Purpose: Antigenic overlap among circulating endothelial cells (CEC) and progenitors (CEP), platelets, and other blood cells led to the need to develop a reliable standardized method for CEC and CEP quantification. These cells are emerging as promising preclinical/clinical tools to define optimal biological doses of antiangiogenic therapies and to help stratify patients in clinical trials. Experimental Design: We report the experimental validation of a novel flow cytometry method that precisely dissects CEC/CEP from platelets and other cell populations and provides information about CEC/CEP viability. Results: Sorted DNA/Syto16+CD45−CD31+CD146+ CECs, investigated by electron microscopy, were found to be bona fide endothelial cells by the presence of Weibel-Palade bodies. More than 75% of the circulating mRNAs of the endothelial-specific gene, VE-cadherin, found in the blood were present in the sorted population. CECs were 140 ± 171/mL in healthy subjects (n = 37) and 951 ± 1,876/mL in cancer patients (n = 78; P < 0.0001). The fraction of apoptotic/necrotic CECs was 77 ± 14% in healthy subjects and 43 ± 23% in cancer patients (P < 0.0001). CEPs were 181 ± 167/mL in healthy donors and 429 ± 507/mL in patients (P = 0.00019). Coefficients of variation were 4 ± 4% (intrareader), 17 ± 4% (interreader), and 17 ± 7% (variability over 0-72 h), respectively. Parallel samples were frozen by a standardized protocol. After thawing, coefficients of variation were 12 ± 8% (intrareader), 16 ± 10% (interreader), and 26 ± 16% (variability over 0-14 days of frozen storage), respectively. Conclusions: This procedure enumerates a truly endothelial cell population with limited intrareader and interreader variability. It appears possible to freeze samples for large-scale CEC enumeration during clinical trials. This approach could be enlarged to investigate other angiogenic cell populations as well.


Richard Powers's Orfeo pits novelty against familiar pattern, and explores the destructive effects of forcing something new to fit known patterns in art, science, and politics. The protagonist's dedication to writing truly new music wrecks his marriage and damages his personal life. His tinkering with novelty in bacterial genes will apparently get him killed by the police. Powers has argued in The Gold Bug Variations that the point of science is wonder, not control. Powers embodies this tension between novelty and known pattern by imposing the Orpheus myth on a composer for whom traditional patterns are anathema. Further, by embedding a radical political protest within a well-known myth, Powers demonstrates in his own writing the presentation of the new within recognizable older patterns, the tactic that protagonist Peter Els could have tried with his music if he had hoped to develop an audience. On the political level, Powers equates oppressive police power with forcing unusual people to fit a narrow range of behavior and belief patterns.


This study examines the effect of distorted triangular magnetic interactions in the kagome lattice. Using a Holstein-Primakoff expansion, we determine the analytical solutions for classical energies and the spin-wave modes for various magnetic configurations. By understanding the magnetic phase diagram, we characterize the changes in the spin waves and examine the spin distortions of the ferromagnetic, antiferrimagnetic, and ${120}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ phases that are produced by variable exchange interactions and lead to various noncollinear phases, which provides a deeper understanding of the magnetic fingerprints of these configurations for experimental characterization and identification.


CONTENTS I. Introduction 35 II. The identification of chromatographic peaks 35 III. Scheme for the separation of complex organic mixtures 41 IV. A review of work on the analysis of hydrocarbons 45


Li2NH4(IO3)3 single crystal with dimension of 14×14×27mm3 has been grown by cooling method. The cell parameters measured by four-cycle diffractometer are: a=11.317Å, b=11.066Å, c=8.330Å, β=111.25°. The infrared absorption spectrum, transmission curve and refractive index have also been measured for the first time.


The present part is concerned with a detailed experimental verification of the main results obtained theoretically in the earlier parts. Thin rods of Acheson graphite were used for this purpose, and were found very suitable. In addition to the experimental data for the temperature distribution along rods of different lengths, and heated by alternating currents of different densities, one also needs for such a verification, data for the thermal and the electrical conductivities, and the spectral and the total emissivities of the surface, at different temperatures. These measurements also have been made. The observed temperature variation along the rod is itself used to determine the thermal conductivity and its temperature variation. The thermal conductivity is found to decrease and tend to a constant value at high tem peratures, as it should. The other physical constants are determined directly. At low temperatures the spectral emissivity is found to be much larger than the total emissivity, and they tend to approach each other at high temperatures. Further, the spectral emissivity is found to decrease rapidly with increase of wave-length, as in the case of metals. Coming back to the temperature distribution, the main results that are verified here relate to the range of validity of the logarithmic formula in the B-region of a long rod, the constants involved in the formula, the deviation from the formula as one moves further into the B-region, the effect of the temperature coefficients, the parabolic law of variation near the centre, and the nature of the deviation from the parabolic law in long and short rods as one moves further away from the centre.


It has been demonstrated that hypokinesia diminished muscular activity induces changes in several biochemical total body parameters, including those of potassium, hemoglobin and bromine spaces. Therefore the objective of this study was to evaluate the composition of the body in 5 essentially healthy men, aged 19-23 years, after a 60 days exposure to hypokinesia (HK). For the simulation of the hypokinetic effect the men were kept under a rigorous bed rest regime. Throughout the hypokinetic period the men routinely performed a set of physical exercises (PE). Total body potassium, hemoglobin, bromine space and cell mass were measured in the baseline period (BP) and during readaptation period (RP), that is, after the exposure to HK. There were demonstrable reductions in cell and hemoglobin masses. The impaired potassium and hemoglobin content did not affect concentration thereof in blood. It was concluded that the examined biochemical parameters of human organism underwent certain changes following the exposure to diminished muscular activity conditions, while at the same time it was revealed that PE cannot be used to counteract the development of adverse effects of hypokinesia.


This article deals with the predictive control for linear systems, described in a explicit form as piecewise affine (PWA) state feedback laws. The main goal is to reduce the sensitivity of these schemes with respect to the model uncertainties. This objective can be attained by considering worst-case (min–max) formulations, optimisation over the control policies or tube predictive control. Such comprehensive approaches may lead to fastidious on-line optimisation, thus reducing the range of application. In the present note, a two-stage predictive strategy is proposed, which in the first place synthesises an analytical (continuous and piecewise linear) control law based on the nominal model and secondly robustifies the control law in the neighbourhood of the equilibrium point (the feedback gain obtained for the unconstrained control problem – most often assimilated to the LQR gain). How the disturbance model corresponding to the unconstrained control robustification can be used to improve the robustness of the PWA control law is also shown.


Pulmonary venous thromboembolism and atherothrombosis are traditionally considered as distinct diseases. As the two entities share common risk factors and mechanisms current experimental and clinical studies support their mutual causal relationship. For the clinician, the current concept requires a different clinical, laboratory and therapeutic approach. The patient with a first arterial or venous thrombosis should be fully assessed for the risk of future clinical events, and, simultaneously addressed to aggressive preventive non-pharmacological and pharmacotherapy intervention. In this context, antiplatelet agents and statins have a potentially beneficial role.


ABSTRACT In this study, the effect of electrode extension distance on metallurgical and mechanical properties of low carbon steel joints welded with submerged arc welding was investigated. OP 139 flux and OE S1 welding wire were used to weld steel parts using three different electrode extension distances. It is found that electrode extension distance effected the hardness and changed the microstructure of weld metal. It was seen that increasing electrode extension distance reduced the hardness of weld metal and HAZ. Tensile tests showed that rupture occurred in the base metal of all samples. Impact tests revealed that the best toughness value was obtained from the sample welded using 24 mm electrode extension distance.


At the time of arrival of Muslim community in Sub-Continent Region and due to their settlement in the region Arabic Language has been prevailed and such as the system of its publication and learning has been commenced. Because the directives of Islam and laws are in the Arabic Language as per Quran & Sunna so that it is necessary to learn the Arabic language for the awareness of Islamic directions. So that to achieve the knowledge of Sharia inclu-ding the expertise the peoples of Sub-continent has been achieved the expertise of Arabic language, literature, knowl-edge Ilmul Saraf al-khawa, knowledge of al-ishtiaq & Ilmul Balaghta etc. Moreover it is clarify that Scholar of religious have shown their expertise so that the scholar of Arab have been convinced their expertise. The basic point of service in Arabic Language of Scholars of Sub-Continent that they do not served only to enhance the language but the cause of service was to serve themselves on religious matters and represents themselves on work hard and tried themselves to achieve the better performance of identification of Islam.  A positive result and effects have been achieved as a sun shining of Islam is remaining and its waves are enhancing all around the world such as the sun shining of Islam is remained in Arab world such as the publication of literature is also remaining in the Sub-Continent region in the actual shape and saved. Because the Islam will remain till the day of judg-ment and its representatives/workers will born till the date such as the scholars of literatures will also born and they will save the knowledge of Arabic.  They will alive till the Day of Judgment.


Objective: To assess the frequency of preoperative leukocytosis and its association with wound infection. Study Design: Prospective-cross sectional, analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Combined Military Hospital, Thall, from Jan to Dec 2017. Methodology: After the approval of hospital ethics committee, 340 pregnant ladies undergoing both elective and emergency cesarean section were included in our study. The outcome of our study was the frequency of preoperative leukocytosis and its association with postoperative wound infection. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze data. The qualitative data was presented as frequency and percentage. Chi-square was used to analyze significance. A p-value ≤0.05 was taken as significant. Results: Frequency of preoperative leukocytosis was 121 (36.6%). A total of 111 (64.1%) pregnant ladies had pre-operative leukocytosis without post-operative wound infection versus 10 (66.6%) in patients with wound infection, p≤0.05, odd ratio 3.77. The sensitivity of pre-op total leukocyte count (TLC) for prediction of post-op wound infection was 66.6% (95% CI 38.3 to 88.8%) and specificity of 65.1% (59.5% to 70.34%). Most patients, 13 (86.6%), with wound infection required only debridement and intravenous antibiotics: IV linezolid and metronidazole; rest 2(13.4%) required secondary suturing for patient recovery. Conclusion: Preoperative leukocytosis was common in parturient undergoing cesarean section incidence of wound infection was low in this study. The post-operative wound infection risk is shown to correlate with the preoperative leukocytosis.


