Background and study aim: The novel over-the-scope clip (OTSC) allows for excellent apposition of tissue, potentially permitting hemostasis to be achieved in various types of gastrointestinal lesions. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness and safety of OTSCs for endoscopic hemostasis in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding in whom traditional endoscopic methods had failed. Patients and methods: A retrospective case series of all patients who underwent placement of an OTSC for severe recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding over a 14-month period was studied. Outcome data for the procedure included achievement of primary hemostasis, episodes of recurrent bleeding, and complications. Results: Twelve consecutive patients (67 % men; mean age 59, range 29 – 86) with ongoing upper gastrointestinal bleeding despite previous endoscopic management were included. They had a mean ASA score of 3 (range 2 – 4), a mean hemoglobin of 7.2 g/dL (range 5.2 – 9.1), and shock was present in 75 % of patients. They had all received packed red blood cells (mean 5.1 units, range 2 – 12). The etiology of bleeding was: duodenal ulcer (n = 6), gastric ulcer (n = 2) Dieulafoy lesion (n = 2), anastomotic ulceration (n = 1), Mallory – Weiss tear (n = 1). Hemostasis was achieved in all patients. Rebleeding occurred in two patients 1 day and 7 days after OTSC placement. There were no complications associated with OTSC application. Conclusions: OTSC use represents an effective, easily performed, and safe endoscopic therapy for various causes of severe acute gastrointestinal bleeding when conventional endoscopic techniques have failed. This therapy should be added to the armamentarium of therapeutic endoscopists.


Design for Environment (DfE) has been defined as the systematic integration of environmental considerations into product and process design. And it has been discovered that resources can be conserved when several functions are integrated into a single product by taking advantage of common components. This paper highlights how agricultural machinery can be designed not only for multipurpose use but for multi-lifecycle by using design for environment concepts such as design for modularity, disassembly, demanufacturing and remanufacturing. The concept is illustrated with a completed design and development project on sustainable peanut processing machine. The product was found to be equally technically sound as the conventionally designed ones, more environmentally friendly, economically preferable and socio-culturally better than those developed by using the traditional design approach.


The Swedish director Ludvig Josephson (1832-99) made a decisive contribution to the breakthrough of theatrical direction during the latter half of the 19th century in Sweden, and even to a certain extent in Norway. The aim of this dissertation is to examine Josephson's aesthetic program and to relate his contribution to continental developments. Theatrical direction here includes both dramatic theater and operatic works. The concept 'aesthetic program' does not, in the context of this study, imply aesthetics as a theoretical problem, but is rather used as a kind of superstructure for Josephson's two most important areas of activity: as a theater director and as a debater. His aesthetic program is regarded as consisting of two components: on the one hand it is a forceful cultural conception of what the theater ought to be, on the other, it consists of his practical work as a director. Josephson's recurring journeys to the continental theater centres are an important prerequisite for his aesthetic program. His view of the theater is shaped at an early point in his life thanks to his contact with French and German theater traditions. During the course of his life Josephson published a number of tracts in which he discussed various questions within the theater, often in a very polemical manner. He is concerned for the future of the serious, educational theater and in his texts repeats his ideas of an ideal theater, which in this dissertation is termed 'Josephson's great program'. Josephson's method of directing is examined on the basis of three examples which illuminate the practical side of his aesthetic program: L'Africaine by Scribe/Meyerbeer, Peer Gynt by Ibsen and Master Olof by Strindberg. Ludvig Josephson can be considered an early representative of the "director's and actor's theater", whose most prominent exponents during the first half of the 20th century are Konstantin Stanislavsky and Max Reinhardt. He works with a literary theater, whose aesthetic base is the concept of unified staging. Josephson upholds the independence of drama and the art of direction, places the actor in focus and continues the German 19th century tradition, in which the director relates to the actors as a pedagogue. This type of theater primarily develops within the framework of the institutional theaters of bourgeois culture and is destined to become the basic constituent of the modern European repertory theater. (Less)


Although cinnoline belongs to a family of fairly well known heterocycles, the interest in the study of its derivatives continues. Cinnoline compounds demonstrate interesting bioactivity and many research papers have discussed the biological property, structure‐activity relationship, and applications in medicinal science. Attention has been paid to the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds bearing a cinnoline moiety, mainly because of the interest in their broad spectrum of pharmacological activities. This chronological work summarizes almost all synthetic papers and patents concerning the biological properties of 107 cinnoline derivatives published over the last 50 years with 117 references.


The objective of this project is to design a hybrid intelligent surveillance system. That is, the system consists of embedded systems and a PC-based system. I propose an embedded system that performs some of image processing tasks and sends the processed data to a PC. Under the supervision of Dr. Aggarwal, I have created a PC-based intelligent surveillance system that tracks persons and recognizes two-person interactions using a grayscale monochrome side-v iew image sequence captured by a single static camera [7]. Based on my previous PC-based research, I explored a div ision of tasks between an embedded machine and a PC, simulated the embedded machine on Ptolemy, and designed an actual embedded machine using a 16b it CISC microprocessor. This embedded machine performs within three frame-cycle periods with a small code and a small internal RAM usage.


The aim of this study is to evaluate adsorption kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamic parameters of anionic textile dye (Acid Red 88) onto montmorillonitic clay from aqueous solutions. The parameters of pH, initial dye concentrations, temperature, and the adsorbent dosage were investigated experimentally. Four kinetic models including pseudo-second order, pseudo-nth order, Bangham s equation and double exponential equation (DEE) were selected to follow the adsorption process. The dynamic data were fitted the DEE well and also followed the pseudo-nth order model. The adsorption data obtained were well described by the Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 588 mg/g at 20 oC. Thermodynamic parameters such as activation energy (Ea), Gibbs free energy (.G0), enthalpy (.H0) and entropy (.S0) were also evaluated. The negative value of change in Gibbs free energy indicates that adsorption of AR88 on montmorillonitic clay is spontaneous. The anionic dye molecules can be adsorbed on montmorillonitic clay particles, even when their surface charge (or zeta potential) is negative. Interactions leading to adsorption of anionic dyes (AR88) onto the clay may cause from the following mechanisms: hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interaction, hydrophobic interaction, anion exchange and dye-dye interactions. The results show that montmorillonitic clay could be employed as low-cost material for the removal of acid dyes from textile effluents.


Propose: Cytochrome P450 family 2 subfamily R member 1 (CYP2R1) variations can affect the activity of 25-hydroxylase, resulting in the deficiency of 25(OH)D, which leads to an increased incidence and mortality of coronary heart disease (CHD). The purpose is to assess the influence of CYP2R1 variants on CHD risk among the Chinese Han population. Methods: A total of 508 CHD patients and 510 healthy controls were enrolled. The MassARRAY platform completed genotyping of CYP2R1 variants. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using logistic regression analysis. Results: Rs6486205 (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.05–1.50, p = 0.014), rs10741657 (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.08–1.54, p = 0.005), and rs2060793 (OR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.06–1.51, p = 0.009) were associated with the increased susceptibility to CHD in the whole subjects. Interestingly, the relationships between these variants and CHD risk were observed in the subjects with age >60 years, males or non-smoker. Additionally, the haplotypes Ars10741657Ars2060793 and Grs10741657Grs2060793 had the higher risk of CHD, and the combination (rs6486205 and rs10741657) was the best multi-locus model. Conclusion: Our study suggested the contribution of CYP2R1 polymorphisms to the increased CHD predisposition in the Chinese Han population. Furthermore, the risk association was related to confounding factors for CHD, including age, sex, and smoking. These findings might help to strengthen the understanding of the CYP2R1 gene in the occurrence of CHD.


Photovoltage and photocurrent for Ag–As(Ge)–S glass with Ag content of 30–45 at.% sandwiched between Au films have been investigated under various conditions. The unique time responses have been explained in terms of migration of Ag+ ions by counterflow to the motion of photoexcited holes, and subsequent formation of a Ag+ ion-depleted layer in the vicinity of the illuminated electrode.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

VTI1A-TCF7L2 was reported as a recurrent fusion gene in colorectal cancer (CRC), found to be expressed in three out of 97 primary cancers, and one cell line, NCI-H508, where a genomic deletion joins the two genes (Bass et al. Nature Genetics, 2011). To investigate this fusion further, we analyzed high-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing data from seven CRC cell lines in addition to publicly available data from the NCI-H508 cell line. From both genome and transcriptome data, the gene RP11-57H14.3 (ENSG00000225292) was identified as a novel fusion partner for TCF7L2 in the HCT 116 cell line. The originally reported fusion VTI1A-TCF7L2 was identified as expected from the analysis of NCI-H508 data. By triplicate nested RT-PCR, we tested both the novel fusion transcript and VTI1A-TCF7L2 for expression in a series of 106 CRC tissues, 21 colon cancer cell lines, 14 normal colonic mucosa, and 20 normal tissues from miscellaneous anatomical sites. Altogether, 42% and 45% of the CRC samples expressed VTI1A-TCF7L2 and TCF7L2-RP11-57H14.3 fusion transcripts, respectively. The two fusion transcripts were both seen in 29% of the normal colonic mucosa samples, and in 25% and 75% of the tested normal tissues from other organs. Seven different splice variants were detected for the VTI1A-TCF7L2 fusion, of which three are novel. Four different splice variants were detected for the TCF7L2-RP11-57H14.3 fusion.

In conclusion, we have identified novel variants of VTI1A-TCF7L2 fusion transcripts, including a novel fusion partner gene, RP11-57H14.3. We demonstrated detectable levels of TCF7L2 involving fusion transcripts in a large fraction of CRC samples, as well as in normal colonic mucosa and other normal tissue types, revealing that these fusions, at transcript level, are neither specific to cancer nor to the colon and rectum.

