Background: A large outbreak of pneumonia associated with 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) occurred in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China in December 2019. We have reported the first case of health-care worker infection in Wuhan Union Hospital to public at the earlier stage of the outbreak. Now this report summarizes the initial epidemiological and clinical findings on the basis of the identification of nosocomial 2019- nCoV infection of health-care workers in our 5000-bed tertiary general hospital. We aim to pay tribute to the front-line medical staff fighting against 2019-nCoV pneumonia and provide reference information to protect global health-care workers from 2019-nCoV infection in the epidemic.

Methods: In this retrospective, single-centre study, we analyzed the firstbatch of 48 hospitalized cases of confirmed 2019-nCoV infection from the health-care workers of Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, between January 16, 2020 to January 30, 2020. Included cases were the hospitalized health-care workers with positive symptoms, typical CT findings, and confirmed 2019- nCoV infection by real-time RT-PCR. Data on demographic characteristics, exposure history, clinical features and subjected to preliminary epidemiological assessment. We also investigated the attack rate of 2019- nCoV in the infectious isolation wards and designated fever outpatient clinics.

Findings: Of the 48 first-batch hospitalized health-care workers with confirmed 2019-nCoV infection (including 17 physicians [35·4%], 28 nurses [58·3%] and three health-care assistants [6·3%]), 32 (66·7%) were female, with an median age of 36 years (IQR 31-41). The median duration from symptom onset to admission was estimated to be 6 days (IQR 5-10). The 48 infected employees were variously from the departments of surgery (23 [47·9%]), internal medicine (16 [33·3%]), pediatrics (2 [4·2%]), gynecology (2 [4·2%]) and other departments (5 [10·4%]) including the radiology unit, clinical laboratory and pharmacy department. 18 out of 48 individuals had direct contact with a patient with confirmed 2019-nCoV infection. Only six of the workers working in high-risk departments were aware of the possibility of exposure to infected patients. During the exposure period, 46 workers protected themselves by only wearing surgical masks; one wore N95 mask and only one physician wore an isolation gown, fit-tested N95 mask, gloves, cap, eye shield and shoe covers. Among the 189 physicians and nurses working in three isolation wards and one fever outpatient clinic, one nurse was infected with 2019- nCoV. Symptoms were of mild nature in most cases. Empirical therapy most commonly included administration of antibiotics, oseltamivir, arbidol, and inhalation of recombinant human interferon α-2b. Oxygen supplementation was used, via a nasal cannula in 21 patients (43·7%) and via a face mask in one patient (2·1%). None of the 48 cases required respiratory support with mechanical ventilation. As of February 8, 30 (62·5%) of 48 patients have been discharged and no fatalities occurred. The median hospital stay of the 30 patients lasted 11 days (IQR, 6·8-16·3). The median time to negative results among the 30 discharged patients was 10·5 days (IQR 7-15·3).

Interpretation: Our findings confirmed 2019-nCoV could easily spread through direct personal contact in a hospital setting and provided compelling evidence that health-care facilities worldwide need to be prepared for possible transmission of this novel coronavirus. Medical workers engaging in daily interaction with their fellow workers should be personally under effective protection against the infection. The health-care workers developing any possible associated symptoms should seek prompt medical attention and be duly isolated, thereby minimizing secondary transmission of 2019-nCoV in health-care associated outbreaks. Adequate protection against exposure to infected patients can effectively protect health-care workers from 2019-nCoV infection.

Funding Statement: This study was supported by the State Project for Essential Drug Research and Development, China (no. 2019ZX09301001).

Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by Wuhan Union Hospital Ethics Committee and written informed consent was obtained from subjects involved before they were enrolled and when data were collected retrospectively.


Experiments to measure a single physical quantity often produce several estimates based on the same data, and which are hence correlated. We describe how to combine these correlated estimates in order to provide the best single answer, and also how to check whether the correlated estimates are mutually consistent.
We discuss the properties of our technique, and illustrate its application by using it for a specific experiment which measured the strong coupling constant .In this work, we computed the mean value of the strong coupling constant by relying on the three measurement values of ATLAS.
We present a method to calculate the mean value of the strong coupling constant and the uncertainty about this value at a centre of-mass energy 7Tev, 8Tev and 13Tev based on the results obtained in ref[1].
We get the result , we will compare it with the result obtained by the authors of ref[1], which is .


Network configurations implement a set of policies that control a network's behavior. Therefore, correct understanding of the configurations is vital to ensure that the network operates according to the intended policies. However, the current practice of manually reading a large number of configuration commands, which are written in low-level languages and distributed in multiple devices, is inefficient and significantly increases management costs and operator errors. We propose a system that helps decode network configurations by interpreting low-level fragmented configurations and then presenting their high-level intended policies. In particular, the proposed system is applicable to inter-domain routing policies, one of the most complex aspects of network configurations. We implement our system and evaluate its effectiveness through a set of user studies involving 44 participants. These studies examine the participants¿ comprehension of routing policies presented with our system as compared to those presented with existing configuration languages. The studies show that our system improves both accuracy, from 70% to nearly 100%, as well as time-to-task-completion, from 30 minutes to 10 minutes. We believe that our system provides a basis for a clean separation of policy intent from its implementation so that policies can be better designed and understood. We also discuss the weaknesses in usability of current network configurations and argue that all aspects of future management systems need to be designed to address these usability issues.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Background: Although several types of cells in the brain are able to migrate during development or even in adulthood, only cells of high grade malignancies exhibit an invasive phenotype. The present study aims to characterize the differences between infiltrating tumor cells and their cells of origin using a model of genetically-induced glioblastoma-initiating cells (GICs) in the syngeneic mouse adult brain. Methods: Neural stem cells/ multipotent progenitor cells (NSCs/NPCs) were isolated from the subventricular zone of adult C57BL/6 mice with a homozygous deletion of the Ink4a/ARF locus and cultured as neurospheres. GICs were established by overexpression of H-RasV12 in the NSCs/NPCs. Tumor cells were isolated from the tumors formed by orthotopic implantation of the GICs into 6-week-old wild type mice and propagated as tumorspheres (TS). The motility of each type of cells and their response to various chemoattractants was assessed using in vitro migration assays. Their preference for anatomical structures and their ability to infiltrate the surrounding normal brain was analyzed by tracking the cells in cultured coronal brain slices established from stereotactically-implanted mice. Results: In vitro, both tumor cells and NSCs exhibited a similar degree of motility, but consistently varied in their response to a panel of chemoattractants. Compared to NSCs, GICs and TS responded only slightly to single growth factors or cytokines, but showed significant responses to combinations of chemoattractants. The most marked increase in migration was triggered by the supernatant of cultured tumor cells. Supernatants obtained from GICs, TS or human glioma cell lines induced migration to a similar degree. Timelapse microscopy confirmed motility of both normal and tumor cells, with all three groups being able to move both within the cortex and within the striatum, and both along blood vessels and fiber tracts. However, NSCs/NPCs did not leave the injection site as single cells, while GICs and TS entered and infiltrated the normal brain as solitary cells. This pattern of migration was greatly reduced by the administration of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) inhibitors, both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Our results show that tumor invasion is multifactorial, with both autocrine secretion of several factors, as well as a mesenchymal phenotype being key regulators. Moreover, the mesenchymal phenotype in itself is a targetable attribute and should be assessed in patient samples in order to adjust anti-invasive therapy when warranted.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 487. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-487


The authors present a case of prosthetic rehabilitation of the anterior maxilla. A correct esthetic diagnosis and the development of an appropriate treatment plan are key factors in predictable outcomes. Proper performance of different phases of the treatment plan and the use of appropriate materials guarantee esthetic and functional success. In the case presented, an odontophobic patient with a severely compromised dentition received hygiene, endodontic, periodontal, and prosthodontic therapy following a carefully predetermined treatment plan. Osseous resective surgery and careful material selection for restoration of the prosthetic abutments were key factors in the successful results achieved in the case.


We derive an effective Hamiltonian for a quantum system constrained to a submanifold (the constraint manifold) of configuration space (the ambient space) by an infinite restoring force. We pay special attention to how this Hamiltonian depends on quantities which are external to the constraint manifold, such as the extrinsic curvature of the constraint manifold, the curvature of the ambient space, and the constraining potential. In particular, we find the remarkable fact that the twisting of the constraining potential appears as a gauge potential in the constrained Hamiltonian. This gauge potential is closely related to the geometric phase originally discussed by Berry. The constrained Hamiltonian also contains an effective potential depending on the extrinsic curvature of the constraint manifold, the curvature of the ambient space, and the twisting of the constraining potential. The general nature of our analysis allows applications to a wide variety of problems, such as rigid molecules, the evolution of molecular systems along reaction paths, and quantum strip waveguides.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

A variety of studies were performed with naproxen (a standard NSAID with a good cardiovascular profile), sulindac, and their nitric oxide (NO)-derivatives. In Fisher 344 rats, OH-BBN (2x/week for 8 weeks by gavage) induced invasive urinary bladder cancers. When treatment was initiated one week following the final dose of OH-BBN, both naproxen (400 ppm) and sulindac (400 ppm) were highly effective preventive agents at these human equivalent doses. The NO-derivatives of each compound (NO-naproxen, 550 ppm and NO-sulindac, 520 ppm) were similarly effective. When the dose of naproxen was decreased from 400 ppm to 75 ppm a strong preventive effect was still observed. This activity was observed even when treatment with naproxen was started 12 weeks after the last OH-BBN treatment; microcarcinomas already existed at this time. In an attempt to make a more direct comparison between the human and rat data, animals were treated with 40 mg/kg BW/day of naproxen by gavage. Similar to the dietary dose of 400 ppm, the agent was highly effective; however, gavaging the rats permitted more direct comparison of the pharmacokinetics observed in the rat with known results in humans. In contrast to the naproxen data, reducing the dose of sulindac from 400 to 150 ppm, a dose comparable to the human dose employed by Meyskens, et al. (Cancer Prevention Res. 1:32-38, 2008), resulted in only limited activity. Finally, the effects of naproxen and NO-naproxen on modulation of gene expression in the livers of treated rats were determined. Limited, but similar, gene expression changes induced by both agents were observed. Interestingly, neither agent induced the antioxidant response element genes [e.g., GST Pi, quinone oxidoreductase, aldo keto reductase A37 (aflatoxicol)] that one might have expected to be highly induced by free NO. Supported by the NCI contract number HHSN261200433001C.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1849. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1849


