A "problem" book in the Wiley Major Issues Series, this work combines primary sources, secondary analysis and editorial comment in an exploration of the topic aimed at the undergraduate history student. Although one section touches upon the early church, the focus is upon the period from 700 to 1500, with particular attention to the Waldensians and Cathari. Warren Hollister's preface to the series states that the goal is a "deft interweaving of primary sources and secondary material" which will encourage "creative critical thought" by the student. Russell is most successful in attaining this goal when he deals with the Waldensians and Cathari. Here informative primary and secondary sources combine to produce a relatively clear picture of what these groups believed and at least some insight into how and why they were opposed. The treatment of intellectual controversy is less successful. A lack of attention to the complexities of medieval intellectual development and a lack of clarity in the use of terms like "heresy", "dissent" and "heterodoxy" conspire to produce a disappointingly vague and even misleading picture, despite the inclusion of some excellent material by Gordon Leff. Russell is betrayed partly by the almost comical disparity between the magnitude of the task and the amount of space allowed for its completion. Nevertheless, here as elsewhere a different balance of sources and editorial comment—specifically, more interpretation by the editor which would provide a context in which sources could be understood and evaluated—might have produced a more satisfactory result.


Identification of organocatalysts functioning in aqueous Background: environments will provide methods for more sustainable chemical transformations and allow tandem reactions with biocatalysts, like enzymes. Here we examine three water-soluble carbapenem antibiotics (meropenem, doripenem, and ertapenem) as secondary amine organocatalysts in aqueous environments. The Michael addition of nitromethane to cinnamaldehyde was Methods: used as the model reaction. The reactions were monitored by H NMR, and the enantioselectivity was determined by chiral HPLC. The effects of buffer components, pH, organic co-solvents and Results: anchoring into a protein scaffold were investigated. Moderate yields of the Michael addition were obtained in buffer alone. The use of methanol as a co-solvent in a ratio of 1:1 increases the yield by 50%. Anchoring of the catalysts into a protein backbone reverses the enatioselectivity of the reaction. Despite only moderate yields and enantioselectivities being Conclusions: obtained, this study lays the foundations for future development of efficient organocatalysis in aqueous environments.


Background: Vitamin D defiiency may increase the risk of various autoimmune diseases. But few studies focused on its role in Behcet syndrome. Objectives: The aims of our study were to assess the vitamin D status of Behcet patients and to analyze the correlation of this status with the activity and the severity of the disease as well as the quality of life of patients. Patients and methods: The vitamin D status was assessed in 40 patients with Behcet syndrome (average age: 37.5 years, sex ratio: 1.85) in comparison with 40 healthy control subjects matched by age, sex and by season of assessment. A correlation study was realized between vit D levels and duration of disease progression, its activity, its severity as well as the quality of life of patients. Results: The average rate of vit D was 14.64 ng/ml (3-44.29 ng/ml). 94.6% of them had hypovitaminose D. Vit D defiiency has been attested in 35.1% and insuffiiency in 59.5% of the cases. There was no signifiant difference between rates of vit D in Behcet patients and those of healthy controls. There was also no signifiant association between vit D levels in Behcet patients and duration of disease progression, activity and severity as well as their quality of life. Conclusion: we made the evidence of hypovitaminose D in Behcet patients. Even if its role in the determination of Behcet syndrome is not obvious, this track remains to be explored.


Understanding of the long-term thermal stabilities of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials during film deposition is important to accurately identifying their processing windows. The thermal stresses imposed on OLED materials in the evaporation source during the deposition process may cause phase transition and/or degradation of the source materials, which results in variations in their purity and thermal properties, such as the vapor pressure and, ultimately, the device degradation. In this work, we designed a simple and efficient apparatus to determine the long-term thermal stability of OLED materials, which allows prolonged heating of a minimal amount of the sample (∼2 g) for 50 h even under high vacuum below 10–4 Pa where the organic powder samples easily and rapidly vaporized because of exposure to temperature above their deposition temperature. We used this apparatus to evaluate the thermal degradation behaviors of N,N′-bis(1-naphthyl)-N,N′-diphenyl-(1,1′-biphenyl)-4,4′-diamine (NPB), which is a widely used hole-transporting material in OLEDs, upon prolonged exposure to various thermal stresses. After prolonged heating at 330 °C (380 °C) for 25 h (50 h), the change in purity, mass, vapor pressure, and phase of the heated NPB were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction. The lifetime of OLEDs using the heated NPB was measured to study how the thermally induced material degradation affects the device characteristics. The results showed that the NPB degradation caused by prolonged exposure to 330 °C accelerated over time. In addition, it was confirmed that the degradation products with high molecular weight that form due to exposure to 380 °C was the main cause of device degradation.


Purpose

the physical activities have a lot of effects on the improvement of cognitive and motor performance. The purpose of this study is to survey the effect of exercise and physical activities on the reaction and response times (or durations) in older people.
Methodology:

the method of the study is casual-comparative and its statistic society were consisted of older people of Sanandaj that among them, 30 inactive persons were randomly selected and 30 active and available persons were also selected and their reaction and response times were measured. The reaction time was measured by the reaction timer made by Takei Company (model YB1000) and response time was measured through the movement and response field test of Nelson's selection. The reaction time was firstly and then the response time was measured. For data analysis from the descriptive statistics, the K-S test and T- independent test were used.
Results

Kolmogorov - Smirnov test revealed that study results have normal distribution. According to the study results, exercise and physical activity have positive effect on reaction and response times so that the results of T independent test showed that the active group has meaningfully lower reaction time (P = 0.000) and response time (P = 0.0.000) than the inactive group.
Conclusion

the results of this study showed that exercise and physical activities lead to the decrement in reaction and response times through the positive physiological and psychomotor changes.


Аbstract. The article examines the period of rule of Yusuf Pasha, Governor of Tripoli, a province of the Ottoman Empire. During the thirty-seven years of his rule, the Pasha seemed to have taken the right steps, consistent with his era and the state of the country, aimed at strengthening the sovereignty, centralizing power and strengthening the military potential of Tripoli. However, it was his rule that led to a crisis in the 1830s, culminating in the restoration of direct rule by the Ottoman Empire. The contradictory results of Yusuf Pasha's rule are related both to the rivalry within the dynasty itself, which led to two stages of civil war, and to increased international intervention in the internal situation in Tripoli.


This paper discusses a new design methodology for asynchronous digital circuits. The methodology is based on an event driven scheme and follows the double-rail logic handshake protocol. A new logic gate, called the Universal Gate, is designed; this is the basic building block of the methodology. It is shown that the methodology, is completely delay insensitive. As an example, the Shift Multiplier is implemented.


BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE
Full-endoscopic techniques are well-described for spinal procedures. Although endoscopic-assisted techniques are reported for posterior fossa decompression (PFD) in Chiari malformation (CM), a full-endoscopic technique is yet to be reported in these patients. The aim of this study was to present and describe a full-endoscopic technique for PFD in patients with CM.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION
Two patients diagnosed with CM were operated on by the full-endoscopic PFD technique. The patients consented to the procedure and to the publication of their image. An endoscope with an oval shaft cross-section with a diameter of 9.3 mm, a working length of 177 mm, a viewing angle of 20°, and a working channel of 5.6 diameters were used. Operative videos were recorded. The surgical steps were easily applied after the clear anatomic landmarks, such as the C1 posterior tubercle and the rectus capitis posterior minor muscles. The patients were followed up for 6 months. Both patients were symptom-free with a significant decrease in Visual Analog Scale score and a good functional outcome assessed by Chicago Chiari Outcome Scale after surgery without any complications.

CONCLUSION
All the steps of the full-endoscopic technique for PFD described by the authors in their previous human cadaveric study were also feasible on patients with CM.


Objectives: Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (NHPI) older adults often experience social disadvantages and poor health outcomes. Physical activity has been associated with better health in other racial groups, but limited studies have examined these associations in NHPI older adults. Methods: Using data from the 2014 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander National Health Interview Survey (n = 1,045), logistic regression models examined associations between physical activity and memory/psychological distress/self-rated health. Results: Sufficient levels of physical activity were associated with lower odds of memory problems, serious psychological distress, and poor/fair self-rated health. Unfortunately, only half of the sample reported sufficient physical activity and approximately 30% reported none. Also, 78% of the sample was estimated to be overweight/obese, and 29% had diabetes. Discussion: Culturally-appropriate interventions are recommended to increase physical activity in this population, which could also help reduce high rates of overweight/obesity and diabetes.


Females of the almond seed wasp, Eurytoma amygdali Enderlein (Hymenoptera, Eurytomidae), responded in an olfactometer positively to odours from almond flowers and unripe fruits, but not to almond leaf odours and odours from flowers and unripe fruits of certain other nonhost Prunus species. Males responded to none of these odours. Extracts of undamaged unripe almond fruits (using ethanol, methanol, acetone, hexane, dichloromethane, or petroleum ether) stimulated female aggregation on glass surfaces treated with these extracts; in addition, certain fruit extracts (ethanol, methanol, or acetone) stimulated oviposition. Extracts of undamaged almond leaves (ethanol, methanol, or acetone) and flowers (ethanol or methanol) also stimulated female aggregation and oviposition. Aggregation and oviposition in response to an ethanol extract of almond fruits was intense in females aged 5 to 14 days and from 12:00 to 18:00 h (photophase between 06:00 and 20:00). Certain almond fruit (ethanol, methanol, acetone or hexane) and flower extracts (ethanol or methanol) also provoked female response in the olfactometer. The results strongly suggest that certain chemical stimuli emanating from parts of the almond tree play a major role in host selection and oviposition. Some of the extracts tested may be a good source for the isolation, identification and synthesis of compounds stimulating attraction, aggregation and oviposition in nature.


