INTRODUCTION: The primary aim of the disease management program (DMP) for patients with COPD is to improve health outcomes and thereby to reduce overall costs. Six years after its introduction in Germany, no consensus has yet been reached as to whether the DMP has been effective in reaching these goals. The objective of the study was an evaluation of the DMP for COPD in Bavaria using routinely collected subject medical records. METHODS: A longitudinal population-based study, comparing the total DMP population of up to 86,560 patients with a stable cohort of 17,549 subjects over a period of 5 years. The effect of subject dropout in the cohort is further estimated by means of inverse probability weighting. RESULTS: The proportion of subjects in the total population who were prescribed and received treatment with oral corticosteroids declined at a constant rate of 1.0% per year (P < .001). The proportion of subjects who were given a prescription for theophylline decreased at a constant rate of 2.0% per year (P < .001). By 2012, 15.6% of the total population and 26% of the cohort had undergone self-management education. While the proportion of smokers in the total population remained constant because of the effect of newly enrolled subjects, the proportion of smokers decreased significantly even after dropout adjustment, from 29% to 21%. The occurrence of exacerbations decreased steadily at a rate of 0.9% (total population) or 0.7% (cohort) per year. While the occurrence of emergency hospital admissions decreased in the total population, an increase was observed within the cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Summarizing all results leads to the suggestion that the German DMP for COPD has been effective in enhancing the quality of care in regard to an improved adherence to guidelines, pharmacotherapy, exacerbations, and self-management education. However, the DMP was not able to prevent an increase in emergency hospital admissions for the stable population in the cohort.


After a brief historical background, principles of nebulization are reviewed, i.e., factors at the origin of particle sedimentation, the procedure advantages and the importance of the particle size. Inhaled particles reach alveolar bronchioli via three mechanisms: impaction, sedimentation and diffusion. There are two different types of nebulizers: pneumatic and ultrasonic. To optimize its benefits nebulization should consist of a slow and deep inspiration followed by a pause in order to improve particle sedimentation. Nebulization should always be associated with kinesitherapy.


Global financial meltdown-2008 brought attention of states and market participants towards asset based Islamic Financial System (IFS). Global financial crises-2008 was not only the debt crises but actually it was the collapse of conventional system that caused surge in Sharia complaint products demand by many folds from every corner of the world. Pakistan where Islamic banking started to came in limelight after 2001 when old Islamic banking procedures were announced NULL and VOID by sharia court and SBP set new road map for next 20 years for Islamic Banking in Pakistan. Islamic Capital market (ICM) also started its growth with rising Islamic bank (IBs) deposits and financing. This paper investigates the ICM products to maximize its growth and challenges. This study is based on review of previous papers and analysis of available data on ICM business from annual reports of PSX, NCCPL, CDC, SECP and PSX brokers. The study found that itis still needed to work for the sustainable growth of ICM in Pakistan as the sector has witnessed very low growth Specially equity market as compared to improvement of IBs during last 8 years.


New on-line pre-hardening (OPH) equipment for quenching die steel has been developed by University of Science and Technology Beijing and Dongbei Special Steel Group in Dalian Special Steel Co., LTD. OPH consists of strong cooling water jet, medium cooling water jet, weak cooling water jet, air-water spray and side water jet and has flexible cooling and control ability. Based on the equipment, online quenching process of 718H die steel was performed by numerical simulation and production experiment. The result of temperature field by numerical simulation agrees well with experiment result, which can prove that numerical simulation can be a very good guidance for production experiment. Experimental tempering metallographic structure of the whole 718H plate is tempered troostite and sorbite and the tempering hardness difference of 718H die steel can be controlled within 2 HRC in the whole plate under on-line pre-hardening process by numerical simulation. The prediction technology of numerical simulation can meet the different cooling rate control and make quenching process comply with preset quenching route to guarantee material microstructure and performance.


This paper questions the usefulness of the no-observed-effect level (NOEL) as a summary statistic for ecotoxicological experiments. Quantification of the NOEL depends critically on size and variability of an experiment: smaller and less precise experiments lead to higher values for the NOEL, which gives the wrong signal to suppliers of a NOEL. The NOEL will generally lie in a dose range where possible effects cannot be excluded, even within the context of the experiment. Hence it does not form a suitable starting point for extrapolation to field situations. Alternative methods of finding a dose with a negligible effect are discussed. A two-step procedure is proposed that involves finding the dose whose effect is at most 25%, followed by linear extrapolation to a dose whose effect is acceptably small. The procedure leads to higher values if efforts are made to increase the power of the experiment.


This paper presents findings on the phonological distribution and phonetic realization of Faroese stops, with particular emphasis on preaspiration. Spontaneous speech data from 4 speakers of the Tórshavn dialect were recorded, and their stop production was analyzed. The data show that the somewhat contradictory accounts of the phonological distribution of preaspiration in previous works partly reflect a lack of uniformity among subjects in the phonological distribution of preaspirated variants. Further, the production of preaspiration was found to have a high degree of contextual variation. Lastly, when compared with preaspiration in other Scandinavian languages, the detailed phonological distribution of preaspiration was found to differ considerably between languages, although some central characteristics are shared between all of them. The implications of these data for historical sound change are discussed.


Abstract Traits determine species response to climate conditions and the match between phenotypes and climate mediates spatial variation in species composition. These trait–climate linkages can be disrupted in human‐modified landscapes. Human land use creates forest fragments where dispersal limitation or edge effects exclude species that may otherwise suit a given macroclimate. Furthermore, stressful macroclimate can limit viable trait combinations such that only a subset of values of any given trait occurs with respect to another trait, resulting in stronger trait covariance. Because forest loss can compound climatic stress, trait covariance from benign to harsher climates is expected to be stronger in fragments compared to contiguous forests. In a wet tropical forest landscape in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot of peninsular India, I compared fragments with adjacent contiguous forests for signatures of trait‐mediated assembly of tree communities. Using four key plant traits—seed size, specific leaf area (SLA), wood density, and maximum height—I evaluated trait–abundance associations and trait covariance across climate, soil, and elevation gradients. In the contiguous forest, smaller‐seeded, shorter, thinner‐leaved species became more abundant from low to high elevations. In fragments, species with higher SLA were more abundant at sites with more seasonal climates and lower precipitation, and larger seeded species were less abundant at warmer sites. However, traits only weakly predicted abundances in both habitats. Moreover, only contiguous forests exhibited significant compositional change via traits, driven by trait syndromes varying along a composite gradient defined by elevation, water deficit, and soil C:N ratio. Site‐level trait covariance revealed that warmer, wetter conditions in fragments favored taller species for given seed size, as compared to similar conditions in contiguous forests. Overall, trait syndromes and trait covariance, rather than single traits, determined the phenotypes best suited to macroclimate conditions and should inform management or restoration goals in fragments.


The characteristic changes in human puberty – increased muscle bulk, increased linear growth, and the mineralization of the skeleton – are due, in part, to the combined effects of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), sex hormones and insulin. GH and testosterone, but not oestrogen, are highly protein-anabolic in vivo, and the combined administration of GH and testosterone has synergistic effects on these measures, both in children and adults. GH has no significant effect on enhancing skeletal muscle strength in humans; however, testosterone is highly ergogenic and is largely responsible for the differences in muscle bulk apparent in late puberty between the genders. The results of recent detailed metabolic studies suggest that boys have higher rates of protein synthesis and IGF-I generation than girls, given comparable doses of GH. In patients with a constitutional delay in growth and maturation, relative deficiencies in testosterone and lower IGF-I concentrations are associated with greater rates of total energy expenditure, suggesting that this relatively hormone-insufficient state is associated with a hypermetabolic state. Whether added nutritional supplements, alone or in combination with GH, could improve the growth pattern and final height of these children deserves further study. In conclusion, the metabolic effects of GH and testosterone are complex and they synergize in puberty. These hormones could be of use as protein-anabolic agents in selected catabolic conditions.


The Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., Environmental Restoration (ER) Program was initially chartered on October 1, 1989, as a ``entral Environmental Restoration Division`` to manage the investigation and remediation of inactive sites and facilities that have been declared surplus and have no further programmatic use. The Energy Systems ER Division was established to support the DOE Oak Ridge Field Office (DOE-OR) consolidated ER Program. The DOE-OR Assistant Manager for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management provides program and budget direction to the Energy Systems ER Program for environmental restoration activities at the sites operated by Energy Systems (Oak Ridge K-25 Site, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant) and at the off-site locations. The Energy Systems ER Division is specifically charged with assessing these sites for potential contamination and managing the cleanup processes. The Energy Systems Environmental Restoration Division was chartered on October 1, 1989, as a central organization to manage the Remedial Action (RA) Program. The purpose of this document is to ensure that: senior ER management provides planning, organization, direction, control, and support to achieve the organization`s objectives; the line organization achieves quality; and overall performance is reviewed and evaluatedmore » using a rigorous assessment process.« less


It is shown that the pickup head consisting of cross-coupled figure-eight coils originally developed for the magnetostrictive torque sensor is well suited for the eddy current probe detecting small defects in a nonmagnetic conductive material. The probe is easily extended to a one dimensional array form, which substantially reduces the number of times of scanning the targeted materials. The response of a single unit of the probe to a trough hole defect in an aluminum plate are presented. A halfway hole at the back of an aluminum plate of 1.2 mm in thickness was successfully detected from the front using this probe. A five-channel array was developed in which the excitation coil is shared by all the channel. A small through hole defect in an aluminum plate was detected clearly by a single scan with the array probe.


