification and intensification of the overall search process. Experimental adoptions on combinatorial t- way test suite generation problem (where t indicates the interaction strength) show that imFPA produces very competitive results as compared to existing strategies.


The problem of measuring broad-band femtosecond pulses by the technique of second-harmonic generation frequency-resolved optical gating (SHG FROG) is addressed. We derive the full equation for the FROG signal, which is valid even for single-optical-cycle pulses. The effect of the phase mismatch in the second-harmonic crystal, the implications of the beam geometry, and the frequency-dependent variation of the nonlinearity are discussed in detail. Our numerical simulations show that, under carefully chosen experimental conditions and with a proper spectral correction of the data, the traditional FROG inversion routines work well even in the single-cycle regime. The developed description of the SHG FROG signal was applied to measure the white-light continuum pulses in the spectral region of 500-1100 nm. The obtained spectral phase of these pulses served as a target function for the pulse compressor design. The pulses produced by compression around 800 nm were also characterized by SHG FROG. The resulting pulse duration measures 4.5 fs which corresponds to /spl sim/2.5 optical cycles.


It is difficult to differentiate benign and malignancy in polypoid lesions of the gallbladder (PLG) by solely depending on imaging studies. Therefore clinicopathologic features of benign and malignant polyps are compared in an attempt to identify the risk factors of malignant polypoid lesions. The medical records of 291 patients who were confirmed to have PLG through cholecystectomy were reviewed and analyzed for age, sex, symptom, associated gallstone, morphology of PLG, size of PLG, number of PLG, and preoperative tumor markers. Benign PLG was found in 256 patients (88.0%) and malignant PLG in 35 patients (12.0%). Compared with benign group, the malignant group were older (61.1 yr vs. 47.1 yr, P<0.001), more often accompanied with symptoms (62.9% vs. 28.9%, P<0.001). Malignant PLG tended to be sessile (60.0% vs. 10.5%, P<0.001), larger (28.0 mm vs. 8.6 mm, P<0.001) and single lesion (65.7% vs. 44.1%, P<0.016). Age over 60 yr (P=0.021, odds ratio [OR], 8.16), sessile morphology (P<0.001, OR, 7.70), and size over 10 mm (P=0.009, OR, 8.87) were identified as risk factors for malignant PLG. Careful decision making on therapeutic plans should be made with consideration of malignancy for patients over 60 yr, with sessile morphology of PLG, and with PLG size of over 10 mm.


This study tests the hypothesis that, in Nepal, measures of ideal family size mask an underlying preference for sons, making some people willing to have families larger than their ideal. Existing evidence suggests that men are likely to have stronger preferences for sons than are women. This research uses empirical evidence to examine the hypothesis that husbands are more willing than their wives to pursue the birth of sons at the cost of an increasingly large completed family size. A Multiple-response Fertility Preference Scale was developed to test these propositions among a sample of couples. The methodology was successful in demonstrating differential patterns of decisionmaking between husbands and wives that are otherwise obscured by more simplistic, single-response measures (for example, ideal family size). The results indicate that husbands are consistently more willing than their wives to pursue the birth of sons at the expense of larger family sizes, and that the birth of daughters is not pursued to a similar degree by wives or husbands.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have paved the way for a new arena of monitoring and gathering information. One of the most significant criteria for smooth operation of WSNs is the limited energy supply of the sensor nodes. Numerous elegant energy-efficient routing protocols have been proposed in the literature for solving this problem, e.g. LEACH [1], PEGASIS [2], Hierarchical PEGASIS [3], LEFC [4], CFC [8]. But these protocols seem to suffer from transmission overhead. In this paper we propose Multilevel Hierarchical Routing Protocol (MHRP), a new energy-efficient hierarchical routing protocol, for homogeneous wireless sensor network. Mathematical analysis reveals that Multilevel Hierarchical Routing Protocol (MHRP) outperforms LEACH [1] by 683% longer lifetime for the period when WSN remains fully functionally operational. So far lifetime is concerned MHRP performs equal to that of CFC [8] but it uses 4.26% less energy than CFC [8]. MHRP uses fixed cluster and multiple designated first-level cluster-head (CH) nodes at the center of each cluster. Designated first-level CHs transmit data to the designated second-level CHs located at the center of WSN area. Designated second-level CHs transmit data to the designated third-level CHs located at the nearest position of the base-station within the WSN area. Eventually the third-level CH nodes transmit data to the base-station. In all three levels of designated cluster-head nodes only one node remains in active state and performs the duty of the CH. Rest of the designated cluster-head nodes of each level remain in sleep state and just prior to the death of current CH node of a level, another one from among the designated cluster-head nodes of that level take over the responsibility of the CH. In all three levels of designated cluster-head nodes data is transmitted to the next level CH only after data fusion is done. This scheme reduces transmission overhead and increases the lifetime of the WSN significantly.


This paper compares the use of multiple pools versus a single pool with respect to test security against large-scale item sharing among some examinees in a computer-based test, under the assumption that a randomized item selection method is used. It characterizes the conditions under which employing multiple pools is better than using a single whole pool in terms of minimizing the expected number of compromised items encountered by an examinee. The results obtained in this paper provide guidelines for constructing multiple pools optimally and evaluating the risks associated with some test designs that employ item reuse schemes. Finally, an adjusted-pool approach is proposed to achieve better test security than either the single-pool approach or the multiple-pool approach.


This study examined the effects of Parkinson's disease (PD) and its treatment on the speed of rapid arm movements to different target sizes in a simple reaction time task in 8 PD and 9 normal subjects. Testing in PD subjects occurred after an overnight fast from their medications and 1 hour after their usual 1st dose. They had longer reaction and movement times, both of which shortened following medication. Like normal subjects, PD subjects had decreased movement times to larger targets, but without drug were unable to maximize speed within the range of target sizes tested whereas PD subjects taking drug and normal subjects could. These findings suggest that a speed/accuracy operator is functioning in PD but at reduced initial gain and at an offset towards longer movement times.


PURPOSE
We investigate the value of pretreatment serologic antienzyme rate (AER) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNase-specific neutralizing antibody complementing TNM staging in prognostication of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Pretreatment serum samples from 1,303 patients with untreated NPC were collected and examined for AER. After a 10-year follow-up period, the prognoses of the patients, classified by their clinical stage with AER, were assessed by multivariate analysis. Of the 1,303 patients, 600 patients were randomly assigned to a training set to generate an AER cutoff point by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. AER levels were then analyzed with overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), local failure-free survival (LFFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) in a testing set (703 patients). Another independent cohort of 464 patients was studied in a validating set.