In the study of microbial life, microscopy plays a unique role due to its ability to detect ordered structure, motility, and fluorescence signals. As such it has also recently gained attention in the context of searching for extant life on distant Solar System bodies bearing liquid water. In this paper we introduce a multi-modal volumetric microscopy system for potential future spaceflight missions that combines digital holographic microscopy (DHM) and volume fluorescence imager (VFI), which are volumetric imaging methods that provide high-resolution, high-throughput examination of liquid samples. DHM provides information on the absorption, morphology, and motility of imaged objects without requiring the use of contrast agents. On the other hand, VFI based on light field microscopy focuses on the fluorescence signals from the sample to observe specific structures dyed with targeted contrast agents or providing unique autofluorescence signals. We also present an autonomous sample handling and data acquisition system to allow for an autonomous mission to distant planets or moons, or for autonomous use in bodies of water on Earth. The full system, named ELVIS, or Extant Life Volumetric Imaging System, is capable of autonomously surveying a liquid sample to extract morphology, motility, and fluorescence signals of extant microbial life.


2-Bromo-5-pyridylboronic acid 2a, 2-chloro-5-pyridylboronic acid 2b, 2-methoxy-5-pyridylboronic acid 2c, and 5-chloro-2-methoxy-4-pyridylboronic acid 4 have been synthesized and shown to undergo palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions with heteroaryl bromides to yield novel heteroarylpyridine derivatives. The X-ray crystal structures of 2a and 2b have been obtained.


For patients with HPS who require anesthesia for a procedure, HPV should be maintained to prevent worsening hypoxemia. Here, the case of a 9‐yr‐old girl who was scheduled for a living donor liver transplantation is presented. The patient suffered from end‐stage liver disease with HPS due to biliary atresia, which contributed to the development of a diffuse pulmonary AVF. Consequently, anesthetic management of this patient involved two different types of pulmonary shunt. It is important to maintain HPV, not only to prevent worsening of the hypoxia caused by HPS but also to inhibit an increase in PVR that could cause an increase of shunt flow through the pathological fistula. A TIVA technique was performed, and a nitrous oxide inhaler was prepared in case of a possible increase in PVR during the reperfusion period. There were no adverse events during the operation. Thus, anesthesiologists should be aware of the pathophysiological status of HPS and its potential to progress to a pulmonary AVF in order to meticulously determine an anesthesia plan that accounts for the hypoxia and PVR that are associated with HPS.


This paper presents a reconfigurable many-core platform performing fixed point DSP applications supporting up to 64 cores routed in a hierarchical network. To demonstrate an application, electroencephalogram (EEG) seizure detection and analysis is mapped onto the cores. The individual cores are based on a 5 stage RISC pipeline architecture optimized to support communication to other cores on the platform. To reconfigure the platform, programs are loaded onto each of the cores. Communication between cores is implemented using low-area routers that partitions computational cores into hierarchical clusters resulting in a low network diameter. The routers use a packet-switched protocol that minimizes circuitry which further reduces circuit size in comparison to the computational circuitry. A globally asynchronous, locally synchronous (GALS) architecture is implemented to eliminate global clock routing which consumes high levels of power due to long propagation and thus high capacitive loading from many cores. Additionally, cores not configured for an application has its local clock disabled which turns off unused cores. The overall result is a platform with lower power consumption than a traditional single core DSP with the reconfigurability lacking in an ASIC. Applications tested within the mapping include the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter. The seizure detection and analysis algorithm, when mapped onto the many-core platform, takes 5663 cycles to execute in 14.45 μs. The prototype SoC is implemented in 65 nm CMOS which contains 64 cores and occupies 8.41 mm2.


Abstract A report of true aneurysms is extremely rare. There are only five previous case reports of true aneurysm of the facial artery. In the previously reported cases, there was no case that underwent trapping and surgical excision. In this case report, we describe the procedure of internal trapping before the surgical excision of a huge true aneurysm of the right facial artery for a 79-year-old woman. There was no recurrence of the aneurysm during a 6-month follow-up period.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the implementation of the youth preference and reservations policy in public procurement. The research questions therefore were; to establish the extent to which the youth preference and reservations policy has been implemented and to establish the extent to which institutional challenges and legislation respectively affect implementation of the policy. Methodology: The study employed descriptive survey design and a census of all the 70 state owned enterprises headquartered in Nairobi was conducted in the study out of which 55 enterprises responded. The study used primary data which was collected through use of a five point likert scale questionnaire. The researcher used Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to generate the descriptive statistics and also to generate inferential results. The descriptive statistics used included frequencies, averages and percentages while inferential statistics such as correlation analysis was used to demonstrate the extent to which legislation affects implementation of the youth preference and reservations policy in public procurement. Results: According to the research findings, the youth preference and reservations policy in public procurement had not been fully implemented. Effects of institutional challenges on implementation were found to be statistically significant with a negative impact on the implementation of the youth preference and reservations policy in public procurement. Results also indicate that legislation had negative but significant effect on implementation of the youth preference and reservations policy in public procurement. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that the government intensifies the awareness campaign among the procurement practitioners and budget holders on the policy; institutionalize monitoring and training in all the enterprises and include the practitioners in review of the Public Procurement legislation.


We simulate pedestrian counterflow by adopting an optimal path-choice strategy and a recently observed speed-density relationship. Although the whole system is symmetric, the simulation demonstrates the segregation and formation of many walking lanes for two groups of pedestrians. The symmetry breaking is most likely triggered by a small numerical viscosity or "noise", and the segregation is associated with the minimization of travel time. The underlying physics can be compared with the "optimal self-organization" mechanism in Helbing's social force model, by which driven entities in an open system tend to minimize their interaction to enable them to reach some ordering state.


Current databases for landfill leachates are not geographically specific; rarely acknowledge the impact of site specific parameters such as age, water balance, type of waste, landfill operation, etc.; and cover such large concentration ranges that they are often of little use. Analysis of data from lined landfills in Florida was needed to provide useful information for the design and management of landfill leachates. The specific objectives of this research, therefore, were to acquire leachate data from Florida municipal solid waste (MSW) lined landfills and analyze these data in an effort to characterize Florida landfill leachate. Leachate quality data were acquired for Florida MSW lined landfills from Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) files. Data analysis was performed using the Microsoft Excel Analysis ToolPak, KURV+, and SYSTAT. Various graphical and statistical techniques such as chronological analysis, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, and cluster analysis were used to characterize leachate from Florida landfills. Analyses were designed to identify trends in the data and to determine the effects of climate, region or location, age of the fill, and waste characteristics on leachate quality. In general, the Florida climate (e.g. heavy rainfall and warm temperatures) appears to produce dilute leachate, maintaining leachate concentrations at relatively low levels compared to literature values and Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) landfill data. Leachate from shredded waste fills has significantly higher concentrations of organic pollutants than leachate from unshredded landfills. Also, this research suggested that codisposal of ash with MSW does not appear to adversely impact leachate quality. Analysis of Florida MSW Landfill Leachate Quality Data Debra R. Reinhart and Caroline J. Grosh Civil and Environmental Engineering Department University of Central Florida Phone Number: (407) 823-2156


What time is it when we read? There are many answers to this question. Time might refer to a particular day of the week, as in Sunday reading, a practice that Christina Lupton finds has spanned both religious and secular contexts. Or time might imply a sense of pace, that reading is something we do quickly or slowly, which Rolf Engelsing suggests when he distinguishes between intensive and extensive reading. Or perhaps time is more periodic, an argument one finds in Deidre Lynch's work on nineteenth-century habitual reading or Christopher Cannon's work on medieval practices of rereading. Or time could be closer to an idea or topos, as in Mikhail Bakhtin's notion of the chronotope like idyllic time. Finally, for someone like Gerard Genette the time of reading is fundamentally about anachronism, the nonlinear nature of narrative time.


Mental health disorders in university healthcare students represent a leading cause of disability and a growing public health concern. This study aimed to assesses the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) among undergraduate healthcare students and examine the stress triggers and alleviators. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 473 students of medical, dental, nursing, and pharmacy programs of Jazan University, Arabia, using a pretested sociodemographic questionnaire based on the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to assess the factors associated with DASS-21 using Stata 15. The overall prevalence of DAS was high among healthcare students. Medical students reported significantly high depression, whereas anxiety and stress were high among dental students. Female students scored significantly high depression and anxiety on DASS. High cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and high body mass index (BMI) were found directly associated with DAS. The key stress trigger was academic burden, while emotional support was preferred alleviator. Our findings revealed that the psychological well-being of healthcare students is at risk. Gender, CGPA, and BMI appears to impact overall mental health. Intervention targeted to minimize psychological burden of healthcare undergraduates is warranted.


We experimentally demonstrate a new technique for measurement of the differential group delay (DGD) in optical fibers using polarization-division multiplexed (PDM) solitons: the change in the separation of orthogonally polarized solitons propagating along different principal axes in a fiber equals the DGD at the signal wavelength. Based on this principle, we use PDM solitons to measure the accumulated DGD at different distances along a 400-km installed fiber. The measured DGD exhibits the expected square-root-of-length dependence, corresponding to a polarization-mode dispersion of 0.26 ps/km/sup 1/2/. The results are in excellent agreement with those obtained by a commercial instrument utilizing Jones matrix eigenanalysis.