The mechanisms underlying the coupling of type I collagen and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression to cell structure and adhesion are poorly understood. We propose that nuclear matrix architectural transcription factors link cell structure and transcription via their association with nuclear matrix subdomains and by their capacity for altering promoter geometry. NP/NMP4 are nuclear matrix proteins that contain from five to eight Cys2His2 zinc fingers. Some NP/NMP4 isoforms bind to the rat type I collagen α1(I) polypeptide chain promoter in the manner of architectural transcription factors and alter basal transcription in osteoblast‐like cells (Thunyakitpisal et al. in review). Certain isoforms of NP/NMP4 are identical to CIZ, Cas‐interacting zinc finger protein, a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein that associates with focal adhesions and regulates MMP expression [Nakamoto et al. (2000): Mol Cell Biol 20:1649–1658]. To better understand the role of subnuclear architecture in collagen and MMP expression, we mapped the osteoblast nuclear distribution of NP/NMP4 proteins and identified the functional motifs necessary for nuclear localization and nuclear matrix targeting. Immunofluorescence microscopy was used to determine the cellular and subnuclear distribution of native NP/NMP4 proteins and green fluorescent protein (GFP)‐NP/NMP4 fusion proteins in osteoblast‐like cells. All GFP‐NP/NMP4 fusion proteins localized to the nucleus, but accumulated in distinct nuclear matrix subdomains. The zinc finger domain was necessary and sufficient for nuclear import and matrix targeting. We conclude that the arrangement of the NP/NMP4 zinc fingers largely determines the subnuclear location of these isoforms. J. Cell. Biochem. 79:506–517, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


INTRODUCTION: Cardiac involvement is common in both wild-type transthyretin (wATTR) and AL amyloidosis and these entities can have overlapping clinical features (Banypersad et al, JAHA 2012). Accurate diagnosis is vital given differences in spectrum of disease, management, and prognosis. We examined the presenting clinical features and survival outcome of patients diagnosed with cardiac wATTR and AL amyloidosis confirmed by mass spectrometry.
 MATERIALS & METHODS: Patients diagnosed between January 2014 and September 2017 with biopsy proven wATTR or AL amyloidosis and cardiac involvement by consensus criteria (Gertz et al, Amyloid 2010) were included. Mass spectrometry testing was performed at the Mayo Clinic Laboratories to confirm amyloid subtype in all cases. Patient records were retrospectively reviewed to identify clinical characteristics as well as details regarding treatment and survival.
 RESULTS: Forty-three patients were identified (wATTR n=27, AL n=16) with site of biopsy: 41 cardiac (95%); 1 gastric (2%); 1 skin (2%). Two (13%) patients with AL amyloid had coexisting multiple myeloma. Thirty-five (81%) patients were male, with a strong male predominance in wATTR patients (100% vs 50% for AL patients, p=<0.01). Median age at diagnosis was 73 years (range 45-86), with a trend towards older age in wATTR patients (median 75 vs 62 years for AL patients, p=0.09). No difference was seen in presenting NYHA class or levels of troponin and ntProBNP between amyloid subtypes. BNP trended towards higher values in AL patients (median 514 vs 249 ng/L for wATTR, p=0.09). wATTR amyloid patients had lower median presenting left ventricular ejection fraction (43 vs 53%, p=0.05). Two (7%) patients with wATTR amyloid had an M-protein on SPEP compared to 7 (44%) with AL amyloid. Only 2 patients with AL amyloid had M-protein greater than 5 g/L while both wATTR patients had less than 5 g/L. In those with serum free light chain testing available (wATTR n=24, AL n=16), median lambda light chain level was higher in AL patients (176.0 vs 16.9 mg/L for wtATTR, p=<0.01). No difference was seen in kappa light chains (16.5 vs 23.8 mg/L for wATTR, p=0.60), though the only patient with kappa AL amyloid had kappa light chains significantly elevated at 1640 mg/L. The kappa/lambda ratio was abnormal in 15% of wATTR patients (all kappa predominant) compared to 100% in AL amyloid patients (94% lambda predominant) (p=<0.01). The median difference between involved and uninvolved light chain (dFLC) was 22 mg/L for wtATTR patients compared to 249 mg/L for AL patients. In patients with bone marrow biopsy results available (AL n=15, wATTR n=7), bone marrow plasma cell percentage was higher in patients with AL amyloid (median 7% vs 2%, p=0.01). No monoclonal plasma cells were seen on bone marrow in wATTR patients by immunophenotype.
 Treatment for patients with AL amyloid was: bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone (VCD) in 11 (69%); VCD followed by melphalan 200 mg/m2 autologous transplantation in 1 (6%); melphalan/dexamethasone in 1 (6%); no treatment in 2 (13%); unknown in 1 (6%). In evaluable patients, hematologic response rate was 54% (complete response n=4, very good partial response n=2, partial response n=1, no response n=6). With a median follow-up of 1.8 years for surviving patients, 1 year overall survival (OS) was 76% for the entire cohort. Patients with AL amyloidosis had significantly poorer 1 year OS (41% vs 92% for wATTR patients, p=<0.01). Patients with NYHA class 3-4 had significantly worse 1 year OS (54% vs 96% for those 1-2, p=<0.01), and this held true for both AL and wATTR patients. In AL patients, revised Mayo stage (Kumar et al, JCO 2012) of III-IV predicted for poor 1 year OS (19% vs 75% for stages I-II, p=0.03), as did not achieving complete response to primary treatment (1 year OS 33% vs 67% for CR patients, p=0.06).
 DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS: Male sex, older age, and lower LVEF were more common in patients with wATTR compared to AL amyloidosis. Higher levels of BNP, larger dFLC with lambda predilection, and higher bone marrow plasma cell percentage were more common in AL amyloid patients. Overall survival was significantly worse for patients with AL amyloidosis, particularly those with high NHYA class, advanced revised Mayo stage, and suboptimal response to primary therapy. These results highlight the importance of accurate amyloid sub-typing in patients with suspected cardiac amyloidosis.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Abstract: Noam Chomsky incarnates rationalism in the study of language like no other man has or does in man's history, it seems to me. I will attempt to elucidate this position, however inchoately and incompletely, by enumerating his revolutionarily perceptive contributions to the study of language as a phenomenon. There is so much conventional perceptual deadwood about language that its position in epistemological space needs to be clarified, and perspectivised, deadwood that has come down and continues to float down the canons in the social sciences and the humanities. Once clarified, people could agree or disagree. People now seem to disagree with some of these positions without understanding them! The paper will position Chomsky in his niche in the history of ideas about language, a niche which is noticeably distinctly different from that of a Panini, the great Indian grammarian or a Sibavahi, the great Arabic grammarian, the three of whom together form the great grammarian trio the world has seen 2 . The intervention is clearly more an elucidatory, albeit argumentative, exercise than an originally researched paper although of course it has to do with placing language in epistemological space.


BACKGROUND
A phase III study (Lung Cancer Evaluation of TS-1) previously demonstrated noninferiority in terms of overall survival (OS) at interim analysis for carboplatin-S-1 compared with carboplatin-paclitaxel for first-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A total of 564 patients were randomly assigned to receive either carboplatin on day 1 plus oral S-1 on days 1-14 or carboplatin-paclitaxel on day 1 every 21 days. Updated results and post hoc subgroup analysis according to tumor histology are presented.

RESULTS
The updated analysis revealed a median OS of 15.2 months in the carboplatin-S-1 arm and 13.1 months in the carboplatin-paclitaxel arm, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.956 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.793-1.151], consistent with the previous primary analysis. Median OS was 14.0 months in the carboplatin-S-1 arm and 10.6 months in the carboplatin-paclitaxel arm (HR 0.713; 95% CI 0.476-1.068) for patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), with corresponding values of 15.5 and 13.9 months (HR 1.060; 95% CI 0.859-1.308) for those with non-SCC.

CONCLUSIONS
These results establish the efficacy and safety of carboplatin-S-1 in patients with advanced NSCLC regardless of tumor histology.


Colony development in honey bees depends on both the environmental conditions and their genetic structure. Nutrition is the one of the most important factors in the honey bee's health. This study was carried out in 48 colonies and included six groups (a control and five feeding groups). In the experiment, the effect of different feeding strategies on intestinal flora and the presence of Nosema was investigated. Pantoea agglomerans, Pseudomonas luteola, Burkholderia cepacia, Brevibacillus nitrificans, Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Aeromonas hydrophila, and P. alcalidimonas were detected in the intestinal microflora of the bee samples by morphological and phenotypic identification. The results of phenotypic identification were confirmed using 16S rRNA sequence analysis for P. agglomerans and B. nitrificans strains. The presence of Nosema was simultaneously investigated in all groups. Only Nosema cerenae was detected using DNA analysis in the positive Nosema spore samples.


Data representing 5,062 services during 1960 to 1971 in the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station dairy herd were analyzed by least squares to delineate factors affecting conception rates. Overall conception rate was 37.9%. From a set of 21 climatological measurements, the five selected as most important ranked (1) maximum temperature day after insemination, (2) rainfall day of insemination, (3) minimum temperature day of insemination, (4) solar radiation day of insemination, and (5) minimum temperature day after insemination. Warm months were more closely associated with lower conception rates than were cool months (33.7 compared to 40.1%); month effects appeared to be accounted for by the climatological measurements. Conception rates declined with age: heifers, 47.6%; young cows, 42.7%; older cows, 31.9%. No decline with advancing service number (1 to 5) occurred. Service sire and inseminator effects were detected as expected. Although breeds differed (Aryshires, 33.8; Brown Swiss, 34.6; and Guernseys, 37.0; Holsteins, 35.5; and Jerseys, 48.4%), there was no evidence of breed (Jerseys and Holsteins) by month or breed by season interactions nor was it possible to detect age by season interactions.


