The translation of selenoprotein mRNAs involves a non-canonical ribosomal event in which an in-frame UGA is recoded as a selenocysteine (Sec) codon instead of being read as a stop codon. The recoding machinery is centered around two dedicated RNA components: The selenocysteine insertion sequence (SECIS) located in the 3′ UTR of the mRNA and the selenocysteine-tRNA (Sec-tRNA[Ser]Sec). This translational UGA-selenocysteine recoding event by the ribosome is a limiting stage of selenoprotein expression. Its efficiency is controlled by the SECIS, the Sec-tRNA[Ser]Sec and their interacting protein partners. In the present work, we used a recently developed CRISPR strategy based on murine leukemia virus-like particles (VLPs) loaded with Cas9-sgRNA ribonucleoproteins to inactivate the Sec-tRNA[Ser]Sec gene in human cell lines. We showed that these CRISPR-Cas9-VLPs were able to induce efficient genome-editing in Hek293, HepG2, HaCaT, HAP1, HeLa, and LNCaP cell lines and this caused a robust reduction of selenoprotein expression. The alteration of selenoprotein expression was the direct consequence of lower levels of Sec-tRNA[Ser]Sec and thus a decrease in translational recoding efficiency of the ribosome. This novel strategy opens many possibilities to study the impact of selenoprotein deficiency in hard-to-transfect cells, since these CRISPR-Cas9-VLPs have a wide tropism.


NK cells are renowned for their ability to kill virally infected or transformed host cells by release of cytotoxic granules containing granzymes and perforin. NK cells also have important regulatory capabilities chiefly mediated by secretion of cytokines, such as IFN-γ and TNF. The secretory pathway for the release of cytokines in NK cells is unknown. In this study, we show localization and trafficking of IFN-γ and TNF in human NK cells in compartments and vesicles that do not overlap with perforin or other late endosome granule markers. Cytokines in post-Golgi compartments colocalized with markers of the recycling endosome (RE). REs are functionally required for cytokine release because inactivation of REs or mutation of RE-associated proteins Rab11 and vesicle-associated membrane protein-3 blocked cytokine surface delivery and release. In contrast, REs are not needed for release of perforin from preformed granules but may be involved at earlier stages of granule maturation. These findings suggest a new role for REs in orchestrating secretion in NK cells. We show that the cytokines IFN-γ and TNF are trafficked and secreted via a different pathway than perforin. Although perforin granules are released in a polarized fashion at lytic synapses, distinct carriers transport both IFN-γ and TNF to points all over the cell surface, including within the synapse, for nonpolarized release.


Reactive dyes are the principal dyes used in batik industry in Malaysia. From the environmental point of view the dyes should be removed from wastewater because they are toxic in nature. Therefore, the removal and recovery of dyes from batik industry wastewater is absolute necessity in order to save raw materials and to protect environment from hazardous compounds. An experiment was carried out using emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) process in batch system to study the extraction behaviour of Turquoise Blue which is commonly used in batik industry. Several parameters have been studied such as carrier and surfactant/emulsifier concentrations, stripping agent and extraction time. The liquid membrane was formulated using kerosene as diluent, SPAN 80 as emulsifier and tri-dodecylamine (TDA) as a carrier. Hydrodynamic condition to generate extraction process was at 1:3 treat ratio and 250 rpm stirring speed for 10 minutes while the emulsification was done at 12000 rpm for 5 minutes using homogenizer. The result obtained shows that, more than 70% of Turquoise Blue was extracted at favourable condition of 0.07 M TDA, 7% (w/v) SPAN 80 and 0.5 M Thiourea in 1 M NaOH.


There are (at least) two different approaches to define an equivariant analogue of the Euler characteristic for a space with a finite group action. The first one defines it as an element of the Burnside ring of the group. The second approach emerged from physics and includes the orbifold Euler characteristic and its higher order versions. Here we give a way to merge the two approaches together defining (in a certain setting) higher order Euler characteristics with values in the Burnside ring of a group. We give Macdonald type equations for these invariants. We also offer generalized ("motivic") versions of these invariants and formulate Macdonald type equations for them as well.


This volume examines the significant role population science played in British colonial policy in the twentieth century as the imperial state attempted to control colonial populations using new agricultural and public health policies, private family planning initiatives, and by imposing limits over migration and settlement.A Problem of Great Importance traces British imperial efforts to engage metropolitan activists who could improve its knowledge of colonial demography and design programs to influence colonial population trends. While imperial population control failed to achieve its goals, British institutions and experts would be central to the development of postcolonial population programs. Researchers, scholars, and historians of British history will gain greater perspective into the effects of demography on imperial governance and colonial and postcolonial British views of their place in the world.


Due to the dramatic changes occurring in our healthcare delivery system, many levels of care providers across the care continuum are challenged with the task of recommending pouching systems for ostomy patients. Selecting a pouch can often be a costly process and can prolong rehabilitation. Experience and research shows that certain data relating to the patient's performance capabilities, physical and psychological status, and patterns of daily living merged with the individual's personal preferences, are the infrastructure needed to select appropriate pouching systems for patients. A tool was developed to establish a standard data collection format for ostomy assessment; to provide the non-specialized care provider the necessary assessment criteria needed for pouch selection, and to serve as a communication tool.


Summary In France, national management programs focus research on understanding reproductive factors in Crassostrea gigas to confront problems of the oyster industry. However, little information has been documented in which reproductive patterns include sexual changes. The reproductive cycle of oysters at three sites of the Atlantic coast of France was examined from 1996 to 1998, and the seasonal variations in oocyte size-frequencies, and sex ratio were described. The results showed a synchronism within the population concerning reproductive behavior. Young oocytes are generated after spawning and show no apparent changes during winter. Growth of oocytes begins in spring and cells reach maturity in April-May and are ready for a single spawning season in June-July. Oocytes that were not released during spawning are reabsorbed within the gonad. The significant difference between sites is that spawning occurred 1 month later in the southern area. A modal analysis showed that oocyte populations in the sample individuals are primordially bimodal, but with polymodal occurrences in June-July, in some cases. Irregular alternative sexuality was detected at all sites, and hermaphrodites appear to be a transition phase that allows changes from male to female during early spring. Previous observations, together with the study of the development of oocyte cohorts over time, permit a hypothetical model concerning the kinetics of gametogenesis in C. gigas. The model suggests that primary oocytes are generated from energy supplied from degenerating, as well as young oocytes that do not reach the mature stage within the gonad during autumn-winter. It seems that, during vitellogenesis, there is disintegration of smaller cells coupled with transfer of energy to the larger oocytes, which continue to grow and mature.


Conveying information secretly and establishing a hidden relationship between the message and its counterpart has been of great interest since long time. This paper presents a new scheme for encoding of the Telugu alphabet set, its diacritics and compounds which can be used in the Linguistic Steganography as well as cryptic transmission of Telugu text. This encoding scheme helps its users to have better support in implementing the hiding techniques and this scheme can be extended to other similar Indian Languages.


This study entitled The Pragusa Parwa Text: Structure and Semiotics Analysis. The aim of this study is to study the structure and meaning contained in Pragusa Parwa. The theory used is semiotic theory and assisted with the structural theory. Semiotic theory used is semiotic theory developed by Riffaterre. The theory which is used for structure analysis is proposed by Teeuw. In this study, there are used several methods to facilitate research. The methods used are: (1) phase of the provision of data using the method of reading the manuscript as an object of study. While the technique used is the technique of translation, (2) the data analysis stage using methods of critical analysis and hermeneutic methods that are supported by descriptive analytical techniques, (3) the stage of presentation of the results of data analysis using informal and formal methods that used sentences and words in Indonesian language. The results of this study are unfolding structures that build Pragusa Parwa text, the content and meaning contained in the text. Intrinsic structure which are build Pragusa Parwa text includes plot, setting, characterization, style, theme and message that shows the unity of the whole. Meanings in Parwa Pragusa proceeded through the matrix and model, therefore the text can obtain a sense that the ability of the primacy of science ( kottaman ??stra ) and power as a result of the ability (kawibhawan).


Aim: This study aimed to find the relationship between trauma due to war and post-traumatic stress disorder, social, and family support among adolescent in the Gaza Strip. The sample consisted of 400 students (200 boys and 200 girls). Method: The adolescents were interviewed by Gaza Traumatic Events Checklist, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, Social Support Scale and Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale. Results: The study showed that mean traumatic experiences reported was 12.19. Boys had been exposed more than girls. The study showed that 25% of adolescents reported partial PTSD and 9.3% had full criteria of PTSD. Boys reported more PTSD than girls. Mean of social support was 83. Adolescents aged 13 years had less total social support than the older group. Mean of family support was 97.33, acquiring social support was 28.62, reframing was 26.18, seeking spiritual support was 14.26, mobilizing family to acquire and accept help was 12.48, positive appraisal was 12.75. There was positive correlation between total traumatic events and PTSD, intrusion and avoidance. While, total traumatic events were correlated negatively with family coping and social support. There was positive correlation between PTSD and social support and family support.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a highly prevalent disorder for which there are no effective therapies. Accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) peptides in the brain is associated with impaired cognition and memory, pronounced inflammatory dysregulation, and subsequent amyloid plaque deposition. Thus, drugs that promote the clearance of Aβ peptides and resolution of inflammation may represent viable therapeutic approaches. Agonists of nuclear receptors LXR:RXR and PPAR:RXR act to ameliorate AD-related cognitive impairment and amyloid accumulation in murine models of AD. The use of an agonist to the nuclear receptor RXR, bexarotene, as monotherapy against AD, presents potential challenges due to the metabolic perturbations it induces in the periphery, most prominently hypertriglyceridemia. We report that the ω-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in combination with bexarotene, enhances LXR:RXR target gene expression of Abca1 and ApoE, reduces soluble forms of Aβ, and abrogates release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators both in vitro and in a mouse model of AD. Moreover, DHA abrogates bexarotene-induced hypertriglyceridemia in vivo. Importantly, dual therapy promotes reductions in AD pathology and resultant amelioration of cognitive deficits. While monotherapy with either bexarotene or DHA resulted in modest effects in vitro and in vivo, combined treatment with both agents produced a significant additive benefit on associated AD-related phenotypes, suggesting that targeted combinatorial agents may be beneficial over single agents alone in treating AD.


