Objective: Statistics about cancer survivorship are inexistent for the Puerto Rican population. With this study we intend to address the first objective of the Puerto Rico Cancer Control Plan 2008-2012 of increasing the knowledge and awareness of survivorship among the Puerto Rican community. Thus, this study aimed to estimate the number of cancer survivors living with a history of a primary malignant tumor in Puerto Rico (PR) as of January 1, 2011, through a secondary data analysis of the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry and assess cancer survivorship prevalence of the five most incident cancers in Puerto Rico (breast, prostate, colon and rectum, lung and bronchus, and thyroid). Methods: The study population consisted of people in Puerto Rico living with a cancer diagnosis as of January 1, 2011, as documented in the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry. We calculated the limited-duration prevalence, which represents the proportion of people alive on a certain day that had a diagnosis of the disease, within 5 years (2005-2010) and with 23 years (1987-2010). Using the limited duration prevalence statistics from 1987-2011, we also calculated the complete prevalence, which represents the proportion of people alive on a certain day that previously had a diagnosis of the disease, regardless of how long ago the diagnosis was made. The limited-duration prevalence statistics were calculated using the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Stat software and were later imported to SEER9s Complete Prevalence (ComPrev) software to calculate the complete prevalence. Statistics were calculated overall and by sex, age, period of diagnosis and cancer type. Results: For the complete prevalence, we estimated that 61,928 people in Puerto Rico were living with cancer as of January 1, 2011. Of these, 30,108 are men, 31,820 were women and 37,520 were over 65 years of age or older. For the limited-duration prevalence (2005-2010), we estimated that there were 29,057 cancer survivors in Puerto Rico: 16,131 were men, 12,926 were women and 15,922 were over 65 years of age or older. Results show that the prevalence of cancer survivors in Puerto Rico is higher for prostate (n=18,874) and breast cancer (n=13,736), followed by colorectal cancer (n=7,431), lung and bronchus (n=5,115) and thyroid (n=775) cancer. The prevalence of colon and rectum cancer was similar in both genders (n=3,443 were men and n=3,321 were women). However, the prevalence of lung and bronchus cancer was higher in men (n=403 men vs. n=310 women) and the prevalence of thyroid cancer was higher in females (n=3,367 women vs. n=627 men). Discussion: Similar to the US, most cancer survivors in PR are breast and prostate cancer survivors, as well as persons aged 65 years of age or older. Nonetheless, the proportion of cancer survivors in Puerto Rico (1.6%) is smaller when compared to the US population (4.4%). The findings in this report have important implications for public health practice. As cancer survivorship issues are being recognized, it is our goal to support public health9s efforts of improving the lives of cancer survivors, by increasing knowledge on survivorship in the Puerto Rican community. Cancer survivors have particular needs that should be addressed by the public health system. Information generated by this study is important for the development of research, outreach and intervention priorities in this population. Citation Format: Ana Patricia Ortiz-Martinez, Aixa M. Perez-Caraballo, Keyla Gonzalez-Lorenzo, Coral Cotto-Negron, Hilmaris Centeno, Crisanta Serrano-Collazo, Mitchelle Flores-Febo, Carlos Torres, Naydi Perez, Karen Ortiz-Ortiz. Cancer survivorship prevalence: Descriptive analysis of cancer survivors in Puerto Rico. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B16. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-B16


Return migration to Portugal during the period 1960-1981 is analyzed using census data. The author notes a steady increase in return migration over time particularly from the rest of Europe. An attempt is made to forecast future migration trends in light of Portugals forthcoming entry into the European Community and to estimate future trends in the emigrant population of Portuguese origin resident outside the country. (summary in ENG FRE) (ANNOTATION)


The electronic bandstructure in quantum dots and quantum wires is studied, including the valence-band mixing effects. Based on the bandstructure, results for the polarization dependence of absorption and gain (at room temperature) are examined. The related differential gain and the /spl alpha/-parameter is also studied. Our results show that it is extremely important to include valence-band mixing effects in predicting the laser performance of such structures. >


Hybrids of semiconductor nanomaterials often demonstrate properties that are superior to those of their components. In this study, we prepared hybrid nanomaterials of TiO2 and ZnO, which are among the most actively studied semiconductors, by means of millisecond-pulsed laser and analyzed how their morphology, particle size, and surface composition depend on preparation conditions. A series of nanomaterials were obtained via sequentially ablating Zn and Ti metal plates (in different sequences) in water, while laser pulses of lower (2.0 J/pulse) and higher (5.0 J/pulse) energy were applied. The properties of laser-produced hybrid TiO2-ZnO nanomaterials were shown to be governed by experimental conditions such as laser pulse width, pulse peak power, and reaction media (either pure water or colloid with nanoparticles). The morphology revealed nanospheres of TiO2 that decorate nanorods of ZnO or flower-like aggregates of zinc oxide. Intriguingly, after extended ablation time, titania was found to be self-doped with Ti3+ and Ti2+ ions, and the contribution of lower oxidation states of titanium could be controlled by the applied laser pulse energy. The physicochemical characteristics of hybrid nanomaterials were compared with pure ZnO and TiO2 prepared under the same laser conditions.


The purpose of this paper is to extend the Buneman construction of partially labelled trees to the general case. This extension is related with the characterization of median graphs by Mulder and Schrijver. In the first section, we construct a graph G(H) associated with a copair hypergraph H on a finite set X and define the notion of a median graph with latent vertices (called X-median graph). The latent vertices (i.e. the vertices who are not labelled by elements of X) are obtained by iterating the median operation from actual (labelled) vertices. In the second section, we prove that the graph G(H) is an X-median graph. Then, in the last section, we study some special cases, the Buneman result is reobtained and the hypergraphs whose associated graphs are Hasse diagrams of distributive lattices are characterized.


There are two major ways of selling impressions in display advertising. They are either sold in spot through auction mechanisms or in advance via guaranteed contracts. The former has achieved a significant automation via real-time bidding (RTB); however, the latter is still mainly done over the counter through direct sales. This paper proposes a mathematical model that allocates and prices the future impressions between real-time auctions and guaranteed contracts. Under conventional economic assumptions, our model shows that the two ways can be seamless combined programmatically and the publisher's revenue can be maximized via price discrimination and optimal allocation. We consider advertisers are risk-averse, and they would be willing to purchase guaranteed impressions if the total costs are less than their private values. We also consider that an advertiser's purchase behavior can be affected by both the guaranteed price and the time interval between the purchase time and the impression delivery date. Our solution suggests an optimal percentage of future impressions to sell in advance and provides an explicit formula to calculate at what prices to sell. We find that the optimal guaranteed prices are dynamic and are non-decreasing over time. We evaluate our method with RTB datasets and find that the model adopts different strategies in allocation and pricing according to the level of competition. From the experiments we find that, in a less competitive market, lower prices of the guaranteed contracts will encourage the purchase in advance and the revenue gain is mainly contributed by the increased competition in future RTB. In a highly competitive market, advertisers are more willing to purchase the guaranteed contracts and thus higher prices are expected. The revenue gain is largely contributed by the guaranteed selling.


Epizootics of a natural varicella-like disease occur in populations of nonhuman primates. Several primate herpesviruses have been isolated from these epizootics, but the relatedness of these isolates to each other is not well-defined. In this study, we demonstrated that the restriction endonuclease (REn) profiles of four epidemiologically distinct isolates were similar, although not identical, indicating that simian varicella epizootics are caused by various strains of simian varicella virus (SVV). The genetic variation among the isolates did not map to a specific region of the SVV genome and REn differences were detected within the SVV DNA long component and the inverted repeat region. Southern blot hybridization demonstrated that SVV is more closely related to varicella-zoster virus than to other primate herpesviruses. The study indicates that the current herpesvirus classification scheme should be changed to include SVV as a single taxonomic group within the Varicellovirus genus of alphaherpesviruses. In addition, REn profiles of SVV isolates, derived from primary and secondary episodes of simian varicella in the same monkey, were identical, providing evidence for SVV reactivation in a latently infected monkey.


..email@example.com. Introduction:Fracture neck of femur is one of serious injuries encountered in orthopaedic trauma management. It can result from trivial trauma in elderly but are usually the result of high-energy trauma in the younger age group. ObjectiveTo evaluate the results of Pauwel's osteotomy and oseosynthesis in patients with non union of femoral neck fractures. Setting Orthopaedic Unit, Nishtar Hospital, Multan. Duration 1989-1998. Material and methods Sample size 30 patients. Results: 30 cases of neglected fracture neck of femur treated. 5 patients were treated first with traction where greater trochanter migrated a way up to bring it down to the proper level. Then osteotomy was done. In 25 cases Pauwels' osteotomy was primarily done and fixed with 120 degree osteotomy plate. Follow up period ranged from 7 months to 2 and half years. Patients were assessed for reduction of the fracture site in according to alignment index by Garden for union of the fracture and range of mobility and pain relief in follow up period. Conclusion:This is a reliable method of dealing with nonunion of the fracture neck of the femur in young adults.


The article discusses mediated communication as an essential characteristic of television communications, there are examples of indirect communication with the audience and effective forms of meaningful interaction with the audience, taking into account their interests on Russian television, describes the components and criteria for successful communicative act that promotes adequate perception of the recipient meanings transmitted television reports.