Many crossbenchmarking results reported in the open literature raise optimistic expectations on the use of optical networks-on-chip (ONoCs) for high-performance and low-power on-chip communication. However, most of those previous works ultimately fail to make a compelling case for chip-level nanophotonic NoCs, especially for the lack of aggressive electronic baselines (ENoC), and the poor accuracy in physical- and architecture-layer analysis of the ONoC. This paper aims at providing the guidelines and minimum requirements so that nanophotonic emerging technology may become of practical relevance. The key differentiating factor of this work consists of contrasting ONoC solutions with an aggressive ENoC architecture with realistic complexity, performance, and power figures, synthesized on an industrial 40nm low-power technology. At the same time, key physical design issues and network interface architecture requirements for the ONoC under test are carefully assessed, thus paving the way for a well-grounded definition of the requirements for the emerging ONoC technology to achieve the energy break-even point with respect to pure electronic interconnect solutions in future multi- and many-core systems.


Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in many parts of the world. As skin cancers start as skin lesions, it is important to identify precancerous skin lesions early. In this paper we propose an image based skin lesion identification to classify seven different classes of skin lesions. First, Multi Resolution Empirical Mode Decomposition (MREMD) is used to decompose each skin lesion image into a few Bidimensional intrinsic mode functions (BIMF). MREMD is a simplified bidimensional empirical mode decomposition (BEMD) that employs downsampling and upsampling (interpolation) in the upper and lower envelope formation to speed up the decomposition process. A few BIMFs are extracted from the image using MREMD. The next step is to locate the lesion or the region of interest (ROI) in the image using active contour. Then Local Binary Pattern (LBP) is applied to the ROI of the image and its first BIMF to extract a total of 512 texture features from the lesion area. In the training phase, texture features of seven different classes of skin lesions are used to train an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) classifier. Altogether, 490 images from HAM10000 dataset are used to train the ANN. Then the accuracy of the approach is evaluated using 315 test images that are different from the training images. The test images are taken from the same dataset and each test image contains one type of lesion from the seven types that are classified. From each test image, 512 texture features are extracted from the lesion area and introduced to the classifier to determine its class. The proposed method achieves an overall classification rate of 98.9%.


The Thelon basin, Nunavut, shares many similarities with the uranium-producing Athabasca basin, Saskatchewan; however, the uranium deposits associated with the Thelon basin are still poorly understood. The Kiggavik project area (AREVA Resources Canada) is located near the northeastern terminus of the Thelon basin and comprises multiple uranium deposits hosted exclusively in basement rocks. The Bong deposit is hosted dominantly by Neoarchean metagraywacke of the Woodburn Lake group. A five-phase metallogenetic model is proposed for the Bong deposit, with three stages of uraninite identified. The premineralization phase is characterized by host-rock silicification. Mineralization is separated into three main stages. Stage 1 uraninite (U1; ca. 1500 Ma) is preserved in highly fractured and altered disseminated grains that are overgrown by later stages of uraninite. Stage 2 uraninite (U2; ca. 1100 Ma) forms veinlets parallel to D 1 foliation and coats and fills fractures in organic matter nodules and blebs. Stage 2 uraninite is associated with pervasive illite that formed from ~190°C fluids ( δ 18 O: −6.4‰, δ 2 H: −97‰), which remobilized much of Stage 1 uraninite and completely overprinted Stage 1 alteration. At ~1000 Ma an oxidizing fluid deposited uraninite along redox fronts (U3) while altering and remobilizing Stage 1 and 2 uraninite. Post-uranium-oxide minerals include drusy quartz, calcite, and illite accompanied by uranyl phases (e.g., uranophane, Ca-U).


Tropical China covers a land area of about 48 million ha. In olden times it was extensively covered with dense natural forests. However, the dual pressures from commercial exploitation and rapid expansion of the population led to the reduction of the total area of natural forests to less than 2 million ha at present from 3.85 million ha in the end of the 1940 s resulting in the degradation of the forest lands. It is roughly estimated that at least more than half of tbe forest lands are degraded. During the past four decades, great efforts were made to rehabilitate the degraded lands through mass afforestation/reforestation programs. Meanwhile, many research projects designed to study plantation establishment technology were carried out, including: transformation of coastal sandy wastelands, improvement of degraded and inferior forest stands, establishment of fast-growing and high-yielding short rotation plantations on flat and hilly lowlands, reforestation of degraded mountainous rainforest lands and afforestation of eroded barren lands. Based on a preliminary survey of the literature, this paper describes the technical approaches and research achievements of these projects. The future prospects and research needs for the rehabilitation of degraded forest lands in Tropical China are also outlined.


The New Zealand Health Strategy in 2000 highlighted significant health inequalities and the need to improve the health status of individuals with severe mental illness (Ministry of Health, 2000). Mental health users die at 2.5 to 4.3 times the rate of the general population, even when suicide is factored out (Handiside, 2004). It is estimated that one quarter of the world's population have Metabolic Syndrome and that they are twice as likely to die from and have a five-fold greater risk of developing type two diabetes mellitus (International Diabetes Federation, 2009). The time has long past when Registered Nurses can only afford to focus on a patient's mental health and to do so would negatively impact on a patient's quality of life. A patient's quality of life encompasses their physical, functional, emotional, spiritual and social well-being (Cella, 1994). This study highlights that Registered Nurses working in inpatient psychiatric units are well positioned to detect, prevent and manage Metabolic Syndrome in patients with severe mental illness as they spend the greatest amount of time in close patient contact. An exploratory qualitative descriptive approach was used for the study to describe the perceived barriers that Registered Nurses encounter in their practice in the reduction of Metabolic Syndrome in patients with severe mental illness. The study was conducted on a forensic psychiatric unit at one DHB in New Zealand. A sample of five Registered Nurses consented to participate in a focus group interview, which was the main data collection tool used for this study. Thematic analysis was used to establish the major themes that emerged from the focus group interview. The findings of this study revealed that there are significant barriers that Registered Nurses have in helping to reduce Metabolic Syndrome in this patient group. These barriers include a patient's mental illness, knowledge of patients and staff, staff provision of care, diet and insufficient resources on the forensic unit. The focus group interview also encouraged Registered Nurses to suggest possible solutions to these barriers and these are reflected upon in this study.


The river continuum concept (RCC) provides a framework for processes structuring lotic ecosystems by synthesizing sources and transport of C in streams. Considerable attention, refinement, and testing of the RCC has occurred since its inception >35 y ago, but few investigators have tested its predictions by explicitly linking consumer groups. We assessed insect assemblage structure in the diet of a broadly distributed insectivorous fish (Cottus carolinae) in the Roaring River continuum of Tennessee to test 3 predictions from the RCC: 1) longitudinal change in relative biomass of insect functional feeding groups (FFGs) including decrease for shredders, increase for collectors, intermediate maximum for grazers, and consistency for predators; 2) maximum taxonomic diversity at stream orders 3 to 5; and 3) temporal turnover in taxonomic composition across 1 y. We found that relative biomass of insect FFGs consumed by C. carolinae broadly matched predictions from the RCC. Maximum taxonomic diversity assessed at the family rank occurred at stream order 4 where diel and annual water temperature fluctuations were greatest, and monthly prey assemblages followed a sequence of turnover and a return to starting conditions across 1 y. Our novel approach illustrates proof of concept that RCC tenets are integrated into the diet of at least 1 higher-level consumer and, therefore, transcend assemblage boundaries in regulating the longitudinal (up- to downstream) and vertical (multiple consumer groups) flow of C in streams.


A perusal of Plato's dialogue the Phaedrus sheds much light on Porphyry's Vita Plotini. The similarities between the two works are impressive, and it can be argued that Porphyry wrote his text with the dialogue in mind. These similarities include their use of medicine, their structural disunity, and their cast of characters, among which must be included the impalpable but pervasive entity the supernatural. Two of the key themes of the Phaedrus—communication and the godlikeness of the pre-fallen soul—also inform the present discussion of the Vita. Plotinus had difficulty with both spoken and written communication, but his godlikeness allowed him to triumph over them.


A comprehensive large-signal model of a GaAs MESFET is presented to account for charge conservation and effects of dispersion and self-heating. An improved set of capacitance and charge equations, along with an enhanced Triquint Own model (TOM)-like drain current model, is used for consistent small- and large-signal simulations. Charge conservation is satisfied by deriving the capacitance part of the model from charge equations. Transconductance and output conductance dispersion is modeled by combination of a feedback network and a subcircuit, which describes the self-heating effect. An improved description of the near-pinchoff characteristics, high-voltage breakdown, and gain compression in the high-current region in the TOM is introduced. The new model accurately predicts the I-V, CV, bias-dependent S-parameter, waveform, power, and linearity characteristics of the MESFET.


In the Arabic region, the drive towards inclusive practices in mainstream schools is at a relatively early stage, although, in Lebanon, the recent initiative of the National Inclusion Project (NIP), a project managed by a consortium of four organisations aimed at addressing the exclusion experienced by people with a disability, has the potential to promote rapid change in provision. This study explores the attitudes of teachers and headteachers towards people with a disability in mainstream primary schools in Lebanon, a middle-income Arab country. A mixed method approach was used to collect data. Forty teachers from mainstream schools within the Project completed questionnaires, and key headteachers as well as the consortium managers were interviewed. The sample was purposively selected in order to examine the attitudes of participants with previous experience of students with disabilities. In general, the findings indicate positive attitudes towards the inclusion of students in mainstream schools. However, participants expressed reservations about including all students, especially those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Further challenges include limited training, availability of qualified specialist teachers and the high cost of supporting inclusion. These findings will inform future research, as more studies regarding the implementation of inclusive education in the Middle East are warranted.