RESULTS
In the training set, the ROC analysis-generated AER cutoff point for OS was 58.0%, which was used as the cutoff point in the testing set. The subset of low AER levels predicted a significant survival advantage over the subset of high AER levels for OS, PFS, LFFS, and DMFS in the testing set. Moreover, two distinguished subgroups were segregated by an AER level of 58.0% within each clinical stage comparing prognostication of OS, PFS, LFFS, and DMFS. Importantly, AER level was revealed as the only significant independent prognostic factor for death, recurrence, and distant metastasis in the validating set.

CONCLUSION
Pretreatment serologic AER of EBV DNase-specific neutralizing antibody serves as an independent prognostic marker complementing TNM stage in NPC. Supplementing pretreatment AER with TNM staging leads to more accurate risk definition in patient subgroups.


Until the 1980s, liberal blood transfusion criteria with limited evidence were used regardless of the patient's clinical condition. However, blood transfusion products are associated with several risks, such as infection, acute lung injury, circulatory overload, and hemolytic transfusion reactions. More restrictive transfusion criteria and patient monitoring can decrease the need for transfusions, as well as decrease morbidity and mortality rates and costs. The national supply of blood products continues to decline with more stringent blood donor criteria. Preoperative autologous blood donation has fallen out of favor in patients without antibodies to high-incidence antigens because of increased rates of transfusion, waste of predonated units, and significant costs. Instead, preoperative erythropoietin plus iron therapy in patients who are at high risk of postoperative anemia as well as intraoperative techniques, such as use of antifibrinolytics and cell salvage, can prevent the need for allogeneic blood transfusion. Artificial blood products remain problematic and are not used in the United States.


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006

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Irradiation damage to the esophagus increases apoptosis beginning 5 days after irradiation followed by denuding of the mucosa at approximately 7 days. To determine whether pretreatment with manganese superoxide dismutase-plasmid/liposome (MnSOD-PL) prevented apoptosis following irradiation, C57BL/6NHsd mice were intraesophageally injected with MnSOD-PL and irradiated 24 hours later to 30 Gy to the upper body, and sacrificed 1, 3 or 5 days later. The esophagus was removed, fixed in OCT, sectioned and stained with a Tunel assay for apoptosis. No apoptosis was detected until 5 days after irradiation. Pre-treatment with MnSOD-PL resulted in decreased apoptosis. Lipid peroxidation following irradiation of the esophagus was measured. C57BL/6NHsd mice received intraesophageal MnSOD-PL (200 μg plasmid DNA) and were irradiated 24 hours later along with control mice to 30 Gy to the esophagus. The esophagus was removed at various time points following irradiation and lipid peroxidation measured. There was delayed lipid peroxidation detected 7 days after irradiation. Lipid peroxidation increased in control irradiated mice, but was not detected in MnSOD-PL treated then irradiated mice. Mice pretreated with MnSOD-PL had significantly decreased lipid peroxidation on days 7 and 14 following irradiation compared to control plasmid treated mice (p=0.0053 or 0.0110). To determine if pretreatment of MnSOD-PL allowed successful engraftment of stem cells following irradiation, mice were injected in traesophageally with MnSOD-PL (200 μg plasmid DNA) 24 hours before irradiation to 30 Gy. The mice were then injected I.V. with ROSA (LacZ+) male bone marrow cells at day 1, 3 or 5 after irradiation and sacrificed 14 days later. The esophagus was excised and digested to single cell suspensions, side population (SP) stem cells as well as non-SP cells separated by flow cytometry of Hoechst stained cells. Cells were then analyzed for expression of LacZ. Mice injected with SP cells on day 5 after irradiation had the greatest engraftment of cells positive for the LacZ gene. MnSOD-PL treatment before irradiation further increased engraftment of LacZ positive cells compared to control irradiated mice. The results indicate that pretreatment with MnSOD-PL 24 hours before irradiation results in increased engraftment of stem cells into the irradiated esophagus, associated with reduced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) , decreased apoptosis and decreased lipid peroxidation.


Medicinal herbal plants have been commonly used for intervention of different diseases and health enhancement worldwide. Koumine, an alkaloid monomer found abundantly in Gelsemium plants, can be effectively used as an anti-inflammatory medication. In this study, the mechanisms associated with the preventative effect of koumine on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated inflammation in RAW264.7 macrophages were investigated. Koumine induced a decrease in the level of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein, concomitant reduction in the production of nitric oxide (NO) and reduction of the levels of interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-1β. Furthermore, koumine decreased the phosphorylation of p65 and inhibited nuclear factor κ Bα (IκBα) proteins, resulting in lower production of nuclear factor (NF)-κB transactivation. Koumine also induced a decrease in the phosphorylation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinases (ERK) and p38 in RAW264 cells. In conclusion, these findings reveal that koumine decreases the productions of pro-inflammatory mediators though the suppression of p38 and ERK MAPK phosphorylation and the inhibition of NF-κB activation in RAW264.7 cells.


Two years ago Justice Michael Kirby wrote: The dynamic forces of science and technology affect the definition of human rights. It could scarcely be otherwise in the last years of the twentieth century. Our time has seen many remarkable scientific and technological developments. They profoundly affect the individual, the social environment, the relationships of nation states and the planet. They reach out into space. The dreams of scientists of yesterday become the fascinating achievements of today and the prospects of tomorrow. In this article the authors wish to consider an important and increasingly controversial legal aspect of one of the 'dynamic forces' of science and technology in the 1980's: genetic engineering. Two questions will be addressed in the ensuing pages: is it presently possible to patent the results of genetic engineering research on living organisms and is that position in law one which should be retained or altered in some way or other? It will be seen that the second question requires consideration not just of legal issues but of economic, moral and political issues as well.


1) A heat-stable activator of human sulphatase A (cerebroside sulphatase) was purified from human liver. It is required for the enzymatic degradation of cerebroside sulphates (sulphatides) in buffers (ionic strength greater than or equal 0.2) with osmolarity in the physiological range. 2) The purification steps involve extraction, acetone precipitation, heat treatment, isoelectric focusing and gel filtration. 3) Based on the definition of a specific activator unit, the purification of the final preparation was approximately 2000-fold over the acetone precipitation and several thousand-fold in the overall procedure. 4) The purified activator migrated as a single protein band when subjected to gel electrophoresis. Its effect was abolished after treatement with pronase E. The apparent molecular weight as determined by gel filtration was 21 500 +/- 1500; the isoelectric point was 4.3. 5) The activating effect of this protein factor and of taurodeoxycholate on cerebroside sulphatase activity was compared on a weight and molar basis.


