Bipolar host materials with donor (D)–acceptor (A) structures play an important role in high-efficiency phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes (PhOLEDs) owing to the excellent carrier transport capability, which can be optimized by a tight and regular packing mode in the molecular aggregation. Notably, this arrangement is also beneficial for enhancing intersystem crossing channels and reducing the non-radiative transition for realizing room temperature phosphorescence (RTP). On this basis, RTP materials with a rigid packing mode as the host could be utilized to prepare high-quality devices. Herein, we design and synthesize two bipolar D–A–D molecules constructed by utilizing pyrimidine as an acceptor unit, and dibenzothiophene and dibenzofuran as the donor units, named MDBT and MDBF, respectively, exhibiting considerable RTP performance. In particular, MDBT possesses a longer phosphorescence lifetime (25.1 ms) than MDBF (4.9 ms). From the single crystal analysis, MDBT has a relatively planar configuration through the intramolecular S–N bond. Meanwhile, it is arranged in a compact mode due to the presence of S–S, C–H⋯S and S–π bonds, which suppress the molecular vibration and rotation. Moreover, the rigid structure of MDBT is also certified to be conducive to the formation of a nanoscale high-quality film and charge transport. Significantly, the MDBT-based device doped with 8 wt% Ir(ppy)2(acac) exhibits a very low turn-on voltage (2.7 V) and a high electroluminescence efficiency (85.00 cd A−1, EQE = 23.03%). Even at the practical luminance of 5000 cd m−2, the efficiencies remain high (81.09 cd A−1, EQE = 21.97%), making MDBT a promising candidate as the host material for green PhOLEDs.


The biotyping of 154 (3.8%) coagulase-negative staphylococci from 4,051 urinary specimens in males and females was performed. Their significance and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were also evaluated. S. saprophyticus and S. epidermidis accounted for approximately 90% of isolates from females, while in males only 68.7% of isolates were S. epidermidis, S. hominis, S. xylosus, S. simulans, and S. hyicus, The mean age for females with infections due to S. saprophyticus was 23 years while for males with infections due to S. epidermidis it was 77 years. The mean age for infections due to other staphylococci was higher in males than in females. There was little variation in the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in the various species. The results suggest that apart from S. saprophyticus and S. epidermidis, six other species of coagulase-negative staphylococci (S. hominis, S. xylosus, S. simulans, S. hyicus, S. hemolyticus, and S. cohnii) account for most urinary tract infections irrespective of gender.


An analysis of the orbital angular momentum of an optical beam misaligned with respect to a receiver during propagation in the information transfer is investigated. The analytical expressions of Laguerre-Gaussian beams laterally displaced, angularly deflected and simultaneously misaligned in both ways are derived, and the features of the spiral spectrum in these cases are studied. It is shown that both parallel displacement and angular tilt will lead to the spread of the spiral spectrum, which is independent of the misalign direction. The larger the misalign, the more serious the spectrum spread. However, with the increasing of the propagation distance, the degree of the spread for the laterally displacement is decreasing gradually, while that for the angular tilt is increasing. In the angular tilt case, the spread of the spiral spectrum always keeps symmetric during propagation, while in the case of lateral displacement, the spiral spectrum is asymmetric, and goes to a stable state. The spiral spectrum is also investigated for the case with simulataneous lateral misalignment and angular tilt, and we conclude that the effects of both misaligns on the spectrum are related with one another.


The effect of 5-[2-(diethylamino)ethyl]amino-5,11- dihydro[1]benzoxepino[3,4-b]pyridine trihydrochloride (KW-5805) on the activity of an enzyme regulating gastric mucous aminosugar metabolism was studied in rats. Restraint and water-immersion stress decreased the gastric mucosal glucosamine synthetase activity and induced gastric ulcers. The decrease of the enzyme activity reached a maximum at 1 hr and then returned to the non-stressed value. Pretreatment with KW-5805 at oral doses of 3 and 30 mg/kg inhibited the decrease of the enzyme activity and the gastric adherent mucus content and gastric ulceration induced by the stress. KW-5805 (30 mg/kg, p.o.) increased the enzyme activity in normal rats and also prevented the decrease of gastric mucosal N-acethylglucosamine kinase activity in the stressed rats. KW-5805 stimulated the activities of gastric mucosal. UDP-N-acethylglucosamine 4-epimerase and UDP-galactosyltransferase in in vitro. These results suggested that the antiulcerogenic effect of KW-5805 might be due to the activation of an enzyme regulating the biosynthesis of gastric mucus resulting in the reinforcement of gastric mucosal defensive mechanisms.


In Brazil, vegetable consumption grows every year, as it has many advantages, from the supply of food to the medicinal value, which makes it necessary to optimize the use of land by producers, and an alternative used is the intercropping. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the productivity and economic viability of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in two different cropping systems (intercropped and monoculture). The production of seedlings was held at UFT —Gurupi Campus and the experiment conducted in a given area featuring 13m wide and 23 m in length, totaling 299 m2, in the period between June and August of 2018. The area mentioned was used for the production of Lucy Brown lettuce, and the 'Caipira' variety of cucumber. The experiment was conducted in a cazualized block with four replications and three treatments, which were incorporated in: monoculture of cucumber (T1), monoculture of lettuce (T2), and consortium of lettuce with cucumber (T3). Lettuce and cucumber in monoculture presented the best answers for all variables analyzed when compared with the consortium. The index of equivalence area (IEA) was calculated to assess the efficiency of crops in both production systems. And the value found for the IEA showed that the consortium is efficient within the production system. According to the technical coefficients relating to deployment, conducting plants and their production costs, the Consortium has proven economically viable.


This study built on previous research that found significant differences in the mean level of academic success (i.e., course grades) for students who participated in a mechatronic experience (i.e., integrating mechanical, electronic, and computer systems) vs. those who did not. This paper further examined this variation in course grades by conducting a two-way Analysis of Covariance to understand the impact academic major (i.e., technology major vs. non-technology major) and group assignment (i.e., control vs. treatment) had, while controlling for pre-study covariates of GPA, ACT, age, and technical experience. When adjusting for differences in ACT and GPA scores, we found significant main effects for group assignment (expected), but not for major (unexpected). Furthermore, no interaction effects where found between academic major and group assignment. When analyzing age and previous technical experience level (i.e., mechanical, electrical, and computer systems), we found age to be a significant predictor of course grades, while previous experience (in any area) was not. This would indicate that younger students performed better in the course, while, contrary to education theory, previous technical experience had no impact on course grades. This study used a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent group design with a convenience sample of n = 84 students in a first-year technology course. It looks to expand the empirical foundations supporting the impacts of mechatronic experiences on academic success.


This paper considers three different claims to knowledge, namely, "fully descriptive", "generally descriptive" and causal claims. These are all common in social science, and each type of claim requires more assumptions than the previous one. After discussing their methodological and logical foundations, this paper describes some of the limitations in the nature of these three claims. Fully descriptive claims suffer from non-random errors and inaccuracies in observations, and can be queried in terms of utility. Generally, in addition to observational errors, descriptive can be questioned because of the long-standing problem of induction. Even the notion of falsification might not be able to help with this. Finally, causal claims are the most problematic of the three. While widely assumed, causation cannot be observed directly. The paper combines and develops three models of what causation might be, and discusses their implications for causal claims. It points out that so far our belief in causation is still a kind of religious one, and that neither theory nor inferential statistics can help in proving or observing its existence. Finally, the paper provides some suggestions for avoiding being misled by false knowledge and reporting our research findings with tentative care and judgement.


To improve the service reliability of polymeric materials used in pickling environments the aim for this research project was to investigate how the corrosion of PP, exposed to mixed acid, changes its mechanical properties. It was found that PPH-β and PPB has a better resistance to the mixed acid environment both in the corrosion rate and impact strength compared to PPH-α and PPR. Further investigation showed that the penetration depth of the nitration is equal in the material exposed to only nitric acid. A useful method has been developed that can, in a relative short time period, give answers to the selected material´s adequacy for this specific environment. Materials that were tested were in the form of commercially available pipes. The samples were exposed to mixed acid from the inside for 7-27 days at temperatures of 60°C and 80°C. The corrosion rates were determined by pH-indicator and FTIR line-scans. The results were compared to pipes that had been in service for 2 years. The impact strength was determined by Charpy impact testing both on the inside and outside of the pipe walls. No changes in impact properties were found from impacts made to the inside of the pipe.


The aim of this study was to clarify the association between oral Candida detection and the dependency status of older people. This study included 31 older people aged ≥70 years who had a certified need for long-term care or support and received care in a local day care center; it also included 27 independent older patients aged ≥70 years who visited Hiroshima University Hospital. Oral Candida was detected by a polymerase chain reaction using swab samples from the tongue surface. Oral moisture was significantly reduced in dependent older people, compared with independent older people (p = 0.003). There was a weak negative relationship between numbers of bacteria and levels of oral moisture (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient; R = −0.29, p = 0.01). Dependent older people exhibited a significantly higher rate of Candida albicans detection (35.5%) compared with independent older people (11.1%). Dependent older people also exhibited a higher rate of concurrent detection of both C. albicans and Candida glabrata (32.3%) compared with independent older people (11.1%), but this difference was not statistically significant. Thus, dependent older people may be more susceptible to oral C. albicans infection, compared with independent older people. Good oral hygiene is necessary to prevent oral Candida infection in dependent older people.


The specific identification and detection of a virus are the critical factors to identify and control an epidemic situation. In this study, a novel photonic-magnetic responsive virus-molecularly imprinted photochemical sensor was constructed for recognition of enterovirus 71. As designed, the double-bond-modified magnetic metal organic framework and 4-(4'-acryloyloxyazo) benzoic acid were used as a magnetic carrier and light-responsive functional monomer, respectively. The structure of the recognition site of the virus-molecularly imprinted nanospheres can be photo-switched between two different structures to achieve rapid release and specific binding to the target virus. Additionally, the introduction of a magnetic core enables a rapid separation and recycling of imprinted particles. The device achieves a performance with high-specificity recognition (imprinting factor = 5.1) and an ultrahigh sensitivity with a detection limit of 9.5 × 10-3 U/mL (3.9 fM). Moreover, it has good reproducibility and can be stored for as long as 6 months. Thus, the approach used in this work opens a new avenue for the construction of multiresponsive virus sensors.