The progress of atomic physics researches at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) is reviewed, covering the studies on ion-atom/molecule collisions, ion-cluster interaction, negative ion formation, state-selective electron capture studied by COLTRIMS, as well as the progress of a new experimental area dedicated for atomic researches at moderate energies, and the advances of the cooler storage rings at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL). New opportunities to study collision dynamics from femto-second to atto-second regime are opened based on the present facilities and the on-going projects.


Abstract
Different strategies are existed for adjusting with water shortage, of which the strategy of suitable policies adoption by determining optimum production function can be mentioned. Water shortage and quality degradation of soil and water resources is one of main factors of production reduction. Therefore, this study was carried out for determination of tomato sensitivity coefficients and its water-salinity-yield optimum function in Karaj. The experiment was performed as a complete randomized design with three replicates including two factors; Salinity and irrigation water. Salinity and irrigation water factors consisted of four levels (S1=0.7, S2=4, S3=8 and S4=12 dS/m) and three levels (W1=100, W2=75 and W3=50 percent of water requirement), respectively. The Soil texture was sandy loam. Yield data were fitted on different forms production functions (simple linear, logarithmic linear, Quadratic and Transcendental) and the optimum one was determined after sensitivity analysis. Then, the values of water use efficiency and plant sensitivity coefficients were determined. Results of sensitivity analysis showed that the quadratic production function is optimal production and it can be recommended. Investigation of the maximum values of error (ME) showed that the logarithmic linear and simple linear functions have had the highest error. In the irrigation treatments, W1S1 (control) and W2S1 (75% of water requirement) with 7.57 and 7.5 Kg /m3 respectively had the highest water use efficiency. However, water use efficiency decreases if the drought and salinity increases. The average value of Ky, in the condition of combined salinity and drought stress was 1.696. Moreover, Plant sensitivity values (Ks) decreases if salinity and drought increases and the lowest value of Ks were belong to W3S4 (0.57). The iso-yield curve showed that by increasing of irrigation amounts, water with higher salinity can be applied without yield change.

Keywords: Drought and salinity stress, Optimization of water use, Production function, Tomato sensitivity coefficientss


It is widely accepted that physical exercise can be used as a tool for the prevention and treatment of various diseases or disorders. In addition, in the recent years, exercise has also been successfully used to enhance people's cognition. There is a large amount of research that has supported the benefits of physical exercise on human cognition, both in children and adults. Among these studies, some have focused on the acute or transitory effects of exercise on cognition, while others have focused on the effects of regular physical exercise. However, the relation between exercise and cognition is complex and we still have limited knowledge about the moderators and mechanisms underlying this relation. Most of human studies have focused on the behavioral aspects of exercise-effects on cognition, while animal studies have deepened in its possible neuro-physiological mechanisms. Even so, thanks to advances in neuroimaging techniques, there is a growing body of evidence that provides valuable information regarding these mechanisms in the human population. This review aims to analyze the effects of regular and acute aerobic exercise on cognition. The exercise-cognition relationship will be reviewed both from the behavioral perspective and from the neurophysiological mechanisms. The effects of exercise on animals, adult humans, and infant humans will be analyzed separately. Finally, physical exercise intervention programs aiming to increase cognitive performance in scholar and workplace environments will be reviewed.


A new technique is presented to measure the angular distribution of plasma ions bombarding the substrate surface with a planar retarding field analyzer. By varying the effective aspect ratio of the analyzer's aperture, ions with different angular spread that are allowed through the device for detection are controlled. The analytical theory developed to define the ion current as a function of incident ion angle, ion energy, aperture geometry, and aspect ratio is shown. The method used to vary the effective aspect ratio of the aperture is also discussed. The mathematical theory is derived and the numerical solution discussed. Ion energy distributions, as a function of ion angle, with resolution as low as 3° can be measured.


In an urban area of Guinea-Bissau, where more than 80% of the children have been vaccinated, measles continues to be a major cause of child mortality. Compared with the period before the introduction of vaccination, more cases occur outside the community, while more cases within the district are now guests and newcomers. Half of the new introductions of measles into the community and 30% of the measles deaths can be traced back to the paediatric ward. Contact with health care institutions plays an important role in the transmission of measles, particularly among the youngest children. This consequence of health care may be avoidable, however, since several studies suggest that sick children can be vaccinated safely and effectively.


In this article, we briefly review the dynamical and thermodynamical aspects of different forms of quantum motors and quantum pumps. We then extend previous results to provide new theoretical tools for a systematic study of those phenomena at far-from-equilibrium conditions. We mainly focus on two key topics: (1) The steady-state regime of quantum motors and pumps, paying particular attention to the role of higher order terms in the nonadiabatic expansion of the current-induced forces. (2) The thermodynamical properties of such systems, emphasizing systematic ways of studying the relationship between different energy fluxes (charge and heat currents and mechanical power) passing through the system when beyond-first-order expansions are required. We derive a general order-by-order scheme based on energy conservation to rationalize how every order of the expansion of one form of energy flux is connected with the others. We use this approach to give a physical interpretation of the leading terms of the expansion. Finally, we illustrate the above-discussed topics in a double quantum dot within the Coulomb-blockade regime and capacitively coupled to a mechanical rotor. We find many exciting features of this system for arbitrary nonequilibrium conditions: a definite parity of the expansion coefficients with respect to the voltage or temperature biases; negative friction coefficients; and the fact that, under fixed parameters, the device can exhibit multiple steady states where it may operate as a quantum motor or as a quantum pump, depending on the initial conditions.


Garcinia morella (Gaertn.) Desr. is an evergreen tree that yields edible fruits, oil, and resin. It is a source of "gamboge", a gum/resin that has a wide range of uses. The fruits, leaves, and seeds of this tree are rich in bioactive compounds, including xanthones, flavonoids, phenolic acids, organic acids, and terpenoids. Evidence from different studies has demonstrated the antioxidant, antifungal, antiviral, hepatoprotective, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and larvicidal activities of the fruit, leaf, and seed extracts of G. morella. This review summarizes the information on the phytochemicals of G. morella and the biological activities of its active constituents.


Miscanthus has been identified as one of the most promising perennial grasses for renewable energy generation in Europe and the United States [Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 9 (2004) 433]. However, the decision to use Miscanthus depends to a considerable degree on its economic and environmental performance [Soil Use and Management 24 (2008) 235; Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 (2009) 1230]. This article assessed the spatial distribution of the economic and greenhouse gas (GHG) costs of producing and supplying Miscanthus in the UK. The average farm‐gate production cost of Miscanthus in the UK is estimated to be 40 £ per oven‐dried tonne (£ odt−1), and the average GHG emissions from the production of Miscanthus are 1.72 kg carbon equivalent per oven‐dried tonnes per year (kg CE odt−1 yr−1). The production cost of Miscanthus varies from 35 to 55 £ odt−1 with the lowest production costs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the highest costs in Scotland. Sensitivity analysis shows that yield of Miscanthus is the most influential factor in its production cost, with precipitation the most crucial input in determining yield. GHG emissions from the production of Miscanthus range from 1.24 to 2.11 kg CE odt−1 yr−1. To maximize the GHG benefit, Miscanthus should be established preferentially on croplands, though other considerations obviously arise concerning suitability and value of the land for food production.


In the ancient Roman literary masterpiece Metamorphoses, the poet Ovid writes that the god of sleep, Somnus (who had a twin brother named Thanatos, or Death), lived in a dark cave and "in front of the cave mouth a wealth of poppies flourish" [1]. This verse demonstrates that our ancestors recognised links between sleep, death and the poppy plant (from which opium is derived). Present-day population-based studies show that opioid drugs are used frequently [2, 3] and in other potentially concerning ways [2] among individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including those with nonpalliative disease [2]. Several guidelines [4–6] support using opioids for refractory respiratory symptoms in advanced COPD, which is a commonly encountered and challenging problem. The report by Politis et al. [7] in the European Respiratory Journal describes a case of respiratory depression in an individual with advanced COPD following receipt of prescription opioids for dyspnoea, providing a timely reminder of the serious negative respiratory effects opioids can potentially have in vulnerable COPD patients. Patient and drug regimen selection important with opioid use in advanced COPD, given adverse respiratory event risk http://ow.ly/LNXJ30bPD6C


ABSTRACT Introduction: Despite major progress in treating advanced colorectal cancer (CRC), prognosis in this population after progression on standard treatment remains dismal and the development of new drugs represents an unmet need. Historically, fluoropyrimidines have played a major role in the treatment of metastatic CRC. TAS-102, a novel combination of trifluridine and tipiracil hydrochloride, has demonstrated improvement in overall survival in the refractory CRC setting, with a safe toxicity profile. Areas covered: A literature review of published clinical studies was performed. Herein, the authors review the pharmacological and clinical data of TAS-102 when used in metastatic CRC, both as a single agent as well as in novel combinations under investigation. Expert opinion: The addition of TAS-102 to the therapeutic armamentarium of metastatic CRC is an encouraging breakthrough considering the demonstrated survival benefit and favorable tolerability profile. Combinations with other agents are under clinical investigation in different settings in an attempt to widen its use. To optimize treatment in today's era of molecular oncology, efforts should be focused on understanding primary and secondary resistance mechanisms, along with the identification of potential biomarkers of response.