An algorithm is proposed for the implementation of the high-order surface impedance boundary condition using the finite-difference time-domain method. The surface impedance function of a lossy medium is approximated by a series of rational functions in the Laplace domain, whereas the dyadic differential operator is approximated by a second-order power series. By assuming that the fields are piecewise linear, the time-domain convolution integrals are computed using a recursive formula. The impedance function of a coating layer is approximated by a third-order power series. The algorithm can be applied to scattering problems of a three-dimensional coating for both vertically and horizontally polarized waves. The advantage of the proposed method is that the result can be applied to media of arbitrary conductivities, with a wide range of incident angles from zero to graze. Some numerical examples are given to substantiate the theory.


The study was conducted with an aim to understand the changes in soil enzyme activity in the plant rhizosphere during host mediated selection of rhizosphere microbiome. Soil samples were collected from three different locations on a farm in the Reading area, UK. Two popular genotypes of Soybean (Glycine max) were chosen for the study, Kenchen and Siverka. Initial microbiome inoculum was prepared by mixing field soil with sterilized water and this was added to the autoclaved coir: sand mix. After four weeks of plant growth, plants were uprooted from the soil, rhizosphere soil collected for soil enzyme estimation and NGS analysis. Root exudates were collected and stored in freezer for analysis.
 Growth of plants in legume soils was significantly higher. The plants in legume soil produced nodules which confirmed the presence of rhizobia in these soils. Independent analysis within each soil type showed that, the interaction between soil type and genotype is very significant with respect to enzyme activity. The presence of microbiome along with plants had a significant effect on enzymatic activity. GCMS analysis of root exudates from plants in each soil showed variations in individual chromatograms. The difference in enzyme activity with plant growth shows that there are changes taking place in the soil. Further in this study, NGS analysis of rhizosphere soil will shed more light into the changes happening in the soil microbiome and if the changes are related to the enzymatic changes and plant root exudation.


UNLABELLED
Tracking transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in a population of humans and animals is the basis of modern epidemiology of tuberculosis. Molecular methods are used for the analysis of small patient population, as well as a global studies, which monitor the variation and geographic distribution of mycobacteria. A special role is played by genotyping methods that allow to control the spread of drug-resistant-TB and Beijing-TB. Beijing strains, especially drug-resistant clones, are regarded as one of the most dangerous mycobacteria. They have a high pathogenicity, the ability to rapidly acquire drug resistance and unpredictable response to treatment. The aim of this study was molecular and epidemiological analysis of M. tuberculosis Beijing strains isolated from patients with pre-XDR-TB, detected in Poland, and investigate the probable route of transmission of infection between patients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Material for analysis was a collection of more than 10,000 strains of M. tuberculosis collected in the years 2001-2011 in the National TB Reference Laboratory at the National Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Research Institute in Warsaw. Analysis of phenotypic resistance to primary and secondary drugs allowed the selection of 47 pre-XDR strains, and genotyping--18 pre-XDR-Beijing strains. Molecular analysis included 2 genotyping methods--spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR analysis.

RESULTS
Genotyping results allowed the identification of 5 epidemiological groups of 13 patients with pre-XDR-Beijing-TB, between which transmission could occur. Based on the available epidemiological and demographic data, it was found that in isolated groups, 5 patients could be in close or casual contact.

CONCLUSIONS
This analysis shows that in Poland, one of the causes of drug resistance and the spread of M. tuberculosis Beijing type, is the transmission of infection between patients. This observation requires conducting active molecular and epidemiological investigations among patients, as well as studies of people with their environment.


The introduction of IT has changed also the way in which critical editions are created, starting from the chance, provided by the research engines, to identify more or less complex keys within a text. Furthermore, the opera tradition, since 1637 when it started to be paid for, produces a great amount of corruption, regarding both the verbal printed text and the musical manuscript: this is confirmed by the great number of different versions of the same opera, some made by the authors, others being created during the representation itself. In the first case, it is possible to obtain an electronic edition of different versions of the same text (for example, Metastatsio produced 9 different editions of «Didone abbandonata»). In the second case, it is better to use an hypertextual model, due to presence of many people.


Dose modest alcohol consumption (MAC) help the health care? There is a mainstream that MAC may not aggravate or even reduce cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality (1,2). Light (≤3 drink/week) or moderate (>3 to ≤14 drinks/week for men or >3 to ≤7 drinks/week for women) alcohol consumption were reducing risk of mortality for all causes and cardiovascular disease (2). In 2018, combined analysis of 599,912 current drinkers in 83 prospective studies of high income countries, showed alcohol consumption was positive and curvilinear association with all-cause mortality and roughly linearly associated with a cardiovascular disease other than myocardial infarction (1). They recommend the threshold for lowest risk of all-cause mortality was 100 g/week.


Abstract The Cape Cross–Uis pegmatite belt, Damara Orogen, north-central Namibia hosts multiple Ta–Nb- and Sn-oxide-bearing pegmatites. Columbite-group minerals, tapiolite, cassiterite and minor ixiolite and wodginite occur in abundance within pegmatites and display various compositional and internal structural mineralogical variations. Ta–Nb oxides display various zonation patterns indicative of multiple crystallisation phases, whereas cassiterite is dominantly homogeneous with minor euhedral columbite-group mineral inclusions. Ta–Nb oxides are mostly rich in Fe, with fractionation patterns in the columbite quadrilateral being sub parallel to the Ta/(Ta + Nb) axis; increasing Ta/(Ta + Nb) with little change in Mn/(Mn + Fe), which is consistent with classical trends in beryl-to-spodumene rare-element pegmatites. In addition, these trends suggest that co-crystallising minerals compete with Ta–Nb oxides for elements such as Mn, preventing Ta–Nb oxides from attaining Mn-rich compositions during the fractionation process. Cassiterite shows similar fractionation patterns with Fe > Mn and notable increases in the Ta content. Minor-element substitution in Ta–Nb oxides shows sharp decreases with increasing fractionation supporting the hypothesis that newly stabilised co-occurring minerals compete with columbite-group minerals for certain elements. Tapiolite shows the same minor-element trend, however, only for Sn and Ti suggesting cassiterite was a dominant competing mineral. Although crystallisation of Ta–Nb oxides from an aqueous fluid at the late-stages of pegmatite genesis is highly debated, significantly elevated Ta contents in metasomatised country rock, compared to unaltered country rock, may give new insight, suggesting that Ta may indeed partition into, and be transported by, an exsolved aqueous fluid. However, further studies of the country rock metasomatic contacts are required as currently the dataset is limited. The degree of fractionation as depicted by Ta–Nb and Sn oxides within pegmatites, indicate that a zonation from primitive to evolved pegmatites surrounding granites is not present and that pegmatites are probably not related to granites in the typical parent–daughter relationship.


Introduction This study tested the hypothesis that mid-life intellectual, physical and social activities contribute to cognitive reserve (CR). Methods 205 individuals (196 with MRI) aged 66-88 from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (www.cam-can.com) were studied, with cognitive ability and structural brain health measured as fluid IQ and total grey matter volume, respectively. Mid-life activities were measured using the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire. Results Multivariable linear regression found that mid-life activities (MA) made a unique contribution to late-life cognitive ability independent of education, occupation and late-life activities. Crucially, MA moderated the relationship between late-life cognitive ability and brain structure, with the cognitive ability of people with higher MA less dependent on their brain structure, consistent with the concept of CR. Conclusions. Mid-life intellectual, physical and social activities contribute uniquely to CR. The modifiability of these activities has implications for public health initiatives aimed at dementia prevention.


Main methods for determination of the degree of molecular similarity used in modern theoretical chemistry are surveyed. Methods for predicting the properties of chemical compounds based on the statement ′similar structures possess similar properties′ are described. Examples of using these approaches for the modelling of structure–property correlations for organic compounds are given.


Distal renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is known to cause metabolic bone abnormalities. For the first time to our knowledge, a case of distal RTA is reported in association with a superscan on bone scintigraphy. Reported cases of metabolic bone diseases producing a superscan appearance were reviewed, and underlying mechanisms are discussed. We speculate that impaired hydrogen ion secretion in this patient with distal RTA subclinically increased bone turnover, contributing to the superscan appearance on bone scintigraphy.


