CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2008 Abstracts

Abstract #704

Introduction: HER2 is expressed at high levels due to gene amplification in about 15% of breast cancer cases and it has been shown to be a poor prognostic marker. However, HER2 is also expressed in normal breast duct tissue, albeit a much lower levels. We hypothesized that continuous analysis of expression using AQUA will provide prognostic information beyond that attainable with conventional methods. Methods: A tissue microarray was made from 2123 cases of the 3122 patients accrued to SWOG 9313, in which sequential doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (A-C) was compared to combination AC. A multiplexed assessment of HER2 and estrogen receptor (ER) was performed on the same slide using the immunofluoresence-based AQUA® method of automated quantitative analysis. Reproducibility and fidelity of multiplexing were determined for each marker by regression analysis. Results: As expected, both ER and PR were significantly predictive of disease-free survival (DFS) when both are tested as continuous variables, both adjusted for node status, tumor size, treatment and menopausal status (p-values 0.005 and <0.001, respectively). HER2, measured as a continuous variable showed a bi-phasic effect. It has been previously reported (Camp et al, Cancer Research 2003, 63;1445) that both the high and low expressers of HER2 have worse outcome (low levels are equivalent to that seen in normal breast ducts). Splitting the SWOG cohort by deciles shows that both the top and bottom decile have worse DFS than the middle 80% (log rank p=0.012). Also, modeling the hazard ratio as a function of concentration shows a U-shape relationship showing both high and low HER2 expression is associated with poorer DFS. Conclusions: The AQUA method provides a reproducible method of continuous measurement of ER, and HER2 on the same slide. In this cohort both ER and PR as continuous variable are highly prognostic, as expected, but multiplexing with HER2 did not affect outcome. Quantitative analysis demonstrated that both low and high levels of HER2 expression were associated with poor outcome. Studies are ongoing to determine the significance of this observation with respect to biological classifications of breast cancer and relationships with breast cancer therapies.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 704.


Normal cardiac rhythms are generated by an organized propagation of depolarization and repolarization. The voltage-gated transient potassium current (Ito) is a major determinant of cardiac action potential. The Ito is expressed in a gradient across the left ventricular wall of the hearts, which is essential for the proper repolarization sequence in the left ventricle. Altered expression of Ito is seen in hypertrophied and failing hearts and may contribute to the increased incidence of cardiac sudden death. Thus, elucidating mechanisms underlying the expression of Ito channels will provide basic knowledge essential for the prevention and treatment of cardiac diseases with high public health significance.In the mammalian heart, Ito is produced by assembly of pore-forming Kv4 and accessory KChIP2 subunits. Differential expression of Kv4.2 gene underlies transmural gradient of Ito in the left ventricle in small rodents, whereas the size of Ito is correlated with different levels of KChIP2 in large animals. Recent studies have shown that atypical homeodomain Iroquois proteins are distributed in a gradient in the left ventricle and influence the expression of Kv4.2 and Ito. Therefore, this thesis examines the hypothesis that Irx proteins control Kv4.2 gene transcription in a cell-type specific manner and analyzes the underlying molecular mechanism. Irx3 and Irx5 are differentially expressed in a steep gradient in the left ventricle of rat hearts in an inverse pattern to Kv4.2 expression, whereas Irx4 is equally abundant in the ventricle. Irx5 activates Kv4.2 promoter in several non-myocyte cell lines, whereas the transcription factorinhibits the promoter activity in neonatal ventricular myocytes. Moreover, Irx4 prevents Irx5 to activate the channel promoter. Structure-function studies establish that the C-terminus of Irx5 is required for its regulation of channel promoter, whereas the N-terminus of Irx4 mediates its action. Addition of histone deacetylase inhibitor relieves the inhibitory effect of Irx4. Deletion and mutation analyses demonstrate the presence of a previously unidentified Irx5-responsive element in the Kv4.2 distant promoter region. Collectively, these results indicate that the interplay between Irx4 and Irx5 contributes to the heterogeneous expression of Kv4.2 gene, and hence Ito density, in the left ventricle of rat hearts.


SUMMARY Incarceration of the colonoscope, within an undetected left‐sided inguinal hernia, is a rarely reported event. The literature is reviewed, a possible mechanism described, and the technique used to remove the colonoscope outlined.