We aimed to share our experience with erector spina plan block for postoperative analgesia after hydatid cyst operation in a six-year-old girl. Erector spina plan block is a new interfasial block defined by Forero in 2016. It has been reported that it can be used effectively in many different indications. Ultrasound guided erector spina plan block is a method that can be applied for postoperative analgesia after thoracotomy.


Satellite Communication (SatCom) systems will be a key component of 5G and 6G networks to achieve the goal of providing unlimited and ubiquitous communications and deploying smart and sustainable networks. To meet the ever-increasing demand for higher throughput in 5G and beyond, aggressive frequency reuse schemes (i.e., full frequency reuse), combined with digital beamforming techniques to cope with the massive co-channel interference, are recognized as a key solution. Aimed at (i) eliminating the joint optimization problem among the beamforming vectors of all users, (ii) splitting it into distinct ones, and (iii) finding a closed-form solution, we propose a beamforming algorithm based on maximizing the users' Signal-to-Leakage-and-Noise Ratio (SLNR) served by a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite. We investigate and assess the performance of several beamforming algorithms, including both those based on Channel State Information (CSI) at the transmitter, i.e., Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) and Zero-Forcing (ZF), and those only requiring the users' locations, i.e., Switchable Multi-Beam (MB). Through a detailed numerical analysis, we provide a thorough comparison of the performance in terms of per-user achievable spectral efficiency of the aforementioned beamforming schemes, and we show that the proposed SLNR beamforming technique is able to outperform both MMSE and ZF schemes in the presented SatCom scenario.


Dr. A. Bruce Gill has called attention to an error which appeared in the footnote to Table I of his article on "Relationship of Legg-Perhes Disease to the Function of the Thyroid Gland", published in the October issue of The Journal (Volume XXV, page 897, 1943).

The fourth footnote. "(S) indicates Shim units" should have read, "(S) stands for Shin., and indicates that the method of phosphatase estimation used was that of Shinowara, Reinhart, and Jones".


INTRODUCTION The development of thoracic endovascular aortic repair has altered the approach and reduced the risk of treating the majority of descending thoracic aortic conditions. Primarily developed for the exclusion of thoracic aortic aneurysms, it is now used in place of open repair surgery for most descending thoracic aortic diseases, and has also been used to treat aortic arch diseases in selected cases. METHODS A literature search was conducted of Medline and Embase databases from January 2007 to February 2017, using the key words 'aortic disease', 'thoracic aorta' and 'endovascular repair'; 205 articles were identified, of which 25 studies were selected for review based on their relevance. FINDINGS The key findings of the indications, techniques, outcomes, complications and comparisons with open surgical repair were extracted from the published studies and are summarised in this review. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair is the preferred choice of intervention for patients with descending thoracic aortic disease. With time, it has improved to be safer and has the potential to expand aortic treatment choices in future.


INTRODUCTION Laparoscopic surgery has become the standard for colorectal cancer resection in the UK but it can be technically challenging in patients who are obese. Patients whose body fat is mainly inside the abdominal cavity are more challenging than those whose fat is mainly outside the abdominal cavity. Abdominal fat ratio (AFR) is a simple parameter proposed by the authors to aid identification of this subgroup. MATERIALS AND METHODS All 195 patients who underwent elective, laparoscopic colorectal cancer resections from March 2010 to November 2013 were included in the study. For patients who were obese (body mass index greater than 30), preoperative staging computed tomography was used to determine AFR. This was assessed by two different, blinded observers and compared with conversion rate. RESULTS Of the 195 patients, 58 (29.7%) fell into the obese group and 137 (70.3%) into the non‐obese group. The median AFR of the obese group that were converted to open surgery was significantly higher at 5.9 compared with those completed laparoscopically (3.3, P = 0.0001, Mann‐Whitney). There was no significant difference in conversion rate when looking at body mass index, tumour site or size. DISCUSSION Previous studies have found body mass index, age, gender, previous abdominal surgery, site and locally advanced tumours to be associated with an increased risk of conversion. This study adds AFR to the list of risk factors. CONCLUSION AFR is a simple, reproducible parameter which can help to predict conversion risk in obese patients undergoing colorectal cancer resection.


To mitigate lithium-polysulfides (Li-PSs) shuttle in lithium-sulfur batteries (LiSBs), a unique carbon-nanotube-encapsulated-sulfur (S@CNT) cathode material with optimum open-ring sizes (ORSs) on the CNT walls were designed using an integrated computational approach followed by experimental validation. By calculating the transport barrier of Li+ ion through ORSs on the CNT walls and comparing the molecular size of solvents and Li-PSs with ORSs, optimum open-rings with 16-30 surrounding carbon atoms were predicted to selectively allow transportation of Li+ ion and evaporated sulfur while blocking both Li-PS and solvent molecules. A CNT oxidation process was proposed and simulated to generate these ORSs, and the results indicated that the optimum ORSs can be achieved by narrowly controlling the oxidation parameters. Subsequently, S@CNT cathodes were experimentally synthesized, confirming that optimum ORSs were generated in CNT oxidized at 475 K and exhibited more stable cycling behavior.


This research was mainly aimed at finding out the visual and non-visual element and their meanings in Bali Safari Park brochure. The brochure was chosen because there were various types of pictures and texts. The data were collected by finding and reading that brochure and note taking the data from Bali Safari Park brochure using the observation method. The method that was used in analyzing the data was a descriptive method. The presenting the data was formal method by using symbols, pictures or images to illustrate the phenomena found in the data. The result of this research showed that there were the visual and non-visual elements found in Bali Safari Park brochure. The visual and non-visual elements were in the form of pictures, the logo, symbol, colors, the pictures of fonts, phrases, and sentences. Those forms were found in headline, body copy, signature line, and standing details. The types of meaning found in the visual and non-visual elements were affective meaning, conceptual meaning, and denotative meaning.
Keywords: discourse analysis, visual and non-visual elements, Bali Safari Park


A novel linearisation technique for reduction in the third-order intermodulation distortion products, with injection of second harmonics through a feedback loop of a power amplifier, was applied in this paper. The power amplifier including the feedback loop components (bandpass filter, phase shifter, attenuator) was designed as a hybrid microwave integrated circuit by using the program Libra. The adjustable parameters are the phase and amplitude of the loop signals. Therefore, a voltage that controls a phase shift of the phase shifter and a control current of a PIN diode in the attenuator circuit were optimised to obtain a reduction in the third-order intermodulation distortion. The achievable improvement was found to be 21 dB for the case of two fundamental signals at the power amplifier input.


Autonomy starts with awareness of the environment. Robots are given autonomy using sensors that endow them with perceptual capabilities, such as cameras . Recently, a new type of camera working under the Time-of-Flight principle has been developed, capable of acquiring dense depth maps at high frame rates. Its small size and weight make it suitable for its use on-board a flying vehicle for indoor localization and mapping . This document outlines the first approaches taken in the use of a ToF camera for such tasks constrained by real-time requirements. The camera has been mounted on a flying vehicle that uses the open source Paparazzi autopilot system developed by the ENAC ( Ecole National de l'Aviation Civile ) french team. Since indoor environments are predominantly planar, planar patches have been favoured to model the environment and detect motion of the UAV. A Region Growing segmentation algorithm identifies and extracts planes from the scene in real-time. Planes are tracked and registered across a sequence of frames to estimate the camera's ego-motion . Initial results of plane-based visual odometry are presented and confirm the device suitability.


Background Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an inflammatory disease predominantly affecting spine which may lead to syndesmophyte formation and disability. However, the new bone formation and the radiographic severity of AS shows great variance that some patients never develop syndesmophytes throughout the entire disease duration, whereas some develop spinal fusion. The genetic determinants of this variance has not been identified yet in a well-defined mild-radiograhic AS and severe-radiographic AS. Objectives To determine the association between ERAP1, IL23R and PTGER4 polymorphisms and radiographic severity of AS and secondly to identify clinical characteristics associated with severe radiographic AS. Methods rs27044 and rs30187 (ERAP1 gene), rs11209032 (IL23R gene) and rs10440635 (PTGER4 gene) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were genotyped in total of 199 AS patients (F/M: 83/116, mean age: 42.1±11.0 years, 62.8% HLA-B27 [+]) fulfilling the 1984 modified New York criteria for AS. Patients were classifed as severe-radiographic AS and mild-radiographic AS according to modified Stoke AS spinal score (m-SASSS). Mild AS is defined as having m-SASSS of "0" despite ≥10 years of disease duration. Whereas severe AS is defined as having m-SASSS of >20 (without counting scores "1") regardless of the disease duration. Results Fifty eight patients (F/M=9/49, mean age 50.7±9.3, disease duration 21.9±7.0 years) were classified as severe AS, 141 patients (F/M=74/67, mean age 38.3±9.1, disease duration 13.6±4.9 years) were classified as mild AS. Severe group had significantly higher m-SASSS scores (48.5±18.3 vs 0) (P<0.001). The genotype frequency of the entire cohort is shown in Table 1. There were no significant differences in the distributions of ERAP1 rs27044 and rs30187, IL23R rs11209032 and PTGER4 rs10440635 SNP genotypes between severe and mild AS (Table 2). The genotype frequencies did not change when severe and mild AS patients were categorized according to gender or HLA-B27 status. Concerning clinical and demographic characteristics, it was found that majority of severe AS patients were males (84.5%) and severe AS patients had significantly higher coxofemoral joint involvement (43.1% vs 22.2%, P=0.003), uveitis (25.9% vs 12.8%, P=0.024), anti-TNF usage (70.7% vs 39.7, P<0.001) and HLA-B27 positivity (75.9% vs 57.4%, P=0.026) compared to mild AS. In multi-variate analysis male gender (OR=0.19, 95% CI [0.087-0.42], P<0.0001) and coxofemoral joint involvement OR=2.13, 95% CI [1.06-4.25], P=0.033) were independently associated with severe AS. Table 1. Genotype frequency of the 4 SNPs in the entire cohort (n=199) SNP Gene Genotype Frequency rs27044 ERAP1 CC* / CG / GG 0.50 / 0.44 / 0.06 rs30187 ERAP1 CC* / TC / TT 0.32 / 0.53 / 0.15 rs11209032 IL23R GG* / AG / AA 0.30 / 0.43 / 0.27 rs10440635 PTGER4 GG* / AG / AA 0.26 / 0.52 / 0.22* Denotes wild type. Conclusions Our data with a well-defined categorization of mild and severe-radiographic AS underline that ERAP1 rs27044 and rs30187, IL23R rs11209032 and PTGER4 rs10440635 SNPs are not associated with radiographic severity of AS. Whereas male gender and coxofemoral joint involvement are associated with severe-radiographic AS. Disclosure of Interest None declared