Overtraining is associated with impaired regeneration of body cells. One of the causes of overtraining syndrome is increased production of reactive oxygen species, causes decreased levels of antioxidants. Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn. contains antioxidants, especially anthocyanin. This study aims to investigate whether H. sabdariffa can prevent overtraining syndrome through decrease in MDA levels and increase in plasma GPx activity. The research subjects were 20 male rats divided randomly into 5 groups: C (control); C-Hib (400 mg/kg/day of H. sabdariffa); A-Ex (moderate aerobic exercise); OT (overtraining exercise); OT-Hib (overtraining exercise with H. sabdariffa 400 mg/kg/day). We examined GH, IGF-1, levels of free IGFBP-3, IGFBP-3 expression, MDA levels, and plasma GPx activity. We found that IGFBP-3 gene expression in OT and OT-Hib higher than in groups C, C-Hib and A-Ex. The differences between the groups were not statistically significant (p> 0.05). MDA levels in the OT-Hib group were significantly lower than in group OT (p = 0.019). The mean level of GPx in OT-Hib was higher than in group OT, but the difference was statistically not significant. There were strong negative correlations between GPx activities and both, MDA levels and IGFBP-3 gene expression. In conclusion, we found that H. sabdariffa decreases MDA levels and increases GPx activity in our overtraining model and can thus prevent overtraining syndrome.


AIM
To assess the clinical impact of capsule endoscopy (CE) in the long-term follow-up period in patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB).

METHODS
One hundred and forty-one patients who applied CE for OGIB between 2009 and 2012 were retrospectively analyzed, and this cohort was then questioned prospectively. Demographic data of the patients were determined via the presence of comorbid diseases, use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs anticoagulant-antiaggregant agents, previous diagnostic tests for bleeding episodes, CE findings, laboratory tests and outcomes.

RESULTS
CE was performed on 141 patients because of OGIB. The capsule was retained in the upper gastrointestinal (GI) system in two of the patients, thus video monitoring was not achieved. There were 139 patients [62% male, median age: 72 years (range: 13-93 years) and a median follow-up duration: 32 mo (range: 6-82 mo)]. The overall diagnostic yield of CE was 84.9%. Rebleeding was determined in 40.3% (56/139) of the patients. The rebleeding rates of patients with positive and negative capsule results at the end of the follow-up were 46.6% (55/118) and 4.8% (1/21), respectively. In the multivariate analysis, usage of NSAIDs, anticoagulant-antiaggregant therapies (OR = 5.8; 95%CI: 1.86-18.27) and vascular ectasia (OR = 6.02; 95%CI: 2.568-14.146) in CE were detected as independent predictors of rebleeding. In the univariate analysis, advanced age, comorbidity, and overt bleeding were detected as predictors of rebleeding.

CONCLUSION
CE is a reliable method in the diagnosis of obscure GI bleeding. Negative CE correlated with a significantly lower rebleeding risk in the long-term follow-up period.


This is Part 1 of a two-part article on national coverage and policies for clinical diagnostic laboratory services payable under medicare Part B. Part 1 concentrates on the administrative policies. Part 2, which will appear in the October issue of the Journal, will focus on the national coverage policies developed for individual clinical diagnostic laboratory tests. For additional information regarding the new administrative policies, see the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Program Memorandum AB-02-030, which was issued to all Medicare contractors on March 5, 2002.


The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented changes in our approach to delivering educational development (ED) programming. In this article we discuss how our dual ED centers pivoted during the sudden switch to online learning, highlighting how we overcame challenges such as a small staff, tight timelines, and faculty anxieties. Particularly, we explore how we adapted to the university's investment in technologically advanced Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) classroom spaces and utilized a multi-pronged team approach to provide effective and timely ED to faculty. By identifying key faculty leaders, identifying multiple sources of data, and using multiple modalities, we supported the faculty in their mission to effectively serve their students during this difficult and stressful time. In pivoting from a triage approach to more tactically focused development, the two ED centers discovered that they could more effectively serve faculty (and by extension students) by shattering the structural silos that had previously defined them and instead working as a unified entity.


In this paper we give some new characterizations of the intra-regular ordered semigroups in terms of bi-ideals and quasi-ideals, bi-ideals and left ideals, bi-ideals and right ideals of ordered semigroups.


Acne is estimated to affect 9·4% of the global population, making it the eighth most prevalent disease worldwide. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that acne is most common in postpubescent teens, with boys most frequently affected, particularly with more severe forms of the disease. This paper aims to provide an update on the epidemiology of acne worldwide. Recent general and institutional studies from around the world have shown that the prevalence of acne is broadly consistent globally (with the exception of specific populations, which are discussed). However, this review highlights that there is a wide range of disparate outcome measures being applied in epidemiology studies, and we emphasize the need to develop a widely accepted, credible, standard assessment scale to address this in the future. In addition we discuss special populations, such as those devoid of acne, as well as the impact of potential determinants of acne on disease epidemiology.


In enhancing the quality of teaching and learning process, university is using internet as media to leverage education system. The technology has shifted the learning paradigm from traditional to online learning. The technology used as tools to support learning activity are curriculum development, content creation, interaction between lecturer and student, and assessment. It is not easy to successfully implement the virtual university because it will spend huge investment for infrastructure. The purpose of this article was to find out key successful factors for virtual university implementation. It was a literature study by reviewing various journal related on virtual university topic. There were 133 papers retrieved by using keyword "virtual university" and/ or "virtual campus" and those papers were published after the year 2000. Retrieved papers were synthesized into 100 relevant titles, then selected into 32 papers to review. These selected papers were then reviewed to answer the research questions in virtual university area. The research's result finds 12 key successful factors for virtual university implementation


DARPinsTM (Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins) are a novel class of proteins that combine the affinity and specificity properties of antibodies with the solubility and tissue penetration properties of small molecules. The excellent biophysical properties of DARPin domains allows for simple engineering of multispecificity by linking domains that target different ligands. DARPin134 is a bispecific DARPin that inhibits binding of murine IL-13 and IL-4 to their receptors. The bispecific molecule (DARPin134) or either of the mono-specific molecules was delivered to the lungs of mice via intra-tracheal instillation during an acute ovalbumin sensitization and challenge model. Free IL-4 and IL-13 levels were reduced in the BAL following treatment with DARPin134. While the anti-IL-4 and anti-IL-13 DARPins each showed a trend towards reducing eosinophils in the lungs of mice, the bi-specific DARPin significantly reduced eosinophil infiltration. In addition, an improvement airway hyper-responsiveness in mice treated with DARPin134 was observed. A variety of studies have confirmed the unique and overlapping roles for IL-13 and IL-4 in the pathology of asthma. Molecules inhibiting IL-4 alone have failed in clinical trials of asthma and a variety of clinical studies with molecules targeting IL-13 are ongoing. In contrast, DARPin134 targets both IL-4 and IL-13 and in vitro data demonstrate the bispecific DARPin has high potency, affinity and excellent biophysical properties. Blockade of both IL-4 and IL-13 in the pulmonary compartment could provide a therapeutic option in pulmonary diseases without disruption of either cytokine systemically.


. For open sets with a piecewise smooth boundary it is shown that a solution of the Dirichlet problem for the Laplace equation can be expressed in the form of the sum of the single layer potential and the double layer potential with the same density, where this density is given by a concrete series.


Background: Periodontal disease affects 50% to 80% of the world population and is a host immune system inflammatory response associated with a change within the gingival sulcus or periodontal pocket. Conventional treatment and homecare programs are inadequate in controlling the biofilm that causes this disease. Direct medication delivery has been shown to modify the periodontal biofilm, decrease the microbial virulence, which should prove beneficial for the patient.
Method: In this case study the nature of the biofilm microenvironment was modified by delivering a 1.7% hydrogen peroxide gel, oxygen and Vibramycin into the patient's periodontal pockets using a direct medication delivery method (Perio Tray, Perio Protect LLC St. Louis, MO.). The hydrogen peroxide (Perio Gel, Perio Protect St. Louis, MO) has specific poloxamer and antimicrobial medicinal effects as it generates 5.7X oxygen concentration when hydrogen peroxide disassociates into water and oxygen within the medical device. The medicinal benefits of hydrogen peroxide, oxygen and Vibramycin help control the biofilm.
Results: The hydrogen peroxide, oxygen and Vibramycin alter the micro-environment of the patient's periodontal pockets from a more virulent to less virulent population. This decrease in biofilm virulence and a decrease in bacteria numbers is observed clinically as a decrease in bleeding upon probing and pocket probing depth.
Conclusion: Delivering and maintaining hydrogen peroxide, oxygen and Vibramycin in a patient's periodontal pocket, which alters the biofilm constituency, results in significantly reduced host inflammatory response. The decreased inflammation is observed clinically through decreased bleeding upon probing and decreasing the pocket probing depth of the periodontal pocket.