Purpose A mixed-method study aimed to assess situations in which falls occur including prevalence and associated risk factors of falls among physically active elderly who are at risk of experiencing a fall in senior housings, Bangkok, Thailand, and their perceptions regarding falls. Patients and methods In the first phase, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 64 physically active elderly senior housing residents. Data on sociodemographics, health status, Barthel Index (BI) of activities of daily living, and fall experiences were collected through face-to-face interviews. Data on balance scores were obtained from Time Up and Go (TUG) test and Berg Balance Scale (BBS). In the second phase, a qualitative study was conducted on 41 physically active elderly who had experienced falls. Data regarding perception on falls, fall preventions, and fall management, were gathered through in-depth interviews from November 2017 to December 2017. Results The prevalence of falls among participants in senior housings was 64.1%. Univariate analysis found that a higher BI was associated with fall (P<0.004). Multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression showed that a higher BI (OR=6.00, 95% CI=1.24–29.10) together with ≥2 environmental hazards (OR=6.33, 95% CI=1.24–32.29) were associated with fall. The result from content analysis indicated that the elderly were aware that they were at risk of fall. In addition, the elderly also perceived that fall could be avoided even though they did not know how to prevent it. Conclusion The prevalence of fall among physically active elderly in senior housings was relatively high. A higher BI scale and having ≥2 environmental hazards were associated risk factors of falls. Although the elderly perceived that fall could be avoided, they did not know how to prevent it. The intervention that focuses on environmental modification, balancing enchantment, and education on fall prevention is highly required.


The metanephric mesenchyme (MM) cells are a subset of kidney progenitor cells and play an essential role in mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), the key step of nephron generation. Six2, a biological marker related to Wnt signaling pathway, promotes the proliferation, inhibits the apoptosis and maintains the un-differentiation of MM cells. Besides, LiCl is an activator of Wnt signaling pathway. However, the role of LiCl in cellular regulation of MM cells remains unclear, and the relationship between LiCl and Six2 in this process is also little known. Here, we performed EdU assay and flow cytometry assay to, respectively, detect the proliferation and apoptosis of MM cells treated with LiCl of increasing dosages. In addition, reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and Western-blot were conducted to measure the expression of Six2 and some maker genes of Wnt and bone-morphogenetic-protein (BMP) signaling pathway. Furthermore, luciferase assay was also carried out to detect the transcriptional regulation of Six2. Then we found LiCl promoted MM cell proliferation at low-concentration (10, 20, 30, and 40 mM). The expression of Six2 was dose-dependently increased in low-concentration (10, 20, 30, and 40 mM) at both mRNA and protein level. In addition, both of cell proliferation and Six2 expression in MM cells declined when dosage reached high-concentration (50 mM). However, Six2 knock-down converted the proliferation reduction at 50 mM. Furthermore, Six2 deficiency increased the apoptosis of MM cells, compared with negative control cells at relative LiCl concentration. However, the abnormal rise of apoptosis at 30 mM of LiCl concentration implies that it might be the reduction of GSK3β that increased cell apoptosis. Together, these demonstrate that LiCl can induce the proliferation and apoptosis of MM cells coordinating with Six2.


Cobalamin deficiency is common in older people and has been recognised as a possible cause for several clinical manifestations such as anaemia and cognitive impairment. Markers for cobalamin deficiency include increased concentrations of plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) and methylmalonic acid (MMA), and decreased concentrations of holotranscobalamin (holoTC). Cross sectional analysis in this thesis confirmed that impaired cognitive performance was associated with relatively unfavourable concentrations of markers for cobalamin status. These results are in line with findings from previous cross-sectional and prospective studies and suggest a role for cobalamin status in cognitive function, in particular because cobalamin deficiency is highly prevalent in old age. According to our recruitment activities it appeared that 26.6% of the older people had mild cobalamin deficiency, which we defined as low to low-normal cobalamin concentrations in combination with increased MMA concentrations. Normalizing mild cobalamin deficiency, defined as a decrease of respectively 80% to 90% of the estimated maximum reduction in plasma MMA concentrations, could be achieved by supplementing daily oral doses of 647 mg to 1032 mg crystalline cobalamin. The main purpose of our research was to investigate whether daily supplementation with such a high dose of oral cobalamin alone or in combination with folic acid has beneficial effects on cognitive function in people aged 70 years or older with mild cobalamin deficiency. We did this in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a relatively large number of carefully selected participants, and an extensive assessment of cognitive function. In total, 195 individuals were randomized to receive either 1,000 μg cobalamin, or 1,000 μg cobalamin + 400 μg folic acid, or placebo for 24 weeks. Markers for cobalamin status and cognitive function were assessed before and after 24 weeks of treatment. Assessment of cognitive function included the domains of attention, construction, sensomotor speed, memory and executive function. Cobalamin status did not change in the placebo group, whereas oral cobalamin supplementation corrected mild cobalamin deficiency. Improvement in one domain (memory function) was observed in all treatment groups, and was greater in the placebo group than in the group who received cobalamin alone ( P = 0.0036). Oral supplementation with cobalamin alone or in combination with folic acid for 24 weeks was not associated with improvements in other cognitive functions. Blood collection after cessation of oral cobalamin supplementation showed that adequate cobalamin status may maintain for a period of up to 5 months after cessation. Despite the null finding of this trial, recent studies provide clues for future research in improving cognitive function.