The viscometric properties and structure of concentrated sheared colloidal gels, formed at a pH = 8 from a commercial aqueous sol of 7 nm diameter silica particles, were investigated. As the system gels under a constant shear rate, the viscosity first increases, then peaks when the shear stress reaches a shear-rate-independent threshold value of about 350 Pa, and finally decreases asymptotically to approximately one tenth the peak value. This low-viscosity state can apparently be held indefinitely by maintaining the shear, but the system gels once the shear is removed. The structural origins of this viscometric behaviour were studied using in situ small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). An abrupt change in the character of the SANS intensity was observed at the time corresponding to the peak in the viscosity. Samples of the gelling system were extracted and diluted at various times after gel initiation. Effective hydrodynamic diameters of these extractants were estimated by dynamic light scattering, and their Guinier diameters were estimated by SANS when appropriate. We conclude that the drop in viscosity corresponds to a structural densification of growing clusters of the colloidal particles, and that this transformation occurs once the critical stress is reached.


A total of 103 patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy undergoing laminoplasty were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate whether sagittal alignment of the cervical spine and morphology of the spinal cord influence surgical outcomes. Sagittal alignment of the cervical spine did not influence surgical outcomes. Neurologic recovery in patients with anterior convexity of the spinal cord was better than in those without this type of spinal cord. In patients with supplementation of decompression at C2, sagittal morphology of the spinal cord did not influence neurologic recovery. It is important to acquire anterior convexity of the spinal cord after surgery if laminoplasty is performed below C3. In patients with kyphosis, where anterior convexity of the spinal cord is not thought to be obtained postoperatively, it is possible that additional decompression of C2 improves outcome.


Shotgun metagenome sequencing has become a fast, cheap and high-throughput technology for characterizing microbial communities in complex environments and human body sites. However, accurate identification of microorganisms at the strain/species level remains extremely challenging. We present a novel k-mer-based approach, termed GSMer, that identifies genome-specific markers (GSMs) from currently sequenced microbial genomes, which were then used for strain/species-level identification in metagenomes. Using 5390 sequenced microbial genomes, 8 770 321 50-mer strain-specific and 11 736 360 species-specific GSMs were identified for 4088 strains and 2005 species (4933 strains), respectively. The GSMs were first evaluated against mock community metagenomes, recently sequenced genomes and real metagenomes from different body sites, suggesting that the identified GSMs were specific to their targeting genomes. Sensitivity evaluation against synthetic metagenomes with different coverage suggested that 50 GSMs per strain were sufficient to identify most microbial strains with ≥0.25× coverage, and 10% of selected GSMs in a database should be detected for confident positive callings. Application of GSMs identified 45 and 74 microbial strains/species significantly associated with type 2 diabetes patients and obese/lean individuals from corresponding gastrointestinal tract metagenomes, respectively. Our result agreed with previous studies but provided strain-level information. The approach can be directly applied to identify microbial strains/species from raw metagenomes, without the effort of complex data pre-processing.


The evolution of defects during perovskite film fabrication deteriorates the overall film quality and adversely affects the device efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). We endeavored to control the formation of defects by applying an additive engineering strategy using FABr, which retards the crystal growth formation of CsPbI2.2Br0.8 perovskite by developing an intermediate phase at the initial stage. Improved crystalline and pinhole-free perovskite film with an optimal concentration of FABr-0.8M% additive was realized through crystallographic and microscopic analysis. Suppressed non-radiative recombination was observed through photoluminescence with an improved lifetime of 125 ns for FABr-0.8M% compared to the control film (83 ns). The champion device efficiency of 17.95% was attained for the FABr-0.8M% PSC, while 15.94% efficiency was achieved in the control PSC under air atmospheric conditions. Furthermore, an impressively high indoor performance of 31.22% was achieved for the FABr-0.8M% PSC under 3200 K (1000 lux) LED as compared to the control (23.15%). With a realistic approach of air processing and controlling the crystallization kinetics in wide-bandgap halide PSCs, this investigation paves the way for implementing additive engineering strategies to reduce defects in halide perovskites, which can further benefit efficiency enhancements in outdoor and indoor applications.


The hepatorenal syndrome is defined as renal failure in patients with severe liver disease. It may be diagnosed by exclusion of other potential factors which may cause renal failure, such as hypovolaemia, nephrotoxic drugs and severe bacterial infection. Liver transplantation is the target treatment leading to recovery of renal function. Other methods such as vasoconstrictors, renal replacement therapy and repeated paracenthesis with intravenous albumin infusions are also presented.


With promises of "Make America Great Again" and tax reform for "middle-class" Americans, the current federal government administration has implied that the average American would become more prosperous under this tax system. It is no surprise that most middle-class Americans view a college education as a requirement for achieving a better life. However, under the TCJA, education has not fared well, and in reality, students from many low-and moderate-income families will face reduced scholarships from elite schools, thereby reducing diversity on these campuses. Other proposed changes to education in the original tax bill, which were later removed, are also addressed as future legislative changes may revisit them.


COPD in the Final Stage of Life: Procedure Recommendations Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that can reach terminal stages, in which medical decisions should be taken with the patient's participation. A major difficulty is the lack of a clear definition of "terminal stage of COPD". Frequently doctors fail explaining patients about the disease evolution and at critical situations patients are hospitalized at intensive care units. The main objective of this paper is to consider theoretically different clinical criteria and indicators to identify COPD patients who are at the end of life and estimate survival expectancy; thus opportune palliative measures can be prescribed, that have been accepted by the patient in an Anticipated Decision Plan. The progressive, honest, adequate information about the disease and its prognosis, together with an empathic communication between the doctor, the patient and the family will prevent fear of death and abandon. The patient should be assured that the doctor with take care of him always, especially at the end of life and will respect the anticipated instructions based on his wishes and values. The doctor should follow the Bioethics Principles and sometimes should consult the Hospital Ethical Committee.