This paper reports the establishment of a model of turbulent flow separation area for experiment on the downstream of tubal stenosis, and adjust it to cooperate with the velocity and turbulent shear stress (TSS) detection by means of the particle image velocimetry (PIV), and with the pressure detection of pressure sensor in vitro. The velocity, TSS and wall pressure characteristics of the downstream of tubal stenosis were quantitatively detected and analyzed via the PIV and pressure sensor. And the hydrodynamic characteristics of the velocity, TSS and wall pressure in the flow separation area were primarily understood. The model can cooperate smoothly with the PIV and pressure sensor to detect the velocity, TSS and wall pressure; there exist low velocity, low TSS and low pressure in the flow separation area downstream of tubal stenosis.


This paper discusses the importance of implementing quality management in student's field in strengthening Al-Islam and Kemuhammadiyahan. The quality of education is one of the benchmarks of the success of an educational process in school. This process starts from the input (input), the process (teaching and learning activities), to the output (graduates). The quality of education can be interpreted as the ability of a school to manage operationally the components related to school, to produce added value to these components according to standard norms or general standard. The student sector is one of the important components in the management of education quality. This research is qualitative-descriptive research, which is expected to be able to uncover various information with a careful and meaningful description-analysis. Sources of data in this study include the principal, student vice-principal, Al-Islam teacher, and Kemuhammadiyahan teacher. Data collection is done by interview, observation, and documentation, as for the data analysis techniques through the stages of data reduction, data presentation, and data analysis. The results of the study include (a) quality management in the field of student implemented based on the values of Al-Islam and Kemuhammadiyahan. (b) Islamic and Kemuhammdiyahan values are the quality standards of the student field.


The plasma spray process is unique because the coating properties depend indirectly on the processing parameters. Therefore, the in-service properties derive mostly from the coating architecture. The coating architecture is related to the intrinsic lamellae formation mechanism; which is related to the impinging particle characteristics that are linked to the power and feedstock injection. The coating architecture is also related to the extrinsic spray pattern formation mechanism; i.e., the kinematics and geometric spray parameters such as spray velocity, spray angle, and stand off distance. Understanding relationships between coating architecture and its properties requires consideration of the whole coating formation process. Ultimately, this permits selection of process parameters that demonstrate enhanced spray efficiencies and manufacturing capability. Included in this study are the pore network architecture and residual stress level because they play important roles in coating cohesion from which derive most of the in-service properties. Coating manufacturing mechanisms, from the spray pattern to an actual coating formed by several successive patterns, are investigated in this paper. The case of atmospheric plasma sprayed Al2O3-TiO2 (13% by wt.) is considered. Data are statistically assessed by implementing Gaussian and Weibull analyses. The critical role of pores which develop within the spray pattern and between successive patterns is examined in detail. There is contamination between layers and the intrinsic roughness of the coating is altered during the spray process. In summary, within this work, it is intended to define the intrinsic and extrinsic operational variables that contribute to the coating architecture and, thereby, suggest technology that can be implemented to improve coating quality and deposition efficiency.


A new trinuclear platinum compound [{trans-PtCl(NH(3))(2)}(2){trans-Pt(thiazole) (2)}{H(2)N(CH(2))(6)NH(2)}(2)]Cl(3) (NO(3)) has been synthesized and characterized. The activity of the compound against three human ovarian cancer cell lines A2780, A2780(cisR) and A2780(ZD0473R), its cell uptake and level of binding with DNA have been determined. JH5 is found to be less active than cisplatin against parent A2780 cell line but more active than cisplatin against the A2780(cisR) and A2780(ZD0473R) resistant cell lines indicated by the lower resistance factors. The results indicate that at the level of its activity JH5 has been better able to overcome mechanisms of resistance operating in A2780(cisR) and A2780(ZD0473R) cell lines. JH5 has higher cellular accumulation of platinum than cisplatin in the A2780(cisR) and A2780(ZD0473R) resistant cell lines but lower than cisplatin in the parents A2780 cell line. Cisplatin binds with DNA forming mainly bifunctional intrastrand 1,2-Pt(GG) and 1,2-Pt(AG) adducts that cause local bending of DNA strand. In contrast, JH5 is expected to bind with DNA to form mainly interstrand long-range G-Pt..Pt..Pt(G) adducts that would induce more of a global change in DNA conformation.


At the centre of populism is a problem of meaning. We could simply say it is a semiotic problem, but I would like to go further, and say that it's a cognitive problem, one intrinsic to the human nervous system. It is a characteristic of our species that becomes highly active and significant in group action at certain social and historical conjunctures. The problem is the meaning of the word people , which on most accounts is centrally important for making out what the phenomenon called "populism" is about. It is unhelpful to say the word is meaningless or vague, because clearly something is going on in the minds of its users and their hearers. That something is not simply about denoting an entity ; it is about activating a mental effect.


Measurements of two-particle correlations on angular difference variables η1 − η2 (pseudorapidity) and
φ1 − φ2 (azimuth) are presented for all primary charged hadrons with transverse momentum 0.15 ≤ p_t ≤ 2 GeV/c
and |η| ≤ 1.3 from Au-Au collisions at
√s_(NN) = 130 GeV. Large-amplitude correlations are observed over a broad
range in relative angles where distinct structures appear on the same-side and away-side (i.e., relative azimuth less
than π/2 or greater than π/2). The principal correlation structures include that associated with elliptic flow plus a
strong, same-side peak. It is hypothesized that the latter results from correlated hadrons associated with semi-hard
parton scattering in the early stage of the heavy-ion collision which produces a jet-like correlation peak at small
relative angles. The width of the jet-like peak on η1 − η2 increases by a factor 2.3 from peripheral to central
collisions, suggesting strong coupling of semi-hard scattered partons to a longitudinally-expanding medium. The
new methods of jet analysis introduced here provide access to scattered partons at low transverse momentum well
below the kinematic range where perturbative quantum chromodynamics and standard fragmentation models are
applicable.


—An asynchronous nanowire crossbar architecture has been recently proposed to eliminate the clock distribution network from conventional clocked counterpart. The proposed clock-free architecture is envisioned to enhance the manufac-turability with simpler periodic structure and to improve the robustness by removing various timing-related failure modes. Even though the proposed clock-free architecture has numerous merits over its clocked counterpart, it is still not free from high defect rates induced by nondeterministic nanoscale assembly. In order to address this issue, our research team has been working on developing test schemes for effective mapping of threshold gates onto Programmable Gate Macro Blocks (PGMB). We have come up with a novel functional test approach which uses prioritized input tuples to effectively stimulate coinciding defects in configured PGMB. Numerous preliminary plots and results obtained till date prove that this scheme can be used to achieve high test efficiency for any threshold gate. The main motivation behind this research is to propose a comprehensive test scheme which can achieve high enough test coverage with acceptable test overhead. Parametric simulation results using MATLAB have been used to show potential performance of this testing scheme.


Background Survival in patients with urothelial cancer (UC) recurrence after initial treatment with curative intent is limited and treatment options are sparse. Metastasectomy could be considered a treatment option in selected cases. Identifying prognostic factors for survival can be used to counsel patients and aid multidisciplinary teams in making treatment decisions. Methods We collected a retrospective case series of patients undergoing metastasectomy for oligometastatic UC between 1999 and 2018 at University Hospitals Leuven. Oligometastatic UC was defined as recurrence of UC in a single organ with ≤3 metastases. Survival outcomes of interest were: overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and secondary recurrence-free survival (RFS2). Complications were reported using the Clavien-Dindo classification (CDC). Survival analysis are descriptive and were performed using Kaplan-Meier plots to visualize survival data and log-rank was used to compare survival between groups. Results From 1999 to 2018, a total of 22 patients underwent metastasectomy of oligometastatic UC. Metastasectomy sites were: pulmonary (59.1%), loco-regional (13.6%), hepatic (9.1%), adrenal (4.5%), testicular (4.5%), nodal above aortic bifurcation (4.5%), and renal transplant (4.5%). The 5-year OS, CSS and RFS2 after metastasectomy were 51.4%, 57.0%, and 49.9%, respectively. Patients with primary upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) involvement and patients treated with hepatic metastasectomy had a significantly worse OS, CSS, and RFS2. Patients with a lesion size >8 mm and patients with >1 pulmonary lesion had a significantly worse CSS. Two CDC grade 3B occurred during follow-up and were both non-procedure related. Conclusions Metastasectomy of oligometastatic UC is feasible and can achieve durable cancer control in a highly selected subgroup of patients. Our results suggest that patients with hepatic metastases or primary UTUC involvement could be considered poor candidates for metastasectomy, while patients with a small (<8 mm) or solitary pulmonary lesion might benefit most. These findings should be validated in multi-institutional collaborations or prospective clinical studies.


Brown v. Board of Education marked a turning point for both civil rights and judicial activism. During the half century since Brown, social activists of all kinds have sought policy changes from the courts rather than legislatures. That trend has produced social benefits but, over time, it has also shifted political power to elites. This essay explores the possibility of retaining Brown's promise for racial equality while reinvigorating an electoral politics that would better represent many of the people Brown intended to benefit.


Abstract. Building footprint data from National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies are available in Germany for 7 years as a uniform, nation-wide geospatial data set and are updated annually. These multi-temporal building data sets can form the basis for the application of change detection techniques to derive national figures on dynamics in the building stock. Since these building data sets have only been built up in recent years, it is necessary to distinguish real changes from false changes. This is done by applying vector geometry-based operations and statistical analyses, which are presented in this article. Furthermore, by the additional use of the raster dataset Copernicus – European Settlement Map (classified, resolution 2.5 m) it is approximately possible to estimate whether it is a correct change or not. The advantage of this approach is that large-scale comparable results can be derived simply and quickly based on uniform basic data.