In order to address the shadow, shelter problems in image segmentation, a novel intensity-based model with shape prior constraint is proposed in this paper. Two dimensional principle component analysis (2D-PCA) approach and pre-image strategy are exploited to extract the shape prior. The obtained shape prior term is then incorporated into the intensity-based segmentation model to develop a new image segmentation algorithm. The airplane shapes are selected for segmentation to evaluate the performance of our proposed method. The experimental results show that the new segmentation approach is effective.


The conduction mechanism of the material, consisting of a large number of spherical nanoparticles of aluminum oxide and (or) nickel saturated with hydrogen atoms, was investigated. Detected state of the material, wherein the voltage drop across the material layer is small and does not depend on the current therein.


The AFM method was used to investigate the phase structure of the coatings, which have been obtained after application of polyurethane cationomers, synthesized in the reaction of 4,4′-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) or isophorone diisocyanate with polyoxyethylene glycol (M = 600) and N-methyl or N-butyldiethanolamine with 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro-1,4-butanediol. Changes were discussed in the surface-free energy (SFE) and its components, as calculated independently according to the method suggested by van Owens–Wendt, in relation to chemical structures of cationomers, as well as morphology of coating surfaces obtained from those cationomers. Fluorine incorporated into cationomers (about 2–5%) contributed to lower SFE values, down to about 30 mJ/m2. An attempt was made to use 1H-NMR spectroscopy to provide more extensive grounds for the effect of polyurethane chemical structures (by parameters κ) on the SFE of coatings obtained from such polyurethanes, with the values of SFE (γS, γ) and determined by the Owens–Wendt method. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013


There is much to ponder when a company decides to turn over the design and maintenance of its Web site to a service provider. The practicalities of building and operating a Web site involve far more than nuts-and-bolts engineering. Also pertinent are many performance, intellectual property, and even liability issues that could prove to be a thorny (and expensive) thicket to an unwary company. Many companies look to outside consultants to get them online. But going to an outside agent for this work requires that an agreement outlining the project be made between the company and the designer and/or host of the Web site. Such agreements can range from an informal letter to a lengthy contract with many exhibits and schedules attached. Regardless of its complexity, though, every Web site agreement requires careful consideration of several key issues: the domain name; virtual and nonvirtual hosting; technical requirements; pricing considerations; assignment and subcontracts; acceptance procedures; ownership; intellectual property; international issues; use of data about customers; developer publicity; client publicity; noncompetition clause; host performance and warranties; commercial transaction security; and dispute handling.


Genomic content varies over the course of the life cycle in many lineages across the eukaryotic tree of life. Such variation is thought to be widespread in Foraminifera, a microbial lineage within the Rhizaria, as complex nuclear dynamics have been observed in the life cycle of diverse species. Perhaps the most striking example is the elimination of nuclear material, including DNA, which occurs prior to cell division in the uninucleate life-cycle stage of all species that have been examined. This process, termed zerfall, is hypothesized to eliminate DNA that was previously amplified during the life cycle. Here we test this hypothesis by comparing the relative copy number of ribosomal DNA and two protein-coding genes with quantitative PCR before and after zerfall in the cultured foraminifer Allogromia laticollaris strain CSH. Our results reveal higher relative copy number of ribosomal DNA prior to zerfall, while protein-coding loci are relatively more abundant following zerfall. This suggests 1) that like many other eukaryotic lineages, Allogromia differentially amplifies the ribosomal DNA locus, and 2) that zerfall enables Allogromia to reset copy number prior to cell division. Further, these data add to the observation that some lineages of eukaryotes can differentiate germline and somatic genetic material in the context of a single nucleus.


Introduction: Detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) in T-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (T-ALL) has been used in post-therapy monitoring and outcome prediction. Currently, multi-color flow cytometry is widely used for MRD detection with limit of detection (LOD) of 0.1 to 0.01% depending on the clinical implementation. However, flow cytometry assays require extensive training and experience for accurate interpretation and standardization is challenging. Next generation sequencing (NGS) assays with panels targeting the inherent polymorphism of the immunoglobulin genes have been applied for MRD detection in B cell neoplasms, including an assay for myeloma and B-ALL MRD detection developed by Adaptive Biotechnologies (Seattle, WA) that was granted FDA approval for clinical testing. We have published a similar approach for T-ALL MRD detection using the polymorphic T-cell receptor (TCR) genes. These assays offer higher sensitivity, easier standardization, and more objective interpretation. Here we present our comprehensive evaluation and validation of a T-ALL MRD assay using the Adaptive Biotechnologies immunoSEQ kit for potential clinical application.
 Methods: NGS was performed using the Adaptive Biotechnologies immunoSeq kit and illumina NextSeq 500 according to manufacturer's instruction. Quantification of T cell repertoire was performed using the Adaptive Biotechnologies analysis pipeline. A single TCRβ sequence with ≥19% frequency of the T-cell population in diagnostic samples was defined as a T-ALL clone. Positive MRD was defined as detection of one or more such T-ALL sequences having a 100% DNA sequence match in the corresponding MRD samples. T-ALL leukemic cells and normal T cells were sorted from 2 bone marrow aspirates and peripheral blood from 20 healthy donors, respectively. T-ALL cells were spiked into pooled normal T cells to create a series of diagnostic T-ALL standards and MRD T-ALL standards down to 0.001%. Prior to assaying the standards, a T-ALL specimen was assessed at 11 different DNA input levels ranging from 3-1000ng, and interference of non-T-cell DNA was tested. For all other assays, 800ng DNA was used in two independent hsTCRB replicates for T-ALL clone identification in diagnostic samples and 2,400ng DNA was used in six independent hsTCRB replicates for T-ALL clone detection in MRD samples. Within run precision was assessed by assaying all standards and 3 pairs of diagnostic and MRD samples in triplicate. Between run precision was assessed by assaying 1 standard and 4 samples on two different days by the same technologist. Intermediate precision was assessed by assaying 3 pairs of diagnostic and MRD samples by two different technologists. LOD was determined as the lowest frequency at which MRD could be detected in MRD standards and Limit of Quantitation (LOQ) determined as the level below which the coefficient of variation (CV) >25% in MRD standards.
 Results: The %CV for T-ALL quantification across the range of DNA input was 4.5%, suggesting independence of quantification from DNA input amount. Non-T-cell DNA has almost no impact on T-ALL quantification. T-ALL clones were detected with 100% concordance in diagnostic and MRD standards. The %CV of within and between run precision and intermediate precision were < 25% in T-ALL identification assay and all MRD detection assays except at 0.001% MRD, in which %CV was 43.8%. Quantification of T-ALL in both diagnostic and MRD standards were highly correlated with expected values (R2 = 0.96, slope = 0.89 and R2 = 1.00, slope = 0.88, respectively). T-ALL identification and MRD detection in specimens stored at 4°C or at room temperature for up to 14 days were within 25% CV as compared to fresh specimens. The assay was then performed on 40 diagnostic clinical T-ALL samples and T-ALL clonal sequences were identified in 34 samples (85%).
 Conclusions: The immunoSEQ assay is evaluated and technically validated for clinical application, but requires validation in a larger cohort of clinical samples with concurrent outcome data. The assay is suitable for roughly 70% T-ALL where TCRβ is rearranged. The assay LOD for T-ALL MRD detection is 0.001% and LOQ is 0.01%, offering the possibility of improved sensitivity and more objective interpretation.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Objective: An evaluation of social factors associated with 30-day readmission was undertaken at our institution to determine which factors would be significantly associated with time to hospital readmission.Methods: Prospective observational study at an academic tertiary care hospital in the mid-Atlantic region of patients who were readmitted within 30 days of their last inpatient discharge. The electronic health record in conjunction with the regional hospital information system was used to generate a daily report to identify a convenience sample of readmitted patients. Using a standardized interview, data on 117 patients were collected for an exploratory analysis of social factors associated with readmission.Results: Regression modeling demonstrated poor correlation with prediction of time to readmission (R-squared = 0.2189). No individual social variables were found to be significant for influencing time to readmission (all p-values > .05). Common social factors were seen within the population affecting their utilization and access of healthcare. Poly-pharmacy was found in the majority of patients. Self-reported medication adherence was good, except with regards to mental health medication compliance. 97% of patients reported filling their prescriptions. 36% of the patients went to their follow-up appointment within 7 days although the vast majority of patients (92%) reported having a primary care doctor. 23% of patients expressed difficulty getting to their follow up appointments.Conclusions: At one single-center tertiary care hospital, there were some common underlying social determinants of health that may be related to readmission; however, no factors in isolation were predictive of hospital readmission. While there are common themes among readmitted populations, particularly in regard to factors driven by poverty, it is likely that the complex interaction of social factors with health continues to limit attempted administrative modeling of these data.