Abstract. Baffin Bay serves as a huge reservoir of sea ice which would provide the
solid freshwater sources to the seas downstream. By employing
satellite-derived sea ice motion and concentration fields, we obtain a nearly
40-year-long record (1978–1979 to 2016–2017) of the sea ice area flux
through key fluxgates of Baffin Bay. Based on the estimates, the Baffin Bay
sea ice area budget in terms of inflow and outflow are quantified and
possible causes for its interannual variations and trends are analyzed. On
average, the annual (September–August) inflows through the northern gate and
Lancaster Sound are on the order of 205.8(±74.7)×103 km2
and 55.2(±17.8)×103 km2. In particular, a comparison with
published results seems to suggest that about 75 %–85 % of the
inflow through the northern gates is newly formed ice produced in the
recurring North Water Polynya (NOW), in addition to the inflow via Nares
Strait and Jones Sound. Meanwhile, the mean outflow via the southern gate
approaches 394.3(±110.2)×103 km2. The distinct
interannual variability for ice area flux through the northern gate and
southern gate is partly explained by wind forcing associated with cross-gate
sea level pressure difference, with correlations of 0.62 and 0.68,
respectively. Also, significant increasing trends are found for the annual
sea ice area flux through the three gates, amounting to 38.9×103,
82.2×103, and 7.5×103 km2 decade−1 for the northern gate, southern gate, and Lancaster Sound.
These trends are chiefly related to the increasing ice motion, which is
associated with thinner ice owing to the warmer climate (i.e., higher surface
air temperature and shortened freezing period) and increased air and water
drag coefficients over the past decades.


Background: Research indicates an increase in drug resistance to pathogenic human bacteria, despite the increase in synthetic antimicrobial drugs. As a result, medicinal plants are proving to be rich resources of constituents which can be used in drug development and synthesis of antimicrobial agents and/or their derivatives. Many of therapeutic drugs e.g. antimicrobial, anti-cancer and antioxidants have compounds extracted from plants as their primary active ingredients or molecules of plant origin serve as blue prints for synthetic or partially synthetic drugs. Methods: The antimicrobial activity of the Asparagus laricinus aqueous extract was evaluated by determination of minimum inhibitory concentration against laboratory strains of both gram-positive ( Bacillus subtilis , Streptococcus pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus ) and gram-negative bacteria ( Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris ). The micro-plate assays based on iodo-nitrotetrazolium violet indicator was used to evaluate cell viability. Antioxidative stress activity of the extract was determined using Saccharomyces cerevisiae (BY4742) as the model eukaryotic system, while constitutes of the plant extract were profiled using LC/MS. Results: This study reports on the anti-bacterial and antioxidative stress activity of Asparagus laricinus . It was observed that 50µg/ml of the plant extract was the (MIC) for the gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis , Streptococcus pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus . While100µg/ml that was required for other gram-negative strains, Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris and Staphylococcus aureus was inhibited by 25µg/ml of the plant extract. The plant extract protected Saccharomycescerevisiae (BY4742) cells from oxidative stress when the cells were incubated with 10mM (H 2 O 2 ) for 1.5 hours. The phyto constituents of the plant extract were profiled using LC/MS and four major peaks were assigned chemical formulae. Conclusions: Asparagus laricinus water extract showed antimicrobial and antioxidative stress activities. LC/MS profile of major constituents of the plant extract revealed the presence of an alkaloid similar to 4-thiazolidinones, known to have important biological activities.


Several state-supported digital vigilante groups emerged in Russia at the downturn of the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi (Ours), when its former commissars formed issuespecific movements to counter perceived legal and moral offences through exposure of targets on social media. One of such groups is StopXam (Stop a Douchebag), specializing in road-traffic and parking violations. StopXam participants confront the drivers and retaliate by placing stickers that read "I spit on everyone I drive where I want" on the targets' windshields. The retaliation is often accompanied by verbal and physical fighting; the process is filmed, edited, and shared on YouTube, receiving millions of views. While digital media made such practices possible, traditional broadcasters maintain significance in rendering meaning to the phenomenon of vigilantism and in framing vigilantes, their targets, police, and other actors. As the existing literature on digital vigilantism is predominantly focused on digital media affordances, this article aims to address this gap through a qualitative analysis of traditional media coverage of StopXam. Media analysis highlights intriguing nuances of traditional media as a powerful actor and discourse setter in the digital age.
Article in English
DOI: 10.25285/2078-1938-2019-11-3-16-45


Introduction Currently available screening questionnaires for Autism spectrum disorders were tested in developed countries, but many require additional training and many are unsuitable for older individuals, thus reducing their utility in lower/ middle- income countries. We aimed to derive a simplified questionnaire that could be used to screen persons in India. Methods We have previously validated Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism (ISAA), that is now mandated for disability assessment by the Government of India. This detailed tool requires intensive training and it is time consuming. It was used to derive a new screening questionnaire: 1) items most frequently scored as positive by participants with autism in original ISAA validation study were modified for binary scoring following expert review. 2) In a new sample, clinically diagnosed individuals with/without autism were administered the screening tool and ISAA following written informed consent. Its psychometric properties were determined. Results A 10-item scale named Indian Autism Screening Questionnaire (IASQ) was prepared in Hindi and English. Thereafter 145 parents/caregivers of participants (autism, n = 90, other psychiatric disorders, n = 55) (ages 3–18), were administered IASQ and ISAA (parents/caregivers plus observation) by separate interviewers, blind to each other and to diagnosis. At a cutoff of 1, sensitivity was 99%, specificity 62%, Positive Predictive Value 81%, and Negative Predictive Value 95%. Test-retest reliability was r = 0.767 (CI = 0.62–0.86) and interrater reliability- Krippendorff"s-alpha was 0.872. The area under Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC) was 95%. There was a significant difference on IASQ-scores between participants with and without a clinical diagnosis of Autism (t = 14.57, p<0.0001). Discussion The IASQ is a simple, easy to use screening tool with satisfactory reliability and validity, that can be administered to caregivers in 15 minutes and provides information about DSM 5 criteria for autism. It may be applicable outside India, following additional adaptation, for community-based studies.


Recently, the paradigm of unfolding iterative algorithms into finite-length feed-forward neural networks has achieved a great success in the area of sparse recovery. Benefit from available training data, the learned networks have achieved state-of-the-art performance in respect of both speed and accuracy. However, the structure behind sparsity, imposing constraint on the support of sparse signals, is often an essential prior knowledge but seldom considered in the existing networks. In this paper, we aim at bridging this gap. Specifically, exploiting the iterative reweighted $\ell_1$ minimization (IRL1) algorithm, we propose to learn the cluster structured sparsity (CSS) by rewegihting adaptively. In particular, we first unfold the Reweighted Iterative Shrinkage Algorithm (RwISTA) into an end-to-end trainable deep architecture termed as RW-LISTA. Then instead of the element-wise reweighting, the global and local reweighting manner are proposed for the cluster structured sparse learning. Numerical experiments further show the superiority of our algorithm against both classical algorithms and learning-based networks on different tasks.


It is axiomatic that people praise each other , and rarely a day passes without witnessing  a word of praise . This is because  praising , like many other types of speech act  , such as thanking , apologizing , congratulating … etc. ,  is not only a linguistic behaviour but it is a social behaviour . Being so,  one cannot think that such an act may  not be affected by sociolinguistic variables which, since the appearance of this descriptive branch of linguistic,  has been affecting the way language is used . And hence the need of a  study to undertake  a sociolinguistic investigation into the system of the speech acts of praising. Culture is one of the most important sociolinguistic variables that affects the use of speech acts .In different cultures speech acts may mean different things . It , also, serves different purposes.In certain culture a speech act of praising is used to establish solidarity between speakers , and used in another culture to  express approval or admiration toward the listener. In other words, praises can be considered social lubricants that serve to "create or maintain rapport." A commonly seen phenomenon in human interaction, for instance, is that people frequently offer praise to reinforce or encourage the desired behavior in specific situations, such as teaching and learning. People in different cultures may tend to praise things more than other people in different cultures .People May praise the appearances of someone such as his clothes , hair , eyes …etc. People of other culture may not give such importance to appearance, instead they concentrate on the person's intelligence , behaviour or performance.


Modern analytics solutions succeed to under- stand and predict phenomenons in a large diversity of software systems, from social networks to Internet-of-Things platforms. This success challenges analytics algorithms to deal with more and more complex data, which can be structured as graphs and evolve over time. However, the underlying data storage systems that support large-scale data analytics, such as time-series or graph databases, fail to accommodate both dimensions, which limits the integration of more advanced analysis taking into account the history of complex graphs, for example. This paper therefore introduces a formal and practical definition of temporal graphs. Temporal graphs provide a compact representation of time-evolving graphs that can be used to analyze complex data in motion. In particular, we demonstrate with our open-source implementation, named GreyCat, that the performance of temporal graphs allows analytics solutions to deal with rapidly evolving large-scale graphs.


Attention to affect is theoretically a precursor to one's ideal affect (i.e., preference for feeling low- and high-arousal positive and negative affect) and emotion regulation (ER). In schizotypy, there have been mixed findings regarding abnormalities in attention to affect. At the same time, little is known about ideal affect in schizotypy or whether differences in ideal affect or ER difficulties in schizotypy are driven by attention to affect. Thus, this study aimed to identify shared and unique abnormalities in attention to affect, ideal affect, and ER difficulties in schizotypy, and to test whether attention to affect underlies differences in ideal affect and ER difficulties. Using groups of individuals with either extreme levels of social anhedonia (SocAnh; n = 181), extreme levels of perceptual aberrations/magical ideation (PerMag; n = 105), or individuals low on both (i.e., controls; n = 531), we tested group differences in attention to affect, ideal affect, and ER difficulties. Our findings suggest both shared and unique affective abnormalities; compared to controls, the SocAnh group paid the least attention to positive affect. Only PerMag had heightened attention to negative affect compared to controls. Additionally, we found unique abnormalities relating to ideal affect but mostly shared difficulties in ER in schizotypy. Abnormalities in ideal affect and ER remain largely consistent after accounting for attention to affect for PerMag, suggesting that attention to affect is not the primary mechanism driving these abnormalities. However, we found evidence that attention to affect underlies some SocAnh-control group differences in ideal affect and ER difficulties. Our work helps to clarify prior work and contributes to the understanding of shared and unique affective abnormalities in schizotypy. Future research may consider longitudinal approaches to test causal mechanisms of affective abnormalities in schizotypy.