Conventional methods of reinforcing orthodontic anchorage have several disadvantages, including complicated appliance design and the need for exceptional patient cooperation. Recently, Kanomi introduced the use of titanium microscrews and miniscrews for orthodontic anchorage. This case report demonstrates the use of microscrews or mini-implants in a 15-year-old female patient having a convex profile and a Class I skeletal pattern with bialveolar protrusion. Brackets were bonded after extraction of upper and lower first premolar teeth and initial aligning and leveling of teeth was carried out in both the arches. The micro-implants (4 in number) were then inserted buccally in the interdental space between the second premolar and the first molar in both upper and lower arches. For the upper arch 8 mm long and for the lower arch 6 mm long micro-implants [diameter of 1.2 mm] (Dentos Co., Taegu City, Korea) were used. Then en-masse retraction of six anterior teeth was carried out in both upper and lower arches on rectangular 19 × 25 stainless steel archwires with soldered hooks between lateral incisors and canines in each quadrant. Light forces (200 g) were used by applying power chains from the soldered hooks to the microimplants in each quadrant for simultaneous upper and lower retraction It was observed that micro-implant treatment had many advantages: As it does not depend on patient compliance with extraoral appliances, produces an early profile improvement giving the patient even more incentive to cooperate, shortens treatment time by retracting the six anterior teeth simultaneously and provides absolute anchorage for orthodontic tooth movement.


Zigbee is one of the most exciting wireless sensor network (WSN) technologies for monitoring and control. In our previous research, an integrated Zigbee RFID sensor network was designed as an 'all-in-one' system solution for Humanitarian Logistics Center (HLC) resource management. Various field trials, which have justified the feasibility and features of such a system structure, have also revealed the requirement for simple yet reliable mobile tracking architecture for Zigbee network. In this paper a connectionless tracking architecture based on Zigbee RFID sensor network is proposed for inventory management applications. Such architecture features a consistent network structure, low hardware energy consumption and no accumulated error for localization algorithms with the least additional cost and hardware required on top of the existing Zigbee RFID sensor network systems. A simple demo system is also developed to demonstrate the feasibility of our design.


Photoreceptors are primarily known as key photomorphogenic modulators of various physiological events during plant development. Although there are different groups of photoreceptors, the phytochrome B (phyB) family mediates developmental responses in a wide range of plant species, from seed germination to flowering. In addition, these molecules also regulate abiotic stress acclimation responses, such as salinity, drought, low/high temperature, high light and heavy metals. The signalling pathways mediated by phyB could enhance plant resistance to environmental stresses, as phyB photoreceptors reduce leaf transpiration, increase the antioxidant system, enhance protective pigments and increase the expression of genes related to plant stress acclimation. Thus, the elucidation of positive or negative roles for phyB in these stress tolerance characteristics would provide essential knowledge for genetic engineering, improving plant growth and development in critical environ-ments. In this review, we cover the main findings on how the phyB family works to modulate abiotic stress by discussing biochemical and molecular aspects of the underlying mechanisms operated by these photoreceptors.


The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of substrate temperature on structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of In2S3 films. These films have been grown on glass substrates by spray pyrolysis technique. The deposition was carried out at 300–500°C substrate temperature and the molar ratio S/In was fixed to 2. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the films are polycrystalline and the obtained material is In2S3 with a cubic phase oriented preferentially towards (400). The film grain size increases from 25 to 31 nm whereas the microstrain decreases from 4.69 10-3 to 3.86 10-3 with increasing substrate temperature. The average surface roughness passes through a minimum at substrate temperature of 340°C. Optical transmission of 80% has been achieved in the visible and near infrared regions. The band gap energy has been found in the range of 2.33–2.65 eV. Optical constants were determined by the Wemple-Didomenico model. Hall Effect measurements were carried out for higher substrate temperatures (> 460°C).


Background: The incidence of atherosclerosis is well correlated with the progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus. High plasma glucose in uncontrolled diabetic patients evokes many vascular complications such as atherosclerosis. Specifically, high glucose was reported to induce thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), which activates matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and leads to the invasion of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) into the intima. Catechins with antioxidant effects are known to inhibit MMP-2 activity. Therefore, this study was aimed at revealing the effect of epicatechin, one of catechins, on high glucose-induced TSP-1 and the invasiveness of VSMCs. Methods: VSMCs were primarily isolated from Sprague-Dawley rat aorta. The VSMCs were incubated with different doses (30, 100 and 300 μM) of epicatechin under high glucose concentration (30 mM). The TSP-1 protein and mRNA expressions were analyzed by performing Western blotting and Northern blot analyses, respectively. RT-PCR was performed to observe the MMP-2 mRNA expression. Gelatin zymography was performed for the measurement of MMP-2 activity. Invasion assays were performed to evaluate the invasiveness of VSMCs. Results: Epicatechin inhibited the high glucose-induced TSP-1 expression and the MMP-2 activity in a dose-dependent manner. Also, epicatechin inhibited the high glucose-induced invasiveness of VSMCs across the matrix barrier in a dose-dependent fashion. Conclusion: Collectively, epicatechin may prevent the high glucose-induced proliferation and invasion of VSMCs by inhibiting the TSP-1 expression and the MMP-2 activity. Therefore, epicatechin appears to play a protective role in the development of atherosclerosis. (J Kor Soc Endocrinol 21:302~310, 2006)


One important aspect in protecting Cyber Physical System (CPS) is ensuring that the proper control and measurement signals are propagated within the control loop. The CPS research community has been developing a large set of check blocks that can be integrated within the control loop to check signals against various types of attacks (e.g., false data injection attacks). Unfortunately, it is not possible to integrate all these "checks" within the control loop as the overhead introduced when checking signals may violate the delay constraints of the control loop. Moreover, these blocks do not completely operate in isolation of each other as dependencies exist among them in terms of their effectiveness against detecting a subset of attacks. Thus, it becomes a challenging and complex problem to assign the proper checks, especially with the presence of a rational adversary who can observe the check blocks assigned and optimizes her own attack strategies accordingly. This paper tackles the inherent state-action space explosion that arises in securing CPS through developing DeepBLOC (DB)–a framework in which Deep Reinforcement Learning algorithms are utilized to provide optimal/sub-optimal assignments of check blocks to signals. The framework models stochastic games between the adversary and the CPS defender and derives mixed strategies for assigning check blocks to ensure the integrity of the propagated signals while abiding to the real-time constraints dictated by the control loop. Through extensive simulation experiments and a real implementation on a water purification system, we show that DB achieves assignment strategies that outperform other strategies and heuristics


Casting is a manufacturing procces that use mold and molten metal to make parts. Geometry of the mold is almost same with the product. Shape of sand mold is negative shape of product that according to desire pattern. Making procces of mold must following right composition of sand mold. After through some test, strength of sand mold is depand on composition of mater. Value of the test on table 1 (89% sand, 9% water glass, and 2% water, has tensile strength 0,66 N/mm2 ) and compared to table 3. (85% sand, 9% water glass dan 2% water, has tensile strength 0,415 N/mm2 ). Based on the test, mold with 100% new sand has better collapse is mold with composition 94% new sand, 4% water glass, 2% water, has tensile strength 0,417 N/mm2, but, muld with 50% new sand 50% recycle sand has better collapse is mold with composition 45% new sand, 45% recycle sand, 6% water glass, and 4% water, has tensile strength 0,474 N/mm2.


Factors such as uncertainty associated to fuel prices, energy demand and generation availability, are on the basis of the agents major concerns in electricity markets. Facing that reality, price forecasting has an increasing impact in agents' activity. The success on bidding strategies or on price negotiation for bilateral contracts is directly dependent on the accuracy of the price forecast. However, taking decisions based only on a single forecasted value is not a good practice in risk management. The work presented in this paper makes use of artificial neural networks to find the market price for a given period, with a certain confidence level. Historical information was used to train the neural networks and the number of neural networks used is dependent of the number of clusters found on that data. K-Means clustering method is used to find clusters. A study case with real data is presented and discussed in detail


Concepts of Lean techniques originated in the manufacturing sector in Japan during the 1950's and improved efficiency in the way production was undertaken. The concept aimed at reducing wasted time and effort through the elimination of flow activities which do not add value to the product across supply chains.

The aim of this dissertation is to establish the levels of current awareness and practices of lean production concepts by project managers in the UK construction industry. The work in this research will attempt to improve on previous work by notable by (Common et al., 2000) and make further attempts at evaluating the level of understanding held within the industry pertaining to the implementation of lean philosophies in the aftermath of the Egan Report.


One of the most interesting phenomena to come out of the internet revolution is its utilization as a channel for social development and a contribution to community cohesion. Many volunteers, working in task forces and were recruited through the net, work to improve the lives of many in need people throughout Yemen. This study focused on the knowledge management in social media and turning them into tangible results to develop the behavior of responding to humanitarian crises and creating social cohesion in real society. Based on a quantitative methodology, the data were collected by distributing 530 questionnaires on managers of nonprofit organizations in Yemen which were participating in disaster relief. The data were collected from the questionnaires and analyzed through the quantitative methodology. The results showed that there was a promoted social coordination, volunteering and social cohesion that have resulted in speeding the accessibility of backgrounds for decision making through knowledge management inside social media. These results indicated the importance of developing knowledge management in social media in the process of public communication during disasters in order to alleviate the problem of the delayed response, prevent random relief works and increase community cohesion after the crises that often cause the collapse of social relations as a result of the scarcity of resources.