More efficient use of soil resources, such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), can improve plant community resistance and resilience against drought in arid and semi-arid lands. Intercropping of legume and non-legumes can be an effective practice for enhancing P mineralization uptake, and plant nutrient status. However, it remains unclear how intercropping systems using desert plant species impact soil-plant P fractions and how they affect N and water uptake capacity. Alhagi sparsifolia (a legume) and Karelinia caspia (a non-legume) are dominant plant species in the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang Province, China. However, there is a lack of knowledge of whether these species, when intercropped, can trigger synergistic processes and mechanisms that drive more efficient use of soil resources. Thus, in a field experiment over two years, we investigated the impact of monoculture and intercropping of these plant species on soil-plant P fractions and soil-plant nutrients. Both plant species' foliar nutrient (N, P, and K) concentrations were higher under monoculture than intercropping (except K in K. caspia). Nucleic acid P was higher in the monoculture plots of A. sparsifolia, consistent with higher soil labile P, while metabolic P was higher in monoculture K. caspia, associated with higher soil moderately labile Pi. However, both species had a higher residual P percentage in the intercropping system. Soils from monoculture and intercropped plots contained similar microbial biomass carbon (MBC), but lower microbial biomass N:microbial biomass phosphorus (MBN:MBP) ratio associated with reduced N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) activity in the intercropped soils. This, together with the high MBC:MBN ratio in intercropping and the lack of apparent general effects of intercropping on MBC:MBP, strongly suggest that intercropping improved microbe N- but not P-use efficiency. Interestingly, while EC and SWC were higher in the soil of the K. caspia monoculture plots, EC was significantly lower in the intercropped plots. Plants obtained better foliar nutrition and soil P mineralization in monocultures than in intercropping systems. The possible positive implications of intercropping for reducing soil salinization and improving soil water uptake and microbial N-use efficiency could have advantages in the long term and its utilization should be explored further in future studies.


Abstract : The pause of Gulf War Illnesses (GWI) remains unclear. There appears to be a constellation of symptoms and syndromes that occur in a higher rate in deployed than non deployed individuals. Although the precise reason for GWI remains unknown, symptoms nearly identical to GWI are noted in several syndromes that occur at a high rate in the general population, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, somatoform disorder, and multiple chemical sensitivity. A significant problem encountered when examining potential pathogenic mechanisms for GWI is demonstrated by a series of articles which appeared recently in the JAMA. In this issue were population-based studies which demonstrated that individuals who were deployed to the Gulf War were more likely to display the above-noted syndromes and symptoms, and physiologic studies performed on small numbers of highly selected subjects which demonstrated some abnormalities in neural function. However, there is no way to determine if the abnormalities noted in these few individuals who had physiologic studies are generalizable to the entire population, or to verify the validity of self-report data. In the present study, we propose to eliminate this problem. This proposal describes a collaborative effort between investigators performing a population based study of this illness, and another group studying pathophysiologic responses to stress which could be responsible for this symptom complex. Using this methodology, a representative sampling of symptomatic and asymptomatic PGW veterans will be selected from a large database and recruited to come to Georgetown to have a battery of physiologic studies performed to assess function of the human "stress response", including the autonomic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and nociceptive function.


Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic created a series of challenges for children's health, including several challenges related to nutrition and physical activity in child care settings. Thus, this study explored: 1) how COVID-19 impacted nutrition and physical activity in child care settings and how to address these challenges moving forward; 2) potential best practices in child care that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic worth continuing; and 3) future directions for accessing, implementing, and evaluating COVID-19 federal investments in child care settings. Methods The study utilized a qualitative content analysis approach. In June 2021, the investigators conducted 17 qualitative interviews with federal representatives (n = 4), practitioners (n = 7), and researchers (n = 6). Recruitment continued until saturation was achieved. Virtual interviews lasted approximately 45 to 60 minutes and were recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes and subthemes using thematic content analysis. Results Primary findings included: 1) COVID-19 likely increased stress and exacerbated prevalence of food insecurity for child care staff and participating families, and decreased diet quality among children both while in and outside of child care; 2) flexibilities to federal child care requirements, outdoor learning opportunities, and meal provision strategies implemented during the pandemic were perceived as positive and could continue post-pandemic; and 3) future efforts could utilize the recovery funds to make changes that are equitable and sustainable, such as conducting equity assessments and collaborating with community organizations, along with evaluating impacts of these efforts on food insecurity and health of child care staff and participating children. Conclusion Overall, recommendations focused on several social determinants of health, including addressing food insecurity among both children and staff, and infrastructure for nutrition and physical activity. Continued programmatic and public health recovery efforts aimed to mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19 are critical to fostering health and wellbeing in child care settings.


A lateral fronto-ethmoidal approach simultaneously exposing the frontal sinus and the nasal fossae appears to be a necessity for the surgical treatment of fronto-ethmoidal pathology. It is possible to fashion an osteo-plastic flap in the fronto-naso-maxillary region. The technique of the approach is described. The operation leaves no ocular functional sequelae and the scar is minimal. Twenty one operations by fronto-nasal flap approach are described, 10 for benign tumours of the fronto-ethmoidal system and 11 with the aim of re-aerating the frontal sinus for cases of complicated or iatrogenic serious sinusitis. The results are studied. The indications of the fronto-nasal flap are described: In tumour pathology, this technique must be used for osteomas and mucoceles of the fronto-ethmoidal system as soon as the ethmoidal component reaches or goes beyond the middle ethmoid. If the fronto-ethmoidal lesion only involves the anterior ethmoid, it is then accessible via simple frontal flap. Inverted papillomas which require wide exposure should also be treated via this approach. In infectious pathology, the fronto-nasal flap offers the possibility, after eradication of fronto-ethmoidal lesions and calibration of the naso-frontal canal, of re-aeration of the frontal sinus which seems preferable to its exclusion. The possibility of re-aeration of the frontal sinus by an osteo-plastic procedure is progress in comparison with lost bone craniotomy procedures.


Technique of space-time adaptive processing (STAP), which is usually employed by airborne radar to reject the ground clutter and jamming and at the same time, detect the ground moving targets, can not estimate the spatial-temporal parameters of the corresponding targets. Monopulse technique, as a mature method for parameter estimation can be used on airborne radar, however, the estimation performance of this method is dramatically effected by the ground clutter and jamming components present, even when these components falls into the mainbeam interval. By combining the STAP technique with the monopulse technique, a new method for estimating the spatial-temporal parameters of moving targets is proposed and referred as to LC-STAM in this paper. Additionally, the proposed method utilizes the beam null, monopulse slope, and decoupling constraints to remove the worse influence on the beam shape from the mainbeam clutter, maintain the characteristic of the monopulse ratio, and increase the veracity of parameter estimation. Simulation results illustrated that the LC-STAM method possesses the excellent estimation performance of the spatail-temporal parameters by comparing with the other similar methods.


Specific expression of the glucagon gene in the rat pancreas requires the presence of the G1 element localized at -100/-49 base pairs on the promoter. Although it is known that multiple transcription factors such as Pax-6, Cdx-2/3, c-Maf, Maf-B, and Brain-4 can activate the glucagon gene promoter through G1, their relative importance in vivo is unknown. We first studied the expression of Maf-B, c-Maf, and Cdx-2/3 in the developing and adult mouse pancreas. Although Maf-B was detectable in a progressively increasing number of α-cells throughout development and in adulthood, c-Maf and Cdx-2/3 were expressed at low and very low levels, respectively. However, c-Maf but not Cdx-2/3 was detectable in adult islets by Western blot analyses. We then demonstrated the in vivo interactions of Pax-6, Cdx-2/3, Maf-B, and c-Maf but not Brain-4 with the glucagon gene promoter in glucagon-producing cells. Although Pax-6, Cdx-2/3, Maf-B, and c-Maf were all able to bind G1 by themselves, we showed that Pax-6 could interact with Maf-B, c-Maf, and Cdx-2/3 and activate transcription of the glucagon gene promoter. Overexpression of dominant negative forms of Cdx-2/3 and Mafs in α-cell lines indicated that Cdx-2/3 and the Maf proteins interact on an overlapping site within G1 and that this binding site is critical in the activation of the glucagon gene promoter. Finally, we show that specific inhibition of Pax-6 and c-Maf but not Cdx-2/3 or Maf-B led to decreases in endogenous glucagon gene expression and that c-Maf binds the glucagon gene promoter in mouse islets. We conclude that Pax-6 and c-Maf interact with G1 to activate basal expression of the glucagon gene.


In this article, we draw together aspects of contemporary theories of knowledge (particularly organisational knowledge) and complexity theory to demonstrate how appropriate conceptual rigor enables both the role of government and the directions of policy development in knowledge-based economies to be identified. Specifically we ask, what is the role of government in helping shape the knowledge society of the future? We argue that knowledge policy regimes must go beyond the modes of policy analysis currently used in innovation, information and technology policy because they are based in an industrial rather than post-industrial analytical framework. We also argue that if we are to develop knowledge-based economies, more encompassing images of the future than currently obtain in policy discourse are required. We therefore seek to stimulate and provoke an array of lines of thought about government and policy for such economies. Our objective is to focus on ideas more than argument and persuasion.


The fluoroquinolone antibiotics are relatively new agents with long serum half lives, a high degree of bioavailability, and a broad spectrum of activity against many gram-negative and some gram-positive organisms. They are useful in a range of clinical settings but should not be considered as first-line treatment of many infections. Specific indications include chronic osteomyelitis caused by multiple-resistant gram-negative bacilli, chronic bacterial prostatitis refractory to other oral antibiotics, complicated urinary tract infections, and empiric therapy of suspected bacterial GI infections. Quinolones may also be considered when patients are allergic to a conventional agent, when infections are caused by multiple-resistant gram-negative bacilli, or when the toxicity of an alternate therapy is greater.