Many reports described cell lines derived in domestic species, which presented several important features typical of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Such features unfortunately did not include the capacity to generate germ-line chimeras, therefore limiting the possibility to use these cells as tools for the genetic manipulation. However, farm animal ESCs may still be useful for the generation of transgenic animals as usually have a self-renewal capacity more prolonged than normal primary cultures thus increasing the possibility to transform and select cells to be used as nucleus donors in cloning procedures. Farm animal ESCs may also be an excellent experimental model in pre-clinical trials, assessing the feasibility of cell therapy because of the close morphological and physiological resemblance to humans of species like the pig. However, the persistent lack of standard methods for the derivation, maintenance and characterization of ESCs in domestic species stimulated the search for alternatives. Embryonic germ cells may represent such an alternative. Indeed, these cells showed a higher plasticity than ESCs as contributed to embryonic development forming chimeric newborns but, as for ESCs, standardization is still far away and efficiency is very low. Recent results indicated spermatogonial stem cells as possible tools for germ-line genetic modifications with some proof of principle results already achieved. But, a real break through could arrive from the multipotent germ-line stem cells, virtually equivalent to ESC, derived from newborn and adult mouse testis.


Morocco is experiencing a double transition since many years ago. The first is demographic characterized by the decline in fertility associated with lower mortality and longer life expectancy. The second is economic, with a gradual transition from a command economy to a market economy increasingly open to the outside, and changing economic structures include reduced weight of primary activities in favor of a progressive service sector of the economy. The labor market, with an offer that demography is one of the main determinants and a demand from the economic structures, suffers the consequences of the economic and social developments and experienced a significant changes including, the downward trend levels of activity and employment rates, the resistance to decline of the labor underutilization volume, low qualification of the workforce, the disparity in the employment distribution and precarious employment. In addition, it should be noted that even in a context characterized, in recent years, by a sustained economic growth, an important proportion of those in employment are on jobs assimilated to a form of disguised unemployment or they do unsatisfactory jobs waiting for more stable jobs, better paid satisfying their professional pretense. On the other hand, the predominance of low-skill workforce refers to the structure of the national economy and the level of productivity of its sectoral components. The improvement in growth was not, in fact, accompanied by a significant change in economic structures in favor of high-tech activities. Effective promotion of employment generally involves a deep knowledge on the labor market situation. Indeed, its proper diagnosis is very important for the economic development of a country mainly through its contribution to, public decisions support, employment policy development, preparation of plans, strategies and programs to promote the living conditions of households. Recognizing this reality, in the recent years, the international community grants an interest, more and more important for the diagnosis of the labor market situation. Indeed, in order to inform on this situation, several indicators have been established, including the labor market indicators (LMI) and indicators of decent work, two main frameworks developed by the International Labor Office (ILO). In this context, and in order to highlight the current state of the employment quality in Morocco, with a view to develop decent work profile in Morocco, this paper attempts to shed light several aspects of labor market, as identified by the International Labor Office (ILO). Eleven in number, they are as follows: o employment opportunities; o Adequate earnings and productive work; o decent hours; o combining work, family and personal life; o Work that should be abolished; o Stability and security of work; o Equal opportunity and treatment in employment; o Safe work environment; o social security; o Social dialogue, workers' and employers' representation; o economic and social context for decent work.


We present an evolution method for designing the styling curves of garments. The procedure of evolution is driven by aesthetics-inspired scores to evaluate the quality of styling designs, where the aesthetic considerations are represented in the form of streamlines on human bodies. A dual representation is introduced in our platform to process the styling curves of designs, based on which robust methods for realizing the operations of evolution are developed. Starting from a given set of styling designs on human bodies, we demonstrate the effectiveness of set evolution inspired by aesthetic factors. The evolution is adaptive to the change of aesthetic inspirations. By this adaptation, our platform can automatically generate new designs fulfilling the demands of variations in different human bodies and poses.


That tumors form at one or more levels of the spinal cords of patients suffering with syringomyelia is well known, though histologic studies of them have not often been published. They were considered to be gliomas, although many writers observed that, unlike ordinary gliomas, (a) such tumors do not infiltrate extensively so as to surround and include nerve cells and fibers, preexisting vessels and connective tissue elements; (b) they are part of a definite and peculiar proliferative process, of which they are but a local intensification, and (c) in these tumors associated with syringomyelia the ependyma and the undifferentiated cells lying near the central canal, which are closely related to ependymal cells, share in the proliferative process in a special, possibly a specific, way. Therefore, it will not be surprising if one finds that these tumors are composed of cells of the ependymal, rather than of the neuroglial, derivatives of


A new tracker based on particle filter is proposed in this paper. In our framework, colour cue and edge cue, which are represented as colour histogram (CH) and improved histogram of oriented gradient (IHOG) respectively, are adaptively fused to represent the target observation. Colour histogram is robust to shape variation and rotation etc, but sensitive to varying illumination and easy to be confused by distractions from background due to loss of spatial information; whereas for IHOG, the situation is reversed. With the help of the complementary nature of the two kinds of image features, the proposed tracker is more robust to pose variations, illumination changes and distractions from background. As the second contribution of this paper, an improved model update scheme is proposed to address the varying appearance. The new scheme makes our object model has a better resistance to template drift. Experimental results demonstrate the high robustness and effectiveness of our method in complex environments.


This study is mainly concerned with identifying the effect of the implementation of the Just-In-Time manufacturing cost on the production performance of the Jordanian manufacturing companies, and above all, on reducing the production cost. Furthermore, it aims at finding out the obstacles hindering the application of this system in the Jordanian manufacturing companies. This study is divided into two parts: studying the concept, objectives and the requirements of the Just-In-Time system, the advantages achieved by this system, its effect on the production performance and clarifying shortcomings related to the application of this system. These are what the first part focuses on. The second part is concerned with studying the sample of this study, which consists of 40 companies. SPSS is used to analyze the results of this study which emphasize that the application of this Just-In-Time system requires the significance of reorganizing the operations of productivity in the Jordanian manufacturing companies. This process enhances the efficiency and improvement of the production performance. More importantly, the results show that the application of Just-In-Time system (de facto) reduces the direct costs and equally improves the quality of the product which undoubtedly enhances its competitive capacities. By way of concluding, this study recommends training the employees in the Jordanian manufacturing companies to increase their skills in order to enable them to have control over the production


The human endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1) and ERAP2 are critically important in the final processing of MHC class I antigens. To date, the molecular context of peptide trimming by ERAPs, and how ERAPs shape antigen repertoires, remain open questions. Using a cell-free system composed of ERAP1 and ERAP2 heterodimers (ERAP1/2), MHC class I molecules, and N-terminally extended model and natural peptides, we characterized the function of ERAPs. We provide conclusive evidence that ERAP1/2 trims MHC I-bound precursor peptides to the final lengths, albeit more slowly than the corresponding free precursors. We show that trimming of MHC I-bound precursors by ERAP1/2 increases the conformational stability of MHC I/peptide complexes. We will discuss a molecular mechanistic model of peptide editing by ERAP1/2 that unifies and advances our understanding of these important enzymes.


This study was undertaken to test whether ratios between plasma concentrations of different estrogens would be more determinant of prolactin (PRL) secretion than plasma concentrations of estrogens per se have been found to be. Oral administration of micronized 17 beta-estradiol in a dose of 2 mg b.i.d. for 1 month to 7 postmenopausal women raised plasma estrone (E1) from a median of 29 to 683 pg/ml and plasma 17 beta-estradiol (E2) from a median of 5.7 to 131 pg/ml. The E1/E2 ratios rose from a median of 4.01 to 4.92 (Pwilcoxon (Pw) greater than 0.025). Basal serum PRL increased from a median of 79.2 to 100 microIU/ml (Pw) greater than 0.025). However, the area under the curve of the PRL response to TRH increased from a median of 2,553 mm2 before to 3,919 mm2 after treatment (Pw less than 0.025). Highly significant correlations existed between the E1/E2 ratios and the PRL responses to TRH both before (rspearman (rs) = 0.964) (Pspearman (Ps) less than 0.005) and after (rs = 1.000) (Ps less than 0.00025) estradiol treatment, whereas no correlations (Ps less than 0.679) existed between plasma concentrations of E1 or E2 per se and either basal serum PRL or PRL response to TRH. The regression curves of best fit between the E1/E2 ratios and the PRL responses to TRH were hyperbolic both before (r = 0.884) and after (r = 0.996) treatment. These results, showing that the E1/E2 ratio rather than the plasma E1 or E2 concentrations per se are correlated to the PRL responses to TRH, imply that the metabolic conversion rate of estrogens modulates PRL secretion.


Objective To evaluate the feasibility and clinical usefulness of deep learning (DL)-accelerated turbo spin echo (TSEDL) sequences relative to standard TSE sequences (TSES) for acute radius fracture patients wearing a splint. Methods This prospective consecutive study investigated 50 patients' preoperative wrist MRI scans acquired between July 2021 and January 2022. Examinations were performed at 3 Tesla MRI with body array coils due to the wrist splint. Besides TSES obtained according to the routine protocol, TSEDL sequences for axial T2-, coronal T1-, and coronal PD-weighted TSE sequences were scanned for comparison. For quantitative assessment, the relative signal-to-noise ratio (rSNR), the relative contrast-to-noise ratio (rCNR), and the relative contrast ratio (rCR) were measured. For qualitative assessment, all images were assessed by two independent musculoskeletal radiologists in terms of perceived SNR, image contrast, image sharpness, artifacts disturbing evaluation, overall image quality and diagnostic confidence for injuries using a four- or five-point Likert scale. Results The scan time was shortened approximately by a factor of two for TSEDL compared to TSES. TSEDL images showed significantly better rSNR, rCNR, and rCR values for all sequences, and scored significantly better in terms of both image quality and diagnostic confidence for both readers than TSES images (all p < .05). Interrater reliabilities were in almost perfect agreement. Conclusion The DL-accelerated technique proved to be very helpful not only to reduce scan time but also to improve image quality for acute painful fracture patients wearing a splint despite using body array coils instead of a wrist-specific coil. Based on our study, the DL-accelerated technique can be very useful for MRI of any part of the extremities in trauma settings just with body array coils.


Differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) result in many areas of science and engineering. In this thesis, numerical methods for solving DAEs are compared for two problems, energy-economic models and traffic flow models. An energy-economic model is presented based on the Hubbert model of oil production and is extended to include economic factors for the first time. Using numerical methods to simulate the DAE model, the resulting graphs break the symmetry of the traditional Hubbert curve. For the traffic flow models, a numerical method is developed to solve the steady-state flow pattern including the linearly unstable regime, i.e. solutions which cannot be found with an initial value solver.


A multilayer perceptron type of artificial neural network predicts congested freeway data while demonstrating robustness to faulty loop detector data. Test results on historical data from the I-5 freeway in Seattle, Washington demonstrate that a neural network can successfully predict volume and occupancy one minute in advance, as well as fill in the gaps for missing data with an appropriate prediction. The volume and occupancy predictions will be used as inputs to a fuzzy logic ramp metering algorithm currently under development.


Current recommendations for evaluating uncertainty of measurement are based on the Bayesian interpretation of probability distributions as encoding the state of knowledge about the quantities to which those distributions refer. Given a measurement model that relates an output quantity to one or more input quantities, the distribution of the former is obtained by propagating those of the latter according to the axioms of probability calculus and also, if measurement data are available, by applying Bayes' theorem. The main objective of this paper is to show that alternative ways of applying Bayes' theorem are possible, and that these alternative formulations yield the same results provided consistent use is made of measurement data and prior information. In this context the necessity of assigning non-informative priors arises often. Therefore, the second concern of the paper is to point out, by means of a specific example, that the seemingly reasonable choice of a uniform prior for a quantity about which no information is available may not conform to the accepted rules for constructing non-informative priors.


Organic farming has a long tradition in Europe. Policy support played a significant role in stimulating the growth of organic farming. However, large differences in the development stage of the organic sector exist between Member States and regions as the policy environment for organic farming differs significantly between Member States. This paper investigates the relationship between organic farming and measures implemented within the Rural Development Regulation. The status quo of support from second pillar measures for organic farming systems is compared to that of standard production and the impact of these measures on the organic farming sector is identified in 6 selected Member States (Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and France). The attractiveness of the different RDP measures for farms with organic production compared to farms with conventional production is evaluated via detailed qualitative and where available quantitative analyses of relevant provisions. All nine measures (agri-environmental programmes, investment support, Less Favoured Area payments, support for processing, marketing, and training) are discussed with a focus on the measures 'agri-environment', 'processing and marketing', 'investments into agricultural holdings' and 'training'. Most of the analysed national RDPs have a considerable potential for supporting organic farming. Organic farming is considered as one possible mechanism to achieve the sustainable development objectives and is addressed specifically in certain measures. Nevertheless, most of these priority areas still bear the potential for a more targeted support of organic farming.


Objectives To assess the current evidence on the effect pre-arrest comorbidity has on survival and neurological outcomes following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Design Systematic review according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Data sources MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and MedNar were searched from inception to 31 December 2018. Eligibility criteria Studies included if they examined the association between prearrest comorbidity and OHCA survival and neurological outcomes in adult or paediatric populations. Data extraction and synthesis Data were extracted from individual studies but not pooled due to heterogeneity. Quality of included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Results This review included 29 observational studies. There were high levels of clinical heterogeneity between studies with regards to patient recruitment, inclusion criteria, outcome measures and statistical methods used which ultimately resulted in a high risk of bias. Comorbidities reported across the studies were diverse, with some studies reporting individual comorbidities while others reported comorbidity burden using tools like the Charlson Comorbidity Index. Generally, prearrest comorbidity was associated with both reduced survival and poorer neurological outcomes following OHCA with 79% (74/94) of all reported adjusted results across 23 studies showing effect estimates suggesting lower survival with 42% (40/94) of these being statistically significant. OHCA survival was particularly reduced in patients with a prior history of diabetes (four out of six studies). However, a prearrest history of myocardial infarction appeared to be associated with increased survival in one of four studies. Conclusions Prearrest comorbidity is generally associated with unfavourable OHCA outcomes, however differences between individual studies makes comparisons difficult. Due to the clinical and statistical heterogeneity across the studies, no meta-analysis was conducted. Future studies should follow a more standardised approach to investigating the impact of comorbidity on OHCA outcomes. PROSPERO registration number CRD42018087578


This paper reports an experimental study on the evolution of an isolated turbulent region in an otherwise quiescent linearly stratified fluid. A turbulent patch was generated by pulsed horizontal injection of a small volume of fluid. It was found that the turbulent blob thus produced initially grows as in a nonstratified fluid for a nondimensional time period of Nt ≈ 4–5 (with N the buoyancy frequency), attains a maximum height, and then physically collapses slowly to form a planar, quasi-two-dimensional dipole pattern. The timescale for the physical collapse of the blob was found to be much larger than that of the turbulence collapse. Scaling arguments are presented to explain the evolution of the turbulent region, and the experimental results are compared with the model predictions.


There has been considerable discussion of the speed performance of HPLC separation, especially regarding the relationship between theoretical plates and hold-up time. The fundamental discussion focuses on the optimal velocity, u0,opt, which gives a minimal height equivalent to a theoretical plate of the van Deemter plot. On the other hand, Desmet's method, using the kinetic performance limit (KPL), calculates the highest performance with a constant pressure drop, without focusing solely on the optimal velocity. In this paper, a precise method based on the KPL is proposed, to understand how increasing pressure enhances both theoretical plates and hold-up time. A three-dimensional representation method that combines the pressure drop with two axes of time and theoretical plates will be useful for discussing the effect of pressure in pressure-driven chromatography. Using three dimensions, the methods based on u0,opt and the KPL can be combined, because u0,opt can be visualized three-dimensionally, including the neighbor of u0,opt; and the question of whether the KPL is an asymptotic or effective limit can be investigated. Three performances of high resolution, high speed, and low pressure can be understood on different packing supports at a glance.


It is not known where Jean Bellegambe, born circa 1470 in Douai, where he probably died in 1535/36, received his training. Artists in this region were exposed to influences from both Flanders and France. Bellegambe's stylistic development falls into two phases: the first (circa 1508 - circa 1 5 2 5) is rather archaistic, drawing on the school of Valenciennes (Marmion et al. and Provost); the second displays the more marked influence of Antwerp mannerism. The triptych discussed here, the Mystical Bath in Lille, made for the monastery at Anchin in view of the arms of the abbey and its abbot, Charles Coguin, on the wings, was only discovered in 1877. Comparison with Bellegambe's principal work, the polyptych The Holy Trinity, and the wings of the Immaculate Conception, both in Douai, has established it as his work. An examination of various published datings leads to the conclusion that this triptych is an example of the artist's second stylistic phase, which began in circa 1525, and was problably painted around that date. The association of the representation of 'Tons Pietatis' with the Office of the Holy Blood was based on the assumpion that the texts on Jean Bellegambe's Mystical Bath (a `Fons Pietatis' with bathing worshippers) derive from the Office ritual in Anchin. The texts however are literal quotations from the bible, the Office of the Holy Blood not being fixed in Bellgambe's day; the Anchin Office merits closer study. The idea that the cult of a relic of the Holy Blood in Anchin abbey may have influenced the iconography of at least the Mystical Bath is not supported by historical facts. Mâle's observation of a relationship between the Holy Blood cult and the representation of the 'Fons Pietatis' is thus reduced to a theologically underpinned assumption. Old and New Testament quotations with reference to the bible passages-not a new phenomenon as such may be connected with the renewed interest for the literal biblical text in the early sixteenth century. This suggests circa 1520 as the earliest date of the triptych. With his female figure of a repentant Mary Magdalene divesting herself of her garments and jewellery, Bellegambe introduces this theme into art. The motif and its combination with the `Fons Pietatis' motif seem to derive from religious drama, notably Jean Michel's Mystere de la Passion, performed in Mons in 1501. Although, in connection with the early sixteenth-century cult of Mary Magdalene, a revived interest in literal bible texts can be observed, it can not be demonstrated in Bellegambe's triptych. The fact that it was dccadcs before the jewellery-removing theme returned to art as an interior scene, may be due to Bellegambe's isolated position. The theological virtues and their attributes derive from a type developed in illuminated manuscripts of literary and philosophical texts, and may also have been inspired by the tableaux vivants enacted in Rouen and Amiens in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. Coguin's contacts with the 'Clercs Parisiens' in Douai seem to be reflected in these iconographic details of the Mystical Bath. The representation is addressed to both the inmates of the abbey, who according to the rule of the order are speeding towards salvation, and the lay people, who could identify with the pseudo Mary Magdalene on the steps in front of the bath and a few non-clerical male figures. Owing to the lack of archive sources, the precise context of the piece cannot be ascertained.