Reading comprehension is a complex process that is based on several factors such as emotion, intelligence, cognition, metacognition and like. It has been proved that there is a strong correlation between the use of metacognitive strategies and reading comprehension. This study investigated the relationship between Saudi EFL learners' emotional intelligence and using metacognitive reading strategies. The sample of the study consisted of 100 Saudi EFL learners across the age range of 18-35 who were selected randomly from different Saudi universities. The participants were homogenized through administering a reading comprehension test. The main instruments included Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (Petrides, 2009) and Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002) Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) that measured the use of metacognitive reading strategies. The results revealed a highly positive connection between the Saudi EFL students' emotional intelligence and the use of metacognitive reading strategies. Furthermore, practical implications were provided for EFL learners, teachers, and curriculum and program designers and developers.


Introduction Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a major cause of death worldwide. Research shows people with severe COPD have unmet needs, and the traditional cancer palliative care model is not appropriate. Aim(s) and method(s) To pilot and evaluate HELP-COPD - a community-based proactive holistic assessment of needs. The intervention comprised a home visit by a respiratory nurse, following discharge from hospital after an exacerbation, to discuss social/psychological/spiritual/physical needs, provide advice/information and make further referrals. A HELP_COPD Action Plan was completed and given to the patient and general practitioner. Follow-up included three phone calls over six months. Qualitative evaluation of HELP-COPD comprised interviews with participating patients, lay-carers and health professionals, alongside documentary analysis of completed action plans. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and entered into NVivo for thematic analysis. Results 23 patients, from two hospitals, completed action plans. 31 interviews were completed. Patients were generally positive, openly discussing concerns and coping strategies in all domains. Professionals considered the intervention feasible and potentially valuable. Actions included facilitating discussion with their GP on palliative use of opiates, reinforcing referral to pulmonary rehabilitation and providing details of local voluntary services. However, fewer unmet needs were identified than expected, and some patients declined proffered services/information. Participants highlighted overlap with discharge planning and case management provided by community teams. Conclusion(s) HELP COPD was feasible and generally welcomed by patients. Fewer actions were identified than anticipated due to a combination of inappropriate timing, reluctance to accept social services, duplication by existing services and long-term adaptation reducing recognition of need and of the seriousness of the condition.


[Purpose/significance] This paper used SWOT-QSPM model to explore the most suitable development strategy for China's technology transfer. Then, it studied the priorities of the various implementation options in this strategy, and proposed countermeasures. It provided theoretical models for the future research development of China's technology transfer. [Method/process] This paper comprehensively investigated the four influencing factors of advantages, disadvantages, opportunities and threats of China's technology transfer development status. Furthermore, it used the SWOT model to deeply analyze the development environment, relationship and trend of China's technology transfer, and thus obtained the most suitable development strategy. Then QSPM matrix was used to determine the priority of the four alternative options for this strategy, and finally it formulated countermeasures for implementation. [Result/conclusion] The most suitable competitive strategy for China's technology transfer was in a good development situation in which advantages and opportunities occupied a dominant position. And the most suitable strategy for future development was the SO aggressive strategy. What's more, the four options were in order of priority, followed by policy guidance, demand orientation, integrate development and service escort.


Abstract : The non-proliferation treaty regime the international community has utilized for over half a century is insufficient to combat emerging global threats, specifically, WMD terrorism. The current landscape of transnational terrorism requires a major shift in U.S. nonproliferation policies if the current regime is going to address WMD threats and the proliferation of weapons and materials by non-state actors adequately. From a policy perspective, nonproliferation and counterterrorism still largely operate as separate and distinct missions which creates a disconnect that can be exploited. Recent efforts have been instituted in an attempt to fill gaps but they still fall short because these measures operate in the absence of an overarching international framework, which results in the failure to capture fully the integration of the convergence of issues in the fields of counter-proliferation transnational terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction. This thesis explores how the traditional non-proliferation policy regime can be connected to domestic homeland security efforts as an effective counter-terrorism strategy. It recommends a modern policy approach, including leveraging the non-proliferation framework already in existence, by supplementing with efforts to combat international criminal networks and overarching counterterrorism objectives to keep pace with current threats.


ABSTRACT Mammalian genes are characterized by relatively small exons surrounded by variable lengths of intronic sequence. Sequences similar to the splice signals that define the 5′ and 3′ boundaries of these exons are also present in abundance throughout the surrounding introns. What causes the real sites to be distinguished from the multitude of pseudosites in pre-mRNA is unclear. Much progress has been made in defining additional sequence elements that enhance the use of particular sites. Less work has been done on sequences that repress the use of particular splice sites. To find additional examples of sequences that inhibit splicing, we searched human genomic DNA libraries for sequences that would inhibit the inclusion of a constitutively spliced exon. Genetic selection experiments suggested that such sequences were common, and we subsequently tested randomly chosen restriction fragments of about 100 bp. When inserted into the central exon of a three-exon minigene, about one in three inhibited inclusion, revealing a high frequency of inhibitory elements in human DNA. In contrast, only 1 in 27 Escherichia coli DNA fragments was inhibitory. Several previously identified silencing elements derived from alternatively spliced exons functioned weakly in this constitutively spliced exon. In contrast, a high-affinity site for U2AF65 strongly inhibited exon inclusion. Together, our results suggest that splicing occurs in a background of repression and, since many of our inhibitors contain splice like signals, we suggest that repression of some pseudosites may occur through an inhibitory arrangement of these sites.


Objectives: In accordance with traditional local wisdom, medicinal plants from north-eastern Thailand are used for the treatment of dermatitis-related inflammations. This study aimed to investigate the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content (TPC) of the bark of thirteen medicinal plants. Methods: The study plants included Stephania venosa (Blume) Spreng, Smilax perfoliata Lour., Dolichandrone stipulata, Glochidion coccineum,  Xantolis cambodiana, Dalbergia cultrata, Bauhinia sirindhorniae K., Knema angustifolia, Tristaniopsis burmanica, Ficus hirta Vahl, Capparis zeylanica, Amphineurion marginata (Roxb.) G. Don. and Microsorum pteropus (Blume) Copel. The antioxidant properties were determined by means of three approaches namely 1,1-diphenyl-1-princylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay at 517 nm, ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay at 593 nm and 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid  (ABTS) assay at 734 nm. The TPC of the plants was determined via the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The correlation between each of the antioxidant activity value with TPC was tested using the Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). Results: The antioxidant properties and TPC differed significantly among the plants.  In each of the methods, S. venosa (Blume) Spreng., X. cambodiana, B. sirindhorniae, K. angustifolia and C. zeylanica consistently exhibited the most potent antioxidant property ranging from 70% to 100%. This further suggested their potential rich source of natural antioxidants. Coincidentally, these plants contained the highest TPC (38,113 - 9,989 mg GAE/g). Significant positive correlations were found between antioxidant activity (ABTS·+ and FRAP assays) and the TPC with r = 0.987 and 0.956, respectively. Conclusion : Thirteen medicinal plants contained antioxidant activity which was related to the phenolic content. The active ingredients and other biological activities of these herbal plants merit further investigations. Keywords: Thai medicinal plants, antioxidant activity, total phenolic content


Spiral excitation fronts have been demonstrated in association with reentry in a computer model of propagated excitation. Fronts were initiated by the reentrant circuits but the spiral configurations themselves occurred outside the circuits. Excitation initiated near the initial portion of reentrant circuits propagated greater distances during a particular time period than excitation initiated from later portions of the circuit. This resulted in spiral configuration of excitation fronts in which the front was located at increasing distance from the latest initiating event. Excitation fronts that did not themselves have spiral configurations in certain matrices were identifiable as parts of spiral configurations that occurred when the same reentrant events were present in other matrices. Spiral waves were initiated by either leading circle reentry associated with functional block to propagation or reentry associated with structural obstacles. They also occurred in the presence of initially uniform refractory periods and resulted in self‐sustained reentrant excitation. This however, required particular conditions of excitation such that recovery times constituted a functional block permitting leading circle reentry.


Abstract. Indoor positioning is an important component of location-based service. Moreover, it has extensive applications in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). As a new generation of the mobile communication signal, the introduction of technologies such as multi-carrier, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), and ultra-dense network (UDN) has enabled 5G NR signal to demonstrate unique technical advantages in the field of indoor positioning. In this paper, for indoor positioning, a subcarrier diversity precision ranging method based on a commercial 5G NR signal is proposed. According to the results of field experiments in the indoor environment, the proposed method significantly improves the ranging precision compared to the Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP)-based ranging method. When the diversity ratio is set to 0.25, the 95% cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the overall ranging error is less than 3 meters.


Objective Obstructive sleep apnea is a global health concern, and several tools have been developed to screen its severity. However, most tools focus on respiratory events instead of sleep arousal, which can also affect sleep efficiency. This study employed easy-to-measure parameters—namely heart rate variability, oxygen saturation, and body profiles—to predict arousal occurrence. Methods Body profiles and polysomnography recordings were collected from 659 patients. Continuous heart rate variability and oximetry measurements were performed and then labeled based on the presence of sleep arousal. The dataset, comprising five body profiles, mean heart rate, six heart rate variability, and five oximetry variables, was then split into 80% training/validation and 20% testing datasets. Eight machine learning approaches were employed. The model with the highest accuracy, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, and area under the precision recall curve values in the training/validation dataset was applied to the testing dataset and to determine feature importance. Results InceptionTime, which exhibited superior performance in predicting sleep arousal in the training dataset, was used to classify the testing dataset and explore feature importance. In the testing dataset, InceptionTime achieved an accuracy of 76.21%, an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 84.33%, and an area under the precision recall curve of 86.28%. The standard deviations of time intervals between successive normal heartbeats and the square roots of the means of the squares of successive differences between normal heartbeats were predominant predictors of arousal occurrence. Conclusions The established models can be considered for screening sleep arousal occurrence or integrated in wearable devices for home-based sleep examination.