This paper presents the numerical prototyping i. e. simulation of vibration sensor systems, to be implemented as low cost systems in machines and technical facilities. A micromachined acceleration sensor is supplemented by an analog Sallen Key Butterworth filter and a microcontroller. Within the microcontroller a second filter, a Windowed Sinc FIR filter is implemented for data reduction, followed by an FFT. The two stage filter is used to get rid of the influence of the tolerances of the analog filter, since in low cost applications an additional adjustment should be avoided. The sensor system is simulated in Labview®, a standard data acquisition software. Labview is chosen, since it has the possibility to do a numerical simulation of the sensor system and additionally using real measured vibration data as input data, thus performing a Hardware-in-the-loop-simulation (HIL). The simulation of the sensor system gives the capability to optimize system parameters in advance of building a hardware system.


A considerable amount of recent evidence suggests that speed of information processing (SIP) may be related to general giftedness as well as contributing to higher mathematical ability. To date, no study has examined SIP associated with both general giftedness (G) and excellence in mathematics (EM). This paper presents a part of more extensive research aimed at a multidimensional examination of mathematical giftedness, which is a complex function of the G factor and EM factor. The research population consisted of four groups of 10th–11th grade students who differed in their G level and EM level. 190 participants performed five SIP tests: Visual-matching, Cross-out of numbers, Digit-symbol, Symbol-search and Simple arithmetic exercises. We found that the G–EM group outperformed the three other study groups on all five tests. The findings reveal that between-group differences in performance on Cross-out of numbers and Simple arithmetic exercises tests are associated with both G and EM factors, whereas especially the G factor had an effect on students' scores on Digit-symbol, Symbol-search and Visual-matching tests. In addition, we found gender differences on the Digit-symbol and Symbol-search tests. The results of this study suggest that EM and G factors are interrelated but represent different traits with respect to the SIP.


The effect on environment by agricultural and other industrial wastes is increasing and causing a lot of problems. It is estimated that about 500 million tons of agricultural and agro-industrial residues are being generated annually in the country. Adequate means of disposing these wastes are lacking, hence, converting them to value added products such as briquettes for domestic as well as industrial fuel is desirable. This study aims to establish a mix of options for organic waste processing that can deliver better economic and environmental outcomes than the production of low quality compost or other means that have limited market potential. The present review aims at summarizing value addition options for various biomasses towards energy production and value added product genera-


In this paper, we present an alternative characteristic waveform (CW) decomposition mechanism for the Waveform Interpolation (WI) paradigm based on the Pitch Synchronous Wavelet Transform (PSWT). In this technique, IIR filters replace the conventional FIR filters of the PSWT, offering computational and spectral magnitude performance advantages, in addition to significant delay reductions. Previously, the PSWT has only incorporated filter banks with slowly reacting FIR wavelet filters. While these filters possess the desirable properties of linear phase, and design simplicity, a large delay is incurred which increases exponentially with increasing resolution. The progression to IIR filter banks gives rise to a multi-resolution decomposition mechanism, beneficial for real-time applications, such as speech coding, where delay is an important issue.


We offer a comprehensive theory of pH response of a coupled ISFET sensor to show that the maximum achievable response is given by ΔV/ΔpH = 59 mV/pH × α, where 59 mV/pH is the intrinsic Nernst response and α an amplification factor that depends on the geometrical and electrical properties of the sensor and transducer nodes. While the intrinsic Nernst response of an electrolyte/site-binding interface is fundamental and immutable, we show that by using channels of different materials, areas, and bias conditions, the extrinsic sensor response can be increased dramatically beyond the Nernst limit. We validate the theory by measuring the pH response of a Si nanowire-nanoplate transistor pair that achieves >10 V/pH response and show the potential of the scheme to achieve (asymptotically) the theoretical lower limit of signal-to-noise ratio for a given configuration. We suggest the possibility of an even larger pH response based on recent trends in heterogeneous integration on the Si platform.


Structural malformation of the oviduct has been reported in experimental animal models and women following prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES). To study histological changes in the oviduct in the absence of gross structural malformation, neonatal CD-1 mice were treated with DES (2 micrograms/pup/day) on days 1-5 of age. Focal epithelial hyperplasia was present at 1 month of age in 16 out of 18 (89%) of the DES-treated mice. At 4 months of age, general epithelial hyperplasia with multiple gland-like structures into and through the muscle wall of the oviduct was observed in 90% of the treated mice; by 12 months of age, epithelial hyperplasia and pseudogland formation were seen in 100% of the DES-exposed animals. Epithelial hyperplasia and gland formation were not observed in control mice. The alteration induced by DES in the differentiation and proliferation of mouse oviductal epithelium suggests that the oviduct is a target for DES toxic effects. In addition, there was a progression of the epithelial changes with age. The histological changes described in this study may be partially responsible for the decreased fertility previously reported in this mouse model. Similar changes in the oviduct of DES-exposed women remain to be determined.


OBJECTIVE
To identify which of 4 materials has the most favorable pressure distribution when used in custom-molded seats (CMSs) to assist clinicians in providing appropriate seating for wheelchair-bound individuals who are prone to develop pressure ulcers.

DESIGN
Repeated-interface pressure measurements for all materials, followed by statistical analysis.

SETTING
The general community and referral centers.

PARTICIPANTS
Seven subjects, 5 with cerebral palsy, 1 with Schilder's disease, and 1 with postmeningitis effects. All subjects were seated in a CMS and had spinal deformities.

INTERVENTIONS
Viscoelastic polyurethane foams (Pudgee, Sunmate) and gels (Floam trade mark, Jay) were used as inserts in the CMSs. Evazote foam was used as a control material.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Pressure readings were taken at the seat interface with pneumatic pressure sensors and the Talley Pressure Monitor. Peak pressure readings, mean pressure ratio, and peak pressure ratio for the different materials were compared.

RESULTS
Foams, Sunmate in particular, produced lower peak-interface pressures and also showed better pressure distribution than did gels.

CONCLUSION
Foams are the preferred insert material with CMSs when increased tissue breakdown risk is present.


Since currently available thrombolytics still show disadvantages, such as administration by infusion, occurrence of intracranial hemorrhage, major hemorrhagic complications, allergic reactions, and high price, a novel tissue plasminogen activator has been developed. BM 06.022 is a t-PA mutant produced in Escherichia coli by DNA technology. It has no oligosaccharide side-chains and comprises the kringle 2- and protease domains of t-PA. Like t-PA, the enzymatic activity of BM 06.022 can be stimulated by fibrin. However, BM 06.022 binds to neither endothelial cells nor fibrin. Despite this, BM 06.022 demonstrates the same fibrin selectivity in vivo as t-PA. Investigation of the pharmacokinetic properties in rats, rabbits, dogs, and primates reveals, depending on species, a 4.5- - 10.4-fold longer dominant half-life and 3- - 8.4-fold slower plasma clearance than t-PA (alteplase). In spite of its lower specific activity in vitro, BM 06.022 has a thrombolytic potency which is 4.6 - 11.5 times higher in vivo than that of alteplase in the rabbit model of venous thrombosis and the canine model of coronary artery thrombosis. BM 06.022 achieves reperfusion significantly more rapid than long-acting anistreplase. Therefore, because of its improved pharmacokinetic properties, BM 06.022 might be administered to infarct patients by i.v. injection in the pre-hospital phase to achieve rapid lysis. Due to its lack of fibrin- and endothelial-cell-binding, combined with retained fibrin selectivity, BM 06.022 further promises to induce fewer hemorrhagic complications than either t-PA or streptokinase.


Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma is expressed in human beta-cells and in the rat beta-cell line INS-1. Previous studies have suggested that PPAR-gamma agonism (e.g., thiazolidinediones) enhances glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) from islets or INS-1 cells. We tested the direct effect on insulin release by INS-1e of a PPAR-gamma agonist (Ro4389679-000-001 at 0.2 and 0.4 micromol/l) and a PPAR-gamma antagonist (SR202 at 0.2 and 0.4 mmol/l). Cells were incubated in 11 mmol/l glucose for 96 h and then challenged with 3.3, 7.5, 11.0, and 20.0 mmol/l glucose for 1 h. Under these control conditions, insulin concentrations in the medium rose from 19 +/- 4 ng/ml (mean +/- SE) to 82 +/- 5, 107 +/- 11, and 103 +/- 10 ng/ml (P <0.0001 by ANOVA). Preincubation for 48 h with the PPAR-gamma agonist potentiated GSIS (to 154 +/- 14 and 156 +/- 12 ng/ml at 20 mmol/l glucose, P <0.01). Cell insulin content was not altered by either acute glucose challenge or PPAR-gamma agonist coincubation. Preincubation for 48 h with SR202 at the higher dose caused a 30% inhibition of GSIS, with no change in cell insulin contents. When cells were preincubated with 11 mmol/l glucose plus 1 mmol/l oleate, GSIS was significantly potentiated (by 30%, P <0.0001); adding Ro4389679-000-001 or SR202 to these preincubations reduced GSIS to the respective levels seen in the absence of oleate (P <0.0001 for both effects). In conclusion, INS-1e cells display a PPAR-gamma tone that is symmetrically modulated and competitively stimulated by oleate.