Peptides of the gastrointestinal tract play a significant role in the digestive processes and the development of the body; therefore, it is important to have an understanding of location and distribution of gastrin, somatostatin and glucagon immunoreactive (IR) cells in the stomach mucosa of growing birds. For this purpose, 6 embryos and 37 chicks from an ostrich farm in Latvia were used. Tissue samples were collected from the proventriculus – superficial and deep glandular region and from the ventriculus – side wall and pyloric region. The number of cells was determined in 10 mucosal fields of each tissue sample. For statistical analysis, the one‐way anova method was used. Gastrin IR cells regarding the stomach mucosa were found only in the pyloric region. Somatostatin IR cells were most densely located in the pyloric region too, but some cells were also discovered in the mucosa of proventriculus and ventriculus. Glucagon IR cells were found in the epithelium of the deep glands of the proventriculus and only some cells of the superficial glands of the proventriculus, and the ventriculus side wall mucosa. Gastrin and somatostatin IR cells were present in a comparatively large quantity in the ostrich chicks' ventriculus – pyloric region yet not long before hatching. They were located deep in the mucosa of pyloric glands, and their number tended to increase with birds advancing in age.


This paper gives an extended overview of the electrical properties of ion tracks in hydrogen-free tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C) with a sp3 bond fraction of about 80%. The films were grown by mass selected ion beam deposition of 100 eV 12C+ ions. The ion tracks are generated by irradiation of ta-C films with uranium ions of 1 GeV kinetic energy. Along the ion path a conversion from diamond-like (sp3) carbon to graphite-like (sp2) carbon takes place. Topography and current measurements of individual ion tracks were performed by atomic force microscopy at ambient temperature. The temperature dependence of the electric conductivity was studied between 15 and 390 K by means of 0.28 mm2 large contact pads averaging over about 107 tracks. For each sample and at each temperature the conductivity as a function of the applied electrical field (non-ohmic behaviour) was measured separately and the data were extrapolated to field zero. In this way, the zero-field conductivity was determined independent from the field dependence. In spite of large differences in the absolute values, the temperature dependence of the zero-field conductivities is found to be very similar in shape for all samples. The conductivities follow a T − 1/4 ?> law up to temperatures slightly below room temperature. At higher temperatures a transport mechanism based on over-barrier hopping dominates with an activation energy of about 220 meV for tracks and 260 meV for the ta-C matrix. The field dependence measurements show that the deviation of the I–V characteristics from ohmic behaviour decreases with increasing zero-field conductivity. We also tested Cu-doped ta-C samples and found that they conduct significantly better than pure ta-C. However, the doping also increases the zero-field conductivity resulting in a weaker contrast between the track and matrix. The data are interpreted within the so-called 'barrier model' where the electrons are assumed to move fairly freely in well-conducting sp2 regions but encounter barriers in track sections consisting of more sp3-like bonds.


We propose to couple the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) to the force coupling method (FCM). The resulting method is an efficient, easy to program, meshless method for flows at low Reynolds numbers with finite‐size particles. In such an approach, the flow domain is extended across the solid particle phase, and the flow is approximated by a superposition of singular Stokeslets positioned outside the flow domain and finite‐size multipoles collocated with the particle. To improve the efficiency of the coupling, we propose new MFS quadratures for the computation of the volume integrals required for the FCM. These are exact and do not require the expensive evaluation of Stokeslets. The proposed method has been developed in the context of investigations of the fluid dynamics of canalithiasis, that is, a pathological condition of the semicircular canals of the inner ear. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the applicability of the method. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


E6 is an oncoprotein implicated in cervical cancers, produced by "high-risk" human papillomaviruses. E6 is thought to promote tumorigenesis by stimulating cellular degradation of the tumour suppressor p53, but it might display other activities. Sequence similarity was recently detected between E6 and endonuclease VII, a protein of phage T4 that recognizes and cleaves four-way DNA junctions. Here, we purified recombinant E6 proteins and demonstrated that high-risk E6 s bind selectively to four-way junctions in a structure-dependent manner. Several residues in the C-terminal zinc-binding domain, the region of E6 similar to endonuclease VII, are necessary for the junction-binding activity. E6 binds to the junction as a monomer. Comparative electrophoresis shows that E6-bound junctions migrate in an extended square conformation. Magnesium inhibits the electrophoretic migration of the complexes but does not seem to influence their formation at equilibrium. This work is the first demonstration of specific binding of purified active E6 to a well-characterized DNA ligand, and suggests new modes of action of E6 in oncogenesis.


This paper gives calculating formula of the rate constants for linear parallel or serial three-compartment open models with bo/us iv injection or constant rate iv infusion or first order absorption where elimination may occur from any one compartment. These formulae are of convenience for programming on computers or programmable calculators. The idea of derivation applies to general linear compartment models.


As a source of vegetable oil, palm oil can be a poverty alleviation tool, food, and energy sources. The  development of palm oil plantations requires much labor, and this means that palm oil plantations are labor-intensive businesses so that the management of occupational health and safety is essential. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of occupational safety and health on the PT. Prima Agro Aceh Lestari (PAAL) employees' performance in West Aceh Regency. The results of this study showed that workers' protection, worker health maintenance, and workplace safety had a positive effect and had a strong relationship to employee's performance. Simultaneously, worker protection, maintenance of workers' health and safety in the workplace correlate to employee performance, but partially, only worker protection and worker health maintenance that affect employee's performance. In addition to the research variables, there are still other factors that are also strong in influencing the performance of employees of PT. Prima Agro Aceh Lestari (PAAL).


Preface and Acknowledgements Contributors Introduction - John Witte, Jr. and M. Christian Green, Emory University Part I: Human Rights and Religious Traditions 1. A Jewish Theory of Human Rights - David Novak 2. Christianity and Human Rights - Nicholas P. Wolterstorff 3. Islam and Human Rights: Framing and Reframing the Discourse - Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im 4. Hinduism and Human Rights - Werner Menski 5. Confucianism and Human Rights - Joseph Chan 6. Buddhism and Human Rights - Sallie B. King 7. Indigenous Religion and Human Rights - Ronald Niezen 8. Religion, Human Rights, and Public Reason: The Role and Limits of a Secular Rationale - David Little Part II: Religion and Modern Human Rights Issues 9. The Phases and Functions of Freedom of Conscience - Steven D. Smith 10. Religion and Freedom of Choice - Paul Taylor 11. Religion and Freedom of Expression - Carolyn Evans 12. Religion, Equality, and Non-Discrimination - Nazila Ghanea 13. Religion and Freedom of Association - Natan Lerner 14. The Right to Self-Determination of Religious Communities - Johan D. van der Vyver 15. Permissible Limitations on Religion - T. Jeremy Gunn 16. From Religious Freedom to Moral Freedom - Michael J. Perry 17. Keeping Faith: Reconciling Women's Human Rights and Religion - Madhavi Sunder 18. Religion and Children's Rights - Barbara Bennett Woodhouse 19. Religion and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights - Ingvill Thorson Plesner 20. Religion and Environmental Rights - Willis Jenkins 21. Religion, Violence, and the Right to Peace - R. Scott Appleby 22. Patterns of Religion State Relations - W. Cole Durham, Jr. Index


