Introduction: Cutaneous viral warts are one of the common skin disorders in general population which can affect any age group and any gender in any country and pose a significant health problem. A possible association with zinc has been suggested in previous studies. Zinc is known to be required for efficient functioning of immune system.
Objective: To find out the association between serum zinc level and cutaneous viral warts.
Materials and methods: In this case-control study, total of hundred patients were enrolled. Among them 50 (males – 27, females – 23) with cutaneous viral warts were taken as cases and 50 (males – 25, females – 25) healthy individuals were taken as controls after matching the age and sex. The patients were selected from Dermatology outpatient Department of Universal College of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Bhairahawa, Nepal. The serum zinc level was measured using spectrophotometry principle.
Results: The mean serum zinc level in the cases and controls were 80.50±37.24 mg/dl and 104.31±25.31 mg/dl respectively. Significant difference in serum zinc level was observed between cases and controls (p=0.0001). There was a strong association between low serum zinc level and cutaneous viral warts (OR=7.37; 95% CI=1.98 – 27.31; p=0.0028).
Conclusion: Serum zinc level in patients with cutaneous viral warts was significantly low as compared to the healthy controls.


With the recent success of deep neural networks, remarkable progress has been achieved on face recognition. However, collecting large-scale real-world training data for face recognition has turned out to be challenging, especially due to the label noise and privacy issues. Meanwhile, existing face recognition datasets are usually collected from web images, lacking detailed annotations on attributes (e.g., pose and expression), so the influences of different attributes on face recognition have been poorly investigated. In this paper, we address the above-mentioned issues in face recognition using synthetic face images, i.e., SynFace. Specifically, we first explore the performance gap between recent state-of-the-art face recognition models trained with synthetic and real face images. We then analyze the underlying causes behind the performance gap, e.g., the poor intraclass variations and the domain gap between synthetic and real face images. Inspired by this, we devise the SynFace with identity mixup (IM) and domain mixup (DM) to mitigate the above performance gap, demonstrating the great potentials of synthetic data for face recognition. Furthermore, with the controllable face synthesis model, we can easily manage different factors of synthetic face generation, including pose, expression, illumination, the number of identities, and samples per identity. Therefore, we also perform a systematically empirical analysis on synthetic face images to provide some insights on how to effectively utilize synthetic data for face recognition.


Abstract Early design studies for the future Exo-Planet Imaging Camera and Specrotgraph (EPICS) on the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) show the ability to probe the region of super-Earths in the habitable zone of stars within 5pc (including Gilese 581d). However, these planets will be lost to us if the correct choice of integral field spectrograph (IFS) technology is not selected for such an instrument the ability to fit and remove the speckle noise that remains is crucial to reaching these contrasts. We conclusively demonstrate, though the use of an experimental setup producing an artificial speckle, that slicer based IFSs and post-processing using spectral deconvolution can achieve speckle rejection factors exceeding 103. Contrary to popular belief, we do not find any evidence that this choice of IFS technology limits the achievable contrast. Coupled with extreme adaptive optics and high performance coronographs, a slicer based integral field spectrograph could achieve contrasts exceeding 109, enabling these super-Earths to be detected in the habitable zone of nearby stars, making it an attractive option for the next generation of instruments being designed for the direct detection of extra solar planets.


This paper compares the debate quality in the plenary sessions of an Irish Citizens' Assembly and an Irish parliamentary committee to assess the epistemic effects of public deliberation on a contentious subject: abortion. The unusual occurrence of a similar process of detailed discussion on the same topic in different institutions at around the same time (in 2016–2017) allows us to compare the deliberative capacities of these institutions and thus contribute to discussions on the appropriateness of an increasingly debated democratic reform: assigning political offices by lot. We suggest that the epistemic effect of deliberation on abortion should facilitate nuanced multi-layered discussion that is both 'deeper' in being based on multi-faceted arguments and 'wider' in terms of a more accommodative view. We anticipate that these effects should be more pronounced in the more deliberative, less polarized, environment of a citizens' assembly rather than in a parliamentary committee. The analysis deploys the psychological concept of 'cognitive complexity'. We find that members of the Citizens' Assembly demonstrate a deeper cognitively complex grasp of the subject matter. In contrast, experts and parliamentarians tend to adjust their mode of delivery at a parliamentary committee reflecting the conflictual and strategic aspects of political debates in such a forum.


Many elementary school students today bring its own problems with the dissolution of cooperative and opinion appreciation character. Especially at this era of implementation character based 2013 curriculum. Therefore, it is necessary to find a solution to overcome it. After going through a series of studies, then selected solution in the form of development strategy of coorperative and opinion appreciation character for elementary school students. This research has done in the research development approach. So it will produce the product of learning video as reference material for teacher. In this research the researcher appoints students of elementary school program as model teacher. The results showed that the implementation of social science learning application of coperative script strategy, all strategy steps have been done and have an impact on the development of the character of cooperation and opinion apprecdiation of the students especialy in social science learning. Thus it can be concluded that the development of social science through cooperative script strategy effective and efficient to reestablish the character of cooperation and opinion appreciation on self elementary students.


In this work, a description of the hydrological features of the lake Kislo-Sladkoye is given. The present work is a part of complex research on bottom topography, hydrological characteristics, water light absorption spectra at different depths, benthos communities, and ecological features of macrobenthic and terrestrial organisms. Vertical profiles of coloured layers, illumination, temperature, salinity, redox potential, acidity and oxygen content were analysed in August 2014 at different positions in the lake. According to the analysis of data, the water column is divided into strata: (a) zone of wind mixing (0 - 0.5 m); (b) halocline (0.5 - 1.5 m); (c) area with high oxygen concentration (1 1.5 m); (d) thermocline (1.5 - 3 m); (i) hydrosulfuric zone (2.5 m to the bottom). Phytoplankton is dominated by cryptophyte flagellates Rhodomonas sp. and green-coloured cocci. In the coloured layers, the following pigments were detected by spectrophotometry: chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, bacteriochlorophyll c or g, and phycoerythrin. Therefore, the presence of cryptophytae algae (genus Rhodomonas), unicellular phototrophic organisms containing chlorophyll b, and green sulfur bacteria is shown. The distribution of the layers: 0 - 1.7 m: organisms are virtually absent; 1.7- 2.2 m: cyanobacteria; 2.2 - 2.4 m: light absorption peaks corresponding to phycoerythrin and chlorophyll a and b appear, a large number of cryptophytae algae (genus Rhodomonas) and unicellular green algae. 2.4 - 2.7 m: concentration of pigments decline, a small amount of cells with chlorophyll b and cryptophytae algae; 2.7 - 4 m: green sulfur bacteria. For the first time, a theoretical explanation of changes in the lake Kislo-Sladkoye following a spring tide is given. Densities of seawater and lake water were calculated and the results show that seawater penetrated the lake at a depth of 1.55 m during the spring tide.


A review of theoretical and observational results describing atmospheric gravity wave (AGW)/traveling ionospheric disturbance (TID) phenomena at high latitudes is presented. Some recent experimental studies of AGW's using the Chatanika incoherent scatter radar and other geophysical sensors are reported. Specifically, the following features are described in detail: (1) cause/effect relations between aurorally generated AGW's and TID's detected at mid-latitudes, including probable 'source signature' identification, (2) AGW source phenomenology, particularly a semiquantitative assessment of the relative importance of Joule heating, Lorentz forces, intense particle precipitation, and other mechanisms in generating AGW's, and (3) detection of TID's in the auroral ionosphere. Several instances of F region electron density, temperature, and plasma periodicities accompanied by horizontal plasma velocities which were consistent with theoretical AGW/TID models are documented.


BACKGROUND
Discrimination against old age leads to depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem. This issue is not studied in the Lebanese society where a demographic transition is taking place and the population is aging. We assess the perception of age discrimination among Lebanese and its relation to self-esteem.

METHODS
We interviewed a convenience sample of 320 Lebanese elders (mean age 69.3 years +/- 6.2; 55% males) living in an urban setting (Beirut) and a rural setting (Ras-Baalbeck) a well as those who immigrated to Dakar using a preestablished questionnaire. Perception of age discrimination and socio-demographic information were collected; self-esteem was measured using the Toulouse scale. Results: More elders living in Beirut (OR = 9.7, 95% CI = 3.5-26.6) and Ras-Baalbeck (OR = 11.42, 95% CI = 3.95-33.1) perceived age-related discrimination than those living in Dakar. This perception was significantly associated to lower self-esteem (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.3-3.6).

CONCLUSION
Supporting emotionally vulnerable elders should be a target for policy makers in Lebanon. It is important to preserve a better quality of life for elders still playing a major role in families.


Osteoporosis is a common disease of old age. However, in many cases, it can be very well prevented and counteracted with physical activity, especially high-impact exercises. Wearables have the potential to provide data that can help with continuous monitoring of patients during therapy phases or preventive exercise programs in everyday life. This study aimed to determine the accuracy and reliability of measured acceleration data at different body positions compared to accelerations at the pelvis during different jumping exercises. Accelerations at the hips have been investigated in previous studies with regard to osteoporosis prevention. Data were collected using an IMU-based motion capture system (Xsens) consisting of 17 sensors. Forty-nine subjects were included in this study. The analysis shows the correlation between impacts and the corresponding drop height, which are dependent on the respective exercise. Very high correlations (0.83–0.94) were found between accelerations at the pelvis and the other measured segments at the upper body. The foot sensors provided very weak correlations (0.20–0.27). Accelerations measured at the pelvis during jumping exercises can be tracked very well on the upper body and upper extremities, including locations where smart devices are typically worn, which gives possibilities for remote and continuous monitoring of programs.


