In this work a computational code is developed for the solution of radiation problems in 2-D and 3-D. For this, a suitable formulation of the problem is developed considering Maxwell equations, which are written in a general coordinate system and numerically solved by using a vectorial formulation, through the use of the finite differences in the time domain method, FDTD method. The absorbing boundary condition (ABC), necessary to truncate the numerical domain, is formulated and implemented for the general coordinate system. This way, a horn sectorial antenna E-plane is analyzed. The results obtained by the developed method, LN-FDTD, are then compared to those obtained through the conventional FDTD method.


The expression of two cytokines, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin 3 (IL-3), has been investigated in MLA-144 cells before and after induction with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. We describe an adaptation of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for highly accurate quantitation of mRNA or DNA from a small number of cells. Aliquots of the PCR mixture containing cDNA copies of the RNA to be assayed were added to serial dilutions of a competitor DNA fragment that differed from the cDNA of interest by having either a small intron or a mutated internal restriction enzyme site. Therefore, the same primers were used to coamplify the unknown and the competitor. The ratio of products remains constant through the amplification and can be readily quantitated. In unstimulated cells, no GM-CSF or IL-3 mRNA could be detected. However, with appropriate induction, mRNA for both cytokines was detected and quantitated in as few as 200 cells. Competitive PCR was also used to accurately quantitate the copy number of the human GM-CSF gene in normal human cells, in a clonal population of cells from a patient with 5q- syndrome, and in a human-hamster cell line known to have only one copy of the human GM-CSF gene.


Pesticides are stable compounds and they enter the aquatic ecosystem through the agriculture run off. The evaluation of nature and degree of harmful effects produced by the toxic substance in the aquatic organisms are evaluated by toxic tests. 96 hour LC 50 values have generally been found to be satisfactory for the measurement of acute toxicity. Therefore, in this present study is an attempt to study the toxicity of the pesticide with respect to the hematology, of fish Oreochrommis mossambicus. The Chlorpyrifos affects not only fish but also organisms in the food chain through the process of consumption of one by the other. The pesticide enters the body tissues of the fish that affects physiological activities. The cytometric measurements of erythrocytes of sublethal exposure showed that there are not many differences from the control. In the control fish, the erythrocytes were oval in shape with elongated nucleus. Fish exposed to sublethal concentration of Chlorpyrifos showed abnormal size Reduction in the volume of the cytoplasm of cells and swelling of nuclei were observed in fish exposed to concentration. In the hematology, the total Red Blood Corpuscle and Haemoglobin content were decreased with the increasing hours of exposure of the chlorpyrifos 36% EC. The amount of the Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH) also was increased. The constant increase in the differential count clearly indicates that the pesticide stress certainly stimulates the white blood cells to produce more at all times of exposure. It has been suggested that the enumeration of differential cell ratio counts provision of useful diagnostic procedure to assess the physiological stress in the fish.


Introduction Hermaphroditism is less frequently reported in dogs and is often associated with infertility. Case report An 8‐month‐old French bulldog weighing 5 kg with an enlarged structure protruding from the vulva was clinically diagnosed with hermaphroditism. Physical, hormonal assay, computed tomography, and gross and histological studies were done in addition to successfully detailed surgical correction. On physical examination, the dog showed the presence of an os‐clitoris protruded from the vulvar labia. Hormonal levels of estradiol, testosterone, and progesterone were 6.39 pg/ml, 0.4 ng/ml, and 8.67ng/ml, respectively. Surgical removal of internal gonadal tissues and os clirectomy operations were conducted after the exploratory laparotomy. The removed gonadal tissues were identical to that of a female with testicles instead of ovaries, according to a gross examination. Histological examination confirmed gonads as testis, with inactive seminiferous tubules and epididymis attached to uterine horns. Conclusion The congenital anomalies in the present case were diagnosed as male pseudohermaphroditism (MPH). Surgical correction was performed, and the owner's satisfaction was achieved.


Background and Objectives: Chronic refractory autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (AITP) is an autoimmune disorder due to autoantibodies against platelet glycoproteins (GP). Human platelet alloantigenic (HPA) systems are distributed to different platelet GPs. We carried out genotyping of diallelic HPA–1, –2, –3, and –5 systems to clarify potential associations between HPA alleles and the development of chronic refractory AITP. Patients and Methods: DNA was isolated from 33 unrelated German patients with chronic refractory AITP and from 80 randomly selected German blood donors to determine the phenotype and allele frequencies for the HPA–1, –2, –3, and –5 systems. Fragments carrying the polymorphic sequences corresponding to those alleles were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and further characterized by restriction analysis. Results: Whereas HPA–1, –3, and –5 allele frequencies were identical in 33 patients with chronic refractory AITP and in controls, HPA–2 allele frequencies showed a statistically significant difference (p = 0.017). In our group of patients, the HPA–2a allele frequency was 100%, but HPA–2b was not seen. In contrast, the allele frequency of HPA–2a in the control group was 92% (n = 147), and in HPA–2b it was 8% (n = 13). Conclusion: This study suggests an association between the HPA–2a allele and chronic refractory AITP. The HPA–2a allele may be involved in the formation of an AITP–specific autoepitope.


This  cross-sectional  study   was  conducted  to identify the percentage of students   who  had high level of resilience  and  examine   factors  associated  with  resilience  among  Thai  students  in international programs in Bangkok and   suburb,  Thailand.  Data collection  were conducted  among  Thai  students aged  18 to  24 in three international  programs  in  May  2017.  A  self-administered    questionnaire  employed  was  composed  of demographic factors,  Connor-Davidson  Resilience  Scale  (CD-RISC)  and  Adverse  childhood  experiences (ACEs)  questionnaire.  A  total  of  379 questionnaires  were  used  in  data  collection  and  for  analysis.  Chi-square  tests  were  performed  to  identify  the  association  between  independence   variables  and  resilience  and  multiple  logistic  regression  was used  to  determine  predictors  of  resilience. The   result   showed  over  half  (53%) of  respondents  were  in  high  level  of   resilience.  The  result  of Chi-square   tests  showed  that  age  and  peer  support   were   the   factors  significantly  associated  with  resilience level  (p-value<0.01).   In  logistic  regression,  age  (Adj. OR=    2.53, 95%CI=1.52-4.20)  sex (Adj.   OR=1.67, 95%CI=1.07-2.61)  and  peer  support  (Adj. OR=2.70,  95%CI=1.66-4.41)   were  significant   factors.   In  conclusion,   an  individual who   has  low  resilience  could  be  difficult  to deal  with adversity  or difficulties regardless  of  ACEs  level, and  it  would  be more   essential  to explore  the protective   factors   that  lead  to positive    adaptation   in   different  contexts. The   result  also implied  that resilience  could  have  been  nurtured as the   times  go by  with  close  peer company  in   their lives.  Especially  among  youths in  the  study,  male  had  higher  resilience  than  female. However,  there  are still unknown  complex   factors  behind   resilience  and   need  to  continue  further investigation  for  complex   factors  under  the  process  of   their  lives.


Purpose Locally advanced rectal cancer may require an intraoperative decision regarding curative multivisceral resection (MVR) of adjacent organs. In bulky tumor cases, ensuring sufficient distal resection margin (DRM) for achievement of oncologic safety is very difficult. This study is designed to evaluate the adequate length of DRM in multiviscerally resected rectal cancer. Methods A total of 324 patients who underwent curative low anterior resection for primary pT3-4 rectal cancer between 1995 and 2004 were identified from a prospectively collected colorectal database. Results Short lengths of DRM (≤1 cm) did not compromise essentially poor oncologic outcomes in locally advanced rectal cancer (P = 0.736). However, especially in rectal cancers invading adjacent organs, DRM of less than 2 cm showed poor survival outcome. In 5-year and 10-year survival analysis of MVR, a shorter DRM (<2 cm) showed 41.9% and 30.5%, although a longer DRM (≥2 cm) showed 72.4% and 60.2% (P = 0.03, 0.044). In multivariate analysis of MVR, poorly differentiated histology, ulceroinfiltrative growth of tumor, and short DRM (<2 cm) were significant factors for prediction of poor survival outcome, although short DRM was not significantly related to local and systemic recurrence. Conclusion In locally advanced rectal cancer of pT3-4, a short length of DRM (≤1 cm) did not compromise essentially poor oncologic outcome. In rectal cancers invading adjacent organs and requiring MVR, a shorter DRM (<2 cm) was found to be related to poor survival outcome.


As longer lifespans become the norm and modern healthcare allows individuals to live more functional lives despite physical disabilities, there is an increasing need for personal assistance robots. One of the barriers to this shift in healthcare technology is the ability of the human operator to communicate his/her intent to the robot. In this paper, a method of interpreting eye gaze data using fuzzy logic for robot control is presented. Simulation results indicate that the fuzzy logic controller can successfully infer operator intent, modulate speed and direction accordingly, and avoid obstacles in a target following task relevant to personal assistance robots. Keywords—gaze tracking; fuzzy logic; autonomous robot; obstacle avoidance; personal assistance robot


This study reports on two experiments to investigate the informational determinants of hurricane evacuation decisions (temporal and spatial). Whereas most observational and experimental studies in this domain address the public's response to forecast information, this study addresses emergency management decisions. Using a subject sample of emergency managers and other public safety leaders, contrasted with a more typical university subject pool, this study presents an experimental design that overcomes the counterfactual problem present in all prior published experiments, by relying on an actual storm (Hurricane Rita) with a known outcome. Several methodological advancements are presented, including the use of an established numeracy instrument, integration of advanced hydrodynamic forecasts, and use of a loss aversion frame to improve generalizability. Results indicate that the availability of additional forecast information (e.g., wind speed, forecast tracks) significantly increases the probability and improves the timing of early voluntary evacuation. However, we observe that more numerate subjects are less likely to avoid relying upon forecast information that is characterized by probability (e.g., the uncertainty in the forecast track, sometimes referred to as the "cone of uncertainty"). Consequently, more numerate emergency managers are almost twice as likely as less numerate ones to provide additional evacuation time to their coastal communities, and they do so by longer than a typical workday (8.8 hours). Results also indicate that subjects knowingly over-evacuate large populations when making spatial mandatory evacuation orders. However, results indicate that numeracy mitigates this effect by more than half in terms of the population subject to mandatory evacuation.