Citation Format: Andreas M. Hoff, Torfinn Nome, Anne Cathrine Bakken, Torleiv O. Rognum, Arild Nesbakken, Rolf I. Skotheim. High frequency of fusion transcripts involving TCF7L2 in colorectal cancer: Novel fusion partner and splice variants. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2235. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2235


This paper reviews the literature on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor discontinuation symptoms. These symptoms have been well described in numerous anecdotal case reports and reports of small series of cases in the Caucasian population. There are no reports in the literature of it occurring in Asian patients. A study involving 65 patients on this type of antidepressant revealed that Asian patients do experience these withdrawal symptoms as well. Seven patients (3 on fluoxetine, 4 on fluvoxamine) reported symptoms similar to those reported by Caucasian patients in the literature. Three of the cases are reported in detail to highlight the clinical presentation in such cases.


Using a cross-country dataset covering 9265 observations on 1785 firms representing 53 countries over the period 2004–2019, this study investigates the relation between carbon emissions reduction and corporate financial performance (CFP). We perform OLS regressions with fixed effects. We found that carbon emissions reduction increases the return on assets, the return on equity, and the return on sales, whereas it has no effect on the Tobin's Q and the current ratio. The positive relationship with the return on assets is stronger for firms with a higher responsibility score. We study country characteristics by modeling GDP growth, overall emissions within a country, and the presence of carbon emissions legislation. Our results indicate that the overall carbon emissions of a country and the presence of carbon emissions legislation are related to both corporate carbon emissions reduction and CFP. Moderating effects of the country's overall emissions and the presence of carbon emissions legislation do not affect the relationship between carbon emissions reduction and CFP. Despite the further understanding gained, the issue of whether it "pays to be green" can still not be resolved well.


Over the last decades, assessing the self-report of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children and adolescents has increased. However, most studies evaluate the impact of dental caries on oral health-related quality of life. Few studies have reported the impact of dental fluorosis in the quality of life of children and adolescents. Therefore, the aim of this review was to describe the association between caries and dental fluorosis with the OHRQoL in children and adolescents. The literature is clear in reporting the effect caused by caries, particularly in cavitated stages, on individuals's quality of life. Regarding dental fluorosis, the results of studies showed that its impact on quality of life can be seen only when this is presented in severe stages. Descriptors: dental caries; quality of life; fluorosis, dental.


AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 18-22, 2009; Denver, CO

The immortality of cancer cells is at least in part dependent on the maintenance and capping of telomeres, the end sequences of chromosomal DNA, by the enzyme telomerase. The guanine tracts in telomeric DNA can fold into G-quadruplex structures, bult up from individual units of G-quartets with each having four guanines arranged in a plane through hydrogen bonding. Stabilization of those G-quadruplexes by small molecule ligands can inhibit telomerase and leads to growth arrest, senescence and apoptosis in cancer cells. The promoter regions of some oncogenes such as ckit also contain sequences that may form G-quadruplexes and thus are another target of quadruplex ligands. In this work, a library of tetrasubstituted naphthalene-diimide ligands was synthesized and evaluated. We have previously shown that their high affinity to G-quadruplexes is related to the delocalized electron system of the naphthalene-diimide core which stabilizes terminal G-quartets through \#960;-stacking interactions. Additionally, four side chains with amine end groups can reach into the four cavities at the sides of the quadruplex and interact electrostatically, as indicated by crystallographic and molecular modelling studies. Previous tetra-substituted naphthalene-diimide compounds reported by us (Cuenca et al, Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2008) show very high affinity for both telomeric and c-kit quadruplexes, and one such compound is active against c-kit expressing cell lines. In the present work, a library of tetrasubstituted naphthalene-diimide ligands was synthesized and evaluated, with side-chains containing N-methyl-piperazine groups. These have conferred enhanced selectivity for the intramolecular telomeric G-quadruplex over c-kit quadruplexes, and low affinity for duplex DNA as shown by competition assays having excess duplex DNA. Ligand effects on cell lines expressing telomerase or c-kit, as well as on normal fibroblast cells were also evaluated. The results show that short term cytotoxicity to telomerase-expressing cancer cell lines is significantly greater than to the normal or the c-kit cell line. This and other cell data will be presented, together with X-ray crystallographic data on ligand-quadruplex complexes that will illuminate structure-activity relationships of these new compounds.

Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 5355.


An integrated market organized by regulated electric utilities is modelled. It is assumed that, given a price vector for the exchange of electricity between each pair of neighboring utilities, utilities independently maximize their own domestic social welfare subject to the zero profit constraint. An equilibrium price vector for exchanges among utilities is defined as the one which clears the exchanges for all pair of business partners. A single piecewise linear model is formulated for computing market equilibria. The model is used to simulate the electricity supply market organised by 11 western European countries.


MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping mutations are an emerging potentially targetable oncogenic driver mutation in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The imaging features and patterns of metastasis of NSCLC with primary METex14 skipping mutations (METex14-mutated NSCLC) are not well described. Our goal was to determine the clinicopathologic and imaging features that may suggest the presence of METex14 skipping mutations in NSCLC. This IRB-approved retrospective study included NSCLC patients with primary METex14 skipping mutations and pre-treatment imaging data between January 2013 and December 2018. The clinicopathologic characteristics were extracted from electronic medical records. The imaging features of the primary tumor and metastases were analyzed by two thoracic radiologists. In total, 84 patients with METex14-mutated NSCLC (mean age = 71.4 ± 10 years; F = 52, 61.9%, M = 32, 38.1%; smokers = 47, 56.0%, nonsmokers = 37, 44.0%) were included in the study. Most tumors were adenocarcinoma (72; 85.7%) and presented as masses (53/84; 63.1%) that were peripheral in location (62/84; 73.8%). More than one in five cancers were multifocal (19/84; 22.6%). Most patients with metastatic disease had only extrathoracic metastases (23/34; 67.6%). Fewer patients had both extrathoracic and intrathoracic metastases (10/34; 29.4%), and one patient had only intrathoracic metastases (1/34, 2.9%). The most common metastatic sites were the bones (14/34; 41.2%), the brain (7/34; 20.6%), and the adrenal glands (7/34; 20.6%). Four of the 34 patients (11.8%) had metastases only at a single site. METex14-mutated NSCLC has distinct clinicopathologic and radiologic features.


PURPOSE
The aim of this work was to present a clinical picture of congenital defects in the anterior and posterior segment of the eye and coexisting systemic developmental anomalies in a group of children during the infantile period.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis in a group of 1507 infants seen at our outpatient ophthalmology clinic in 2006-2010. Attention was focused on case histories of nine children (0.6%) with congenital defects of the eye. A routine ophthalmologic examination was done and photographs of the anterior and posterior segment of the eye were archived with the Ret - Cam II apparatus. Maternal risk factors during pregnancy and the perinatal period were analyzed, as well as genetic, familial, infectious, traumatic, metabolic, and toxic factors, and drugs which could have contributed to the pathology of the organ of vision. Additionally, congenital polydysplasia was confirmed using ultrasonography, radiography, and imaging techniques (USG, X-ray, MRI).

RESULTS
Congenital anomalies of the anterior and posterior segment of the eye were identified in the study group. Abnomalities of the anterior segment of the eye in four infants were in the form of congenital corneal anomalies (keratopathy, microcornea, sclerocornea, congenital mesenchymal dysgenesis), coloboma of the iris, and aniridia. Additionally, ectopic pupil, congenital cataract, aplasia of the lacrimal point, and palpebral coloboma were observed. Developmental anomalies of the posterior segment of the eye in the form of persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous body or primary fetal vasculature syndrome (PHVB or PFVS), choroid coloboma, coloboma of the optic nerve, and optic disc fovea were recognized in eight children. Anomalies of the anterior and posterior segment of the eye were observed in three children and were associated with microphthalmia, nystagmus, and strabismus. Moreover, systemic anomalies coexisting with ophthalmologic defects were confirmed in 6 children. They were seen in the heart (patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), patent foramen ovale (Pfo), atrial septal defect (ASD), nervous system (aplasia of the corpus callosum, hydrocephalus), osteoarticular system (talipes equinovarus, bifurcate rib, butterfly vertebra, dysmorphic splanchnocranium, contracture of the fingers), genitourinary system (cryptorchism, Wilms' tumor, vesicoureteral reflux grade IV), auditory organ (microtia, aplasia of the external auditory meatus, tympanic cavity, and internal ear), and skin (telangiectasia, syndactyly, appendages, and vegetations). Genetic tests revealed one case of an abnormal karyotype (49, XXXXX). Infections, metabolic disorders, and intoxications were excluded as the background for the anomalies.

CONCLUSIONS
The finding of a congenital eye anomaly should be followed by a search for other systemic anomalies. Developmental anomalies of the eye and other organs will require a multidisciplinary approach to treatment and care.


Rural gentrification represents an emerging research agenda in the context of social transformation of rural localities. Having as a case study the Republic of Ireland, which provides a case of a laissez-faire planning system, this paper first addresses supply-side factors that have provided key preconditions for gentrification to take place. Then, using survey data in case study localities, we examine the extent that gentrification is a factor in rural residential mobility. We argue that the changing rural condition of Ireland provides essential preconditions for gentrification to take place. However, the gentrification literature provides only a partial angle of rural residential mobility, given the nature of rural in-migration observed in our case studies (that is blue-collar and return rural in-migration) during a period of substantial rural housing growth.


Neural Collapse is a phenomenon recently discovered in deep classifiers where the last layer activations collapse onto their class means, while the means and last layer weights take on the structure of dual equiangular tight frames. In this paper we present results showing the role of weight decay in the emergence of Neural Collapse in deep homogeneous networks. We show that certain near-interpolating minima of deep networks satisfy the Neural Collapse condition, and this can be derived from the gradient flow on the regularized square loss. We also show that weight decay is necessary for neural collapse to occur. We support our theoretical analysis with experiments that confirm our results.