The objective of this work was to study the effects of Harpin, a bio-activator, and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on storage life and quality of cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. 'Naomi'). Tomatoes grown in greenhouse were treated three times with Harpin. Fruits harvested at light red stage were stored in plastic film materials with different O 2 and CO 2 permeabilities and stored at 5-6°C and 90±5% RH. Changes in the quality parameters were observed during the storage period at 7 day-intervals. Spoilage and maturity was accelerated in normal atmosphere (NA). Disorders were reduced with Harpin and low O 2 and high CO 2 during cold storage. Harpin combined with MAP produced better results than MAP alone. Therefore, Harpin and MAP treatments in combination proved effective in delaying ripening and maintaining fruit quality during storage. Harpin slowed the changes leading to quality loss in fruits for, 28 days of storage. Harpin treatment and 50 μm polyethylene (PE) packaging produced the best result.


Topic models represent groups of documents as a list of words (the topic labels). This work asks whether an alternative approach to topic labeling can be developed that is closer to a natural language description of a topic than a word list. To this end, we present an approach to generating human-like topic labels using abstractive multi-document summarization (MDS). We investigate our approach with an exploratory case study. We model topics in citation sentences in order to understand what further research needs to be done to fully operationalize MDS for topic labeling. Our case study shows that in addition to more human-like topics there are additional advantages to evaluation by using clustering and summarization measures instead of topic model measures. However, we find that there are several developments needed before we can design a well-powered study to evaluate MDS for topic modeling fully. Namely, improving cluster cohesion, improving the factuality and faithfulness of MDS, and increasing the number of documents that might be supported by MDS. We present a number of ideas on how these can be tackled and conclude with some thoughts on how topic modeling can also be used to improve MDS in general.


CASE REPORT
Two young men were operated in our department for bronchiogen cysts with unusual locations. In the first case a mediastinal cyst caused severe swallowing problems, while in the second a retroperitoneal cyst resembled to an adrenal adenoma. It was only the postoperative histology, which clarified the exact diagnosis of the removed cysts.

DISCUSSION
Only a few percent of mediastinal tumours are bronchial cysts that develop due to developmental disorders. Symptomatic ones are more easily detectable. Bronchial cysts localized in the abdominal cavity or retroperitoneum are especially rare. In most of the cases the final diagnosis is made only after excision with histological examination of the cyst.


We have recently developed a novel Dynamic Weight In Motion (DWIM) system for freight carriages, which is based on a combination of Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and ELastic NET (ELNET) linear regression. To improve this method, we propose an unsupervised domain adaptation method based on subspace alignment. This learns a mapping function to align the features extracted from data of carriages of known load in a given DWIM setting with those extracted from carriages of unknown load in another positions. The application of the proposed method provides promising results.


: Using both mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and graft-versus-host reaction (GVHR) assays, investigations have been made on 60 multiparous mice of late pregnancy, derived from C57BL mating with SWI as well as C57BL mating with BGI. The results demonstrate the presence of suppressor cells both in uterus-draining-lymphnodes (DLN) and in spleen of allogeneic pregnant mice. The suppressive immune regulatory activity mediated by these cells might play an important role in the successful maintenance of fetus allograft. The possible mechanisms about the inducing of the changes in lymphocyte subpopulation are also studied in this paper.


Climate change is expected to profoundly affect key food production sectors, including �sheries and agriculture. However, the potential impacts of climate change on these sectors are rarely considered jointly, and when they are, it is often at a national scale, which can mask substantial variability in how communities will be affected. Here, we combine socioeconomic surveys and intersectoral multi-model simulation outputs to conduct a sub-national analysis of the potential impacts of climate change on �sheries and agriculture in 72 coastal communities across �ve Indo-Paci�c countries. Our study reveals three key �ndings: First, we �nd that the overall potential losses to �sheries is higher than potential losses to agriculture, but there is substantial within-country variability. Second, while more than two-thirds of locations will bear a double burden of potential losses to both �sheries and agriculture simultaneously, mitigation could reduce the proportion of places facing a double burden. Third, lower socioeconomic status communities are more likely to experience potential impacts than higher socioeconomic status communities.


The relation between platelet buoyant density and beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG), a marker for platelet alpha-granule content, was assessed by three independent approaches. (1) Platelets were separated on iso-osmolar discontinuous Stractan density gradients into five fractions, ranging in density from 1.061 g/ml to 1.091 g/ml (20 degrees C). The beta-TG content (mean +/- SD, n = 17) increased with the platelet density from 27.8 +/- 8.6 micrograms beta-TG/10(9) cells (20% less-dense platelets) up to 65.6 +/- 15.5 micrograms beta-TG/10(9) cells (15% most-dense platelets). (2) Activation of platelets in platelet-rich plasma with thrombin, adenosine diphosphate, collagen, or epinephrine resulted in a decreased density of the platelets. This was only seen when there was simultaneous secretion of beta-TG. (3) The less-dense and the more-dense platelet fractions, after isolation by density gradient centrifugation, were separately treated with thrombin. After complete degranulation, the density distribution of the originally less-dense and more-dense platelets were identical and were much narrower than the density distribution of resting platelets.


3D data visualization and 3D display have received extensive attention from researchers due to the rapid growth in computer graphics in the human's daily life. Despite the massive studies efforts consumed for 3D visualization, the shape perception of a 3D model has not yet been satisfied. In this study, we enhanced the visualization of 3D data for a hologram pyramid display by proposing a procedure named the hololighting style which consists of two steps. The first step is enhancing the shape perception of the 3D data. We proposed a new lighting system to emphasize the shape feature by employing nonphotorealistic rendering as an alternative to the traditional lighting. The second step in the procedure is 3D hologram rendering for the hologram pyramid display. The screen is split in this step into nine segments for creating four viewports to contain 3D object from four views which are front, back, left and right. These steps are created and implemented using Visual C++, OpenGL 4.5. The results showed the enhancement of the 3D data as a hologram floating inside a transparent pyramid. The quality of the hologram is reported to be preferred when compared to a traditional 2D display. Moreover, the shape of the 3D data was reported to be enhanced by the new lighting style when compared to traditional lighting.


The LiFeTiO4 spinel obtained by the "liquid mix" technique has been studied by neutron powder diffraction, ac and dc magnetic susceptibility, and magnetization measurements. The cationic distribution in the tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) sites was determined to be (Li0.47Fe0.53)A(Li0.53Fe0.47Ti)BO4. The dc magnetic susceptibility measurements show two maxima at 29 and 282 K (at H = 1000 Oe) and a Curie−Weiss behavior is not observed in the temperature range 282−800 K. Neutron diffraction patterns shows that the B-site magnetic moments at 2 K temperature are lower than those expected for a collinear arrangement of spins. Careful analyses of the low-temperature neutron diffraction patterns of this material suggest a localized canting of spins (LCS) type of magnetic ordering where a long-range order (LRO) of longitudinal component of moments coexists along with a totally disordered transverse component of moments. The conclusion is also supported by the features seen in complementary magnetic measurements.


An important task for computer vision systems is to segment adjacent structures in images without producing gaps or overlaps. Multi-object Level Set Methods (MLSM) perform this task with the benefit of sub-pixel accuracy. However, current implementations of MLSM are not as computationally or memory efficient as their region growing and graph cut counterparts which lack sub-pixel accuracy. To address this performance gap, we present a novel parallel implementation of MLSM that leverages the sparse properties of the segmentation algorithm to minimize its memory footprint for multiple objects. The new method, Multi-Object Geodesic Active Contours (MOGAC), can represent N objects with just two functions: a label image and unsigned distance field. The time complexity of the algorithm is shown to be O((M^d)/P) for M^d pixels and P processing units in dimension d={2,3}, independent of the number of objects. Results are presented for 2D and 3D image segmentation problems.


A 27-year-old, generally healthy, woman became acutely hypotensive during a diagnostic laparoscopy. Her blood pressure returned to preoperative levels and remained stable after decrease in intra-abdominal pressure. The author suggests five possible causes of hypotension during laparoscopy.


While pricing of managed lanes has been in place for over 20 years, most of the projects have been conversions of existing high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes into high-occupancy-toll (HOT) lanes. These are the first generation projects. This primer explores the evolution of first-generation pricing strategies into more complex express toll lanes using new or expanded capacity. For purposes of this primer, the second-generation pricing projects refer to variably priced lanes and variable tolls on entire roadways. Pricing changes throughout the day, either on a variable daily schedule or dynamically based on the level of congestion and demand for the managed lanes. The second generation movement also includes the implementation of integrated networks of priced roadways within urban regions. The primer explains these differences and provides insights from case studies around the United States. The primer concludes with guidance for agencies looking to develop second-generation pricing projects.


As a result of stock market turbulences in the last decades - for instance, the new economy/dot-com bubble that burst in 2000 or the Lehman Brothers collapse and the subsequent bank/ economy crisis in 2008, which brought significant crashes with it - plenty of private investors turned their backs on the stock market. Surprisingly, despite the lack of stock market investments by the German general public, the stock market continues to enjoy a massive media presence (as evidenced in Germany by the daily stock market reports that are transmitted at prime time (7.50 p.m.) on one of the country's leading TV channels!).


ABSTRACT The 2008 economic recession had a seismic impact on the legal market. In this article, we empirically assess whether the recession has made law an unsatisfying career. Relying on survey data from over 11,000 active members of the State Bar of Texas, we find that only 13.5 percent of all attorneys and 11.5 percent of full-time attorneys are dissatisfied with their careers. Newer attorneys report greater career dissatisfaction than more experienced attorneys, yet they too are largely satisfied. We also determine using logistic regression that three factors are highly predictive of lawyers' career dissatisfaction: (1) comparatively low incomes; (2) working in private practice as opposed to in government or non-profit/public interest; and (3) law firm employment in a non-partnership role. Equally important, debt and lower class rank only slightly increase the odds of career dissatisfaction; and race, gender, years of practice experience, and firm size have no effect.


Field observations made ten years after the southeast Alaska earthquake (M = 7.9) of 10 July 1958 reveal environmental and geomorphic changes in the Fairweather fault zone. Faulting associated with the earthquake killed many trees in the Crillon Lake region. Trees were tilted and later fell, and possibly were drowned because of changes in drainage conditions. A nearly vertical, 2-meter scarp in soil has been eroded to a slope of 35° to 40° in the decade since 1958.