Objectives To explore the changes of aortic morphosis and expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), smad3, collagen-I (COL-I) and collagen-III (COL-III) in the fructose-induced metabolic syndromic rats, and the effect of PPAR-α / γ agonists on their. Methods Metabolic syndrome was induced in 44 male Sprague-Dawley rats by feeding high fructose (60% fructose) diet for 10 weeks. Then model rats of metabolic syndrome were randomly divided into model control group (MC group, n = 11), fenofibrate group (FEN group, n = 11), were treated with fenofibrate 30 mg.kg-1.day-1, pioglitazone group (PIO group, n = 11), were treated with pioglitazone 3 mg.kg-1.day-1, and fenofibrate adding pioglitazone group (FEN + PIO group, n = 11), were treated with fenofibrate 30 mg.kg-1.day-1 and pioglitazone 3 mg.kg-1.day-1, and another 10 male Sprague-Dawley rats constituted control group (NC group, n = 10) and constantly consumed standard rat chow. After 4 weeks treatment, rats were killed, and their aortic morphology were detected by hemotoxylin and eosin staining, expression levels of protein of TGF- β1, Smad3, COL-, COL-III was detected by Western Blot. Results High fructose diet successfully induced a rat model with metabolic syndrome, characterised by a significant increase in systolic blood pressure, serumtriglycerides, free fatty acids and insulin compared with the control group. In addition, compared with control group, the expression levels of TGF-β1, Smad3, COL-I and COL-III protein all increased (P<0.01), and the aorticintima-media thickness was increased, and structural disorder was observed in aortas of MSrats. Treatment with fenofibrate, pioglitazone, and fenofibrate adding pioglitazone all down-regulated the expression levels of TGF-β1, Smad3, COL-I protein increased of rats with metabolic syndrome compared with rats in MC group (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). But compared to fenofibrate group, rats in PIO group and FEN + PIO group exhibited a lower expression levels of TGF-β1, Smad3, COL-I and COL-III protein in their aortas (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05), while when compared to PIO group the protein expression level of COL-I in rat's aortas of FEN + PIO group was decreased (P < 0.05). Treatment with fenofibrate or pioglitazone all amended rat's aortic intima-media thickness in FEN group and PIO group, and improved their aortic structure compare with raisin MC group, which changes were more obviously in FEN + PIO groups. Conclusions Treatment with fenofibrate or pioglitazone singly can inhibit aorticpathologic remodelling in MS rats by inhibiting the synthesis of collagen which induced by the signal transduction pathway of TGF-β1/Smads, and the effects was more significant when treated by combining with fenofibrate and pioglitazone.


The star formation rate function (SFRF) and specific star formation rate function (sSFRF) from observations are impacted by the Eddington bias, due to uncertainties in the estimated star formation rate (SFR). We develop a novel method to correct the Eddington bias and obtain the intrinsic SFRF and sSFRF from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7. The intrinsic SFRF is in good agreement with measurements from previous data in the literature that relied on UV SFRs but its high star-forming end is slightly lower than the corresponding IR and radio tracers. We demonstrate that the intrinsic sSFRF from SDSS has a bimodal form with one peak found at sSFR ∼ 10−9.7 yr−1 representing the star-forming objects while the other peak is found at sSFR ∼ 10−12 yr−1 representing the quenched population. Furthermore, we compare our observations with the predictions from the IllustrisTNG and Illustris simulations and affirm that the "TNG" model performs much better than its predecessor. However, we show that the simulated SFRF and CSFRD of TNG simulations are highly dependent on resolution, reflecting the limitations of the model and today's state-of-the-art simulations. We demonstrate that the bimodal, two peaked sSFRF implied by the SDSS observations does not appear in TNG regardless of the adopted box-size or resolution. This tension reflects the need for inclusion of an additional efficient quenching mechanism in the TNG model.


In the U.S. as well as other countries, the number of motorcyclists killed in traffic crashes has risen sharply over the past five years, due in part to the increased popularity of motorcycling among older riders. This paper examines trends in motorcyclist casualties and vehicle registrations from 1990-2002, based on national and state (North Carolina) motor vehicle crash and vehicle registration data. The data show similar patterns of increased fatalities that parallel a growth in motorcycle registrations. Whereas the number of motorcyclists ages 16-24 declined over the 13-year study period, the number of riders ages 35 and older increased. Three years of recent (2000-2002) NC data are examined to identify salient characteristics of the crashes of these older riders. Results are discussed with respect to approaches for mitigating the increase in motorcyclist deaths and injuries.


Background: Iran's population is aging. One of the most common problems in Iranian public health is the high prevalence of cardio-metabolic risk factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cardio-metabolic and demographic risk factors and disability in people 60 years and older in Iran.Methods: Data from the Bushehr Elderly Health (BEH) program was used in the analysis. Demographic characteristics, as well as the history of diabetes and other chronic diseases, and smoking were measured using standardized questionnaires. Anthropometric measurements and laboratory tests were performed under standard conditions. Dependency was determined by the questionnaires of basic activities of daily living (BADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) using Barthel and Lawton scales respectively. Multiple logistic regression was used in the analysis.Results: Mean (Standard Deviation) of the participants' age was 69.34 (6.4) years (range: 60 and 96 years), and 48.06% of the participants were men. After adjusting for potential confounders, being older, being female (OR (95%CI): 2.33 (1.89 - 2.86)), having a lower education level, a history of diabetes mellitus (OR: 1.43 (1.17 -1.74)) and past smoking (OR: 1.25 (1.00 - 1.55)), and no physical activity (OR: 1.54 (1.23 - 1.87)) were significantly associated with dependency in IADL. Also, being older and female (OR: 2.38 (1.85 - 3.03)), having a lower education level, no physical activity (OR: 2.17 (1.61 - 2.86)) and low daily intake of calories were associated with dependency in BADL.Conclusion: Age, gender, education level and physical activity are risk factors of the dependency in both of BADL and IADL in the elderly people. Diabetes mellitus and past smoking are risk factors of the dependency in IADL, and low HDL cholesterol and low daily intake of calories are risk factors of the dependency in BADL.


We investigated the clinical and immunological effects of T-activin therapy in early stage melanoma patients. Several immune parameters (the number of T cells-E-RFC and CD3+, their subsets-CD4+ and CD8+, the number of CD38+ and CD16+ cells, and mitogen-induced lymphoproliferative response-LPR) were analyzed in relation to the clinical course of the disease in patients treated by T-activin in addition to the surgery (n = 8), and in control patients treated by the surgery alone (n = 9). Immunological tests were performed before therapy and one month after the last (6th) cycle of T-activin, i.e. six months after surgery in controls. The patients were followed-up from February 1991 to August 1995. Clinical evaluation showed that disease-free interval for observed period was similar in both groups of patients (17.5 and 13 months), while the survival time was longer in T-activin-treated patients than in controls (40 vs. 24 months), although this difference was not significant. The phenotyping analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes showed no changes of the pretreatment values of total T cells and their subpopulations regardless the clinical course of the disease in both groups of patients. The number of NK cells (CD16+) was significantly increased after T-activin therapy, but this increase was not associated with clinical benefit, since it was seen in patients with the progression of the disease. In control patients, the initial number of CD16+ cells did not change significantly, irrespective of the clinical course. The lymphoproliferative response increased significantly in 4 out of 5 T-activin-treated patients with the progression of the disease, while a slight increase of this lymphocyte function was seen in 3 disease-free patients. In patients treated by surgery alone, especially those with disease progression, the LPR was significantly decreased six months after tumor excision. These findings, although obtained in small number of patients, suggest an immunomodulatory action of T-activin therapy in early stage melanoma patients, which did not correlate with the clinical course of the disease. On the other hand, an almost doubled survival time in T-activin-treated patients in comparison to the controls, may indicate a possible effect of T-activin therapy on some other immune functions not evaluated in this study. Further investigations in a larger number of patients is needed for assessment of the true effectiveness of such therapy.


Insights into the reproductive strategies of crabeater seals Lobodon carcinophagus were obtained from satellite-linked dive recorders deployed during the breeding season. All of the three females and seven males on which instruments were deployed hauled out continuously for extended periods of up to 24 days. The duration of extended haulout is consistent with a lactation period of around 3 weeks. In two cases where dive recorders were deployed on a male and female in the same group, the two animals stayed together on the ice continuously and entered the water at exactly the same time when extended haulout ceased. In both cases the male and female became geographically separated within a short time after entering the water, indicating that the association did not last beyond the period on the ice. Some males had multiple periods of extended haulout, suggesting they may try to find more than one female with which to mate. An optimal reproductive strategy with regard to the time spent on the ice may balance the conflicting needs of a short time imposed by the availability of breeding habitat and a long time to increase the reproductive success of males and females by finding more, or choosing between, mates.


Cynicism within the organizational context has been gaining ground in the last few decades due to massive changes in how business enterprises are run. Cynicism, from the organizational perspective, refers to a multi-faceted attitude characterized by negative feelings such as distrust, frustration and contempt toward the policies and practices of organization itself. In many cases, organizational cynicism reveals itself among employees as cynical attitudes toward managers. Such type of organizational cynicism is known as management cynicism. Although there are numerous organizational and individual causes lying behind management cynicism, this study focuses on how different organizational culture profiles affect management cynicism. In this study, four-quadrant organizational culture framework developed by Cameron and Freeman (1991) was adopted to illustrate if different cultural profiles and values attributed to them have significant impact on management cynicism. This paper examines the relations between different organizational culture profiles and management cynicism based on data collected from shop floor employees of four leading vendor companies for big-sized domestic appliance manufacturers.