As a result of technological progress and economic change, many new occupations have emerged in the labour market, while others have become redundant and disappeared. Along with these new and emerging occupations, new skills have been introduced that can be developed through formal education, on-the-job training or learning-by-doing (or in some other way). This paper presents the Occupations Observatory, which we have created with the aim of providing up-to-date information on these changes in the labour market – reflected in the rise of new occupations and their corresponding skill changes – to policy-makers, researchers, educational institutes, job seekers and many other stakeholders (and how occupational dynamics feed into the occupational classification schemes). We focus not only on new occupations that did not exist before but also on new occupations in terms of recognition, awareness and importance. This paper was written within the framework of the InGRID project. Funded by the European Union's 7th Framework Programme for Research, the InGRID project (Inclusive Growth Research Infrastructure Diffusion) involves 17 European partners, including CEPS. It aims to integrate and innovate existing, but distributed European social sciences research infrastructures on 'Poverty and Living Conditions' and 'Working Conditions and Vulnerability' by providing transnational data access, organising mutual knowledge exchange activities and improving methods and tools for comparative research.


Deficiency of vitamin and mineral as part of micronutrient deficiency may lower human productivity. In general, lack of public understanding about micronutrient, limited number of nutritionist, time and cost, became the reason for people reluctant to meet nutritionist. The use of web-based computer application can be implemented to overcome the difficulty to get nutritionist's services. Using the application, user can detect and check their micronutrient condition independently. User can submit their physical condition by answering questions from the application. Using forward chaining inference, data from user will be proceed using certainty factor method. The application's output are the possible type of micronutrient's deficiency and the weight that shown the level of confidence of the result. The evaluation process shown that the application functioning properly in line with the expectation. Beside helping people to make early detection independenly, the presence of the application is also expected to increase public awareness about the importance of micronutrient in their life.


It has been successfully created a robot named "MAX". MAX Robot uses 2 (two) main sensors, those are ultrasonic sensors as sensors that detect an objects and LM35 temperature sensors as sensors to detect and monitor the temperature of the robotic machines. Both sensors are connected and controlled by ATMega328P microcontroller based Arduino Uno. The results of the readings from the temperature sensor on the robot's body will be displayed to the Light Crystal Display (LCD). The MAX robot is able to detect objects effectively at a distance of ±25 cm, then the robot stops and then turns in a certain direction by considering the distance of the object around the robot body. If a barrier is not detected, the MAX robot runs straight. In addition, the MAX robot is also able to detect and monitor engine temperature on its own and is able to automatically activate engine coolers when the engine temperature is above the set – point (hot) and non-active again when the engine is in normal temperature.


Soil is the major source of plant-associated microbes. Several fungal and bacterial species live within plant tissues. Actinomycetes are well known for producing a variety of antibiotics, and they contribute to improving plant health. In our previous report, Streptomyces globisporus SP6C4 colonized plant tissues and was able to move to other tissues from the initially colonized ones. This strain has excellent antifungal and antibacterial activities and provides a suppressive effect upon various plant diseases. Here, we report the genome-wide analysis of antibiotic producing genes in S. globisporus SP6C4. A total of 15 secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters were predicted using antiSMASH. We used the CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis system, and each biosynthetic gene was predicted via protein basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) and rapid annotation using subsystems technology (RAST) server. Three gene clusters were shown to exhibit antifungal or antibacterial activity, viz. cluster 16 (lasso peptide), cluster 17 (thiopeptide-lantipeptide), and cluster 20 (lantipeptide). The results of the current study showed that SP6C4 has a variety of antimicrobial activities, and this strain is beneficial in agriculture.


One of the main problems in enterprise resource planning(ERP) implementation is the Aligning of the relationship between ERP system and enterprise strategy, organizational structure, business process and business information. The paper intends to solve the problem from the perspective of information technology (IT) governance. An IT governance framework of ERP system implementation, which includes four components i.e., strategy and tactic, organization, arrangement and mechanism and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) measurements, is developed.


Lake Visovac is a tufa barrier lake on the Krka River between Roški slap (60 m asl) and Skradinski buk (46 m absl) waterfalls, included in the Krka national park as primarily unaltered area of exceptional natural value. Paleolimnological research was conceived to address a lake evolution and depositional environments through the geophysical survey and collection of the lake sediment cores. A high-resolution bathymetric map was obtained using a multibeam sonar. The average lake depth varies between 20 and 25 m. Sediment cores were investigated to extract physical properties, sedimentological, mineralogical, geochemical and paleoecological records constrained by the radiocarbon chronology, to understand what was happening to both the landscapes and lakescapes of Lake Visovac during the last 2.000 cal yr.

Significant findings of the project are geomorphological features on the lake bottom: submerged sinkholes of various sizes (up to 40 m deep); submerged tufa barriers in the area of Kalički kuk (southern part of Lake Visovac) at the depths of 15 and 17 m, followed by a series of buried cascade tufa barriers at the depth of 25 m covered with up to 10 m of Holocene lake sediments; submerged vertical tufa barrier up to 32 m-high near the mouth of Čikola River; submerged landslides, small (river) fan structures characterized by sediment waves. Ground-penetrating-radar (GPR) data have been acquired due to the presence of gas-saturated sediments over a large area of the lake, that limited the use of high-resolution acoustic profiling. A total thickness of sediments is up to 40 m. High resolution paleoenvironmental record through the Late Holocene gives evidence of high sedimentation rates in Lake Visovac, variable soil erosion impact on lake sediment composition and carbonate authigenic sedimentation. Higher organic carbon is observed in the last 50 years due to changes in land cover and reforestation. Pleistocene lake sediment outcrops occur up to 20 m above the present lake levels indicating higher lake levels as a consequence of higher elevation of tuffa barriers. Kalički kuk, which lies up to 20 m above present lake level, is a remnant of these barriers which have been dated to MIS5. Results allow us to interpret the environmental and evolutionary dynamics of Lake Visovac in the following way: lake level more than 20 m higher than today in mid-Pleistocene with significantly larger lake volume in Lake Visovac, with active Kalički kuk and Skradinski buk waterfalls; lower lake-level at the beginning of the Holocene when several small lakes existed in isolated basins in the area of Lake Visovac. The tufa barrier at Skradinski buk started to grow faster than the Kalički kuk barriers and waterfalls resulting in their flooding and submergence during the Holocene. The tufa barrier at Skradinski buk has grown 15 m since then. This study demonstrates the role of geomorphological lakebed characteristics in reshaping our understanding of the environmental changes and the future of Lake Visovac.