Microearthquake activity sampled at a single site on the fault is at least equal to or possibly greater than that reported from active sites on the San Andreas and Denali faults. The distribution of S-P times is consistent with a uniform planar distribution of shocks on a segment of the fault that slipped in 1958. The expected seismicity from aftershocks of the 1958 earthquake is less, but not significantly less, than the observed seismicity.


The continuous seismic refraction method provides a simple method to determine layer velocities and depths to refractors. The method is, therefore, very suitable to applications in civil engineering where an analysis of the layer velocities is an indication of the degree of weathering and rock competency. A case history illustrating the methods of depth computation and velocity analysis is included.


A NUMBER of endurance tests have been suggested from time to time for use in the evaluation of physical fitness. In some of these tests the subject has to maintain a certain positive pressure within the thoracic cavity whilst holding his breath for as long as possible (Figure I). This sustained pressure, which is of the order of 40 millimetres of mercury, causes circulatory embarrassment which is evaluated (0 some extent in one such test'" by counting the pulse rate. In many subjects there is a tendency, once the pressure has been established, to relieve the thorax of the effort of maintaining the pressure by blocking communication between the mouth cavity and the lungs. The test then degenerates into mere breath-holding. The subject is "coasting" on the test, and in the borderline case may be classified too favourably. The respiratory passages may be voluntarily closed at three places. Firstly, the palatine arches of the fauces may be narrowed whilst the soft palate is brought into contact with the posterior wall of the pharynx. This


The human being can acquire infectious diseases during life, which leads the organism to trigger a systemic and exacerbated response to them and generate significant metabolic dysfunctions, this concept defines sepsis, with this sepsis can develop, a pathology that leads to high mortality rate for the sick, this is also known as generalized infection or sepsemia. When it comes to the neonate, he has an even greater fragility for this pathology in view of the immunological fragility of this patient, thus bringing the need for an accuracy and a judicious look on the part of the nursing team in the execution of their actions of prevention and management of the disease. sepsis in the neonatal ICU. This study is a qualitative bibliographic research, with an exploratory and descriptive approach, where SciELO and LILACS databases were used to research scientific material, it aimed to evaluate the interventions of nursing professionals in the management and early diagnosis of sepsis in a neonatal ICU. According to the analysis of the speeches, it is understood that the objectives were achieved, as they revealed that the interventions of the nursing professional are of fundamental importance in the management of diagnosis and early treatment of sepsis in a neonatal ICU.


T work presents the design of a circuit to capture the signal from the skin-like heart beat sensor and convert it to an electrical signal. The circuit is one part of the optical heart beat detection system which also includes the skin-like optical sensor array and the laser source and data processing unit. The circuit will be connected with the sensor array which will be able to detect the sensing signal at each element of the array. The sensor system could also be applied to contact form detection in other biomedical system. The sensing element of the sensor system is realized through the measurement of the change of the resistance. The circuit will power the circuit system with a sequence of pulses and the output is distinguishable corresponding to each pulse. The circuit can handle single input and multiple outputs. Testing results showed that the prototype of our circuit built on a breadboard can meet the design criteria with the defect of non-zero offset at the output when the circuit is not powered. Based on the breadboard circuit, the final circuit will be fabricated through CMOS technology on a 3 mm×3 mm silicon chip in order to accommodate the real application of the sensor.


According to the risk management process of financial markets, a financial risk dynamic system is constructed in this paper. Through analyzing the basic dynamic properties, we obtain the conditions for stability and bifurcation of the system based on Hopf bifurcation theory of nonlinear dynamic systems. In order to make the system's chaos disappear, we select the feedback gain matrix to design a class of chaotic controller. Numerical simulations are performed to reveal the change process of financial market risk. It is shown that, when the parameter of risk transmission rate changes, the system gradually comes into chaos from the asymptotically stable state through bifurcation. The controller can then control the chaos effectively.


Background and purpose: Gentiana olivieri Griseb is a famous species in Gentianaceae family. G. olivieri is native to Iran, and grows mainly in the western regions of the Zagros Mountains. Thinking over the importance of proper nutrition in child's growth and lack of proper appetizer in pharmaceutical market, preparing an effective herbal product was considered to increase appetite in children suffering from growth failure and malnutrition. Materials and methods: A case control study was performed in which the plant's root extract was used to prepare hydroalcoholic product (2.5%) and its appetizing effect was evaluated in children. Fifty children with anorexia were randomly divided into two groups to receive either the hydroalcoholic extract of the Gentiana olivieri or a placbo at the dose of 2.5 mg/kg/day for two months. Variables such as weight, height, waist, consumed calories, and hunger VAS score, liver enzymes fluctuations and some blood biochemistry tests were also monitored. Results: The average age of cases and controls was 56.12 and 56.64 months, respectively. Before treatment, the mean weight in both case and control groups was 13.130±1.56 kg and 13.010±1.27 kg, respectively that changed to 14.275 ± 1.69 kg and 12.962± 1.16 kg after a month and 14.550±1.54 kg and 12.814±1.22 kg, respectively two months after the intervention. Significant effects were seen on received calories and VAS score. Conclusion: The product was found to have significant effect on weight, food intake and VAS score compared with placebo.


Compared to structurally related linear trialkylamines, a simple macrocyclic amine with an anion-binding cavity exhibits very large rate enhancements (>10(5)) for stoichiometric N-alkylation with primary alkyl, allyl, and benzyl halides in the weakly polar solvent CDCl3. There is also a major distortion of the halide leaving-group order. For example, with benzyl halides the relative leaving-group order with a control amine is Cl (1) < Br (71) < I (160), whereas the leaving-group order with the macrocyclic amine is I (0.4) < Cl (1) < Br (8.5). Reaction with the macrocyclic amine is inhibited by the addition of DMSO, which is unusual because the Menschutkin reaction is normally enhanced by the presence of a polar aprotic solvent. Competitive inhibition studies indicate that the reaction proceeds through a prereaction complex. Effective molarities for the subsequent unimolecular N-alkylation step with 4-t-butylbenzyl halides are 4-t-BuBnCl (62,000 M) > 4-t-BuBnBr (2200 M) > 4-t-BuBnI (35 M); thus, the free energy of activation is selectively decreased for organohalides having smaller and more charge dense leaving groups. Likely reasons for this selective enhancement effect are: (a) increased transition-state stabilization due to hydrogen bonding in the macrocyclic pocket and (b) reduced entropic penalty in the transition state due to an increased fraction of prereaction complexes that are oriented in a near attack conformation. The study suggests that it should be possible to develop highly reactive macrocyclic amines that selectively sense or scavenge carcinogenic haloalkanes from the atmosphere.


Abstract The factors and mechanisms underlying the heterogeneous cognitive outcomes of cerebral small vessel disease are largely unknown. Brain biological age can be estimated by machine learning algorithms that use large brain MRI data sets to integrate and compute neuroimaging-derived age-related features. Predicted and chronological ages difference (brain-age gap) reflects advanced or delayed brain aging in an individual. The present study firstly reports the brain aging status of cerebral small vessel disease. In addition, we investigated whether global or certain regional brain age could mediate the cognitive functions in cerebral small vessel disease. Global and regional (400 cortical, 14 subcortical and 28 cerebellum regions of interest) brain-age prediction models were constructed using grey matter features from MRI of 1482 healthy individuals (age: 18–92 years). Predicted and chronological ages differences were obtained and then applied to non-stroke, non-demented individuals, aged ≥50 years, from another community-dwelling population (I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study cohort). Among the 734 participants from the I-Lan Longitudinal Aging Study cohort, 124 were classified into the cerebral small vessel disease group. The cerebral small vessel disease group demonstrated significantly poorer performances in global cognitive, verbal memory and executive functions than that of non-cerebral small vessel disease group. Global brain-age gap was significantly higher in the cerebral small vessel disease (3.71 ± 7.60 years) than that in non-cerebral small vessel disease (−0.43 ± 9.47 years) group (P = 0.003, η2 = 0.012). There were 82 cerebral cortical, 3 subcortical and 4 cerebellar regions showing significantly different brain-age gap between the cerebral small vessel disease and non-cerebral small vessel disease groups. Global brain-age gap failed to mediate the relationship between cerebral small vessel disease and any of the cognitive domains. In 89 regions with increased brain-age gap in the cerebral small vessel disease group, seven regional brain-age gaps were able to show significant mediation effects in cerebral small vessel disease-related cognitive impairment (we set the statistical significance P < 0.05 uncorrected in 89 mediation models). Of these, the left thalamus and left hippocampus brain-age gap explained poorer global cognitive performance in cerebral small vessel disease. We demonstrated the interconnections between cerebral small vessel disease and brain age. Strategic brain aging, i.e. advanced brain aging in critical regions, may be involved in the pathophysiology of cerebral small vessel disease-related cognitive impairment. Regional rather than global brain-age gap could potentially serve as a biomarker for predicting heterogeneous cognitive outcomes in patients with cerebral small vessel disease.


There was performed a study of the element status (hair analysis) of the population of the two cities of Western Siberia: Surgut (n = 350) and Omsk (n = 385). Detection of elements was performed by atomic emission and mass spectrometry methods. The population of Surgut when compared with residents of Omsk bioelements were characterized by a more high content of B, Cu, Co, Fe, Mg, I, Zn (p < 0.001), and a lower content of Cr, Se (p < 0.001). Scarce elements for Omsk residents were 1, Se. In hair of Surgut residents in more higher concentrations there were detected toxic and potentially harmful elements such as Pb, Hg, Be, Cd, Li, Sn (p < 0.001). At the same time there were lower than in Omsk residents values of concentrations of Al, As, V In comparison groups there are established statistically significant differences of coefficients used for the evaluation of the metabolic activity, such as the Na/K, Ca/K, Na/Mg, Fe/Cu. In a sample of the city of Surgut coefficients Ca/K, Fe/Cu and "toxicity index" had the high values. The established differences in the availability of macro- and trace elements for the population of territories are determined by climatogeographic, geochemical features and the specificity of the structure of nutrition.