The performance of a minimum mean-squared error linear equalizer and a decision feedback equalizer operating in a single-frequency simulcast environment with two transmitters exposed to time-dispersive slowly fading channels is discussed. Comparisons are made with a multifrequency simulcast system. The performance is given in terms of an upper bound on the expected bit-error probability for a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) system perturbed by additive white gaussian noise (AWGN). The performance for single-frequency simulcasting is found to improve with increased delay between the simulcast signals up to several symbol durations where no more gain is achieved. Results show that the performance is improved if the available power is distributed among signals from several transmitters by means of simulcasting.


BACKGROUND
The amino acid glutamine, while essential for gut epithelial growth, has also been shown to stimulate colon carcinoma proliferation and diminish differentiation. Human colon carcinomas are known to extract and metabolize glutamine at rates severalfold greater than those of normal tissues, but the regulation of this response is unclear. Previously we reported that phorbol esters regulate hepatoma System ASC/B(0)-mediated glutamine uptake and cell growth. As human colon carcinoma cells use this same transporter for glutamine uptake, the present studies were undertaken to determine whether similar regulation functions in colon carcinoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Human colon carcinoma cell lines (WiDr and HT29) were treated with the protein kinase C (PKC) activator phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and initial-rate transport of glutamine and other nutrients was measured at specific times thereafter. Growth rates were monitored during culture +/- PMA or an excess of System ASC/B(0) substrates relative to glutamine.

RESULTS
PMA treatment induced a rapid inhibition of glutamine uptake rates in WiDr and HT29 cells by 30 and 57%, respectively, after 1 h. Cycloheximide failed to block this response, indicating that the mechanism by which PMA exerts its effects is posttranslational. The inhibition of glutamine uptake by PMA was abrogated by the PKC inhibitor staurosporine, suggesting that this rapid System ASC/B(0) regulation may be mediated by a PKC-dependent pathway. PMA also significantly decreased transport via System y(+) (arginine) and System A (small zwitterionic amino acids). Chronic phorbol ester treatment inhibited WiDr cell growth, as did attenuation of System B(0)-mediated glutamine uptake with other transporter substrates.

CONCLUSIONS
System ASC/B(0) uptake governs glutamine-dependent growth in colon carcinoma cell lines, and is regulated by a phorbol ester-sensitive pathway that may involve PKC. The results further establish the link between glutamine uptake and colon carcinoma cell growth, a relationship worthy of further investigation with the goal of discovering novel cancer therapeutic targets.


A method is presented for three-dimensional camera calibration in which the rotation parameters are decoupled from the translation parameters. The rotation parameters are obtained by projecting three sets of parallel lines independently of the translation parameters and the imaging distance from the lens to the image plane. The virtual line passing through the image center, which is calculated by perspective projection of a set of parallel lines, depends only on the rotation parameters. The translation parameters and the imaging distance are analytically obtained. Experimental results show that the camera model can be reconstructed accurately.<<ETX>>


A project is described (The Visible Embryo Project) to develop software strategies for the creation of large-scale databases of 3-dimensional image data on human developmental anatomy. The issues discussed relate to the processing of serial-section image data for the purpose of reconstructing volumetric models of individual embryos from museum specimens. Attempts were made to fully automate the processes of image registration and artifact correction, in order to allow for the eventual unattended reconstruction of thousands of such embryos from such resources as the Carnegie Collection of Human Embryology. Tools were also developed to allow the real-time interactive visualization of the massive databases that this type of reconstruction project creates. The implementation of a 3-D model of a human embryo in a viewer-centric virtual reality environment is also described.


Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have recently achieved great success in many tasks, which encourages DNNs to be widely used as a machine learning service in model sharing scenarios. However, attackers can easily generate adversarial examples with a small perturbation to fool the DNN models to predict wrong labels. To improve the robustness of shared DNN models against adversarial attacks, we propose a novel method called Latent Adversarial Defence (LAD). The proposed LAD method improves the robustness of a DNN model through adversarial training on generated adversarial examples. Different from popular attack methods which are carried in the input space and only generate adversarial examples of repeating patterns, LAD generates myriad of adversarial examples through adding perturbations to latent features along the normal of the decision boundary which is constructed by an SVM with an attention mechanism. Once adversarial examples are generated, we adversarially train the model through augmenting the training data with generated adversarial examples. Extensive experiments on the MNIST, SVHN, and CelebA dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of our model in defending against different types of adversarial attacks.


Abstract This study analyzed the effect of a disproportionate amount of time between rounds of a playoff series—known as the "rest vs. rust" debate in the popular sports media—on the likelihood of winning each game of the subsequent round of the tournament. We utilized NBA Finals data from 1984 – 2018, and analyzed this phenomenon using ordered logistic regression with a categorical dependent variable representing the margin of victory of each game. In addition to several control variables, variables reflecting the difference in the time between series for the two teams were used to measure this effect. The results indicate that having additional time between rounds of the series provides a statistically significant advantage; interestingly, though, it has more of an impact on the second game of the subsequent round than it does for the first game. Teams may utilize the results of this study when deciding on how to schedule and intensify their practice sessions, by providing appropriate rest and maintaining rhythm to increase the likelihood of winning each game.


of oer dim; it was found in S ca t t, 26 with on tion; or 79 per cet. n tuberele existed, and in 131 per cent. of dis oter than tubescuois. GatgDe of tubrular cavities oecurred in 6 c l, and a gangrenous odour was observed in 2 other. Eworrhygic dotJ were less frequent in tuberculous than in non-tuberculous cases, in the respective ratios of 1.5 per at. d 3.8 per cent. Pneumothorax took place 19 times, or i 5.5 per cent. of the cases of vomica; 11 times in the right, and 8 times in the left side: thus reversing the experience of Louis, who found it on the left side in 7 out of 8 eases. The hamoptysis of phthisis, in its slighter forms, is, in Dr. Chambers's opinion, a provision of nature to prevent apoplexy of the lungs-a means by which the strangulated blood-ves may discharge their contents, and postpone the threatened consolidation. So that it is -no indication in prtice to arrest this haemorrhage, the quanLl)y of which s regulated by nature, according to the amount required to relieve the morbid state with the least expenditure of the vital fluid. " In chronic phthisis, the slight expectoration of a drop or two of blood appears to be so physiological, that, when it is absent, we may often act wiselv in supplyig its place by small leechings or cuppings to the exterior of the chest." Dr. Chambers finds this gives relief to the local disturbance, and to the general system; so that the patient improves in every respect. An ingenious, and, I believe, original explanation, is given by Dr. Chambers of the cause of the infrequency of perforation, and the comparative immunity of the serous membrane, with a large ulcerating surface lying immediately beneath it. The usual position of the ulcerating fistulee is found to be the middle third of either lung, and rarely the apex or the base; and, since the apex is the ordinary seat of vomicw, and the base of abscess, there must be some provision by which the most exposed parts are guarded, which the author believes to be the following: " In breathing, the base, from the pressure of the diaphragm, and the apex, from being drawn, as it were, up into a corner, have less motion than the middle of the lungs, and, consequently, when pleurisy occurs, they are most liable to become adherent to the thoracic walls. The adhesions formed not only prevent the perforations there being detected, but they also prevent any harm arising fvom tham In conclusion, it cannot be said that, in this hospital, the post mortem records, in connexion with the present su'bject, are very satisfactory. As respects pleuritic adhesions, independently of the doubt expressed by Dr. Chambers of the accuracy of the numbers as recorded, the registrars do not appear to have regarded a point upon which Louis laid great stress, viz., that, in the cases examined by him, the extent of the adhesions was always proportionate to the extent of tubercular disease in the subjacent lung. It was certainly important to ascertain how far this observation is borne out on further investigation. In the instances of condensation of the lung, nio account is given of its characters-whether, for instance, the red or the grey hepatisation of pathologists is intended; nor are any microscopical appearances recorded. We have no means of determining how far this condition is to be regarded as hepatisation by a tuberculous product; and, although the condensations are described as partial, we have the least possible information as to thei#seat and extent. No distinction appears to be made between grey granulation and crude yellow tubercle, grey inSfitration and yellow infiltration. In the actual state of science, these are important omissions, which ought not to occur in post mortem records aiming at accuracy and utility. That the state of the blood in the vascular system generally, and in the vessels of diseased parts, including its microscopical characters, should be carefully noted, presents isf also as an obvious desideratum in futurm post mor*m records. Nf* Crast, By" Pk,Dmbw la& SPONTANEOUS AMPUTATION IN UTRO OF THE RIGHT FO M. By GEORGE GREENWOOD, Esq. TNI monographs by Dr. Montgomery of Dublin, and D> Simpson of Edinburgh, on Spontaneous Amputation of the jimbs of the Fetus, contain a collection of cases more or le1 similar to that which I am now about to record. These vuable papers appeared in the first, second, and tenth volumes of the DtuNin Journat of Medicine. In the ediea 2iasx of December 1853, Mr. Maclaughlin reports a cse of a child born without arms, which evidently belongs to the same class. The nature of the disjunctive agency in such cases is well explained by the writers to whom I have referred. CASE. On the 13th of last month, I was called upon to attend A. P., aged 23, in her first confinement. Labour was natural. The child, a female, was born without the right forearm; the stump having the appearance of a very neat amputation. The humerus can be distinctly felt at its extremity, diverging into two equal and well rounded condyles. Wishing to ascertain if any, or what influences, maternal solicitude or mental impression, could be traced in connexion with such an effect. I was informed that, in the earlier months of utero gestation, the mother had received a severe shock by the sudden intelligence of her husband having had his arm nearly cut off by machinery, at the mill where he is accustomed to work. The report, however, was exaggerated, as he had merely sustained a slight injury to one of the fingers. The grandfather of my patient, residing in the same house, lost the use of his right hand, from an injury to the wrist, terminating in exfoliation of some of the carpal bones, and permanent immobility of the fingers. Having stated the facts of this case, and some collateral circumstances in which an interest may be felt, I leave my readers to draw their own conclusions -regarding a curious subject in intra-uterine pathology.