Purpose Qinghai province has invariably been under an ongoing threat of tuberculosis (TB), which has not only been an obstacle to local development but also hampers the prevention and control process for ending the TB epidemic. Forecasting for future epidemics will serve as the base for early detection and planning resource requirements. Here, we aim to develop an advanced detection technique driven by the recent TB incidence series, by fusing a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) with a neural network nonlinear autoregression (NNNAR). Methods We collected the TB incidence data between January 2004 and December 2016. Subsequently, the subsamples from January 2004 to December 2015 were employed to measure the efficiency of the single SARIMA, NNNAR, and hybrid SARIMA-NNNAR approaches, whereas the hold-out subsamples were used to test their predictive performances. We finally selected the best-performing technique by considering minimum metrics including the mean absolute error, root-mean-squared error, mean absolute percentage error and mean error rate . Results During 2004–2016, the reported TB cases totaled 71,080 resulting in the morbidity of 97.624 per 100,000 persons annually in Qinghai province and showed notable peak activities in late winter and early spring. Moreover, the TB incidence rate was surging by 5% per year. According to the above-mentioned criteria, the best-fitting basic and hybrid techniques consisted of SARIMA(2,0,2)(1,1,0)12, NNNAR(7,1,4)12 and SARIMA(2,0,2)(1,1,0)12-NNNAR(3,1,7)12, respectively. Amongst them, the hybrid technique showed superiority in both mimic and predictive parts, with the lowest values of the measured metrics in both the parts. The sensitivity analysis indicated the same results. Conclusion The best-mimicking SARIMA-NNNAR hybrid model outperforms the best-simulating basic SARIMA and NNNAR models, and has a potential application in forecasting and assessing the TB epidemic trends in Qinghai. Furthermore, faced with the major challenge of the ongoing upsurge in TB incidence in Qinghai, there is an urgent need for formulating specific preventive and control measures.


GA101 is a novel glycoengineered Type II CD20 monoclonal antibody. When compared with rituximab, it mediates less complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). As expected for a Type II antibody, GA101 appears not to act through CDC and is more potent than the Type I antibody rituximab in inducing cell death via nonclassical induction of apoptosis cytotoxicity, with more direct cytotoxicity and more antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. We evaluated the antitumor activity of GA101 against the human-transformed follicular lymphoma RL model in vivo in severe combined immunodeficient mice (SCID) mice. GA101 induced stronger inhibition of tumor growth than rituximab. Combination of GA101 with cyclophosphamide in vivo confirmed the superiority of GA101 over rituximab. Neutralizing the complement system with cobra venom factor partially impaired the antitumor activity of rituximab, but had no impact on the efficacy of GA101. In vitroGA101more potently induced cell death of RL cells than rituximab. The expression of a limited number of genes was found to be induced by both antibodies after exposure in vitro. Among these, early growth response 1 and activation transcription factor 3 were confirmed to be increased at the protein level, suggesting a possible role of these proteins in the apoptotic signalling of anti-CD20 antibodies. These data imply that GA101 is superior to rituximab not only as a single agent, but also in combination with chemotherapy. These data suggest the presence of novel signalization pathways activated after exposure to anti-CD20 antibodies. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(1); 178–85. 2011 AACR.


We demonstrate efficient generation of 9.5-fs 1.8 mJ pulses by filamentation. The pulse wave front, the low energy fluctuations and the good temporal contrast make this source suited for relativistic laser-solid experiments at kHz repetition rate.


This paper describes how the energy performance of single storey multiple-skin facades can be optimized by changing the settings of the facades and HVACsystem. The energy performance is analyzed with a yearly whole building energy analysis under Belgian climatic conditions. Three multiple-skin facades are scrutinised: a mechanically ventilated airflow window, a naturally ventilated double-skin facade and a mechanically ventilated supply window. Their performance is compared against the performance of a traditional cladding with exterior and interior shading device. It is shown that both the heating and cooling demand may significantly be improved by implementing control strategies such as controlling the airflow rate and recovery of air returning from multiple-skin facades.


A longtime spokesman for conservation, common sense, and sustainable agriculture, Wendell Berry writes eloquently in several styles and methods. Among other literary forms, he is a poet of great clarity and sureness. His love of language and his care for its music are matched only by his fidelity to the subjects he has written of during his first twenty-five years of work: land and nature, the family and community, tradition as the groundwork for life and culture. His graceful elegies sit easily alongside lyrics of humor and biting satire. Husbandman and husband, philosopher and Mad Farmer, he writes of values that endure, of earthy truths and universal imagery. His vision is one of hope and memory, of determination and faithfulness. For this far-reaching yet portable volume, Berry has chosen nearly two hundred poems from his previous eight collections.


In this review the role of an emergent pathogen, Gardnerella vaginalis (G. vaginalis), as aetiologic agent of the so called "non specific vaginitis" is systematically evaluated. The microorganism is described in its morphological, biochemical and virulence aspects in the framework of the complex vaginal ecosystem. The diagnostic criteria of the disease as well as a possible association of G. vaginalis with other vaginal bacteria, especially anaerobes, in the aetiology of the disease, are discussed. Literature data on prevalence and incidence of G. vaginalis in different population groups are integrated by more recent investigations of the Authors on prevalence and carriage of microorganism in a group of outpatients in Italy.


Geotechnical tests were carried out on a total of six samples of red tropical soils developed over sedimentary and Basement terrains, made up of three soils and three termite hills samples. The soil samples were subjected to geotechnical analyses which included the Particle size analysis, Specific Gravity, Atterberg Limits and Compaction Test to evaluate their suitability for road construction. The results from the analyses showed that soils were well graded(GW) with percentage fines ranging from 28.06 to 57.8%, Specific Gravity ranged from 2.40-2.60, Liquid Limit from 36-48.5% , Plastic Limit ranged from 19-30% , Plasticity Index 15-19% and California Bearing Ratio(unsoaked) from 11-24%. For the termite soils Liquid Limit varies from 26.5-33%, Plastic Limit 19-23%, Plasticity Index 10-12% and California Bearing Ratio 24-40%. The Compaction Test results showed that the Maximum Dry Density (MDD) ranged from 1.44 to 1.65%, 1.6-1.8% and Optimum Moisture Content from 16.3 to 23.8% and 12.5 to 17.8% for soils and termite hill respectively. From the results of the analyses and in accordance with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, recommendations for road base, subbase and subgrade, both soils can be used for road construction as subgrade but the termite hill of Igarra indicate a better material because of its higher strength with higher MDD to low moisture content. Keywords: Red tropical soils, Geotechnical, termite hills, subgrade, suitability, construction


ABSTRACT Changes to gut environmental factors such as pH and osmolality due to disease or drugs correlate with major shifts in microbiome composition; however, we currently cannot predict which species can tolerate such changes or how the community will be affected. Here, we assessed the growth of 92 representative human gut bacterial strains spanning 28 families across multiple pH values and osmolalities in vitro. The ability to grow in extreme pH or osmolality conditions correlated with the availability of known stress response genes in many cases, but not all, indicating that novel pathways may participate in protecting against acid or osmotic stresses. Machine learning analysis uncovered genes or subsystems that are predictive of differential tolerance in either acid or osmotic stress. For osmotic stress, we corroborated the increased abundance of these genes in vivo during osmotic perturbation. The growth of specific taxa in limiting conditions in isolation in vitro correlated with survival in complex communities in vitro and in an in vivo mouse model of diet-induced intestinal acidification. Our data show that in vitro stress tolerance results are generalizable and that physical parameters may supersede interspecies interactions in determining the relative abundance of community members. This study provides insight into the ability of the microbiota to respond to common perturbations that may be encountered in the gut and provides a list of genes that correlate with increased ability to survive in these conditions. IMPORTANCE To achieve greater predictability in microbiota studies, it is crucial to consider physical environmental factors such as pH and particle concentration, as they play a pivotal role in influencing bacterial function and survival. For example, pH is significantly altered in various diseases, including cancers, inflammatory bowel disease, as well in the case of over-the-counter drug use. Additionally, conditions like malabsorption can affect particle concentration. In our study, we investigate how changes in environmental pH and osmolality can serve as predictive indicators of bacterial growth and abundance. Our research provides a comprehensive resource for anticipating shifts in microbial composition and gene abundance during complex perturbations. Moreover, our findings underscore the significance of the physical environment as a major driver of bacterial composition. Finally, this work emphasizes the necessity of incorporating physical measurements into animal and clinical studies to better understand the factors influencing shifts in microbiota abundance. To achieve greater predictability in microbiota studies, it is crucial to consider physical environmental factors such as pH and particle concentration, as they play a pivotal role in influencing bacterial function and survival. For example, pH is significantly altered in various diseases, including cancers, inflammatory bowel disease, as well in the case of over-the-counter drug use. Additionally, conditions like malabsorption can affect particle concentration. In our study, we investigate how changes in environmental pH and osmolality can serve as predictive indicators of bacterial growth and abundance. Our research provides a comprehensive resource for anticipating shifts in microbial composition and gene abundance during complex perturbations. Moreover, our findings underscore the significance of the physical environment as a major driver of bacterial composition. Finally, this work emphasizes the necessity of incorporating physical measurements into animal and clinical studies to better understand the factors influencing shifts in microbiota abundance.