In this work, we present a prototype for a large interactive display (LID) application that provides a 3D representation of a collection of geo-referenced units of information to commanders taking part in a firefighting intervention. The main focus of the work was placed on the development and evaluation of relevant interaction mechanisms based on single and multi-touch enabled interactive displays. This book presents an application designed to display geo-referenced information inside a 3D scene. The application provides a collection of tools to support the user in the exploration and manipulation of the information. It further introduces the basic concepts and underpinnings sustaining the application and provides an overview of the whole implementation process, including the results of a usability evaluation conducted to assess the quality of the provided solution.


Many liver recipients have required intensive care, which is individualized and customized to each recipient. Prerequisites qualifying this care are wide comprehension of characteristics of end-stage liver disease and mechanisms of surgical procedures and immunologic knowledge. We present our principles of intensive care and experience from more than 300 cases of liver transplantation. There are roughly two types of liver transplantation, cadaveric and living-donor. These two types are different in their postoperative courses as following; severity of preservation injury, graft-size matching and morphologic liver regeneration and risk of vascular and biliary complications. Intensive care for liver recipients should be directed toward preventive and protective care along reasonable prediction of its clinical course. We described our experience about following subjects: management of hepatorenal syndrome, fulminant hepatic failure, acute renal failure, pneumonia, disturbance of consciousness, prophylaxis of vital signs, electrolyte balance, diet and infection control, nutritional support. The most important factor id the state of transplanted liver graft in determination of posttransplant course. If the graft functions well, many problems will be solved spontaneously. If not, intensive care will be required. Most of operative complications are related to the surgery itself, so that comprehension to surgical procedures to each recipient should be preceded for early detection and proper management. To achieve a favorable posttransplant course, all factors including maintenance of vital signs, elimination of obstacles to hepatic recovery, appropriate immunosuppression and solution of surgical complications should be met altogether. Of course, every member of liver transplantation team should pay durable attention and dedication to each liver recipient.


This article investigates the stark variation in elite appraisals of the performance of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Based on an online survey of diplomats posted to the UN headquarters, this article determines which country situations under ICC scrutiny respondents regard as successes or failures and, in turn, what parameters underpin their views. It also asks about negative cases; that is, country situations that never made it to The Hague due to political considerations. This article makes a twofold contribution to the study of international law and politics. First, it shows that diplomats conceptualize international justice in terms of ongoing prosecutions and convictions obtained. Thus, they downplay indirect effects such as positive complementarity. Interestingly, scholars and diplomats agree on the court's fiascos, yet dissent on successes. Finally, diplomats have proved tired of political considerations obstruct-ing international justice. Survey data reveals that they want the court to investigate situations involving major powers.


The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of the change in structural weight due to optimisation experiments on life cycle cost and earning elements using the life cycle cost/earning model, which was developed for structure optimisation. The relation between structural variables and relevant cost/earning elements are explored and discussed in detail. The developed model is restricted to the relevant life cycle cost and earning elements, namely production cost, periodic maintenance cost, fuel oil cost, operational earning and dismantling earning. Therefore it is important to emphasise here that the cost/earning figure calculated through the developed methodology will not be a full life cycle cost/earning value for a subject vessel, but will be the relevant life cycle cost/earning value. As one of the main focuses of this paper is the maintenance/repair issue, the data was collected from a number of ship operators and was solely used for the purpose of regression analysis. An illustrative example for a chemical tanker is provided to show the applicability of the proposed approach.


Blister canker, a new disease of peach tree was found in 1965 in Kanagawa Prefecture and also, in Gunma, Shizuoka, and Okayama Prefectures. The disease is caused by a fungus belonging to the genus Physalospora which produces both perithecia and pycnidia in infected bark tissues. The newly invaded bark tissue swells up and finally shows rough appearance, resembling blisters. In later stages, gum oozes out from these blisters, and infected twigs finally die.The fungus shows the following morphological characteristics: perithecia mostly scattered, partly imbedded, black, globose to subglobose, ostiolate, about 150-290μ in height and 170-340μ in diameter; asci 8-spored, clavate, wall thick especially at the apex, hyaline, 57.5-87.5×12.5-22.5μ; paraphyses erect, filamentous; ascospores nonseptate, hyaline to slightly tinted, ellipsoid, 15.0-32.5×5.0-12.5μ; pycnidia (Macrophoma) scattered, partly imbedded, black, globose to conical, about 240-440μ in height and 240-590μ in diameter; pycnospores hyaline, non-septate, fusiform elliptical, 20.0-35.0×5.0-12.5μ and produced on conidiophores about 20μ long. The inoculation test indicated that the fungus is pathogenic only to peach.Since no fungus corresponding to the Physalospora here described can be found in the literature, this fungus is treated as a new species, Physalospora persicae Abiko et Kitajima.


Laboratory tests have been conducted to determine the ability of Lethal MosquiTRAP Modification (LMM). Modification is basically done to maximize the capture ability toward Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with the addition of black color, sticky material and attractants. Disposable plastic bottles were transformed to Lethal mosquiTRAP modification with the addition of attractant sources obtained from hay (Oriza sativa) and red chili (Capsicum annum) infusion and palm sugar (Arenga pinnata) fermentation. Aedes mosquitoes attracted towards different attractant sources are simultaneously killed directly in the trap. Response analysis of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes using different attractant sources was done. There is no significant difference (p=0.984) between different type of attractants, but, the attractant concentrations (10%, 30% and 60%) showed a significant difference (p=0.00<0.05) against number of mosquitoes caught in the trap. Statistical average of mosquitoes trapped showed that concentration of 30% was the best combination in the mosquiTRAP. Thus, expected from laboratory tests such mosquiTRAP can be installed in the environment as a dengue vector control measure.


Invasion into surrounding tissues is the first step of metastasis, and an understanding of the molecular basis of the invasive process may suggest novel strategies for anti-metastatic therapy. Breast tumors typically invade as adherent groups of cells, a process known as collective invasion. In vivo, collective invasion occurs within a complex tissue environment and involves interactions among the cancer cells, stromal cells, and the extracellular matrix (ECM). An additional challenge to understanding cancer invasion is that primary breast tumors contain diverse cancer cells with varied molecular phenotypes. It is difficult to determine the relative contribution of these subpopulations to invasion from analysis of histologic sections.

We sought to reduce this complexity and to identify the most invasive cancer cells in the primary tumor in an unbiased fashion [1]. To accomplish this goal, we developed a three dimensional (3D) organoid invasion assay (Figure (Figure1A).1A). Briefly, we use enzymes and mechanical disruption to isolate organoids from primary breast tumors from mouse models and human patients. Each organoid is composed of several hundred cancer cells and is embedded in an invasion promoting ECM [2] (collagen I). Tumor organoids invade collectively and the cells at the tips of invasion strands are protrusive and highly interactive with the ECM. We refer to the cells at the tips of these strands as invasive leader cells (Figure (Figure1B1B).

Figure 1

A. Tumor organoids are isolated from fresh primary tumors through a combination of mechanical disruption and enzymatic digestion. Tumor organoids are then embedded in 3D collagen I and become invasive. B. Organoids extend multiple invasive strands into ...

We found that the molecular phenotype of invasive leader cells was distinct from the bulk tumor cells and conserved across breast cancer subtypes [1]. Leader cells expressed markers of basal epithelium, which are the cells in normal stratified tissues that interact with the ECM (Figure (Figure1C).1C). The basal cytokeratin, keratin-14 (K14), was expressed in ~90% of leader cells. Importantly, K14+ cells led collective invasion in multiple distinct mouse models and in diverse primary human breast tumors. We next used molecular biosensors to demonstrate that K14+ invasive leader cells were generated from non-invasive K14- bulk tumor cells. Importantly, knockdown of either K14 or p63, another leader cell marker, was sufficient to inhibit collective invasion.

Our data establish three important concepts. First, we have demonstrated that the invasive behavior of the primary tumor is determined by a subset of specialized cancer cells1. Second, our data suggest a common molecular biology underlying breast cancer metastasis, because K14+ cells led collective invasion in 3D organoid invasion assays from patients with different breast cancer subtypes. In support of this concept, multiple groups have observed that K14 expression in breast tumors correlates with poor patient outcomes, independent of breast cancer subtype [3-5]. Third, since bulk tumor cells can convert into K14+ invasive leaders, we hypothesize that inhibition of the basal molecular program could control progression in patients with metastatic disease.

Our 3D organoid invasion assay can also be utilized to identify invasive leader cells in other epithelial cancers. Because basal cells are found in many stratified epithelial tissues, the basal invasive program we identified may be utilized across diverse cancers. In support of this concept, basal cytokeratins are associated with invasion in both lung adenocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma [6,7].

It is now critical to develop the translational framework to leverage our knowledge of invasive leader cells to improve patient outcomes. We are specifically interested to determine whether the abundance of invasive leader cells in the primary tumor will provide independent information about the prognosis of individual patients. Our invasion assays also provide an ideal platform to identify anti-invasive therapeutic compounds. Now that we have the invasive leader cell in our sights, we are working to defeat this new adversary.