The 3-adrenergic receptor (ADRB3) is expressed mainly in visceral adipose tissue and is thought to contribute to lipolysis and the delivery of free fatty acids to the portal vein. This study was aimed at evaluating the association between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and ADRB3 genetic polymophisms. A total of 991 healthy examinees who were examined in a university hospital, located in Busan City, between May and December 2006 were enrolled in this study. Height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures of the subjects were examined. Intravenous concentrations of fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglyceride were also measured. After extracting DNA from the subjects, mutations of the +188T>C (Trp64Arg) of exon 1 and +3893T>C of intron 2 on the ADRB3 gene were genotyped using the single base extension method. We have identified a novel mutation of ADRB3 that is located in intron 2. The frequency of its minor allele was 0.164. Both the +188T>C mutation of exon 1 and +3893T>C mutation of intron 2 were significantly associated with HDL-C. The mean concentration of serum HDL-C was significantly lower in the presence of their minor allele `C`. These results suggest that both mutations of +188T>C of exon 1 and +3895T>C of intron 2 have significant associations with HDL-C in the Korean population.


In this article, we report on the formation of optically transparent photopolymer films from hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) by inkjet printing, where droplets of monomer approximately 5 μm in diameter were deposited onto a surface. The films were cured by irradiation with a UV-light-emitting-diode light source. It was found that the inkjet-printed HDDA films picked up a considerable amount of absorbed O2 during printing. Exposure to increasing amounts of O2 during photocuring severely restricted both the degree of conversion and the UV dose required for gelation in proportion to the O2 concentration. Viscoelastic property data indicated that exposure to reduced oxygen concentrations during thermal postcuring (dark reaction) resulted in linear trends of increasing modulus above the glass-transition temperature (Tg) and increasing Tg itself. Thus, the final crosslink density was greater in fully cured samples that were exposed to atmospheres with increasing inert gas concentrations. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011


We investigate the generation of metrically accurate Homeric poetry. We assess the quality of the generated lines of poetry using quantitative metrical analysis and expert evaluation. This evaluation reveals that our model captures complex poetic meter implicitly, but underperforms in terms of semantics and context matching. Our research highlights the importance of expert evaluation and shows that future research should focus on poetic semantics.


Background and Objective:

Stress hyperglycemia may occur in diabetic patients with acute severe cerebrovascular disease, but the results regarding its association with stroke outcomes are conflicting.Our study aimed to examine the association between stress-induced hyperglycemia and the occurrence of in-hospital death in patients with diabetes and acute ischemic stroke.
Research Design and Methods:

All data were from the Chinese Stroke Center Alliance (CSCA) database and were collected between 2016 and 2018 from > 300 centers across China. Patients' demographics, clinical presentation, and laboratory data were extracted from the database. The primary endpoint was in-hospital death. The ratio of fasting blood glucose (FBG) to HbA1c was calculated, i.e., the stress-induced hyperglycemia ratio (SHR), to determine stress hyperglycemia following acute ischemic stroke.
Results

A total of 168,381 patients were included. The mean age was 66.2 ± 10.7, and 77,688 (43.0%) patients were female. The patients were divided into two groups: survivors (n = 167,499) and non-survivors (n = 882), as well as into four groups according to their SHR quartiles (n = 42,090 − 42,099/quartile). The frequencies of traditional cardiovascular risk factors increased with the SHR quartiles. There were 109 (0.26%), 142 (0.34%), 196 (0.47%), and 435 (1.03%) patients who died in the Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 quartiles, respectively. Compared with Q1 patients, the death risk was higher in Q4 patients (odds ratio (OR) = 4.02) (adjusted OR = 1.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.14–3.12, P = 0.026 after adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors).
Conclusions

The SHR may serve as an accessory parameter for the prognosis of patients with diabetes after acute ischemic stroke.Hyperglycemia in stroke patients with diabetes mellitus is associated with a higher risk of in-hospital death.


Iterative thresholding algorithms are well-suited for high-dimensional problems in sparse recovery and compressive sensing. The performance of this class of algorithms depends heavily on the tuning of certain threshold parameters. In particular, both the final reconstruction error and the convergence rate of the algorithm crucially rely on how the threshold parameter is set at each step of the algorithm. In this paper, we propose a parameter-free approximate message passing (AMP) algorithm that sets the threshold parameter at each iteration in a fully automatic way without either having an information about the signal to be reconstructed or needing any tuning from the user. We show that the proposed method attains both the minimum reconstruction error and the highest convergence rate. Our method is based on applying the Stein unbiased risk estimate (SURE) along with a modified gradient descent to find the optimal threshold in each iteration. Motivated by the connections between AMP and LASSO, it could be employed to find the solution of the LASSO for the optimal regularization parameter. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work concerning parameter tuning that obtains the fastest convergence rate with theoretical guarantees.


This case uses an array of carefully selected and excerpted revenue recognition related information contained in Salesforce.com's January 31, 2019, 10-K. Maria, the fictional protagonist, is seeking to understand those disclosures as part of her preparation for an upcoming job interview with the company. As such, she is relying on those disclosures to provide insights as to the company's main product/service lines, the events that signal when and how much revenue the company has earned (i.e., the essence of its business model), along with the related official generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) criteria pertinent to the valuing and timing of recorded revenues. Excerpt UVA-C-2428 Rev. Jun. 5, 2020 Revenue Recognition (Topic 606) at Salesforce.com, Inc. After her previous review of the revenue recognition information provided by General Dynamics and Ford Motor Company (Ford) in their recent 10-K reports, Maria had become intrigued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB's) latest revenue recognition and disclosure requirements. Prior to the FASB's issuance of its comprehensive new revenue recognition guidance and its follow-on official addendums and interpretations (all currently published as Accounting Standard Codification [ASC] 606, and often referred to simply as Topic 606), companies had to consider a myriad of revenue recognition rules, from various sources, with potentially contradictory and/or ambiguous requirements. Moreover, Maria had learned that many, if not most, of the known financial reporting frauds or misstatements in the recent past had pertained to companies' misreporting revenues. In general, those guilty companies had "pushed the envelope" in finding rationales for recording more revenues sooner than they should have. Topic 606 was largely intended to clarify what companies could do in reporting revenues for fiscal years beginning in 2018. One knowledgeable pundit summed up the arrival of Topic 606 onto the contemporary financial reporting scene in a particularly poignant way, stating, "The new accounting rules are considered by many to be the biggest change to accounting standards in the last 100 years. Noncompliance is a huge risk. Revenue recognition errors are the biggest reason for earnings restatements. Earnings restatements can lead to firings, fines, and even jail time." The convergence of two desires were motivating Maria to take another look at some examples of the now-in-force revenue recognition practices. First of all, she was interested in companies that operated in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry sector. Second, she had an interview with Salesforce.com, Inc., next week, and she wanted to be well prepared. In particular, she had heard it expressed that the revenue recognition practices and related disclosures of a company were an informative window into a company's business model. She wanted to be well-versed on that for her interview. Before heading to San Francisco for her corporate interview, she assembled some important revenue-related information from the company's most recent 10-K, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (see Exhibits 1–3). Maria's Tasks . . .


Preschool age is one of the most important periods in man's life, in which children grow rapidly while the environment provides proper stimulus so that they are fully developed and can go over to the next educational stages smoothly. A total of factors affects this progress. These factors are related to the program of kindergarten, the practices that are applied, the surrounding area, the relations between the kindergarten teacher and the broader social context, moreover the kindergarten teachers themselves are responsible for such an important function. The purpose of this research is to expand the undergraduate student's views of the University of Early Childhood Education concerning the features of an ideal kindergarten that favors children's development and offers a pleasant and creative stay.


Rangelands are actually known as feed resources for animals. At the same time they have potential resources for multiple-uses such as water source, rich of flora and fauna, and recreation areas. They should be carefully used and conserved for their optimum benefits of long term. Deterioration and degradation process have still continued due to mismanagement of rangelands. Present range status should be reversed with good management practices. For this reason, field works were conducted on the rangelands of Sivas Province in years of 2008, 2009 and 2010. A modified wheel point method with loop was used for vegetation survey in the 103 representative study sites of rangelands in Sivas province. The results of this study indicated that vegetation cover was quantified as 60.68%. The cover rates of decreasers and increasers were 15.53% and 22.23%, respectively. The studied sites numbers were 6, 62, and 35 for good, fair, and poor conditions, respectively. The 97 sites of total sites were identified as fair and poor in condition based on the rangeland condition classes. On the other hand, 26 sites were found at healthy, 35 sites at risky and 42 sites at unhealthy in rangeland health categories. Total site number of the last two classes was 77. Study results indicate that rangelands are also in slow degradation trend and high potential for having been successively reversed to the climax situation with proper restoration and management practices for rangelands.


Detection of haloalkanes is of great industrial and scientific importance because some haloalkanes are found serious biological and atmospheric issues. The development of a flexible, wearable sensing device for haloalkane assays is highly desired. Here, we develop a paper-based microfluidic sensor to achieve low-cost, high-throughput, and convenient detection of haloalkanes using perovskite nanocrystals as a nanoprobe through anion exchanging. We demonstrate that the CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, or I) nanocrystals are selectively and sensitively in response to haloalkanes (CH2Cl2, CH2Br2), and their concentrations can be determined as a function of photoluminescence spectral shifts of perovskite nanocrystals. In particular, an addition of nucleophilic trialkyl phosphines (TOP) or a UV-photon-induced electron transfer from CsPbX3 nanocrystals is responsible for achieving fast sensing of haloalkanes. We further fabricate a paper-based multichannel microfluidic sensor to implement fast colorimetric assays of CH2Cl2 and CH2Br2. We also demonstrate a direct experimental observation on chemical kinetics of anion exchanging in lead-halide perovskite nanocrystals using a slow solvent diffusion strategy. Our studies may offer an opportunity to develop flexible, wearable microfluidic sensors for haloalkane sensing, and advance the in-depth fundamental understanding of the physical origin of anion-exchanged nanocrystals.