The authors report on a patient with bilateral sacroillitis and positive HLA B27 who developed a pyoarthritis in one of the sacro-iliac joints. They comment the diagnostics difficulties in this type of septic arthritis and the association of the histocompatibility antigen B27 with pyogenic sacroiliitis


Objective To conduct a series of exploration and practice in the subject system for medical laboratory education, so as to build a new cultivation pattern which is adapted to subject development and social requirement, with the feature of our university. Methods Based on the analysis of our nation's medical laboratory education, combined with the complexion of our new four-year medical laboratory specialty and giving prominence to practice and innovation capability, reform and practice of the following aspects were carried out: cultivating target, curriculum system, teaching content and method of theory and practice, et al. Results A great progress has been made in teaching quality of four-year medical laboratory specialty with some teaching and scientific researching production. Conclusion The innovation and practice play an important role in promoting the cultivation of applied laboratory talents with solid medical foundation, strong practice capability, high integrative quality and innovating consciousness, and in promoting the affection of our medical laboratory. As a result, it will be applied more broadly.


Background: The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is regularly reconstructed if knee joint function is impaired. Anatomic graft tunnel placement, often assessed with varying measurement methods, in the femur and tibia is considered important for an optimal clinical outcome. A consensus on the exact location of the femoral and tibial footprint centers is lacking. Purpose: To systematically review the literature regarding anatomic centers of the femoral and tibial ACL footprints and assess the mean, median, and percentiles of normal centers. Study Design: Systematic review. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in the PubMed/Medline database in November 2015. Search terms were the following: "ACL" and "insertion anatomy" or "anatomic footprint" or "radiographic landmarks" or "quadrant methods" or "tunnel placement" or "cadaveric femoral" or "cadaveric tibial." English-language articles that reported the location of the ACL footprint according to the Bernard and Hertel grid in the femur and the Stäubli and Rauschning method in the tibia were included. Weighted means, weighted medians, and weighted 5th and 95th percentiles were calculated. Results: The initial search yielded 1393 articles. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 16 studies with measurements on cadaveric specimens or a healthy population were reviewed. The weighted mean of the femoral insertion center based on measurements in 218 knees was 29% in the deep-shallow (DS) direction and 35% in the high-low (HL) direction. The weighted median was 26% for DS and 34% for HL. The weighted 5th and 95th percentiles for DS were 24% and 37%, respectively, and for HL were 28% and 43%, respectively. The weighted mean of the tibial insertion center in the anterior-posterior direction based on measurements in 300 knees was 42%, and the weighted median was 44%; the 5th and 95th percentiles were 39% and 46%, respectively. Conclusion: Our results show slight differences between the weighted means and medians in the femoral and tibial insertion centers. We recommend the use of the 5th and 95th percentiles when considering postoperative placement to be "in or out of the anatomic range."


Introduction; Abundant FOXP3+CD4+ regulatory T cell (Tregs) infiltration into tumors is significantly associated with poor clinical outcomes in various types of cancer. However, the role of Tregs is controversial in colorectal cancers (CRCs), in which FOXP3+ T-cell infiltration indicated better prognosis in some studies. We previously reported that FOXP3+ T cells are composed of three functionally distinct subpopulations (Miyara et al, Immunity 2009): CD45RA+FOXP3lo+ naive Tregs, CD45RA-FOXP3hi+ effector Tregs, and CD45RA-FOXP3lo+ non-Tregs. By analyzing the Treg subpopulation in tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) of CRCs, we aimed to precisely assess the impact of Treg infiltration on CRC prognosis. Procedures; TILs from 35 CRCs were analyzed by flow cytometry. CRCs were thus divided into two groups: Type A (low % of non-Tregs in CD4+ T cells) and Type B (high % of non-Tregs in CD4+ T cells) CRCs. mRNA expression of tumor tissues was analyzed with microarray analysis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis to assess the difference between Type A and Type B tumors. In-vitro naive T cell culture was performed to confirm the effect of observed cytokines to induce FOXP3+ T cells. Shorty naive T cells were sorted by flow cytometry and cultured with anti-CD3/CD28 TCR stimulation with or without the observed cytokines. Based on observed differences in gene expression, the impact of FOXP3 mRNA levels on survival was evaluated using mRNA from another set of 109 CRCs. Finally, to clarify the association of bacteria existence with the difference of the CRC type, bacteria infiltration was assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis with Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) tumor tissues. Results; More than half of 35 CRCs were classified into Type B CRCs. Inflammatory and immune response related genes, especially IL12A, TGFB1 and TNF mRNA expression levels were significantly upregulated in Type B relative to Type A CRCs. Of these cytokines, TGF-β effectively induced FOXP3hi+ T cells from naive T cells in vitro and the combination of IL12 and TGF-β mostly induced FOXP3lo+ T cells. Tumor tissue mRNA gene expression showed that Type A CRCs were largely IL12Alo and TGFB1lo, whereas Type B CRCs were either IL12Ahi or TGFB1hi, or both. With this cytokine-dependent classification of CRC tissues, we evaluated the impact of FOXP3+ T cells on prognosis with another cohort of 109 CRC patients. High FOXP3 mRNA expression was associated with poor prognosis in Type A where FOXP3+ T cells were mostly Tregs. In contrast, high FOXP3 mRNA expression was not associated with prognosis in Type B as these tumors contained both non-Tregs and effecter Tregs. As regard to bacterial existence, intestinal bacteria deeply invading tumor tissues were found at a significant frequency by the FISH method in Type B CRC tissues relative to Type A CRC tissues. Conclusion; We hypothesize that functionally distinct subpopulations of tumor-infiltrating FOXP3+ T cells oppositely contribute to the prognosis of CRCs. Non-Treg infiltration is caused by inflammatory response of CRCs possibly induced by bacteria infiltration. Our results also indicate that Treg-cell depletion may augment anti-tumor immunity and provide clinical benefits in Type A CRCs and also other cancers with predominant FOXP3hi Treg-cell infiltration. Citation Format: Takuro Saito, Hiroyoshi Nishikawa, Hisashi Wada, Masaki Mori, Yuichiro Doki, Shimon Sakaguchi. FOXP3+CD4+ T-cell subpopulations distinctly control the prognosis of colorectal cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; September 16-19, 2015; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B174.


The human impacts of changes in heat events depend on changes in the joint behavior of temperature and humidity. Little is currently known about these complex joint changes, either in observations or projections from general circulation models (GCMs). Further, GCMs do not fully reproduce the observed joint distribution, implying a need for simulation methods that combine information from GCMs with observations for use in impact studies. We present an observation-based, conditional quantile mapping approach for the simulation of future temperature and humidity. A temperature simulation is first produced by transforming historical temperature observations to include projected changes in the mean and temporal covariance structure from a GCM. Next, a humidity simulation is produced by transforming humidity observations to account for projected changes in the conditional humidity distribution given temperature, using a quantile regression model. We use the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble (CESM1-LE) to estimate future changes in summertime (June–August) temperature and humidity over the continental United States (CONUS), and then use the proposed method to create future simulations of temperature and humidity at stations in the Global Summary of the Day dataset. We find that CESM1-LE projects decreases in summertime humidity across CONUS for a given deviation in temperature from the forced trend, but increases in the risk of high dewpoint on historically hot days. In comparison with raw CESM1-LE output, our observation-based simulation largely projects smaller changes in the future risk of either high or low humidity on days with historically warm temperatures.


Due to considerable progress in DNA nanotechnology, DNA is gaining significant attention as a programmable building block for the next generation of soft biomaterials. DNA has been used as either the only component to form all-DNA hydrogels or a cross-linker or functional entity to form hybrid DNA hydrogels through physical interactions or chemical reactions. The formed hydrogels exhibit adequate biocompatibility, convenient programmability, tunable multifunctionality, and capability of precise molecular recognition, making them an irreplaceable polymeric platform for interfacing biology. Responsive DNA hydrogels that are prepared through hybridization of DNA sticky ends, formation of i-motifs, enzymatic ligation, and enzymatic polymerization are commonly reported nowadays, which can undergo disassembly induced by various triggers, including alteration in ionic strength, pH, temperature, and biomolecules. These hydrogels are envisioned for applications of drug delivery and biosensing. This perspective aims to assess the most recent and important developments in this emerging class of biomedically useful DNA hydrogels.


This paper is concerned with the development of an improved form of cuvette densitometer used in the measurement of cardiac output by the dye‐dilution method.In this method the output is calculated from the relationship expressing rate of dilution of a dye introduced in the heart as a function of flow rate. The role of the densitometer is that of recording the time‐concentration function of the dye in blood. This recording is made as whole blood is led in a continuous flow from a peripheral artery of the subject through the transparent cuvette of the densitometer.The densitometer to be described is an improvement over previous units in its stability, sensitivity, size, and convenience of application. A complete description of the principles of operation, circuit details, mechanical arrangement, and performance characteristics is included along with recommendations for future improvements.


Online review communities are dynamic as users join and leave, adopt new vocabulary, and adapt to evolving trends. Recent work has shown that recommender systems benefit from explicit consideration of user experience. However, prior work assumes a fixed number of discrete experience levels, whereas in reality users gain experience and mature continuously over time. This paper presents a new model that captures the continuous evolution of user experience, and the resulting language model in reviews and other posts. Our model is unsupervised and combines principles of Geometric Brownian Motion, Brownian Motion, and Latent Dirichlet Allocation to trace a smooth temporal progression of user experience and language model respectively. We develop practical algorithms for estimating the model parameters from data and for inference with our model (e.g., to recommend items). Extensive experiments with five real-world datasets show that our model not only fits data better than discrete-model baselines, but also outperforms state-of-the-art methods for predicting item ratings.