This paper develops a two-agent New Keynesian model, which is suitable for identifying the drivers of business cycle fluctuations in small open, resource-rich, resource-dependent emerging economies. We confront the model with Nigerian data on eleven macro-economic variables using the Bayesian likelihood approach and show that output fluctuations are driven mainly by oil and monetary policy shocks in the short run and domestic supply shocks in the medium term. On the other hand, monetary and domestic supply shocks jointly account for around 70 percent of short run variations in headline and core measures of inflation while oil shocks play a less prominent role owing partly to the low pass-through effect arising from the extant fuel subsidy regime in the country. Interrogating these findings further, we find that negative oil price shocks generate a persistent negative impact on output and a short-lived positive effect on headline inflation. In terms of policy responses, the estimated Taylor rule indicates a hawkish monetary policy stance over the sample period while the estimated fiscal rule provides evidence for a pro-cyclical and rather muted fiscal policy. Since domestic supply and oil-related shocks are key sources of macroeconomic fluctuations, the study calls for a more creative use of the country's stabilisation funds as well as strategic fiscal interventions aimed at addressing the issues of domestic supply constraints and promoting private sector investments.


The article is devoted to the narratological analysis of a screenplay. A distance between a narrator and a story world that constitutes a narrative is studied in regard to a conception of screenplay not as an autonomous literary work but as a series of texts corresponding to various stages of preparation for a film shooting (in our case a libretto, a literary script and a shooting script). The comparison of the literary script and the shooting script of the film "The Heir to Genghis Khan" written respectively by Osip Brik and Vsevolod Pudovkin reveals the shift of the narrative distance, that determined the way the events were shown. During the transition from the literary script to the shooting script the narrative distance is decreased due to the director's idea on the film and also due the industrial context of filmmaking.


Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) refers to a class of methods for detecting targets using an array of sensors. Various STAP methods use similar operations on different data or in different orders. We have developed a portable, parallel library of subroutines for prototyping STAP methods. The subroutines work on the IBM SP2 and the Intel Paragon under three different operating systems and three different communication libraries, and can also be configured for other systems. We provide execution-time models for predicting the performance of each subroutine. Using the library routines, we created a parallel version of element-space pre-Doppler processing, three parallel versions of higher-order post-Doppler processing, and two versions of PRI-staggered post-Doppler processing. We implemented a fourth version of higher-order post-Doppler processing, the hybrid method, which uses a combination of fine-grain and coarse-grain parallelism to reduce execution time. The hybrid method can be used to improve performance when a large number of processors is available. Our execution time models generally predict the best method and predict execution times to within 10 percent or better for large test cases.


—Using a peer-to-peer approach for live multimedia streaming applications offers the promise to obtain a highly scalable, decentralized and robust distribution service. When constructing streaming topologies, however, specific care has to be taken in order to ensure that quality of service requirements in terms of delay, jitter, packet-loss and stability against deliberate denial of service attacks are met. In this paper we concentrate on the latter requirement of stability against denial-of-service attacks. We present an analytical model to assess the stability of overlay streaming topologies and to describe attack strategies. Building on this, we describe topologies, which are optimally stable towards perfect attacks based on global knowledge, and give a mathematical proof of their optimality. The formal construction and analysis of these topologies using global knowledge lead us to strategies for distributed procedures, which are able to construct resilient topologies in scenarios, where global knowledge can not be gathered. Experimental results show that the topologies created in such a real world scenario are close to optimally stable towards perfect denial of service attacks.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by continuous and irreversible inflammation frequently caused by persistent exposure to toxic inhalants such as cigarette smoke (CS). CS may trigger mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) extrusion into the cytosol, extracellular space, or foster its transfer by extracellular vesicles (EVs). The present study aimed to elucidate whether mtDNA is released upon CS exposure and in COPD. We measured cell-free mtDNA (cf-mtDNA) in the plasma of former smokers affected by COPD, in the serum of mice that developed CS-induced emphysema, and in the extracellular milieu of human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE). Further, we characterized cells exposed to sublethal and lethal doses of CSE by measuring mitochondrial membrane potential and dynamics, superoxide production and oxidative stress, cell cycle progression, and cytokine expression. Patients with COPD and mice that developed emphysema showed increased levels of cf-mtDNA. In cell culture, exposure to a sublethal dose of CSE decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, increased superoxide production and oxidative damage, dysregulated mitochondrial dynamics, and triggered mtDNA release in extracellular vesicles. The release of mtDNA into the extracellular milieu occurred concomitantly with increased expression of DNase III, DNA-sensing receptors (cGAS, NLRP3), proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-18, CXCL2), and markers of senescence (p16, p21). Exposure to a lethal dose of CSE preferentially induced mtDNA and nuclear DNA release in cell debris. Our findings demonstrate that CS-induced stress triggers mtDNA release and is associated with COPD, supporting cf-mtDNA as a novel signaling response to CS exposure.


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When mammals colonized the ocean some 50 million years ago, some species of dolphins and whales evolved echolocation, which allows them to "see" with their ears. How other marine mammals manage to hunt without echolocation has long been a mystery, though, as the sharp vision their ancestors had evolved on land was of little use in the ocean9s murky darkness. On page
 102, researchers report that part of the answer has been hiding in plain view: They use their whiskers.


Assessment of individual performance of a player in a team game is a complex task. But this measurement is essential to ascertain the impact of several factors on performance of a player in that game, and in turn to formulate strategies of selection of player and coaching them. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi-criteria decisionmaking approach and a decision support tool, has been introduced by Saaty in 1977. A multi-level hierarchical structure of objectives, criteria, sub-criteria, and alternatives are used here and the weights of importance of the decision criteria are obtained by pair-wise comparisons. Attacking and defending, the two main criteria have the weights 0.70 and 0.30 respectively. There are ten sub-criteria of attacking and seven sub-criteria in defending. The weights of importance of the decision criteria are obtained by pair-wise comparisons. A complex decision making task such as assessment of individual performance in a team game can be successfully done by using AHP


A nonlinear control method is considered for stabilizing all attitudes and positions (x, y or z) of an underactuated X4-AUV with four thrusters and six degrees-of-freedom (DOFs), in which the positions are stabilized according to the Lyapunov stability theory and angles are stabilized using backstepping control method. A dynamical model is first derived, and then a sequential nonlinear control strategy is implemented for the X4-AUV, composed of translational and rotational subsystems. A controller for the translational subsystem stabilizes one position out of x-, y-, and z-coordinates, whereas controllers for the rotational subsystems generate the desired roll, pitch and yaw angles. Thus, the rotational controllers stabilize all the attitudes of the X4-AUV at a desired (x-, y- or z-) position of the vehicle. Some numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controllers.


A generalized multiorbital Hubbard model, which includes on-site interorbital electron hoppings, is introduced and studied on an arbitrary basis. In a general system the on-site interorbital single-electron hopping may exist realistically between two orbitals, e. g., the excitation of electrons or flow of electrons between two hybridized states, and is hence one of the most basic interactions like the intersite hopping and the on-site Coulomb interactions. It is shown in this work how the higher order interactions can be well incorporated (or generated) in the equations of motion from the basic interactions in the Hamiltonian, which has made it possible and also given a self-consistent way to investigate these higher order correlation effects. The two-orbital Hubbard model is studied numerically in the paramagnetic case to demonstrate the influence of the single-electron hopping effect, leading to a change of the shape of the bands and a shrinking of the difference between the two bands. Inclusion of the on-site interorbital hopping suppresses the so-called orbital-selective Mott transition.


The automotive and videogame industries have driven the cost of Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) accelerometers and gyroscopes down to the range of just a few dollars. Likewise, the personal computer and cell phone industries have driven the cost of relatively high-resolution camera chips down to comparably low levels. Due to these cost reductions, a low-cost robot navigation system using a combination of vision and inertial sensors would be an inexpensive and effective method of navigating without the aid of GPS signals. Vision and inertial sensors are ideally suited to work together because their error characteristics are complementary. MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes are capable of tracking high-speed motions, but suffer from long-term drifts that make them impractical to use as standalone navigation sensors. However, using Bayesian estimation methods, vision information from a stereo camera pair can be used to correct these drift errors. Therefore, using both vision and inertial sensors in tandem can produce an accurate navigation system that can operate indoors or in other areas where GPS signals or other navigation aids are unavailable. In this paper, we present two data analysis methods that can be used to calibrate and characterize the noise that is produced by MEMS-based IMUs.


Five Anopheles marajoara Galvão and Damasceno populations, representing diverse ecological conditions, were sampled throughout Colombia and analyzed using nine hypervariable DNA microsatellite loci. The overall genetic diversity (H = 0.58) was lower than that determined for some Brazilian populations using the same markers. The Caquetá population (Colombia) had the lowest gene diversity (H = 0.48), and it was the only population at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium in the remaining four populations was probably caused by the Wahlund effect. The assignment analyses showed two incompletely isolated gene pools separated by the Eastern Andean cordillera. However, other possible geographical barriers (rivers and other mountains) did not play any role in the moderate genetic heterogeneity found among these populations (F(ST) = 0.069). These results are noteworthy, because this species is a putative malaria vector in Colombia.


We examined science learning and motivation outcomes as a function of children's participation in the classroom and classroom-plus-home components of the Scientific Literacy Project (SLP). The sample was comprised of kindergarten children in 4 low income, neighboring schools. Children in Schools 1 and 2 (n = 120) participated in the SLP science activities. Of these children, 79 participated in the classroom component of the SLP whereas 41 participated in both the classroom and home components. A comparison group of children in schools 3 and 4 (n = 74) participated in regular science activities. We identified science learning, achievement, and motivational benefits for the SLP groups. Additional benefits for children who participated in both the classroom and home components of the SLP were greater gains in general science knowledge, higher levels of positive self-competence beliefs for science, perceived family support for learning science, and independence for learning science.