Structural failure by fatigue of automotive engine cover is discussed. Fatigue properties of mineral/glass reinforced polypropylene compounds, as an alternative material for engine cover, were measured by experiments. The use of polypropylene compounds offers weight as well as cost reduction. Finite element analysis (FEA) has been performed to investigate the fatigue behavior of the engine cover. Assembly load due to the tightening of the bolts as well as the vibration load was considered to describe the actual loading conditions in durability test. Natural frequency of the system was extracted considering the damping effect of the structure. Dynamic time history of engine cover under vibration load was calculated based on the extracted natural frequency of the system and stress distributions at each load condition were predicted. Experimental modal analysis (EMA) was performed to identify the modal parameters and measurements of strains were performed to verify the results of the analysis. Based on the S-N curve data for engine cover material, distribution of safety factor was predicted by using the FEanalysis results. The calculated results were verified by experimental durability tests. Analysis results showed that contribution of the assembly load is not negligible to predict the fatigue failure of the engine cove.


Vertical integration technology offers numerous advantages over conventional structures. Double-gate transistors can be easily fabricated for better device characteristics, and multiple device layers can be vertically stacked for better interconnect performance. In the paper, the authors explore the suitable device structures and interconnect architectures for multi-device-layer three-dimensional (3D) integrated circuits and study how 3D silicon-on-insulator (SOI) circuits can better meet the performance and power dissipation requirements projected by International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) for future technology generations. Results demonstrate that double-gate SOI circuits can achieve as much as 20% performance gain and 30% power delay product reduction over single-gate SOI. More important, for interconnect-dominated circuits, 3D integration offers significant performance improvement. Compared to 2D integration, most 3D circuits can be clocked at much higher frequencies (double or even triple). 3D circuits, with suitable SOI device structures, can be a viable solution for future low-power high-performance applications.


We present the results of 7-year follow-up of a patient with primary immunodeficiency, such as severe combined immune deficiency, X-linked variant. The child has been ill from 11 month of age. He was taken to the Regional Infectious Disease Hospital in Irkutsk by sanitary aviation in extremely serious condition, which threatened his life. At 1 year 2 months he was transferred to Irkutsk State Regional Children's Clinical Hospital due to deterioration of the general condition, prolonged fever, expressed by hypoxemia. At 1 year 3 months he was diagnosed with primary immunodeficiency, X-linked severe combined immune deficiency, persistent CMV infection in the department of clinical immunology of the Republican Children's Clinical Hospital in Moscow. The diagnosis was confirmed by molecular genetic method (mutation с.664С˃Т was detected in exon 5 of the IL2RG gene in the hemizygotic state). At 1 year 9 months, haploidentical transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells from the father was performed. According to the chimerism, immune transplant rejection was observed after 1.5 months. At 2 years 11 months, the boy successfully underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation from an unrelated donor in the Children's Oncology and Hematology Hospital of the University Hospital Freiburg (Germany). The child is being regularly observed in Irkutsk State Regional Children's Clinical Hospital. He suffers from respiratory infections 4–5 times a year in a mild form. He corresponds to peers in physical and psychomotor development.


In what follows I intend to sketch the Hegelian project of the Philosophy of Religion (Religionsphilosophie) mainly by following two coordinates: on the one hand, my aim is to approach it starting from Hegel's main "dialogue partners" – Christian Wolff and Kant – and from the critique of speculative philosophy on the scenarios of the Illuminist theologies. On the other hand, the first part completed, the discussion will pursue a different route, namely, that of a classical topic discussed by Hegel in his lectures: the relation between philosophy and religion. I am trying to show how Hegel "solves" the tension between the two by lending it a hermeneutic dimension, thus opening up reflections on religion to the encyclopedic segment of the philosophy of spirit.


In this article, using of heat recovery technology for improving the efficiency of power plants and compressor station is scientific and technically justified. In addition, the technical and economical feasibility of the proposed methods based on the thermodynamic and gas-dynamic calculations of existing gas turbines and combined-cycle plant is traced, considering the introduction of the investigated methods of improving efficiency.


Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ApHCM) (Yamaguchi Syndrome) with hypertrophy of the ventricular apex constitutes 8% of the hypertrophic cardiomyopathies (HCMs). ApHCM can cause ventricular malignant dysrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, and ischemic chest pain. Definitive diagnosis is made by electrocardiography (ECG) and transthoracic echocardiography. A 73-year-old male patient was admitted to the emergency department with chest pain. The patient's vital signs were within the normal range. In the ECG, there were giant negative T wave in leads V4-5-6, 0.5 mm ST segment depression, and left ventricular hypertrophy in the inferior derivations. The left ventricular apex thickness was measured as 14 mm (reference range: 6-11). Although the HEART score was 4, the preliminary diagnosis of the patient was determined as ApHCM. Beta-blocker and antiplatelet therapy were started. The mortality and morbidity rates of ApHCM are higher among HCMs. Clinicians should be aware of such ECG and echocardiography findings to prevent possible morbidity and mortality.


Asparagus is a vegetable with high antioxidant activity. In this research, asparagus juice was produced from fresh asparagus macerate treated with a carbohydrases mixture (Viscozyme) at 37 degrees C for up to 8 h. Rutin content, antioxidant activity, yield, soluble solid content, and color of the produced asparagus juice were determined. The results showed that Viscozyme significantly increased the yield of asparagus juice, especially in the 1st hour, which was higher than control (without Viscozyme treatment), but the juice had significantly less rutin content than control and had higher antioxidant activity than control only in the 1st 2 h. Juice with Viscozyme treatment had significantly higher soluble solid content than control. The greenness of asparagus juice deteriorates quickly for both the Viscozyme group and control. Viscozyme had advantage in producing juice with high yield, antioxidant activity, and soluble solid content in shorter time (2 h) of treatment compared to control.


We study the parameterized complexity of classical problems that arise in the profiling of relational data. Namely, we characterize the complexity of detecting unique column combinations (candidate keys), functional dependencies, and inclusion dependencies with the solution size as parameter. While the discovery of uniques and functional dependencies, respectively, turns out to be W[2]-complete, the detection of inclusion dependencies is one of the first natural problems proven to be complete for the class W[3]. As a side effect, our reductions give insights into the complexity of enumerating all minimal unique column combinations or functional dependencies.


Methods for determining the size and refractive index of single, homogeneous, micrometer-sized aerosol particles using Mie resonance spectroscopy are studied using measurements from optically trapped particles and light-scattering calculations based on Mie theory. We consider both single-particle broadband light scattering and cavity-enhanced Raman scattering (CERS) and demonstrate that, when resonances observed in either type of spectroscopy are fitted using Mie theory, the accuracy of the best fits are similar. However, broadband measurements can yield more resonances than CERS, thus reducing the uncertainty in the retrieved parameters of best fit and increasing the range of particles that can be characterized. Resonance fitting methods are also compared to methods that fit the entire Mie scattering spectrum. Through calculations, it is shown that measured scattering spectra are sensitive to small changes in how light is collected, while Mie resonance positions are much less sensitive. This means that additional parameters are required to accurately fit entire light-scattering spectra using Mie theory, but these parameters are not needed to accurately determine Mie resonance positions.


Background The transcription factor SRY-related HMG-box 2 (SOX2) plays important regulatory roles in diverse biological processes (cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumorigenicity). However, the relationship between SOX2 and upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) have not been intensively investigated. This study aims to analyze the expression of SOX2 in UTUC as well as the predictive value for prognosis and the effect on tumor aggressiveness of SOX2. Methods Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks containing samples from 341 patients with UTUC who underwent radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) at our institute were analyzed for SOX2 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Associations between the SOX2 expression level and clinicopathological characteristics, disease-free survival (DFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were analyzed. SOX2 expression in a normal urothelial cell line, urothelial carcinoma cell lines, 16 UTUC tissues and their pair-matched adjacent normal tissues was evaluated by RT-qPCR. Using RNA interference in vitro, the effects of SOX2 inhibition on cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumorigenicity were determined. Results SOX2 expression was significantly upregulated in UTUC tissue samples compared with paired-adjacent nontumorous tissue samples. SOX2 expression was correlated with important clinicopathological features, including tumor stage, tumor grade, tumor architecture and the presence of glandular or sarcoma differentiation, and was an independent predictor of poor DFS and CSS. Further experiments indicated that SOX2 expression was higher in UTUC cell lines than in a normal urothelial cell line. Knocking down SOX2 expression could inhibit malignant phenotypes (cell proliferation, stemness, migration, invasion and tumorigenicity) in UTUC cells. Conclusion SOX2 is an independent prognostic marker of poor DFS and CSS in UTUC patients who have undergone RNU. Moreover, these data suggest that SOX2 may be a promising therapeutic target in UTUC.


Proteins search along DNA for targets (e.g. transcription initiation sequences) through a combination of sliding, jumping, and intersegment transfers, wherein the sliding process proceeds until the protein-DNA complex dissociates. As such, we propose a diffusion-reaction model of the sliding phase of a total search process, and study the effect of varying reaction rate on the detailed search kinetics. With increasing dissociation rate, only the "fastest" proteins survive to explore downstream sequences, but at the price of increasing rarity, allowing for fluctuations to dominate the behavior at late times and long distances. Predictions of this model for the total search time agree with experimental estimates across an order of magnitude, providing bounds on dissociation rates that suggest a balance is established between maximizing downstream exploration of the DNA while minimizing the number of rare trajectories to guarantee the greatest chance of a successful search.