What was once an almost uniformly fatal disease has now become highly curable, with survival rates of 100% being reported for the early stages of the disease. This is the direct result of improved techniques of diagnosis, recognition of high risk groups, effective and intensive chemotherapy, adjunctive surgery in selected cases and most important of all, a close follow-up of all patients with monitoring of the tumour marker, human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). This review will highlight the advances made in these areas and how these have helped in reducing morbidity and mortality from gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD).


In recent years, there has been a growing focus on the next-generation of supply chain processes in the health care sector, with a great emphasis on the use of data analytics, automation, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and blockchain technology. Data analytics can be used to identify patterns and optimize decision-making in the operational process flow. Automation can be used to streamline processes, reduce errors and improve efficiency. RFID can be used to track the movement of products through all channels of distribution, providing real-time visibility and traceability. Blockchain can be used to create a secure and immutable record of transactions, providing transparency and trust throughout the supply chain. This article will discuss the adoption of these technologies and techniques, and how they have the potential to revolutionize the health care supply chain, making it more efficient, transparent and secure. It will describe the potential of its positive impact on patient care, by ensuring that patients have access to the right products at the right time, and by reducing the risk of counterfeit and contaminated products. Health care organizations need to invest in these technologies, develop newer business models and focus on transforming their operating processes in order to remain competitive in this rapidly changing landscape. It will also provide an overview of the opportunities associated with the adoption of these technologies. Alongside, it will also discuss the implications of these trends for health care organizations and distribution networks.


A regional wastewater system planning problem consists of finding the minimum-cost configuration for the system needed to drain the wastewater produced at the communities located within a region, while meeting the quality standards defined for the receiving water bodies and complying with all (other) relevant regulatory aspects. There are several possible solutions to this kind of problem. They range from solutions where each community treats its wastewater separately, to solutions where all the wastewater produced in the region is sent to a single treatment plant. It is likely that the most effective solution both in terms of public expenditure, equipment reliability, and environmental impact will be found somewhere between these two extremes. This paper presents an optimization approach to wastewater systems planning at regional level. The approach applies only to sanitary sewer networks. A simulated annealing algorithm is used to solve the optimization model upon which the approach is based. For the application of this approach a user-friendly computing tool was developed. Within this tool, both the acquisition of data and the output of results are made through a flexible GIS interface.


This paper demonstrates how the range of stable power transfer in weak grids with voltage source converters (VSCs) can be extended by modifying the grid synchronisation mechanism of a conventional synchronous reference frame phase locked loop (PLL). By introducing an impedance-conditioning term in the PLL, the VSC control system can be virtually synchronised to a stronger point in the grid to counteract the instability effects caused by high grid impedance. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the maximum static power transfer capability and the small-signal stability range of a system with a VSC HVDC terminal connected to a weak grid are calculated from an analytical model with different levels of impedance-conditioning in the PLL. Such calculations are presented for two different configurations of the VSC control system, showing how both the static power transfer capability and the small-signal stability range can be significantly improved. The validity of the stability assessment is verified by time-domain simulations in the Matlab/Simulink environment.


The principle that atmospherically derived chloride is a conservative tracer in many watersheds can be used to calculate average annual evapotranspiration or effective moisture if estimates are available for (1) the average annual chloride input to the watershed, (2) the average annual precipitation, and (3) the baseflow chloride concentration are known. The method assumes that no long-term storage of chloride occurs and there is no lithologic source of chloride, or that such source releases only insignificant amounts to groundwater compared to the atmospheric source. National Atmospheric Deposition Program estimates of chloride wet deposition, watershed precipitation records or hyetal map estimates of precipitation input to watersheds, and a single sample of chloride concentration in base flow were used to calculate evapotranspiration for diverse Rocky Mountain watersheds. This estimate was compared to evapotranspiration determined by subtracting mean discharge from precipitation. Of the 19 watersheds used to test the method, 13 agreed within 10%, 2 appear to have not met the lithology criterion, 1 appears to have not met the flow criterion, and 1 neither criterion. The method's greatest strength is the minimal data requirements and its greatest weakness is that for some watersheds it may be difficult to obtain reliable estimates of precipitation and chloride deposition. If reliable discharge data are available, the method may be used to estimate watershed-average precipitation; this is especially useful in high-altitude mountain watersheds where little or no precipitation data are available.


This research aimed to prove the effectiveness of using animation movie in improving speaking ability of elementary students. The research was conducted in one class of the fourth grade with twenty-nine students and the selected samples were taken by random sampling. The data collection used an oral test as it is an experimental research by using T-test at 0.05 significance level. The results showed that the score of t-observation (to) was 9.43. Moreover, on the 0.05 significance level and with df n-1=28 the score of t-table (tt) was 1.70. It appears to  > tt  (9.43 > 1.70). It can be concluded that using animation movie in teaching speaking was effective for the elementary students. Benefits of the research result were by using animation movie the students could be more confident to speak with others because animation movies had interesting content that made the students interested to retell the animation movie with their own sentences. Therefore, they could be easier to make their own visualization with the movies which they had watched. However, it would be better if a language teacher gives many chances to practice in the classroom along with interesting media.


Turkey's most recent primary English language curriculum, which highlights oral skills, mandates communicative English language teaching to young English language learners. Recent primary English curriculum comprises two hours per week of English-as-a-foreign language (EFL) instruction to include listening and speaking only for Grade 2 and very limited reading and writing for Grade 3 onward. While communicative skills are highly emphasized, literacy skills are kept on the back burner as reading and writing are incorporated gradually with minimal reading and writing at earlier grade levels and some literacy practices at upper grade levels. Successful emergent literacy development in English highly depends on young language learners' phonological (e.g. alliteration, rhyme), phonemic (i.e. sound manipulation), and orthographic awareness (i.e. spelling conventions) in English. The present study investigates to what extent Turkey's locally-designed primary EFL coursebooks—used in 2018-2021 academic period—cater to the early literacy needs of young learners at grades two, three, and four. The study explores early literacy content in coursebooks in a mixed-methods design: qualitatively with the descriptive content analysis and quantitatively with the frequency of early literacy constructs. The results of those analyses reveal primary English coursebooks do not promote a linguistically sound and pedagogically appropriate integration of literacy skills according to principles of second language (L2) literacy acquisition at primary levels. Turkey's misaligned early English literacy curriculum, in its current state, sends alarming messages to foreign language policy-makers, material designers, and EFL educators.


BACKGROUND
Current evidence on the incidence and outcomes of patients with thyroid storm in the United States is limited to single-center case series. This study determined the national incidence of thyrotoxicosis with and without thyroid storm and clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients during a 10-year period in the United States.

METHODS
Retrospective longitudinal analysis was conducted of clinical characteristics, mortality, hospital length of stay, and costs from 2004 to 2013. Adults (≥18 years of age) with a primary diagnosis of thyrotoxicosis with and without thyroid storm were included. To determine the incidence, outcomes, and cost of thyrotoxicosis with and without thyroid storm, the study used data from the National Inpatient Sample database, the largest public inpatient database, with a representative sample of all non-federal hospitals in the United States.

RESULTS
Among 121,384 discharges with thyrotoxicosis during the study period (Mage ± standard error = 48.7 ± 0.11 years; 51.9% Caucasian; 77.3% female), 19,723 (16.2%) were diagnosed with thyroid storm. During the past decade, the incidence of thyroid storm ranged between 0.57 and 0.76 cases/100,000 U.S. persons per year, and 4.8 and 5.6/100,000 hospitalized patients per year. Thyroid storm was associated with significantly higher hospital mortality (1.2-3.6% vs. 0.1-0.4%, p < 0.01) and longer length of stay (4.8-5.6 vs. 2.7-3.4 mean days, p < 0.001) compared to patients with thyrotoxicosis without storm. Inflation-adjusted hospitalization costs progressively increased in patients with thyroid storm from $9942 to $12,660 between 2004 and 2013 (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
One of every six discharges for thyrotoxicosis was diagnosed with thyroid storm. Thyroid storm is associated with a 12-fold higher mortality rate compared to thyrotoxicosis without storm. The incidence and mortality of thyroid storm has not substantially changed in the past decade. However, hospitalization costs have significantly increased.


Abstract Background: Atherosclerotic plaques prone to cause thrombotic complications and plaque rupture account for the majority of fatal myocardial infarctions (MI), which may be complicated by ventricular fibrillation (VF). Matrix-degrading metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors (TIMPs) are expressed in atherosclerotic lesions and contribute to plaque vulnerability. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is one of the predominant chemokines interacting with MMPs and TIMPs and the coagulation system. The aim of the present study was to assess potential differences of levels of MMP-9, TIMP-1 and IL-8 in postmyocardial infarction patients with or without VF complicating acute MI. Methods: Blood samples were taken from 45 patients with VF complicating acute MI and from 88 patients without VF. All samples were collected during a symptom-free interval remote from the acute ischemic event with a median of 556 days. The markers of interest were TIMP-1, MMP-9 and IL-8. Results: IL-8 and TIMP-1 levels were significantly higher among patients with VF than among patients without VF (p<0.001). In a logistic regression approach IL-8 was an independent indicator of patients prone to VF during MI (p=0.03). High levels of TIMP-1 (p=0.05), MMP-9 (p=0.03), the MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio (p=0.049) and hypertension (p=0.02) were found to be indicators in patients with reinfarction or unstable angina pectoris during follow-up. Hypertension (p=0.02) and MMP-9 (p=0.03) were the only significant indicators characterizing patients undergoing coronary reinterventions, such as percutaneous coronary interventions and coronary bypass surgery. Conclusions: Higher TIMP-1 and IL-8 levels are present in patients with VF complicating MI. High TIMP-levels may be related to the degree of fibrosis which is a substrate for electrical instability and may contribute to the occurrence of VF. Patients prone to develop VF during MI seem to have an increased proinflammatory condition compared to patients without VF. Clin Chem Lab Med 2007;45:1360–5.