In this article, developments of Second Generation Current Conveyors (CCII) that are realized by based on the use of a differential amplifier (diff-amp) as a circuit building block are reviewed. The basic concepts of current conveyor are firstly outlined. One of the first CMOS-based promising techniques to implement CCII that proposed by Surakampontorn et al. is reviewed [9-11]. The applications of Surakampontorn's CCII as basic circuit building blocks to realize analog circuits and systems and the modifications methods to provide multiple outputs CCIIs are outlined and discussed. Based on feedback mechanisms, diff-amp-based CCIIs that are designed by modified from the CCII are also outlined and discussed. In order to understand the improvement, the characteristics of the CCIIs that have been compared through simulation results by Hassanenin et al. [11] are presented. Finally, the concept of chemical current conveyor (CCCII) is also noted.


Based on the criteria and parameters considered decisive by the European Union for an effective self-regulation model in advertising, this work carries out a comparative analysis between the advertising self-regulation systems in the United Kingdom and Spain. Setting the British system as a benchmark due to its effectiveness, the main objective of the study is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Spanish system in terms of independence, effectiveness, funding and coverage. In line with the best practice model and in view of the results obtained, certain improvement tools are proposed within a framework of an independent and proactive body.


Reid declared Hume's appeal to variation in the magnitude of a table with distance to be the best argument that had ever been offered for the 'ideal hypothesis' that we experience nothing but our own mental states. Reid's principal objection to this argument fails to apply to minimally visible points. He did establish that we have reason to take our perceptions to be caused by external objects. But his case that we directly perceive external objects is undermined by what Hume had to say about the role played by color in our perception of the primary qualities of bodies.


BACKGROUND
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) has high mortality and morbidity. Current management focuses on early detection and treatment of organ-based manifestations.

AIM
To determine whether the ascertainment of major organ complications of SSc has changed over time and if this is associated with better survival.

DESIGN
Retrospective cohort analysis.

METHODS
A total of 520 SSc patients, 234 with disease onset between 1990 and 1993 (historical cohort) and 286 with disease onset between 2000 and 2003 (contemporary cohort), were included. Survival and frequency of internal organ complications were compared between the two cohorts.

RESULTS
Five-year survival among diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) patients has improved from 69% in the 1990-93 cohort to 84% in the 2000-03 cohort (P = 0.018), whereas 5-year survival among the limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) patients has remained unchanged-93 and 91%, respectively. Sixteen per cent of the lcSSc subjects and 38% of the dcSSc subjects from the contemporary cohort were diagnosed for the clinically significant pulmonary fibrosis compared with 3 and 7%, respectively, of the historical cohort (P < 0.001). Similarly, the diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension was more frequent in the patients from the contemporary cohort (8 and 7% for lcSSc and dcSSc, respectively) compared with [ < 1% (P = 0.002) and 1% (P = 0.148), respectively] the historical cohort. There was no significant difference between the two cohorts in terms of scleroderma renal crisis and cardiac involvement.

CONCLUSION
Survival has substantially improved for the diffuse cutaneous subset of SSc with better and more complete ascertainment of lung complications as a result of systematic annual screening.


The Kay Tanda epithermal Au deposit in Lobo, Batangas is one of the Au deposits situated in the Batangas Mineral District in southern Luzon, Philippines. This study aims to document the geological, alteration, and mineralization characteristics and to determine the age of the mineralization, the mechanism of ore deposition, and the hydrothermal fluid characteristics of the Kay Tanda deposit. The geology of Kay Tanda consists of (i) the Talahib Volcanic Sequence, a Middle Miocene dacitic to andesitic volcaniclastic sequence that served as the host rock of the mineralization; (ii) the Balibago Diorite Complex, a cogenetic intrusive complex intruding the Talahib Volcanic Sequence; (iii) the Calatagan Formation, a Late Miocene to Early Pliocene volcanosedimentary formation unconformably overlying the Talahib Volcanic Sequence; (iv) the Dacite Porphyry Intrusives, which intruded the older lithological units; and (v) the Balibago Andesite, a Pliocene postmineralization volcaniclastic unit. K‐Ar dating on illite collected from the alteration haloes around quartz veins demonstrated that the age of mineralization is around 5.9 ± 0.2 to 5.5 ± 0.2 Ma (Late Miocene). Two main styles of mineralization are identified in Kay Tanda. The first style is an early‐stage extensive epithermal mineralization characterized by stratabound Au‐Ag‐bearing quartz stockworks hosted at the shallower levels of the Talahib Volcanic Sequence. The second style is a late‐stage base metal (Zn, Pb, and Cu) epithermal mineralization with local bonanza‐grade Au mineralization hosted in veins and hydrothermal breccias that are intersected at deeper levels of the Talahib Volcanic Sequence and at the shallower levels of the Balibago Intrusive Complex. Paragenetic studies on the mineralization in Kay Tanda defined six stages of mineralization; the first two belong to the first mineralization style, while the last four belong to the second mineralization style. Stage 1 is composed of quartz ± pyrophyllite ± dickite/kaolinite ± diaspore alteration, which is cut by quartz veins. Stage 2 is composed of Au‐Ag‐bearing quartz stockworks associated with pervasive illite ± quartz ± smectite ± kaolinite alteration. Stage 3 is composed of carbonate veins with minor base metal sulfides. Stage 4 is composed of quartz ± adularia ± calcite veins and hydrothermal breccias, hosting the main base metal and bonanza‐grade Au mineralization, and is associated with chlorite‐illite‐quartz alteration. Stage 5 is composed of epidote‐carbonate veins associated with epidote‐calcite‐chlorite alteration. Stage 6 is composed of anhydrite‐gypsum veins with minor base metal mineralization. The alteration assemblage of the deposit evolved from an acidic mineral assemblage caused by the condensation of magmatic volatiles from the Balibago Intrusive Complex into the groundwater to a slightly acidic mineral assemblage caused by the interaction of the host rocks and the circulating hydrothermal waters being heated up by the Dacite Porphyry Intrusives to a near‐neutral pH toward the later parts of the mineralization. Fluid inclusion microthermometry indicates that the temperature of the system started to increase during Stage 1 (T = 220–250°C) and remained at high temperatures (T = 250–290°C) toward Stage 6 due to the continuous intrusion of Dacite Porphyry Intrusives at depth. Salinity slightly decreased toward the later stages due to the contribution of more meteoric waters into the hydrothermal system. Boiling is considered the main mechanism of ore deposition based on the occurrence of rhombic adularia, the heterogeneous trapping of fluid inclusions of variable liquid–vapor ratios, the distribution of homogenization temperatures, and the gas ratios obtained from the quantitative fluid inclusion gas analysis of quartz. Ore mineral assemblage and sulfur fugacity determined from the FeS content of sphalerite at temperatures estimated by fluid inclusion microthermometry indicate that the base metal mineralization at Kay Tanda evolved from a high sulfidation to an intermediate sulfidation condition.


Background: Polyscias fruticosa is used widely as food, disease remedy and as an ornamental across Afro-Asian countries. For instance, P. fruticosa is used traditionally as an anti-asthma, anti-tussive, and a muco-suppressant herbal remedy for asthmatics in Ghana. Although many studies have investigated the pharmacological basis of the ethnobotanical uses of P. fruticosa, however, its effect on the reproductive system remains completely unknown. Aim of study: This study assessed effects of Polyscias fruticosa leaf extract (PFE) on male fertility and toxicity in adult male Wistar rats. Materials and methods: after crude preparation of PFE, it was subjected to qualitative phytochemical, thin layer chromatography (TLC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses. Effect of PFE was assessed on male fertility and toxicity by using healthy adult male Wistar rats. Rats were randomly assigned to: normal saline (5 ml/kg po, n = 5), Clomiphene Citrate (50 mg/kg po; n = 5) and PFE (100, 200 and 500 mg/kg po; n = 5 respectively) groups and treated for 21 days. On day 22 rats were sacrificed and male fertility parameters (left testis weight, relative testis weight, caudal epididymal weight, caudal epididymal sperm count, sperm motility, sperm morphology and assessment of male sex hormones and testicular histology) were assessed. Results: There were no significant changes in bodyweight, weight of left testis, weights of right and left caudal epididymides between treatments groups (PFE and clomiphene citrate) and control. Caudal epididymal sperm count increased in PFE (100 and 500 mg/kg)-treated rats relative to control. Sperm motility relatively increased in PFE-treated rats compared to control. Sperm abnormality decreased in PFE-treated rats; especially in PFE (100 mg/kg) group compared to control. Serum testosterone levels decreased inversely with serum luteinizing hormone (LH) levels in PFE-treated rats compared to control. There were minimal-to-no-alterations in histological sections of testis, except vacuolations at primary spermatocyte stage. Glycosides, saponins, cyanogenic glycosides, sterols and alkaloids were detected in PFE. Conclusion: PFE improved caudal epididymal sperm count and may be useful as male fertility enhancer but exhaustive safety studies on key male sex organs needs to be established.


The EU project "Harmonized Protection of Census Data in the ESS" aims at testing disclosure control methods that might be suitable for protection of Census data in the ESS for the Census 2021 round. In the project, it was decided to consider two different perturbative approaches, e.g. record swapping and cell key based random noise, a.k.a the ABS method. Cell key based random noise is a post-tabular method which can be implemented in two steps. In the first step, independent random noise is added to the original count data. One effect is that the perturbed hypercube data will generally not add up exactly. The Australian Statistics Bureau (ABS) is therefore using the method along with an "additivity module". Notably, non-additivity or a need to restore additivity is no issue with methods like record swapping that are applied on the level of microdata. This paper looks into the feasibility of using the controlled tabular adjustment algorithm (CTA) as tool for an additivity module. We report the results of testing the approach on a synthetic data set with the data structure of one of the 4-dimensional Census 2021 hypercube selected for the testing in the project. We will also evaluate the performance of the approach and compare the effect of the additivity adjustment to the noise design effects.