SYNOPSIS. The development of Babesia caballi (Nuttall) in Dermacentor nitens Neumann was studied in smear preparations and histologic sections of ticks infected with this protozoan parasite. A majority of the parasites in equine erythrocytes ingested by the adult ticks apparently were destroyed. Smal spherical bodies 4–6 μ in diameter were the 1st developmental stages of B. caballi observed in the gut contents of ticks infected with this parasite. These spherical bodies apparently gave rise to clavate (club-shaped) bodies 10–14 μ long by 4–6 μ wide. The latter developed into large round bodies 12–16 μ in diameter that segmented into vermicular-shaped parasites, about 8–12 μ long by 2–4 μ wide; some penetrated the gut wall, some invaded other cells of the tick.

In the cells of the Malpighian tubules, hemolymph, and ovaries, the vermicular parasites underwent a secondary cycle of multiple fission, forming vermicules similar to those occurring earlier in the gut. Vermicules that invaded the ova underwent a similar multiple fission cycle during the larval stage of the tick.

Vermicules from the multiple fission cycle that occurred during the period of larval feeding invaded the salivary glands. A multiple fission cycle of increase within these glands resulted in large numbers of small, oval and piriform parasites, 2.5–3 μ, maximum dimension. These parasites became mixed with the salivary secretions, and presumably are the forms injected into the horse by the nymphs as they feed. The small oval and piriform parasites therefore appear to be the infective stage for the horse.


This thesis investigates responses in voting behaviour and media perceptions to the presence of media scandals about politicians and associated political parties during the 2017 New Zealand general election. A repeated measures design was used wherein 351 participants were recruited before the start of the election campaign, primarily from an Introductory Psychology course at Victoria University of Wellington. Follow-up surveys were conducted at three time points throughout the two month campaign. Participants were randomly allocated into one of two conditions for each follow-up survey. Half the participants were given a real news article to read about a media scandal, the other half read an article about a policy platform by the same political party. At the end of the election campaign, participants were asked about their voting behaviours. A second study was conducted after Labour Party leader, Jacinda Ardern, was announced Prime Minister with participants recruited via social media sites 'Twitter' and 'Facebook'. In this study, 153 participants recalled information about scandals that were present in the media during the election campaign.
Results showed that political scandals in news media do have an influence on voter perceptions, but not in an easily predictable way. Prior perceptions of political parties were the best predictors of who participants intended to vote for. Participants responded most strongly to public policy articles rather than scandal information, particularly those more knowledgeable of New Zealand's political system, and therefore likely more engaged with politics in general. Further, there was evidence that information presented in the media influenced how participants viewed political parties that were not involved in the scandal, which is an important under a proportional voting system like MMP which requires understanding of the relationships between parties.
Evidence was also found for a backlash effect towards the media wherein participants who were exposed to scandal information would displayed a decrease in trust towards the general media, consistent with the idea that one reason why voters may not respond negatively to scandal information reflects the decision that the source of the information is not credible. Future research should consider more targeted analysis on the different sources of news media, especially new media like blogs, social media, and entertainment news.


Complex issues are often debated in simple terms. Simple arguments can pose dramatic questions and draw public attention to the issues involved; but they may also deprive public debate of the depth necessary to an accurate understanding of the problem at hand. Debate about the recent crisis in liability insurance cost and availability has elicited both simple explanations and simple solutions. The simple explanations cite simple causes: the natural progression of the "underwriting cycle" resulting from the decline in interest rates that began in the early 1980s; 1 price gouging by the insurance industry;2 an explosion in tort liability necessitating dramatic increases in premium rates and making insurance against certain risks impossible; 3 the incentives to initiate tort claims created by our system that make increases in the costs of tort liability and in the liability insurance costs that accompany it inevitable. 4 Simple solutions also abound: limit price competition through regulatory imposition of "flex" rating to counteract the underwriting cycle;5 repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act's exemption of the insurance industry from federal antitrust regulation; 6 return to the tort law of three decades ago;7 control attorney's fees in tort cases; and adopt the English rule that a losing plaintiff must pay defendant's costs. 8 These explanations for the crisis and the solutions they generate are not only simple, but simplistic. Standing alone, no single diagnosis can account for more than a portion of the recent crisis, no single explanation can adduce sufficiently complete and compelling data for support, and no single, plausible solution has the power to make the crisis disappear. The causes of the crisis are complex, and there are no easy methods of solving the problem, returning premium rates to their former levels, or obtaining complete assurance that similar crises will not occur in the future. In what follows I set out my own view of the causes and possible cures of the crisis by analyzing the four major explanations cited above, exploring the implications of this


Second-order nonlinear optical properties of a tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) derivative of spiropyran have been studied based on density functional theory (DFT) combined with the finite field (FF) calculations. Our DFT-FF calculations confirm a switching behavior of the static first hyperpolarizability caused by the redox and photochromic reaction. The photochromic reaction generates spiropyran-merocyanine conversion by reversible cleavage of the C-O bond, which is relative to the close- and open-ring forms 1-c and 1-o. The open-ring form 1-o displays the large static first hyperpolarizability relative to its close-ring form 1-c according to our DFT-FF calculations with three functionals. The electronic structure analysis and spin unrestricted calculations show that the redox processes significantly affect the geometrical structure of the TTF unit, and thus enhance the static first hyperpolarizabilities. The one-electron-oxidized species having good planar structure of the TTF unit are ~30 and ~200 times as large as that of the neutral compounds 1-c and 1-o, respectively. But the difference in the static first hyperpolarizability between one- and two-electron-oxidized states of spiropyran species is not substantial according to our DFT-FF calculations, and the spiropyran-merocyanine conversion of two-electron-oxidized species does not largely affect their static first hyperpolarizability. On the basis of the large change in the static first hyperpolarizability, our DFT-FF calculations support a five-state switching of the static first hyperpolarizability based on the redox and photoisomerization.


Islam caters to people's need for peace and serenity and therefore takes every legal measure to safeguard the society against disruptive elements. A criminal who spoils the tranquility of a peaceful society deserves to be awarded severe punishment but Islam does not deem it logical to execute punishments before eliminating the major causes for commission of crimes. The following research article describes the attitudes of Western critics of Islam--such as Robert Spencer-- towards Islamic penalties namely amputation and stoning to death. It describes Islamic concept of crime and punishment in comparison with Western concepts and attempts to prove that Islam never loses sight of moderation and inflicts no barbarities. The last part of the research article, through crime statistics of United States of America, proves that the they have disastrously failed to curb violent crimes in their society. Hence it is high time that the world recognized the effective role and deterrent value of Islamic punishments for peace and stability.


Subclinical involvement of the nervous system in uremic adults has been detected by modern neurophysiological techniques. Chronic anemia is one of the possible factors responsible for neural dysfunction in uremia. We evaluated neurophysiological (brainstem auditory and somatosensory evoked potential) abnormalities and their possible modification following anemia correction with recombinant human erythropoietin in 14 children with end-stage renal disease maintained by hemodialysis. Only peripheral and 8th cranial nerve electrophysiological data are significantly abnormal in our patients, and they are not acutely modified by anemia correction. These data confirm the importance of electrophysiological testing of uremic children for detecting nervous system involvement at an early stage and for monitoring the efficacy of its management.


Human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3) is the main pathogen that causes respiratory infections in infants, young children, and the elderly. Currently, there are no vaccines and effective anti-infective drugs. Studying the replication and proliferation mechanism of HPIV3 is helpful for exploring the targets of anti-HPIV3 infection. Matrix protein (M) and nucleocapsid protein (N) are two key structural proteins of HPIV3 that exert important functions in HPIV3 proliferation. Herein, we aim to clarify the functional domains of M and N interaction. HPIV3 M and N expression plasmids of pCAGGS-HA-M and pCAGGS-N-Myc/Flag, M C-terminal truncation mutant plasmids of pCAGGSHA-MΔC120, MΔC170, MΔC190, and MΔC210, and M C-terminal plasmid of pCAGGS-HA-MC190 and C-terminal deletion mutant plasmid of pCAGGS-MΔN143-182 were constructed. By using immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence, and virus-like particle (VLP) germination experiments, we found that N was encapsulated into M-mediated VLP through N and M interaction. Moreover, the C-terminus of the M played a key role in the interaction between M and N. The C-terminus of the M encapsulated the N into the VLP. We finally determined that the 143-182 amino acids in the M were the functional regions that encapsulated the N into the M-mediated VLP. Our findings confirmed the interaction between M and N and for the first time clarified that the 143-182 amino acid region in M was the functional region that interacted with N, which provides a molecular basis for exploring effective anti-HPIV3 targets.


Indoor vertical farming offers great opportunities regarding a sustainable and consistent production of high-quality herbs and raw materials all year round for the perfume, chemical, or food industry. Cultivation takes place in an enclosed structure, operating predominantly independent from external conditions in multi-layer systems equipped with artificial lighting, enabling extremely high resource use efficiencies with a simultaneous increase in yield. On the other hand, field production in terms of plant quality and harvesting times is highly influenced by environmental conditions, making it difficult to maintain homogenous raw material qualities throughout the year. To show how different light qualities affect the overall efficiency and quality of Origanum majorana grown in an indoor farm, the resource consumption, yield, and cultivation time as well as the essential oil quantity was analyzed, and the efficiencies in terms of energy and land use efficiency calculated. The experimental setup clearly demonstrated that the yield regarding fresh as well as dry matter and oil content was comparable to one square meter of open field production. Based on this, the multi-layer system and the noticeable lowered growth period result in a significantly higher area efficiency compared to the open field, leading to a potential increase of annual yields of dried leave weight and oil contents by up to 21 times. It was also shown that a white spectrum (W) showed similar influence on plant growth and yield as a spectrum consisting of blue and red (B/R). Nevertheless, the LED treatment W did show higher light use efficiencies as well as a better working conditions inside the cultivation chamber. By an integration of indoor vertical farming into existing industrial processes, new and innovative opportunities for a flexible and low-risk supply chain seem feasible and according to German food industry meet the interests of existing stakeholders.