Practitioner research has received growing attention across a number of professional fields, including health, social services and education. Supporting the development of practitioner research raises a series of important political questions addressed by the authors: how should projects and initiatives be sponsored; how are research questions best shaped; what arrangements exist for ongoing project support; and how are findings best shared? Drawing on two practitioner research initiatives from New Zealand and Scotland, this article points towards the opportunities and challenges of collaborative knowledge production within practice settings.


In spite of the indubitable advantages of elasticity in Cloud infrastructures, some technical and conceptual limitations are still to be considered. For instance, resource start up time is generally too long to react to unexpected workload spikes. Also, the billing cycles' granularity of existing pricing models may incur consumers to suffer from partial usage waste. We advocate that the software layer can take part in the elasticity process as the overhead of software reconfigurations can be usually considered negligible if compared to infrastructure one. Thanks to this extra level of elasticity, we are able to define cloud reconfigurations that enact elasticity in both software and infrastructure layers so as to meet demand changes while tackling those limitations. This paper presents an autonomic approach to manage cloud elasticity in a crosslayered manner. First, we enhance cloud elasticity with the software elasticity model. Then, we describe how our autonomic cloud elasticity model relies on dynamic selection of elasticity tactics. We present an experimental analysis of a sub-set of those elasticity tactics under different scenarios in order to provide insights on strategies that could drive the autonomic selection of the proper tactics to be applied.


The organizational and economic and legal aspects of the development and implementation of policies and strategies for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the leading countries of the world have been studied. All major economies (more than 60 countries) have developed national policies (strategies) for the development of AI. The following countries are considered advanced in the implementation of national AI strategies: USA, China, Canada, UK, Japan, UAE, France, Germany, South Korea, India and most countries of the European Union (EU). The structure of AI development strategies, priorities, funding models were considered, the main principles of the development and use of AI technologies, priority directions, goals and objectives of the use of AI were analyzed. The problems associated with the use of AI are highlighted: these are issues of data for processing AI, control over the use of AI, tracking AI decisions and responsibility for their adoption, control over confidentiality, ensuring the protection of personal data. Comparing the Ukrainian concept of AI development with the strategies of developed countries, we can conclude that it will not contribute to the effective development of AI, since investments in AI technologies differ hundreds of times, incentive tools and specific actions for the development of AI are not provided. The Institute of Artificial Intelligence Problems of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine have developed a project of the Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Ukraine for 2022–2030. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine needs to take measures to adopt the Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in Ukraine. It is concluded that there is a process of formation of two large spaces in the field of AI technologies in the international arena: the first unites the OECD countries with the unconditional financial, technological and value-normative dominance of the USA and the EU. The second is formed around China, in whose orbit countries fall, for which cooperation with the West is complicated due to a wide range of international conflicts (including Russia). Countries that are unable to resist the technological hegemony of China and the United States are faced with the dilemma of choosing between two large technological spaces.


Transformer-based dual-mode gain power amplifier arrangement includes a driving stage 220, power amplifier stage 250 and the bypass path (272, 274, 280). Between switchable stage matching circuit 234 is connected between the respective input and output of the power amplifier stage 250 and the bypass path (272, 274, 280) of the drive stage 220. Between switchable stage matching circuit 234 includes a transformer 430 having a primary coil 432 coupled to the output of the driver stage 220. The secondary coil 442 of the transformer 430 having one terminal connected to ground via a first switch 446. On the other hand, the other terminal is connected to the bypass path (272, 274, 280). Inter-stage matching circuit 234 also includes a second switch 276 connected between the output and the input of the power amplifier stage 250 of the driving stage 220. In high gain mode, the first switch 446 is opened and the second switch 276 is closed. Therefore, the secondary coil is electrically isolated from the primary coil during the high gain mode. During the bypass mode, the first switch 446 is closed and the second switch 276 is open. As a result, the secondary coil 442 provides a signal from the drive stage where the signals are routed to the amplifier output terminal (B) through an additional matching circuit 280. In order to improve impedance matching between the stage, the array may further comprise a capacitor (444) connected to the first switchable capacitor (434, 436) connected to the primary coil 432 and / or secondary coil (442). The driving stage and the amplifier stage, the primary coil is connected between the differential output of the driver stage may be realized as a differential amplifier stage which converts the differential signal into a single-ended signal for the secondary coil by-pass mode.


Cancer treatments are well known to adversely affect male fertility. Reduction of sperm output arises from the cytotoxic effects of chemo- or radiotherapy upon the spermatogenic epithelium. However, if the epithelium survives there is a hazard to reproduction as the treatments are also mutagenic. The presence of DNA damage in the male genome is shown in animal experiments where there is transgenerational expression as a variety of effects ranging from miscarriage to carcinogenesis. The application of DNA damage methodology to sperm provides the opportunity for direct assessment. The Comet and Chromatin structure assays (SCSA) measure DNA damage by different principles, however, conclusions arising from the data are similar. DNA damage is present in sperm from fertile and infertile men and there is some association with infertility. Both assays detect sperm DNA damage after in vivo treatment with genotoxic agents. In a man treated with chemotherapy for cancer there was increased and persistent DNA damage in sperm. This information is consistent with the generation of human genetic diseases after conception with sperm carrying high loads of DNA damage. Whilst studies have not supported any association between paternal cytotoxic cancer therapy and genetic disease in their children, it would be unwise to discount these observations. The institution of better surveillance of genetic disease in the offspring of men surviving cytotoxic therapies may provide more robust risk assessment.


This article investigates the performance of reconfigurable intelligent surface assisted two-way non-orthogonal multiple access (RIS-TW-NOMA) networks, where a pair of users exchange their information through a RIS. The influence of imperfect successive interference cancellation on RIS-TW-NOMA is taken into account. To evaluate the potential performance of RIS-TW-NOMA, we derive the exact and asymptotic expressions of outage probability and ergodic rate for a pair of users. Based on the analytical results, the diversity orders and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) slopes are obtained in the high SNR regime, which are closely related to the number of RIS elements. Additionally, we analyze the system throughput and energy efficiency of RIS-TW-NOMA networks in both delay-limited and delay-tolerant transmission modes. Numerical results indicate that: 1) The outage behaviors and ergodic rate of RIS-TW-NOMA are superior to that of RIS-TW-OMA and two-way relay OMA (TWR-OMA); 2) As the number of RIS elements increases, the RIS-TW-NOMA networks are capable of achieving the enhanced outage performance; and 3) By comparing with RIS-TW-OMA and TWR-OMA networks, the energy efficiency and system throughput of RIS-TW-NOMA has obvious advantages.


The birth of the modern Hong Kong identity has long been attributed to the events following the 1967 Riot. This thesis affirms the current understanding that a renewed sense of self-awareness and identity was experienced by the people of Hong Kong as a direct result of the riots. However, the thesis argues against the general scholarly consent that this identity was at its inception a cultural identity, but proposes that this Hong Kong awareness began as a political identity, advocated by the elites of the Hong Kong society and subsequently accepted by its majority. The cultural dimensions of the Hong Kong identity would take another decade to evolve. The thesis also compares the cases of Hong Kong and Singapore, and argues that both underwent processes of identification that were in many ways similar.


Socially intelligent agents are autonomous problem solvers that have to achieve their objectives by interacting with other similarly autonomous entities. A major concern, therefore, is with the design of the decision-making mechanism that such agents employ in order to determine which actions to take to achieve their goals. We propose a framework for making socially acceptable decisions, based on social welfare functions, that combines social and individual perspectives in a unified and flexible manner. The framework is realized in an exemplar computational setting and an empirical analysis is made of the relative performance of varying sociable decision-making functions in a range of environments. This analysis is then used to design an agent that adapts its decision-making to reflect the resource constraints that it faces at any given time. A further round of empirical evaluation shows how adding such a meta-level mechanism enhances the performance of the agent by directing reasoning to adopt different strategies in different contexts. Finally, the possibility and efficacy of making the metalevel mechanism adaptive, so that experience of past encounters can be factored into the decision-making, is demonstrated.


A successive projection algorithm for matching serial images is presented. The algorithm is based on an approximate projections onto convex sets (POCS) method and uses a graph-based technique in its formulation. It is unique in the way a constrained cost function is minimized using POCS methodology. Simulation results indicate that our algorithm compares favourably to other well-known graph-based algorithms. The suitability of our algorithm for matching infrared rooftop images is highlighted.


This study evaluated how establishing, teaching, and reinforcing schoolwide rules and routines and systematically responding to disruptive behavior affected the number of formal office disciplinary referrals. One elementary school was studied over 4 school years. A continuous intervention time series design was used, along with a nonequivalent comparison group. Results revealed that actively planning for and establishing clear standards throughout the school and having in place a systematic response to disruptive behavior had positive effects. However, it seemed that the systematic response to disruptive behavior may have played a key role in the decrease in the amount of formal office disciplinary referrals.


This paper describes a method of using combined 2nd and 3rd toe transfer as one stage procedure for reconstruction of transmetacarpal amputation of the hand to restore chuck pinch and power grip.