Context A low sodium diet has been proposed to reduce the risk of heart failure (HF) hospitalisations and is currently advocated in consensus guidelines, yet some evidence suggests adverse neurohumoral activation for sodium restriction in the HF setting. Objectives To evaluate the effects of a restricted sodium diet in patients with systolic HF. Data sources A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials OVID MEDLINE, PubMed, Excerpta Medica (Embase), the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched up to April 2012. Study selection Two independent reviewers selected studies for inclusion on the basis of a randomised controlled trial design that included adults with systolic HF receiving a restricted salt diet or control diet and reporting mortality (all-cause, sudden death or HF-related) and HF-related hospitalisations. Data extraction and analysis Descriptive and quantitative information was extracted from included studies. A random-effects model was used to compute pooled risk ratios (RR) for mortality and morbidity outcomes. Results Six randomised trials comparing low sodium diets (1.8 g/day) with normal sodium diets (2.8 g/d) in 2747 patients with systolic HF were identified. Compared with a normal sodium diet, a low sodium diet significantly increased all cause mortality (RR 1.95, 95% CI 1.66 to 2.29), sudden death (RR 1.72, 95% CI 1.21 to 2.44), death due to HF (RR 2.23, 95% CI 1.77 to 2.81) and HF readmissions (RR 2.10, 95% CI 1.67 to 2.64). Conclusion Compared with a normal sodium diet, a low sodium diet significantly increases morbidity and mortality in systolic HF.


Cytokines, particularly interleukin (IL)-1β, have been postulated to cause β-cell destruction in type 1 diabetes. We tested the efficacy of an IL-1 cytokine trap in counteraction of suppressive and toxic effects after exposure of rat pancreatic islets in vitro to IL-1β. The IL-1 cytokine trap used herein comprised extracellular domains of the IL-1 receptor accessory protein and the human IL-1 receptor 1 arranged inline and fused to the Fc portion of human IgG1. Groups of isolated rat pancreatic islets were maintained in medium culture with or without IL-1β (150 pmol/l) for 48 h in the absence or presence of the IL-1 trap at 1-, 10-, or 100-fold excess the molar concentration of the cytokine. IL-1β alone induced a strong inhibition of insulin secretion and glucose oxidation rate and a marked increase in medium nitrite accumulation as an indicator of nitric oxide generation. When the IL-1 trap was used at a ratio 10:1 or 100:1, a complete protection against these effects were observed. Moreover, the IL-1 trap (100:1) blocked the increased islet cell death seen in islets treated with a combination of IL-1β + tumor necrosis factor-α + interferon-γ as well as functional suppression induced by the cytokine combination. In conclusion, we show that addition of an IL-1 trap can protect rat pancreatic islets in vitro against noxious effects induced by IL-1β. Exploring the IL-1 trap in relevant animal models of type 1 diabetes represents an interesting future intervention strategy.


Exact bit-error probability (BEP) expressions are derived for 2- and 4-ary differential phase shift keying (2- and 4-DPSK) with post-detection equal gain combining (EGC) in arbitrarily correlated slow Nakagami fading channels. Unlike previous work, the effect of noise correlation between adjacent symbol intervals is considered and shown explicitly in the BEP expressions. The characteristic function method is used to give a BEP expression in a general form for 2- and 4-DPSK. Furthermore, closed-form BEP expressions are derived for 2-DPSK with coloured noise, and for 4-DPSK with white noise and integer fading parameter m. The theoretical result is demonstrated by analysing two antenna configurations, giving some interesting findings.


To the Editor.— Davidson et al1recently concluded that direct or indirect exposure to suicide was not associated significantly with suicide. However, the nature of the control group employed in their study limits the examination of the association of suicide with exposure to suicide as a risk factor. Given the amount of media coverage that surrounded the suicide clusters under study, the control group was inevitably exposed to the reports of the suicide cases. Indeed, the control subjects had a greater opportunity than the case subjects to be exposed to suicide stories that occurred during and after the cluster because the controls, by definition, survived the entire period of the cluster, whereas the case subjects obviously did not. This likelihood is highlighted in the finding that the case subjects werelesslikely than the control teenagers to have talked about death or suicide. Unless the identical assessment period


The reaction between [MO(NO)L(I)(NHR1)][L = tris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate, HB(Me2pz)3–; R1= Et, Prn, or Bun] and R1NH– afforded [Mo(NO)L(NHR1)2] but did not provide a route to derivatives in which R1= aryl. A similar approach using [W(NO)L(Cl)(NHR1)] and R1NH– afforded the tungsten analogues [W(NO)L(NHR1)2](R1= Et, Prn, or Bun). The reaction of [Mo(NO)L(I)(NHR1)](R1= Et, Ph, or C6H4Me-p) with NaC10H8 in tetrahydrofuran, followed by the addition of R2NH2(R2= Ph or C6H4Me-p), led to the formation of the arylamide derivatives [Mo(NO)L(NHR1)(NHR2)](R1= R2= Ph or C6H4Me-p; R1= C6H4Me-p, R2= Ph; and R1= Et, R2= C6H4Me-p). Bis-arylamide derivatives of tungsten could not be prepared in this manner but [W(NO)L(NHEt)(NHC6H4Me-p)] was prepared from the reaction of NHC6H4Me-p– and [W(NO)L(Cl)(NHEt)]. The electrochemistry of the new complexes has been investigated and, while the bis-arylamide derivatives exhibited reversible reduction behaviour, the alkylamide complexes reduced irreversibly. The molecular structure of [Mo(NO){HB(Me2pz)3}(NHBun)2] has been determined by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study and was found to contain a linear nitrosyl ligand. The average Mo–N(butylamido) distance was 1.940 A and the average Mo–N–Bun angle 129.9°.


The paper describes the analysis of data originating from the German Deep Drill Program. The amount of 'cataclastic rocks' is modelled with data resulting from a series of measurements taken from deep drill samples ranging from 1000 up to 5000 m depth. The measurements thereby describe the amount of strongly deformed rock particles and serve as indicator for the occurrence of cataclastic shear zones, which are areas of severely'ground' stones due to movements of different layers in the earth crust. The data represent a 'depth series' as analogue to a 'time series', with mean, dispersion and correlation structure varying in depth. The general smooth structure is thereby disturbed by peaks and outliers so that robust procedures have to be applied for estimation. In terms of statistical modelling technology three different peculiarities of the data have to be tackled simultaneously, that is estimation of the correlation structure, local bandwidth selection and robust smoothing. To do so, existing routines are adapted and combined in new 'two-stage' estimation procedures.


We study the use of polymer gratings as light couplers into porous silicon planar waveguides for sensing applications. Experimental evidence of a guided mode in a grating-coupled porous silicon structure is presented, along with a study of its detuning due to waveguide infiltration with a chemical linker. All the measurements are in good agreement with simulations obtained by means of a Fourier modal method, where the porous silicon birefringence is considered. These results demonstrate that this system is potentially useful for chemical and biological sensing applications.


This paper examines the energy consumption of varying aspect ratio in multi-unit residential buildings in Canadian cities. The aspect ratio of a building is one of the most important determinants of energy efficiency. It defines the building surface area by which heat is transferred between the interior and exterior environment. It also defines the amount of building area that is subject to solar gain. The extent to which this can be beneficial or detrimental depends on the aspect ratio and climate. This paper evaluates the relationship between the geometry of buildings and location to identify a design vernacular for energy-efficient designs across Canada.


Paratuberculosis is a chronic mycobacterial infection causing granulomatous enteritis in ruminants, whose pathogenesis and epidemiology poses numerous challenges, including latency and reactivation. The most recent and complete classification of paratuberculosis immunopathological types in cattle recognized five categories. In this study, 1031 slaughtered Friesian cattle were submitted to serological, microbiological and pathological examinations with the aim of maximizing the rate of case detection. In most cases, infected animals had minimal lesions and almost no other proof of infection (38.9%), while the more characteristic types with the whole constellation of microbiological and immunological evidences accounted for a lower proportion (7.7%). As these findings in cattle suggest similarities with the epidemiology of tuberculosis in humans, we propose to re-group the original immunopathological types into two broader paratuberculosis epidemio-pathogenic forms or states: latent and patent. The former term would define infections with focal lesions and might constitute an apparent resilience status representing a difficult to detect reservoir of infection whose role could become critical if later immune-compromising factors lead to re-activation. The latter would group those cases with multifocal and diffuse inflammatory lesions with higher mycobacterial load and viability suggestive of a more immediate epidemiological risk. Interestingly, the relative frequency of presentation of each profile varied with age. The proportion of latent forms remained relatively constant between 33.8% and 54.3% through adulthood from 3 years of age, while patent forms were more frequent during the first years of age and tended to decrease among the oldest individuals.


A number of experiments were conducted with a pulsed Nd:glass laser to assess the effect of thin coatings with varying optical properties on laser coupling and stress wave generation in aluminium targets. The coatings included liquid cement, which is transparent at 1.06 mu m; Aquadag which is opaque; and silver paint, which ranges from translucent to opaque, depending upon the curing time. Considerable stress enhancement was found for the transparent plasma-confining coatings and the partially cured silver paint, which was semitransparent and contained a volatile binder. Stress levels for untreated aluminium and samples with Aquadag or cured silver paint coatings varied approximately with the coupling coefficient for these materials. The potential ramifications of these results to laser-fusion experiments are discussed.