We develop further a new geometrical model of a discretized string, proposed in [1] and establish its basic physical properties. The model can be considered as the natural extention of the usual Feynman amplitude of the random walks to random surfaces. Both amplitudes coinside in the case, when the surface degenarates into a single particle world line. We extend the model to open surfaces as well. The boundary contribution is proportional to the full length of the boundary and the coefficient of proportionality can be treated as a hopping parameter of the quarks. In the limit, when this parameter tends to infinity, the theory is essentialy simlplified. We prove that the contribution of a given triangulation to the partition function is finite and have found the explicit form for the upper bound. The question of the convergence of the full partition function remains open. In this model the string tension may vanish at the critical point, if the last one exists, and possess a nontrivial scaling limit. The model contains hidden fermionic variables and can be considered as an independent model of hadrons.


Standard structural VAR models and estimation using Romer and Romer (2004) monetary policy shocks show that, in samples after the 1980s, a contractionary conventional monetary policy shock generates smaller and sometimes perversely-signed impulse responses compared to earlier samples. Using insights from the central bank information effects literature, we show that the analyses producing these results suffer from an omitted variables problem related to forward-looking information emanating from Federal Reserve forecasts. Transmission of conventional monetary policy shocks takes on the standard signs, and is typically significant, once Fed forward-looking information is taken into account. This reconciliation does not follow from adding private sector forecasts to the estimation frameworks.


Objectives: Online peer-led support groups for psychological problems are ubiquitous on the internet. This paper examines whether online support groups (OSGs) for depression and anxiety are beneficial. The hypothesis is that OSGs are effective in ameliorating depression and anxiety and increasing perceived social support. Design: Six-month, randomised controlled trial with participants randomised to either: (1) an online support group; or (2) an online expressive writing task. Methods: 863 participants (628 female) UK and US volunteers were recruited via the internet. 568 were randomised to the OSG condition (at six months 103, 82 per cent attrition) and 295 randomised to the expressive writing condition (at six months: 101, 65 per cent attrition). Standard measures (depression, anxiety, social support and satisfaction with life) were administered at intake, three months and six months. Results: Both groups improved on all measures, but there were few differences between conditions. The effect sizes (for time main effect, baseline to six months) were d=0.63 for depression and d=0.46 for anxiety. Conclusion: As there was little difference in outcome between the online support and expressive writing conditions it was difficult to draw definite conclusions, but both conditions appeared to be beneficial. However, participants reported that the expressive writing was highly acceptable but there was very mixed and often negative feedback for the OSG. As a result there was higher attrition and less adherence in the OSG.


Anemia is common in cancer patients, although the prevalence is influenced both by the type of malignancy and the choice of treatment. Individual studies have compared the survival of patients with and without anemia and have shown reduced survival times in patients with various malignancies, including carcinoma of the lung, cervix, head and neck, prostate, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. The objective of this study was to systematically review, to summarize, and to obtain an overall estimate of the effect of anemia on survival in patients with malignant disease.


Salience is an important characteristic of information influencing users' cognitive and emotional states. For example, salient parts of a document are those that will be considered moving or provoking by readers. This article studies the concept of salience and its specific meanings in linguistics. Then it analyses the main difficulties of content-based techniques for automatic identification of salient passages in a document. A new, context-based method for overcoming these difficulties is subsequently presented. Our method identifies passages that readers have reacted to by analyzing their textual feedback. Our experimentation revealed that it is effective and can be broadly used.


A new method for the determination of the constant A, involved in the asymptotic electron wave function in the atom and the ion at large distances from the nucleus is proposed. The values of the asymptotic constants A obtained for the atoms, positive ions and negative ions with atomic numbers less than 54 are presented and compared with those from the literature.


PURPOSES : This study deals with Rotary by Accident Occurrence Location. The purpose of this study is to develop the accident models of rotary by location. METHODS : In pursuing the above, this study gives particular attentions to developing the appropriate models using multiple linear, Poisson and negative binomial regression models and statistical analysis tools. RESULTS : First, four multiple linear regression models which are statistically significant(their values are 0.781, 0.300, 0.784 and 0.644 respectively) are developed, and four Poisson regression models which are statistically significant(their values are 0.407, 0.306, 0.378 and 0.366 respectively) are developed. Second, the test results of fitness using RMSE, %RMSE, MPB and MAD show that Poisson regression model in the case of circulatory roadway, pedestrian crossing and others and multiple linear regression model in the case of entry/exit sections are appropriate to the given data. Finally, the common variable that affects to the accident is adopted to be traffic volume. CONCLUSIONS : 8 models which are all statistically significant are developed, and the common and specific variables that are related to the models are derived.


The Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund was established by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, UK, with the declared aims of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning and raising the status of teaching among higher education institutions. This paper considers the three strands of the initiative – subject, institutional, and individual – and uses findings from a variety of evaluation studies to assess the impact of this state sponsored policy. The difficulties in creating cultural change within higher education are discussed. The paper argues, with cautious optimism, that there is evidence of increased attention being paid to teaching in higher education in England, in part, as a consequence of this funded initiative, but that the evidence for wholesale cultural change remains difficult to interpret.


Three novel ring-like compounds formulated as [Ln(Phtfac)(3)(NITpPy)](2) (Ln(III) = Gd 1, Tb 2, Dy 3; HPhtfac = 4,4,4-trifluoro-1-phenylbutane-1,3-dione; NITpPy = 2-(4-pyridyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazolyl-1-oxyl-3-oxide) were synthesized and structurally and magnetically characterized. Three compounds possess cyclic dimer structure in which each pyridine substituted radical links two different metal ions through the oxygen of nitroxide group and the pyridine nitrogen. DC magnetic studies show the Ln(III) ion interacts ferromagnetically with the directly bonding nitronyl nitroxide. Both Tb(III) and Dy(III) clusters show frequency-dependent ac magnetic susceptibilities, indicating single-molecule magnet behavior. It is demonstrated that the β-diketonate coligand may play an important role in determining the magnetic relaxation for the lanthanide-radical system.


Heat-stress triggers the formation of condensates known as stress granules (SGs), which store non-translating mRNA and stalled translation initiation complexes. To gain a better understanding of SGs, we identified yeast proteins that sediment after heat-shock by mass spectrometry. Heat-regulated proteins are biased toward a subset of abundant proteins that are significantly enriched in intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). SG localization of over 80 heat-regulated proteins was confirmed using microscopy, including 32 proteins that were not known previously to localize to SGs. We find that several IDRs are sufficient to mediate SG recruitment. Moreover, the diffusive exchange of IDRs within SGs, observed via FRAP, can be highly dynamic while other components remain immobile. Lastly, we showed that the IDR of the Ubp3 deubiquitinase is critical for SG formation. This work confirms that IDRs play an important role in cellular compartmentalization upon stress, can be sufficient for SG incorporation, can remain dynamic in vitrified SGs, and play a vital role during heat-stress. Summary The authors provide an in-depth proteomic study of yeast heat stress granule (SG) proteins. They identified intrinsic disordered regions (IDRs) as one of the main features shared by these proteins and demonstrated IDRs can be sufficient for SG recruitment.


Abstract Objective To evaluate the impact of multiannual, seasonal unconditional cash transfers (UCT) provided within the Moderate Acute Malnutrition Out (MAM'Out) research project on households' food security and children's and caregivers' dietary diversity. Design A two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial with sixteen villages in the intervention group and sixteen others in the control group. A monthly allowance of 10 000 XOF was transferred to caregivers of eligible children via a personal mobile phone account from July to November 2013 and 2014. Setting Tapoa province in the eastern region of Burkina Faso. Participants Data on household food access (monthly adequate household food provisioning (MAHFP); household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS)) and maternal and child dietary diversity were analysed for 1143 households, 1219 caregivers of reproductive age (15–49 years) and 1247 under-5 children from both intervention and control groups. Results The mean women dietary diversity score in intervention caregivers and the mean dietary diversity score (DDS) in intervention children with inadequate minimum DDS at baseline were respectively 7 % (95 % CI 2, 11 %; P = 0·002) and 17 % (95 % CI 11, 23 %; P <0·001) higher compared with the control group. However, no difference was found in the intervention effect on household food security measured with HFIAS (relative risk = 1·03; 95 % CI 0·92, 1·15; P = 0·565) and MAHFP (relative risk = 0·98; 95 % CI 0·96, 1·01; P = 0·426). Conclusions Multiannual, seasonalUCT increased dietary diversity in children and their caregivers. They can be recommended in actions aiming to improve maternal and child diet diversity.


Abstract During the winter of 1988/89, a real-time experimental scheme to predict skill of the ECMWF operational forecast was devised. The scheme was based on statistical relations between skill scores (the predictands) and a number of predictors including consistency between consecutive forecasts, amplitude of very short-range forecast errors, and indices of large-scale regime transitions. The results of the experiment are assessed with particular attention to a period with large variations in the skill of the operational forecast.


New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models have been developed for monetary policy analysis in open economies. For this purpose, the basic model must be enriched with the sources of nominal and real rigidities which are capable of explaining the observed output and inflation persistence. Under this perspective, we use the Bayesian approach to estimate and compare alternative model specifications for the Brazilian economy with respect to two endogenous persistence mechanisms widely supported by the international empirical literature: habit formation and price indexation. Using data for the inflation target period, we conclude for the relevance of both mechanisms, although the evidence is unexpectly less robust for price indexation. Furthermore, impulse-response functions are built to describe the dynamic effects of domestic and foreign real and monetary shocks.