We report InP/InGaAs/InP double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBT) fabricated using a conventional mesa structure. The devices employ a 14 nm highly doped InGaAs base and a 60 nm InP collector containing an InGaAs/InAlAs superlattice grade. Devices employing a 400 nm emitter exhibit a maximum fτ = 660 GHz with a 218 GHz fmax – this is a record fτ for a DHBT. The devices have been scaled vertically for reduced base and collector electron transit times, and the base-collector mesa has been further scaled to minimize the capacitance Ccb associated with the base contact area. The peak current gain β ≈ 95, BVCEO = 2.5 V, BVCBO = 2.7 V, and the devices operate in excess of 30 mW/μm .


A new iterative bridge formation strategy has been employed in the synthesis of a series of [n](2,11)teropyrenophanes (n = 7-9). The generation of the nonplanar teropyrene system, which is calculated to be bent through 178.7° for the smallest homologue (n = 7), is accomplished using a VID reaction of a cyclophanemonoene precursor for the first time.


Prosthetic based rehabilitation offers several advantages over surgical intervention, however, devices are generally handmade using labour intensive and subjective manufacturing techniques. We investigate the use of optical scanning to capture the surface topography from a volunteer's facial anatomy, reconstruct this into a 3D CAD model, and from that design a patient specific prosthesis. This approach offers many advantages over existing techniques as data collection is non-intrusive, rapid and provides anatomically precise information. A CAD approach affords greater flexibility when evaluating design iterations and allows for the creation of 'parts libraries' for use with patients with no initial reference anatomy. The final prosthesis is realised through high resolution, multi-material 3D printing for precise model reproduction and to add functionalities such as mimicry of soft and hard tissues. Ultimately,we believe our approach provides an optimised, low-cost approach for streamlining the complete methodology for prosthesis production.


Control of the orbital spaceship procures its orientation and stabilization. Only the centre of masses is keeping the prescribed trajectory of ship, and all ship can change a position concerning the axes connected with the centre of masses under the influence of various disturbing forces. The stabilization system procures a motionless position of the ship body concerning the centre of masses. Orientation is necessary for the telescopes directed on space objects, for solar batteries, antennas and other devices. After performance of orientation it is necessary to execute stabilization for conservation of the received position. Expenses of energy for orientation and stabilization should be minimal as power resources are onboard restricted. Adaptive electric drives are effective remedies of transfer of motion in space engineering.


Generative adversarial networks (GANs) have been impactful on many problems and applications but suffer from unstable training. The Wasserstein GAN (WGAN) leverages the Wasserstein distance to avoid the caveats in the minmax two‐player training of GANs but has other defects such as mode collapse and lack of metric to detect the convergence. We introduce a novel inferential Wasserstein GAN (iWGAN) model, which is a principled framework to fuse autoencoders and WGANs. The iWGAN model jointly learns an encoder network and a generator network motivated by the iterative primal‐dual optimization process. The encoder network maps the observed samples to the latent space and the generator network maps the samples from the latent space to the data space. We establish the generalization error bound of the iWGAN to theoretically justify its performance. We further provide a rigorous probabilistic interpretation of our model under the framework of maximum likelihood estimation. The iWGAN, with a clear stopping criteria, has many advantages over other autoencoder GANs. The empirical experiments show that the iWGAN greatly mitigates the symptom of mode collapse, speeds up the convergence, and is able to provide a measurement of quality check for each individual sample. We illustrate the ability of the iWGAN by obtaining competitive and stable performances for benchmark datasets.


The ecological importance of small mammals includes their role as dispersers of seeds, spores and propagules of plants, fungi and lichens, decomposers of organic matter and controllers of invertebrates as well as prey of a great number of vertebrates. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between non-volant small mammals (Rodentia and Didelphimorphia) to vegetation structure and the extent of degradation of the forest in an area near the western boundary of the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest, and to evaluate seasonal and interannual variation in species' abundances. The study was conducted in the Mbaracayu Forest Natural Reserve, Paraguay. Mark-capture methodology was employed in three sites with different degrees of degradation, in two seasons of the year (dry and rainy), in 2015 and 2016. A multivariate analysis was performed with ANOVA and MANOVA, evaluating degree of habitat disturbance and annual and seasonal variation as independent variables and species abundances as dependent variables. Sixteen small-mammal species were recorded, with 1,161 captures of 598 individuals and 563 recaptures throughout the sampling. Twelve species were of the Order Rodentia (all of the family Cricetidae, subfamily Sigmodontinae), and four of the Order Didelphimorphia (family Didelphidae). Variables that were significant for the most abundant species (Akodon montensis) were interannual variation and habitat degradation. The most common didelphid species in the study was Gracilinanus agilis, which appears well-adapted to different degrees of habitat degradation, given its occurrence in all sites. Plant communities, including their composition and degree of habitat disturbance, are important for small-mammal communities which are interacting in the different habitats of the forest. In this study we observed that Akodon montensis was most abundant in the habitat of moderate disturbance in the dry season (June). This habitat was characterized by large trees with grasses predominant in the understory. Hylaeamys megacephalus was most abundant in the dry season (June) and less so in the rainy season (November). Oligoryzomys nigripes is a habitat generalist and is less specialized in food preference. Abundance of the didelphid species Gracilinanus agilis was quite variable among sampling periods, but the species was present in all three levels of habitat degradation. The various species (especially the most abundant) exhibited different responses to habitat degradation and to interannual and seasonal variations.


Abstract : Munitions for indirect fire weapon systems are issued with a full complement of propellant charges. Excess charges are typically not turned in and are destroyed by open burning as part of the units training. Burning of the charges can result in up to 20 of the propellant remaining in the form of residues on the ground. A portable propellant burn pan system was design and demonstrated as part of Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) Project ER-201323 to enable safe, environmentally effective training of the military. Tests have demonstrated a 99.98 reduction incombustible mass of the charges, less than 0.001 of the energetics in the burn pan ash, energetics concentration of less than 0.5 in the residual ash, and no detectable difference in energetics in the soil surrounding the pan after burning over 450 kg of charges. Performance objectives for the burn pan device were met or exceeded by the final system design. Costs associated with acquisition, implementation, use, and maintenance of the burn pan system are reasonable. The U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory portable propellant burn pan training device has been enthusiastically accepted by all who have participated in the ER-210323 test and demonstration program.


The purpose of this study is to explain the manufacturing and marketing activities of the Kaneda Ski Manufacturing Factory in Toyama Prefecture from the end of the Taisho Era to the early years of the Showa Era. This study uses historical data from Toyama Prefecture during the Taisho and Showa Eras.The following conclusions are deduced ; 1) Johana Town had Tatenogahara ski ground and was a good environment forskiing. The "Take" ski was popular in Johana Town from the middle of the Taisho Era. Kaneda took interest in skis from that time, as he enjoyed skiing and was a carpenter. He started to manufacture skis from the latter half of the Taisho Era and to sell skis from the fifteenth year of that era. 2) The trend in ski goods in this period was from Austrian to Norwegian type, but as Kaneda did not manufacture bindings, the biggest obstacle for him in manufacturing was to achieve the proper curvature of the ski. 3) Kaneda was willingly coached about manufacturing by Tomesaburo Sakur aba. Kaneda was coached from the fourth year of the Showa Era for ten years. Because of the superior help he received, Kaneda was able to succeed in both the manufacturing and marketing of the product.


Abstract Background: Only few studies have quantitated the frequencies of immune cells in the small bowel mucosa and submucosa during gestation. The aims of this study were to describe the frequencies of T and B cells, eosinophils and mast cells in the normal small bowel mucosa and submucosa (NSB) in relation to gestational age (GA) and in the uninvolved small bowel (USB) of premature newborns with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Methods: We obtained 36 NSB specimens (GA 12–41 weeks) and 8 NEC-USB specimens (GA 24–32 weeks) from autopsies and surgeries and performed immunostaining for CD3, CD79a, BMK-13 and tryptase as well as the histochemical stains giemsa and toluidine blue. Qualitative histological evaluation and two different quantitative cell-samplings were performed using digital imaging analysis with both TissuemorphDP® and newCAST® software. Linear regression analysis was performed with cell frequency as the dependent variable and GA and USB as the independent variables. Results: In the NSB specimens, we found significant linear correlations between cell frequencies and GA for all examined cell types, though B cell frequencies reached a plateau midway through gestation. In the USB cases, submucosal mast cell frequencies were higher than in the NSB specimens, while T cell frequencies were lower. In USB of NEC patients, we found a significant increase of mast cells and a significant decrease of T cells compared to NSB. Conclusion: Throughout gestation, we found an increase of all examined immune cell types in the normal small bowel, while the number of B cells came to a standstill at midway. Future studies should examine subtypes of T cells and also include histiocytes. A larger amount of small bowel specimens, covering the full gestational age, would be of great value.


A simplified nonlinear numerical model for the development of incompressible magnetohydrodynamics in the presence of a strong magnetic field B∥ and stratification, nicknamed "Shell-Atm," is presented. In planes orthogonal to the mean field, the nonlinear incompressible dynamics is replaced by two-dimensional shell models for the complex variables u and b, allowing one to reach large Reynolds numbers while at the same time carrying out sufficiently long integrations to obtain good statistics at moderate computational cost. The shell models of different planes are coupled by Alfvén waves propagating along B∥. The model may be applied to open or closed magnetic field configurations where the axial field dominates and the plasma pressure is low; here we apply it to the specific case of a magnetic loop of the solar corona heated by means of turbulence driven by photospheric motions, and we use statistics for its analysis. The Alfvén waves interact nonlinearly and form turbulent spectra in the directions perpendicular and, through propagation, also parallel to the mean field. A heating function is obtained and shown to be intermittent; the average heating is consistent with values required for sustaining a hot corona and is proportional to the aspect ratio of the loop to the -1.5 power, and characteristic properties of heating events are distributed as power laws. Cross-correlations show a delay of dissipation compared with energy content.