cnditions of the eye mercury and potassium iodide are very uncertain in their action, sometimes much benefit resulting from their administration, and in other cases the results are nil. I used this treatment in several cases, with much benefit, and in some patients who had previously .been -treated by other methods without good results; but in my ,experience the pilocarpin produced such profound de?pression when injected daily for ten or more days that I -cast about to see if there was not some other method of stimulation of the ordinary physiological processes without thig great drawback. In fact, in certain cases, the -depression was so profound that the patients, although -acknowledging their vision was better, refused to continue' rthe treatment, remarking that the remedy was worse than the disease. Of course the ordinary hot-air bath suggested itself, but 'was discarded as being too cumbrous, and finally guaiacol was recommended to me by a colleague. It is, I believe, not generally known that if a small quantity of guaiacol be -smeared on the skin, profuse diaphoresis results in about -one hour. I have now tried this method in nearly 40 cases with' most excellent results, irido-cyclitis, vitreous opacities, and, interstitial keratitis seeming to be the most suitable, conditions for the treatment. The following is the routine usually employed: The urine is examined, and the mercury is omitted if any albumen is found. The ordinary alterative mixture of hydrarg. perchlorid. gr. ii and potas. iodid. gr. v is given thrice daily; sometimes instead of the above hydrarg. ( creta gr. 1 is given in a pill thrice daily, together with a mixture containing potassium iodide and tincture of nMux vomica. The patient is kept in bed between blankets with two hot-water, bottles, then 1 drachm of a mixture of equal parts of olive oil and guaiacol is smeared, not rubbed, either in the axilla or over the epigastrium. If this dose does not suffice then 2 drachms are used, and in rare cases three, but mostly 1 drachm is .,enough. The part is covered with oil silk, and a pad of wool is applied over the silk. A lhot drink is now given, and profuse general perspiration begins in from one to two hours and lasts for about five hours. It is difficult to .make some patients perspire, and in these cases a hot bath beforehand assists and hastens diaphoresis.' Ih one patient some irritation of the skin was produced by the .aguaiacol, but this was practically well in a week on ceasing the treatment; but the skin in this case was too: irritable to stand the application on the same place two mights in succession. Generally twelve applications are made, and then -treatment is stopped for a few days and begun again if considered necessary. As a rule, the patients are (kept in bed the whole time, but occasionally when the applications are made in the morning, I allow them to sit up for an hour or so in the evening, well wrapped up. Our experience at the Shrewsbury Eye Hospital is that guaiacol is a far more certain diaphoretic than pilocarpin, .and does not produce the after-depression of the latter drug, while the results are, as far as I can see, equally good. I have not tried it in any very acute cases, but there does not seem any reason against its use in these conditions. Among the eye diseases for which this modification of the " combined " treatment has been used are inter'stitial keratitis, irido-cyclitis, vitreous opacities, sympathetic ophthalmia, and optic neuritis. In all there was !some benefit, and in some the results were remarkably .good. Very many of the patients had been previously treated with ordinary routine methods without good results. Certainly in syphilis the condition is more quickly controlled than when mercury and iodide are u'3ed alone. Recently I have been using this treatment in a -case of syphilitic perichondritis of the larynx with very ,good results, when previously the use of mercury and potassium iodide has not influenced the condition very -appreciably. The idea of treating syphilis with diaphoretics and mercury is not new, but has, I believe, been carried out kwr some years, with the object of shortening the treatment.


A controlled release preparation of salbutamol may improve patient compliance, minimise side effects and be valuable in the treatment of nocturnal asthma by extending drug action throughout the night. The aim of the study was therefore to formulate a controlled release pellet preparation of salbutamol via the air suspension technique. The study established that curing for 24 h at 38 +/- 0.5 degrees C was necessary for homogeneous film coats of Eudragit RS30D and hence stable drug release characteristics. Pellets coated with 6% Eudragit RS30D (polymer), 12.5% triethyl citrate (plasticiser) and 0.5% magnesium stearate (antitackiness agent) displayed desirable controlled drug release characteristics over the 8 h testing period. The manufacturing conditions employed in the study were shown to be reproducible thus ensuring reproducibility of drug release characteristics between batches of salbutamol controlled release pellets. Short term stability testing on the newly formulated pellets indicated no significant change in drug release characteristics relative to the initial drug release data when stored for 8 weeks at room temperature 20 +/- 2 degrees C or 37 degrees C with 80% Relative Humidity or at low temperature (5 +/- 1 degrees C). However, pellets stored at 40 degrees C showed a slower in-vitro drug release after 8 weeks of storage and therefore failed to maintain their initial drug release profile.


Costs and difficulties associated to testing can be an Achilles' heel for modern large-scale mixed-mode systems. Here, a low-overhead technique is introduced to enable the design of analog filters capable of checking their own parameters. The approach can also be applied to add such functionality to existing filter designs. The case of a Switched-Capacitor 2nd order Band-pass stage is used for illustration. The approach is based on the recently introduced Complex Oscillation Based Test methodology and permits to appreciate not just deviations in characteristic frequencies, but also the merit factor (and thus bandwidth and roll-off).


The methodical aspects of preparing the future teacher of musical art during obtaining of higher education are studied. It is emphasized on the necessity to enrich the cognitive thesaurus of students, to develop a valuable perception of vocal and choral works, analytical thinking, possession of methods of learning vocal and choral works. The preparation of a teacher for work with choir collective or vocal band is opened. The students' work on the analysis of vocal and choral works, selection of educational repertoire for schoolchildren of different age groups and enrichment of auditory experience has fundamental importance. At this stage, it is necessary to create students' capability to make analysis (musical-theoretical, vocal-choral, performing) and interpretation of choral works, to compose it annotations, to collect and train exercises for developing the vocal-acoustic skills. The approximate vocal and choral analysis of the M. Lysenko Choir "Son" is presented; its general genre features are opened as a musical work intended for choral performance. Based on theoretical knowledge gained during the professional training, acquired methodical skills and independently working out specific choral works, the teacher of musical art can achieve the desired results in musical development of schoolchildren by vocal and choral singing.


This paper addresses the design and fabrication of desktop die-sinking dry electrical discharge machining (EDM) system and its experimental performance analysis. The developed desktop dry EDM machine has the horizontal configuration with the size of . The experimental performance analysis is conducted to investigate the effects of EDM conditions and dielectric gas temperature on the surface roughness of EDMed slots and number of EDM sparks. The experimental results demonstrate that low feed rate and large electrode displacement are good for better surface roughness and more number of EDM sparks. In addition, low temperature of dielectric gas results in better surface roughness.


Legislative Decrees 169/16 and 232/17 have modified Law 84/94. The changes introduces the Port System Regulatory Plan, composed of the PRPs of the individual ports and the Strategic System Planning Document. Among the contents of the DPSS, for which institutional agreements between AdSP and territorial bodies are envisaged, there is the identification of the so-called "Areas of port-city interaction". The objective of this research is to propose a methodology for identifying the areas of influence of the port on the city, measuring the degree of interaction through a system with indicators.


Abstract This paper expands the model of rational action by introducing a new concept. rational laziness, to better understand actors' decision making. In addition to rational information processing, human beings often rely on automatic and lion-cognitive mental capacities, and I use the term mental laziness to account for information processing based on these capacities. When time is limited, supply abundant, and decisions have to be made, mental laziness might be a rational decision device. Actors' choice of rational-calculating or automatic-spontaneous mental decision devices is contingent on their locations within an opportunity structure. The empirical case studied is employers' hiring processes, and employers' activation of these action generating mechanisms are expected to cause discrimination of job applicants categorized as out-groups members.


Correlations and discrepancy scores (Full Scale IQ minus Memory Quotient) among Wechsler intelligence and memory quotients were assessed in a sample of 126 closed head injured (CHI) adults. Results indicated a slight, generalized decrease in CHI patients' mean level of performance. A significant correlation of .76 was obtained between patients' IQ and MQ scores. Discrepancy scores were relatively smaller than those found in prior research and were influenced partially by the patient's age and by time of testing postinjury. The relative magnitude of discrepancy scores found in CHI is discussed in relationship to other groups of brain-injured patients.


The condition-based maintenance of a marine gearbox poses special challenges because of the inaccessibility to the hull of the ship and harsh environment in the form of higher temperatures, continuous vibrations and salty sea air, which can lead to corrosion. In this article, the integration of a wireless sensor network with a marine gearbox is shown. The integration consists of sensor nodes that record characteristic measurement data, send them actively to a receiving unit and harvest energy from the environment for electrical supply after a one-time installation expenditure. The developed sensor node has a thermoelectric power supply that allows measurement intervals of less than 20 minutes. The recorded vibration data from the gearbox surface are sent via ZigBee wireless technology. By evaluating the envelope spectrum of the measured vibration data, the current rotational speed of the input drive shaft could be identified.


OBJECTIVE
Gliosarcomas (GS) comprise ~ 2 - 8% of glioblastomas and are associated with a similar poor prognosis. GS have rarely been found with a primitive neuroectodermal component (PNET). We present a case of gliosarcoma with PNET features (GS-PNET) that mimicked a neuroendocrine carcinoma on initial biopsy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A 68-year-old male presented with 2 weeks of increasing headaches and difficulties with reading, writing, and word-finding. He was found to have a left-sided parieto-occipital heterogeneously enhancing mass.

RESULTS
Pathologic analysis after surgical resection initially diagnosed a poorly differentiated carcinoma with neuroendocrine features, and adjuvant therapy was guided by this diagnosis as well as systemic imaging, which was suggestive of gastrointestinal primary malignancy with central nervous system (CNS) metastasis. Subsequent progression and re-resection established a diagnosis of GS with PNET component. Genomic profiling showed shared PTEN, TERT promotor, and TP53 mutations in the original and recurrent tumors.

CONCLUSION
There have only been 5 previously reported cases of GS-PNET, to our knowledge, with this case representing the first with comprehensive molecular profiling. The case also highlights the importance of further work-up of presumed metastatic carcinoma with indeterminate immunostaining and/or suspected non-epithelioid component.


This article seeks to examine the nature and experience of transitions in life. It explores pertinent theoretical underpinning and considers the ways in which people manage and adapt to change. In particular, it attempts to synthesise the ideas from the psychology of transition with those from occupational science. Throughout, the article is informed by the contributions both from experiential workshops over the last 5 years (including one held at the Inaugural United Kingdom Occupational Science Symposium in York in 1999) and from students who have chosen an elective level 3 module entitled 'Adult Development — Life Transitions and Crisis' in a BSc/BSc(Hons) Occupational Therapy programme. Among the conclusions from those experiences is the acknowledgement of the centrality and personal meaning of occupation at the point of transition.