The research was conducted as part of the project funded by the Krka National Park and CSF funded QMAD project (IP-04-2019-8505).


Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies kill target cells by multiple mechanisms including antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), antibody-dependent phagocytosis (ADP), complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), and direct induction of apoptosis. Antibody binding to FcgRIIIA (CD16), which is expressed on NK cells, macrophages, and CD8+ cells, is essential for ADCC. MDX-1401 is a fully human monoclonal antibody of IgG1 (kappa) isotype that binds to human CD30. This second generation anti-CD30 antibody was derived from parental antibody MDX-060 but differs in that the oligosaccharides of the IgG1 lack fucose, a property that conveys increased antibody affinity for Fc receptor CD16 (FcgRIIIa) and thus stimulates both more potent and efficacious ADCC than a fucosylated IgG1. The KD of the parental antibody for CD30 expressed on L540 Hodgkin's lymphoma cells is approximately 1.4 nM while the KD of MDX-1401 is 1.9 nM, demonstrating that binding affinity for antigen are nearly identical. However, the EC50 for MDX-1401 binding to CD16-transfected cells is approximately 3 nM compared to barely detectable binding by parental antibody, confirming that the absence of fucose conveys increased affinity for FcgRIIIa. Data is presented that demonstrates MDX-1401 has significantly improved potency and efficacy in an ADCC assay as evidenced by a decrease in EC50 as well as an increase in maximum specific lysis. Importantly, the enhanced ADCC activity is observed among a large panel of cell lines with varying numbers of CD30 receptors per cell, including one cell line with low antigen expression in which parental antibody failed to induce ADCC. MDX-1401 enhances ADCC activity with all polymorphic variants including lower affinity FcgRIIIa Phe/Phe158 and FcgRIIIa Phe/Val158 effector cells. Furthermore, MDX-1401 is efficacious in inhibiting growth of CD30+ tumor xenografts in mice. The low doses of antibody required for ADCC activity irrespective of donor genotype, the capacity to mediate ADCC of target cells expressing low levels of CD30, and increased in vivo efficacy support the development of MDX-1401 for treatment of malignant lymphoma. Phase 1 studies in subjects with Hodgkin's lymphoma are currently underway.


In recent years Landmark Complexes have been successfully employed for localization-free and metric-free autonomous exploration using a group of sensing-limited and communication-limited robots in a GPS-denied environment. To ensure rapid and complete exploration, existing works make assumptions on the density and distribution of landmarks in the environment. These assumptions may be overly restrictive, especially in hazardous environments where landmarks may be destroyed or completely missing. In this paper, we first propose a deep reinforcement learning framework for multi-agent cooperative exploration in environments with sparse landmarks while reducing client-server communication. By leveraging recent development on partial observability and credit assignment, our framework can train the exploration policy efficiently for multi-robot systems. The policy receives individual rewards from actions based on a proximity sensor with limited range and resolution, which is combined with group rewards to encourage collaborative exploration and construction of the Landmark Complex through observation of 0-, 1- and 2-dimensional simplices. In addition, we employ a three-stage curriculum learning strategy to mitigate the reward sparsity by gradually adding random obstacles and destroying random landmarks. Experiments in simulation demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art landmark complex exploration method in efficiency among different environments with sparse landmarks.


As a conceptual and analytic framework, intersectionality has informed, and can transform, how scholars approach psychology and its history. Intersectionality provides a framework for examining how multiple social categories combine in systems characterized by both oppression and privilege to affect the experiences of those occupying the intersections of these social categories. The concept has its origins in the writings of Black feminists and critical race theorists in the 1970s and 1980s. Since that time, many critical debates about the definition, uses, and even misuses of intersectionality have been put forward by scholars in many fields. In psychology, the uptake of intersectionality as a methodological and epistemological framework has been undertaken largely by feminist psychologists. In this context, intersectionality has been used as both a logic for designing research, and as a perspective from which to critique the perpetuation of intersectional oppression latent in mainstream psychological research. In addition, intersectionality has also been applied to writing histories of psychology that attend to the operation of multiple intersecting forms of oppression and privilege. For example, historians of psychology have taken up intersectionality as a way to approach the intersections of scientific racism, sexism, and heterocentrism in the history of psychology's concepts and theories. Intersectionality also has the potential for generating a more sophisticated historical understanding of social activism by psychologists. Finally, given that extant histories of psychology focusing on the American context have rendered the contributions of women of color largely invisible, intersectional analysis can serve to re-instantiate and foreground their experiences and contributions.


The shoot apical meristem (SAM) gives rise to all aerial organs of the plant. The cell walls are supposed to play a central role in this process, translating molecular regulation into dynamic changes of growth rates and directions, although their precise role in morphogenesis during organ formation remains not well understood. Here we investigate the role of xyloglucans (XyGs), which form a major, yet functionally poorly characterized, wall component in the SAM. Using immunolabeling, biochemical analysis, genetic approaches, micro-indentation, laser ablations and live imaging, we show that XyGs are important for meristem shape and phyllotaxis, although no difference in cell wall stiffness could be observed when XyGs are perturbed. Mutations in enzymes required for XyG synthesis also affect other cell wall components such as cellulose content and the pectin methylation status. Interestingly, we show that the control of cortical microtubules dynamics by the severing enzyme KATANIN becomes vital when XyGs are perturbed or absent. This suggests an active role of the cytoskeleton in compensating for altered wall composition.


To meet the increasing demand for data sharing, data reuse and meta-analysis in the immunology research community, we have developed the data discovery system ImmuneData. The system provides integrated access to five immunology data repositories funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation, including ImmPort, ImmuneSpace, ITN TrialShare, ImmGen and IEDB. ImmuneData restructures the data repositories' metadata into a uniform schema using domain experts' knowledge and state-of-the-art Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies. It comes with a user-friendly web interface, accessible at http://www.immunedata.org/, and a Google-like search engine for biological researchers to find and access data easily. The vast quantity of synonyms used in biomedical research increase the likelihood of incomplete search results. Thus, our search engine converts queries submitted by users into ontology terms, which are then expended by NLP technologies to ensure that the search results will include all synonyms for a particular concept. The system also includes an advanced search function to build customized queries to meet higher-level users' needs. ImmuneData ensures the FAIR principle (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability) of the five data repositories to benefit data reuse in the immunology research community. The data pipeline constructing our system can be extended to other data repositories to build a more comprehensive biological data discovery system.