Purpose
In recent times, many universities have been pressured to become heavily involved in university branding. The purpose of this paper is to investigate students' perceptions of different international universities (brands) in terms of important university attributes, including the country in which the university's main campus is located and educational programs are designed (COD) and the method by which the educational services are distributed internationally (DM).

Design/methodology/approach
Using a conjoint simulation procedure, this paper predicts the impact that university attributes have on Malaysian and Chinese students' preferences for international universities.

Findings
The results suggest that, although COD and DM are important factors, the extent to which these factors dominate student preference differs significantly across students according to nationality.

Research limitations/implications
The simulation suggests how international universities can improve their branding strategies, and highlights the need to understand students' preferences when developing marketing strategies.

Originality/value
Past research has compared the importance of university attributes across countries from the perspective of students, but failed to assess this issue in the light of existing university brands (at an institutional or country level). Such knowledge can provide an indication of student preferences and competitive performance, which are of great interest to education marketers. The present study predicts the impact of various university attributes on Malaysian and Chinese students' preferences for specific international universities (brands) in four different countries, and changes in preference that occur when the style of delivery or course suitability is altered.


Although biomedical applications of nanotechnology, which typically involve functionalized nanoparticles, have taken significant strides, biological characterization of unmodified nanoparticles remains underinvestigated. Herein we demonstrate that unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells in a size- and concentration-dependent manner by abrogating MAPK-signaling. In addition, these AuNPs reverse epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer cells by reducing secretion of a number of proteins involved in EMT, up-regulating E-Cadherin, and down-regulating Snail, N-Cadherin, and Vimentin. Inhibition of MAPK signaling and reversal of EMT upon AuNP treatment inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in two separate orthotopic models of ovarian cancer. Western blot analyses of tumor tissues reveal up-regulation of E-Cadherin and down-regulation of Snail and phospho-MAPK, confirming the reversal of EMT and inhibition of MAPK signaling upon AuNP treatment. The ability of a single self-therapeutic nanoparticle to abrogate signaling cascades of multiple growth factors is distinctive and purports possible medical applications as potential antitumor and antimetastatic agent.


As the chip sizes of commercially available silicon carbide power transistors will remain smaller than for silicon counterpartsin the next five to ten years, multi-chip circuit designs will be necessary in order to reach power levels exceeding10 kW. In the present paper, therefore, experiences from parallel connected discrete devices, multi-chip modules,and parallel-connected multi-chip modules are presented. It is concluded that new multi-chip circuit designs are necessaryif the high switching speeds of silicon carbide power transistors should be exploited. In the opinion of the authors,each chip must be contacted by means of individual current paths, and internal bus bars conducting the whole current ofthe module must be avoided.


The article considers the issues of subject characteristics of culture supplementing its object content. The author notes that importance of implementing subject content of culturological knowledge is dictated by necessity for overcoming a one-dimensional consideration of culture. Therefore, the author proves the importance of realizing its duality in the aspect of adjectival and the substantive characteristics dictating communication between subject and object content of culture.


The growth of high speed computer networks and that of the Internet, in particular, has increased the ease of Information Communication. Ironically, the cause for the development is also of the apprehension use of digital formatted data. In comparison with Analog media, Digital media offers several distinct advantages such as high quality, easy editing, high fidelity copying, compression etc. But this type of advancement in the field of data communication in other sense has hiked the fear of getting the data snooped at the time of sending it from the sender to the receiver. So, Information Security is becoming an inseparable part of Data Communication. In order to address this Information Security, Steganography plays an important role This paper includes review of existing methods and techniques for image based steganography and a new steganographic technique based on the file hybridization. In contrast to other methods of steganography where data embedded in image work on the principle of only one image file, the proposed method works on more than one image and focus on increased multilevel security.


In this article, Clayton and Peng hypothesize that commercial real estate value appreciation affects commercial mortgage supply, which helps constitute a feedback loop between mortgage supply and real estate values that drives real estate cycles. Clayton and Peng estimate a two-equation reduced form of a structural model of mortgage demand and supply, using quarterly U.S. data from 1978 to 2008. The results indicate that past real estate value appreciation positively affects mortgage fund flows but not mortgage interest rates, which substantiates the effect of real estate value appreciation on the supply of mortgages.


Head movement modelling can be seen as a part of facial expression study because some expressions like disgust involves head movement. Head movement information can be acquired by video recording process. The recording process has to deal with image distortion correctable via plumb-line method. Unfortunately the linear fitting used in plumb-line requires piecewise function. The thesis aims to
enhance the plumb-line-based image distortion correction using conic function coefficient evaluation replacing linear fitting. Experiments conducted shows that the
proposed method handles various line orientations without having to rely on piecewise function.
Besides distortion correction, an approach for expression movement tracking is needed. Optical flow-template matching is one of the techniques used for tracking. However, existing search algorithms did not discuss much on the looping technique of template matching. Moreover, tracking transient features during expression requires special process as the feature exists intermittently. The thesis aims to enhance the optical flow-template matching-based tracking method for tracking feature points during head movement by controlling the search loop and introducing anchoring to handle transient components. Experiment showed that the proposed method recorded a reduction in comparison of 40.1% over another similar method during worse case scenario. Besides reduction, the proposed method also lowered the lost point during searching when compared with existing method.
Head movement modelling is not given proper attention in facial expression study hence affecting head model believability in computer graphics. The thesis aims to
design head movement quantification method for head movement during disgust expression. The quantification method tracks movements of the head inclusive of the
neck and named as 'Dual Pivot Head Tracking' (DPHT). To prove that it is perceptually better to use the proposed method, a perceptual study of expression with and without head movement was conducted. Results showed that subjects perceived disgust expression better if the proposed method is used ( -score of neck given head=14.9 vs. head given neck=3.59). To further support our proposal on the need to
track head movement inclusive of the neck, experiments tracking subjects depicting disgust were conducted. A statistical two-tailed test to evaluate the existence of neck motion during head movement was done. Furthermore, visual comparison was made with a model without head movement approach. Results showed that neck motion
was presence during head movement of disgust (z-score = 3.4 with p-value = 0.0006). Similarly the visual depictions showed that without the head movement inclusive of neck the rendering seemed to be incomplete.
Having movement information, the thesis aims to design a temporal model of head movement during disgust expression. Neck motion, a part of head motion, plays a role during disgust expression. The thesis proposes spline-based function named Joint Cubic Bezier (JCB) to model neck motion during disgust. Experiments showed that using JCB, analysis and synthesis of neck motion during disgust expression is better than via cosine and exponential approach with angular separation score of JCB=0.986041, Exponential=0.897163 and Cosine=0.90773.


Whipstock casing exits are a milling operation that enable operators to sidetrack from a primary wellbore. This paper describes a prescriptive data analytics workflow that was developed and applied to optimize casing exit applications. This workflow involves three major steps:
 Pre-processing data to cleanse, transform, and aggregate data from past casing exit jobs Building accurate machine learning models to predict milling performance Optimizing a weighted objective function into recommend best-case operational parameters.
 In collaboration with a North Sea operator, a downhole measurement-while-drilling (MWD) system was used in multiple wells during casing exit jobs to collect a rich data set of downhole measurements. Through a stringent data processing and modeling methodology, prescriptive models were developed and tested in an offset well in the North Sea. Success of the offset casing exit job resulted in greater than a 30-percent reduction in vibration, a 14-percent increase in rate-of-penetration (ROP), and a 23-percent reduction in average mill time.


Today, with the deteriorating and unpredictable world climate, the need to preserve the environment is crucial in preventing rapid environmental deterioration. Sustainable development requires a balance between economic growth, social expansion and environmental protection. In order to pursue sustainable development, the construction industry itself has to be sustainable and gives emphasis on environmental matters, in addition to economic gains and social obligations. The ISO 14001 is a set of international standards for voluntary environmental management that has the potential to significantly impact the activities in construction to industry. This study aimed to investigate the level of awareness on the EMS 14001 among construction companies and to seek any obstacle or problems that obstruct the implementation of ISO 14001 in construction industry in Malaysia. Questionnaire-based interview was done on selected Grade 7 contractors in Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan to achieve the objective of this study. Frequency Statistical Analysis and Average Index Analysis were used to measure the questionnaire done. Seven construction companies were successfully interviewed of which three of them are contractors who have not yet implemented the EMS ISO 14001 and the other four are companies that have applied the system. Based on the findings and analysis, it is found that level of awareness of non-certified construction companies about ISO 14001 is still very low compared to the certified companies. Ten barriers also have been identified to be the problems which obstruct the implementation of EMS ISO 14001 in Malaysia Construction Company. Among them are the lack of government pressure, lack of client support and weak environmental culture among other competitors. In conclusion, several strategies including compulsion from government to make EMS ISO 14001 a compulsory requirement and support from the government have been proposed based in interviews and other countries' action to facilitate the adoption of environmental management system (EMS) ISO 14001 in Malaysia Construction Industry.


BACKGROUND
Despite overall improvement in prognosis, 10-30% of patients with lupus nephritis (LN) will develop end-stage renal disease. To date, renal biopsy is still the 'gold standard' test used to predict renal outcome. However, due to its invasive nature, new non-invasive biomarkers are required. Urinary exosomes, microvesicles released by every epithelial cell facing the urinary space, represent an ideal source of markers for renal dysfunction and injury. Here, we sought to evaluate miR-29c expression levels in urinary exosomes as a novel biomarker of renal fibrosis in LN.