Introduction Barrett's oesophagus is a premalignant condition affecting 2% of the UK population with a lifetime risk of developing oesophageal adenocarcinoma of 1%. UK Guidelines released in 2005 recommend endoscopic surveillance 2 yearly or sooner depending on histology.1 The impact of surveillance is contentious. In our Trust formal Barrett's surveillance did not commence until after the guidelines were introduced – prior to this, the surveillance interval varied between the consultants. The introduction of the guidelines locally provided a unique opportunity for comparison with non surveillance. Methods The hospitals involved serve a catchment area of 500,000 patients. Patient records were searched for all patients who underwent a gastroscopy for any indication and who had an endoscopic diagnosis of CLO between January 2004 and December 2009 at a district general hospital in the UK. Oesophageal dysplasia and cancer records were obtained separately and cross referenced with the CLO database. Results The results of 1270 gastroscopies detecting CLO in 791 patients are shown in table 1. Table 1 OC-071 Detection of dysplasia/ cancer in all patients with CLO at gastroscopy. Surveillance gastroscopy Symptom based gastroscopy p-value (2 tailed χ2 with Yates' correction) Total Number of Patients 332 (41.9%) 459 (58.1%) Number of Individuals With Dysplasia 16 (4.8%) 17 (3.7%) 0.57 Number of Individuals With High Grade Dysplasia 3 (0.9%) 8 (1.7%) 0.50 Cancer 1 (0.3%) 4 (0.9%)- All patients already on surveillance programme 0.59 Conclusion Although the study was observational and not powered to show significant differences, the results suggest that in our population, CLO associated dysplasia is just as likely to be diagnosed in those undergoing surveillance as in symptomatic patients. This argues in favour of a surveillance programme as without it the number of detected dysplasias would be significantly less. Although not significant, more cancers were diagnosed on interim endoscopies in those already on a surveillance programme. This may argue for increased vigilance at the time of surveillance or a decreased interval between surveillance endoscopies. Randomised prospective studies such as the BOSS study will answer the question fully in time.


Logging in Winter, Beaupre was one of the first paintings to apply the adapted techniques of Impressionism to the Canadian landscape.


Amino disaccharides having an alpha-(1-->4) linkage or a beta-(1-->4) linkage have been prepared as the mimics of amino glycoside antibiotics and their inhibition for HIV-1 TAR-Tat were examined. The compound having alpha-(1-->4) linkage denotes better inhibition for TAR-Tat than that of the one having beta-(1-->4).


In this thesis, we propose a novel Process-based Distributed Sediment Dynamic Model (PDSDM) to estimate watershed sediment budgets at spatiotemporal scales, with due consideration of the suspended loads, bed loads and their interactions within the hillslope and channels. To overcome the limitations of existing approaches, in this model, hillslope and channel sediment dynamics have been modelled separately and the links between hillslope sediment processes and channel sediment dynamics have been strengthened. Fractional sediment loads (bed load and suspended load), their interactions and overall basin-scale sediment budgets have been investigated to represent in-stream sediment dynamics properly. Also, modelling of channel bed level variations has been linked with watershed sediment dynamics and an investigation of climate change conditions on watershed sediment dynamics has been carried out. The PDSDM has been developed by integrating an existing Distributed Hydrological Model (DHM) with newly developed sediment modules for: (i) suspended sediment dynamics at hillslope; (ii) suspended sediment dynamics at channel; (iii) bed load estimation and transport at channel; and (iv) channel bed level variations. In PDSDM, a transport capacity equation is used as one of the key parameters for estimating suspended sediment dynamics whilst the bed load transport rate is calculated by a bed load transport equation. The PDSDM has been upgraded by incorporating options to select from and use different transport capacity equations and bed load transport equations to simulate suspended and bed load transport processes in catchment areas. The model has been applied to two different hydro-climatic areas (the Abukuma River Basin in Japan and the Latrobe River Basin in Australia) to ensure its applicability. The modelling outcomes from the application areas have been found to be consistent in estimating watershed sediment dynamics. Overall, our proposed PDSDM reveals a robust sediment dynamic model that considers all relevant catchment parameters along with a detailed modelling of hillslope and channel areas separately.


The Josephson plasma resonance is the most powerful means to study the vortex state in high-Tc superconductors. In this paper we report the detailed and quantitative study of the interlayer quantum phase coherence in the vortex liquid, Bragg glass and vortex glass phases of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ by the Josephson plasma resonance. We also provide a quantitative discussion on the nature of the phase transitions among these vortex phases.


Much has been written regarding the public health challenges facing the UAE, particularly the high levels of preventable non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, renal disease, and traffic related injuries. Committed to reversing this trend, the Government of the UAE have identified 'Health for All' as an important strategic priority in the ongoing development of the nation. The availability of an appropriately skilled workforce is a key consideration in the achievement of this aim. This is highlighted by the WHO report 'A universal truth: No health without a workforce', which was presented to inform the Third Global Forum in Human Resources for Health. Within the UAE, achievement of the 'Health for All' vision requires the development of an appropriately skilled Public Health workforce with supporting health professional licensure, regulation and scopes of practice.


[1] A combined high-resolution atmospheric downscaling and wave hindcast based on the ERA-40 reanalysis covering the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea, and the Barents Sea is presented. The period covered is from September 1957 to August 2002. The dynamic atmospheric downscaling is performed as a series of short prognostic runs initialized from a blend of ERA-40 and the previous prognostic run to preserve the fine-scale surface features from the high-resolution model while maintaining the large-scale synoptic field from ERA-40. The nested WAM wave model hindcast consists of a coarse 50 km model covering the North Atlantic forced with ERA-40 winds and a nested 10–11 km resolution model forced with downscaled winds. A comparison against in situ and satellite observations of wind and sea state reveals significant improvement in mean values and upper percentiles of wind vectors and the significant wave height over ERA-40. Improvement is also found in the mean wave period. ERA-40 is biased low in wind speed and significant wave height, a bias which is not reproduced by the downscaling. The atmospheric downscaling also reproduces polar lows, which cannot be resolved by ERA-40, but the lows are too weak and short-lived as the downscaling is not capable of capturing their full life cycle.


Study of the spreading of an impacting drop onto a surface has gained importance recently due to applications in printing, coating, and icing. Limited studies are conducted to understand asymmetric spreading of a drop seen upon drop impact onto a moving surface; there is no relation to describe such spreading. Here, we experimentally studied the spreading of a drop over a moving surface; such study also provides insights for systems where a drop impacts at an angle relative to a surface, i.e., drop has both normal and tangential velocities relative to the surface. We developed a model that for the first time allows prediction of time evolution for the asymmetric shape of the lamella during spreading. The developed model is demonstrated to be valid for a range of liquids and surface wettabilities as well as drop and surface velocities, making this study a comprehensive examination of the topic. We also found out how surface wettability can affect the recoil of the drop after spreading and explained the role of contact angle hysteresis and receding contact angle in delaying the recoil process.


Mobile ad hoc networking has gained prevalent interest of the network community in recent years because of it's ability to offer distributed and decentralized communication facility on ad hoc basis. A major issue that affects such a network with dynamically changing topology is the performance since the nodes have both limited battery life and communicate in a bandwidth constrained network. In this paper we provide an extensive performance analysis of the three most popular routing protocols: Destination Sequenced Distance vector (DSDV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) and Ad hoc On demand Distance Vector (AODV). The performance will be investigated using different scenarios that varies from simple to extreme cases in terms of packet rate and mobile node speed while using different Traffic classes, Constant bit rate(CBR), Variable bit rate(VBR) then combined both classes in one scenario to see the impact of this combination. Under that chosen scenarios the three routing protocols are compared with respect to Average energy consumption, Average throughput and Normalized routing load.


HUMAN CLONINGLast month's report by doctors at a Seoul fertility clinic that they had cloned a human embryo has set off a storm of scientific doubts and public anger here. The procedure, by a team from Kyunghee University Hospital, has also sent Korean politicians scrambling to fill a hole in rules adopted last year by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare that cover genetic research but not human cloning.


OBJECTIVE
We studied patients who underwent surgical repair for total anomalous pulmonary venous return at our hospital. We report the importance of diagnosis by echocardiographic imaging before surgical treatment.

METHODS
Within the period of 1990-1999, fourteen patients underwent surgical repair of this cardiopathy in our hospital. The type of anomalous drainage was supracardiac in 6 patients, infracardiac in 4, to the coronary sinus in 1, and mixed-type in 3 patients. Eleven cases were diagnosed with an echo-Doppler study, the findings being confirmed intraoperatively.

RESULTS
There were 2 early deaths: one occurred in the operating room in a patient with a small left ventricle, and the second one was 35 days postoperatively as a result of a septic complication. Early in the postoperative period our primary goal has steadily been the control and treatment of pulmonary hypertension. After a mean follow-up time of 50 months, only 1 patient needed to be reoperated on and the remainder are symptomless.

CONCLUSIONS
That sufficient diagnostic data on total anomalous pulmonary venous return can reliably be obtained by ultrasound scanning so that surgery can be promptly undertaken, and that its surgical risk is currently low and mid-term post-repair outcome is fairly good.


The aim of our work is to determine using the methodology of response surface of experimental design, a set of predictive models as a function of the proportion of the components of the formulated materials based on mineral additions. A second-degree polynomial model was therefore used to model the influence of two key parameters related to the water content and the initial and final setting time of mixing. The factors examined in this study are the calcium oxide and the silicon dioxide. Our study has two essential phases: the first one, which aims to determine the main physical and mechanical characteristics of materials used, the choice of the method of formulation and the realization of the various mixes in the field of our study. And the last one, which aims to establish of mathematical models that allow predicting the workability of the cementitious material as well as its physical properties by highlighting correlations and the interactions between the different constituents with the NimrodW software.


In this paper, we present a novel idea to improve the transient performance of the existing Simple Adaptive Control architecture, without requiring high adaptation gains. Improvement in performance is achieved by incorporating the closed loop reference model based on the output feedback to the Simple Adaptive Control architecture. In this proposed scheme, the reference model dynamics is driven by the desired command as well as the error signal between the plant output and the reference model output. It is shown that the modified control architecture improves the system performance without any additional control efforts, which is then validated through simulations of the lateral model dynamics of Micro Air Vehicle.


There is something about staying up night after night with a sick relative that can turn one into a pain in the neck.