The morphological profile determination is analyzed according to the game position of the Holguin baseball team, major league, in the XXXIX National Series. At the same time, it establishes some comparisons between the Holguin team and the National one (the Cuban team). It shows some important evidences due to the fact that the Holguin team presents less percent of fat and mesomorphic component and a great percent in the ectomorphic component above the National team.


For the past few years, we have been working on developing infrastructure and applications for interactive rooms that include large, wall-sized displays, tabletops, laptops, tablets and other interaction devices, such motion tracking devices. Our goal is to create the next generation of interactive systems that will support collaborative, distributed interaction over a range of devices and environments. We have worked extensively with " extreme " users who need such environments to deal with large and complex datasets, using participatory design to understand their need and prototype solutions. Our WILD 1 room [5] features a 130-million pixel wall-sized display made of 32 30 " monitors and powered by a 16-computer cluster, a 10-camera VICON motion tracking system, an FTIR tabletop and a variety of devices such as tablets, smartphones and wireless pointing devices. WILD is part of a network of 10 interactive rooms developed by the Digiscope project. All rooms feature large display surfaces and rich interaction devices. Two are immersive CAVEs; the others feature power walls with varying resolutions and sizes. Some have 3D capability; others are touch-enabled. The 10 rooms are interconnected with a telepresence system designed to support rich remote collaboration. This unique infrastructure provides us with a rich testbed for experimenting with interaction techniques and interaction models for distributed interfaces. It also raises challenging technical issues for environments where devices interoperate smoothly and where configurations can be easily defined, stored and recalled.


SUMMARY Setting priorities in the field of infectious diseases requires evidence-based and robust baseline estimates of disease burden. Therefore, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control initiated the Burden of Communicable Diseases in Europe (BCoDE) project. The project uses an incidence- and pathogen-based approach to measure the impact of both acute illness and sequelae of infectious diseases expressed in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). This study presents first estimates of disease burden for four pathogens in Germany. The number of reported incident cases adjusted for underestimation served as model input. For the study period 2005–2007, the average disease burden was estimated at 33 116 DALYs/year for influenza virus, 19 115 DALYs/year for Salmonella spp., 8708 DALYs/year for hepatitis B virus and 740 DALYs/year for measles virus. This methodology highlights the importance of sequelae, particularly for hepatitis B and salmonellosis, because if omitted, the burden would have been underestimated by 98% and 56%, respectively.


In this paper, we discuss the multi-layered representations of masculinities as they appear in the film Inxeba. Reading these multi-layered representations against a backdrop of the initiation practice of ulwaluko highlights the significance of heteronormativity in defining and engaging critical African Black masculinities in South Africa today. This is further compounded through the intersecting nuances of race and class configurations that matter for how contemporary Black masculinities are constructed. We argue that Inxeba's successes and failures of representation bring to the fore intricate debates and ethical dilemmas of representation in the arts and social sciences more generally. In addition, if Inxeba fails in its (mis)representation of ulwaluko as less than a complex, nuanced and rich cultural practice, it is arguably successful in its exploration of the deeply entrenched heteronormative socio-material and psychical space of this practice.


In this work, we report on the development of a newly synthesized photoactive reversible azobenzene derived surfactant polymer, which enables active and fast control of the merging of microdroplets in microfluidic chambers, driven by a pulsed UV laser optical stimulus and the well known cis-trans photo-isomerisation of azobenzene groups. We show for the first time that merging of microdroplets can be achieved optically based on a photo-isomerization process with a high spatio-temporal resolution. Our results show that the physical process lying behind the merging of microdroplets is not driven by a change in surface activity of the droplet stabilizing surfactant under UV illumination (as originally expected), and they suggest an original mechanism for the merging of droplets based on the well-known opto-mechanical motion of azobenzene molecules triggered by light irradiation.


Abstract This work surveyed five process regions inside a petro-chemical plant in Taiwan to characterize the profiles of airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and locate emission sources. Samples, taken with canisters, were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry according to the TO-14 method. Each region was deployed with 24 sampling sites, sampled twice, and 240 samples in total were measured during the survey period. All of the data were consolidated into a database on Excel to facilitate retrieval, statistical analysis, and presentation in the form of a table or graph, and, subsequently, the profile of VOCs was elucidated. Emission sources were located by mapping the concentration distribution of either an individual or a type of species in terms of contour maps on Surfer. Through the cross-analysis of data, the abundant VOCs included alkenes, dienes, alkanes, and aromatics. A total of 19 emission sources were located from these five regions. The sources for alkanes stood inside first, third aromatic, and fourth naphtha cracking regions, whereas the ones for alkenes were inside two naphtha cracking regions. The sources for dienes were found inside the third naphtha cracking region alone; in contrast, the sources for aromatics were universally traced except inside the third naphtha cracking region. The measured intensity for sources mostly ranged from 1000 to 7000 ppb.


In order to satisfy the research demand of the small pulsed high magnetic field facility, an implementation of the software for the control system of pulsed high magnetic field facility is presented in this paper. The system is based on VC and Measurement Studio Platform, and the communication mechanism of finite state machine is applied in it. The state of the hardware circuit is monitored by the system and the trig action of charging and firing according to the parameters set by user is controlled by it too. Two control modes are provided: manual mode and auto mode. The signal of time rate of change of magnetic field is sampled and its integration signal is calculated too. The result of experiments shows that this system reaches the designed purpose.


The 'Living Planet Programme' of the European Space Agency (ESA) is gaining momentum. Six Earth Explorer missions are currently being implemented including ADM- Aeolus, ESA's Doppler Wind Lidar (DWL) mission. The Aeolus mission will demonstrate the capability of a space- borne high spectral resolution DWL to accurately measure wind profiles in the troposphere and the lower stratosphere (0- 30 km). The Mission thus addresses one of the main identified deficiencies of the current Global Observing System (GOS). From the backscattered frequency-shifted laser light it will be possible to obtain about 3,000 globally distributed horizontal line-of-sight (HLOS) wind profiles daily. The accuracy of the Aeolus winds, in cloud-free regions and above thick clouds, is expected to be comparable to that of radiosonde wind measurements. Additional geophysical products that will be retrieved from the Aeolus measurements are cloud and aerosol optical properties. Aeolus HLOS wind profiles will find wide application in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) and climate studies, improving the accuracy of numerical weather forecasting, advancing our understanding of tropical dynamics and processes relevant to climate variability and climate modelling. Impact experiments, assimilating synthetic Aeolus wind data into operational NWP models, have already been performed. One focus has been the forecast performance in regions known to be particularly sensitive to the accuracy of the initial conditions. The tentative results show that the largest benefits from Aeolus HLOS winds can be expected over the oceans and in the Tropics. In view of other lidar missions in space, the potential of a long-term database of cloud and aerosol optical properties is being studied. An additional topic is the potential benefit of wind profile observations in the lower stratosphere. Ground-based and airborne campaigns are being prepared for the validation of the Aeolus Airborne Demonstrator (A2D) - a high spectral resolution DWL instrument with technology very similar to Aeolus. This paper provides an overview of the Aeolus mission, the science and application activities being performed in support of the mission and the potential benefit of such observations in a wider context.


Seven new copper(II) coordination networks combining flexible 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethyl-4,4′-bipyrazole (bpz) and diverse dicarboxylates, [Cu(bpz)0.5(adip)]n (1), [Cu2(bpz)4(sub)2]n (2), [Cu4(bpz)1.5(aze)·H2O]n (3), [Cu2(bpz)(pta)2(H2O)·H2O]n (4), [Cu2(bpz)(ipa)]n (5), [Cu2(bpz)(o-pda)2·H2O]n (6), and [Cu2(μ3-OH)(bpz)(p-pda)1.5·H2O]n (7) (H2adip = adipic acid, H2sub = suberic acid, H2aze = azelaic acid, H2pta = phthalic acid, H2ipa = isophthalic acid, H2o-pda = o-phenylenediacetic acid, H2p-pda = p-phenylenediacetic acid), have been obtained under solvothermal conditions and structurally verified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses and further characterized by elemental analyses, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), UV-vis spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that both 1 and 6 are 6-connected pcu networks (point symbol: {412·63}) based on paddle-wheel [Cu2(COO)4] secondary building units (SBU). Complexes 2 and 4 are 2D 44-sql networks based on a single metal ion node and a binuclear [Cu2(COO)4(H2O)] SBU, respectively, while complex 3 features an extremely rare 3D 5-connected hxg-d-5-C2/c (point symbol: {42·67·8}) network. Complex 5 shows a 1D tape structure built from bpz sealed 1D helical Cu2(ipa) chains along the b axis, and 7 is a 3D 8-connected hex (point symbol: {36·418·53·6}) network based on a centrosymmetric [Cu4(μ3-OH)2(COO)4] SBU. A thorough structural comparison of these coordination networks suggests that the coordination fashions, conformations of dicarboxylates along with the different inorganic Cu(II) SBUs simultaneously play a significant role in constructing the diverse networks. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility data denote that 4 and 7 display antiferromagnetic interactions in binuclear [Cu2(COO)4(H2O)] and [Cu4(μ3-OH)2(COO)4] SBUs. Moreover, the thermal stability and UV-vis spectra of 1–7 are discussed in detail.


Heaven-1, a high power KrF excimer laser system is under development in the China Institute of Atomic Energy. As a first phase, the angular multiplexing master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) will be completed and used for fundamental research of ICF driver and laser plasma interaction in the near future. This multiplexing MOPA system includes a front-end, two stage KrF excimer laser amplifier pumped by electron beams, an optical angular multiplexing system, synchronization trigger system, and controlling-data acquisition system and some diagnostic systems.


A time-space conversion enables the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to be carried out in a continuous-flow process: the mobile reaction mixture is pumped continuously through a glass microchip and passes many times through three constant temperature zones (see picture). The flow rate can be varied to obtain an amplification time of only 90 s. When combined with other continuous-flow microdevices this micromachine may prove useful for routine medical applications and biochemical research.