METHODS
Urinary exosomes were isolated from 32 samples of patients with biopsy-proven LN, 15 non-lupus chronic kidney diseases and 20 healthy controls. Electronic microscopy and western blot were used to characterize the exosomes. Expression levels of miR-29c were detected by RT-PCR quantitative and correlated with clinical and histological parameters along with the expression levels of Smad2/3, TGF-β and MMP2/9. For comparison, miRNA expression was also evaluated in the urinary pellet.

RESULTS
MiR-29c levels in urinary exosomes showed a negatively strong correlation with the histological chronicity index (r = -0.898, P = 0.001) and glomerular sclerosis (r = -0.555, P = 0.007). No correlation with eGFR and creatinine levels was found. MiR-29c expression levels could predict the degree of chronicity in patients with LN with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.946 (P < 0.001) and with high sensitivity and specificity (94% and 82%). Smad3 and MMP2 expression in urinary exosomes correlated negatively with miR-29c expression (r = -0.737 and -0.856, respectively). In the urinary pellet, no miR-29c expression was detected; however, upregulation of Smad3 and MMP2 was observed (3.54- and 5.85-fold increase).

CONCLUSIONS
Overall, miR-29c correlated with the degree of renal chronicity but not with renal function, suggesting it could be used as a novel non-invasive marker of early progression to fibrosis in patients with LN.


Objectives: The role of elemental sulfur in human nutrition has not been studied extensively. Therefore, this study aimed to
determine of some biochemical effects of sulfur nanoparticles (S-NPs) and emphasize the importance of this element as
antioxidant and antitumor agent.
Methods: Preparation of sulfur nanoparticles was done throughout. Firstly, the evaluation of their composition and purity by
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FT-IR) analysis. Secondly, The shape and size of S-NPs were investigated by scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) techniques in all S-NPs samples which were prepared with Tetramethylammonium bromide (TMAB)
surfactant, Then, Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) for the evaluation of their composition and purity, After that the
X-Ray Diffraction patterns were measured for prepared S-NPs with TMAB surfactant. Final determination of sulfur
nanoparticles antioxidant and antitumor activites in experiment female mice bearing EAC, determination of some molecular
markers such as P53 and Cytochrome C. Also, histological examinations of liver and kidney tissues were done.
Results: This study revealed that sulfur nanoparticles showed high strong antioxidant activity in concentration (5 mg/kg) and
antitumor activities as it increase SOD, GPx and TAC production compared to the positive control group. Also showed a
significant increase in p53 and Cytochrome C compared with the positive control group.
Conclusion: Sulfur nanoparticles play an important role in improving oxidative stress resulted in significantly increase activity
against EAC cells, and Also, sulfur nanoparticles reduced most of the pathological alterations induced by Ehrlich ascites
carcinoma cells in mice which confirmed by histopathological examination, this may be supports the suitability of the use of
sulfur nanoparticles as an antioxidant and anticancer agent. Further, more different types of Cancer cells have unique properties
that can be exploited by nanoparticles to target this Cancer cell.


Report on a nodular form of tuberculosis of the tongue in a 91-year-old patient, which was cured completely by exstirpation and tuberculostatic therapy. The histologic examination of this "tumor of the tongue" lead to the radiologic proof of a chronic-specific lung process, which is interpreted as the source of the tuberculosis of the tongue by blood-stream dissemination. Discussion of the clinical and morphological forms of the tuberculosis of the tongue, of the differential diagnosis, as well as references to the importance of histologic examinations of ulcers of the tongue resulting in the detection of a specific lung process in some cases.


This article analyzes the recent developments in international criminal jurisprudence establishing individual criminal responsibility for violations of the laws of war during non-international armed conflict. The article then analyzes the Uniform Code of Military Justice grants includes within the jurisdiction of the General Court-Martial the power to try any person who is subject trial by a military court for violation of the laws of war. The article demonstrates the distinction between this source of jurisdiction, which is based on violation of international law, and the traditional exercise of military jurisdiction, which is based on violation of the punitive articles of the code itself and restricted to individuals expressly subject to these criminal proscriptions. The article then asserts how the extension of the doctrine of individual criminal responsibility to the realm of non-international armed conflicts, when coupled with this statutory grant of jurisdiction, subjects any person who violates this law to trial by a United States General Court-Martial.


High-capacity e-science and consumer applications require transport networks that are dynamically provisioned. Rapid advances in next-generation SONET/SPH and optical switching along with GMPLS control have enabled many new services' provisioning capabilities. In particular, a key paradigm is the new layer 1 virtual private network framework, which allows clients to directly provision their own services without deploying expensive infrastructures. This article presents an overview of L1-VPN and describes a resource management scheme that will enable transport network virtualization across a multidomain network infrastructure. The scheme is implemented in both centralized and distributed control frameworks, and allows for dynamic sharing of transport resources. A case study of performance analysis results is presented showing a distributed control plane in a multidomain network architecture achieving higher VPN carrying capacity than a centralized control plane


Abstract School psychology has faced longstanding challenges in advancing equity and parity due to persistent oppression, racism, and colonialism in the field. These challenges have contributed to critical shortages of faculty and practitioners who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), racial disparities in educational and mental health services for children, and White hegemony in school psychology research and scholarship. The purpose of this commentary is to outline and advocate for a cultural humility framework as the foundation of social justice to improve discourse, practices, and service delivery by engaging in ongoing self-awareness (e.g., critical reflexivity, understanding of power and privilege), and sustained actions (e.g., social justice advocacy, alliances with communities) to improve outcomes of the individual and community (e.g., relational empowerment). Implications of incorporating cultural humility for trainers, researchers, and practitioners are discussed as continuing efforts to improve institutional and professional accountability are needed to facilitate systemic change. Impact Statement The field of school psychology continues to face challenges advancing equity in research, practice, and policy. We present a cultural humility framework as a foundation for antiracism and anticolonialism. School psychologists engage in critical reflexivity, acknowledge their power and privilege, act to remove structural barriers, and use relational empowerment to partner with communities.


A theoretical interpretation of the digital beam deflection efficiency of an electro-optic modulator is described. Calculated switching voltages are in good agreement with the experimentally observed values. The computed percentage efficiencies at three successive positions are 57, 48 and 43.


In multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL), the learning rates of actors and critic are mostly hand-tuned and fixed. This not only requires heavy tuning but more importantly limits the learning. With adaptive learning rates according to gradient patterns, some optimizers have been proposed for general optimizations, which however do not take into consideration the characteristics of MARL. In this paper, we propose AdaMa to bring adaptive learning rates to cooperative MARL. AdaMa evaluates the contribution of actors' updates to the improvement of Q-value and adaptively updates the learning rates of actors to the direction of maximally improving the Q-value. AdaMa could also dynamically balance the learning rates between the critic and actors according to their varying effects on the learning. Moreover, AdaMa can incorporate the second-order approximation to capture the contribution of pairwise actors' updates and thus more accurately updates the learning rates of actors. Empirically, we show that AdaMa could accelerate learning and improve performance in a variety of multi-agent scenarios. More importantly, AdaMa does not require heavy hyperparameter tuning and thus significantly reduces the training cost. The visualizations of learning rates during training clearly explain how and why AdaMa works.


Notions of economies of scale have always played a unique role in public policy formation, although most often implicity rather than explicitly. It is the cornerstone of the theory of natural monopoly and provides the primary justification for direct government regulation of telecommunications common carriers. The relations between the technical economic concept of economies of scale and current public policy issues in telecommunications are examined. The relationship between economies of scale and the traditional approach to regulation as a basis for understanding current policy conflicts between federal and state regulators is discussed. The theoretical economic concept of economies of scale, in contrast to concepts of short-run capacity utilization, economies of specialization, and economies of technological change is developed. The importance of time, uncertainty, and market characteristics in the measurement of scale effects is emphasized. Finally, the implications of economies of scale for current public policy issues in telecommunications such as the role of competition, cream skimming, and discriminatory rate reductions in response to competition are addressed.


Sediment transport and sedimentation problems at tidal inlets and navigational channels are still worldwide issues to be addressed. Furthermore, future challenges such as climate change and the adaptation of coastal areas increase the uncertainties of the future evolution of these systems. However, dredging strategies are carried out following traditional layouts, such as channel deepening, lasting short periods of time despite the high economic expenditures and the potential environmental impacts derived from the increase on water turbidity and dispersion of contaminants. This work proposes a new soft-engineering dredging strategy for tidal inlets, analyzing its morphodynamic evolution by means of numerical modeling. The model, used to obtain the hydro-morphodynamic evolution of the inlet, is applied to Punta Umbría inlet (Southern Spain). The simulations were successfully calibrated and tested both for hydrodynamics and morphodynamics and later applied to different dredging strategies, including traditional alternatives, such as channel deepening and littoral drift barrier, and a new soft-engineering solution based on shoal removal. Among these strategies, the shoal removal, which is designed to minimize the energy gradients at the navigational channel, is found to be the most efficient on the basis of the operativity of the channel for different vessel draughts; being this operativity improved up to 60% compared to the traditional strategies. This solution, which reduces the frequency of the maintenance of the channel depths, may be suitable for other inlets with compromised navigational capacities due to the presence of ebb shoals. Furthermore, it reduces the frequency of high turbidity and contaminant concentration episodes, which is of major interest in areas, such as Punta Umbría inlet, where the pollution derived from the soil content of heavy metals is important. After the analysis of the correlations between the main maritime drivers and the morphodynamic changes, we conclude that the morphodynamic evolution of the navigational channels is closely related not only to the energetic content of ocean waves, but also (and significantly) to the wave directionality.