Randomized experiments have become important tools in empirical research. In a completely randomized treatment-control experiment, the simple difference in means of the outcome is unbiased for the average treatment effect, and covariate adjustment can further improve the efficiency without assuming a correctly specified outcome model. In modern applications, experimenters often have access to many covariates, motivating the need for a theory of covariate adjustment under the asymptotic regime with a diverging number of covariates. We study the asymptotic properties of covariate adjustment under the potential outcomes model and propose a bias-corrected estimator that is consistent and asymptotically normal under weaker conditions. Our theory is purely randomization-based without imposing any parametric outcome model assumptions. To prove the theoretical results, we develop novel vector and matrix concentration inequalities for sampling without replacement.


Two absorptive bandstop filter circuit topologies are introduced. The preferred topology is analyzed and its advantages over traditional approaches quantified. A corresponding varactor-tuned microstrip absorptive bandstop filter is described and its unique ability to maintain its attenuation while tuning across a broad frequency range using only resonant frequency tuning is demonstrated.


The authors describe a flexible model and a system for content-based image retrieval of objects' shapes. Flexibility is intended as the possibility of customizing the system behavior to the user's needs and perceptions. This is achieved by allowing users to modify the retrieval function. The system implementing this model uses multiple representations to characterize some macroscopic characteristics of the objects shapes. Specifically, the shape indexes describe the global features of the object's contour (represented by the Fourier coefficients), the contour's irregularities (represented by the multifractal spectrum), and the presence of concavities and convexities (represented by the contour scale space distribution). During a query formulation, the user can specify both the preference for the macroscopic shape aspects that he or she considers meaningful for the retrieval, and the desired level of accuracy of the matching, which means that the visual query shape must be considered with a given tolerance in representing the desired shapes. The evaluation experiments showed that this system can be suited to different retrieval behaviors, and that, generally, the combination of the multiple shape representations increases both recall and precision with respect to the application of any single representation. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The purpose to this article is to introduce a critical overview of asset management industry and the challenges it faces. Its organisation and ethos is still governed by ideas emerging from research made in 1950s. It totally ignores the massive global changes the world experienced since the last twenty years. This paper also suggests different alternatives as possible solutions to investigate. It focuses especially on the pervasive epistemological stance governing the decision making processes in the global asset management industry.


Background Pericardial effusion (PE) is a common clinical manifestation in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Few data are available about its pathogenesis. The role of adipokines and interleukins produced by the adipose tissue and the immune system in PE related to SSc had never been investigated. Objectives This study aimed at evaluating the differences in serum levels of adipokines and interleukins (IL) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with and without PE. Methods A total of 87 outpatients (84 female, mean age of 52,6±14,2 ys, and disease duration of 8,2±6,7 ys), who fulfilled the ACR/EULAR 2013 SSc classification criteria, were recruited in this study. The anthropometric measures, as body mass index (BMI), demographic, clinical and laboratoristic characteristics and SSc related manifestations were assessed in each patient. The presence of PE was evaluated by means of echocardiographic techniques (the presence of fluid ≥5 cc was considered pathologic). Sera levels of adiponectin, leptin, resistin, visfatin, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interferon g (INF-g), IL-2, IL-10 and IL-17 were measured in SSc patients, using Multiplex Immunoassay (Bioplex 200 System), by means of two kits (Bioplex ProTM Cytokine/Chemokine and Growth Factor Assay e Bioplex Pro Diabetes Assay). The data normality was verified using Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test; the comparisons between SSc patients groups were evaluated by Mann-Whitney U test and t-student test, where appropiate. Statistic significance was set at p≤0,05. The results are expressed as median and interquartile range (IQR) or means±1standard deviation. The data analysis were assessed using IBM SPSS statistic 20. Results 11 SSc patients had PE. The SSc patients groups (with and without PE) did not differ in age, sex and BMI. 11 SSc patients were obese (BMI≥30) (2 with PE and 9 without PE). We found significant differences between SSc patients with PE and without PE in sera levels of visfatin (1546,9 (8590,9) vs 388,8 (103); p=0,036), adiponectin (2845000 (4132900,0) vs 5272100,0 (8243600,0); p=0,027) and IL-17 (1,33 (3,5) vs 0,05 (0,56); p=0,45). Moreover higher adiponectin/leptin ratio was found in patients with PE than SSc patients without PE (569,2 (1415,3) vs 166,9 (504,9) p=0,032). The presence of interstitial lung disease, pulmonary arterial hypertension, limited or diffuse skin subset, the different nail fold videocapillaroscopy pattern and the modified Rodnan skin score did not influenced the serum levels of adipokines and IL. In the SSc patients with PE there is no differences in visfatin and adiponectin serum level and adiponectine/leptin ratio between patients that are in menopause and those who are not. Conclusions The visfatin and adiponectin could play an important role in pathogetic mechanism in pericardial effusion related to SSc. Further study are necessary to unravel a role of visfatin and adiponectin as biomarkers of SSc and a role of the adipose tissue and innate immune system in PE related to SSc pathology. Disclosure of Interest None declared


vasculopathy has been hypothesized. The linear zone of pale underlying skin in our patient would be consistent with a somatic mutation, leaving this area vulnerable to the pathological process resulting in this localized vasculopathy. The distribution is consistent with a line of Blaschko, although involvement of a dermatome is also possible. In conclusion, we present this case, which has unique features being similar but not identical to Degos' disease and the vasculopathy of autoimmune disease.


Background: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a Machine Learning (ML) algorithm based on Texture Analysis (TA) parameters in the prediction of Pathological Complete Response (pCR) to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy (nChRT) in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer (LARC) patients. Methods: LARC patients were prospectively enrolled to undergo pre- and post-nChRT 3T MRI for initial loco-regional staging. TA was performed on axial T2-Weighted Images (T2-WI) to extract specific parameters, including skewness, kurtosis, entropy, and mean of positive pixels. For the assessment of TA parameter diagnostic performance, all patients underwent complete surgical resection, which served as a reference standard. ROC curve analysis was carried out to determine the discriminatory accuracy of each quantitative TA parameter to predict pCR. A ML-based decisional tree was implemented combining all TA parameters in order to improve diagnostic accuracy. Results: Forty patients were considered for final study population. Entropy, kurtosis and MPP showed statistically significant differences before and after nChRT in patients with pCR; in particular, when patients with Pathological Partial Response (pPR) and/or Pathological Non-Response (pNR) were considered, entropy and skewness showed significant differences before and after nChRT (all p < 0.05). In terms of absolute value changes, pre- and post-nChRT entropy, and kurtosis showed significant differences (0.31 ± 0.35, in pCR, −0.02 ± 1.28 in pPR/pNR, (p = 0.04); 1.87 ± 2.19, in pCR, −0.06 ± 3.78 in pPR/pNR (p = 0.0005); 107.91 ± 274.40, in pCR, −28.33 ± 202.91 in pPR/pNR, (p = 0.004), respectively). According to ROC curve analysis, pre-treatment kurtosis with an optimal cut-off value of ≤3.29 was defined as the best discriminative parameter, resulting in a sensitivity and specificity in predicting pCR of 81.5% and 61.5%, respectively. Conclusions: TA parameters extracted from T2-WI MRI images could play a key role as imaging biomarkers in the prediction of response to nChRT in LARC patients. ML algorithms can be used to efficiently combine all TA parameters in order to improve diagnostic accuracy.


In this study, we report on the development of discrete fibrin microthreads as well as novel scaffolds composed of arrays of fibrin threads. These scaffolds exhibit mechanical properties that are significantly greater than fibrin gels and cellular responses suggesting that the materials are conducive to the development of organized, aligned tissues. Fibrin microthreads were produced by coextruding solutions of 70 mg/mL fibrinogen and 6 U/mL thrombin through small diameter polyethylene tubing. Uncrosslinked fibrin microthreads averaged 55-65 microm in hydrated diameter and achieved ultimate tensile strengths approaching 4.5 MPa. The strengths and stiffnesses of the microthreads were approximately twofold greater when the materials were treated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. Although UV crosslinking attenuated fibroblast proliferation, uncrosslinked fibrin microthreads supported fibroblast attachment, proliferation, and alignment, suggesting that they represent a viable biomaterial for the aligned regeneration of tissues. Because of the physiologic roles of fibrin matrices in the early phase of wound healing, we anticipate that these fibrin-based microthreads will direct the spatially and temporally complex processes of cell-mediated tissue ingrowth and regeneration.


Background: Facial esthetics was primarily the subject of study for artists and philosophers. Facial appearance is an essential diagnostic criterion for a complete comprehensive orthodontic treatment planning. The aim of this study was to establish the perception of facial esthetics by different professionals, namely orthodontists, artists, and photographers, and to investigate the most influential facial characteristics involved in rating the overall attractiveness. Materials and Methods: Twenty-two subjects of age 18–24 years fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected as the study samples. The subjects were asked to relax, gently touch the lips together, and then start smiling. This dynamic range of smile was video recorded using a digital camera. This video was then converted into 300 frames. The frame that best represented the subjects' natural/posed unstrained social smile was selected and cropped to create three types of images: the face with the smile, the face without the smile, and the smile image. The evaluators (orthodontists, artists, and photographers) were instructed to answer the questions from 1 to 8 looking at image 1 (face with smile), question 9 by looking at image 2 (face without the smile), and questions 10 and 11 by looking at image 3 (smile only). Results: According to orthodontists and artists, the feature most strongly associated with overall attractiveness was symmetry of face, whereas the photographers showed the highest score for cheekbones. The highest correlation was found between the orthodontist and artist groups. Conclusion: The perception by the three professionals confirms that the overall facial attractiveness is more important than dental attractiveness.