This chapter will trace recent trends in research on audio and video conferencing for language learning and teaching and outline the affordances and mediating effects of each platform that have communicative, socio-affective, and cognitive implications. On the basis of these characteristics, the author will argue that both audio and video conferencing have the potential to foster language learner interaction; however, neither medium is appropriate for all tasks, learners, and learning contexts. The focus of future inquiry should be driven by the need to better understand the complex interrelationship of interaction and the multimodal context in which it occurs. The chapter will conclude with considerations for selecting the platform most appropriate for task goals and learning setting.


Cross-country data reveal that the per capita incomes of the richest countries exceed those of the poorest countries by a factor of thirty-five. We formalize a model with embodied technical change in which newer, more productive vintages of capital coexist with older, less productive vintages. A reduction in the cost of investment raises both the quantity and productivity of capital simultaneously. The model induces a simple relationship between the relative price of investment goods and per capita income. Using cross-country data on the prices of investment goods, we find that the model does fairly well in quantitatively accounting for the observed dispersion in world income. For our baseline parameterization, the model generates thirty-five-fold income gaps and six-fold productivity differences between the richest and poorest countries in our sample.


In March 2003, a 34-year-old man with left facial palsy, dysphagia, and hoarseness treated with acyclovir suffered worsened dermatological and neurological problems. A routine blood test in early April showed the patient to be HIV-antibody positive, so he was transferred to our hospital. Blood analysis showed serum HIV-RNA at 96,000 copies/mL and a CD 4 count of 170/microL. Brain MRI taken on admission showed a T 2 high lesion in their left medulla. Acyclovir was thought to be ineffective due to reduced cell-mediated immunity because of the HIV infection, and HAART therapy was begun. After two months of HAART, skin lesions and the T 2 high lesion in left medulla improred. HIV-RNA became undetectable and the CD 4 count exceeded 500/microL. Intracellular cytokine analysis by flow cytometry showed a shift from Th 2 to Th 1 dominance. The elimination of VZV may thus have been promoted by the combination of acyclovir and HAART.


This guide explains the research process as inquiry and provides the process to identify the more appropriate database to search for your subject.


This essay consists of a reading of Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, using French philosopher Alain Badiou's 'Theory of the Subject' as a framework, in order to assess the practicality of his theory of emancipation. Badiou asserts that human beings are not born into a natural subjectivity, but rather, may encounter an event in the domain of love, politics, science or art which, by rupturing the stability of their previous situation, enables them to re-construct themselves as emancipated subjects. The focus on the condition of love entails an examination of the actions undertaken and decisions made by Romeo and Juliet during the construction of their subjectivity, as well as a general critique of Alain Badiou's controversial 'ethics of the truth'. This discussion also incorporates an examination of wider philosophical and psychoanalytical theories on love which contradict and complement Alain Badiou's theory, in order to ascertain his position relative to theorists and philosophers of the past and present. An analysis of Badiou's more polemical writings is also provided through which an attempt is made to form a judgement on the twenty-first century's notion of revolutionary love and the potential for revolutionary change. Keywords: Badiou, Romeo and Juliet, Philosophy of Love, Difference, Subjectivity, Truth.


An estimated 30–40% of patients with chronic hepatitis C have elevated serum iron, transferrin saturation, and ferritin levels. Clinical data suggest that iron is a co-morbidity factor for disease progression following HCV infection. Iron is essential for a number of fundamental metabolic processes in cells and organisms. Mammalian iron homeostasis is tightly regulated and this is maintained through the coordinated action of sensory and regulatory networks that modulate the expression of iron-related proteins at the transcriptional and/or posttranscriptional levels. Disturbances of iron homeostasis have been implicated in infectious disease pathogenesis. Viruses, similarly to other pathogens, can escape recognition by the immune system, but they need iron from their host to grow and spread. Hepcidin is a 25-aa peptide, present in human serum and urine and represents the key peptide hormone, which modulates iron homeostasis in the body. It is synthesized predominantly by hepatocytes and its mature form is released in circulation. In this review, we discuss recent advances in the exciting crosstalk of molecular mechanisms and cell signaling pathways by which iron and hepcidin production influences HCV-induced liver disease.


Quantifying trophic relationships among basal food sources and primary consumers is essential to our understanding of food web structure and dynamics, but is challenging in soft shore systems where the variety of potential food sources often masks the actual pathways of energy flow. To elucidate trophic relationships among basal food sources and primary consumers, we assessed the diet composition of a deposit-feeding crab, Scopimera intermedia, an abundant primary consumer inhabiting tropical shores, using direct enumeration and stable isotope techniques. Stable isotope analyses revealed that meiofauna accounted for the majority of the crab's diet (nematodes reaching 43% in median proportion) compared to, at most, 11% contributed by microphytobenthos (MPB). Although the abundances of MPB and meiofauna varied, meiofauna dominated over MPB in the crab's diet at different sites and seasons. Such an important role of meiofauna in consumer diets contrasts with previous studies on sediment food webs, where MPB has often been proposed as the most plausible primary food source. The relative roles of meiofauna and MPB as food sources are, however, likely to be mediated by local physical environments. Sediment particle size, for example, is more coarse higher on the shore, where the larger interstitial spaces enable colonization of meiofauna but will limit large, motile MPB due to increased photostress. The trophic importance of commonly assumed primary food sources may thus be modified by environmental physical stress and, as a result, the role of intermediate trophic links in modulating food web dynamics should not be neglected.


This paper addresses a key but neglected task in the theory of international taxation, lent increased urgency by growing awareness of the potential gains from tax coordination: the characterization of Pareto-efficient international tax regimes. It shows that the Diamond- Mirrlees theorem on the desirability of production efficiency, which underlies the key tenets of policy advice in international taxation--- the desirability of destination basis for commodity taxation, of the residence principle for capital income taxation, and of free trade---is rendered inherently inapplicable to problems of international tax design by the distinctness of national budget constraints that is of the essence in thinking about international taxation. Conditions are established---relating to the availability of explicit or implicit devices for reallocating tax revenues across countries---under which production efficiency is nevertheless desirable, and a general characterization developed of the precise ways in which Pareto efficient international taxation may require violation of established tenets.


Due to the growth of globalization and the knowledge based economy together with the impact of GATS and ASEAN declaration of ASEAN community, internationalization of higher education in Thailand has developed into a very significant area that should be considered as an important agenda item at the level of ASEAN. To achieve a resilient, dynamic and sustained ASEAN Community, all parties in ASEAN member countries agreed to treat education cooperation as a priority in the process of community building. To succeed in these commitments, the education sector in every member nation needs to be very well prepared and more prepared to open their doors and to learn from each other proactively. Thailand has positioned itself as a hub of higher education in the Southeast Asian countries and aims to develop higher education quality that meets international standards in order to strengthen major manpower and enable to compete with the other countries. Malaysia a neighboring country to Thailand has also a national objective to become an education hub in the region. This study aims to find the answers to the following questions. Whether government as key actors in both Thailand and Malaysia exercise policies that use good practices to enhance and sustain the quality of internationalization for higher education? Whether applying the guidelines on "Quality Provision in Cross-Border Higher Education", based on United Nations and UNESCO principles and instruments will secure quality of internationalization of higher education and enhance the education hub policy? How far have Thailand and Malaysia progressed in achieving their goals on internationalization of Higher Education? What are the success stories of internationalization of Higher Education Institutions in Thailand and Malaysia and what challenges have they faced and are still facing in this area? This study is designed by using a mixture of methods through case studies, interviewing Thai and Malaysian administrators, and surveying some administrators and staff of selected international universities in Thailand and Malaysia to find out the answers to the above questions.


The aim of this study is to provide opinions on the evaluation of parents' attitudes and behaviors in developing cooperation in ethical education. Although the research is a qualitative study, the study group consists of 10 participants, 5 principals and 5 teachers. A semi-structured interview form was prepared and interview technique was used to collect data. The data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. According to the results of the research, to increase children's awareness of ethical principles and moral virtues, to support each other between family and school so that children can become good people, to transform the understanding of school-family cooperation to contribute to moral education, to the moral maturation of children in order to cooperate with the child and school, effective and new ways should be developed and various and different measures should be taken to carry out these actions. To be positive, desirable and morally mature for children, the school and family must be able to collaborate with the child and find effective and new ways to do this. In the field of moral education, it is essential to provide the measures that families and all collaborators should take, by revealing the need and understanding of cooperation. It is necessary to provide follow-up and support that can ensure very carefully school-family-child cooperation for maximum implementation.

 Key words: School-family cooperation, moral education, ethics, opinions.