DATABASE URL
http://www.immunedata.org/.


Sepsis is one of leading cause of death despite aggressive surgical intervention and antibiotic therapies. Excessive neutrophil recruitment is a major feature in early phase with immune system dysfunction at later phase. Lung is the most vulnerable, critical and sensitive organ during sepsis process. The aim of thesis was to prevent excessive neutrophil accumulation in lung parenchyma on one hand, and to reinforcement of immune system at later phase of sepsis on other hand. We hypothesized that CD44 may have a role in mediating pulmonary recruitment of neutrophils along with Rho GTPase subfamily in more than one way for enhancing neutrophil stiffness and migration. Peptides are new evolutionary compound with multifunctional effects, especially during infection and sepsis but potential therapeutic effect of them in polymicrobial sepsis remains elusive. Polymicrobial sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture, purified monoclonal antibody against CD44, Rho kinase inhibitor (Y-27632) and Rac1 inhibitor (NSC23766). Specific TDPs, GKY20 and GKY25 were injected after procedure. Edema formation, bronchoalveolar accumulation of neutrophils, myeloperoxidase activity, and CXC chemokine in lung measured after CLP. We observed that sepsis triggered clear-cut lung damage characterized by edema formation, neutrophil infiltration, and increased levels of MIP-2 in the lung. We demonstrate that immunoneutralization with anti-CD44 reduce neutrophil activation and accumulation as well as edema formation and lung injury. Pretreatment with Y-27632 reduced the CLP-induced pulmonary injury and MPO activity as well as Mac-1 on neutrophils along with clear reduction in F-actin formation. Administration of NSC23766 markedly reduced CLP-triggered neutrophil infiltration, edema formation and tissue damage in the lung. Inhibition of Rac1 decreased CLP-induced neutrophil expression of Mac-1 and pulmonary formation of CXC chemokines. NSC23766 abolished the sepsis-evoked elevation of mRNA levels of CXC chemokines and TNF-α in alveolar macrophages. Moreover, TDPs maintain CD4 T-cells function in spleen by reducing T-cell apoptosis and clear reduction in sepsis-mediated T-regulatory production. TDPs abolished CLP- evoked HMGB1 and IL-6 production. Furthermore TDPs exerts clear cut bacterial clearance in the blood and spleen. Thus, this work show more details in neutrophil extravagation during sepsis. Our data may dig up the way for establishing more specific and effective treatments of sepsis. (Less)


Owing to a growing number of attacks, the assessment of Industrial Control Systems (ICSs) has gained in importance. An integral part of an assessment is the creation of a detailed inventory of all connected devices, enabling vulnerability evaluations. For this purpose, scans of networks are crucial. Active scanning, which generates irregular traffic, is a method to get an overview of connected and active devices. Since such additional traffic may lead to an unexpected behavior of devices, active scanning methods should be avoided in critical infrastructure networks. In such cases, passive network monitoring offers an alternative, which is often used in conjunction with complex deep-packet inspection techniques. There are very few publications on lightweight passive scanning methodologies for industrial networks. In this paper, we propose a lightweight passive network monitoring technique using an efficient Media Access Control (MAC) address-based identification of industrial devices. Based on an incomplete set of known MAC address to device associations, the presented method can guess correct device and vendor information. Proving the feasibility of the method, an implementation is also introduced and evaluated regarding its efficiency. The feasibility of predicting a specific device/vendor combination is demonstrated by having similar devices in the database. In our ICS testbed, we reached a host discovery rate of 100% at an identification rate of more than 66%, outperforming the results of existing tools.


The aim of this study was to report a case of acute retinal necrosis (ARN) after intraocular foreign body removal. A 32-year-old male presented with visual loss in the left eye. He was hit by an iron fragment while he was hammering. An intraocular foreign body was found with corneal laceration and traumatic cataract. On the day he was injured, primary closure of the laceration, lensectomy, and vitrectomy were performed, and the foreign body was removed. The day after the operation, there was no sign of retinal detachment or retinitis. Two days after the operation, retinal necrosis and accompanying vitreous inflammation were noted in the far periphery. On day 3, the necrosis spread circumferentially and inflammation became more distinct. ARN was presumed and intravenous acyclovir was administered. The necrotic areas were reduced 2 days later, and were resolved in 1 month. The final visual acuity in his left eye was 20/20 after implantation of an intraocular lens. This case is the first report of ARN after penetrating injury and an intraocular foreign body. ARN may develop after open-globe injury.


Palynological and sedimentological studies were carried out on Paleocene/Eocene outcrop sediments from Shagamu Quarry Benin basin, SW Nigeria so as to gain insight into the paleoclimate of this important geological period in the tropics. Standard palynological preparation techniques were applied to sub-samples of the outcrop. Another suite of same sediments was sedimentologically prepared and analyzed for lithological inferences. The outcrop samples are made up of a larger shaly section and a very short dolomitic shaly sand unit within the Oshoshun (Akinbo) Formation. Diversity and abundance of palynomorph taxa decreased upward from the late Paleocene to the earliest Eocene in the outcrop area. Four phyto-climatic zones were recognized. The late Paleocene section was wet except a brief dry interval with abundant Poaceae and fungal elements, while the earliest Eocene was dry. Occurrence of Apectodinium acme and abundant Botryococcus within a marine transgression event perhaps indicate the PETM in the study area.


ABSTRACT Spruce planting (Picea abies) in coastal birch forests (Betula pubescens) of northern Norway could influence ground-nesting species such as willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) and black grouse (Tetrao tetrix). Predator-specific predation rates on baited trackboards were therefore studied in 3 successional edge gradients: birch forest adjacent to (1) closed spruce plantations, (2) open spruce plantations, and (3) clearings. We also examined the influence of 2 types of landscape-level variables on predation rates: the distance from sampling location to the nearest roads and buildings and the land use composition within a 1-km radius of the sample. Predation rates were dominated by 2 generalist species: red fox (Vulpes vulpes) (19.2%) and hooded crow (Corvus corone cornix) (7.5%). Predation appears dependent on the successional stage of spruce plantations, with areas near clearings (63.5%) and open spruce plantations (59.8%) experiencing higher predation pressures than closed spruce plantations (45.3%). However, predation rates were highly variable among landscape blocks. Neither landscape nor vegetation variables could explain this block-level variation. We discuss alternative mechanisms that could explain differences between landscape blocks, but further studies are needed to understand the spatial heterogeneity of predators at larger scales. Nomenclature: Mitchell, 1974; Svensson et al., 1999; Macdonald, 2002.