Monosodium glutamate (MSG) regularly used as a flavoring agent in cooking. The consumption of MSG has been shown to cause endothelial dysfunction long before development of any significant obesity. The present study was aimed to evaluate the lipids lowering effect of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis flower petals on MSG induced obesity in female albino rats. The feed intake and body weight gain was increased in MSG rats. The levels of free fatty acids, triglycerides (TG), phospholipids, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol were increased and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level was decreased in MSG obese rats. After administration of H. rosa-sinensis, the feed intake and bodyweight gain were normalized and also the levels of free fatty acids, TG, phospholipids, TC, VLDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol were reverted to near normal. The results are also compared with those of the silymarin, the standard drug treatment to MSG induced obese rats.


We present an 8‐year‐old male with metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) who developed precipitous cardiopulmonary collapse with severe tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) 48 hr after initiation of chemotherapy. Despite no detectable pulmonary metastases, acute hypoxemic respiratory failure developed, requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Although TLS has been reported in disseminated ARMS, this singular case of life‐threatening respiratory deterioration developing after initiation of chemotherapy presented unique therapeutic dilemmas. We review the clinical aspects of this case, including possible mechanisms of respiratory failure, and discuss the role of ECMO utilization in pediatric oncology.


Significant advances have been made in recent years in the study of archives administration and records management. This research stream has seen archives and records management becoming an important theoretical issue receiving considerable attention from researchers within the fields of information management and systems. Many researchers in their contributions have found that archives and records which form a part of a wide range of information resources are as important to organizations as human and financial resources and that their management is important. Equally important is understanding the relationship between "memory" and "archive", "event " and the "record", and "justice" and the "law". These issues might appear superfluous but evidence from South Africa's Commission for the Restitution of Land Rights gives credence to the archivist's need to grapple with these issues.
Computers have increasingly occasioned new dynamics in archives administration and records management. It is evident that the shift is from traditional record keeping systems to computerization and management of electronic records. With increased government activities there has been increased data, and computerization will ensure timely services and easy storage of information. The advent of computers has brought new problems for the archivist in transference from manual systems to automated ones, as it is possible for information to be distorted. As Bearman would have asked, "do electronic records tell the truth?" Attempting to understand the myriad of questions takes us to automating archival information systems and managing electronic records; archival institutions, other organizations, public and private sectors. Automating archival information systems includes assimilating the arcades of memory and hallways of events; conversion of existing records and data. On the other hand, managing electronic records incorporates specifications, strategies and considerations for capturing, handling and accessing such records. Archival institutions were for a long time bastions of old records and have now become banks of information, reservoirs of data and shopfloors for information creators and consumers of information. Latter day archivists work with other professionals such as auditors, systems designers and IT specialists, risk analysts and other stakeholders in both the private and public sectors. For example, IT specialists design systems for the management of electronic records in collaboration with archivists. Information in electronic format has increased dramatically and it will continue to grow as many office transactions that have been paper-based are now performed electronically. With the massive shift from paper to digital information a lot of emphasis has been placed on the management of electronic information. This involves automating services such as online databases and using websites as a source of distribution of key documents such as policies, manuals and other publications.

 ESARBICA Journal Vol.21 2002: 41-48


Beveloid gears, also known as conical involute gears with very complex tooth shapes, gain more and more importance in industrial practice due to their ability to realize gear stages with crossed axes. This is why they are frequently found in power transmissions. The most familiar application of beveloid gears is the reduction gear used in marine transmissions, but in the last few years they have also been used increasingly often in the automotive industry. In the last decade many studies on beveloid gears were published, however, the meshing between teeth and the contact characteristics during meshing of beveloid gears still have not been studied in detail using fully elastic models. In this work, the fully elastic multibody approach will be applied to study contact forces and contact characteristics including contact patterns during meshing of straight beveloid gears. To validate the fully elastic approach, simulation results of a beveloid gear pair by finite element method and by the fully elastic multibody system are compared. The comparison shows very good agreement.


An accurate estimation of the lateral force is an important key point for the stability analysis, because the lateral force influences both pile and slope stabilities. Therefore, overestimation of the lateral forces on the pile will naturally lead to conservative pile design and un-conservative slope stability design and vice versa. This is because the estimated lateral loads are used as extra resisting force(s) on slope stability calculations due to the pile reaction. In this paper, 2 different methods of lateral force calculations namely plastic deformation and visco-plastic flow are obtained on a pile that installed into slope which is susceptible to failure. First, the case of a slope without piles is considered and the methods are then used to calculate the safety factor for the slope. Then, the stability of slopes reinforced with piles is analyzed. Expressions are derived allowing the force needed to increase the safety factor to a desired value and the most suitable location of piles within the slope to be evaluated.


A 20-year-old male athlete had painful triggering and occasional locking of the great toe caused by entrapment of the flexor hallucis longus tendon within the flexor tendon sheath posterior to the left medial malleolus. No rupture of the tendon fibers, tendonitis, or supernumerary muscle was found. At open operation an elongated flexor hallucis longus was found entrapped under the tendon sheath in the ankle. After other therapy methods failed, the condition was relieved by a surgical procedure that released the flexor hallucis longus muscle from the tendon sheath.


Background: Freshwater gastropod-borne trematodes pose a great public health burden and cause major economic losses in the livestock and fish industries. Knowledge on the composition, diversity and ecology of both gastropods and trematodes communities is key to understand disease transmission dynamics and control trematodiases of economic significance. The objective of this study is to investigate the diversity and spatio-temporal ecological trends of gastropod and trematode communities on the Northern shore of Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, the largest artificial lake in volume worldwide. Methods: A sampling campaign was undertaken at 16 sites along the lake shoreline of Kariba town. Gastropods and water samples were collected monthly during one year. All 2477 specimens were identified, counted and subjected to shedding experiments; infection status was confirmed by the use of a Rapid Diagnostic PCR (RD-PCR). To explain spatio-temporal trends in gastropod and trematode occurrence, water samples were analysed for different physico-chemical parameters including pH, temperature, nitrates and phosphates. Results: Gastropod species collected include Bulinus truncatus, Bulinus forskalii, Gyraulus sp., Pseudosuccinea columella, Radix sp, Physella acuta, Bellamya sp. and Melanoides tuberculata. Bulinus truncatus was found to be infected with trematode species belonging to the families Notocotylidae, Psilostomstidae, Paramphistomidae and Diplostomatidae. A species of the latter family was also found to infect B. forskalii. As previously reported, lymnaeid species P. columella and Radix sp. were both infected with a species belonging to the Fasciolidae family, while Radix sp. was also infected with amphistomes. Conclusions: We confirm the occurrence of new species of gastropods in Lake Kariba and the absence of the previously reported B. pfeifferi and B. globosus. This explains the absence of human schistosome species, but we report the presence of other trematode families that have not been reported in Lake Kariba or Zimbabwe before. Compared to the latest study in 2001, there is a remarkable shift in the gastropod community, which is likely driven by the introduction of exotic gastropod species that are now abundant in the lake.


Have you ever felt uncomfortable advising patients on the evidence for the best treatment decisions? The evidence is steeped in averages yet we are always sitting with a single person. We have to wrestle with the conflicting pressures of guidelines and the individual. It's an ever-present paradox, lurking in the shadows of the consultation. Peering at the evidence through the lens of the individual often leaves us with a blurry picture.

Much of this is down to the tyranny of the average. That started, according to Todd Rose in his book The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness , with the studies of Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian, born in 1796.1 In one of the first examples of open-access …


In order to make next generation ultra large scale integrated circuits, we have to form sub- quarter micron patterns. Among the several lithographic choices, the enhanced optical lithography techniques of using deep UV sources are strong candidates. The aerial image study shows the combination of annular illumination, binary intensity mask and pupil filter can be applied to all kinds of patterns. This optimum combination is applied to the resist profile study to find out the process latitude. We also investigated the process latitude variation by changing the sublayers such as anti-reflection coating, polysilicon, oxide and nitride.


Background: The marine environment, due to its phenomenal diversity, is a rich natural source of many biologically active compounds. Objective: Marine sponge Hyrtios erectus, collected from North Bay of South Andaman Sea, was screened for potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Materials and Methods: The antioxidant activities of the methanol (MeOH) extract of the sponge at different concentrations (0–100 μg/mL) were determined by measuring the free radical-scavenging activities. The anti-inflammatory activities of the extract were determined by measuring the inhibitory effect of the extract on albumin denaturation and inducible nitric oxide (NO) production. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate the effect of the sponge extract on the expression of eight proinflammatory cytokine genes. Results: Our results suggested that the MeOH extract of the sponge exhibited antioxidant activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-free radicals, superoxide anions, and hydroxyl radicals. More than 50% inhibition (half inhibitory concentration) was recorded with concentration of 50 μg/mL of the sponge extract. Extract of the sponge at a concentration of 25 μg/mL inhibited NO production by a macrophage cell line in vitro by 91.22% ± 5.78%. The sponge extract induced downregulation of eight proinflammatory cytokine genes in breast cancer Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 cell line. Conclusion: The secondary metabolites present in the MeOH extract of the sponge showed the potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Further studies are required to identify the bioactive compounds. Abbreviations used: DPPH: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl; DMEM: Dulbecco's modified eagle's medium; MTT: 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; EDTA: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; NBT: Nitroblue tetrazolium; PMS: Phenazine methosulfate; DMSO: Dimethyl sulfoxide.