Bioenergy crops are considered as a feedstock source,
which can be grown in marginal soils. However, these crops may have different
levels of crop yield potential and environmental benefits. The objectives of
this study were to model and compare the effects of four bioenergy crops (corn—Zea mays, soybean—Glycine max (L.) Merr.,
miscanthus—Miscanthus-giganteus,
and switchgrass—Panicum virgatum) in
the Town Creek watershed (TCW) in northeast Mississippi using the Soil and
Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The calibrated SWAT model for TCW was used
to quantify impacts to streamflow, crop yield, and sediment yield. The SWAT
model reasonably (3·s-1) from the TCW when
compared with the USGS observed stream flow (29.34 m3·s-1.
In addition, model reasonably predicted (±6%) average annual corn yield (4.66
Mg·ha-1) and soybean yield (1.42 Mg·ha-1) as compared to
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) reported average annual corn
(4.96 Mg·ha-1) and soybean yield (1.34 Mg·ha-1) from the
watershed. Further, the model simulated results from this study determined that
long-term average annual feedstock yield from TCW is the greatest when growing
miscanthus grass (817,732 Mg) followed by switchgrass (477,317 Mg), corn
(236,132 Mg), and soybeans (65,235 Mg). The SWAT model predicted the greatest
annual average sediment yield (6.62 Mg·ha-1) from continuous corn
crop scenario while the perennial grasses (switchgrass and miscanthus) had the
lowest sediment yield (2.91 Mg·ha-1 and 3.20 Mg·ha-1 respectively). Overall, producing a perennial grass in the TCW would provide
the largest biomass feedstock source with the least environmental impact. The
results of this study will help to


Territorial civil service is a good example of the seemingly unavoidable slipping from
a career system — as it continues to exist in its more or less pristine form in France today
— to the job system found in the majority of neighbouring countries. This is particularly
true as concerns the career management of top-level territorial administrators, if only
because their jobs as directors are more and more subject to local and regional political
changes. Furthermore, administrative directors as a whole must deal with increasingly
diverse tasks. The high criteria of competitive examinations along with the specialized
training, dispensed in part by the Ecole nationale d'administration, will doubtless make
it possible to face this challenge.


The efficient exploration and characterization of potential energy surfaces paves the way for the theoretical elucidation of complex chemical processes. A potential energy surface arises from the application of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation when solving the Schrodinger equation for a molecular system. The extraction of energies and nuclear gradients from the Schrodinger equation is typically cost-prohibitive, which has inspired a plethora of approximations. In this thesis, we present the development of embedding and machine learning methodologies that provide fast and accurate energies and nuclear gradients for different chemical classes by combining high- and low-level electronic structure theories. If a chemical change occurs in a spatially localized region, embedding strategies offer an effective approach for balancing accuracy and computational cost. We first consider embedded mean-field theory (EMFT), which seamlessly combines different mean-field theories for different subsystems to describe the whole molecular system. We analyze the errors in EMFT calculations that occur when subsystems employ different atomic-orbital basis sets. These errors can be alleviated by a Fock-matrix correction scheme or by following general basis set recommendations. Systems exhibiting a more complicated electronic structure require a systematically improvable level of theory for the subsystems, which can be realized by projection-based embedding. Projection-based embedding enables the description of a small part of a molecular system at the level of a correlated wavefunction method while the remainder of the system is described at the mean-field level. We go on to derive and numerically demonstrate the analytical nuclear gradients for projection-based embedding. If description of the entire system at the high level of theory is deemed necessary, molecular-orbital-based machine learning (MOB-ML) calculations offers a framework to predict accurate correlation energies at the cost of obtaining molecular orbitals. We go on to present the derivation, implementation, and numerical demonstration of MOB-ML analytical nuclear gradients. We demonstrate the developed methodologies by exploring potential energy surfaces of organic and transition-metal containing molecules.


Background/Aims The efforts to improve biliary plastic stents (PSs) for decreasing biofilm formation and overcome short patency time have been continued. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of advanced hydrophilic coating for patency and biodurability of PS. Methods Using an in vitro bile flow phantom model, we compared patency between prototype PS with hydrophilic coating (PS+HC) and prototype PS without hydrophilic coating (PS−HC). We performed an analysis of the degree of luminal narrowing by microscopic examination. Using an in vivo swine bile duct dilation model made by endoscopic papillary closure and stent insertion, we evaluated biodurability of hydrophilic coating. Results In the phantom model, PS+HC showed less biofilm formation and luminal narrowing than PS−HC at 8 weeks (p<0.05). A total of 31 stents were inserted into the dilated bile duct of seven swine models, and 24 stents were successfully retrieved 8 weeks later. There was no statistical difference of stent patency between the polyethylene PS+HC and the polyurethane PS+HC. The biodurability of hydrophilic coating was sustained up to 8 weeks, when assessing the coating layer by scanning electron microscopy examination. Conclusions Advanced hydrophilic coating technology may extend the patency of PS compared to uncoated PS.


We have much pleasure in advising readers that the 2002 Roberts Prize for PMB was awarded to M Fernandez, J Keyrilainen, R Serimaa, M Torkkeli, M-L Karjalainen-Lindsberg, M Tenhunen, W Thomlinson, V Urban and P Suortti (2002 Small-angle x-ray scattering studies of human breast tissue samples Phys. Med. Biol. 47 577-92). Full details are given in the PDF file below.


The present study is to evaluate and recognize the various sites of a deciduous tooth and/or impacted third molar that can be regarded as a potential reservoir for stem cells. A deciduous tooth that has exfoliated from a child or impacted third molars from adult donors will be taken for the study after their written consent. With the help of a diamond cutter the tooth will be sectioned to extract dentine, pulp and the periodontal ligament. Out of the sites chosen, dentinal pulp has been proven to be a potential site for stem cells, whereas dentine and periodontal ligament being potential sites do not have much support to contain stem cells. Apical papilla and periodontal ligament are closely related to the blood supply of the tooth and have been known to have regenerative capability. Due to its reparative nature, theoretically these sites have been known to be potential sites of stem cells too. Fibrin has lots of biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-toxicity and of low cost. Gelatin can be used as a valuable biopolymer in tissue engineering. (e.g., wound-dressing and bone scaffolding). Fibrin on the other hand can be prepared from blood sample and used autologously to patients requiring furcation procedures. We aim to evaluate and compare the role of nano-gelatin and Bioengineered Scaffolds on the attachment, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs). The design of novel scaffolding materials will be based on mimicking the architecture of natural dental extracellular matrix which may provide as in vivo environments for proper cell growth. This methodology will involve the combination of nano-fibred gelatin as well as biodegradable hydrogel based tooth scaffold.


Two PET (positron emission tomography) system configurations have been studied by Monte Carlo simulations, one with and one without interplane septa. The basic tomograph configuration studied is a 50-cm-diameter brain system, using 2048 6-mm-wide and 12-mm-tall detectors. The detectors are arranged in eight rings with 256 detectors in each ring. It is shown that with the removal of the interplane septa and using all 64 possible ring combinations, the efficiency can be increased by a factor of about 6. This number is an average over the whole sensitive volume. In the central regions the increase can be as much as a factor of 8. The removal of the septa also increases the number of detected scattered events which have to be corrected for, for example, by a deconvolution algorithm. The accidental coincidence rate will increase by a factor of 17, limiting this mode of operation to studies with low-activity administrations less than 20 mCi. However, even for such a low administration of activity, the efficiency gain of true unscattered events with the removal of the septa is still higher than in the case where septa are used with a higher dose administration. >


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of financial institutions in the escalation of the global economic melt-down (GEM) in America and how policy-makers in Nigeria can learn from South Africa to safe-guard the nation's financial institutions from economic shocks that could be propelled by banks' financial recklessness and poor corporate governance ethics. Design/methodology/approach - The paper combines qualitative and quantitative data to establish that Nigeria has a lot to learn from America and South Africa. America is the heartland of the global financial system, and whatever happens to its economy and currency, often cause ripple effects on the rest of the world, except for a nation like South Africa that had an in-built mechanism to forestall shock. The paper has six sections. First section presents a brief introduction on GEM and its ripple effects. Second section outlines the retrospective causes of GEM. Third section provides justification for regulation of the economy in the economic literature. Fourth section focuses on the thrust of bank regulation and control with reference to South Africa. Fifth section explores the financial institutions, regulation and supervision in Nigeria. Sixth section concludes with policy recommendations. Findings - The findings in this paper are the potency of financial regulation and supervision to forestall economic melt-down; the potency of financial regulation and supervision to safe-guard a nation's financial institutions from financial recklessness and promote good corporate governance. Practical implications - The major practical implication of this paper is that the problems of major banks in Nigeria are traceable to liquidity constraints, poor corporate governance compliance, poor credit risk management policy and ineffective allocation of capital to businesses. Originality/value - This paper supports the Keynesian argument for effective regulation, supervision and control of the economy in general and financial institutions specifically (as opposed to the blind adoption of mainstream neo-liberal economics).


The Gerber Scientific, Inc. Particle Volume Monitor (PVM) is widely used to measure the liquid water content (LWC) and droplet effective radius (reff) of water clouds. The LWC response of the airborne version of this instrument, the PVM-100A, was evaluated in two independent wet wind tunnel experiments under well-controlled conditions. Earlier studies predict that the PVM-100 (the ground-based version of the PVM) theoretical response to monodisperse droplets diminishes for droplet diameters larger than about 40 mm. However, results from the wind tunnel experiments presented in this paper show that the response of the PVM-100A to monodisperse droplets begins to decrease when the droplet diameter is between 20- and 30-mm diameter. For polydisperse droplet populations (such as those found in natural clouds) the efficiency of the airborne PVM-100A for sensing LWC begins to decrease when the median volume diameter (MVD) of the droplet size distribution is above 20 mm, falling to 50% efficiency for an MVD of 50 mm. Therefore, measurements of LWC obtained from the PVM-100A in natural clouds with broad droplet size distributions (and large values of MVD) should be treated with caution.