Abstract The present study was undertaken to investigate the role of phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) enzymes in cryptorchidism-induced apoptosis of the germ cells. Regulation of expression of PDE4 enzymes was studied in the abdominal and scrotal testes of surgically induced cryptorchid rats for 10, 20, and 30 days. In some cases orchidopexy was performed after 30 days of cryptorchidism, and rats were allowed to recover for an additional 50 days. Upon histological examination, marked degenerative changes in the epithelial lining of the seminiferous tubules within abdominal testes were observed compared with contralateral control or age-matched sham-operated rats. These changes included degeneration of some spermatogonia, apoptosis of the secondary spermatocytes, incomplete spermatogenesis, and lack of spermatozoa in the lumen. In contrast, contralateral scrotal testes exhibited normal histology. Significant improvement in the regeneration of spermatogonia was observed in rats after 50 days of recovery following orchidopexy. Immunocytochemical examination suggested the presence of PDE4A in germ cells while PDE4B was predominantly expressed on somatic cells. Western blotting using PDE4 subtype-selective antibodies showed the presence of two PDE4A variants (a 109-kDa PDE4A8 and a previously uncharacterized 88-kDa PDE4A variant) and two PDE4B (78-kDa PDE4B2 and 66-kDa PDE4B variant) bands. In unilaterally cryptorchid animals, the abdominal testis showed a time-dependent decrease in both PDE4A8 and 88-kDa PDE4A variants. In contrast, the expression of 66-kDa PDE4B was markedly increased in a time-dependent fashion in abdominal testes of cryptorchid rats. Animals surgically corrected for cryptorchidism and allowed to recover for 50 days exhibited normal expression of both PDE4A and PDE4B variants compared with aged-matched, sham-operated controls. In conclusion, this study suggests that down-regulation of PDE4A variants in cryptorchid testes may play an important role in the degeneration of spermatogonia and increased apoptotic activity in the germ cells.


The focus of this study is to identify and characterize specific features related to historic or prehistoric earthquakes south of the southern terminus of the New Madrid seismic zone in eastern Arkansas. Aerial photography, field surveys, and trenching reveal the existence of several liquefaction features (sand blows) and linear structures as far as south of Marianna, Arkansas. This is more than 100 km from the currently active segments of the New Madrid seismic zone. Radiocarbon dating indicts that the event(s) that generated some of these features took place about 5500 years B.P. The discovered liquefaction features are significant because they are at a considerable distance from present-day earthquake activity. The implication of this is that they either represent a new earthquake source not previously recognized or that they are related to an earthquake(s) of very large magnitude in the source region of the New Madrid seismic zone. These liquefaction features have very large dimensions (∼110 by 60 m), resembling features in the immediate vicinity of the New Madrid seismic zone, implying that regardless of where the source region was, the ground shaking had to be severe in order to generate them. Detailed investigation of these features may have important implications for earthquake risk mapping in the central United States, as they may provide important constraints on the southern terminus of the New Madrid seismic zone and the magnitude of the characteristic earthquake in the region.


We present a novel scheme of spoken dialogue systems which uses the up-to-date information on the web. The scheme is based on information extraction which is defined by the predicate-argument (P-A) structure and realized by semantic parsing. Based on the information structure, the dialogue system can perform question answering and also proactive information presentation. Feasibility of this scheme is demonstrated with experiments using a domain of baseball news. In order to automatically select useful domain-dependent P-A templates, statistical measures are introduced, resulting to a completely unsupervised learning of the information structure given a corpus. Similarity measures of P-A structures are also introduced to select relevant information. An experimental evaluation shows that the proposed system can make more relevant responses compared with the conventional "bag-of-words" scheme.


Abstract A classification system developed to evaluate the environmental care orientation of companies and, more specifically, their strategies to deal with the environmental care requirements presrcibed by the market was applied to the deciduous fruit sector in the Western Cape. A survey was done to determine the attitude towards and status of, environmental care activities amongst deciduous fruit producers who have already obtained Eurepgap certification or who are busy preparing for the certification audit. A questionnaire was used and the responses were judged in terms of the guidelines of the classification system. The nature of the typical South African—European deciduous fruit export supply chain is that South African producers desire to supply the retail market at higher prices than that of the wholesale market. The producers are then confronted with the stringent environmental care requirements of the retail chains, who use the environmental care product image aggressively as a selling point in the retail market, acting like typical Class III market oriented institutions. The classification shows that the majority of producers try to comply with these requirements with minimum effort (Class I). The more progressive producers accept them as good agricultural practices to increase their production efficienc. (Class II). Some farmers participate in a comprehensive Integrated Crop Management (ICM) system to establish a culture of environmental care at farm level in a more efficient way. ICM implementation also helps to prepare proactively for possible changes in the environmental care requirements of individual retail chains. This seems to be the more effective strategy for the primary producer.


Throughout our nursing careers, we have noted a sizable number of nurses complete a research project, but fail to publish their findings. If your findings are not published, no one ever knows what you did, how you did it or what you found. Some nurses seek to publish an abstract regarding their findings, but fail to recognize that publishing just an abstract is not sufficient for the evolving development of the nursing profession. Researchers who have investigated this dilemma found 62.5% of the studies identified, through their published abstracts, never were published in an article.1 This is a travesty! Failure to publish one's completed research, in a sense, is a form of scientific misconduct.1 If nursing research findings are not published, the time and talents of many people are wasted, knowledge that could benefit patient care is lost, and the nursing profession fails to appropriately advance. This does not mean all completed research should be published. Flawed research, that fails to meet the demands of a peer review system, does not meet the scientific demands of a profession and should not be published! However, good, sound, scholarly research needs to be published and shared with the greater world of nursing. Why are nurses with completed research projects not publishing? As we mentioned in a previous editorial, the reasons tend to be because many nurses believe: a) they "do not have enough time;"b) their "manuscript most likely will be rejected by a professional journal;" c) it is "too much work to publish;"and, d) they "have nothing to say that would be of interest to others."2 However, none of these reasons are justifiable. Stating you do "not have enough time" suggests you are not willing to set priorities and budget the time you spend involved in professional and "fun" activities (i.e. watching TV, partying, playing sports or visiting family/friends). Please recognize involvement in "fun" activities often provides temporary pleasure, while time devoted to professional activities (i.e. writing the findings of your research and submitting it to a professional journal for consideration for publication) provides a permanent way for you to influence nursing practice, education and administration for decades to come. Believing the scholarly paper you submit to a professional journal will be rejected indicates you do not have confidence regarding your scholarly abilities. Although you may go through a number of rejections, revisions and resubmissions before having your manuscript accepted for publication, the process provides a learning and growth experience for you. "Yes," trying to get your research published requires a great deal of time and work. However, most everything in life that is of value and has quality involves a degree of commitment and/or work. Publishing one's completed research is no different. You truly have to believe that what you have done has value and is worth sharing with the greater world of nursing. Believing that you do not have anything to say indicates you do not believe in what you have done. Please recognize that as long as your research is not flawed, it provides information that needs to be shared, as a published article, with other nurses. The following list of actions can help stimulate publication of completed research: 1. Encourage a potential author to set priorities and goals regarding the writing endeavor to which he/she needs to devote time. 2. Encourage institutions of higher learning to require doctoral students to devote time to writing and submitting one or more manuscript from their dissertation research, rather than spending time preparing a 100+ page dissertation that only will sit on the shelf of a library for only a few people to read. 3. Encourage nursing students to review and read recently published articles in scholarly nursing journals to see the importance and value of publishing research findings in a timely manner. 4. Recognize individuals who are internally motivated to write and publish are more likely to look for time and ways to publish to meet their needs to share what they have done with others. 5. Encourage individuals who are not necessarily driven to write and publish to team up with those who are driven to publish. 6. Encourage researchers, who have poor writing skills, to seek assistance from experienced professionals who have strong publication track records. 7. Encourage institutions of higher learning to base a portion of one's professional promotion, tenure and yearly salary increase on the number of scholarly articles published. 8. Encourage institutions of higher learning to reward faculty members with money and/or travel to professional research conferences when they successfully publish their research in a scholarly journal. 9. Encourage institutions of higher learning to lighten the clinical and/or teaching loads of faculty members, for a specific time frame, to allow for sufficient time to conduct research, write and submit scholarly works for consideration for publication. A recent examination of incentives to publish revealed the implementation of incentives was associated with an increase in manuscript submissions. However, it was found, based upon the type of incentive, that: a) career incentives (i.e. promotion, tenure and salary increases) were positively correlated with manuscript submissions, as well as with publications; and, b) cash incentives encouraged an increase in submission of research manuscripts, but were correlated with a low manuscript acceptance rate.3 If nurse researchers are to improve the quality of practice, education and administration, they have a moral obligation to publish their research findings. Because it is unlikely to have a significant impact on the nursing profession, research that has not been published is not only unfinished, but is meaningless.


An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using lipopolysaccharide (S-LPS) as the antigen was used to analyze the antibody response in rabbits orogastrically and intravenously infected with virulent (plasmid-bearing) Yersinia enterocolitica O9 strains (pYV+) and with the avirulent (plasmid-cured) derivatives (pYV-). A significative response of immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgA, and IgM antibodies against the S-LPS antigen was evident in sera from the rabbits orogastrically infected with pYV+ strains. This immune response was stronger and persisted longer than those obtained with the corresponding pYV- strains. In contrast, few differences were observed in the titers and evolution of IgG, IgA, and IgM antibodies against the S-LPS antigen in rabbits intravenously infected with pYV+ and pYV- strains. These results suggest that the necessity of the virulence plasmid for the establishment of infection by Y. enterocolitica serotype O9 is conditioned by the infection route used. When the S-LPS ELISA was compared with the radial immunodiffusion test using the native hapten as the antigen, the results showed that the ELISA technique was more sensitive. However, only those sera obtained between 2 and 8 weeks postinfection from rabbits intravenously infected with plasmid-bearing strains were positive in the radial immunodiffusion test.


This method improves linewidth accuracy and overlay accuracy by decreasing the multiple interference effect in a resist film. A clear anti-reflective film is spun on a photoresist prior to alignment pattern detection and exposure