This paper aims to analyze 16 English language school textbooks used in the Omani government schools. Quantitative and qualitative content analyses are used to investigate personality traits found in the textbooks. The analysis included all personal traits implied by images and texts in the textbooks. According to Hawkins's (2007) classification of personal traits, personal traits are examined: traditional and feminist gender traits. The study results have indicated that there is a balanced representation of males and females in terms of personal traits. The study has also shown that the majority of masculine personal traits are stereotypical. Females were portrayed in different situations that conveyed masculine and feminine traits. Males were portrayed as risk-takers, self-reliant, nurturing, adventurous, decisive, competitive, and aggressive. Females were portrayed in a variety of personal traits such as nurturing, understanding, affectionate, risk-taker, self-reliant, competitive, aggressive, adventurous, and decisive.


Abstract Background: Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive and malignant disease that usually presents as an isodense or hypodense lesion with no significant enhancement in contrast CT. CT scan plays an important role in the diagnosis of pancreatic diseases, especially in pancreatic cancer and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Presentation: This report includes a case of a 53-year-old female patient presenting a high-density mass in the pancreas on contrast CT. The mass was surgically removed, and the pathology confirmed the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: Sometimes the contrast CT of pancreatic cancer can be expressed as high density, which is similar to pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. It is necessary for us to identify carefully.


Daily sunspot number data for the northern and southern solar hemispheres from 22 cycle maximum to the current cycle 23 maximum are analyzed using nonlinear time series methods in an effort to identify chaotic behavior on short time scales as indicated by the recent helioseismic observations. We find that separate analyses of north and south solar hemisphere data provide more consistent results. Different behavior at maxima and minimum are observed. The maximum sections have a region that bears the marks of self-similarity whereas the minimum shows no such behavior. However, it is the minimum data that determine the results for the correlation dimension over one cycle. Thus, over many cycles, minima mask the potentially self-similar sections at maximum; access to information on whether the solar cycle is chaotic long-term is severely limited, if not precluded. To make sure the results were not affected by noise, the method of artifactual correlations was used to investigate the noise content of the data, indicating that both the north and south data sets were relatively free of additive noise.


Author(s): Ehnes, Devon Duron | Advisor(s): zur Nieden, Nicole I | Abstract: Bone is a complex mineralized tissue that functions as a structural support for the body, as well as in mineral storage and homeostasis. Its development is as complex as it's function, with multiple molecular cues governing several aspects of its development and maintenance. Multiple previous studies over several decades have shown that failure to maintain tight regulation of these cues results in varying degrees of bone malformation, most frequently of the craniofacial variety. Various reports have cited a fundamental importance of both non-canonical and canonical Wnt signaling in regulating osteogenesis. Multiple studies have also revealed the importance of temporal-spatial regulation of their expression in promoting proper bone development.MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that are able to negatively regulate protein expression, serving as a regulatory mechanism in a variety of developmental processes and diseases. They function by binding to the 3' Untranslated Region of target mRNAs to induce mRNA degradation or translational inhibition. They are crucial for early embryonic differentiation, as studies have shown that embryonic stem cells that cannot generate miRNA exhibit impaired differentiation.The work presented in this dissertation focuses on two miRNAs that have not been previously characterized in osteogenesis: miR-690 and miR-361. These miRNAs were selected from a screen based on their differential patterns of accumulation in response to osteogenic factors, and their ability to positively regulate osteogenesis. Using embryonic stem cells as a model for early embryonic development, we observed that both miRNAs were capable of affecting Wnt signaling. We also noted a correlation of miRNA expression with accelerated and/or sustained expression of genes that are associated with neural crest specification or differentiation. These studies have established (i) that miR-690 supports osteogenesis by directly regulating Ctnnb1 during differentiation from the mesenchyme; and (ii) that miR-361 promotes osteogenesis by directly regulating the non- canonical Wnt inhibitor Prickle during mesenchymal commitment. This research presents novel possibilities in miRNA-mediated regulation of early osteogenic development, specifically with regard to regulation of Ctnnb1.


Parallel-transmit (pTx) pulses can help overcome B1 inhomogeneity at ultra-high field, however their performance is sensitive to geometry, orientation and composition of the coil load. Head motion in pTx effectively alters the load, damaging pulse performance and reintroducing artificial contrast to images. Here, we introduce a versatile method to reduce in-plane motion sensitivity of large tip-angle, parallel transmit pulses by designing pulses based on weighted-average B1-distributions. These include B1-distributions from multiple head positions to effectively expand the area over which the pulse can function. Error in resulting inversion profiles is reliably reduced following most in-plane translations and rotations, demonstrating motion-robustness.


In order to monitor the factory district energy automatically, decrease production cost, the Remote Meter Reading System(RMRS) is developed. Design of which uses virtual instrument software architecture, and all the meters with RS-485 interface are connected to enterprise information network through modules, which can invert RS-485 bus interface to Ethernet. The remote meter-reading software is developed under LabVIEW platform, Database is the core of application software, and information about the meters, classes and history data are connected to database. Using this architecture, it's convenient to manage all the information. Test data is obtained by communication sub-program, which realize the 645 terms through virtual instrument software architecture. Finally functions such as remote meter-reading, system data management, software privilege, instrument alarm promp, report generation and print are realized. Field result shows that this system can not only provide the original data for energy analysis also can observe the trend of history curve.


Background: As a new method for predicting tumor prognosis, the predictive effect of immune-related gene pairs (IRGPs) has been confirmed in several cancers, but there is no comprehensive analysis of the clinical significance of IRGPs in gastric cancer (GC).Methods: The clinical and gene expression profile data GC patients were obtained from the GEO database. Based on the ImmPort database, differently expressed immune-related genes (DEIRGs) events were determined by a comparison of GC samples and adjacent normal samples. Cox proportional regression was used to construct an IRGPs signature, and its availability was validated with three external validation sets. In addition, we explored the association between clinical data and immune features and established a nomogram to predict outcomes of GC patients. Result: A total of 88 DEIRGs were found in GC from the training set, which formed 3828 IRGPs. 14 overall survival (OS)-related IRGPs were used to construct the prognostic signature. As a result, the patients in the high- risk group have a poorer OS compared with the low-risk group. In addition, the fraction of CD8+ T cells, plasma cells, T cells CD4 memory activated, and macrophages M1 were higher in the high-risk group. The expression of two immune checkpoints, CD276 and VTCN1, was significantly higher in the high-risk group. Based on the independent prognostic factors, a nomogram was established and showed excellent performance.Conclusion: The 14 OS-related IRGPs signature was associated with the OS, immune cells, and immune checkpoints of GC patients, which can provide the basis of related immunotherapy.


The environment is increasingly being recognized as an important driver of human health and the weight of the evidence is sufficiently high, thus warranting timely preventative action (Diamanti-Kandarakis et al. 2009; President's Cancer Panel 2010; Woodruff et al. 2008). However, it is a challenge to keep abreast of the deluge of scientific literature linking the environment to health. The volume and highly variable quality of data, as well as the barrage of bits and pieces of information, can leave the public and policy makers (and scientists) confused and overwhelmed as they try to grapple with the meaning behind the information. A perusal through PubMed on any of the hot topics in environmental health [e.g., bisphenol A, phthalates, PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers)] finds numerous studies on each topic. Each of us tries to sort through the accumulating evidence to understand its meaning, whether at the most personal level (e.g., should I give my baby water using a sippy cup made from polycarbonate plastic) to a more global level (e.g., should a pesticide be banned from use). Too much noise can diffuse rather than coalesce our common perception of the signal and undermine our capacity to act wisely.

Thus, reviews of scientific evidence are a critical step toward speeding the incorporation of the science into action to prevent harm. Reviews assemble and synthesize the evidence across studies to inform an overall conclusion about state-of-the-science knowledge. Simple in concept, but challenging in application, lessons can be learned from the clinical field, which has grappled with a parallel need to incorporate the meaning of the science in a systematic and timely manner into beneficial patient treatment decisions and prevention methods.

Historically, the clinical field relied largely on a system of expert reviews on which to base treatment decisions (Rennie and Chalmers 2009). However, starting in the 1970s, the role of expert reviews began to be questioned for a number of reasons (e.g., potential bias of experts, timeliness of information); this led to the development of systematic approaches that would use rigorous, transparent, and explicit methodology to evaluate a clearly formulated question. Landmark papers published in the clinical literature, such as Antman et al. (1992), showed that reviews based solely on expert opinion "did not work" and demonstrated the superiority of systematic reviews for patient outcomes (Rennie and Chalmers 2009).

The need for a comparable approach to reviews is equally compelling in the field of environmental health science because of the large number of studies and because they are as subject to bias as those in the clinical sciences. Notably, the influence of financially conflicted sources of funding is well recognized in the clinical world (Rennie 2010), and widely used examples of systems that utilize best practices for weighing and communicating the strength of the scientific evidence (West et al. 2002) prohibit sponsorship by any commercial source or sources [i.e., Cochrane Reviews (Higgins and Green 2006)] or recommend that the quality of potentially conflicted evidence be downgraded when evaluated [i.e., Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) (Guyatt et al. 2008)]. Similar concerns have been raised in the environmental health literature (President's Cancer Panel 2010) and warrant similar attention.

However, although the clinical sciences point the way, these systems are not fully transferable to environmental health science because of differences in the types of evidence generally available and how decisions to expose populations and individuals are made. For example, in the clinical setting, in vivo, in vitro, and human experimental evidence combined with an analysis of risks and benefits have informed human exposure decisions prior to the the entry of the substances into the marketplace. Systematic reviews in the clinical sciences proceed from this evidence and context.