Background: Delayed diagnosis of gastrointestinal tract injury (GITI) could lead to terrify results and increase morbidity and mortality. Therefore, surgeons should be well-trained regarding the pattern and features of GITIs. In the recent study, we aimed to describe the epidemiological features and intra-operative characteristics of all patients sustaining GITIs.Methods: A 2-year retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in the only referral trauma center in the south of Iran, from June 2018 to September 2020. A well-formed search was conducted within the database of our center to find patients with GITIs. Demographic data, on-arrival vital signs, and the outcomes were extracted from the patients' medical records and our center's database. In addition, intraoperative features of injuries were extracted from the operation note.Result: Totally, 247 patients were detected 142 (57.5%) had blunt abdominal trauma. The most common mechanism of injury was motor vehicle accidents (116 patients, 46.9%), followed by stabbing (21.9%) among all populations. Of note, patients following blunt injuries were significantly older [38.22 (16.62)] than those with penetrating insults, had longer hospital length of stay (both P-values <0.001), and had significantly higher mortality rate (P-value= 0.001).The most frequent isolated injury following a blunt trauma was small bowel (S.B) (66.9%), colon (21.0%), and duodenum (7%), respectively. However, in penetrating injury, S.B (26.7%), colon (21.9%), and stomach (13.3%) were the three most frequent injured sites. Liver injury was the most common associated injury following blunt (58.1%) and penetrating (48.1%) trauma Conclusion: Our study has shown that GITIs are not as uncommon as previously thought. Therefore, all physicians should always search for and consider GITIs in patients sustaining abdominal trauma to avoid patients' morbidity and mortality.


Planktonic foraminifera precipitate calcareous shells, which after the death of the organisms are exported from the sea surface to the sea floor, where they are preserved on geologically relevant timescales. The export flux of planktonic foraminifera shells constitutes globally up to a half, and in the studied region off Cap Blanc (Atlantic Ocean) about one third, of the marine pelagic calcite flux. Given their importance for the marine calcite budget and for the pelagic carbonate counter pump, which counteracts the biological pump in terms of oceanic capacity for intake of CO2, it is crucial to gain an understanding of factors modulating the export flux of planktonic foraminifera calcite. In principle, variability in the export flux of planktonic foraminifera calcite could depend within one species on i) shell flux, ii) shell size and iii) calcification intensity, and where shell size and calcification intensity differ among species also on the species composition of the deposited assemblage. To assess the importance of these aspects in modulating the export flux of planktonic foraminifera calcite, we investigated two annual time series (from 1990-1991 and 2007-2008) from sediment traps moored in the Cap Blanc upwelling area. We assessed the predictability of foraminifera calcite flux variability on seasonal and interannual time scales, by determining the variability in species-specific shell fluxes, shell sizes and weights with bi-weekly resolution. We find a remarkable discrepancy in the contribution of the controlling factors between seasonal and interannual scales. On the seasonal time scale, 80% of the variability of the calcite flux is explained by shell flux. On the inter-annual time scale, on the other hand, variations in shell size and calcification intensity are key to explain the calcite flux, since the time series from 2007-2008 yielded 58% larger and 11% heavier specimens. These results imply that for the global estimate of planktonic foraminifera calcite flux, shell flux is likely the most relevant predictor. However, a prediction of the temporal evolution of the calcite flux will likely require estimates of changes in shell size and calcification intensity of the involved foraminifera species.


This paper deals with the origin of sulphates (SO = 4 ) in the stratosphere during periods of volcanic quiescence. Based on measurements taken during the 1971-1981 Airstream Project, we determined that the oxidation of carbonyl sulphide molecules (COS) is sufficient to explain the distribution of SO = 4 in the stratosphere. Oxidation by OH attack appears negligible, photodissociation is significant. The stratospheric life time of COS molecules is estimated at approximately 4 years. The mean oxidation rate of COS in the stratosphere is 1.0 x 10 7 molecules cm -2 s -1 . DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0889.1986.tb00090.x


Different types of photodiode have been characterized with respect to uniformity, linearity, stability of responsivity and temperature coefficient at several wavelengths between 257 nm and 799 nm based on cryogenic radiometry and intensity stabilized lasers. The Hamamatsu S1337 photodiode was found to be the best suited for use as a high accuracy transfer standard for both the visible and UV spectral regions. For low-level radiant power measurement, this kind of photodiode can be calibrated via a cryogenic radiometer with a total uncertainty as low as ±0,02% in the visible and ±0,25% in the UV.


The mixture of water cloud droplets with black carbon impurities is modeled by external and internal mixing models. The internal mixing model is modeled with a two-layered sphere (water cloud droplets containing black carbon (BC) inclusions), and the single scattering and absorption characteristics are calculated at the visible wavelength of 0.55 m by using the Lorenz–Mie theory. The external mixing model is developed assuming that the same amount of BC particles are mixed with the water droplets externally. The multiple scattering characteristics are computed by using the Monte Carlo method. The results show that when the size of the BC aerosol is small, the reflection intensity of the internal mixing model is bigger than that of the external mixing model. However, if the size of the BC aerosol is big, the absorption of the internal mixing model will be larger than that of the external mixing model.


This research draws on the geographical concept of situated lay-knowledge to highlight how the formation of tourists' attitudes to travel destinations challenges the theoretical foundation of theory of planned behaviour (TPB). It suggests that situated lay knowledge is dynamic as opposed to static which is the accepted basis of TPB and subsequently proposes 'Situated Lay-Knowledge Travel Behaviour Model' (SLKTB). The model was tested in a mixed methods approach where Chinese tourists, who knew little about Portugal, encountered Portuguese culture and cuisine in Macau. The overall results demonstrate that the formation of tourists' attitudes about travel destinations is not pre-existing or static but dynamic and created from their ongoing encounters.


Introduction: The steady growth of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) in the Republic of Kazakhstan over the past decade indicates the need to develop a program for the prevention of T2D. A change in the expression of candidate genes can lead to impaired insulin synthesis, a decrease in the number of insulin receptors, β-cell dysfunction, and obesity. The purpose of this study is to analyze the association of the SNPs with biochemical and anthropometric parameters of T2D in representatives of the Kazakh population.


This study is to explore how information about breast cancer (BC) is disseminated to working class mothers in Lagos State. It is to investigate how information disseminated is used by the respondents to detect early this deadly disease and ascertain if they are aware of any support by organisation and the government. The Survey design was used. Two stage sampling technique was adopted. The first stage was the cluster sampling of 25% of the population by which two tertiary institutions (Lagos Sate University and Lagos State Polytechnic) in the state were selected. In the second stage, 500 respondents were selected by simple random sampling proportionate to size. 350 and 150 respondents were chosen from the two institutions. Primary data was collected using questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data. Findings revealed majority of the respondents (91%) got information about BC from their offices, closely followed by reading (89%) this was confirmed from the percentage of the respondents that read about breast cancer from the print media (89). Most respondents disagree with the fact that pains in the breast is a symptoms of breast cancer (28.8%). The highest rated support the respondents are aware of was the breast cancer screening exercise (93.7%) which shows in the rating of the respondents about their awareness of breast cancer screening centres (68%). The paper concludes that early detection of breast cancer can help save life. Government and relevant organisations inclusive should regularly organise a screening exercise for other women so that women can be aware and also spread the information to those who do not have such opportunity thereby reducing the risk among women. Keywords: Health information, awareness, breast cancer, early detection, mothers


Grids are a novel class of distributed systems that allow to seamlessly combine multiple resources of heterogeneous servers on the Internet for demanding applications. We deal with the challenging task of programming grid applications which have to meet the requirements of abstraction and interoperability. We present our concept of customizable Higher-Order Components (HOCs) whose parameters may be not only data but also mobile code units. We demonstrate how applications are built by customizing HOCs using code parameters and describe the HOC-SA --a service-oriented architecture for developing grid applications by composing HOCs. We show where HOC-SA ranges in the variety of currently available software component architectures. In presenting our implementation, we explain how HOC-SA exploits modern grid middleware such as the WSRF implementation in the latest Globus Toolkit while hiding its complexity from the user.


Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability among adults worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared a COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020. The first case in Mexico was confirmed in February 2020, subsequently becoming one of the countries most affected by the pandemic. In 2020, The National Institute of Neurology of Mexico started a Quality assurance program for stroke care, consisting of registering, monitoring and feedback of stroke quality measures through the RES-Q platform. We aim to describe changes in the demand for stroke healthcare assistance at the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery during the pandemic and the behavior of stroke quality metrics during the prepandemic and the pandemic periods. For this study, we analyzed data for acute stroke patients registered in the RES-Q platform, in the prepandemic (November 2019 to February 2020) and pandemic (March-December 2020) periods in two groups, one prior to the pandemic. During the pandemic, there was an increase in the total number of assessed acute stroke patients at our hospital, from 474 to 574. The average time from the onset of symptoms to hospital arrival (Onset to Door Time—OTD) for all stroke patients (thrombolyzed and non-thrombolyzed) increased from 9 h (542 min) to 10.3 h (618.3 min) in the pandemic group. A total of 135 acute stroke patients were enrolled in this registry. We found the following results: Patients in both groups were studied with non-contrast computed tomography (NNCT), computed tomography angiography (CTA), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), digital subtraction angiography (DSA) or more frequently in the pandemic period (early carotid imaging, Holter monitoring) as needed. Treatment for secondary prevention (antihypertensives, antiplatelets, statins) did not differ. Frequency of performing and documenting the performance of NIHSS scale at arrival and early dysphagia test improved. There was an increase in alteplase use from 21 to 42% (p = 0.03). There was a decrease in door to needle time (46 vs. 39 min p = 0.30). After the implementation of a stroke care protocol and quality monitoring system, acute stroke treatment in our institution has gradually improved, a process that was not thwarted during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Quantifying the inherent coordination between interacting individuals can afford us new insights into their emotions, communicative intent, and relationship quality. We propose a novel framework to capture the physiological synchrony between romantic partners through sparse representation techniques and appropriately designed parametric dictionaries that take into account the characteristic structure of the considered signals. Physiological synchrony is operationalized as the similarity of co-occurring electrodermal activity (EDA) streams captured through the distance in the corresponding parametric representation space, as well as through the joint signal representation errors. Results indicate that the proposed sparse EDA synchrony measures (SESM)-evaluated on two datasets of couples' interactions-differ across tasks of various emotional intensity and are associated with the partners' attachment style. These results provide a foundation towards designing novel descriptors of interaction and physiological linkage between individuals for emerging affective computing applications.