In the last decades, the technology is advancing fast-paced and over time it's becoming more
compact and ubiquitous. Thanks to some useful functionalities such as the GPS and the wireless
connection, which helped the portability of the smartphones, the mobility and pervasiveness of
the technology have become a central topic in the design of new digital products. In parallel to
this change, the technology evolved becoming an integral component of the environment where
we are living; now, more than ever, we are residing in a deeply connected urban environment,
where the virtuality is well integrated into the real world. The evolution from a physicallylimited
technology into a pervasive scenario, had also affected the concept of cities and their
design turning most of them into Smart entities, that is more intelligent, interconnected, and
instrumented (Harrison et al., 2010). However, this progress towards intelligent cities assisted
another evolution concerning the citizens, in fact, the city dwellers gained a key role by
becoming nodes of a wide network and being capable to have a direct impact in the city-making
(Ampatzidou et al, 2014).
This progress has had an impact also on digital games and their design. In fact, the idea
of games passed from being static and tied to the console to a mobile and pervasive experience,
where the game is not played only digitally on a console but it's experienced in the physical
environment and the game information is well-integrated in the physical space. These types of
games are called pervasive. They are used not only for the mere enjoyment of the player, rather
for meaningful purposes such as civic engagement, informal learning or environmental
awareness (Neuenhaus et al., 2017; Humphreys et al., 2011). One of the main issues concerning
pervasive games is the union of the virtual environment of the game and the physical one where
the games actually occur. In order to tackle this issue, different solutions have been thought out,
but the most effective is the adoption of Augmented Reality (AR). In fact, AR allows to place the
virtual information of the games consistently with the physical space (Wang et al., 2013).
The research presented in this thesis took place in the Interactive Systems laboratory of
the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid1
 and contributed to Project PACE (TIN2016-77690-R),
which investigates citizen engagement in different forms. One of the goals of the project is to
analyze how to engage citizens in meaningful experiences using affordable pervasive technologies. In particular, an AR pervasive game has been designed for raising awareness about
the urban environment and the history of a building of the university (i.e. the Sabatini building)
that otherwise goes unnoticed by most of the people that dwell in that space. Hence, the goal of
this game is promoting the urban environmental awareness through an engaging informal
learning experience.
This research has the purpose to evaluate to what extent the pervasive game engages the
users (i.e. citizens) and to assess the level of acceptability of the chosen technology, namely an
AR pervasive game running on a smartphone. Besides these two evaluations, the research aims at
contributing to the definition of user engagement for pervasive games in the context of playable
cities. According to the study of the literature, it is hypothesized that two diverse factors (i.e.
Urban Environmental Awareness and Perceived Walked Distance) might be considered as
measures of the user engagement (Howe et al., 2016; Bursztyn et al., 2017).


The understanding of the behavior of a concrete road under fatigue loading is vital for the design and the performance prediction. A lean concrete sub base is used, especially in case of higher traffic intensity, for concrete roads for effective distribution of stresses in the pavement and sub grade. But there are apprehensions regarding utilization of bond between pavement quality concrete and lean concrete for design of rigid pavements. The present investigation presents a study on behavior of high volume fly ash concrete composite sections under flexural fatigue loading. A cement replacement level of 60% with low calcium fly ash was used for both pavement and lean concretes. A total number of 50 composite beam sections were tested under constant amplitude non reversed cyclic loading. Fatigue life distribution followed lognormal distribution at all the stress levels. Relation between stress level and fatigue life was developed for composite section. Bond between two layers of concretes proved to be beneficial from the criteria of load carrying capacity and fatigue behavior.


Abstract Using empirical potentials derived from fitting the vibrational frequencies of a group of silicates and oxides, and crystallographic information, a Born-von Karman rigid-ion latticedynamical model has been applied to the whole Brillouin zone in beryl. The Raman and infrared spectra are satisfactorily reproduced and interpreted by these calculations; there is also very good agreement with atomic displacement parameters derived from accurate crystal-structure refinement by various authors and with experimental values of thermodynamic functions for the anhydrous phase at different temperatures. The agreement of our calculations with experimental data of independent origin and nature demonstrates the potential of such a procedure.


Wheat is a global food security crop, providing 20 percent of protein and calories consumed worldwide and up to 50 percent in developing countries. It is the second most important cereal next to rice in Bangladesh and playing an important role in attaining food security. But wheat is very susceptible to diseases that often place major biological constraints on production. In 2016, a new wheat disease called "blast" was identified by wheat scientists for the first time in Bangladesh. Wheat blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae triticum is causing enormous yield loss worldwide. At present, control of blast disease is a great challenge due to frequently introduction of new races of the pathogen. The present investigation focused on screening M2 population of gamma radiated wheat where four doses of radiations viz. 150 Gy, 200 Gy, 250 Gy, and 300 Gy were applied to the seeds of three wheat varieties viz. BARI Gom-25, BARI Gom-29 and BARI Gom-30 from a Cobalt 60 source (Gamma Chamber 5000). The irradiated seeds were sown in farmers' fields of a wheat blast disease-prone area Chandbil, Meherpur Sadar. All the doses of irradiation showed a significant effect on incidence and severity of wheat blast disease in all three varieties. Among the treatments 200 Gy and 250 Gy reduced the disease effectively. Molecular detection of Magnaporthe oryzae triticum was also done using specific primer. The size of the band (350 bp) confirms the infection of M2 families by Magnaporthe oryzae triticum. Development of wheat blast resistant variety through irradiation could be a potential substitute to replace the available chemical control methods and it is described as eco-friendly, sustainable and nonhazardous strategy to reduce wheat yield loss due to blast disease.


RBridges provide the ability to have an entire campus, with multiple
physical links, look to IP like a single subnet. The design allows for
zero configuration of switches within a campus, optimal pair-wise
routing, safe forwarding even during periods of temporary loops, and
the ability to cut down on ARP/ND traffic. The design supports VLANs,
allows forwarding tables to be based on RBridge destinations (rather
than endnode destinations, allowing internal forwarding tables to be
smaller than in conventional bridge systems) and re-uses existing
routing protocols (for - at least - distribution of reachability of
destinations and shortest path computation within a campus). In order
to accomplish this, the design may impose requirements for extensions
to existing routing protocols necessary to accomplish the distribution
and computation processes, as well as specific limits on interactions
between bridge, R-Bridge and Router instances.


Aiml-Borneolum is a monoterpene compound witch deserved from Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC, this study aimed to investigate the potential mechanism of l-borneolum on cerebral ischemic stroke (CIS) rats and provide evidence for the development of l-borneolum in CIS.MethodsPermanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) model rats were applied to this study. Neurological function was assessed by modified neurological severity scores (mNSS) and Longa neurological function scoring methods. The pathological changes of cerebral tissue were evaluated by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) and hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Ultrastructure of blood brain barrier (BBB) was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Additionally, the expression of Notch1, Dll4, Hey1, Hes1, Hes5, VEGFA and p65 in the cortex were determined by Western blotting (WB) while expression of caspase 3 were determined by immunohistochemical method (IHC). Resultsl-Borneolum improved neurological function in a dose-dependently. l-Borneolum significantly alleviated brainstem edema and inflammation, as well as improved the ultrastructure of capillary and BBB in cortex. Moreover, 0.2 g/kg l-borneolum substantially decreased the protein expressions of Dll4, Notch1, Hes1, Hes5, and VEGFA in the cortex while decreased the level of Caspase-3 in the cortex of rats. Conclusionsl-Borneolum could repair neurological function by regulating Dll4/Notch1 signaling pathway.


Aligned with the economic development in China, Mandarin has been made popular worldwide. The ninth Malaysian plan (2006-2010) has strongly substantiated the need of Mandarin to be introduced as a foreign language elective course in public institutions of higher learning. Due to the fact that numerical phrases play a prominent role in daily lives, the main aim of this study is to explore the construction of Mandarin time phrase among Malay learners. A total of 40 Malay students who registered in Mandarin for Beginners course took part in this study. A test which consisted of 10 questions covering construction of time phrase was administered to the students. Grammatical description and frequency analysis were employed, and the results showed five types of linguistic error committed by the students in constructing Mandarin time phrase: (1) error in words usage, (2) confusion of numbers, (3) Hanyu Pinyin errors, (4) structural errors and (5) omissions of words. The factors influencing students in the construction of Mandarin time phrase include students" attitude, different structures between Mandarin and Malay, language transfer from native language and lack of learning time. Accordingly, this study sheds light on Mandarin teachers in improving academic performances of Malay students in conceptualizing and mastering Mandarin time phrase.


655 Background: Demographic variables such as age and sex have long been associated with risk of cancer incidence, therapeutic response, and mortality. In NENs, specifically, studies have shown differences in overall survival based on age at diagnosis and sex. However, studies investigating the molecular determinants associated with age and gender have been lacking. To delineate the mechanisms of age, gender, and outcomes, we queried a large real-world dataset of NENs originating from the GI-tract and pancreas and characterized their molecular and immune profiles. Methods: 1935 cases (GI: n=1431, Pancreas: n=504) of NENs were analyzed using Next Generation Sequencing or Whole Exome Sequencing of DNA, and 1211/1935 cases (GI: n=917, Pancreas: n=294) underwent Whole Transcriptome Sequencing at Caris Life Sciences (Phoenix, AZ). To study the age-associated effect on the molecular and immune landscapes, we applied two age cutoffs: below 50 and 70 years of age at the time of tissue collection, respectively. Significance was determined using chi-square, Fisher-Exact or Mann-Whitney U, and p-values were adjusted for multiple comparisons (q<0.05). Results: In GI-NEN, TP53, RB1 mutations and high tumor mutation burden (TMB_H; >=10 Mut/Mb) were more prevalent and KRAS mutations were less prevalent with increasing age. Interestingly, in pancreatic NENs (P-NENs), KRAS mutations were more prevalent and TMB_H were less prevalent with increasing age. Mutations specific to the sites of origin such as APC (GI) and MUTYH (pancreas) were negatively associated with age while SMAD4 (pancreas) was positively associated with age. While no differences in immune checkpoint gene (ICG) expression were associated with age, immune cell estimates of M1 macrophages (anti-tumorigenic) in GI-NENs were higher in patients above 70 and M2 macrophages (pro-tumorigenic) were higher in patients below 50 (p<0.05, q>0.05). For the analysis with gender, mutations in p53 were more prevalent among males with GI-NEN while dMMR/MSI-H were more prevalent in females with P-NENs. No significant differences in ICG expression and immune cell estimates were associated with gender. Conclusions: Our study queries one of the largest datasets of GI and P-NENs to date. We observe distinct molecular profiles associated with age and gender in both GI- and P-NENs as well as a distinct immune profile associated with age in GI-NENs. While these results are only hypothesis generating, they are suggestive of how patient demographics may be utilized for rational therapy design. [Table: see text]