In stark contrast, population exposure to exogenous substances in the environment typically occurs before regulatory scrutiny of a compound and in the absence of risk–benefit analysis, because of the current regulatory structure for governing manufactured chemicals. Ethical considerations virtually preclude experimental human data from the environmental health evidence stream, so we must rely on in vitro and in vivo studies for early warnings of adverse effects and on human observational studies to assess the nature and extent of the damage.

To rapidly move the best science into improved health outcomes, we need to apply the pertinent lessons and embrace the continued challenges of the clinical sciences. To that end, we are collaborating with 22 scientists and clinicians from the United States and Europe to craft the Navigation Guide, a systematic and transparent methodology that proceeds from GRADE but reflects the differences in evidence and decision contexts. Professional societies, health care organizations, government agencies, and other potential guideline developers working with toxicologists can use the Navigation Guide to craft consistent and timely recommendations to improve patient and population health outcomes.

Finally, the science of systematic reviews in the clinical sciences has evolved to be a relatively well-resourced and respected academic field in its own right. Currently, the science of environmental health science review and synthesis is largely relegated to regulatory and other government agencies, and few resources are allocated to the science of interpretation. The rising prominence of the environment as a key determinant of health requires that we devote concordant effort to primary scientific discovery and to the building upon and synthesis of the research through the systematic and transparent reviews. The reviews in this issue of Environmental Health Perspectives are a welcome step in the right direction.


In families with a monogenic disorder, the causal mutation usually cosegregates with the disease phenotype. In rare cases, however, individuals carrying the same mutation within a family may show various phenotypes. This study aimed to analyze the discrepancy between genotype and phenotype in three families with moderate hemophilia A (HA) caused by missense mutation in the F8 gene. Among the 67 noninversion moderate HA families in our cohort, incomplete penetrance was found in three families. In these three families, the grandfathers were asymptomatic, whereas the probands had different clinical phenotypes. Apart from one mutation in the VWF gene (c.1330 G>A) found in one grandfather, only one missense mutation (c.5837A>T, c.6679G>A, and c.6506G>A, in the respective families) in the F8 gene was identified in each proband and their grandfathers. Subsequent Sanger sequencing results combined with bioinformatic analysis indicated that the three missense mutations in the F8 gene were the causative mutations. Our study demonstrated incomplete penetrance of missense mutation within HA families in China. Therefore, genetic counseling and management of such cases need to be reappraised.


The following study aims to analyze the influence of the student's perceptions on the use of technological innovations in the classroom and their impact on academic performance. For the study we used a sample of university students enrolled in Business Management and International Business degrees in two universities, one private and one public, located in the region of Valencia (Spain). Measuring scales for the perception of innovation have been taken from the literature. The present study follows a quantitative research methodology.


OBJECTIVE
The metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and mortality. However, the association between microalbuminuria and the metabolic syndrome has not yet been reported in the general population in Japan. Therefore, we undertook a population-based study to examine the association between microalbuminuria and the metabolic syndrome in Takahata, Japan.

METHODS
Subjects of this cross-sectional study were individuals aged from 40 to 87 years old. The metabolic syndrome was defined according to the criteria of the Adult Treatment Panel III. Microalbuminuria was defined as a urine albumin-creatinine ratio of 30 to 300 mg/g.

RESULTS
A total of 2,321 subjects (mean age 64 years old) were entered into the final analysis. Among them, the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and microalbuminuria was 16.5% and 13.7%, respectively. There was a significantly positive correlation between the number of components of the metabolic syndrome and the corresponding prevalence of microalbuminuria (p<0.001). In the subjects with metabolic syndrome compared with those without metabolic syndrome, the age- and gender-adjusted odds ratio of microalbuminuria was 1.99 (95% CI, 1.49-2.66). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that high glucose, high blood pressure and obesity were independently associated with microalbuminuria.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study revealed a strong relationship between microalbuminuria and the metabolic syndrome in the general population in Japan. More comprehensive and intensive management of the metabolic syndrome at its early stage is important to prevent the progression of renal injury and cardiovascular complications.


Self-reflection is believed to be essential to competent practice and thus should be introduced early in clinical training. This study examined the self-reflective logs of 12 master's level trainees to gain an understanding of the focus and content of their self-reflective thoughts and experiences while working with one client in counselling. Using consensual qualitative research methodology, 3 themes captured the bulk of their self-reflections: (a) the role of emotions in the learning process, (b) the client's contributions to their learning, and (c) the intentional use of therapeutic building blocks. Implications for counsellors, supervisors, and training programs are discussed.


From a functional standpoint, classic robots are not at all similar to biological systems. If compared with rigid robots, animals' bodies look overly redundant, imprecise, and weak. Nevertheless, animals can still perform a vast range of activities with unmatched effectiveness. Many studies in biomechanics have pointed to the elastic and compliant nature of the musculoskeletal system as a fundamental ingredient explaining this gap. Thus, to reach performance comparable to nature, elastic elements have been introduced in rigid-bodied robots, leading to articulated soft robotics [1] (see "Summary"). In continuum soft robotics, this concept is brought to an extreme. Here, softness is not concentrated at the joint level but instead distributed across the whole structure. As a result, soft robots (henceforth, omitting the adjective continuum) are entirely made of continuously deformable elements. This design solution aims to bring robots closer to invertebrate animals and the soft appendices of vertebrate animals (for example, an elephant's trunk and the tail of a monkey). Several soft robotic hardware platforms have been proposed with increasingly higher reliability and functionalities. In this process, considerable attention has been devoted to the technological side of the problem, leading to a large assortment of hardware solutions. In turn, this abundance opened up the challenge of developing effective control strategies that can manage the soft body and exploit its embodied intelligence.


In today's era, it is important to save energy as much as for the sake of better financial, environmental, national security and above all the mankind. The Smartphone batteries are huge consumer of energy when using several apps. The proposed system is to develop a CDroid operating system in Fujitsu server for mobile cloud computing as saving energy, enhancing battery life and put aside processor cycles of mobile phone, sharing data / information and faster access. Our CDroid system shares both the server and phone memory as well by using offloading mechanism. The Smartphone transmits the data in binary format by using CDroid device stored in it. CDroid device includes application framework to countenance multitudinous applications. The FSK, FDMA and TDM maneuver to locomotion information. CDMA2000 1xEV-DV promote channelized the information that may include both data and voice. The UMTS, WCDMA, HSDPA, EVDO are some protocols to communicate through mobile tower. A mobile tower is made up of microwave, GSM antennas and radio frequency (RF) cables. They intercommunicate with the base station through MTSO. Bandwidth provided for this kind of radio network around 1200 to 1400 MHz. Wireless spectrum is used the RF between 800 MHz to 2.2 GHz bands. The Smartphone uses 0.6 to 3 watts. The CDroid OS inside fujitsu server in cloud is conveyed by ISP's as per standards. World's fastest fujitsu server contains CDroid (a server approach) constituents within cloud accommodates the connection handler (secure), optimizer users traffic, caching and prefetching; content compression is also done here. The security issues must encompass various apps, anti-phishing, cookie handler, sensitive information blocker, push notification handler and GE-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH VOLUME -2, ISSUE -7 (September 2014) IF-3.022 ISSN: (2321-1717) A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal Included in the International Serial Directories. GEInternational Journal of Engineering Research (GE-IJER) Website: www.aarf.asia. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com , firstname.lastname@example.com Page 2 remote wipers. Mobile advertisement blocker, push notification handler protects users' privacy. Synchronization handler, remote code executor handles mobiles computations and loading the data backup. As the operating system and information are accumulated onto clouds the power necessitate to process consumed into fujitsu server. This preserves Smartphone battery life, besides this mobile cloud server is quickest among others. It provides the winged response to the user. We had described thoroughly the architecture of newly proposed system. This will be next step towards the changing nature of hybrid cloud unsegregated mobile technology for the future. Keypoints Smartphone, CDroid, Fujitsu Server, Cloud Computing.


Close to the quantum critical point of the transverse-field Ising spin-chain model, an exotic dynamic spectrum was predicted to emerge upon a perturbative longitudinal field. The dynamic spectrum consists of eight particles and is governed by the symmetry of the $E_8$ Lie algebra. Here we report on high-resolution terahertz spectroscopy of quantum spin dynamics in the ferromagnetic Ising-chain material CoNb$_2$O$_6$. At 0.25 K in the magnetically ordered phase we identify characteristics of the first six $E_8$ particles, $\mathbf{m}_1$ to $\mathbf{m}_6$, and the two-particle ($\mathbf{m}_1+\mathbf{m}_2$) continuum in an applied transverse magnetic field of $B_c^{1D}=4.75$ T, before the three-dimensional magnetic order is suppressed above $B_c^{3D}\approx 5.3$ T. The observation of the higher-energy particles ($\mathbf{m}_3$ to $\mathbf{m}_6$) above the low-energy two-particle continua features quantum many-body effects in the exotic dynamic spectrum.


The present study investigated the attrition process of rape allegations. The study adopted a multi-method research approach incorporating quantitative and qualitative data to reveal the factors that influence the processing of rape and the degree to which stereotypical notions, or 'rape myths', can still be held responsible for the poor outcome of so many cases. Analysis revealed that the majority of rape allegations did not proceed beyond the police stage of proceedings, complainant withdrawals accounting for the majority of these. Just 21 per cent of the original sample reached the Crown Court, resulting in a final conviction rate of six per cent. The research established that the views of those involved in investigating and prosecuting rape cases were often based on stereotypical views of 'genuine' rape, usually rooted in notions of appropriate female behaviour. Thus, cases approximating the 'classic rape' - involving stranger perpetrators, virginal victims, the use - or threat - of a weapon, and evidence of injury to the complainant - were those most likely to proceed. However, in a climate where the nature of rape has changed to include more allegations involving complainants and perpetrators who are known to one another, physical evidence is often lacking and the issue becomes one of 'consent' and whether the complainant willingly engaged in sexual relations with the alleged perpetrator. In this case, the focus turns increasingly to the character and the credibility of the complainant and whether she will present as a strong witness in court. Indeed, what is found to be at the centre of the debate is not necessarily whether there is a 'genuine rape' or even whether there is a 'credible victim', but, more usefully for the purposes of the criminal justice system, whether there is a convincing witness to put before a jury - a consideration that was found to affect decision-making throughout the system.