A technique of calculating aerial green biomass from spectral measurements in the red and near infra- red bands is increasingly beingapplied in vegetation studies. It is fast, non-destructive and can be directly applied from aircraft or satellite mounted sensors to large areas. Literature data illustrating the potential of the approach refer sofar generally to rather ideal situations in low, open, herbaceous vegetation. Before general application can be recommended a body ofreference including various situations should be available. The present contribution indicates some disturbing factorssuch as the presence offlowers or shade and evaluates theapplicability of the technique for a number of vegetation types. Results of tests in 11 semi-natural vegetation types are presented, ranging in height from 30-150 cm and in cover from 20-1 00%. Measurements were made with - as later appeared - non-optimal equipment and no correction could be made forvariation in incoming radiation. Multiplesampling at three to five dates between April and July resulted in correlation coefficient values of 0.96, 0.95, 0.92. 0.91, 0.91, 0,88, 0.85. 0.82, 0.67, and -0.06 (in the last case Holcus lanatus dominant) for aerial biomass dry and the ratio. These relatively high values are critically examined. The data provide evidence for a rather generalapplicability of the technique, but also for a cautios approach and a mandatory calibration per (floristically and/or physiognomically) different vegetation type.


Abstract The present paper reviews the research evidence on the impact of changes in pension accounting methods on pension provision. We show that decisions to freeze, terminate or convert defined benefit (DB) plans have been driven primarily by a desire to limit contributions, though financial reporting has played a part as well. The introduction of accrual accounting requirements for post‐retirement health care benefits in the US similar in character to those required for DB pension liabilities appear to have motivated some firms to curtail health care provision. Changes in accounting for DB schemes have affected how firms allocate pension plan assets. We conclude that accounting matters, though perhaps not as much as is sometimes claimed. Increased costs of providing DB pensions, coupled with the greater volatility of employers' cash contributions, have undoubtedly played the major part in the decline of DB schemes.


Valproate is a well-established anticonvulsant that is increasingly being employed, often in combination with other psychotropics, for its mood-stabilizing properties. This compound is metabolized by conjugation, β-oxidation, and cytochrome P450 oxidation (CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP2A6) and also acts as a broad-spectrum inhibitor of a variety of hepatic enzymes including glucoronyltransferase, epoxide hydrolase, and the CYP2C enzymes. In addition, it exhibits saturable protein binding and competes with many drugs for protein binding sites. It is therefore not surprising that valproate has been noted to interact with psychotropic medications of all classes. This article provides an overview of the noted pharmacokinetic psychotropic interactions with valproate, with a particular focus on the mechanisms of these interactions and potential clinical consequences.


Abstract Background Detailed information on the temperature dependence of tissue thermophysical and mechanical properties is pivotal for the optimal implementation of mathematical models and simulation-based tools for the pre-planning of thermal ablation therapies. These models require in-depth knowledge of the temperature sensitivity of these properties and other influential terms (e.g., blood perfusion and metabolic heat) to maximize the treatment prediction outcome. Methodology A systematic literature review of experimental trials investigating thermophysical and mechanical properties of biological media, as well as blood perfusion and metabolic heat, as a function of temperature in hyperthermic and ablative thermal range, was conducted up to June 2021. Results A total of 61 articles was selected, thus enabling a comprehensive overview of the temperature dependence of thermophysical properties (i.e. thermal conductivity, specific heat, volumetric heat capacity, density, thermal diffusivity), and mechanical properties (shear, elastic, storage, loss and complex moduli, loss factor, stiffness) along with the principal measurement techniques. The reviewed studies considered different tissues, e.g., liver, fat, cartilage, brain, myocardium, muscle, bone, skin, pancreas tissues, and also some tumorous tissues. Conclusions The thermophysical properties of soft tissues appear rather constant until 90 °C, with slight differences ascribable to tissues characteristics and measurement methods. Conversely, the information on mechanical properties is heterogeneous because most of the articles investigated different types of properties in different biological tissues. Furthermore, most of the experiments were conducted ex vivo; only a small percentage concerned in vivo studies. Limited recent information about the temperature dependence of metabolic heat and blood perfusion was observed.


This survey evaluates current views of non-medical professionals on the style of court report writing. A random sample of 120 solicitors who worked in the criminal field in London participated in this survey. The usable return was 72%. Up to 76% favoured changes in standards of report writing because of problems concerning clarity of style and use of jargon. The majority objected to reports being prepared by nonconsultant psychiatrists.


Optical coherence elastography (OCE) has seen rapid growth since its introduction in 1998. The past few decades have seen tremendous advancements in the development of OCE technology and a wide range of applications, including the first clinical applications. This tutorial introduces the basics of solid mechanics, which form the foundation of all elastography methods. We then describe how OCE measurements of tissue motion can be used to quantify tissue biomechanical parameters. We also detail various types of excitation methods, imaging systems, acquisition schemes, and data processing algorithms and how various parameters associated with each step of OCE imaging can affect the final quantitation of biomechanical properties. Finally, we discuss the future of OCE, its potential, and the next steps required for OCE to become an established medical imaging technology.


Infertility is a disease and cervical abnormalities of the genital tract in females may cause this condition. To evaluate the cervical abnormalities related to infertility in females a systematic review was done. Related literature were collected via Google Scholar, NCBI, PubMed, and Medscape. For article searching following keywords were used: cervical abnormalities, infertility, uterine anomalies, and cervical factors. As the literature reviewed, more than 60 articles were studied, from which only 45 articles were added. The study suggested that many cervical abnormalities affect fertility including the poor interaction of mucus and sperm in the cervix, cervical cancer, dilatation and stenosis of the cervix, wall irregularities, diverticulum, masses, and metaplasia of the cervix. Some of the microorganisms also affect cervical functions causing infertility. It is concluded that cervical abnormalities can be related to infertility.


The study was designed to assess the efficacy of topical application of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in the management of odontogenic keratocysts (OKC). The prospective, comparative, clinical study was conducted on seventeen patients with non-recurrent, non-syndromic OKC of the mandible who underwent cyst enucleation and peripheral osteotomy, followed by the application of 5-FU (group A, n = 9) and modified Carnoy's solution (MC) (group B, n = 8). Patients were assessed for nerve paresthesia, recurrence, and bone healing. Intergroup comparison of age, gender, location, and size was done by analysis of variance and Chi-square test. Recurrence was studied by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Bone healing was compared between the groups using an unpaired t-test. Age of patients ranged from 26-61 years, with male-to-female ratio of 1.8: 1. Patients were followed-up for 43.7 and 47.5 months in groups A & B, respectively. They showed no recurrence in the 5-FU group and 25% (n=2) recurrence in the MC group. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a disease-free survival probability of 0.9 at 30 months, which reduced to 0.7 at 60 months in group B. Although temporary paresthesia was seen in both group A (28.5%, n=2) and group B (42.8%, n-3), complete recovery was seen in all the patients. Bone healing assessment showed a mean increase in grey-level score by 36.52 ± 2.96 and 34.064 ± 6.52 in groups A and B respectively, which was statistically insignificant (p-value 0.225184). 5-FU is a novel option for the management of OKC. Its use resulted in lower post-operative paresthesia with no recurrence.


Free-electron lasers (FELs) can emit light with different optical polarizations including linear, elliptic and circular polarizations corresponding to the characteristics of the undulators used. X-ray FELs depend upon long undulator lines consisting of a sequence of short undulators. Linearly polarized undulators are most commonly used; hence the optical output is linearly polarized. Alternately, APPLE-II, Delta undulator designs, or a sequence of linearly polarized undulators with alternating orientations can be used to produce undulating magnetic fields with arbitrary polarizations. We present a three-dimensional, time-dependent formulation that self-consistently includes two optical orientations and, therefore, treats any given sequence or combination of undulator including undulator imperfections and degradation There are two principal characteristics of the formulation that underpin this capability. First, particles are tracked using the full Newton–Lorentz force equations with analytic models of the undulators fields. This permits an accurate model of the interaction of the electrons with a large variety of undulator fields and orientations. Second, the electrons can couple simultaneously to two independent electromagnetic polarizations and, therefore, the optical polarization evolves self-consistently along the undulator line. We present the numerical model and give some examples using prevailing undulator configurations.


Vibratory stimulation applied to the chest wall during inspiration reduces the intensity of breathlessness, whereas the same stimulation during expiration has no effect or may increase breathlessness. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether vibration reduced the intensity of breathlessness during progressive hypercapnia with and without the addition of an external resistive load. A second objective was to see whether the mouth occlusion pressure at 0.2 s (P0.2) was reduced by the vibratory stimulation. Hypercapnic ventilatory response was conducted in 10 healthy male volunteers with simultaneous measurement of visual analog scale, P0.2, and minute ventilation. Hypercapnic ventilatory response was performed and randomly combined with or without vibratory stimulation (100 Hz) as well as with or without inspiratory load. With inspiratory load, in-phase vibration did not cause any significant changes in the slopes of P0.2 and minute ventilation to CO2, whereas the slope of visual analog scale to CO2 significantly decreased from 0.47 +/- 0.15 to 0.34 +/- 0.11 (SE) cm/Torr (P < 0.05). We conclude that in-phase vibration could decrease the slope of breathlessness elicited by inspiratory load combined with hypercapnia without changing motor output.