ABSTRACT . Carbofuran, a pesticide applied in farmlands, often gets washed away into water bodies due to heavy rainfall and renders the water toxic. In this study, Borassus aethiopum shells-based activated carbon (BAS-AC) was prepared using CO 2 and KOH as physical and chemical activating agents, respectively, which was employed as an adsorbent for the removal of carbofuran from an aqueous medium. The adsorbent was produced using the impregnation ratio of 3.28, activation temperature of 800 o C and activation time of 90 min. Textural properties and available functional groups in the adsorbent were determined using N 2 adsorption-desorption isotherm and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The removal efficiency was performed after optimizing the adsorption parameters and kinetics of the adsorption process was examined using a batch system. The surface area, average pore diameter and adsorption capacity of the BAS-AC were obtained as 632 m 2 /g, 2.97 nm and 160 mg/g, respectively. Equilibrium adsorption isotherms were fitted better by the Langmuir model than the Temkin and Freundlich models. The adsorption kinetics follow the pseudo-second-order model and the adsorbent diffusion mechanism was further studied using the intraparticle diffusion model. KEY WORDS : Borassus aethiopum , Carbofuran, Activated carbon, Adsorption isotherm, Adsorption kinetics Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019 , 33(3), 425-436. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v33i3.4


We demonstrate fast, efficient beam steering using a single 1x32 analog ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) spatial light modulator. A high-tilt FLC material with 82 degrees optic-axis switching provides, in a reflective-mode device with a passive quarter-wave retarder between a half-wave FLC layer and a mirror, 91% of full 0-2pi phase modulation. Electronic drive based on applied charge gives 200 micros response-time analog modulation.


Essentially, the fast development of technology, especially the internet, has created a shift in consumer behaviour with regards to shopping that has leaned toward online shopping. This drives the sprouting of many different types of mobile payment (M-payment) that can be used as a payment tool. Moreover, the world is currently facing the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition, Indonesia is currently doing a mass scale social distancing (PSBB) to stop the infection of COVID-19, among other things limiting out of the home movement, and practicing physical distancing. This appeal makes shops advising payments using M-payment or cashless. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer attitude in Indonesia specifically in the adoption of mobile payment (M-payment) as the safe way to do payments. The assumption of M-payment adoption is based on situational influences, personal knowledge, and perceived usefulness. The research model has been empirically tested using 217 responses from a field questionnaire conducted in a number of large cities in Indonesia – by using the multiple regression analysis techniques. The findings of the study reveal that situational influences, personal attitude, personal knowledge have a significant effect on M-payment adoption in this global pandemic of Covid-19. Meanwhile, perceived usefulness has no significant effect on M-payment adoption in this global pandemic of Covid-19. A suggestion for the M-payment providers, despite PU having no significant effect, it continues to be one of the drawing factors for people to use M-payment, hence it's best for the M-payment to continue providing benefits to its users to increase cashless payment in order to stop the spread of COVID-19. Why is it important to continue providing benefits for users? Because this study has shown that personal attitudes and personal knowledge have a significant effect on the interest of M-payment users, which means during this COVID-19 pandemic, positive attitude and people's knowledge regarding M-payment has been shaped due to the situation, therefore, by continuously providing benefits, M-payment platforms could increase the number of people using M-payment.


Charlotte's emergence as a major financial center has triggered the rapid and comprehensive revitalization of its urban core. The city's sleepy Southern image and sprawling suburban development pattern made it difficult for expansionary corporate interests to attract the human capital necessary for growth. In response to this challenge local banks and government formed a unique partnership that facilitated the remaking of Charlotte's city center in order to create a new urban image more palatable to financial sector workers. In Charlotte, leading and extended corporate involvement, an absence of conventional gentrifying pioneers, incumbent resident upgrading, the production of gentrifiable space and unconventional profit motives all combine to challenge theories of revitalization developed in other systematic or regional contexts. Beyond providing an overview of Charlotte's under-researched and inadequately understood restructuring processes, this paper contributes to a broadened understanding of the New South and addresses a level and region of the urban hierarchy that has long been overlooked.


Automatic headline generation enables users to comprehend ongoing news events promptly and has recently become an important task in web mining and natural language processing. With the growing need for news headline generation, we argue that the hallucination issue, namely the generated headlines being not supported by the original news stories, is a critical challenge for the deployment of this feature in web-scale systems Meanwhile, due to the infrequency of hallucination cases and the requirement of careful reading for raters to reach the correct consensus, it is difficult to acquire a large dataset for training a model to detect such hallucinations through human curation. In this work, we present a new framework named ExHalder to address this challenge for headline hallucination detection. ExHalder adapts the knowledge from public natural language inference datasets into the news domain and learns to generate natural language sentences to explain the hallucination detection results. To evaluate the model performance, we carefully collect a dataset with more than six thousand labeled ⟨ article, headline⟩ pairs. Extensive experiments on this dataset and another six public ones demonstrate that ExHalder can identify hallucinated headlines accurately and justifies its predictions with human-readable natural language explanations.


It is proposed that currently existing constraints on nuclear development tend towards social, political, and economic issues. It is further proposed that such constraints, though not specifically or directly identified, exert greater control over the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy than existing technical constraints. Through the evaluation of these constraints the development of a proposed underground nuclear park in a remote location is proposed as a viable response to these constraints and demonstrates the potential of fast reactors as a major source of base load electrical power.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Partial least squares (PLS) is one of the most popular statistical techniques in use in the Information Systems field. When applied to data originating from a common factor model, as is often the case in the discipline, PLS will produce biased estimates. A recent development, consistent PLS (PLSc), has been introduced to correct for this bias. In addition, the common practice in PLS of comparing the ratio of an estimate to its standard error to a t distribution for the purposes of statistical inference has also been challenged. We contribute to the practice of research in the IS discipline by providing evidence of the value of employing bootstrap confidence intervals in conjunction with PLSc, which is a more appropriate alternative than PLS for many of the research scenarios that are of interest to the field. Such evidence is direly needed before a complete approach to the estimation of SEM that relies on both PLSc and bootstrap CIs can be widely adopted. We also provide recommendations for researchers on the use of confidence intervals with PLSc.


thickness (16.5 ± 1.4 urn) of the control group (age: 31 ± 3.6 years, with no faulty implantation). The rate of embryo implantation was 8.02% (15/187), the pregnancy rate per transfer was 21.05% (12/57) and the abortion rate was 16.66% (2/12). Conclusion: The thickness of the zona pellucida of cryopre served embryos is increased. The embryo implantation and pregnancy rates obtained after AH with laser may present benefits in a cryopreservation programme.


In northern ecosystems, the onset and growth of spring photosynthesis may have an important influence on the annual carbon (C) budget, yet the controls have not been clearly identified, especially for peatlands. We used a 5‐year set of daily carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange measurements derived from an eddy covariance tower located at Mer Bleue, an ombrotrophic bog near Ottawa, Canada, from March to May [day‐of‐year (DOY) 60–150], 1999–2003. We used half‐hourly measured net ecosystem exchange minus modelled ecosystem respiration to estimate daily photosynthesis, as gross ecosystem production (GEP). The onset of GEP in each year was closely related to the thinning and disappearance of the snow cover, occurring between DOY 86 and 101. GEP increased during the spring, reaching 10‐day average values of between 5 and 9 g CO2 m−2 day−1 by the end of May. This increase was initially associated with moss activity (Sphagnum and Polytrichum), followed by the evergreen shrubs. Peat temperatures in the rooting zone (10–20 cm depth) and increases in shrub leaf nitrogen and chlorophyll a concentrations contributed to this rapid increase in GEP. Examination of moderate‐resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) images over several years revealed that the temporal resolution (16‐day composites) was inadequate to capture the onset of GEP but estimates of gross primary productivity and photosynthesis from MODIS 8‐day composites for the most part followed the pattern and magnitude of CO2 exchange observed at the tower.


Responsive feeding is an important aspect of child care, yet little is known about child eating and caregiver feeding behavior in Kenya. This study aimed to develop a mealtime observation methodology and assess child eating and caregiver feeding behavior in healthy and undernourished children in Nairobi. Healthy (n = 6) and undernourished (n = 13) children aged 6–24 months were observed during a meal, with standardized rating of child interest in food, mood, distraction and caregiver responsiveness. Eating and feeding behavior varied with the stage of the meal. Child interest in food decreased and child and caregiver distraction increased as the meal progressed. Healthy children were happy and interested in food during meals, but undernourished children often had low interest in food (7/13). The 7 undernourished children eating home food were distracted (3) and unhappy (5) but children eating ready-to-use therapeutic foods (6) were all happy and undistracted. Caregivers of healthy children offered encouragement more often during meals than caregivers of undernourished children (5/6 healthy, 3/13 undernourished). Meal observations were resource intensive and could give only a snapshot of the child feeding experience. More efficient research methods that can capture a general assessment of infant eating behavior are needed.


THE PRACTICAL ASPECTS of immunization have changed in the last few years, and are inevitably destined to change continuously. Not only does modern science keep producing newer and more potent vaccines, but the vaccines themselves alter the distribution of disease agents and thereby the epidemiologic pattern of disease. As Batson and Christie have expressed it: "Immunization procedure is a dynamic subject in need of constant evaluation."
 DIPHTHERIA
 Nowhere does this phenomenon seem more clearcut than in the case of diphtheria. Whereas 25 years ago a basic course of immunization against diphtheria was essential, repeated natural exposure could be relied upon to boost that immunity throughout later childhood and adolescence. Nowadays the disease itself has become so relatively uncommon in many areas that we need to be reminded by articles like that of Doege, Heath, and Sherman in a recent issue of Pediatrics that 900 cases of diphtheria do occur annually in the United States, and that these cases tend to be grouped in states where immunization programs lag. Because of the very scarcity, in most places, of opportunity for natural exposure, there is an appreciable number of adolescents and adults who, even though immunized in childhood, has again become fully susceptible to infection with Corynebacterium diphtheriae. This falling off of immunity with increasing age must account for small outbreaks of diphtheria among older people in institutions, and for cases in recent years among certain "skid row" groups. It is the reason behind the long schedule of diphtheria toxoid inoculations recommended in the so-called Red Book of the Academy of Pediatrics.