Post-treatment of PEDOT:PSS films to fabricate high performance thermoelectric (TE) materials has been widely studied. The depletion of PSS and tuning the redox level of PEDOT have been considered important. The effective control of these two issues is crucial, yet has not been systematically investigated. Herein, HI and DMSO are used to post-treat PEDOT:PSS films, issues including using these solvents in a step-wise fashion, using solvent or vapour and treatment time are studied. HI is found to have both a physical doping and reducing effect on PEDOT:PSS simultaneously. However, HI solution or vapour could not remove most of the excess PSS to obtain high electrical conductivity. Therefore, DMSO is used to achieve this. Subsequently, HI vapour was used to alter the redox level. Through this method, the power factor reaches as high as 45.02 μW mK−2, which is over 5000 times higher than the as spun film. These films are characterized by different methods, including: AFM, XPS, UV, SEM and Raman spectroscopy. It is concluded that such enhancement in TE properties is caused by two issues: the depleting effect of PSS by DMSO and oxidation level change of PEDOT by HI vapour. The former leads to enhanced electrical conductivity and the latter leads to reduced charge carrier concentration, thus, enhanced Seebeck coefficient. It is thought that such a two-step solvent post-treatment method could offer a novel route to optimize the TE properties of PEDOT:PSS based materials.


Purpose : To investigate the effect of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bunge. extract (AMBE) on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Methods : The aqueous extract of AMB was obtained by steeping the dried  Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bunge. in water at 60 oC three times, each for 1 h, before first drying in an oven at 100 o C and then freeze-drying the last extract thus obtained. Diabete model rats was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of a freshly prepared solution of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg). The rats were randomly divided into 6 groups of ten rats each: negative control group, normal control group, reference group (glibenclamide1 mg/kgbody weight) as well as AMB extract groups, namely, 40, 80 and 160 mg/kg body weight. Antihyperglycemic effect was measured by blood glucose and plasma insulin levels. Oxidative stress was evaluated in liver and kidney by antioxidant markers, viz, lipidperoxidation (LPO), superoxide  dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT), while blood serum levels of creatinine and urea were also determined in both diabetic control and treated rats. Results : Compared with diabetic rats, oral administration of AMBE at a  concentration of 160 mg/kg daily for 30 days showed a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose (109.438 ± 3.52, p < 0.05) and increased insulin level (13.96 ± 0.74, p < 0.05). Furthermore, it significantly reduced biochemical parameters (serum creatinine, 0.86 ± 0.29, p < 0.05) and serum urea (45.14 ± 1.79, p < 0.05). The treatment also resulted in significant increase in GSH (49.21 ± 2.59, p < 0.05), GPx (11.96 ± 1.16, p < 0.05), SOD (14.13 ± 0.49, p < 0.05), CAT (83.25 ± 3.14, p < 0.05) level in the liver and kidney of diabetic rats. Conclusion : The results suggest that AMBE may effectively normalize impaired  antioxidant status in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in a dose-dependent manner. AMBE has a protective effect against lipid peroxidation by scavenging free radicals and is thus capable of reducing the risk of diabetic complications. Keywords : Astragalus membranaceus, Diabetic, Antihyperglycemic, Antioxidant Oxidative stress, Fasting blood glucose


Dugout canoes are boats made from a single tree trunk. Even with the modernization of fishing, they are still made and used for artisanal fishing on the coast of southern and southeastern Brazil and in other regions of the world. Various tree species are used to construct these canoes and choosing a species is related to characteristics of the location, available raw materials and purpose of the boat. Our objective was to better understand the variation in dugout canoes in relation to tree species, tree size and fishing use, over time, along a coastal strip of southern and southeastern Brazil within the Atlantic Forest domain. We interviewed 53 artisans and analyzed 358 canoes that ranged from 1 to around 200 years old. Schizolobium parahyba is currently used the most. In the past, species of the family Lauraceae (Nectandra sp. / Ocotea sp.) were frequently used, as well as Cedrela fissilis and Ficus sp. The size of the canoes varied based on time, coastal region, environment where the boat is used (exposed or sheltered) and type of fishing. The average size of recent canoes was smaller than older canoes for more common species (S. parahyba and C. fissilis), reflecting changes in the vegetation of the biome over time, both in the species and size of individuals available. Latitudinal variation can also influence the availability of tree species along the studied regions. An increase in environmental monitoring has contributed to a decline in constructing dugout canoes, resulting in the use of fiberglass canoes and other motorized boats. Although canoe size varied based on region, location and use, today some of the older canoes represent large trees of the past and pieces of Atlantic Forest history.


Biological tissue sealant is used for facilitation of intra-operative hemostasis. It is composed of cryoprecipitated fibrinogen, bovine-thrombin and bovine-aprotinin. In this report, we describe a 38-yr-old woman in whom severe anaphylactic shock occurred immediately after the topical use of biological tissue sealant on the completion of modified radical mastectomy. The patient's past history and pre-operative laboratory values were unremarkable except for mild nasal allergy. Postoperative prick tests for bovine-serum, bovine-thrombin and bovine-aprotinin were positive. Total IgE level was normal. By the radioallergosolbent tests (RAST), specific IgE antibodies for aprotinin were elevated to the class 2 level. Drug induced lymphocyte stimulation tests (DLST) were negative. These indicated that the case was an aprotinin-induced anaphylaxis during general anaesthesia. The level of CH50, C4, C1q and C5 decreased in the serum sample immediately after the shock, but C3 was unchanged. It was considered to be a direct degradation of the complement by the proteolytic enzymes. Biological tissue sealant should be used cautiously bearing in mind the possibility of anaphylactic complication.


The human neutrophils comprise the first line of defence against invading microorganisms. Activation of membrane receptors for bacterial nformyl peptides, exemplified by formylmethionyl-leucyl phenylalanine (fMLF), and complement cleavage products are instrumental for neutrophil chemotaxis, phagocytosis and activation of the NADPH oxidase, generating reactive oxygen metabolites. The aim of this work was to elucidate the role of lateral mobility of membrane components for neutrophil function. Lateral mobility was measured by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). The results show that: i) neutrophil differentiation is accompanied by a more restricted mobility of membrane components, ii) oxidative metabolites produced by neutrophils in response to activation of protein kinase C increase the overall mobility of membrane components, iii) activation induces lateral redistribution and immobilisation of the neutrophil receptor for fMLF, and iv) internalisation of receptors is not only governed by classical signalling motifs in the receptor tail but also by receptor lateral diffusion; a fast diffusing receptor is internalised more rapidly. The effect can be shown for transfected complement receptor I (CRI) constructs, and may be exemplified in the neutrophil where activation of the fMLF receptor induces increased CRI diffusion. Finally, v) regulation of the lateral mobility of the membrane b-cytochrome appears to play a role in the activation of the neutrophil NADPH oxidase. In conclusion, the results imply that membrane domain formation and regulation of the lateral mobility of membrane components are important for neutrophil function.


Coconut plantation is abundant in konkan region of Maharashtra (India). Small landholders can improve their income through value added activities in downstream processing of coconut. One such activity would be to dry copra for preservation and subsequent oil extraction. Copra drying in konkan region is practiced largely through sun drying and chula drying. In both these drying methods, copra quality deteriorates significantly due to either open fire smoke, dust and mould growth in sun drying. There is need to have a natural convection indirect heating small mechanical copra dryer suited to the requirements of konkan farmers. This paper present design and testing of natural and forced convection indirect heating small mechanical dryer using agricultural waste as fuel. Components of dryer were drying chamber housing with two trays inside, heating chamber, burning cum heat exchanging unit i.e. furnace and chimney. The capacity of the dryer is 50 kg coconuts per batch (to hold coconut halves 50 % (w.b.) moisture content). The dryer was tested for drying performance in respect of drying air temperature, fuel consumption and quality of dried copra after the drying. The total area required for housing the dryer is 0.81 m2. This is suitable dryer for drying of coconuts in rainy season when sun light is seldom available and chance of contaminants from quality point of view is minimum.


The cells abutting the vessels in the primary xylem of healthy melon exhibit the characteristics of contact cells. These cells also produce a protective layer and transfer-cell-like thickenings. The primary wall is partially if not totally hydrolysed at the level of the pits. After infection by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis Sn. ' H., the contact cells of resistant plants show a strong cytoplasmic activity leading to the growth of tyloses into the lumen of abutting vessels. Such tylosis formation occurs rapidly and is helped by the material stored in the ingrowths of the protective layer which is reorganised into the single wall of the tylosis. The primary wall bursts and disappears during tylosis formation.


Male Ss (N=60) were randomly selected to perform a modified version of a simple one-handed ballistic aiming task. Groups were aged 6-7 yr., 10-11 yr., and 19 or more yr.; within each group 10 Ss were able to see their hand and 10 Ss the target during task performance. A split-plot factorial design was used. Mean absolute error scores increased with distance, and at each age Ss with vision of target were more accurate than were Ss with vision of the hand. Vision, distance and the interactions of age and distance, and distance and vision were significant.


Structural Investigation of Sodium Layered Oxides Via in Situ Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction Sodium layered oxides with mixed transition metals have received significant attention as positive electrode candidates for sodium-ion batteries due to high reversible capacity. Sodium layered oxides would be more promising candidates than lithium-compounds in terms of high stability of MO2 slabs after extraction of Na induced from larger ionic size of Na. In addition, rich crystal chemistry for sodium layered compounds is available since larger Na+ ion is stable in more spacious prismatic site as compared to Li+ ion. In view of this, the phase transformation of layered compounds during electrochemical reaction is generally considered to be a pivotal feature for understanding the relationship between layered structures and electrochemical properties. Here the structure, phase stability, and electrochemical properties of two kinds of layered oxides, P2 and O3, are investigated through in-situ synchrotron XRD experiments. A capillary Na-based cell is designed to minimize interference in other substances such as a separator or external battery parts. This approach could give us to obtain clear diffraction patterns with high intensity during electrochemical reaction in a short period of time without further relaxation step. We carefully scrutinized reversible structural phase transformations during electrochemical reaction of P2 and O3-layered compounds based on in situ analysis, and detailed results will be discussed.


CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2008 Abstracts

Abstract #3009

Background. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises ∼10-15% of newly-diagnosed early-stage breast cancer. Most TN tumors are high grade and have a high incidence of recurrence and distant metastases. Patients with early stage TNBC usually do not receive any maintenance systemic therapy beyond standard cytotoxic chemotherapy and may therefore benefit from novel experimental therapies, including immunotherapy. MUC1 is a tumor antigen expressed on differentiated tumor cells, including BC, and therefore represents an ideal target for MUC1-based vaccination. In this study, we evaluated TNBC for the expression of MUC1 by immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. Material and Methods. Fifty-three cases of ER(-) PR(-) HER-2/ neu (-) early-stage BC were evaluated for expression of the MUC1 glycoprotein by IHC stain analysis. Immunoreactivity was graded based on the intensity and percent of tumor cells staining for MUC1. Intensity of staining was graded as negative (0), positive (1) or strongly-positive (2), and the percent of tumor cells staining positively was graded from 0 to 100%. A specimen was considered positive if immunoreactive cells were found in at least 5% of tumor cells. An overall score of 0 to 2.0 was then calculated for each case by multiplying the intensity of staining by the percent of tumor cells staining positively. Results. Forty nine of the fifty three cases of TNBC (92%) were MUC1+ by IHC stain analysis. The mean score was 0.90, with a range of 0 to 1.9. Cases were evenly distributed over this range, and the majority of cases (66%) exhibited moderate to strong expression of MUC1 (score 0.5 to 1.90). A minority of cases (26%) demonstrated weak expression, and 8% of cases lacked expression of MUC1 by study criteria. Discussion. MUC1 expression has been documented in the epithelium of secretory tubules, acini, and intralobular ducts of normal breast tissue and in breast carcinoma of undefined subtype. However, this is the first study to specifically evaluate TNBC for the expression of MUC1. The results of our study suggest that the vast majority of cases of early stage TNBC express MUC1. Since other MUC1+ tumors such as prostate, pancreatic and ER+ breast cancer have been successfully vaccinated with MUC1-based peptide vaccines, this study suggests that consideration may be given to patients with early stage TNBC as possible candidates for such novel MUC1-based vaccines after having completed standard therapies for TNBC.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 3009.


Motor-function encoding action phrases, facilitates recollection more than verbal encoding (enactment effect, c.f. Nilsson, 2000). Further, if the phrases are intended to be recalled via motor-function encoding it also leads to higher memory accessibility, referred to as the intention-superiority effect (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993) or the intended enactment effect (Freeman & Ellis, 2003), depending on whether the same process or different processes are assumed to underlie both effects. In three experiments, both effects were studied as a function of list length (18, 30, 60, or 90 items), retrieval measures (free recall, cued recall and recognition). Additionally, different moderator variables for these effects were investigated (familiarity, degree of motor involvement of the action phrases, individual differences in action orientation). Similar effects of intended and actual enactment were found for memory accuracy and accessibility (i.e., response latencies), but the effects were moderated by the nature of the action phrase and action orientation. State-oriented individuals and highly motoric action phrases showed a pronounced (intended) enactment effect. The results, at least partially, support a common explanation for both effects.


The construction industry has long been accusedof poor performance. The confrontational attitudeof its members and the resultant adversarial atmosphere has been identified as a major factor responsible for this poor performance. A cultural change is required to remove these barriers and to promote optimum project outcomes. Relationship contracting is promoted as a way to support the shift from the adversarial culture to the co-operative and collaborative culture within the industry and the project team.The Adelaide Convention Centre Extensions project was the first in South Australia to be procure und r the principles of relationship contract1ng. Usmg the case study approach, this paper reviews the form of relationship contracting used in this milestone project. The paper documents the lessons learned from this project and makes recommendations that can lead to improvements for future projects.


The aim of this preliminary qualitative study was to describe psychological self-care of widows from the unrest situation in southern Thailand. The informants were 10 widows who had faced with the unrest situation at least 3 months ago and have lived in Pattani province. The research instruments included: 1) general information questionnaire and 2) Semi–structured interview guide and tape recording. Quantitative data were analyzed using percentage, mean and standard deviation. Whereas, qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. The results showed that widow informants have felt stressed about 1) taking care of her children and education, 2) occupation and cost of family and 3) living in unrest situation. These stresses led to physical impacts such as headache and insomnia. Psychological self-care behaviors can be categorized into 3 groups, including 1) using religious principles Isalamic. 2) finding the strategies for self-healing and self-relaxation, and 3) social and emotional supporting from government and non-governmental organizations. The results of this preliminary study could be used to guide health care provider or other allied health providers to develop a psychological self-care model to promote quality of life among widows.


It is with great pleasure that as Chairman of the Section on Business Law of the International Bar Association I write this foreword to a series of handbooks on maritime law which have been prepared by the Committee on Maritime and Transport Law of our Section. The first of these handbooks deals with 'Arrest of Vessels', the second with 'Enforced Sales of Vessels', the third with 'Registration of Vessels' and the fourth with 'Mortgages on Vessels'. I feel sure that they will all be valuable aids to international lawyers practising in the field of maritime law. These handbooks owe their conception to Mr. Lennart Hagberg of Gothenburg, Sweden, the Chairman of the Maritime and Transport Law Committee. Both he and the contributors to the series have put an enormous amount of work into the handbooks and devoted long hours to their preparation, hours which I feel sure they have borrowed with difficulty from their heavy commitments as busy practising lawyers. I am happy to think that our Section, which was formed only six years ago, is as its first ventures in the publishing field producing at the same time both these handbooks on maritime law and another on 'Contracts of Employment', which has been prepared by our Com mittee on Labour Law, under the chairmanship of Mr. Willard Z. Carr. Jr. of Los Angeles, California. May they be the forerunners of many more."


Background Laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy (LAG) is increasingly carried out owing to its many advantages compared with conventional open gastrectomy. However, the question of whether LAG can be carried out safely in patients with earlier upper abdominal open surgery (EUAOS) remains unclear as laparoscopic adhesiotomy is technically difficult and time consuming. Methods This study includes 32 consecutive cases with EUAOS who underwent a LAG in the Cancer Institute Hospital, between April 2005 and October 2008. Clinical data, including operation time, intraoperative bleeding, conversion rate, postoperative morbidity, and mortality, were examined to clarify the feasibility of carrying out LAG in patients with EUAOS. Results Cholecystectomy was found to be the most common EUAOS. The total operation time was 256.5±11.3 minutes. Intraoperative bleeding was 80.7±19.2 mL. Conversion to open gastrectomy owing to severe adhesion occurred in 1 patient after right colectomy. Incidental intestinal perforation was observed in 1 patient although it could be repaired by laparoscopy and conversion was not required. There were no other intraoperative complications associated with adhesiotomy itself. Conclusion EUAOS itself is not a contraindication for LAG providing an experienced laparoscopic surgeon carries out the surgery.


For the reason that grid resources are valuable, access is usually limited, based on the requested resource and the requesting user's identity. Authentication in distributed systems like grid computing environment is the first defense line before other security aspects; authorization, confidentiality, integrity and auditing. The main grid authentication mechanisms challenges are single sign-on, secure credential repositories, and cross-domain authentication. This paper presents a comparative study of various authentication mechanisms in grid computing environment to investigate their pros and cons. Such analysis is particularly relevant for those seeking an intensive assessment to appropriate grid authentication mechanisms.


Human languages include vast numbers of learned, arbitrary signal-meaning mappings but also many complex signalmeaning mappings that are systematically related to each other (i.e. not arbitrary). Although arbitrariness and systematicity are clearly related, the development of the two in communication systems has been explored independently. We present an experiment in which participants invent signs from scratch to refer to a set of real concepts that share semantic features. Through interaction, the systematic re-use of arbitrary elements emerges.


The shape of a building layout is the spatial attribute that defines the outline of the building. It affects the areas and sizes of vertical components such as external walls and associated finishes, windows, partitions and associated finishes, etc., as well as the perimeter detailing such as ground beams, fascias, and the eaves of roofs. The conclusions of previous studies on the cost implication of building shape have been premised on the
knowledge of building morphological and geometrical characteristics, and have lacked empirical authentication. This study used empirical data to investigate the effect of layout narrowness and complexity (irregularity) on total and unit construction costs. The data used is the Saudi Arabian 'typical villa' as the base case at current prices and other variant shapes. The results of this study indicate that perimeter-to-floor ratio, unit construction
cost and overall project cost are affected by variation in plan shape narrowness and complexity (irregularity). These results will assist construction professionals, especially the cost consultants, in making more objective design decisions and in giving cost advice related to plan layout for the benefits of their clients. Samaru Journal of Information Studies Vol. 7 (1) 2007: pp. 24-31


For the dilepton production at hadron collider in TeV scale gravity models, inclusion of QCD corrections to NLO stabilises the cross section with respect to scale variations. The K-factors for the various distributions for the ADD and RS model at both LHC and Tevatron are presented.