This paper describes a hand symbol recognition system that can quickly be trained to incrementally learn to recognize new symbols using about 100 times less data and time than by using conventional training. It is driven by frames from a Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) event camera. Conventional cameras have very redundant output, especially at high frame rates. Dynamic vision sensors output sparse and asynchronous brightness change events that occur when an object or the camera is moving. Images consisting of a fixed number of events from a DVS drive recognition and incremental learning of new hand symbols in the context of a RoShamBo (rock-paper-scissors) demonstration. Conventional training on the original RoShamBo dataset requires about 12.5h compute time on a desktop GPU using the 2.5 million images in the base dataset. Novel symbols that a user shows for a few tens of seconds to the system can be learned on-the-fly using the iCaRL incremental learning algorithm with 3 minutes of training time on a desktop GPU, while preserving recognition accuracy of previously trained symbols. Our system runs a residual network with 32 layers and maintains 88.4% after 100 epochs or 77% after 5 epochs overall accuracy after 4 incremental training stages. Each stage adds an additional 2 novel symbols to the base 4 symbols. The paper also reports an inexpensive robot hand used for live demonstrations of the base RoShamBo game.


The Gateway recombination system is characterized by its ability to transfer DNA sequences back and forth between an intermediate clone (the entry clone) and a variety of destination vectors. However, a number of applications do not need to exploit the advantages offered by the entry clone. Here we report reaction conditions for cloning DNA fragments into destination vectors in a single step reaction, thus reducing the cost and overall time needed to obtain an expression clone from three days to one.


Purpose: This study was carried out to investigate whether Pavlik harness affects motor performance in premature infants with Congenital Dislocation of the Hip (CDH).
Methods: A total of 62 children were enrolled and divided into two groups: CDH group (30 infants with CDH) and control group (32 normal). The motor performance of CDH group infants was evaluated before and after using Pavlik harness, and their scores were compared with scores for controls and American standard scores for premature infants.
Results: The initial infant performance scores for the CDH group before application of Pavlik harness were significantly lower than scores for control group and American standard. After using Pavlik harness, the scores for CDH group were significantly reduced when compared to initial values. However, there was no significant difference between control group score and American standard scores.
Conclusion: Premature infants with congenital dislocation of the hip showed reduction in motor performance after using Pavlik harness, which may mask some anomalous synkinetic movements and affect clinical assessments. These results suggest the need for care when applying Pavlik harness and similar devices for premature infants.


In this brief, the performance analysis of a photometer circuit based on a robust two degrees-of-freedom controller is presented. Here, the closed-loop transfer function of the complex feedback system is shown as a function of the operational amplifier parameters. Also, the stability region of the robust photometer circuit is calculated, and the performance of this circuit is compared against the performance of a photometer circuit based on a basic current-to-voltage converter connection. Both the simulation and experimental results are satisfactory and show the importance of applying robust control techniques to the design of photometer circuits.


Principally speaking, "drug" and "poison" are of the same class; therefore, overdose of any drug naturally leads to intoxication. Intoxication can also occur in regular doses, depending on the condition of a patient (e.g., renal insufficiency). In addition, each drug has its own side effects which occur at a certain probability, and there is no exception to antivirals. Antivirals for common acute viral diseases are used for a number of people, and those for chronic viral diseases are used for a long period. In both cases, side effects are an extremely important issue. Without precise and prompt safety measures, we won't succeed in antiviral treatment.


A ceramic coating is a surface treatment method that is being used widely in the industrial field, recently. Ni-P plating is also being used widely because of its corrosion resistance and low cost. An anodizing method is applicable to aluminum alloy. An anodizing method generates a thick oxide layer on the surface and then, that heightens hardness and protects the surface. These surface treatments are applied to various mechanical components and treated surfaces relatively move one another. In this study, tribological characteristics of Ni-P plating and TiAlN coating on anodized Al alloy are compared. The counterpart, anodized Al alloy, is worn out abrasively by Ni-P plating and TiAlN coating that have higher hardness. Abrasively worn debris accumulated on the surfaces of Ni-P plating and TiAlN coating, and then transferred layer is formed. This transferred layer affects the amplitude of variation of friction coefficient, which is related to noise and vibration. The amplitude of variation of friction coefficient of Ni-P plating is lower than those of TiAlN coating during the tests.


Abstract:Symbolic valuation is an important but overlooked aspect of gendered processes of inequality in the occupation structure. Prior work has largely focused on the material valuation of gendered work, such as how much predominantly-female versus predominantly-male occupations pay. Less research has examined the symbolic valuation of work, such as how prestigious predominantly-female versus predominantly-male occupations are. What research has examined this question has remained inconclusive at best. Drawing on insights into and techniques from the sociology of culture and cognition, this study examines the role of an occupation's gender composition in how Americans judge the prestige of jobs, testing key predictions from theories of gender and status. Using 2012 General Social Survey and federal occupation-level data, it finds evidence for a segregation premium: people view gender-segregated occupations as the most symbolically valuable jobs. Both men and women reward gender-segregated occupations with symbolic value, although there is evidence of a gendered in-group bias in which women in particular see women's work as more prestigious, while men see men's work as more prestigious.


I. Introduction The remains of vertebrate animals during the last two or three years, with much care and in large numbers, by Mr. Lewis Abbott, from one of the fissures in the Kentish Rag near Ightnam, in Kent, have been from time to time brought to me for examination and identification. The outcome of this study of many hundreds of specimens is contained in the present paper. The occurence of Pleistocene mammalian remains in Kent is well known, and Mr. W. Topley has noticed such remains in the brick-earth filling long chasms in the Kentish Rag, which he alludes to as 'Pipes,' varying much in size and very numerous in the neighbourhood of Maidstone. In one such chasm at Boughton, 3 miles south of Maidstone, numerous bones were found by Mr. Braddick many years ago, and Dr. Buckland was of opinion that these ossiferous cavities were 'caverns.' So far as I have been able to ascertain, this is the only recorded instance of mammalian remains being found in what appear to be caves or fissures in the Wealden area. The species found at Boughton are enumerated by Prof. Boyd Dawkins in his paper on the 'Distribution of the British Post-Glacial Mammals,' namely Hyæna spelæa [=H. crocuta], Cervus tarandus, C. elaphus, Bos primigenius, Equus caballus, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, and Elephas primigenius; all these species, with the exception of Bos primigenius, have been found in the Ightham fissure. The larger fossil mammalia of the South-east of England have received much attention at the


Tumor cells commonly adapt survival strategies by downregulation or mutational inactivation of TGF-β receptors thereby reversing TGF-β1-mediated growth arrest. However, TGF-β1-triggered signaling also has a protumor effect through promotion of tumor cell migration. The mechanism(s) through which malignant cells reconcile this conflict by avoiding growth arrest, but strengthening migration remains largely unclear. TGF-βRII was overexpressed in the bladder cancer cell line T24, concomitant with point mutations, especially the Glu269 to Lys mutation (G → A). Whilst leaving Smad2/3 binding unaffected, TGF-βRII mutations resulted in the unaffected tumor cell growth and also enhanced cell mobility by TGF-β1 engagement. Such phenomena are perhaps partially explained by the mutated TGF-βRII pathway deregulating the p15 and Cdc25A genes that are important to cell proliferation and CUTL1 gene relevant to motility. On the other hand, transfecting recombinant TGF-βRII-Fc vectors or smad2/3 siRNA blocked such abnormal gene expressions. Clinically, such G → A mutations were also found in 18 patients (n=46) with bladder cancer. Comparing the clinical and pathologic characteristics, the pathologic T category (χ2 trend = 7.404, P<0.01) and tumor grade (χ2 trend = 9.127, P<0.01) tended to increase in the G → A mutated group (TGF-βRII point-mutated group). These findings provide new insights into how TGF-β1 signaling is tailored during tumorigenesis and new information into the current TGF-β1-based therapeutic strategies, especially in bladder cancer patient treatment.


Buildings account for 40% of global energy consumption, while windows are the least energy-efficient part of buildings. Conventional smart windows only regulate solar transmission. For the first time, we developed high thermal energy storage thermochromic smart window (HTEST smart window) by trapping the liquid hydrogel within triple-glazed glass. The outstanding specific heat capacity in liquid hydrogel together with excellent thermochromic property (90% of luminous transmittance and 68.1% solar modulation) and good thermal insulation gives the HTEST smart window excellent energy storage and conservation performance. Simulations suggested that HTEST window can save 15.3% more energy than the double-glazed low-E glass. In outdoor demonstrations, the HTEST smart window significantly lowered the room temperature ~30°C in summer compared with the double-glazed glass. Compared with conventional energy-saving glasses which need expensive equipment, the "water" trapped structure offers a disruptive strategy of easy fabrication and scale-up, which opens an avenue for energy-saving buildings and greenhouses.


The search for an endoprosthesis with the longest possible durability has been in progress for many years. In spite of three decades of intensive development of implant materials, contemporary endoprosthesis are still far from satisfactory. In an environment as corrosive as the human body, even the best metal alloys release ions: Co, Cr and Mo all dissolve at a rate of approximately 50 ng per year. The biocompatibility of an implants is directly by the extent of corrosion. Tests in vivo have shown that Ni, Co and Cr ions are bound to the body's own proteins, predominantly albumins, which can then transfer them to other ergans, thus disturbing their functions. Facing this challenge, a new, entirely cementless endoprosthesis for the coxofemoral joint, comprised of a pin, a head and two bushings, has been constructed in a cooperative project involving three research centers: ECAM in Lyons, the Technical University of Bratislava, and the Thin Film Division of the Technical University of Lodz. Both the pin and the outer bushing are made of a titanium alloy, coated with a nanocrystalline diamond film. The heads is made of corundum ceramics, and the inner bushing is made if high molecular weight polyethylene. The shape of the pin has been designed in compliance with all biomechanical requirements. As of this writing these endoprostheses have been implanted in test animals, and remain under continous biological monitoring. To this point all the test results have been postitive.