2 Leung NNY, Cairns SR, Peters TJ. Activities and subcellular distributions of hepatic lipases in control subjects and in patients with alcoholic fatty liver. Clin Sci 1985;69:517-23 3 Slater TF. Free-radical mechanisms in tissue injury. Biochem J 1984;222:1-15 4 Homaidan FR, Kricka LJ, Bailey, AR, Whitehead TP. Red cell morphology in alcoholics: a new test for alcohol abuse. Blood Cells 1986;11:375-92 5 Meek DR, Mills PR, Gray HW, Duncan JG, Russell RI, McKillop JH. A comparison of computed tomography, ultrasound and scintigraphy in the diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease. Br JRadiol 1984;57:23-7 6 Harry DS, Owen JS, McIntyre N. Plasma lipoproteins and the liver. In: Wright R et al. eds. Liver and biliary disease. Pathophysiology. Diagnosis. Management. Eastbourne: Balliere Tindall, 1985:65-85 7 Owen JS, Gillett MPN, McIntyre N. Lipoproteins, cell membranes and cellular functions. Trends in Biochemical Science 1984;9:238-42 8 Katz J, McGarry JD. The glucose paradox. Is glucose a substrate for liver metabolism. J Clin Invest 1984;74: 1901-9


We investigate ...rms' incentives for cost reduction in the ...rst price sealed bid auction, a format largely used for procurement. A central feature of the model is that we allow ...rms to be heterogeneous. Though private value ...rst price auctions are not games with monotonic best responses, we ...nd that for comparative statics purposes they behave like these games. In particular, ...rms will tend to underinvest in cost reduction because they anticipate ...ercer head-on competition. Using the second price auction as a benchmark, we also ...nd that the ...rst price auction will elicit less investment from market participants. Moreover, both auction formats tend to favor investment by the current market leader and are therefore likely to reinforce asymmetries among market participants.


A.W.Phillips estimated his famous relationship between unemployment and wage inflation entirely from pre-1913 British data about which he said little. His wage series was in fact partly interpolated and the remainder were 'Standard Rates', set unilaterally by trade unions: members offered work at sub-'Standard' wages could claim unemployment benefit. Phillips' unemployment data came from the same unions, and the statistical relationship is unsurprising. The paper analyses the wage-setting process within the Amalgamated Engineers, the largest national union pre-1914. The largest single determinant of wage reductions was local unemployment, but increases were determined more by the union's finances and its success in recruitment. [This draft written in 1999.]


BACKGROUND Ring melanoma of the ciliary body and iris is extremely rare and often has adverse histology. This tumour may cause raised intraocular pressure. METHODS A review of four cases of ring melanomas with insidious presentations seen in the ocular oncology service over a 12 month period. RESULTS All four patients presented with unilateral anterior segment abnormalities and refractory glaucoma. The misdiagnoses of the causes of the glaucoma included angle recession from previous blunt trauma (patient 1); iridocorneal endothelial (ICE) syndrome supported by endothelial specular microscopy (patients 2 and 3); and melanocytoma on ciliary body biopsy (patient 4). Two patients were treated by several cyclodiode ciliary body ablation treatments and the other two underwent trabeculectomies and Molteno tubes. Two of the four patients have since died from their disease. CONCLUSION The ophthalmologist should re-evaluate the diagnosis in patients with anterior segment abnormalities and refractory ipsilateral glaucoma. Endothelial specular microscopy and biopsy of the suspicious lesion may give misleading reassurance. The potential presence of an anterior uveal melanoma must always be considered.


Previous investigations of sensory systems in opecoelid cercariae have focused on chaetotaxy and ultrastructure of sensory receptors. They revealed chaetotaxic patterns within family, genus, and species as well as different receptors. Chaetotaxic and ultrastructural observations have rarely been combined. We investigated the ultrastructure of cercarial sensory receptors in conjunction with chaetotaxy and neuromorphology in a species of Allopodocotyle. Cercariae were treated with acetylthiocholine iodide and silver nitrate, and some were processed for light, scanning (SEM), and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy. Five nerve regions were distinguished. Chaetotaxy was consistent with that of other opecoelids. Five types of receptors were distinguished with SEM. Types differed in number of cilium-like structures (one or more), length of cilium-like structure (short, moderately long, or long), presence or absence of a tegumentary collar, and length of tegumentary collar (low, moderately low, or very high). Internal ultrastructure of some types revealed unsheathed cilium-like structures, basal body, and thickened nerve collars. Possible subtegumentary and sheathed receptors are introduced. Some receptor types were site-specific. For example, receptors with multiple cilium-like structures were concentrated on cephalic region whereas receptors with short cilium-like structure were widespread throughout most regions. Ultrastructure and site-specificity observations suggest that most receptors are mechanoreceptors.


This study is an examination of demographic and economic changes in Australian households between 1996 and 2006 and their impact on home ownership. It is substantially an update of one carried out by Dr Judith Yates (2002), in which she examined the decade 1986 to 1996. This earlier decade was the era of deregulation, a tough one on middle Australia and on the financial system, when many of the long-term protections on the labour market and on housing finance were wound down. Unemployment and interest rates were high, and income inequality rapidly increased. In 1990, a series of financial failures occurred, accompanied by a credit crunch. As a result, borrowing on housing sunk to its lowest post-war level relative to asset values and outright ownership reached an all-time high. The national home ownership rate, which changes very slowly, fell by about 1.5 percentage points over the decade. By contrast, the present study period of 1996–2006 was the most benign period for all forms of borrowing in Australia's history. Gross household incomes rose by 23 per cent in real terms over the decade, about half of which was due to a fall in unemployment and the rest to improvements in rates of pay. Interest rates were held low in response to several global economic crises in 1997, 1998 and 2001. The financial system was extremely liquid, both from a fourfold expansion of the local money supply and from exotic derivatives and lending instruments spawned by global deregulation. Household debt in Australia rose very rapidly to 10 times its real 1990 level in 2008, and from 33 per cent to over 160 per cent of household disposable income. Benign lending conditions and better incomes have usually been considered the key to improving home ownership, but in fact home ownership levels did not improve significantly or even recover to 1986 levels by 2006. It has been the task of this report to establish why this might have been the case.


We present a Cycle-GAN based many-to-many voice conversion method that can convert between speakers that are not in the training set. This property is enabled through speaker embeddings generated by a neural network that is jointly trained with the Cycle-GAN. In contrast to prior work in this domain, our method enables conversion between an out-of-dataset speaker and a target speaker in either direction and does not require re-training. Out-of-dataset speaker conversion quality is evaluated using an independently trained speaker identification model, and shows good style conversion characteristics for previously unheard speakers. Subjective tests on human listeners show style conversion quality for in-dataset speakers is comparable to the state-of-the-art baseline model.


The sources of fish recruitment in the hydrologically modified, impounded Pabna Irrigation and Rural Development Project (PIRDP) flood control and irrigation scheme in NW Bangladesh were investigated. Catches at sluice gates were analysed to determine the migratory behaviour of fish. Fish attempted to migrate through the undershot sluice gates when they were opened, both with and against the currents, and both in and out of the PIRDP. Many fish were caught by the fishermen at such locations, but it is argued that some fish were probably able to enter the PIRDP from outside. One to two percentage of fish survived the dry season at the PIRDP, mostly in the deeper, perennial water bodies, both in rivers and lakes, and both inside and outside the flood control scheme. Fewer species survived inside the scheme, and the numbers of species remaining declined as the dry season progressed. It was shown in companion papers that fish production inside the PIRDP was lower than outside in both 1995 and 1996 even though the growth and reproductive potential of individual fish were at least as good inside as outside. The apparently negative impact of the PIRDP was explained by the reduced accessibility of the scheme to some migrant fish, as reflected by the inside/outside species compositions. It was concluded that fish catches within the PIRDP are sustained mainly from recruits produced by residing annual populations, while the biodiversity of the stocks was augmented by limited recruitment of fish migrating through the sluice gates from external sources. Two management approaches were proposed for increasing recruitment to the impounded PIRDP fishery as cheap alternatives to fish stocking: the use of dry season reserves to protect the residing spawning stocks; and the management of flood control sluice gates to maximise recruitment from external sources.


Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is frequently used as part of the immunosuppressive regimen after allogeneic nonmyeloablative HCT. We and others have previously shown that low mycophenolic acid (MPA) exposure, the active component of MMF, is associated with poorer rates of engraftment and increased risk of graft-vs-host disease (GVHD). As therapeutic plasma targets are difficult to achieve in adult HCT recipients with doses of MMF 2 gm/day, higher doses are required. To determine if higher MMF doses of 3 gm/day would achieve the therapeutic plasma targets we conducted a prospective pharmacokinetic study in adult recipients of nonmyeloablative HCT treated with cyclophosphamide 50 mg/kg, fludarabine 200 mg/m2 and total body irradiation 200 cGy in combination with cyclosporine and MMF as either 1.5 gm every 12 hours (n=15) or 1 gm every 8 hours (n=15). MMF was initiated on day -3 intravenously and switched to the oral form within the first week at the same dose. Pharmacokinetic sampling at steady state was performed once in each patient between days -1 and +5 while on intravenous therapy and then repeated once between days 5 and 14 posttransplant after oral administration. There were no differences in total or unbound MPA 24 hour cumulative area under the curve (AUC), concentration at steady state (Css) or troughs between the two dosing regimens. Total MPA 24 hour AUC (median, [range]) exposures were not different between intravenous 1 gm every 8 hours (53.59 [22.86–101.99] mcg*hr/mL) and intravenous 1.5 gm every 12 hours (60.90 [35.89–127.24] mcg*hr/mL) regimen (p=0.34). Unbound MPA 24 hour AUC exposures were also not different between the intravenous 1 gm every 8 hours (0.942 [0.389–1.722] mcg*hr/mL) and intravenous 1.5 gm every 12 hours (1.081 [0.610–2.194] mcg*hr/mL)(p=0.25). Following oral therapy, total and unbound MPA 24 hour AUC exposures after 1 gm every 8 hours and 1.5 gm every 12 hours were also not different (p≥0.43). Total MPA Css after intravenous 1 gm every 8 hours, oral 1 gm every 8 hours, intravenous 1.5 gm every 12 hours, oral 1.5 gm every 12 hours were 2.23 [0.95–4.25], 2.05 [1.32–3.24], 2.53 [1.46–5.24] and 2.35 [1.47–4.05] mcg/ml, respectively (p≥0.15). We previously found that an unbound 24 hour cumulative MPA AUC 0.600 mcg*hr/mL in 87–100% of subjects. All patients with the every 8 hour dosing had neutrophil recovery (ANC >500 cells/uL x 3 consecutive days) at a median [range] of day 10 [6–38] as compared to day 12 [0–31] in those with every 12 hour dosing. Acute GVHD grades II–IV developed in 3 (20%) and 6 (40%) patients in the MMF every 8 hour and every 12 hour dosing cohorts, respectively. When compared to our historical controls, MPA exposure is higher with MMF 3 gm/day compared to 2 gm/day regardless of dosing schedule and achieves adequate exposure in most adult patients. In conclusion, MMF 3 g/day should be considered the standard starting dose for adult patients undergoing nonmyeloablative HCT.