During this decade, the Amazon region has suffered two severe droughts in the short span of five years – 2005 and 2010. Studies on the 2005 drought present a complex, and sometimes contradictory, picture of how these forests have responded to the drought. Now, on the heels of the 2005 drought, comes an even stronger drought in 2010, as indicated by record low river levels in the 109 years of bookkeeping. How has the vegetation in this region responded to this record‐breaking drought? Here we report widespread, severe and persistent declines in vegetation greenness, a proxy for photosynthetic carbon fixation, in the Amazon region during the 2010 drought based on analysis of satellite measurements. The 2010 drought, as measured by rainfall deficit, affected an area 1.65 times larger than the 2005 drought – nearly 5 million km2 of vegetated area in Amazonia. The decline in greenness during the 2010 drought spanned an area that was four times greater (2.4 million km2) and more severe than in 2005. Notably, 51% of all drought‐stricken forests showed greenness declines in 2010 (1.68 million km2) compared to only 14% in 2005 (0.32 million km2). These declines in 2010 persisted following the end of the dry season drought and return of rainfall to normal levels, unlike in 2005. Overall, the widespread loss of photosynthetic capacity of Amazonian vegetation due to the 2010 drought may represent a significant perturbation to the global carbon cycle.


The consumption or use of a number of goods and services can yield real benefits to nonusers. The consumption of goods yielding external benefits differs from several related phenomena—notably, meritorious behavior, the production and use of public goods, the reduction of negative externalities, and the possibility of consumption surprises. Many goods and services that yield external benefits constitute sets of differentiable substitutes. Furthermore, potential third-party beneficiaries may hold not only diverse preferences for external benefits but also diverse preferences for the alternative goods and services that create these benefits. Finally, markets, if restricted to simple bilateral exchange structures, can mistakenly appear to fail in the case of external benefits. These observations lead to the development of (1) an analytic framework addressing heterogeneous supply and demand and incorporating generalized exchange structures and (2) a typology of market situations for external benefits of consumption that suggests several alternatives to conventional public policies.


Many physical systems are governed by ordinary or partial differential equations (see, for example, Chapter ''Differential equations'', ''System of Differential Equations''). Typically the solution of such systems are functions of time or of a single space variable (in the case of ODE's), or they depend on multidimensional space coordinates or on space and time (in the case of PDE's). In some cases, the solutions may depend on several time or space scales. An example governed by ODE's is the damped harmonic oscillator, in the two extreme cases of very small or very large damping, the cardiovascular system, where the thickness of the arteries and veins varies from centimeters to microns, shallow water equations, which are valid when water depth is small compared to typical wavelength of surface waves, and sorption kinetics, in which the range of interaction of a surfactant with an air bubble is much smaller than the size of the bubble itself. In all such cases a detailed simulation of the models which resolves all space or time scales is often inefficient or intractable, and usually even unnecessary to provide a reasonable description of the behavior of the system. In the Chapter ''Multiscale modeling with differential equations'' we present examples of systems described by ODE's and PDE's which are intrinsically multiscale, and illustrate how suitable modeling provide an effective way to capture the essential behavior of the solutions of such systems without resolving the small scales.


Tuberculosis (TB) afflicts 2.8 million citizens in India, representing more than 30 percent of the world's total burden. To control TB, complete adherence to treatment is crucial—under the World Health Organization's (WHO) Directly Observed Therapy Short-course (DOTS) strategy. In this strategy, patients are required to take up to 75 doses under supervision over six months at a treatment center or in the presence of an observer. However, the scarcity or inaccessibility of treatment centers and truthful observers in hard to-reach areas often results in high default rates. Missing a dose or interrupting treatment is extremely dangerous, since those who default can relapse, or much worse, develop the deadlier, drug-resistant strain of TB. A continuing social stigma for those who have TB is also linked to incomplete treatment and lack of follow-up. There is poor data collection as well. Since 2006, Operation ASHA (OpASHA) has helped deliver the Last-mile connection to TB treatment and prevention in India by leveraging existing government infrastructure to supplement the country's own efforts. OpASHA receives free medicines, diagnostic facilities and physician services from the national TB control program. Through a partnership with Microsoft Research, OpASHA has pioneered a biometric technology called eCompliance for treatment. OpASHA serves 10 million people in nine states across India, in addition to 2.2 million people in Cambodia. OpASHA has expanded to Cambodia, and its model has already been replicated in Uganda, Kenya, and the Dominican Republic.


A handwritten signature is the final response to a complex cognitive and neuromuscular process which is the result of the learning process. Because of the many factors involved in signing, it is possible to study the signature from many points of view: graphologists, forensic experts, neurologists and computer vision experts have all examined them. Researchers study written signatures for psychiatric, penal, health and automatic verification purposes. As a potentially useful, multi-purpose study, this paper is focused on the lexical morphology of handwritten signatures. This we understand to mean the identification, analysis, and description of the signature structures of a given signer. In this work we analyze different public datasets involving 1533 signers from different Western geographical areas. Some relevant characteristics of signature lexical morphology have been selected, examined in terms of their probability distribution functions and modeled through a General Extreme Value distribution. This study suggests some useful models for multi-disciplinary sciences which depend on handwriting signatures.


Abstract Background and Aim: The product of RANKL gene expression has a fundamental role in bone resorption and activates the chain of osteoclast differentiation from its predecessor cells. Reports of this gene participation and role in physiologic and pathologic bone resorption led to hypothesis that it may play a role in bone resorption induced by orthodontic tooth movement. Materials & Methods: A closed coil spring (Dentaurum Ispringen, Germany) was fixed by two pieces of ligature wires to mesial side of the maxillary right first molar and anteriorly to both incisors of fifteen 7 week old Wistar male rats to tip the first molars mesially. The maxillary left first molar of each animal used as an internal control group for the contralateral tooth. The animals were sacrificed on the 21st day of the experiment and the tissue from the mesial side of maxillary molars was used for PCR test. Wilcoxon Sign Rank test was used for densitometric analysis of RANKL mRNA on the electrophoresis gel. Results: Densitometric analysis showed a significant increase in expression of gene in the experimental group compared to the control one (P Less than 0.002). Genuineness of the PCR tests was verified by household gene of GAPDH. Conclusion: Based on the data obtained in controlled environment of the study, RANKL expression increased significantly following bone resorption induced by orthodontic tooth movement.