This paper proposes a new bus-invert coding scheme for reducing the number of bus transitions. Unlike the previous schemes in which the entire bus lines or one subset of the bus fines are considered for bus-invert coding, in the proposed scheme the bus lines are partitioned and each partitioned group is considered independently for bus-invert coding to maximize the effectiveness of reducing the total number of bus transitions. Experimental results show that the decomposed bus-invert coding scheme reduces the total number of bus transitions by 47.2% and 11.9% on average than those of the conventional and the partial bus-invert coding schemes, respectively.


Flavonoids were prepared from the leaves of 'LAOYABAN'. The ability of 'Hongyan' strawberry soaked with different flavonoids concentrations of 'LAOYABAN' at 5, 10 and 20 mg/mL for 5 min to affect freshness was determined. Simultaneously, the antimicrobial activity was tested to explore its ability to maintain freshness. The results showed that the flavonoids of 'LAOYABAN' reduced the weight loss rate and decay rate of 'Hongyan' strawberries after harvesting. There was also a reduction in the loss of soluble sugar and vitamin C (Vc) content. In addition, the flavonoids maintained the activity of SOD, reduced the formation of MDA substance, and had a certain antiseptic and fresh maintenance effect on 'Hongyan' strawberry following harvest. When the concentration of flavonoids was 100 mg/mL, the diameter of the inhibitory zone for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus thuringiensis and strawberry mixed bacteria (isolated from rotten 'Hongyan' strawberries) was 12.4 mm, 11.2 mm, 10.8 mm and 8.3 mm, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of flavonoids from 'LAOYABAN' against each of these four bacteria was 6.25, 12.5, 25 and 50 mg/mL, respectively. Therefore, the fresh-keeping effect of 'LAOYABAN' flavonoids on 'Hongyan' strawberry is achieved through their bacteriostatic activity and anti-oxidant activity.


Horizontal gene transfer accelerates microbial evolution, promoting diversification and adaptation. The globally abundant marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus has a highly streamlined genome with frequent gene exchange reflected in its extensive pangenome. The source of its genomic variability, however, remains elusive since most cells lack the common mechanisms that enable horizontal gene transfer, including conjugation, transformation, plasmids and prophages. Examining 623 genomes, we reveal a diverse system of mobile genetic elements – cargo-carrying transposons we named tycheposons – that shape Prochlorococcus' genomic plasticity. The excision and integration of tycheposons at seven tRNA genes drive the remodeling of larger genomic islands containing most of Prochlorococcus' flexible genes. Most tycheposons carry genes important for niche differentiation through nutrient acquisition; others appear similar to phage parasites. Tycheposons are highly enriched in extracellular vesicles and phage particles in ocean samples, suggesting efficient routes for their dispersal, transmission and propagation. Supported by evidence for similar elements in other marine microbes, our work underpins the role of vesicle- and virus-mediated transfer of mobile genetic elements in the diversification and adaptation of microbes in dilute aquatic environments – adding a significant piece to the puzzle of what governs microbial evolution in the planet's largest habitat.


China's urban water supply and demand is in contradiction with the rapid development of the social economy, and at the same time emergency water pollution events which influence the urban water supply security also occur frequently. Thus, how to protect the urban water supply emergency safe has become a prominent issue. The paper analyses the types and hazards of urban water pollution emergency incidents, provides solutions to these problems and gives safeguard measures to urban safe water.


Needle-free syringe sprays liquid into the body tissues directly by ultra-fine, high-speed, high-pressure liquid flow. There are many kinds of needle-free injectors in the market currently, but most of them are very complicated and expensive. We designed the new kind of needle-free syringe driven by reluctance to improve the performance of existing electromagnetic needle-free syringes. This paper expressed how it works and established the mathematical model to analyze the relationship between force and displacement. Moreover, ANSYS was be used to simulate the distributions of magnetic induction lines. The simulation reveals that the core would stress a positive force before the middle point of the coil and the method to choose where to be served as the starting point of the iron core.


This article derives the exact discrete representation corresponding to a cointegrated system of mixed first‐ and second‐order stochastic differential equations with mixed stock and flow data and observable stochastic trends. We provide some formulae to implement the Gaussian estimation and conduct a Monte Carlo experiment to examine the finite sample properties of the Gaussian estimator. We also compare the properties of the estimator based on the exact discrete representation to that based on misspecified discrete models. Results show that the use of the exact discrete representation for estimation purposes produces considerable reductions in the root mean square error of the estimate for most of the parameters.


BACKGROUND
The Brain Atrophy and Lesion Index (BALI), a semi-quantitative rating scale, has been developed to evaluate whole brain structural changes in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

OBJECTIVE
This study describes a standard procedure to score the BALI and train new raters for reliable BALI evaluation following this procedure.

METHODS
Structural MRI of subjects in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative dataset who had 3.0T, T1, and T2 weighted MRI scans at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 month follow-ups were retrieved (n = 122, including 24 AD, 51 mild cognitive impairment patients, and 47 healthy control subjects). Images were evaluated by four raters following training with a step-by-step BALI process. Seven domains of structural brain changes were evaluated, and a total score was calculated as the sum of the sub-scores.

RESULTS
New raters achieved >90% accuracy after two weeks of training. Reliability was shown in both intra-rater correlation coefficients (ICC ≥ 0.92, p < 0.001) and inter-rater correlation coefficients (ICC ≥0.88, p < 0.001). Mean BALI total scores differed by diagnosis (F ≥ 2.69, p ≤ 0.049) and increased consistently over two years.

CONCLUSION
The BALI can be introduced using a standard procedure that allows new users to achieve highly reliable evaluation of structural brain changes. This can advance its potential as a robust method for assessing global brain health in aging, AD, and mild cognitive impairment.


Ewing sarcoma, a rare malignancy of childhood and adolescence, has become a model of advances in diagnosis, treatment, and outcome through long-standing research efforts in multinational clinical trials. With modern multimodal regimens consisting of local surgery and/or radiotherapy plus intensive systemic chemotherapy, survival can be achieved for ∼70% of patients with localized disease. However, in the last decade, improvement in survival curves has slowed down. Also, a relapse rate of ∼30% remains unacceptable, since salvage strategies for Ewing sarcoma recurrence are discouraging and prognosis is unfavorable in most cases. Metastatic disease at diagnosis poses a similar challenge, since even if remission is achieved, relapse frequently occurs despite the most intensive treatment. Urgently needed, novel biology-driven treatment options are now beginning to emerge on the horizon, but have not yet reached the standard of care. An overview of the current clinical state-of-the-art is provided in this article.


DNA mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency results in a strong mutator phenotype and high-frequency microsatellite instability (MSI-H), which are the hallmarks of tumors arising within Lynch syndrome. MSI-H is characterized by length alterations within simple repeated sequences, microsatellites. Lynch syndrome is primarily due to germline mutations in one of the DNA MMR genes; mainly hMLH1 or hMSH2 and less frequently hMSH6 and rarely hPMS2. Germline hemiallelic methylation of MLH1, termed epimutation, has been reported to be a new cause of Lynch syndrome. MSI-H is also observed in approximately 15% of colorectal, gastric and endometrial cancers and in lower frequencies in a minority of other tumors, where it is associated with the hypermethylation of the promoter region of hMLH1. MSI-H underlies a distinctive tumorigenic pathway because cancers with MSI-H exhibit many differences in genotype and phenotype relative to cancers without MSI-H, irrespective of their hereditary or sporadic origins. Genetic, epigenetic and transcriptomic differences exist between cancers with and those without the MSI-H. The BRAF V600E mutation is associated with sporadic MSI-H colorectal cancers (CRCs) harboring hMLH1 methylation but not Lynch syndrome-related CRCs. The differences in genotype and phenotype between cancers with and those without MSI-H are likely to be causally linked to their differences in biological and clinical features. Therefore, the diagnosis of MSI-H in cancers is thus considered to be of increasing relevance, because MSI-H is a useful screening marker for identifying patients with Lynch syndrome, a better prognostic factor and could affect the efficacy of chemotherapy. This review addresses recent advances in the field of microsatellite instability research.


ABSTRACT: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and initial public offerings (IPOs) are important aspects of research across multiple academic disciplines, primarily accounting, finance, and management. This research paper seeks to link streams of research through the development of a content analytic dictionary using computer-aided text analysis (CATA).The dictionary, validated in the context of U.S. IPOs between 2011 and 2013, revealed four dimensions of corporate social responsibility. Each of these dimensions is used to predict IPO size in terms of offering price and total shares offered, as well as underpricing on the first day of trade. This research provides a new measure of CSR that can be generalized to other text documents issued by a corporation. Researchers may find this tool useful as we continue to advance our understanding of the explicit and implicit meanings embodied in the CSR disclosures made by corporations.


18 patients who had Sudeck's atrophy of the foot, were treated with intravenous injections of a solution of 1% xylocaine and solu-medrol followed by standard physical therapy. The results were excellent or good in 14 extremities (77.8%) and poor in 4 (22.2%). The causes of Sudeck's atrophy were femur fr. in 1 case, lower leg fr. in 6, foot fr. in 9 and foot trauma in 2. 14 cases had clinical findings only, while 4 had clinical findings with radiographic changes. Clinical findings appeared at ave. 5.8ws. after trauma and radiographic findings appeared at ave. 8.4ws. after trauma. We reported both clinical and radiographic findings.


Four major home price indexes have been used in this study, and are based on different calculation methods and from different sources. The descriptive statistics indicate no meaningful differences among them. However, by analysing the orthogonalized impulse response and variance decomposition matrixes from the vector autoregressions, this study found some noticeable differences in the dynamic relationships between these indexes and three other housing factors – mortgage rates, existing home sales and new home sales – in addition to the inflation factor. The results may reflect the holding period effect in repeat sales house price indexes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.