Workers in casting line continously standing and squatting in order to move the ceramic mold. Awareness among those workers about these movements and its relation to Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) is still low. It is observed that those workers worked continously in the same position continuously and later they suffered discomfort on their body part. The aim of this research is to identify the perception of 55 workers in Casting Line at CeramTec Innovative Ceramic Engineering (M) Sdn. Bhd. on factors that may cause MSD. Two aspects have been identified which are the workstation and MSD symptom. The findings of this research were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Science) system, version 16.0. The result shows that employees who suffer MSD are considerably high. However, there were some area that were at the average level and necesary improvements are needed to minimise the risk of MSD among the workers.


The clinical and pathologic features of diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) have been well reported to date, although its pathogenesis remains unknown. In the present study, we performed bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) on three patients with biopsy specimen-proven DPB and eight patients with highly probable DPB (six women and five men; one smoker and ten nonsmokers), nine patients with chronic bronchitis (all men, five smokers and four nonsmokers), and nine normal control subjects (six women and three men, all nonsmokers) to clarify the cell populations in the lower respiratory tract. Neutrophils comprised 55.3 +/- 24.4 percent of recovered cells by BAL in DPB patients but only 6.6 +/- 6.4 percent in chronic bronchitis patients, and 1.8 +/- 1.5 percent in normal control subjects (p less than 0.001, all comparisons). The DPB patients also exhibited a decreased percentage of alveolar macrophages (34.9 +/- 23.5 percent) compared with chronic bronchitis patients and normal control subjects (p less than 0.001, all comparisons). The percentage of lymphocytes of the recovered lavage cells in DPB patients did not differ from that in chronic bronchitis patients and normal control subjects. These results indicate that neutrophils play an important role in the pathogenesis of DPB. They also suggest that neutrophilia of BAL-recovered fluid is a common finding in diseases associated with bronchiolar inflammation despite some clinical and pathophysiologic differences.


At the neuromuscular junction, the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) is specifically clustered in the postsynaptic membrane via interactions with rapsyn and other scaffolding proteins. However, it remains unclear where these proteins bind on the AChR and how the interactions are regulated. Here, we define a phosphorylation-dependent binding site on the receptor that mediates agrin-induced clustering. Using chimeric proteins in which CD4 is fused to the large intracellular loop of each of the AChR subunits we found that agrin induced clustering of only chimeras containing the β subunit loop. By making deletions in the β loop we defined a 20 amino-acid sequence that is sufficient for clustering. The sequence contains a conserved tyrosine (Y390) whose phosphorylation is induced by agrin and whose mutation abolished clustering of β loop chimeras and their ability to inhibit agrin-induced clustering of the endogenous AChR. Phosphorylation of the AChR β subunit is correlated with increased rapsyn/AChR binding, suggesting that the effect of βY390 phosphorylation on clustering is mediated by rapsyn. Indeed, we found that rapsyn associated with CD4-β loop chimeras in a phosphorylation-dependent manner, and that agrin increased the ratio of rapsyn binding to wild type AChR but not to AChR-β3F/3F, which lacks β loop tyrosine phosphorylation sites. Together, these findings suggest that agrin-induced phosphorylation of the β subunit motif increases the stoichiometry of rapsyn binding to the AChR, thereby helping to stably cluster the receptor and anchor it at high density in the postsynaptic membrane.


In this paper, cocaine and eleven of its metabolites have been detected and identified in urine samples. The technique was based in a simple liquid-liquid extraction with detection by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The method was validated in terms of repeatability, specificity, recovered, linearity, limit of detection, contamination between samples and robustness, all validation parameters met the acceptance criteria established in the study. The percentages of recovered for cocaine and benzoylecgonine were 120 and 110% respectively. The method's repeatability (CV %) remained below 15% in all assays. The technique was shown to be linear over the range studied (r 2 = 0.999) and sensitive, with detection limits below 60 ng/mL for both analytes. In the analysis of two real samples 11 metabolites of cocaine were detected, benzoylecgonine and cocaetilene were the majorities. Furthermore, were detected and characterized metabolites which only are observed in the urine in overdose cases such as hydroxylated and metoxyhydroxylated metabolites of cocaine, benzoylecgonine and cocaethilene. The technique allowed detecting the cinnamoilbenzoilecgonina which is a metabolite of cinnamoilcocaina. The cinnamoilcocaina is one of the alkaloids in coca plants so the presence of this metabolite showed us natural cocaine consumption and not synthetic.


Frontal lobe dementia, or more generally frontotemporal dementia (FTD), includes several clinical entities and, although highly prevalent, lacks any codified therapeutic strategy. The present review is an attempt to depict the main neurochemical correlates of FTD and, as a consequence, to propose the most sound targets for symptomatic drugs. Large scale double‐blind controlled clinical trials should be carried out to test any hypothesis: serotonergic agents, glutamate neurotransmission enhancers, monoamine oxidase inhibitors. The recent discovery of tau gene mutations in FTD with Parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 has reinforced the direct role attributed to abnormal tau proteins (hyperphosphorylation) and thus raised the possibility to target specifically these processes by drugs (aetiopathogenic compounds). Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In order to calculate the interaction between complicated foundation and sluice plate conveniently, an effective method was proposed to solve this problem in the paper. This method regarded the sluice plate and foundation as two substructures, which are connected with chain-bars. The unit displacement of the sluice plate and the settlement of the foundation surface are calculated by the analytical method and the finite element method, respectively. And the counter-force of the foundation is calculated by the mixed method. At the same time, the displacement and internal force are calculated by the principle of superposition. All the results reflect the interaction effect between the sluice plate and foundation fairly good.


IntroductionLARA VAPNYAR is one of a loosely delimited group of Russian-American writers who have come to prominence on the North American literary scene in the last ten to fifteen years, as part of the so-called Fourth Wave of Russian emigres. Most of these relatively young writers came to the US A or Canada as children or adolescents. In a few cases, they are the children of Third-Wave emigres, who left the Soviet Union in the 1970s and early 1980s. Although their work is stylistically and generically diverse, they share a predilection for quasi-autobiographical prose and a preoccupation with questions of cultural identity, adaptation and assimilation, and nostalgia. In addition to Vapnyar, this group includes David Bezmozgis (b. 1973), Olga Grushin (b. 1971), Irina Reyn (b. 1974), Gary Shteyngart (b. 1972), and Anya Ulinich (b. 1973). A more extensive roster of Russian anglophone writers would include Mark Budman (b. 1950), Sana Krasikov (b. 1979), and Ellen Litman (b. 1973).Although their originary language1 is Russian, all of these writers have opted to write in English in the North American diaspora.2 Most have acquired their fluency in English in the West and are functionally bilingual. The perceptible effects of bilingualism are in fact a stylistic feature of their prose. Russian underlies the English surface and can be apprehended in literal translations of words and phrases, instances of code-switching, definitions of Russian terms, and other techniques of creative interference. More importantly for their broader anglophone readership, these writers self-identify as Russian. Indeed, Russianness is a central aspect of the authorial personae in their works; their experiences as first-generation Russian immigrants shape and colour their worldview.This group of Russian-American writers has for the most part been educated in the West. They have learned the craft of literature in Master of Fine Arts programmes in North America and have published prolifically in highprofile venues such as Harper's Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, and Slate. Under the editorship of David Remnick, a former Moscow correspondent for the Washington Post, the New Yorker magazine has played a particularly important role in introducing some of these writers, including Vapnyar, to an anglophone audience. The Internet has also been a significant platform for publication and critical discussion of their work. Almost all of them have personal webpages, some quite extensive and sophisticated. Ulinich, for example, began her career in the West as a visual artist, and her webpage combines the visual and textual aspects of her work. Budman is deeply involved in the 'flash fiction' phenomenon - the print and Internet publication of extremely short stories, three hundred to one thousand words maximum. He is also a practising engineer and his webpage reflects the broad scope of his interests.The literature of the Fourth Wave is distinct from that of both the First and the Third Wave of emigration. The First Wave, which took place after the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War, included members of the Russian aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, and also many representatives of the creative intelligentsia. Writers such as Nina Berberova, Ivan Bunin, Zinaida Gippius, and many others formed emigre communities in Berlin, Paris, and Prague and continued to write and publish, for the most part, exclusively in Russian.3 The Third Wave of the 1970s and early 1980s resulted from Brezhnev's policy of allowing Jews to leave the Soviet Union. Dissident writers and artists - regardless of their religious identity - were also allowed, and sometimes strongly encouraged, to leave the Soviet Union. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Joseph Brodsky, Vladimir Voinovich, Vasily Aksenov, and others constituted this Third Wave.4 Whereas earlier emigres could not return, contemporary RussianAmerican writers living in the diaspora often remain connected to Russia and travel back and forth freely. …


Benign recurrent abducens (6 th ) nerve palsy is rare. We found 23 cases in children reported in the literature; however, many of these cases followed immunization or were associated with viral illness. Here we report two cases of recurrent abducens nerve palsy with no obvious etiology. The diagnosis should be considered in any child who experiences abducens nerve palsy in the absence of any underlying pathology or precipitating factors.


The study of vermicomposting optimization of organic waste aimed to produce vermicompost from urban raw waste, and to select one of three kinds of worm which had significant effect in the production of vermicompost. The writers conducted a research during June to August 2012, by treating three varieties of worm named: G1 = Lumbricus rubellus; G2 = Lumbricus terrestris; G3 = Eisenia foetida, and used Fully Randomized Design (FRD) for each type of worms. The research variables were C/N ratio, C organic, N, P¬2O5, and K2O. The writers analysed the vermicompost treatment results in the laboratory, followed by ANOVA. The researchers used gentong (barrel-shaped potteries) as a research tool; and obtained organic waste materials from the local landfill. The result showed that it was possible to produce organic fertilizer from urban waste materials with vermicomposting process using Lumbricus rubellus, Lumbricus terrestris and Eisenia foetida. Moreover, apparently, Lumbricus rubellus had the highest influence in the production of vermicompost.