The synthesis and antitumour and antibacterial activity of coumarin and chromone phosphorohydrazones have been reported. This study describes influence of phosphorohydrazones derivatives of coumarin and chromone on the polymerization and viscosity of fibrin. The fibrin polymerization assay was performed by the Shen and Lorand method and the clot viscosity was measured on the basis of Shen and Lorand and Marchi and coworkers methods. Among the eight compounds tested, one coumarin derivative and two chromone derivatives showed significant activity.


Daytime sleepiness is a complaint of about 5-10% in a normal population. The consequences, such as impaired performance and accidents at the workplace and while driving, have major impact on the affected and on society. According to Swiss federal statistics only 1-3% of all motor vehicle accidents are due to excessive daytime sleepiness, which is in great contrast to a figure of 10 to 20% of all accidents derived from scientific studies. Due to the inadequate statistical representation of the problem, insufficient countermeasures have been realized, and the state of drivers breaching traffic regulations is not adequately investigated in this respect. The most prevalent cause of microsleep induced accidents is certainly lack of sleep due to social or professional reasons. A treating physician must also consider sedating drugs and various diseases. The typical characteristics of accidents due to falling asleep at the wheel and the risk factors involved are well established, so that informing the general public, taking prophylactic countermeasures and a targeted investigation in this respect of drivers who have breached the law are all feasible. Since symptoms of sleepiness can be recognized well before any impairment of performance occurs, the most important countermeasure is information of the drivers on the risk factors and on efficient countermeasures against sleepiness at the wheel. Besides correct diagnosis and treatment, the primary goal of physicians treating patients with pathological daytime sleepiness is to inform them at an early stage about the risks of sleepiness and the large responsibility they bear while driving. This information should be written down in the patients' records. Professional drivers suffering from daytime sleepiness, drivers who have already had an accident due to microsleep and unreasonable drivers should be referred to a centre of sleep disorders for objective measurements of sleepiness.


In this paper, we describe an intelligent agent that delivers learning materials adaptively to different students, factoring in the usage history of the learning materials, the student static background profile, and the student dynamic activity profile. Our assumption is that through the interaction of a student going through a learning material (i.e., a topical tutorial, a set of examples, and a set of problems), our agent will be able to capture and utilize the student's activity as the primer to select the appropriate example or problem to administer to the student. Even if the agent fails to do so, it is able to recover to provide a more appropriate example of problem based on what it learns from its failure. In addition, our agent monitors the usage history of the learning materials and derives empirical observa-tions that improve its performance. We have built an end-to-end ILMDA infrastructure, with a GUI front-end, an agent powered by case-based reasoning (CBR), and a mySQL multi-database backend. We have also built a comprehensive simulator for our experiments. Preliminary experiments show the feasibility, correctness, and learning capability of ILMDA.


Background: Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of programmed cell death, involves in the development of many cancers. However, systematic analysis of ferroptosis related-genes in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) remains to be clarified. We herein analyzed the public databases to identify the molecular features of CRC by the development of a classification based on the gene expression profile of ferroptosis-related genes.Methods: We collected the gene expression data and clinical information from The Cancer Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus to explore the correlation of ferroptosis-related gene expression of CRC. Consensus clustering was performed to determine the clusters of colorectal cancer patients, then we analyzed the prognostic value, transcriptome features, immune microenvironment, drug sensitivity, gene mutations differences of the subclasses. Results: Four subclasses of CRC (C1, C2, C3 and C4) were identified. There were significant differences in the prognosis of patients between the four subtypes. Functional enrichment suggested that these ferroptosis related-genes were associated with biological processes such as metabolic processes and oxidative stress, and the KEGG pathway suggested that it was closely related to ferroptosis and glutathione metabolic pathway. There were significant differences in immune cell infiltrations, immune score, stromal score and tumor purity among four subclasses. The expression of PD-L1 was differentially expressed in four subclasses and PD-L1 was significantly correlated with the expression of several ferroptosis-related genes in the differentially expressed subtypes. There were significant differences in stemness indices and drug sensitivity in four subclasses, and gene mutations analysis showed that ferroptosis-related genes such as TP53 had high mutations in different subtypes, and there were significant differences in mutation frequencies in the subclasses.Conclusion: This study established a new CRC classification based on ferroptosis-related genes expression profiles, and different subgroups may have their unique gene expression patterns, indicating that the heterogeneity within CRC and the classification might provide valuable stratification for the design of future treatment.


In order to evaluate the baculovirus expression system as a means for high-yield production of homogeneous D2S receptor, we have expressed various D2S receptor constructs in two Spodoptera frugiperda cell lines, a Trichoplusia ni and a Mammestra brassicae cell line. To improve expression yield, the environment of the polyhedrin gene translational initiation site was retained by fusing the first 12 codons of the polyhedrin gene to the 5'-end of the D2S receptor coding sequence. The pharmacological profile of the expressed D2S receptor was similar to that reported for neuronal D2 receptors. Sf9 and Tn cells were best suited for overexpression, yielding about 2 x 10(6) and 4 x 10(6) receptors/cell, respectively, corresponding to 6 pmol/mg of cell protein in Sf9 cells and 10 pmol/mg of cell protein in Tn cells. We have developed a D2 receptor-specific anti-peptide antibody to study glycosylation, palmitoylation, and localization of the heterologously produced receptor. Immunoprecipitation of digitonin/cholate-solubilized receptor from control and tunicamycin-treated Sf9, Tn, and Mb cells revealed an apparent molecular mass of 47-48 kDa for the glycosylated receptor and of 39-40 kDa for the unglycosylated receptor. Although pulse-chase studies showed that glycosylation occurred rapidly and efficiently, the glycosylated receptor only constituted a small fraction of the overall produced receptor protein, which was mainly located intracellularly. The glycosylation of the receptor was of the high-mannose-type in contrast to the complex-type glycosylation found in native tissue. The glycosylated D2S receptor was palmitoylated. Glycosylation, however, was not a prerequisite for palmitoylation which was insensitive to tunicamycin, brefeldin A, and monensin. NH2-terminal addition of the signal sequence of prepromelittin to the D2S receptor increased expression levels 2-3-fold and significantly enhanced membrane insertion and processing, resulting in increased targeting of the synthesized receptor to the plasma membrane.


Online shopping has been introduced to Internet users for decades. However, many people are still susceptible to the risks of online shopping. Multiple risk-mitigating solutions have been adopted by most online shopping sites. One such solution, the reputation system, is capable of providing an up-to-date reputation score for every online seller. Nevertheless, it is also vulnerable to fake reviews, which can, in turn, mislead prospective buyers. In order to quench the fire, previous research work mounted friendship annotations to certain reviews, so that the prospective buyers can choose to trust such particular reviews based on their close relationships with the reviewers. In this paper, we extend this friend-annotation scheme by integrating online social networks to online shopping sites. Our protocol is designed to provide three online review submission methods with different privacy-preserving requirements.


AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 18-22, 2009; Denver, CO

Aberrant transcription factor activity is often a hallmark of malignant transformation and progression. Consistent with this is the observation that in more than 50% of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cases, gain-of-function mutations in Notch1 are present. Notch1 regulates cellular differentiation and proliferation as a trans-membrane receptor that, when activated, is cleaved at the cell surface by an ADAM-family protease. The resulting membrane-tethered intracellular domain of Notch1 (ICN1) is then cleaved by the \#947;-secretase complex, allowing soluble ICN1 to travel to the nucleus and engage the DNA-binding protein CSL and the Mastermind-Like-1 co-activator (MAML1). Together this ternary complex comprises a repressor-to-activator switch, which when inappropriately activated results in unchecked proliferation and cancer. Therefore, inhibitors of the Notch transactivation complex represent exciting chemical probes and potential lead molecules for development in Notch-driven cancers. Despite the clear therapeutic advantages of directly targeting transcription factor complexes, this class of proteins is presently considered undruggable using conventional ligand discovery approaches. This is largely due to the technical challenge of disrupting protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions. Employing a novel chemical approach that combines the surface recognition of a protein therapeutic with the synthetic accessibility of a small molecule, we have designed hydrocarbon-stabilized \#945;-helical peptides based on minimal sequences within the helical binding domain of MAML1. We have previously reported that a lead molecule, SAHM1, is capable of binding to the repressive ICN1:CSL protein complex with high affinity and competitively displaces full-length MAML1. We now report that treatment of T-ALL cells with SAHM1 results in repression of direct Notch target genes and global down-regulation of the Notch transcriptional program. These events are both rapid and specific to the Notch pathway as comparative gene expression profiling reveals that the transcriptional signature induced with SAHM1 is highly correlated with that of an upstream inhibitor of \#947;-secretase. To evaluate whether SAHM1 treatment could attenuate the growth of established leukemia, we developed a bioluminescent murine model of Notch-driven T-ALL in which tumor burden could be quantified by non-invasive imaging. Indeed, SAHM1 treatment within this model was shown to produce a dose-dependent reduction in leukemic progression. Furthermore, pharmacodynamic studies have provided a mechanistic link between reduced tumor burden and Notch pathway inhibition by SAHM1 treatment in vivo. In summary, we report the design and characterization of a synthetic, stabilized \#945;-helical peptide that directly inhibits the Notch transcription factor complex in vitro and in vivo.

Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 841.


The development level of service industry is the important index measuring social economy developing stage. Rapid development of service is the internal requirement of solving human problem and improving social harmony. This article will focus on service with experience qualities. Through the analysis on development of service industry, brand analysis and the influence of loyalty, this article summarizes the importance of customer satisfaction and brand loyalty to organization development. Theoretically, the customer satisfaction, brand loyalty and their measuring are discussed; also include the procedure and the major contents, and specific to quantitative analysis. Through the argument and empirical research, the relationship of customer satisfaction and brand loyalty will be demonstrated to give recommendation to organization on developing customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.


Electroacupuncture (EA) administration before or after cerebral ischemia has been shown to afford protection against ischemic injury. However, the underlying mechanism of EA-mediated protection is still unclear. Functional microRNAs (miRNAs) are believed to play important roles in neuroprotection and synaptic plasticity during and after ischemia. In a previous study, we identified 20 miRNAs that are expressed in the penumbra and are significantly changed after EA treatment. Here, we used bioinformatic analysis to predict the biological functions and gene networks of these miRNAs. Consistent with our predictions, downregulation of miR-191a-5p in primary neurons and in cortexes of rats increased cell viability, decreased apoptosis, reduced infarct volumes, and improved neurological scores; whereas upregulation of miR-191a-5p exacerbated neuronal injury and partly reversed the neuroprotective effect of EA treatment after ischemia/reperfusion injury. In silico analysis predicted that miR-191a-5p targets neuronal calcium sensor 1 (NCS-1), brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and growth-associated protein 43 (GAP43), and using luciferase reporter assays, we confirmed that the NCS-1 3'UTR (untranslated region) is targeted by miR-191a-5p. Furthermore, lentivirus-mediated overexpression of NCS-1 in primary neurons and in the cortexes of rats induced neuroprotection, while lentivirus-mediated knockdown had the opposite effect. Taken together, these data suggest that miRNAs participate in the response to EA treatment after cerebral ischemia and further imply that NCS-1 may constitute a miR-191a-5p target gene and a potential therapeutic target for neuroprotection.


Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether attendance at an occupational therapy-led day treatment centre for mental health care users affects the use of inpatient services in South Africa. Methods: A retrospective pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental study design was used to compare admissions and days spent in hospital during the 24 months before and after attendance at the centre, using the hospital's electronic records. Total population sampling yielded data for 44 mental health care users who made first contact with the service between July 2009 and June 2010. Data were compared using the Kruskal–Wallis test, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test and Mann–Whitney U test. Results: There was a significant decrease in the number of admissions (z = −4.093, p = 0.00) and the number of days spent in hospital (z = −4.730, p = 0.00). Participants were admitted to psychiatric care 33 times less in the 24 months' post-intervention, indicating a medium effect (r = 0.436). They also spend 2569 days less in hospital, indicating a large effect (r = 0.504). Conclusion: The findings suggest that an occupational therapy-led day treatment centre could be effective in reducing the use of inpatient mental health services in South Africa. Implications for Rehabilitation Attendance at an occupational therapy-led community day treatment centre decreases the number of admissions and number of days spent in hospital and is therefore beneficial to mental health care users and service providers. The study indicates that the successful implementation of a community day treatment centre for mental health care users on the grounds of a tertiary hospital by utilising existing resources is possible.


Objective The aim of this study was to assess outcomes and complications in patients surgically treated for congenital scoliosis. Background Congenital scoliosis due to hemivertebra and unsegmented bar is most often progressive and requires surgical treatment. The recommended surgical options include ′in-situ′ fusion, convex hemiepiphysiodesis, and hemivertebra excision. Patients and methods This study included 20 patients (six boys and 14 girls). The age at operation was between 4 and 18 years. Two techniques were used: the anterior procedure and the posterior procedure. The anterior procedure involves thoracotomy and the thoracoabdominal approach. In this procedure disc excision above and below the level of the anomaly was performed and the segment of the vertebral column (hemivertebra, segment of unsegmented bar) that would be excised was determined. In the posterior procedure, posterior correction, fixation, decortications, and grafting were performed. Fixation was carried out using claw, sublaminar wires, pedicular screws, and rods. Results ′In-situ′ fusion does not address the anomaly directly; it allows a moderate correction rate but is associated with long spinal fusion. Hemivertebral resection directly addresses the spinal anomaly; it produces the best correction results and is a safe procedure to perform. The average angle after posterior correction and fusion of congenital scoliosis was 37.5΀ (range from 15 to 60΀). The percentage of correction was 55% (range from 20 to 90%). The early postoperative correction following the staged combined anterior and posterior correction, and fusion was 60%, ranging from 40 to 80΀. Conclusion The treatment of congenital scoliosis focuses on early diagnosis and appropriate surgical management before the development of large curves. All of the procedures described can be effective and safely performed if correctly selected and performed by an experienced team of surgeons.


This paper reviews the development of static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), and analyzes the structure of its main circuit, its working principles and control strategies. At last, this paper comes to a conclusion of technical characteristics of STATCOM and outlook of its development trends. Fast acting STATCOM, a representative of FACTS family, is a promising technology which is extensively used as state-of-the-art dynamic shunt compensator for reactive power control in transmission and distribution system. STATCOM controller employs various solid-state converter topologies, magnetics configurations, control algorithms, and switching techniques and so on. The development of STATCOM controller has been well reported in literature with its versatile application in power system. Thus deep investigation of STATCOM from the perspective of its intelligent control and the configuration of STATCOM's main circuit is valuable. KeywordsTransmission networks, FACTS, proportional-integral control, STATCOM, reactive power compensation, voltage


In modern conditions of management, the Russian grain-based subcomplex functions in a new economic situation, this is facilitated by the introduction of international sanctions, Russia's retaliatory embargo on food imports, the formation of strategic tasks of integration associations of the Eurasian Economic Union. Systemic problems, that arose in the early 1990 years in agro-food complexes and "overgrown" in the new century, remain unresolved. The most important are the low level of profitability of agricultural producers, a large number of intermediaries in the distribution process, the poor condition of the material and technical base of infrastructure enterprises, the underutilization of production capacities, the stagnation of domestic machinery for food, industry and agriculture, and low subsidies to agricultural producers by the state. At present, the form of economic relations between agricultural producers, storage organizations, processing, trade, intermediaries and infrastructure links, firstly, does not promote the achievement of synergy, sustainable management and competitiveness of products, and secondly, it does not ensure proper interaction between production and distribution of functional processes in the implementation of import substitution strategies in the agro-food sector. The solution of these and many other problematic issues in the development of the grain product subcomplex and, consequently, its adaptation to the new economic conditions require the development of a number of theoretical, methodological, analytical and practical provisions of the new "policy" in the field of functioning of agro-industrial subjects.


ADAR1 is an RNA-specific adenosine deaminase that edits RNA sequences. We have demonstrated previously that different ADAR1 isoforms are induced during acute inflammation. Here we show that the mouse ADAR1 isoforms are differentially localized in cellular compartments and that their localization is controlled by several independent signals. Nuclear import of the full-length ADAR1 is predominantly regulated by a nuclear localization signal at the C terminus (NLS-c), which consists of a bipartite basic amino acid motif plus the last 39 residues of ADAR1. Deletion of the NLS-c causes the truncated ADAR1 protein to be retained in the cytoplasm. The addition of this sequence to pyruvate kinase causes the cytoplasmic protein to be localized within the nucleus. The localization of nuclear ADAR1 is determined by a dynamic balance between the nucleolar binding activity of the nucleolar localization signal (NoLS) in the middle of the protein and the exporting activity of the nuclear exporter signal (NES) near the N terminus. The NoLS consists of a typical monopartite cluster of basic residues followed by the third double-stranded RNA-binding domain. These signals act independently; however, NES function can be completely silenced by the NLS-c when a regulatory motif within the catalytic domain and the NoLS are deleted. Thus, the intracellular distribution of the various ADAR1 isoforms is determined by NLS-c, NES, NoLS, and a regulatory motif.


This paper presents the results of an experimental and theoretical investigation of an unstable flow phenomenon that leads to sustained limit-cycle type of oscillations of large amplitude, and which under certain conditions, can involve flow reversals. This unstable behavior normally exists for conditions of low outlet throttling. Upstream compressible volume and downstream inertia appear to be the dominant energy storage mechanisms for the self-sustained oscillations. A linearized analysis based on the system mean void fraction model successfully predicts the experimentally observed stability boundary.


This is a good narrative of the struggle of two powers to dominate the Crimea. Fisher has uncovered a wealth of information from Turkish archives and from published Turkish and Russian sources. He describes the problems of the Crimean peoples, who wished merely to follow their own interests, the Ottoman Empire which endeavored to maintain its hegemony, and the Russian Empire which sought to supplant it. With the ascendancy of Russia's power, the loyalty of the Crimean peoples to Turkish sovereignty was strained, and this threatened the northern defense perimeter of the ever-weakening Ottoman Empire. With her victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-74, Catherine achieved a settlement which permitted the Crimea a semblance of independence but allowed Russia a greater influence there than ever before. Independence did not produce any greater unity among the Crimean peoples, and any attempt by a khan to assert autocratic authority met with forceful opposition. Khan Sahin Giray, hand-picked by Catherine, did not always follow her every wish. During his reign from 1777 to 1782-83, because he was an ineffectual leader and administrator, his attempted reforms to Westernize or Russianize the Crimea failed miserably. The Crimea suffered greatly from indigenous revolts, Ottoman military thrusts, and full-scale Russian invasions. Annexation remained the only alternative for Catherine to secure firmly this volatile territory and people.