The least shrew, Cryptotis parva , has expanded its distribution westward during the past 20–30 years in response to increased irrigation and a simultaneous trend toward more mesic climate. The species is recolonizing regions that it invaded coincident with increased summer precipitation during the late Wisconsinan (13,000 years ago) before being forced to the south and east during the establishment of modern desert-scrub vegetation 4,000 years ago. Allozymic patterns among three recently discovered peripheral populations of Cryptotis parva in eastern New Mexico compared to a population from within the continuous range of the species in Texas indicate that two populations probably resulted from recent dispersal from the east, while a third may represent a relict of late Wisconsinan and alti-thermal intervals. This population, at Bitter Lake along the Pecos River Valley, is isolated from eastern populations by an elevated, arid plateau and from southern populations along the Pecos River by 600 km; it has a unique allozymic complement and it resembles the southern subspecies ( C. p. berlandieri ) in cranial morphology. Range maps of species of mammals must be viewed with caution, particularly at their distributional limits, in light of recent documentation of substantial range shifts (up to 450 km) over periods of 2–3 decades.


We present a novel frequency-selective surface (FSS) design aimed at enhancing the performance of broad-band reconfigurable antenna apertures. In particular, reconfigurable printed dipole arrays are examined in the presence of a multilayer FSS. Of particular interest is the design of FSS structures whose reflection coefficient has prespecified phase response over a broad set of frequencies. Previous FSSs primarily considered designs on the basis of the reflection coefficient amplitude and were intended for radome applications rather than substrates. Designing FSSs subject to phase requirements is seen to require some compromise in the magnitude. Broad-band requirements also present us with a need for noncommensurate FSS designs.


This article presents a model of play to distinguish the ethos of activities as part of a continuum between play, games, work, and threat. The key to determining the ethos of an activity is the discourse of the activity, and how an activity is communicated as a message (process & content of communication), the mood of the communication (how it should be interpreted), and consequence (what is at stake). These three discourse categories can be binaries, and presented as a spectrum based upon: coherence and ambiguity. The proposed model suggests that play can be measured across three axes presented as binaries based upon the degree of coherence and ambiguity. This model frames a method for distinguishing and designing for play in any medium.


The obelisk is a large stone block with a height ranging from 50 cm to 3 m. It varies in width from one obelisk to another. It is sculptured from one side or two or four sides with prominent picture inscriptions, often accompanied by cuneiform texts for immortalising kings and their military campaigns. This obelisk is constructed in a rectangular or square, and some of them a dome convex or semi-circular or pyramid. The lower section of the obelisks is wide, similar to the base of the base, and another section is sculpted on a slightly sloping end, so that it can easily be attached to the ground or placed on a special base. The rulers and kings of Mesopotamia established and displayed the obelisk in public places in order to be seen by the public.  It also was placed in the yards of temples or public squares and squares and the streets of cities. It used to celebrate their religious, military and historical achievements in order to immortalise their actions. These obelisks are held to commemorate the deeds of kings and their achievements in peace and war as confirmed by the cuneiform texts and the artistic scenes implemented on them.


Abstract The advance of next-generation sequencers (NGS) has dramatically improved the performance of genomic analysis of clinical samples in cancer precision medicine. The practical use of gene panel testing for clinical applications has begun in Japan. At present, "OncomineTM Dx Target Test" is listed as a companion diagnostic system using NGS, and "FoundationOne CDx Cancer Genomic Profile" and "OncoGuide™ NCC Oncopanel System" are listed as gene panel testing under insurance coverage. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimen have been routinely used for molecular diagnosis testing, therefore quality control such as formalin fixation time and tumor contents is important to ensure validity of diagnostic results. In this presentation, the issue to obtain evaluable results of gene panel testing using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimen will be discussed. Due to evolution of detection technologies, we can detect gene mutation with high sensitivity. Detection of gene mutation in circulating tumor DNA is feasible approach for diagnostic testing in cancer treatment. Liquid biopsy has been approved as a companion diagnostic testing to detect EGFR mutations in NSCLC. Examples of the clinical utility of plasma testing in cancer treatment will be presented.


Plants have evolved seeds to permit the survival and dispersion of their lineages by providing nutrition for embryo growth and resistance to unfavorable environmental conditions. Seed formation is a complicated process that can be roughly divided into embryogenesis and the maturation phase, characterized by accumulation of storage compound, acquisition of desiccation tolerance, arrest of growth, and acquisition of dormancy. Concerted regulation of several signaling pathways, including hormonal and metabolic signals and gene networks, is required to accomplish seed formation. Recent studies have identified the major network of genes and hormonal signals in seed development, mainly in maturation. Gibberellin (GA) and abscisic acids (ABA) are recognized as the main hormones that antagonistically regulate seed development and germination. Especially, knowledge of the molecular mechanism of ABA regulation of seed maturation, including regulation of dormancy, accumulation of storage compounds, and desiccation tolerance, has been accumulated. However, the function of ABA and GA during embryogenesis still remains elusive. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the sophisticated molecular networks of genes and signaling of GA and ABA in the regulation of seed development from embryogenesis to maturation.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Metastatic spread of prostate cancer (PCa) is responsible for the majority of prostate cancer-related deaths. Whereas socioeconomic factors, different geographic areas and ethnicity contribute to the incidence and mortality rates of this disease, they cannot fully explain the tumor biology. Our understanding of the mechanisms that drive PCa progression and metastasis is still limited. Kaiso belongs to a BTB/POZ zinc finger protein family and is known as a transcriptional repressor by binding to sequence-specific Kaiso binding sites or methyl-CpG dinucleotide pairs. Kaiso expression and localization have been reported to correlate with the prognosis and metastatic potential in several human malignancies. Previous studies from our lab showed that the progression of PCa is closely associated with the over-expression and nuclear translocation of Kaiso. Our objective here is to explore the potential molecular mechanisms underlying Kaiso mediated increase in PCa progression. MicroRNAs play an emerging role in cancer initiation and progression. Therefore we proposed to investigate Kaiso targeting microRNAs and their roles in PCa. PC-3 cells, a highly metastatic PCa cell line, were stably transfected with a shRNA plasmid against human Kaiso or a scramble control. Two clones exhibited >80% downregulation of Kaiso in PC-3 cells at either the transcriptional or translational levels were used for further studies. We determined miRNA expression profiles correlated with Kaiso knock down and DNMT1 inhibitor 5-Aza de-methylation treatment using microRNA arrays. Comparative analysis revealed 11 miRNAs were significantly altered by Kaiso knock down and 32 miRNAs were significantly altered by 5-Aza treatment (> 2 fold, p<0.05). Real-time PCR confirmed that miR-31 expression was up-regulated in both Kaiso knock down cells and 5-Aza treated cells. From the analysis of differentially expressed miRNAs, miR-31 expression was also negatively correlated with kaiso expression in a set of prostate cell lines. ChIP assay revealed that kaiso directly binds to miR-31 promoter. The restoration of miR-31 suppressed cell proliferation; induced apoptosis and inhibited tumor cell invasion and metastasis in vitro. Inhibition of miR-31 in PC-3 shKaiso cells restored kaiso knock down-inhibited cell proliferation; migration and metastasis. Xenograft model indicated that miR-31 overexpression significant suppressed tumor formation in vivo. Taken together, our studies suggest that Kaiso regulates specific miRNA expression in PCa cells, indicating that Kaiso could promote cancer progression through regulating miR-31 expression in a methylation dependent manner.

Citation Format: Honghe Wang, ShaNekkia Black, Wei Liu, Fu Zhao, Timothy Turner, Clayton Yates. Transcriptional repressor Kaiso promotes cancer progression by targeting miR-31 in prostate cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3062. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3062

Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 because the presenter was unable to attend.


Here we report a new redox-active perylene bisimide (PBI)-polysulfide (PS) gel that overcomes electronic charge-transport bottlenecks common to lithium–sulfur (Li–S) hybrid redox flow batteries designed for long-duration grid-scale energy storage applications. PBI was identified as a supramolecular redox mediator for soluble lithium polysulfides from a library of 85 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by using a high-throughput computational platform; furthermore, these theoretical predictions were validated electrochemically. Challenging conventional wisdom, we found that π-stacked PBI assemblies were stable even in their reduced state through secondary interactions between PBI nanofibers and Li2Sn, which resulted in a redox-active, flowable 3-D gel network. The influence of supramolecular charge-transporting PBI-PS gel networks on Li–S battery performance was investigated in depth and revealed enhanced sulfur utilization and rate performance (C/4 and C/8) at a sulfur loading of 4 mg cm–2 and energy density...


Background/aims To investigate the prognostic values of putative hepatic stem/progenitor cell (HSC/HPC) biomarkers in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Fourteen biomarkers related to HSCs/HPCs or tumour angiogenesis were assessed by qRT-PCR and then validated by tissue microarrays (TMAs) in three independent cohorts of patients with HCC undergoing curative resection (n=67, 314 and 73). Results Most of the biomarkers were found to be overexpressed in patients with recurrent HCC by quantitative reverse transcription–PCR (qRT–PCR). The HSC/HPC biomarkers cytokeratin 19, ATP-binding cassette subfamily G member 2 (ABCG2), CD133, Nestin and CD44, and the markers of angiogenesis microvessel density (MVD, determined by CD34 immunostaining), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) were confirmed as significant predictors for overall survival (OS) and/or relapse-free survival (RFS) in TMA analysis. As compared with the low HSC/HPC profile group, patients with a high HSC/HPC profile who had higher VEGF levels (p=0.012) and MVD (p=0.030) in tumours had significantly lower OS and RFS (p<0.0001). Based on Cox regression, a simplified model including CD133, CD44, Nestin and MVD was constructed and confirmed as an independent predictor for OS (p<0.0001) and RFS (p<0.0001), regardless of α-fetoprotein level, tumour stage and recurrence time (p<0.0001 for all). Conclusion High expression levels of HSC/HPC biomarkers are related to tumour angiogenesis and poor prognosis of HCC. The simplified model based on the HSC/HPC and tumour angiogenesis profile can be used to classify patients with HCC with a high risk of tumour recurrence after surgery.