The nuclear transfer technique is a tool that makes possible the production of embryos clones that can be used to provide the birth of identical animals or as model for the study of several physiologic mechanisms, during the embryonic development. In this way, bovine embryos clones were produced by nuclear transfer with the objective of establishing the cloning technique, as well as to optimize it at the conditions of routine work at the Laboratory of Embryology and Biotechnics of Reproduction of UFRGS. During this work, 1.123 structures were reconstructed in different conditions, and 95 blastocysts were produced, in 56 replicate procedures. The first blastocyst was produced in the 5th routine. After the transfer of part of these embryos, 13 pregnancies were established, however, most of them was lost at the beginning of pregnancy. A twin pregnancy reached 260 days, however the fetuses were miscarried. Another gestation was to term, with the birth by Cesarian of an alive clone, however the animal came to death 42 hours after the birth.


BACKGROUND
DiGeorge syndrome is estimated to affect one in every 3,000-4,000 live-born individuals. The syndrome is also known as velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) and conotruncal anomaly face syndrome (CTFS). The most common clinical features are mental retardation, congenital heart anomalies, primary hypoparathyroidism (with hypocalcaemia), aplasia or hypoplasia of the thymus, and a dysmorphic face. 90% of the affected individuals have a deletion at the long arm of chromosome 22. 80-90% of those deletions are de novo mutations.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
This article presents the case of a 32-year-old woman who was diagnosed with DiGeorge syndrome after a grand mal seizure due to hypocalcaemia. The hypocalcaemia was caused by primary hypoparathyroidism. We also give a brief review of the current state of knowledge about DiGeorge syndrome.

RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION
DiGeorge syndrome is probably underdiagnosed. A correct and early diagnosis is important in order to prevent medical complications, e.g. hypocalcaemia and hypothyrosis, and to evaluate the patient's overall need of care.


An improved 4H-SiC metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs) with step p-buffer layer is proposed, and the static and dynamic electrical performances are analysed in this paper. A step p-buffer layer has been applied not only to increase the channel current, but also to improve the transconductance. This is due to the fact that the variation in p-buffer layer depth leads to the decrease in parasitic series resistance resulting from the change in the active channel thickness and modulation in the electric field distribution inside the channel. Detailed numerical simulations demonstrate that the saturation drain current and the maximum theoretical output power density of the proposed structure are about 30% and 37% larger than those of the conventional structure. The cut-off frequency and the maximum oscillation frequency of the proposed MESFETs are 14.5 and 62 GHz, respectively, which are higher than that of the conventional structure. Therefore, the 4H-SiC MESFETs with step p-buffer layer have superior direct-current and radio-frequency performances compared to the similar devices based on the conventional structure.


Abstract Aims: A number of epidemiological and experimental documents emphasizes a close relation between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). In order to understand the underlying mechanisms of atorvastatin (ATO) in OA, we sought to explore the effect of ATO on high glucose (HG)-mediated NF-κB activation in cultured C28I2 chondrocytes. Methods: The effects of various concentrations of ATO on C28I2 human chondrocytes viability were assessed to obtain the non-cytotoxic concentrations of drug by MTT-assay. The cells were pretreated with 0.01 and 0.1 μM ATO for 6 h, followed by incubation with HG (75 mM) for 72 h. The protein expressions of IκBα (np), IκBα (p), NF-κB (p), and NF-κB (np) were analyzed by western blotting. The effects of ATO on the mRNA expressions of chondrogenic specific markers including SOX9, aggrecan, collagen type 2, and COMP were evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Results: ATO in determined concentrations had no cytotoxic effect on C28I2 cells after 72 h. ATO pretreatment exerted remarkable protective effects against HG-induced cytotoxicity. Moreover, ATO decreased IκBα phosphorylation and NF-κB nuclear translocation. It was also able to improve the gene expression of chondrogenic-specific markers in C28I2 cells compared to the control group. Conclusion: ATO could significantly decrease HG-induced inflammation in the cultured C28I2 chondrocytes through the activation of canonical NF-κB signaling pathway. These beneficial effects of ATO may be owing to its anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, treatment with ATO may provide an effective approach to prevent HG-induced cartilage destruction in clinical setting.


Approximately 90% of the sodium present in a washed aluminum hydroxycarbonate gel was removed by exchange with magnesium. This behavior supports recent structural studies which have suggested that cations such as sodium serve as counterions in aluminum hydroxycarbonate gel. However, sodium could not be removed from dihydroxyaluminum sodium carbonate by exchange with magnesium because sodium is part of the crystal structure. It is hypothesized that aluminum hydroxycarbonate gels which resist removal of sodium are actually mixtures containing dihydroxyaluminum sodium carbonate in addition to aluminum hydroxycarbonate.


SUMMARY Two experiments are described involving 33 crossbred (mainly Simmental and Jersey x Zebu) and 33 Zebu (Horro and Boran) bulls and steers. In experiment L growth rates of crossbred and Zebu cattle rotationally grazed on either native pasture or Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) were compared during a 140 day grazing period at a stocking rate of 2.4 animals/ha. In experiment I[, growth rate of cattle rotationally grazed for 140 days on native pasture was compared with that of a similar group grazed on Rhodes grass either rotationally or continuously at a stocking rate of seven animals/ha. On native pasture the average daily gain by Zebu animals was similar to that of the crossbreds whilst on Rhodes grass liveweight gain of Zebu animals was lower than that of the crossbreds. Daily gains of cattle were significantly (P <0"01) greater on continuous compared with rotationally grazed Rhodes grass.


Abstract Background The Agility multileaf collimator (MLC) mounted in Elekta linear accelerators features some unique design characteristics, such as large leaf thickness, eccentric curvature at the leaf tip, and defocused leaf sides ('tilting'). These characteristics offer several advantages but modeling them in treatment planning systems (TPSs) is challenging. Purpose The goals of this study were to investigate the challenges faced when modeling the Agility in two commercial TPSs (Monaco and RayStation) and to explore how the implemented MLC models could be improved in the future. Methods Four linear accelerators equipped with the Agility, located at different centers, were used for the study. Three centers use the RayStation TPS and the other one uses Monaco. For comparison purposes, data from four Varian linear accelerators with the Millennium 120 MLC were also included. Average doses measured with asynchronous sweeping gap tests were used to characterize and compare the characteristics of the Millennium and the Agility MLCs and to assess the MLC model in the TPSs. The FOURL test included in the ExpressQA package, provided by Elekta, was also used to evaluate the tongue‐and‐groove with radiochromic films. Finally, raytracing was used to investigate the impact of the MLC geometry and to understand the results obtained for each MLC. Results The geometry of the Agility produces dosimetric effects associated with the rounded leaf end up to a distance 20 mm away from the leaf tip end measured at the isocenter plane. This affects the tongue‐and‐groove shadowing, which progressively increases along the distance to the tip end. The RayStation and Monaco TPSs did not account for this effect, which made trade‐offs in the MLC parameters necessary and greatly varied the final MLC parameters used by different centers. Raytracing showed that these challenging leaf tip effects were directly related to the MLC geometry and that the characteristics mainly responsible for the large leaf tip effects of the Agility were its tilting design and its small source‐to‐collimator distance. Conclusions The MLC models implemented in RayStation and Monaco could not accurately reproduce the leaf tip effects for the Agility. Therefore, trade‐offs are needed and the optimal MLC parameters are dependent on the specific characteristics of treatment plans. Refining the MLC models for the Agility to better approximate the measured leaf tip and tongue‐and‐groove effects would extend the validity of the MLC model, reduce the variability in the MLC parameters used by the community, and facilitate the standardization of the MLC configuration process.


This dissertation overcomes several missing data problems in ex-post survey harmonization. Although ex-post survey harmonization projects have become more common in the social sciences in recent years, methodological research on this topic is still relatively rare. The dissertation's main body consists of four chapters, each of which presents a study exploring solutions for missing data problems not only in ex-post survey harmonization but also in related research fields. The study presented in Chapter 2 deals with multiple imputation approaches for discrete-time survival analysis. Chapter 3 presents a study examining multiple imputation approaches to handling systematically missing partner variables. The study presented in Chapter 4 is on the topic of sensitivity analysis in the case of unobserved confounders. And finally, the study in Chapter 5 is on the topic of weighting pooled survey data. The last chapter concludes the dissertation with a discussion of the results, scientific contributions, and limitations of the aforementioned studies, plus a broader outlook on the issue of study heterogeneity.


A functional for unsupervised texture segmentation is investigated in this paper. An auto-normal model based on Markov Random Fields is employed here to represent textures. The functional investigated here is optimized with respect to the auto-normal model parameters and the evolving contour to simultaneously estimate auto-normal model parameters and find the evolving contour. Experimental results applied on the textures of the Brodatz album demonstrate the higher speed of convergence of this algorithm in comparison with a traditional stochastic algorithm in the literature.