Inhibition of α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is considered a prospective method for the prevention of type II diabetes. As two flavonoids obtained from fruits, swertisin (SW) and apigenin (AP) have similar structures and display various pharmacological properties. To examine the effects of flavonoid structure on inhibition of AGEs adducts and carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes activity, molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations (MDs) were used. The molecular docking method was performed by the Autodock program, and the ligand that showed the most negative binding energy was selected for further investigation. SW showed the potential ability to inhibit the AGEs formation and carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes activity. The stability of the receptor/SW complex was evaluated by MDs. Based on the findings of the present study, it was found that SW has the potential to reduce glycation and delay the activity of α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes.


[Purpose] The purpose of this study was investigated the effect of tight clothes on cervical and thoracic spine muscles activities during shoulder abduction. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects of this study were 10 healthy males. The subjects performed two shoulder abduction trials for each of two jacket-wearing conditions. The right upper, middle, and lower trapezius and serratus anterior muscles activities were measured using a surface electromyography system during right shoulder abduction. [Results] The upper and middle trapezius muscle activities during shoulder abduction were significantly increased under the tight-jacket conditions compared with the general-jacket conditions. The lower trapezius and serratus anterior muscle activities were significantly decreased under the tight-jacket conditions compared with the general-jacket conditions. [Conclusion] The results of this study suggest that normal scapular movements did not occur sufficiently when wearing a tight jacket.


The predictions of possible 2D patterns of corrugations (the 'islands') of the unstable flat phase boundary separating the pre-stressed solid substance and the melt are carried out on the basis of a quasi-static evolution. The dispersion relations for the increment of small disturbances are announced for the model of an isotropic solid of arbitrary thickness and in-plane pre-stresses. It seems that the predictions can be checked in various experiments mentioned by Nozieres (1990) and in particular, in experiments with 4He similar to those of Torii and Balibar (1992); also, they can be compared with numerous experimental data related to solid epitaxial films.


In this article, the authors consider the concept of "functional food" in a biomedical context. In the modern world, it is quite difficult to eat regularly and properly. A modern consumer is active, mobile, socially loaded; consequently, the minimum time per day is allocated for food. As a result, there is a slowdown in metabolic processes, and the body receives an insufficient number of useful components and vitamins. More than that, there are malfunctions in the intestine. To eliminate these problems, it is necessary to start eating functionally. It will make up for the deficiency of the necessary vitamins, minerals, and components for optimal and coordinated work, as well as weight loss. The article presents the rationale for the interrelation of functional food as an element of national culture and as a means of disease prevention. The authors propose a rationale for the "separation" of the definition of functional nutrition, formed in a certain ethno-cultural environment, from its fundamental basis in modern conditions and "transfer" to other social environments. The scientific relevance of the study is due to the growing interest of scientists to the problem of the relationship of cultures in the context of globalization, as well as the need for a more detailed study of the ancient semantic "food" unit as a representative.


Biosensor applications have made promising progress during the last decade, presenting potentials and challenges at the same time. Meanwhile, digital signal processing (DSP) has become even more powerful than before, due to Moore's Law. Bridging the biosensor applications and the digital circuits, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are a critical block that inuences the performance of the entire system, in terms of speed, accuracy and power. Particularly, incremental ΣΔ (IΣΔ) ADCs have recently received increasing research interest because of their high-resolution feature and the ability to time-multiplex different channels of input signals, making them especially suitable for neuro-science studies and brain-computer-interface (BCI). However, IΣΔ ADCs are less power-ecient than traditional ΣΔ ADCs.To improve the power eciency and reduce the chip size, an inverter-based continuous-time (CT) Sigma-Delta (ΣΔ) modulator is proposed, to be integrated in a two-step I(ΣΔ) ADC previously designed. Inverter-based operational transconductance amplifers (OTA) have recently demonstrated their high power efficiency in multiple ΣΔ modulators, most of which are discrete-time (DT) implementation. CT implementation is investigated in this thesis for the possibility to further reduce power consumption, due to its more relaxed requirements on bandwidth and settling compared to the DT counterpart. In the circuit implementation of the modulator, fully-differential topology is used in inverter-based CT ΣΔ ADCs for the rst time. Compared to pseudo-differential topology, fully-differential topology has more precise control on the operating point and the quiescent power.The post-layout simulation result shows that the modulator achieves a peak SNDR of 58.1 dB, and a dynamic range of 65.9 dB. The entire modulator consumes 1.28 μW from a 1.2 V supply voltage, on a chip area of only 0.07 mm2. This corresponds to a FoM of 243 fJ/(conv. step).


The idea that similar selective processes operate in gene-based evolution, immunology, and operant psychology provides an intuitively appealing metaphor. This idea also isolates questions that operant psychologists should ask and makes some empirical predictions. However, the idea currently lacks the detail needed to precisely separate it from some plausible alternatives. This sort of thinking is the kind that operant psychologists should do if operant theorizing is to survive the competition among ideas.


A prospective randomized study encompassed 100 patients with asthma in the stage of acute bronchial obstruction, 7 to 17 years of age, of both sexes and with the similar rate of attack severity. The patients were spirometrically monitored (FVC, FEV1, PEF and FEF 25-75%) by a pediatrician-pulmonologist for 12 days. Fifty patients were subjected to conservative drug therapy, whereas other 50 patients additionally underwent the Su Jok therapy according to the 6-Ki principles, applying laser ray at the acupuncture points in the hand. After 12 days of treatment the group, in which both therapy methods were applied, reached the range of referent values for all investigated parameters. In the same period of time the group undergoing only conservative drug therapy retained values below the reference ones for the given age for 3 (FEV1, PEFR and FEF 25-75%) out of 5 investigated parameters. The obtained results differed from the group subjected to the combined therapy with the high rate of statistical significance. On the basis of the obtained results the efficacy of the 6-Ki technique of Su Jok therapy was confirmed as the therapeutic method supplementary to the conservative drug therapy in the treatment of acute bronchial obstruction in asthmatic children, provided that therapy is carried out in stationary conditions and under constant spirometric surveillance of the patient.


This paper examines the fiscal balances in Oman and their sensitivity to oil price shocks in the short and long term, using annual data for the period 1980–2016, and employing the vector auto regression model. Results of the study indicated that oil prices Granger cause gross domestic product (GDP) growth, capital formation and inflation. Impulse response analysis showed that an innovation in the oil prices and consequent oil revenues have a similar effect on most of the macroeconomic variables in Oman. Most of these variables show an increase in the first four quarters except for government expenditure and inflation. However, in many cases, this increase has quickly shifted to decrease over the successive quarters except for inflation, which showed a steady increase over time. Variance decomposition analysis, on the other hand, indicated that net oil price shock appears to be a key factor contributing to the volatility of GDP growth over time in Oman.


Chironomid larvae are frequently found living in phoretic or commensal association with aquatic animals in all regions of the world. In Brazil, new records have been available in the literature in the last years mainly for the state of São Paulo. In collects performed in several streams and rivers in the state of Rio de Janeiro and bordering areas, chironomid larvae were found living in association with Corydalidae (Megaloptera); Perlidae (Plecoptera); Leptophlebiidae (Ephemeroptera); Aeshnidae and Libellulidae (Odonata); Sericostomatidae (Trichoptera); Elmidae (Coleoptera) and catfishes of the families Trichomicteridae and Loricariidae (Pisces). These new records are presented in the present study.
Keywords: Chironomidae, Nanocladius (Plecopteracoluthus), Phoresy, Rheotanytarsus, symbiotic
associations.


Up to 80% of COVID-19 survivors experience prolonged symptoms known as long COVID-19. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program in patients with long COVID-19. The rehabilitation program was composed of physical training (aerobic, resistance, and breathing exercises), education, and group psychotherapy. After 6 weeks of rehabilitation in 97 patients with long COVID-19, body composition analysis revealed a significant decrease of abdominal fatty tissue (from 2.75 kg to 2.5 kg; p = 0.0086) with concomitant increase in skeletal muscle mass (from 23.2 kg to 24.2 kg; p = 0.0104). Almost 80% of participants reported dyspnea improvement assessed with the modified Medical Research Council scale. Patients' physical capacity assessed with the 6 Minute Walking Test increased from 320 to 382.5 m (p < 0.0001), the number of repetitions in the 30 s Chair Stand Test improved from 13 to 16 (p < 0.0001), as well as physical fitness in the Short Physical Performance Battery Test from 14 to 16 (p < 0.0001). The impact of fatigue on everyday functioning was reduced in the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale from 37 to 27 (p < 0.0001). Cardiopulmonary exercise test did not show any change. The multidisciplinary rehabilitation program has improved body composition, dyspnea, fatigue and physical capacity in long COVID-19 patients.