In order to overcome uncertainty situation and inability to meet with customers' demand due to uncertainty, the organizations tend to keep a certain safety stock level. In this paper, the researcher used soft computing to identify optimal safety stock level (SSL), the fuzzy model uses dynamic concept to cope with high complexity environment status and control the inventory. The proposed approach deals with demand stability level, raw material availability level, and on hand inventory level by using fuzzy logic to obtain SSL. In this approach, demand stability, raw material, and on hand inventory are described linguistically and treated by inference rules of fuzzy model to extract best level of safety stock. The numerical dairy industry case study was applied with yogurt 200 gm cup product.


An innovative material, transparent soil, was used to study flow from a prefabricated vertical drain (PVD). Transparent soil is a mixture of mineral oil, solvent, and amorphous silica. Before using the material to study PVD flow patterns, testing was completed to verify previously published values for hydraulic conductivity and porosity. The results of the independent testing matched the published results well. Experiments using scaled-down and full-size PVDs were completed in cells with diameters ranging from 10.2 to 30.0 cm, respectively. The results of these tests compared favorably to those obtained using an electrical analog and a mathematical model. The transparent soil was an acceptable representation of soil; however, degradations in transparency can be a problem in larger samples. Some other difficulties in using transparent soil, such as finding acceptable sealants and preventing dying of the silica particles, are discussed. In addition, recommended areas of continued research are presented.


Dielectric property of Cu/polymer thermoplastic composites was measured in high frequencies up to 1 GHz. Generally relative permittivity and dielectric loss of the composites increased as the increasing metal inclusion loading as the percolation theory predicts. The incorporation of the copper inclusion with surface antirust layer raised relative permittivity of the composite from 2.3 to 21.3 at the loading level of 39.3 vol. % at 500 MHz. When copper oxide layer was introduced to the filler surface, estimated increase of relative permittivity was ca. 25 %. Since metal composites with ordered structure would raise the relative permittivity of the composites, the cause of this increase in relative permittivity in the present study can be attributable to reduced compatibility of the filler surface and the polymer matrix which lowers randomness of particle distribution. On the other hand, dielectric loss of the composite with surface oxidized Cu powder was increased by ca. 50 % compared to that of the anti-rusted powder composite. This would be caused by skin effect that part of the induced current flows through the less conductive surface oxide layer.


A new series of selenoester derivatives of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine and imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine was synthesized under mild conditions using a simple methodology by the reaction of in situ generated sodium selenocarboxylates with 2-(chloromethyl)imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine/pyrimidine (3a–b) in water and ethanol. Excellent yields of phenyl/4-tolyl selenoesters of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine/pyrimidine (6a–b and 6e–f) were obtained in water, whereas 4-methoxyphenyl/4-chlorophenyl/2-thienyl selenoesters of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine/pyrimidine (6c–d and 6g–i) could only be synthesized in ethanol. Further, a series of reactions was carried out with 6e as a model compound in order to study the reaction behavior of selenoesters with mercury(II) chloride (HgCl2). The deprotection of compound 6e by HgCl2 was carried out in the presence of K2CO3 under different conditions to obtain bis(imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidin-2-ylmethyl)selenide (8) and bis(imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidin-2-ylmethyl) diselenide (9) along with a small amount of less soluble bis((imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidin-2-ylmethyl)selanyl)mercury (10). The mercury–selenium complex 10 has a short shelf life and decomposes to give HgSe, which was characterized using EDX analysis. The structure of compound 9 was established with X-ray crystallography. The formation of HgSe indicates that the selenoester derivatives may prove useful in the treatment of HgCl2 induced toxicity.


Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has greatly enhanced our ability to detect carcinoma of the prostate. Yet, because of its lack of specificity for malignancy, approximately two thirds of the men with an elevated PSA level do not have prostate cancer. This problem is particularly relevant to men whose prostate feels normal by digital rectal examination (DRE) and appears normal by transrectal ultrasound (TRUS). Carcinoma of the prostate, if detected in these men, is staged as T1c and is usually considered to be of clinical significance. Attempts at refining PSA have included attempts to correct the serum level relative to the size of the prostate (PSA density). Although conflicting data has been reported in the literature, it appears when stratified for PSA ranges between 4 and 10 ng/mL, PSA density does not provide an advantage over PSA alone in cancer detection in patients with a normal DRE and TRUS.


The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of chronic treatment with eplerenone, a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist and clinically used antihypertensive drug, on animal correlates of mood disorders, namely anxiety-like behaviour, stress hormones release and brain plasticity. Male rats (n = 40) were injected subcutaneously twice daily with eplerenone (50 mg/kg body weight) or vehicle for 11 days. Open-field and elevated plus-maze tests were used as both anxiety-related paradigms and stress stimuli to evaluate hormone responses. Eplerenone-treated rats showed reduced anxiety-like behaviour manifested by both conventional and ethological parameters related to exploration and risk assessment behaviour in the elevated plus-maze test and partially in the open-field test. Eplerenone treatment resulted in an elevation of plasma aldosterone and oxytocin levels. Chronic treatment with eplerenone prevented the stress-induced rise in plasma corticosterone levels and vasopressin concentrations in the posterior pituitary. Eplerenone treatment failed to induce substantial changes in hippocampal brain derived neurotrophic factor protein concentrations. In conclusions, chronic treatment with eplerenone (1) exerts anxiolytic effects and (2) influences corticosterone, oxytocin and vasopressin concentrations in a manner consistent with the anxiolytic outcome.


Liposome-entrapped dichloromethylene diphosphonate (Cl2MDP) was injected locally into the thymus of adult rats. This treatment, which has been found to deplete resident macrophages in other organs, also reduced the number of thymic macrophages. The depletion was evident in the cortex and the corticomedullary zone at 5, 13 and 23 days after Cl2MDP treatment, while the decrease in medullary macrophages only became significant 13 and 23 days after injection. However, the maximal reduction of macrophages was evident 13 days after this treatment. Thirty-five days after Cl2MDP treatment, macrophages repopulated the thymus. Our results suggest that the cortical and cortico-medullary macrophages have a high phagocytic activity consistent with their predominant role as scavengers of the large numbers of thymocytes that die under physiological conditions. It is concluded that liposome-mediated depletion of thymic macrophages can serve as an experimental model to study the roles of these cells.


OBJECTIVE
To study the prevalence of hypercarotenemia in a large cohort of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), to compare serum beta-carotene (betaC) values among restricting and purging AN subjects, and to investigate whether hypercarotenemia is related to an increase in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

METHOD
Retrospective case-control study including 101 female patients and 95 age-matched normal controls in whom fasting serum betaC and lipid profiles were determined.

RESULTS
The prevalence of hypercarotenemia (>200 microg/dl) in the AN population was 62%. Mean serum betaC level was significantly higher in AN patients than in controls (237 +/- 103 vs. 160 +/- 45 microg/dl, p <.0001). Among AN patients, the level was higher in restricters than in purgers (271 +/- 110 vs. 186 +/- 78 microg/dl, p <.005). Fasting serum total and LDL cholesterol levels were also significantly higher in patients with AN than in controls, but no correlation was found between serum betaC and LDL cholesterol values.

DISCUSSION
Hypercarotenemia is a common finding in AN patients, especially in the restricter subgroup. The high prevalence of elevated serum betaC in AN patients supports its diagnostic value in atypical forms of eating disorders.


Green supply-chain management is a novel idea that incorporates the concept of environmental protection into traditional supply-chain management in order to reduce environmental risks and impact. This study developed criteria for evaluating green suppliers on the basis of the green supply chain. The Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method was adopted to investigate the criteria for evaluating green suppliers, to explore inter criterion causal relationships and levels of mutual influence, and finally to discuss the mechanism for evaluating green suppliers, as well as the methods for selecting them..


This study evaluated the antimicrobial, antioxidant and toxicity activity of essential oils (EOs) of Hymenaea courbaril L. var. courbaril bark and Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels leaves. The EOs were extracted by hydrodistillation and chemically characterized by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The ABTS and DPPH assay were used to evaluate antioxidant activity. For the toxicity assay, lethality was evaluated against Artemia salina Leach. For the antimicrobial assay, the method of Disc Diffusion and Dilution in Broth was applied to obtain the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal. The major constituent of the EO of H. courbaril was β-ocimene (23.33%) and the EO of S. cumini was isocaryophyllene (18.01%). Both OE showed relevant antioxidant activity and low toxicity against Artemia salina. The EOs showed bactericidal activity against E. coli, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, Salmonella sp., B. cereus and P. mirabilis. The results obtained are encouraged by the potential use of the OE's studied in the control and fight of pathogenic microorganisms.