Math word problem solver requires both precise relation reasoning about quantities in the text and reliable generation for the diverse equation. Current sequence-to-tree or relation extraction methods regard this only from a fixed view, struggling to simultaneously handle complex semantics and diverse equations. However, human solving naturally involves two consistent reasoning views: top-down and bottom-up, just as math equations also can be expressed in multiple equivalent forms: pre-order and post-order. We propose a multi-view consistent contrastive learning for a more complete semantics-to-equation mapping. The entire process is decoupled into two independent but consistent views: top-down decomposition and bottom-up construction, and the two reasoning views are aligned in multi-granularity for consistency, enhancing global generation and precise reasoning. Experiments on multiple datasets across two languages show our approach significantly outperforms the existing baselines, especially on complex problems. We also show after consistent alignment, multi-view can absorb the merits of both views and generate more diverse results consistent with the mathematical laws.


In discussions on the social impact of literature, literary commitment is often opposed to literary autonomy. Within the field of Dutch literature, Willem Frederik Hermans is generally understood as one of the most important representatives and supporters of literary autonomy. Jean-Paul Sartre, on the other hand, is generally considered as one of the world's most famous representatives and supporters of committed literature. In this article, Hermans' and Sartre's positions, however, are not conceived of as opposite stances, but as two different ways of understanding literature's social relevance. It will be stated that both Hermans and Sartre seek to understand the writer's social role, but that their views are based on fundamentally different world views and, subsequently, on different ideas of historical truth. Viewed from this perspective, Hermans' work appears to be not opposed to literary commitment but rather shows what kind of literary commitment would be possible in a world where moral realism and ideological truths are highly problematic. One of Hermans' least discussed novels, Ik heb altijd gelijk (1951), will be considered as an exemplary manifestation of this view.


This paper reports on variation among speakers of Raga, an Oceanic language of Pentecost island, Vanuatu, in their use of
 borrowings from Bislama, the national language of Vanuatu, an English-lexifier contact language. The study measures the frequency of
 borrowings from Bislama in the speech of 50 speakers, surveys speakers' strategies in assimilating loanwords into Raga and quantifies
 speakers' rate of lexical replacement and insertion. This corpus of natural speech reveals an overall low incidence of borrowing from
 Bislama at 1.6 Bislama words per 100 recorded words. Women and younger speakers borrow more frequently from Bislama. Young speakers use
 borrowings in equal measure to add to their vocabulary and replace Raga words, while their elders tend to borrow from Bislama to add to
 their vocabulary, rather than replace Raga words.


Objectives: Our primary objective is to safeguard the privacy of the users by anonymizing the sensitive data shared by the users in Social networking sites. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The user's friends are grouped dynamically into various categories such as best friends, normal friends and casual friends based on their closeness with the user. The most private sensitive data is solely disclosed to best friends, while the sensitive data is anonymized using generalization and revealed to the normal friends. The last category of friends is exposed to only the least private information using another level of generalization. Findings: Currently, Social networking sites have become the rapid and preferred way of communicating with each other to share information. On one hand the options and benefits expand constantly, while on the other data privacy risks and sensitivity issues accumulate, eventually the privacy of the user is at grave, our work addresses this issue. The proposed design is resilient to Sybil attacks, where it restricts the revelation of the sensitive data of the user by anonymizing the shared data among various categories of friends. Application/Improvement: The performance of the system is enhanced by restricting the access to the sensitive data among various categories of friends based on their closeness degree.


The "Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering" (ISRS), is generally performed using ultrashort laser pulses. It shifts the frequency of the laser beam without any change of the wave surfaces and any appearance of extra lines. ISRS works with the pulses which make the usual incoherent light provided that the interactive medium is a low pressure gas having low frequency Raman transitions, that is an hyperfine spectrum. ISRS has no intensity threshold, but at low intensity level it becomes a linear effect, so that the relative frequency shift ∆ν/ν is nearly constant in the spectrum. This linear effect named "Incoherent Light, Coherent Raman Scattering" (ILCRS) may be confused with a Doppler effect in astrophysics; it explains all optical properties of the quasars, including the debatable ones, in particular the width of the BAL lines, the infrared thermal radiation attributed to hot dust, and the spectral discrepancies attributed to a variation of the hyperfine constant.


This work studies the classification, by numerical procedure, of 122 strains belonging or related to the genus Klebsiella. Four classes can be defined: J (= K. pneumoniae: 29 strains for the most isolated from human faeces), K (related to K. pneumoniae and to K. oxytoca: 24 strains isolated from water), L (related to K. pneumoniae although, tetrathionate-reductase+, m-hydrobenzoate+: 37 strains isolated from water or soil), M (= K. oxytoca: 22 strains for the most isolated from water). The importance of the origins of the strains is emphasized.


BACKGROUND: The surgical approach to recurrent full-thickness rectal prolapse after perineal rectosigmoidectomy is complicated by recurrent prolapse. The majority of patients who undergo perineal rectosigmoidectomy are elderly with comorbidities. Therefore, redo perineal rectosigmoidectomy is usually selected to avoid postoperative complications. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of redo perineal rectosigmoidectomy for recurrent full-thickness rectal prolapse. DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study. SETTING: This study was conducted at Cleveland Clinic Florida, from January 2000 to March 2009. PATIENTS: One hundred thirty-six patients (129 women), mean age 78 (range, 31–98) years, were included in the study; 113 patients with full-thickness rectal prolapse underwent primary perineal rectosigmoidectomy, and 23 patients with recurrent full-thickness rectal prolapse underwent redo perineal rectosigmoidectomy. INTERVENTIONS: All patients underwent perineal rectosigmoidectomy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perioperative outcomes, recurrence curves, and risk of recurrence were compared between the 2 groups. Age, anterior compartment prolapse, concurrent levatorplasty, and length of bowel resection were analyzed to identify factors potentially influencing recurrence. RESULTS: Both groups had comparable demographics, BMI, and ASA scores. Operative time, blood loss, length of bowel resection, hospital stay, and follow-up (mean, 42.5 months) were similar in both groups. There was no significant difference in overall complication rates (redo perineal rectosigmoidectomy 17.4% vs primary perineal rectosigmoidectomy 16.8%; p = 1.00). The recurrence rate for full-thickness rectal prolapse was significantly higher for redo perineal rectosigmoidectomy than primary perineal rectosigmoidectomy (39% vs 18%; p = 0.007). None of the factors analyzed was associated with recurrence in either group. LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by its retrospective methodology. In addition, functional outcomes were not evaluated, because many of the patients died during the follow-up period or were unavailable because of advanced age. CONCLUSIONS: Redo perineal rectosigmoidectomy is as safe and feasible as primary perineal rectosigmoidectomy in elderly and fragile patients with recurrent full-thickness rectal prolapse. However, the re-recurrence rate for full-thickness rectal prolapse is substantially higher for redo perineal rectosigmoidectomy than primary perineal rectosigmoidectomy.


Preoperative embolization has been performed between 1 and 7 days prior to surgery to reduce blood loss during surgical excision of 12 intracranial meningiomas, which possessed predominant external carotid vascularization; 5 convexity, 3 falx, 2 sphenoidal ridge and 2 parasagittal meningiomas. Cerebral catheterizations were performed through the retrograde transfemoral route. The embolization in all cases was effected with pieces of gelfoam in two different sizes, measuring 1×1×1 mm and 2×2×5 mm. The smaller pieces of gelfoam were firstly delivered through a catheter, followed by the larger ones. On computed tomography (CT) scanning after embolization, reduction of contrast enhancement was demonstrated in 9 cases, which coincided with the cases of successful occlusion of the main feeding arteries. On pathological examination of the surgical specimens, fragments of the gelfoam were demonstrated in the arterial lumen of the dura mater attached to the tumor, but no fragments were found in the fine vessels deep within the tumors. There were local or extensive hemorrhagic infarctions with an infiltration of inflammatory cells and acute ischemic necrotic lesions of the tumors with an infiltration of foamy cells. Macroscopic hemorrhage around the tumor was also found in a case. There were marked ischemic lesions in 5 cases and moderate lesions in 3 cases. These pathological findings tended to be more remarkable in the cases, in which main feeders had been occluded completely and the reduction of contrast enhancement had been shown on CT scanning. The pathological evaluation of the tumors suggests the possibility of hemorrhage within and around the tumors after embolization. The results of embolization evaluated on the basis of operative findings were effective in 10 cases. From this study, it was concluded that embolization of the intracranial meningiomas can facilitate the surgery by reducing the great risk of hemorrhage during operation, and that surgical excision of the tumor should be performed as early as possible after embolization.


Human B7-H3 (CD276), as a new member of the B7 family has been demonstrated to mediate T cell proliferation and the production of interferon‑γ. Two isoforms of B7-H3 have been identified in humans, 2IgB7‑H3 and 4IgB7‑H3. Since the costimulatory functions of the two isoforms remains to be fully elucidated, there are disagreements regarding their expression patterns as well as the T cell responses. In the present study, a single mouse anti‑human monoclonal antibody (mAb), specific for 2IgB7‑H3 and 4IgB7‑H3 was established, termed 11F4. Using this antibody, the expression of B7‑H3 was observed extensively in tumor cell lines, with the exception of certain human hematopoietic cell lines. Subsequently, the fusion proteins of the two B7‑H3 isoforms were produced to analyze the biological function of 4IgB7‑H3 and 2IgB7‑H3 using a Cell Counting Kit‑8 assay, and the data revealed that the two isoforms exhibited a similar function in promoting T cell proliferation. In addition, the effect of B7‑H3 on the T cells was inhibited by the 11F4 mAb. Overall, the novel antibody produced was observed to exhibit an inhibitory effect offering a useful tool in further investigations of the function of B7-H3 isoforms.