The present study assessed the expression of solute carrier 6 member 1 (SLC6A1) in ovarian cancer (OC) tissues and evaluated the effect of silencing SLC6A1 or caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2) on the proliferation, migration, and invasion of SK-OV-3 OC cells. The levels of caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2) and SLC6A1 mRNA were also examined in OC SK-OV-3, OVCAR3 and A2780 cell lines. The mRNA levels of CDX2 and SLC6A1 in SK-OV-3 OC cells were assessed following transection with microRNA (miR) 133a mimics; the mRNA and protein levels of SLC6A1 were determined following the silencing of CDX2, and the mRNA expression of CDX2 was gauged following the silencing of SLC6A1. A luciferase reporter assay was performed to assess the effect of miR133a on the CDX2 and SLC6A1 3′-untranslated regions (3′UTRs). The proliferation, migration and invasion rate of SK-OV-3 cells were then examined following the silencing of CDX2 or SLC6A1. The expression of SLC6A1 was increased in OC compared with adjacent tissue. The expression of CDX2 and SLC6A1 in SK-OV-3 and OVCAR3 cells was increased compared with A2780 cells (P<0.05). The level of CDX2 and SLC6A1 mRNA in SK-OV-3 cells decreased when the cells were transected with the miR133a mimics, compared with a negative control (P<0.05). Transfection with the miR133a mimics significantly reduced the luciferase activity of reporter plasmids with the SLC6A1 or CDX2 3′UTRs (P<0.05). The mRNA level of CDX2 was decreased subsequent to the silencing of SLC6A1; the mRNA and protein level of SLC6A1 were decreased when CDX2 was silenced (P<0.05). The proliferation, migration, and invasion of SK-OV-3 cells were significantly reduced following the silencing of CDX2 or SLC6A1 (P<0.05). CDX2 may therefore be inferred to promote the proliferation, migration and invasion in SK-OV-3 OC cells, acting as a competing endogenous RNA.


These approaches to crisis are a fundamental aspect of the systematic process of crisis management, but they are limited and must be accompanied by the existential side of the crisis. To live a major organizational crisis experience, if you want to think of the possibility of such a situation, may sometimes cause another intense anxiety. This anxiety, although irrational in the rational sense of the term, is nevertheless as real as possible. In order to answer the deep existential questions that occur during a crisis, there were and are applied different defensive strategies.


If a senior asks for a summer project on imaging, or a beginning graduate student inquires about an inviting entrance into contemporary imaging science, I would most probably recommend the subject of image debluring. And to my great satisfaction, I will hand out this remarkable introductory book by Hansen, Nagy, and O'Leary, which is well designed and orchestrated. To absorb most of the materials, all one needs are (1) some innate curiosity and passion in imaging, (2) very primitive knowledge on how to open MATLAB (but not how to program in MATLAB), and (3) some basic linear algebra on eigenvalues and singular values, which is often covered in sophomore courses. The authors have promised in the Preface that "The book is intended for beginners in the field of image restoration and regularization." Indeed, the promise has been faithfully kept throughout the manuscript. While the cliche goes: "Never judge a book by its cover" (or its physical layout), I must confess that a professional layout design, just like an elaborate stage setting in a Broadway show, does help convey more effectively the intellectual messages of a book. This is especially true for an imaging book like the present in this multimedia era. Four colors have been well orchestrated throughout the book, in contrast with the prevailing practice of monochrome printing in black ink. Framed red texts are entitled "Pointers" by the authors, pointing towards extra technical, bibliographical, historic, or online information. Framed green texts are named "Challenges," which are carefully crafted tasks intended to help a reader get hands dirty and mind engaged, and to foster a proactive learning experience. Finally, highlighted or framed purple-blue texts are termed "Very Important Points" (VIPs), signifying either important concepts, programming tips, or key properties. In addition to these colored texts, the SIAM Publisher has also been generously offering color plates for most figures, which further enhances the physical and informative appeal of the book. We now turn to the modeling, analytical, and computational aspects of the book. Like denoising or dejittering [4] in image processing, the prefix "de-" invariably refers to an inverse action intended to reverse a corruptive process tagged by the name that follows it, e.g., noising or jittering. Deblurring is to reverse a blurring process, so that a blurry image could regain its original sharpness and clearness. It is crucial (and rewarding in return) to realize that deblurring is first of all an inverse problem. The world appears blurry to deficient naked eyes. With a properly prescribed pair of


Autologous split thickness skin graft is necessary for the survival of patients with large burns and skin defects. It is not clear how a thin split thickness skin graft becomes remarkably thicker within a few weeks following transplantation. Here, we hypothesized that growth of split thickness graft should be from bottom up probably through conversion of immune cells into collagen producing skin cells. We tested this hypothesis in a preclinical porcine model by grafting split thickness meshed skin (0.508 mm thickness, meshed at 3:1 ratio) on full thickness wounds in pigs. New tissue formation was evaluated on day 10 and 20 post-operation through histological analysis and co-staining for immune cell markers (CD45) and type I collagen. The findings revealed that a split thickness graft grew from bottom up and reached to almost the same level as uninjured skin within 60 days post-operation. The result of immune-staining identified a large number of cells, which co-expressed immune cell marker (CD45) and collagen on day 10 post operation. Interestingly, as the number of these cells reduced on day 20, most of these cells became positive for collagen production. In another set of experiments, we tested whether immune cells can convert to collagen producing cells in vitro. The results showed that mouse adherent immune cells started to express type 1 procollagen and α-smooth muscle actin when cultured in the presence of fibroblast conditioned media. In conclusion, the early thickening of split thickness graft is likely happening through a major contribution of infiltrated immune cells that convert into mainly collagen producing fibroblasts in large skin injuries.


This thesis examines the concept of immersion concerning a physical space rather than a cinematic or virtual reality. The term has, within contemporary research of visual culture, often been ascribed to computer-generated realities in which the spectator is absorbed within a hermetically closed-off image space of illusion. Disconnected from the real, a critical aspect has been that the subject tends to lose his/her critical distance as a result of a total emotional involvement. My intention throughout this thesis is to show that the critique can be reversed—stepping outside of current realities can be a way to allow confrontation with alternative modes of cognitioning the world, thereby questioning its principles. Using phenomenological theories about perception and embodiment, I will consider how experiencing immersion without technical devices or different layers of mediation that separates body and space can affect the experience as such, but also what consequences this might have on the subject.
Applied to the amusement park area on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, a focus on immersive spectatorship can offer a new way of understanding how we experience and make meaning of space, through our bodies and in relation to space as a visual spectacle. Despite the fact that postmodern theories around hyperreality may seem to conflict with the phenomenological approach, I will use this concept as a complementing view in the discussion about the real and the imaginary. This perspective is further motivated by the fact that Coney Island has become a kind of icon within popular culture, thereby functioning as both a visual space and as an image of that same space.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Abnormalities of gastric myoelectric activity can be measured by electrogastrography (EGG). Such dysfunctions can be associated with disorders of gastric motility. It was the aim of this study to investigate the relationship between gastric electrical activity and motility in patients with dyspepsia due to gastrointestinal or extraintestinal disease.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
135 consecutive patients with dyspepsia (standardized score) were enrolled in this prospective study including patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) (n = 25), dyspepsia in diabetes mellitus type II (n = 27), hyperthyroidism (n = 23), progressive systemic scleroderma (PSS) (n = 20), chronic alcoholism (n = 20), and 20 patients with gastric lesions: gastric ulcer (n = 10) or gastric cancer (n = 10). The EGG measurements were performed over 60 min pre- and post-prandially state after ingestion of a solid-liquid test meal (370 kcal). The following parameters were measured: dominant electrical frequency (DF), percentage of DF in the normal frequency range (2-4 cpm), bradygastria (< 2 cpm), tachygastria (4-10 cpm), dominant frequency instability coefficient (DFIC), and power ratio. The data were compared with results in 40 healthy persons. The gastric emptying was determined by the gastric retention of 99mTc colloid after 60 min (gamma camera).

RESULTS
Nearly 50% of FD patients had delayed gastric emptying (gastric retention after 60 min > 68%): they patients exhibited significantly more tachygastrias than those with normal gastric emptying (P < 0.05). Patients with diabetes mellitus type II, PSS and chronic alcoholism showed normal electrical activity, although gastric emptying was delayed in nearly 50%. The hyperthyroid patients had increased tachygastria without abnormal gastric motility. Gastric lesions did not produce pathological electrogastrograms. The dyspepsia score did not correlate with either EGG or radioscintigraphy in the various patient groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Electrogastrography can detect tachygastrias, which are significantly increased in some patients with functional dyspepsia. Because of therapeutic consequences electrogastrography seems to be indicated in patients with functional dyspepsia.