Aim: Detection of protein expression changes in human cystic echinococcosis sera by 2D gel electrophoresis. Background: Diagnosis and successful treatment of cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a major challenge, up to now. Identification of related expressed proteins using proteomics tools and bioinformatics analysis of patients' sera have not been investigated, so far. Methods: Sera from eight confirmed CE patients and three healthy controls were collected, tested by 2-DE for total protein separation of serum and analyzed using proteomics and bioinformatics methods. The gels were stained by Coomassie blue followed by scan imaging of the gels. The protein spots in each gel were analyzed using progenesis same spots software. Proteins names were obtained from TagIdent server. Results: A total of 263 protein spots with different expression were detected in both normal and diseased samples. Comparison between diseased and normal gels showed the expression of 45 up-regulated protein spots with fold≥2 in diseased gel of which 10 were new proteins with statistical difference by normal gel (p-value<0.05). On the other hand, the expression of 50 down-regulated protein spots were observed of which 11 proteins have been suppressed. Clustering of all detected sera proteins (263) using correlation analysis, divided the proteins into 2 clusters based on up-regulated and down-regulated expression of proteins. Clustering results were approved by principal component analysis (PCA). Conclusion: Significant protein expression changes in human CE sera which is demonstrable by application of proteomics and bioinformatics analysis makes it an impressing tool for diagnosis of CE patients.


OBJECTIVE
THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE: 1) demographics and professional credentials of recently hired athletic trainers, 2) the association between these characteristics and the high school, clinical, and collegiate setting, and 3) which of these factors best predicted salary.

DESIGN AND SETTING
A survey was sent to all prospective employers. Of the 472 surveys sent, 282 (60%) were returned.

SUBJECTS
Prospective employers who were listed on the NATA job vacancy notices from January 1, 1994 to October 1, 1994.

MEASUREMENTS
Employers selected a job description for their position opening and indicated the characteristics of the people they hired. The job descriptions were placed into three categories. A chi-square analysis was used to determine the degree of association between applicant characteristics and job descriptions. Employee characteristics were coded and a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to determined which of the characteristics best predicted salary. Analyses of variance were performed to determine differences among the three practice settings and as follow-up analyses to the multiple regression. An analysis of variance was also performed to compare salaries based on job description and teaching responsibilities.

RESULTS
No association was found between the employment setting and gender, ethnicity, marital status, educational route, physical therapy, credential, or EMT certification. There was an association between the CPR instructor's credential and employment setting and between highest degree attained and employment setting.

CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that these factors were most closely associated with employment in the collegiate setting. With regard to salary, it was determined that a doctoral degree, a master's degree, and marital status were the best predictors of salary.


A three-dimensional ray tracing technique for internally reflected rays is developed and applied to compute the radiation pattern of an integrated lens antenna architecture with a twin arc-slot printed feed. The feed is represented in simulation by equivalent currents computed by the method of moments. The simulated results are compared against measurements at 30.2 GHz, including the case of an offset feed, in which internal reflections lead to pattern contributions of up to 20 dB that cannot be predicted by first-order physical optics (PO) techniques described in prior work. The twin arc-slot design reduces undesired sensitivity in diagonal lateral directions with respect to a comparable rectangular slot feed. Low-directivity feed model basis functions are shown to reduce discretization noise in the simulated patterns with respect to an array factor model. A frequency sweep analysis is introduced to test the sensitivity of individual sidelobes to the fabrication tolerances of the dielectric lens.


Abstract Discussions about publication ethics often focus on misconduct by authors such as data fabrication and plagiarism. However, the roles of editors, publishers, academic societies, and research institutions should not be ignored. All these players have ethical responsibilities and should carefully consider the effects of their policies and actions. If people believe that publication ethics is 'somebody else's problem', little progress will be made and problems will persist.


BACKGROUND
Syphilis continues to be a common sexually transmitted infection, despite the availability of inexpensive and effective treatment. Infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-discordant couples is important because syphilis increases the risk of HIV acquisition. Current US treatment guidelines recommend 1 dose of benzathine penicillin for early syphilis, irrespective of HIV status, but data from coinfected patients are limited.

METHODS
Retrospective analysis of 1321 individuals in 2 African HIV-discordant couple cohorts was performed. Cox proportional hazards analysis and multivariable modeling were used to assess predictors of serologic response to treatment at 180 days and 400 days. Modeling was performed for all episodes of positive rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test results and on a subset with higher RPR titers (≥1:4).

RESULTS
A total of 1810 episodes of syphilis among 1321 individuals were treated with penicillin between 2002 and 2008. Although a positive RPR was more common in the HIV-infected partners, HIV infection did not impact the likelihood of serologic response to therapy (odds ratio [OR], 1.001; P = .995). By 400 days, 67% had responded to therapy, 27% were serofast, and 6.5% had documented reinfection. Prevalent infections were more likely to remain serofast than incident infections (33% vs 20% at 400 days).

CONCLUSIONS
In 2 HIV-serodiscordant couple cohorts in Africa, incident syphilis had a very good likelihood of response to penicillin therapy, irrespective of HIV infection. This supports current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention treatment guidelines. A high proportion of prevalent RPR-positive infections remain serofast despite treatment.


Abstract 3106 Background: Induction therapy followed by ASCT is the standard therapy for the newly diagnosed younger patients with MM. Recently, new drugs such as lenalidomide or bortezomib have shown the promising results as an induction treatment. However, these drugs are not available in many countries as a front line treatment and many different type of induction treatment regimens including old regimens are used. We evaluate the efficacy and safety of the brief course of high dose dexamethasone (HD) and the response adapted PAD (Bortezomib, Adriamycin, Dexamethasone) or VAD (Vincristine, Adriamycin, Dexamethasone) induction chemotherapy in the newly diagnosed younger patients with MM. Methods: One hundred fifty five newly diagnosed patients with MM from 23 institutions received 2 cycles of HD followed by PAD or VAD chemotherapy according to the response to the HD. PAD 4 cycles were given to nonresponsders and VAD 2 cycles were given to who achieved more than PR to HD. The primary endpoint was CR + nCR rate after ASCT. Among 155 patents enrolled this study from November 2009, 29 patients (19%) have been dropped out. This trial will be continued until total 210 patients will be enrolled. The trial is registered on National Cancer Institute website, number NCT01255514. Results: One hundred fifty five patients (88 male, 69 female) were enrolled (median age; 57). 34 (22%) patients had ISS stage I, 64 (41%) stage II and 55 (35%) stage III. Thirty six (26%) patients had abnormal cytogenetics. In FISH analysis, there were 25% del13, 9% del17, 21% t (4; 14), 13% t (14; 16) and 26% t (11; 14). Among the 115 evaluable patients, CR + PR rate was 53% (61/115) after 2 cycles of HD. 61 patients (53%) received subsequent VAD chemotherapy and 54 patients (47%) received PAD chemotherapy. Among the evaluable patients, CR + PR rate after induction therapy was 83% (79%, 48/61 in VAD group vs. 89%, 48/54 in PAD group). 95 patients finished ASCT. CR + nCR rate after ASCT were 74% (74% in VAD group vs 73% in PAD group). Mortality rate of this trial was 15% (17/115). The cause of death was disease progression (n=5), bleeding (n=1) and infections (n=11). Among 115 patients in whom VAD or PAD chemotherapy was actually performed, 1 year OS was 88.1%. (VAD arm 90.7% versus PAD arm 86.1% (P=0.105): median follow-up; 16.6 months). Conclusion: Risk adapted approach using initial HD response showed good response results after ASCT compared with previous trial (CR + nCR rate of IFM 2005-01 trial-Bortezomib+dexa induction & ASCT was 35%, J Clin Oncol. 2010;28:4621–9) The MM patients who showed poor response to HD also showed similar good response rate after ASCT compared with the patients who had good response to HD in this trial. PAD re-induction therapy after failure of initial steroid induction treatment might overcome the inferior results in the high risk MM patients. Our data shows that almost half of the patients who responded to HD can be saved of novel agents during induction treatment, and PAD can successfully rescue the other half who are not sensitive to HD. Therefore, initial steroid response adapted strategy might be the more cost-effective approach in the newly diagnosed ASCT eligible MM patients. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a stateless application-
level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information
systems. This document defines the HTTP Authentication framework.
This document obsoletes RFC 7235.


A software development organization changes its process to take advantage of new technology, correct mistakes, or to produce new products. This paper describes the experiences of a software development organization improving its process. By focusing on making process definitions usable by those who execute the process and by collecting data on needed improvements throughout the execution of the process, the organization has introduced several hundred changes to the process and has incorporated these changes into its operations.<<ETX>>


OBJECTIVE
To assess the cost-effectiveness of chemotherapy for patients with non-resectable pancreatic cancer, we compared two regimens containing either gemcitabine (GEM) or S-1.

METHODS
We developed a decision tree that showed the clinical processes of non-resectable pancreatic cancer patients. We calculated the probabilities of endpoint and life months gained (LMG) based on previously reported articles. To estimate the costs, we analyzed medical records of 44 inpatients with non-resectable pancreatic cancer treated with GEM(n=34)or S-1(n=10). Sensitivity analysis was used to check the robustness of the results.

RESULTS
In the GEM group and S-1 group, costs were 1,636,393 and 985,042 yen, and LMG was 6. 0 and 9. 0 months, respectively. Thus, the cost-effectiveness ratio(CER)was calculated to be 272,732 and 109,449 yen/LMG, respectively, and the incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) was -217,117 yen/LMG. The sensitivity analysis showed that the result was definitely robust.

CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that the markedly cost-effective S-1 regimen could prolong LMG with less cost than the GEM regimen.


Canine and feline obesity rates have reached pandemic proportions and are similar to those in humans, with approximately 30%–40% of dogs and cats being overweight to obese. Obesity has been associated with other health problems, including osteoarthritis, renal disease, skin disease, insulin resistance, and neoplasia in dogs, while in cats obesity is associated with dermatological issues, diabetes mellitus, neoplasia, and urolithiasis. The health issues appear to be slightly different across the two species, which may be due to some inherent differences in the hormonal milieu involved in obesity that differs between the dog and the cat. In this review, we discuss the complicated nature of the pathogenesis of obesity, the hormonal stimulus for orexigenic and anorexigenic behavior, adipose tissue as an endocrine organ, and most importantly, clinical management of the number one disease in canine and feline medicine.