Dengue is the most prevalent and rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease caused by dengue virus (DENV). Recently, DENV has been affecting humans within an expanding geographic range due to the warming of the earth. Innate immune responses play a significant role in antiviral defense, and Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key regulators of innate immunity. Therefore, a detailed understanding of TLR and DENV interactions is important for devising therapeutic and preventive strategies. Several studies have indicated the ability of DENV to modulate the TLR signaling pathway and host immune response. Vaccination is considered one of the most successful medical interventions for preventing viral infections. However, only a partially protective dengue vaccine, the first licensed dengue vaccine CYD-TDV, is available in some dengue-endemic countries to protect against DENV infection. Therefore, the development of a fully protective, durable, and safe DENV vaccine is a priority for global health. Here, we demonstrate the progress made in our understanding of the host response to DENV infection, with a particular focus on TLR response and how DENV avoids the response toward establishing infection. We also discuss dengue vaccine candidates in late-stage development and the issues that must be overcome to enable their success.


BACKGROUND: Stuttering also known as stammering is a speech disorder which disrupts the normal flow of speech by frequent and involuntary repetition, prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases. It also involves involuntary silent or audible pauses or blocks in which the person with stutteringis unable to produce any sounds. OBJECTIVE : To determine the frequency of stuttering and its common symptoms among children with speech disorders and to determine the frequency of stuttering in males and females. METHODOLOGY: This cross sectional study was conducted at Department of Developmental Paediatrics, The Children's Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Lahore from October 2012 to December 2012. The number ofpatients with speech disorders was 100 who were evaluated for stuttering through simple convenient sampling technique. All patients with speech sound disorders, fluency disorders, voice disorders from age range 5 to 17 years were included. A questionnaire was developed through expert opinion and literature review to conduct this study. The all results were analyzed by using SPSS. RESULTS: Out of 100 patient 24 (24%) patients was presented with stuttering while 76 (76%) patients had other speech disorder. Among 24 patients of stuttering, 16 (66.67%) were male and 8 (33.33%) were females, 19 (79.17%) patients had repetition, 21 (87.5%) had blocks, and 21 (87.5%) patients had physical tension. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed there are a significant number of patients with stuttering among other speech disorders and males are more prone to this disorder. The frequency of symptoms showed that common symptoms of stuttering are blocks, physical tension and repetition.


We propose a framework for computer-assisted text editing. It applies to translation post-editing and to paraphrasing. Our proposal relies on very simple interactions: a human editor modifies a sentence by marking tokens they would like the system to change. Our model then generates a new sentence which reformulates the initial sentence by avoiding marked words. The approach builds upon neural sequence-to-sequence modeling and introduces a neural network which takes as input a sentence along with change markers. Our model is trained on translation bitext by simulating post-edits. We demonstrate the advantage of our approach for translation post-editing through simulated post-edits. We also evaluate our model for paraphrasing through a user study.


Vigilance achieved at the group level, known as collective vigilance, can enhance the ability to assess threats and confer benefits to gregarious prey species. Examining the factors that influence collective vigilance and exploring how individual vigilance is organized at the group level can help to understand how prey groups respond to potential threats. We quantified collective vigilance and determined its temporal pattern in a natural wintering population of the hooded crane Grus monacha in the Shengjin Lake reserve in China. We examined the role of flock size and anthropogenic disturbances in the human-dominated landscape on collective vigilance and level of synchronization. The proportion of time during which at least one individual scanned the surroundings (collective vigilance) increased with flock size and was higher in the more disturbed buffer zone of the lake. Synchronization of vigilance occurred more frequently in the smaller flocks but was not related to the risk of disturbance. Synchronization implies that individuals tend to monitor and copy the vigilance of neighbors. In the degraded wetlands, the wintering hooded crane benefits from foraging in groups and synchronizing their vigilance in response to human disturbances.


Pertussis toxin (PTX) ADP-ribosylates alpha subunits of GTP-binding proteins (G proteins) when they are in association with beta gamma dimers, and free alpha subunits are thought not to be substrates under standard assay conditions. We now report the rather unexpected discovery that synthetic peptides encompassing the last 10-20 amino acids of alpha subunits of PTX-sensitive G proteins are substrates for PTX by themselves and in the absence of beta gamma dimers. As determined for G13, the Km of PTX for the 20-amino acid carboxyl-terminal peptide is 10-fold higher than that for the trimeric G protein. Interestingly, PTX ADP-ribosylates the free full length alpha 13 subunit with a Km not different from that of the trimer but with a Vmax that is only 1% of that with which it ADP-ribosylates the trimer. It follows that the primary role of beta gamma dimers in ADP-ribosylation of G proteins is one of increasing the Vmax of the reaction without affecting the Km of the substrate for the toxin. Mutant peptides lacking the ADP-ribose acceptor site act as competitive inhibitors.


Although the genus Cladothela has been represented by only C. boninensis KISHIDA, 1928, it is confirmed that Drassodes oculinotatus BOSENBERG et STRAND, 1906 and Drassodes unciinsignitus BOSENBERG et STRAND, 1906 are also members of Cladothela. These three species are redescribed, and a new species, Cladothela parva, is described from Japan. Zelotes x-notatus (BOSENBERG et STRAND, 1906) is synonymized with Cladothela unciinsignita (BOSENBERG et STRAND, 1906).


Yugoslav-Italian relations between two world wars, besides the
 diplomatic-political, also had a very significant economic aspect. Italy
 was one of the most important foreign trade partners of the Kingdom of
 Yugoslavia, and this paper will explore the trade exchange between the two
 countries, especially the import of materials necessary for the textile
 industry, which substantially contributed to the positive balance of trade.
 Beside a quantitative analysis of statistical data regarding foreign trade,
 the paper also looks at the impact of political and economic events on the
 trade relations between the two countries, as well as the relation between
 the industrialization of Yugoslavia and changes in foreign trade.


Objective: We examined whether epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be used to predict survival in a population of bone-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients treated with docetaxel chemotherapy. Methods: All patients with mCRPC who had experienced treatment failure with androgen-deprivation therapy and had received docetaxel chemotherapy were eligible. CTCs and EGFR expression in CTCs were enumerated with the CellSearch System in whole blood. This system is a semi-automated system that detects and enriches epithelial cells from whole blood using an EpCAM antibody-based immunomagnetic capture. In addition, the EGFR-positive CTCs were assessed using CellSearch® Tumor Phenotyping Reagent EGFR. Results: The median CTC count at baseline before starting trial treatment was eight CTCs per 7.5 mL of blood (range 0–184). There were 37 patients (61.7%) who had ≥5 CTCs, with median overall survival of 11.5 months compared with 20.0 months for 23 patients (38.3%) with <5 CTCs (p < 0.001). A total of 15 patients (40.5%, 15/37) with five or more CTCs were subjected to automated immunofluorescence staining and cell sorting for EGFR protein. Patients with EGFR-positive CTCs had a shorter overall survival (OS) (5.5 months) than patients with EGFR-negative CTCs (20.0 months). CTCs, EGFR-positive CTCs, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were independent predictors of overall survival time (p = 0.002, p < 0.001, and p = 0.017, respectively). Conclusion: CTCs may be an independent predictor of OS in CRPC treated with docetaxel chemotherapy. The EGFR expression detected in CTCs was important for assessing the response to chemotherapy and predicting disease outcome.


Objectives:  The objective of this research was to analyse the effect of hypnobirthing education given to pregnant women during antenatal period on fear of childbirth.  Methods: This is an educational interventional case-control study. A total of 51 pregnant women were studied together during the 12 th week of pregnancy. Ethical Committee and related consents were taken. Data was evaluated by using descriptive statistics.  Results:  The age average of the pregnant in the control group was 28.70 ± 5.42 years while it was 25.74 ± 5.16 years for the case group. Women's gestational week averages were 20.87 weeks for study and 24.10 weeks for control group. In the study, the pre-training scale scores of the cases and control groups were compared with the average level of birth fear of the groups (t = 1.848, p = 0.073). There was a significant difference between pre- and post-hypnotic scale scores in the birth preparation class (t = -5.329, p < 0.001). Before the training; 48% of the case group. Fifty-two percent of the control group is adequately informed about the hypnobirthing problem. Conclusions:  It was found that among the pregnant women who had attended birth preparation classes, positive labour perception of the intervention group pregnant women was higher than that of the control group pregnant women who hadn't had hypnobirthing education and there was a significant difference between them.


Motion compensation is very important for Inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging while the imaging quality is directly dependent on its performance. Range alignment (envelope alignment) is the key procedure of motion compensation. The nonextensive entropy, known as Tsallis entropy, is introduced into ISAR range alignment because of the correlation between adjacent one-dimensional range profile (or long time memory characteristic). Firstly, the principle of range alignment method via minimum Shannon entropy (RAMSE) was summarized. Based on this, a new adjacent range profile alignment method was given via minimum Tsallis entropy (RAMTE). Further, in order to reduce the accumulation of alignment error and jump error, the modified RAMTE (mRAMTE) was presented using accumulation range profile alignment and smooth filter. Based on the criterion of minimum Tsallis entropy, mRAMTE could reduce the alignment error into 1/8 range resolution cell by data interpolation. Simulation results and experiments show that mRAMTE can effectively compensate range walk caused by target motion. And it was also shown that the alignment performance of mRAMTE is better than RAMSE.


Background: We aimed to evaluate the impact of nephron sparing surgery (NSS) on survival in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) patients stratified by tumor grade and stage compared to radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) or no surgery. Methods: Overall, 10319 UTUC patients between 2004 and 2015 were extracted from the SEER database. Patients were divided into no surgery group, NSS group and RNU group. Kaplan-Meier plots illustrated survival rates according to surgical method. Multivariable Cox regression analyses assessed the effect of different surgical methods on survival rates. Result: Among the 10319 UTUC patients. Kaplan-Meier plots showed that NSS was associated with a higher overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in grade Ⅲ and Ⅳ and AJCC stage Ⅳ patients (all p <0.05). In multivariable Cox regression analyses, NSS was prone to a higher OS or CSS in grade Ⅲ ( p > 0.05). Moreover, NSS predisposed to a higher OS only in AJCC stage Ⅳ ( p <0.05). Conclusion: The beneficial effect of NSS was evident in grade Ⅲ or AJCC stage Ⅳ. NSS can be considered in grade Ⅲ or stage Ⅳ, for other grades or stages remains to be seen, both of which will be verified by further prospective research.