INTRODUCTION: It has been demonstrated that organic content of the root canals can influence the antimicrobial capability of chemical irrigants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of bovine serum albumin (BSA), as an organic material, on the antimicrobial activity of several intracanal irrigants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bactericidal activity of Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) 17%, citric acid 10%, Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) 5.25%, Chlorhexidine 0.2% (CHX), Smear Clear and Cetrimide 0.5% were tested by means of dilution-neutralization method. Contact times were 10 and 30 seconds, 5, 10, 30, 60 minutes and 24 hours. First 950 λ of the medicament was mixed with 50 λ of the bacterial suspension in an Eppendorf test tube. The suspensions were thoroughly mixed. Sterile water served as negative controls. After each contact time, 100 λ of samples was transferred to the Eppendorf test tubes which contained neutralizers. After 5 minutes, 50 λ of serial dilutions were cultured on brain heart infusion agar and incubated in aerobic conditions. Then colonies were counted and reported as cfu/mL. In half of the samples, medicaments were suspended in BSA 0.5% 30 minutes before examination to assess its possible inhibitory effect on the antibacterial activity. RESULTS: NaOCl 5.25%, Cetrimide 0.5% and Smear Clear showed bactericidal activity within seconds after the incubation. BSA had no inhibitory effect on bactericidal activity of these three medicaments. CHX took 5 and10 minutes to kill all bacterial cells in the absence and presence of BSA, respectively. Citric acid and EDTA showed the least antibacterial activity. CONCLUSION: In this study, NaOCl 5.25%, Cetrimide 0.5% and Smear Clear were significantly more effective against E. faecalis than EDTA 17% and citric acid 10% in the presence and absence of BSA. Also, in the presence of BSA, bactericidal activity of CHX 0.2% against E. faecalis was significantly more than EDTA after 10 and 30 minutes of contact time. EDTA and citric acid showed the least bactericidal activity. [Iranian Endodontic Journal 2009;4(4):139-43]


There are approximately five million Muslims in Thailand (7 percent of the total population), with about 1.8 million in the southernmost provinces bordering on Malaysia. A considerable literature in history, anthropology, political science, international relations, and religious studies has been produced since January 4, 2004, when a violent Muslim insurgency dramatically erupted in the area. At that time over 100 Muslim insurgents raided an arms depot of the Fourth Army Engineers in Narathiwat Province. On January 22, in south Thailand, two Muslim young men on a motorcycle used a long knife to slit the throat of a sixty-four-year-old Buddhist monk, killing him. The monk had just returned from his early morning round of tham bun (alms-collecting extending merit to Buddhist families).


Some techniques based upon the partitioning of the signature file have been considered for improving the performance of the basic signature file access method. The authors discuss the performance issues of this approach. They identify the systems that can take advantage of this extended scheme. The following problems associated with the existing signature file partitioning methods based on the superimposed coding technique are discussed: (i) the problem of reducing the number partitions that must be examined when processing queries and (ii) the problem of nonuniform accesses to partitions. It is shown that these methods are not appropriate for systems in which the objects have a relatively large number of words. Some areas which require further study are described.<<ETX>>


Objectives: To obtain information about the number of patients attended by general practitioners indifferent stages of schizophrenia; relevant knowledge, diagnostic skills and ongoing practice concerningmanagement of patients suffering from severe mental illness. Methodology: For this cross sectional survey conducted from May to September 2010, a semi-structuredquestionnaire, obtained and modified from that of Simon AE et al was distributed among generalpractitioners working in Bannu district. The participants were requested to fill the questionnaireanonymously and return it to research worker. Results: Out of 100, 72 general practitioners responded to the request of filling the questionnaire. Amongthem 60 (85%) were males. Only 17% replied that they could spare more than half an hour for theassessment of schizophrenic patients. Sixty four percent reported delusions and hallucinations as the mostfrequent symptoms of schizophrenia. Seventy percent relied on personal history for diagnosis ofschizophrenia. Sixty percent practitioners considered pharmacotherapy as the first line therapy. More thanhalf of them wanted to continue treatment for six to twelve months in first psychotic episode. Seventypercent preferred to refer the patients to specialist care for complete handover. No one of the workingpractitioners participated in continuing medical education CME on schizophrenia during the past fewmonths of their professional life. Conclusion: The knowledge of general practitioners about signs and symptoms of schizophrenia isreasonable but they lack interventional skills. They need easily accessible specialized services for referraland regular training programmes to update their knowledge.


Genetic algorithms (GAs) often require many iterations for convergence. If the cost for the analysis of each laminate is high, then GA optimization becomes infeasible due to the large amount of CPU time required. A genetic algorithm''s ability to find optimal laminate designs that have complicated stacking sequence patterns in an efficient manner may be improved if the GA takes greater advantage of all the information generated throughout the search scheme. In a standard GA procedure, an elitist method is typically implemented where the worst laminate from the chil population is replaced with the best laminate from the parent population. Valuable information that may exist in other laminates of the parent population is no longer utilized once the child population has been created. The present paper suggests new multiple elitist and variable elitist schemes where more than just the best laminate from the old population may be preserved in successive generations providing the GA with additional laminate designs with good performance. These additional designs may contain pieces of the stacking sequence pattern that are vital for achieving the optimal laminate and help the GA converge more rapidly. Results generated by utilizing the multiple elitist and variable elitist methods have shown to yield richer final populations and minor improvements in the computational cost, while maintaining a high level of reliability.


Many people consider teaching a noble profession. Teachers enter the education profession and are attracted to teaching as a career because of what they view as the role of the teacher. Also, teachers find their professions very rewarding. However, educators, specifically those who are new in the profession, encounter challenges too. This study seeks to understand the lived experiences of young college teachers handling English as a Second Language (ESL) courses in an open admission academe. In this study, a qualitative-phenomenological inquiry is employed. Seven young faculty members aged 20-25 years old with less than five years of teaching experience share their rewarding experiences, challenges, and hopes with ESL education in open admission academe. Triangulation is used in this study through three data-gathering and verification modes: in-depth interview, focus group discussion, and checklist. The experiences of the participants show that they have love for the profession, that they see teaching as a rewarding profession, and that disconnect still exists between teaching and their prior training. The participants also shared their stories on student learning and their experiences with the preparation programs and some practical elements in teaching. Participants also expressed that they too experience burdensome workload, stress, and burnout. It has been concluded that these faculty participants view their teaching career as fulfilling, challenging, and life-changing.


Life expectancy is increasing and so is the prevalence of age-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Consequently, older people and patients present with multi-morbidities and more complex needs, putting significant pressure on healthcare systems. Effective nutrition interventions could be an important tool to address patient needs, improve clinical outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Inflammation plays a central role in NCDs, so targeting it is relevant to disease prevention and treatment. The long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 LCPUFAs) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) are known to reduce inflammation and promote its resolution, suggesting a beneficial role in various therapeutic areas. An expert group reviewed the data on omega-3 LCPUFAs in specific patient populations and medical conditions. Evidence for benefits in cognitive health, age- and disease-related decline in muscle mass, cancer treatment, surgical patients and critical illness was identified. Use of DHA and EPA in some conditions is already included in some relevant guidelines. However, it is important to note that data on the effects of omega-3 LCPUFAs are still inconsistent in many areas (e.g., cognitive decline) due to a range of factors that vary amongst the trials performed to date; these factors include dose, timing and duration; baseline omega-3 LCPUFA status; and intake of other nutrients. Well-designed intervention studies are required to optimize the effects of DHA and EPA in specific patient populations and to develop more personalized strategies for their use.


Temperature and compositional variations of the North American (NA) lithospheric mantle are estimated using a new inversion technique introduced in Part 1, which allows us to jointly interpret seismic tomography and gravity data, taking into account depletion of the lithospheric mantle beneath the cratonic regions. The technique is tested using two tomography models (NA07 and SL2013sv) and different lithospheric density models. The first density model (Model I) reproduces the typical compositionally stratified lithospheric mantle, which is consistent with xenolith samples from the central Slave craton, while the second one (Model II) is based on the direct inversion of the residual gravity and residual topography. The results obtained, both in terms of temperature and composition, are more strongly influenced by the input models derived from seismic tomography, rather than by the choice of lithospheric density Model I versus Model II. The final temperatures estimated in the Archean lithospheric root are up to 150°C higher than in the initial thermal models obtained using a laterally and vertically uniform "fertile" compositional model and are in agreement with temperatures derived from xenolith data. Therefore, the effect of the compositional variations cannot be neglected when temperatures of the cratonic lithospheric mantle are estimated. Strong negative compositional density anomalies (<−0.03 g/cm3), corresponding to Mg # (100 × Mg/(Mg + Fe)) >92, characterize the lithospheric mantle of the northwestern part of the Superior craton and the central part of the Slave and Churchill craton, according to both tomographic models. The largest discrepancies between the results based on different tomography models are observed in the Proterozoic regions, such as the Trans Hudson Orogen (THO), Rocky Mountains, and Colorado Plateau, which appear weakly depleted (>−0.025 g/cm3 corresponding to Mg # ∼91) when model NA07 is used, or locally characterized by high‐density bodies when model SL2013sv is used. The former results are in agreement with those based on the interpretation of xenolith data. The high‐density bodies might be interpreted as fragments of subducted slabs or of the advection of the lithospheric mantle induced from the eastward‐directed flat slab subduction. The selection of a seismic tomography model plays a significant role when estimating lithospheric density, temperature, and compositional heterogeneity. The consideration of the results of more than one model gives a more complete picture of the possible compositional variations within the NA lithospheric mantle.


Cine Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging has become the method-of-choice for the examination of the dynamic behaviour of the heart. An assessment of the left ventricle can reveal regions of myocardial dysfunction and their severeness. The scope of this work is a complete analysis of the left ventricular dynamics for the usage in a clinical environment. For that purpose, endocardial and epicardial borders are automatically extracted in 3D cine data in a first step. This is followed by a segmentation of the endocardium and the myocardium into 17 segments following the recommendations of the American Heart Association and the computation of common global volumetric values (stroke volume, ejection fraction etc.) and parameters that describe the left ventricular dynamics (wall motion, wall thickening). A retrospective analysis of cardiac cine MR image data from 20 patients (healthy ones, patients with abnormal wall motion, and patients who suffered an infarction) has been done. That image data has been acquired in the clinical routine at two different hospitals. The here presented automated approach led to a successful segmentation and assessment of the left ventricle for all data sets. The pathological cases could be identified easily due to their characteristic change of the motion pattern. The main advantage of our approach is the reproducibility of the assessment results and the gain in time for the cardiologist who has to analyse the huge amount of cine data.