In this paper we present a method for fast surface reconstruction from large noisy datasets. Given an unorganized 3D point cloud, our algorithm recreates the underlying surface's geometrical properties using data resampling and a robust triangulation algorithm in near realtime. For resulting smooth surfaces, the data is resampled with variable densities according to previously estimated surface curvatures. Incremental scans are easily incorporated into an existing surface mesh, by determining the respective overlapping area and reconstructing only the updated part of the surface mesh. The proposed framework is flexible enough to be integrated with additional point label information, where groups of points sharing the same label are clustered together and can be reconstructed separately, thus allowing fast updates via triangular mesh decoupling. To validate our approach, we present results obtained from laser scans acquired in both indoor and outdoor environments.


Purpose Emerging data suggest that students' attitudes toward older patients may be positively affected by geriatric experiences that are not clinically based, but no known interventions have used creative arts to integrate humanistic experiences into medical student geriatric education. This 2012 study evaluated whether participating in TimeSlips, a creative group-based storytelling program involving persons with dementia, improved medical students' attitudes toward such patients. Method The authors administered the Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) to 22 fourth-year medical students to evaluate the mean change in their self-reported attitudes toward persons with dementia. The authors used paired t tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to analyze pre- and post-program scores on the individual items of the DAS, on the subdomains of "comfort" and "knowledge," and on the overall scale. They used Cronbach alpha to evaluate the internal consistency and reliability of the "comfort" and "knowledge" subdomains and of the overall scale. Results Medical students' attitudes, as measured by the significantly higher scores on 12 of the 20 items, on each of the two subdomains, and on the overall scale, showed improvement after the TimeSlips sessions. The DAS showed acceptable to good internal consistency on both subdomains and on the overall scale both pre and post session; however, the internal consistency analysis is preliminary because of small sample size. Conclusions The authors' findings provide preliminary evidence that participation in a creative storytelling program at a nursing home improves medical students' attitudes toward persons with dementia and adds to evidence supporting the reliability of the DAS.


Torque and drag analysis has been used for more than ten years to drill wells 'on paper'. Representations of the drillstring and bottomhole assembly (BHA) that do not include the individual component stiffness have been used with some success in analyzing and preventing problems in extended reach drilling. As curve rates have increased in directional wells and the trajectories themselves become more complex, the effects of the previously neglected stiffness have led to errors in the sideforce calculations that underpin all torque and drag analysis. Finite-element analysis can solve this problem. Additionally, tortuosity can be added to provide a rippled effect to a well trajectory design that simulates the micro dog-legs that occur in the drilled well, enabling more realistic bounds to be placed on the drag and torque losses, and the forces experienced by the drillstring. Tortuosity also allows more accurate modeling of the side forces between the casing and drillpipe, critical to extended reach well design. This is illustrated using a well with a deep kick-off point from the Gulf of Mexico. A case study based on wells drilled from the Hibernia platform is used to illustrate how the model has been utilized to aid planning decisions and reduce costs.


Mechanical fracture is believed to be a primary reason for loss of fixation at the bone-cement-implant interface. In addition to the expected cracks at the bone-cement interface, cracks are also observed to be formed at voids and inclusions within the cement. An analytical solution is presented for cracks emanating from circular voids or elastic inclusions under uniaxial tension using the solution for a single dislocation as a Green's function. Stress intensity factors are calculated for arbitrary orientations of the cracks, and for varying relative stiffnesses of the inclusion and the matrix, to determine the most favorable combination of parameters for crack growth.


Landslides cause damages and affect victims worldwide, but landslide information is lacking. Even large events may not leave records when they happen in remote areas or simply do not impact with vulnerable elements. This paper proposes a procedure to measure spatial autocorrelation changes induced by event landslides in a multi-temporal series of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) intensity Sentinel-1 images. The procedure first measures pixel-based changes between consecutive couples of SAR intensity images using the Log-Ratio index, then it follows the temporal evolution of the spatial autocorrelation inside the Log-Ratio layers using the Moran's I index and the semivariance. When an event occurs, the Moran's I index and the semivariance increase compared to the values measured before and after the event. The spatial autocorrelation growth is due to the local homogenization of the soil response caused by the event landslide. The emerging clusters of autocorrelated pixels generated by the event are localized by a process of optimal segmentation of the log-ratio layers. The procedure was used to intercept an event that occurred in August 2015 in Myanmar, Tozang area, when strong rainfall precipitations triggered a number of landslides. A prognostic use of the method promises to increase the availability of information about the number of events at the regional scale, and to facilitate the production of inventory maps, yielding useful results to study the phenomenon for model tuning, landslide forecast model validation, and the relationship between triggering factors and number of occurred events.


Introduction. This study aimed to characterize the psychosocial risk by outside working factors of administrative staff of the University Corporation of the Coast - CUC and the determination of their level of stress. Method. From a census was determined the population, which was formed by 227 workers. It is a research, descriptive, transactional with non-experimental design. The collection of information used instruments for the evaluation of factors of psychosocial risks, that it is regulations of the Ministry of Social protection of Colombia. Results. It showed the main factors of this type of risk, as well as your stress level, present in the administrative employees of the institution, showing that 68 workers joined in the categories high and high stress levels, 76 subjects were grouped by levels the medium and low, while the remaining 83, had very low risk. Conclusion. Firstly, prevailed the risk factor about "transportation of home - work - home", the second factor "Economic situation of the family group", and thirdly the "characteristics of the dwelling and its surroundings". There is a considerable alarm for the maintenance of the good health of the administrative staff of the University, when the levels stress are in the category of stress low and it need should undertake special interventions and with the rising from the middle level undertake epidemiological values of the nation's public health.


Higher education in Slovakia faces a number of problems. In this paper, we focus on one of them — an outdated way of practical teaching of computer science students, because of which the students do not understand enough the acquired knowledge and they often fail to apply this acquired theoretical knowledge in practice. This article represents the description of our experience with the experiment in which we have introduced modern teaching methods of project and team learning into the Operating Systems course taught at the Technical University in Kosice. After the experiment, the results of the students were collected and compared with the results of other students who did not participate in the experiment. These comparisons, along with the feedback from participating students, represent real data that enables the authors to evaluate the relevance of applied innovative teaching methods. We believe, that our solutions can serve as an inspiration for other people in academic circles encountering similar problems as we do.


In previous papers in this series, we measured the stellar and H I content in a sample of edge-on galaxies. In the present paper, we perform a simultaneous rotation curve and vertical force field gradient decomposition for five of these edge-on galaxies. The rotation curve decomposition provides a measure of the radial dark matter potential, while the vertical force field gradient provides a measure of the vertical dark matter potential. We fit dark matter halo models to these potentials. Using our H I self-absorption results, we find that a typical dark matter halo has a less dense core (0.094 ± 0.230 M⊙ pc-3) than that for an optically thin H I model (0.150 ± 0.124 M⊙ pc-3). The H I self-absorption dark matter halo has a longer scale-length Rc of 1.42 ± 3.48 kpc, versus 1.10 ± 1.81 kpc for the optically thin H I model. The median halo shape is spherical at q = 1.0 ± 0.6 for self-absorbing H I, while it is prolate at q = 1.5 ± 0.6 for the optically thin case. Our best results were obtained for ESO 274-G001 and UGC 7321, for which we were able to measure the velocity dispersion in Paper III. These two galaxies have very different halo shapes, with one oblate and one strongly prolate. Overall, we find that the many assumptions required make this type of analysis susceptible to errors.


Abstract. This study investigates the improvement in the performance of a temperature and humidity measuring system developed by Company A using the Aspirated Radiation Shield (ARS). The shield has been used in the industry and its accuracy was verified recently. The study also experimentally examines the impact of the wind speed of the ARS device on temperature and humidity. The results are summarized as follows. Before the improvement of the system, the temperature of Company A's system was up to 10.2°C higher than that measured by the ARS device, and the measured relative humidity was approximately 20.0% lower. After improving the system, the temperature and relative humidity of nodes 1 and 2 were found to be almost identical. The temperature deviations including the maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures between those measured in node 2 and by ARS were approximately 0.2 to 0.7°C, respectively; further, the values measured by ARS tended to be slightly lower or higher. In terms of relative humidity, the ARS measurements yielded values approximately 10.0% higher immediately after sunset; otherwise, the values were approximately 1.9% lower. Moreover, when node 1 was set to minimum-middle, middle-maximum, and maximum, the deviations including the maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures of nodes 1 and 2 were 0.1 to 0.4°C, 0.0 to 0.2°C, and 0.0 to 0.5°C, respectively. The deviations including the maximum, average, and minimum temperatures of the three points of node 1 and the ARS ranged from 0.2 to 0.5°C, 0.1 to 2.2°C, and 0.1 to 1.1°C, respectively, indicating that the temperature deviation according to the wind speed was negligible. In addition, considering the results of the previous study with those from this study, the optimal wind speed to improve the temperature deviation is considered to be in the range of 1.0~2.0 m·s-1


Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is new species were culture to replace tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) in Purworejo village, Pasir Sakti sub-district of East Lampung residence. This study was purposed to investigate culture performances of Pacific white shrimp in semi intensive system in two farmer groups. Eight ponds with ± 2100 m2/ ponds and density of 60 ind/m2 was used for this study. Results showed that Pacific white shrimp performances was different among two farmer groups. Sido Makmur group showed better performance compared to Lestari Gemilang with showed of ponds productivity 1337,8 kg and 1330,3 kg, respectively. FCR and SR among two groups also showed different, there were 1,88 to 2,39 and 86,95% to 63,3%, respectively. High mortality after WSSV infection was decreased pond productivity. Water quality parameters such as ammonia (0,029-0,031 ppm) and light density (<40 cm) were not suitable for shrimp culture impacted to pond productivity. WSSV infection and water quality parameters had corellation to pond performances.