The 2014 Israeli assault on Gaza was the most recent large-scale military operation by the Israeli Defense Forces against the Palestinians in the territory governed by Hamas. The Israeli attacks resulted in a large number of Palestinian casualties and destruction in Gaza. The media in Britain and South Africa covered the war extensively. It is the coverage of prominent news outlets in these two countries, which is the focus of my research. I analyse coverage by the British Broadcasting Corporation, Guardian and Times of London. This is compared with coverage by the South African Broadcasting Corporation and prominent weekly national and regional daily newspapers. The former include the Mail and Guardian and Sunday Times. The daily newspapers, comprising the Star, Mercury and Cape Argus are published by Independent Media in the major economic centres of the country. The research is comparative, with one of the aims being to determine whether the two media contexts present opposing positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is due to their historical connections with the conflict. The representation of the asymmetrical dimension of the conflict and the legitimacy of the actors is the theoretical framework used for the study.

I employ a mixed-methods approach of thematic analysis, multimodal critical discourse analysis and interviews for the research. The analysis of the textual and visual content aims to provide insights into the relationship between these two modes of communication. By including interviews, I aim to better understand how certain factors impact the conflict's coverage. Of relevance are access to news sources, censorship, media scrutiny, the reliance on news agency content and journalist safety. The findings suggest that the Israeli position was prominent in the 2014 war's coverage, textually and visually. Furthermore, Israel was granted legitimacy, while Hamas was de-legitimated. This was enabled, I argue, through the reporting structures in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Media professionals report in an environment which is at times highly accessible and seemingly transparent. At other times they are constrained by regulation, a high degree of scrutiny and threats to their safety. In the South African context the news outlets rely on international news agencies for their coverage of the conflict. However, they make use of a number of strategies to localise this content for their audiences. I did not find significant differences between the reporting of the British and South African outlets. However, I found that the South African outlets were more willing than the British outlets to engage with and debate the many complexities of the 2014 war, as well those inherent in the broader, long-standing conflict.


Vimentin, a member of the intermediate filament protein family, is regulated both developmentally and tissue specifically. It is also a marker of the metastatic potential of many tumor cells. Pre viously, the human vimentin promoter has been shown to contain multiple elements for the binding of both positive- and negative-acting regulatory factors. Transient transfection analysis of various vimentin 5'-end promoter sequences and mutants thereof fused to a reporter gene further defined two regulatory elements, a positive element that binds Sp1 and a negative element that binds the protein ZBP-89. ZBP-89 has been shown to be either a repressor or an activator of gene expression, depending on the promoter. Here, we show that for vimentin, both ZBP-89 and ZBP-99 repress reporter gene expression in Schneider (S2) cells. Deletion constructs confirm that the glutamine-rich region of Sp1 is required to enhance vimentin transcription, whereas the N-terminus of ZBP-89 is required to interact with Sp1 and repress gene expression. The overexpression of hTAF(II)130 can alleviate ZBP-89 repression in S2 cells, suggesting how ZBP-89 might serve to block gene expression.


Performance of Web servers is critical to the success of many corporations and organizations. However, very few results have been published that quantitatively study the server behavior and identify the performance bottlenecks. In this paper we measured and analyzed the behavior of the popular Apache Web server on a uniprocessor system and a 4-CPU SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processor) system running the IBM AIX operating system. Using the AIX built-in tracing facility, we obtained detailed information on kernel events and system activities while running Apache driven by the SPECweb96 and the WebStone benchmarks. After quantitatively identifying the performance bottlenecks, we proposed and implemented 6 techniques that improve the throughput of Apache by 61%. These techniques are general purpose and can be applied to other Web servers as well.


Some of the landfill area of waste (TPA Sampah) in Indonesia have had no buffer zone, so waste amass on certain area. This research carried out about area calculation, applied buffer zone to locate dump truck queue, number of dropping location, and number of Dump Truck that can be placed on buffer zone, so dump trucks do not take over the traffic. The result of simulation obtained that for the landfill area of waste 15 hectares with capacity 500 tons/day and single queue system can relocate 150 Dump Trucks in buffer zone. Meanwhile for the landfill area of waste 15 hectares with capacity 1,000 tons/day and double queue system can relocate 250 Dump Trucks in buffer zone. Using buffer zone as Dump Truck queue location can overcome traffic congestion and social problem around landfill area. The aim of this proposed paper can help the decision makers with building the better construction for the landfill area of waste


Objective: TW3 method can not be applied to age determination of adults because skeletal development stops after Childhood and Adolescence.This paper develops a new method to evaluate adult age by the fact that the human skin implies age information.Methods: Some advanced medical image processing technologies are used in the age evaluating system to extract quantization parameters of roughness and entropy on human skin image.Results and Conclusions:The Correlation between Roughness and age is negative,the Correlation between entropy and age is positive.So the relationship of the quantization parameters and age can be used to evaluate adult age theoretically.The conventional TW3 age evaluating system that uses skeleton is applied to children,while this age evaluating method that use human skin can evaluate adult age which have a wide range age spectrum.


The paper reports on the state of soil contamination by obsolete pesticides at Vikuge State Farm, Coast Region, Tanzania, where, in 1986, a 170 m3 "donation" of partially expired pesticides were stored in an open shed that eventually collapsed. Analyses of soil samples collected in 2000 from the old storage site at the farm for 80 different pesticide residues and metabolites have revealed alarmingly high concentrations of pesticide residues to qualify Vikuge as one of the most contaminated sites in the world. Most of the residues found in the soil at high concentrations were organochlorines, their concentrations being up to 282,000 mg/kg dry weight for total DDT (28.2% by mass). Commercial formulations contain only between 5 and 10 % DDT. The concentrations of HCH were up to 63,360 mg/kg (6.4 % by dry mass). A herbicide, pendimethalin [N-(1-ethylpropyl)-2,6-dinitro-3,4-xylidine], was also found at concentrations up to 40,900 mg/kg dry weight (4% by mass). As expected, higher concentrations of the residues were found in the surface soil samples and the concentrations of the residues were decreased with increasing depth and distance from the point source. Immediate decontamination of this site is highly recommended. Tanzania Journal of Science Vol. 30 (2) 2004: pp. 77-86


The present paper deals with the necessary optimality condition for a class of distributed parameter systems in which the system is modeled in one-space dimension by a hyperbolic partial differential equation subject to the damping and mixed constraints on state and controls. Pontryagin maximum principle is derived to be a necessary condition for the controls of such systems to be optimal. With the aid of some convexity assumptions on the constraint functions, it is obtained that the maximum principle is also a sufficient condition for the optimality.


We describe a prioritization scheme for an allocation of a sizeable quantity of vaccine or antivirals in a stratified population. The scheme builds on an optimal strategy for reducing the epidemic's initial growth rate in a stratified mass-action model. The strategy is tested on the EpiSims network describing interactions and influenza dynamics in the population of Utah, where the stratification we have chosen is by age (0–6, 7–13, 14–18, adults). No prior immunity information is available, thus everyone is assumed to be susceptible—this may be relevant, possibly with the exception of persons over 50, to the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak. We have found that the top priority in an allocation of a sizeable quantity of seasonal influenza vaccinations goes to young children (0–6), followed by teens (14–18), then children (7–13), with the adult share being quite low. These results, which rely on the structure of the EpiSims network, are compared with the current influenza vaccination coverage levels in the US population.


We propose an interdisciplinary developmental model of narrative redemption. Although redemption is one of the most thoroughly studied constructs in the narrative identity literature, research to date has not sufficiently addressed the qualitative structures of redemption, which in turn has led to a lack of attention to the developmental functions that redemption serves in different periods of the life span. Based on a review of existing perspectives on redemption across a variety of disciplines, we propose 2 forms of redemption – return and emergent – that correspond to the dual functions of the life story – stability and change. These forms of redemption also interact with the thematic focus of the narrative, which constitutes the second component of our model. Namely, narratives may emphasize either situation themes or identity themes. We use this revised conceptualization of the structures of redemption to explore the developmental functions of redemption, both theoretically and through narrative examples. We conclude that redemption is an autobiographical tool that can be adapted for different psychosocial functions across the life span.


Purpose: Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality and it is well known for extremely aggressive tumor growth rate, high incidence of metastasis and high metabolic rate. The aim of this study is to determine the value of metabolic gene expression as prognostic markers in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer. We also investigate the possible association among clinical parameters, 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) and metabolic markers.

Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 49 pancreatic cancer patients who underwent curative resection. Using formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues of primary tumors, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was done for GLUT1, hexokinase (HK), p53, IDH, pmTOR, PKM2, CMYC, and AMPK. Kaplan meier analysis and Cox-regression was used for univariate and multivariate analysis to examine the prognostic impact of each marker on survival. Also, Fisher's exact test was performed to examine correlation between metabolic makers and FDG uptake.

Results: Median overall survival (OS) of all patients was 27.3 months (95% CI, 15.9 - 38.6). In univariate analysis, longer overall survival was seen in patients with c-myc overexpression, higher FDG uptake, and poorly differentiated histology. Multivariate analysis revealed that c-myc overexpression was an independent poor prognostic factor after adjustment of higher FDG uptake and tumor differentiation. No association was found between clinical parameters, FGD uptake, and metabolic markers. However, higher FDG uptake was correlated with low AMPK expression (P=0.017).

Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that the c-myc overexpression identified by IHC is an independent prognostic factor in pancreatic cancer patients who underwent curative resection. Future studies are required to explore the underlying mechanism how c-myc overexpression contributes to the progression of pancreatic cancer in consideration with cancer metabolism.

Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):C33.

Citation Format: Seungtaek Lim, Hye Jin Choi, Jae-hoon Lee, Soohyeon Lee. Prognostic value of C-myc overexpression in patients with resectable pancreatic cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr C33.