Objectives. The aim of the present study was to examine the long-term prognostic value of coronary flow velocity reserve (CFR) evaluated by means of stress transoesophageal echocardiography (STEE) in patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Design. The study comprised 31 patients with significant LAD stenosis who underwent LAD-PCI. In consequence of their clinical signs, 11 subjects required rePCI or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) operation within six months. The clinical status of the remaining 20 cases improved during the follow-up. STEE examinations were performed before LAD-PCI and after it. Results. The CFR of patients in a stable clinical condition improved during the follow-up, while the CFR of those who required rePCI or CABG remained unchanged. From this patient population, two subjects died during the 5-year follow-up. Conclusions. Most of the patients who displayed an improved CFR after PCI suffered no major clinical events during the 5-year follow-up; in contrast, in those who a priori had a low CFR and did not show any improvement after PCI, major events did occur during this period.


BACKGROUND
Some health plans profile physicians on the basis of their relative costs and use these profiles to assign physicians to cost categories. Physician organizations have questioned whether the rules used to attribute costs to a physician affect the cost category to which that physician is assigned.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of 12 different attribution rules on physician cost profiles.

DESIGN
Under each of the 12 attribution rules, a cost profile was created for the physicians in the aggregated claims database and the physicians were assigned to a cost category (high cost, average cost, low cost, or low sample size). The attribution rules differed by unit of analysis, signal for responsibility, number of physicians who can be assigned responsibility, and threshold value for assigning responsibility.

SETTING
Four commercial health plans in Massachusetts.

PATIENTS
1.1 million adults continuously enrolled in 4 commercial health plans in 2004 and 2005.

MEASUREMENTS
Percentage of all episodes assigned to any physician and percentage of costs billed by a physician that were included in his or her own profile were calculated under each rule. The cost category assignments from a commonly used default rule were compared with those from each of the other 11 attribution rules and the rate of disagreement was calculated.

RESULTS
Percentage of episodes that could be assigned to a physician varied substantially across the 12 rules (range, 20% to 69%), as did the mean percentage of costs billed by a physician that were included in that physician's own cost profile (range, 13% to 60%). Depending on the alternate rule used, between 17% and 61% of physicians would be assigned to a different cost category than that assigned by using the default rule.

LIMITATION
Results might differ if data from another state or from Medicare were used.

CONCLUSION
The choice of attribution rule affects how costs are assigned to a physician and can substantially affect the cost category to which a physician is assigned.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE
U.S. Department of Labor.


A total of 200 residents of Columbus, Ohio, were questioned over the telephone about their knowledge of U.S. and Soviet crisis relocation plans, their feelings about chances of surviving nuclear attack, and their behavioral intentions in the event of an evacuation. Few respondents displayed knowledge of the existence or substance of crisis relocation plans. Most gauged survival rates in the event of a nuclear attack as substantially higher with an evacuation plan than without one, but in both cases expectations were that fewer than 50% of the population would survive. While most respondents stated they would follow evacuation procedures, evidence of possible noncompliance was found.


As part of a greater project (MenOPP), the type, distribution and frequency of sequelae after meningococcal disease (MCd) were estimated on the basis of examinations carried out about six weeks after hospital admission. Well documented sequelae were found in about 18% of 102 MCd cases compared to about 3% in 61 control patients. In 18 control patients with meningitis/septicemia due to other bacteria, the sequelae frequency was 11%. Our MCd sequelae results correspond with many of those published during the last few years. The frequency of uncertain sequelae was about the same (16%) in the MCd and the control group patients. A routine examination six weeks and one year after a MCd episode seems to be useful for the individual patient and for the research on better prophylaxis and improved treatment.


Sixteen collegiate women lacrosse players consumed either creatine (C, n = 7) or a placebo (P, n = 9) for 5 weeks during their preseason conditioning program (20 g · d−1 for 1 week and 2 g · d−1 for 4 weeks). Pre-and posttesting consisted of body composition, muscle endurance test, blood lactate response to the endurance test, 1 repetition maximum (1RM) bench press and leg extension, and blood glutamyltransferase (GGL) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Testing revealed that 1RM bench press significantly increased in both groups, with the C group improving significantly more than the P group (6.2 ± 2.0 and 2.8 ± 1.8 kg). Percent body fat by skin-fold decreased significantly more in C than the P group (-1.2 ± 0.9 and 0.3 ± 0.8), but was not different by group by hydrodensitometry. No significant differences between groups were found for all other measures, but significant time effects were noted for body weight gain (0.5 ± 3.2 kg), 1RM leg extension (1.4 ± 4.1 kg), BUN (0.07 ± 0.03 mmol · L−1), total work during the muscle endurance test (283.5 ± 387.3 watts), and fat-free mass by skinfold (0.7 ± 1.2 kg). In summary, a regime of dietary creatine supplementation significantly improved upper-body strength gain and decreased the percent body fat as assessed by skinfold in women athletes engaged in a resistance-training program.


Atomistic simulation techniques have been used to model the dissociative adsorption of water onto the low-index {100}, {110}, and {111} surfaces of spinel MgAl2O4. The Born model of solids and the shell model for oxygen polarization have been used. The resulting structures and chemical bonding on the clean and hydrated surfaces are described. The calculations show that the dissociative adsorption of water on the low-index surfaces is generally energetically favorable. For the {110} and {111} orientations, the surfaces cleaved between oxygen layers show high absorption and stability. The calculations also show that, for the {111} orientation, the surfaces may absorb chemically water molecules up to ∼90% coverage and have the highest stability. It is suggested that, during fracture, only partial hydration occurs, leading to cleavage preferentially along the {100} orientation.


Background Mild derangements of liver function tests in systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE) are not uncommon, reflecting either disease activity or treatment. Rare causes of hepatic dysfunction include arteritis and lupoid hepatitis.1 We report on a patient with SLE and coexisting haemochromatosis. Objectives Methods CASE REPORT: A 26 year old man presented with acute onset of jaundice and skin rash. He had a history of intermittent rash and arthralgia with serology positive for ribonuclear protein antibodies characteristic of mixed connective tissue disease. On examination he was icteric with a pyrexia. There was a maculopapular rash typical of subacute cutaneous lupus over his anterior chest wall. Results Investigations showed a normocytic, normochromic anaemia, a thrombocytopaenia and a lymphopaenia. His prothrombin time and partial thromoboplastin time were prolonged. Liver function tests showed an elevated total bilirubin and raised aspartate transferase and alanine transferase. Autoimmune serology showed positive antiRNP/Sm. Complement levels were low. Anticardiolipin antibodies were negative. Viral titres were negative. Serum ferritin level was elevated. Blood cultures grew b haemolytic streptococcus. He was treated with high dose corticosteroids. He had intravenous antibiotics. The coagulopathy was treated with vitamin K and fresh frozen plasma. The thrombocytopaenia was treated with immunoglobulins. In spite of further management, unfortunately he died. A postmortem showed acute renal tubular necrosis and crescentic glomerulonephritis. Liver histology showed periportal deposition of iron predominately in zone three. This, together with the presence of iron deposition in the exocrine pancreas gland confirmed the diagnosis of hereditary haemochromatosis. Conclusion At its simplest this case represents two disease processes occurring by chance in the same patient. However both conditions are uncommon. A second possibility is that there is a common genetic link. The patient's father had a history of idiopathic thrombocytopaenia. Some cases of evolution from ITP to SLE have been reported. It seems possible therefore that there may be a genetic component to his predisposition to lupus. Linkage studies of SLE using microsatellites have revealed a wide range of genome susceptibility loci. Although haemochromatosis is the most commonly inherited single gene disorder, there was no known family history here. A further possibility was that the two conditions had an additive effect. A high ferritin can reflect lupus activity. It also acts a source of iron causing production of hydroxyl radicals from oxygen and extensive tissue damage. In conclusion there are several possible theories causing multiorgan failure in this case. Reference Matsumoto T, Yoshimine MD, Shimouchi K, et al. The liver in systemic lupus erythematosis: Pathologic analysis of 52 cases and review of Japanese autopsy registry data. Hum Pathol. 1992;23(10):1151–8


A novel 3D point cloud learning model for deep LiDAR odometry, named PWCLO-Net, using hierarchical embedding mask optimization is proposed in this paper. In this model, the Pyramid, Warping, and Cost volume (PWC) structure for the LiDAR odometry task is built to refine the estimated pose in a coarse-to-fine approach hierarchically. An attentive cost volume is built to associate two point clouds and obtain embedding motion patterns. Then, a novel trainable embedding mask is proposed to weigh the local motion patterns of all points to regress the overall pose and filter outlier points. The estimated current pose is used to warp the first point cloud to bridge the distance to the second point cloud, and then the cost volume of the residual motion is built. At the same time, the embedding mask is optimized hierarchically from coarse to fine to obtain more accurate filtering information for pose refinement. The trainable pose warp-refinement process is iteratively used to make the pose estimation more robust for outliers. The superior performance and effectiveness of our LiDAR odometry model are demonstrated on KITTI odometry dataset. Our method outperforms all recent learning-based methods and outperforms the geometry-based approach, LOAM with mapping optimization, on most sequences of KITTI odometry dataset. Our source codes will be released on https://github.com/IRMVLab/PWCLONet.