The existence of ethnomatematics has existed since long ago. This is seen from various mathematical concepts that have become part of the life and traditions of society. One of them is contained in tapis Lampung. Tapis Lampung has motifs and patterns that describe the philosophy of Lampung people. Each motif has meaning and symbol in the pattern of cultural life. The process of developing Tapis Lampung has had a major impact on the economy of the community and significantly increased the potential of cultural tourism in exploring the wealth of the Indonesian art heritage. This process of introducing culture in a mathematical perspective better known as ethnomatematics. This concept has become the basis of society in using mathematics in life. This study aims to examine the philosophy contained in motifs of tapis and analyze the mathematical concept to find an ethnomatematics approach in mathematics learning. in various types of tapis Lampung including: Tapis Cucuk Pinggir, Tapis Jung Sarat, Tapis Limar Sekebar. Mathematics concept include One-Dimentional Geometry and Two-Dimentional Geometry, Geometry Transformation includes: concepts of reflection, dilation and rotation.


The Arab uprisings alongside the Ukrainian crisis have triggered the perfect storm. The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), developed at the height of enlargement EUphoria, is in tatters. To be fair, its failure is only partly endogenous, and largely due to the dramatic transformation of the neighbourhood – east and south – which no one could have foreseen at the turn of the century. be that as it may, the EU will have to fundamentally rethink its approach towards its turbulent backyard. To move forward, the EU needs to devise conceptually different approaches to the east and south. In both cases, instability and crises abound. In both, the magnitude of the challenges that the EU faces is so great that down-to-earth realism must be its guiding light. Formulating and pursuing down-to-earth objectives for the neighbourhood that reflect current realities is not cynical. It is responsible.


" One of the problems which faces the individual who wants to include simulations and/or experiential exercises into a course is that the exercises sometimes are desired or available for areas where the instructor already has sufficient material. In many traditional business courses, for example the Behavior and Organizational courses and the Personnel Management courses, there are extensive materials available which allow an instructor to teach the course in any number of different ways. If the instructor has already chosen to use a major experiential exercise or simulation as the focus of a course, the problem is complicated further. There is little, if any, room to add what the instructor feels are good, worthwhile exercises to the already cramped schedule for classes. The problem is how to successfully integrate materials into an existing satisfactory course structure. This paper discusses this situation, emphasizing how experiential exercises are integrated into a major simulation. "


Several catalytic aftertreatment technologies rely on the conversion of NO to NO2 to achieve efficient reduction of NOx and particulates in diesel exhaust. These technologies include the use of selective catalytic reduction of NOx with hydrocarbons, NOx adsorption, and continuously regenerated particulate trapping. These technologies require low sulfur fuel because the catalyst component that is active in converting NO to NO2 is also active in converting SO2 to SO3 . The SO3 leads t o increase in particulates and/or poison active sites on the catalyst. A non-thermal plasma can be used for the selective partial oxidation of NO to NO2 in the gas-phase under diesel engine exhaust conditions. This paper discusses how a non-thermal plasma can efficiently oxidize NO to NO2 without oxidizing SO2 to SO3 .


This paper presents the design ideas for a high level signal processing language. The design objectives for the signal processing language SIPROL are adaptation to the problem domain, portability and code efficiency. SIPROL is derived from PASCAL and comprises abstraction as the most significant extension. The problem of signal processing requirements is discussed and the main language issues are presented with respect to typical signal processing applications.


We propose a new test for the presence of job-market signalling in the sense of Spence (1973), based on an equation in which log-wages are explained by two endogenous variables: the student's degree and the student's time to degree, not simply by years of education. Log-wages are regressed on a measure of education, which is a position on a scale of certificates and degrees, and a measure of the student delay, defined as the difference between the individual's school-leaving age and the average school-leaving age of students holding the same certificate or degree. We use past school-opening instruments, and distance-to-the-nearest-college, also measured in the past, when students were entering grade 6, to identify the parameters. We find a robust, significant and negative impact of the delay variable on wages, averaged over the first five years of career. A year of delay causes a 9% decrease of the student's wage. The only reasonable explanation for this effect is the fact that longer delays signal unobserved characteristics with a negative productivity value. We finally estimate a nonlinear model of education choices and cannot reject the assumption that the data is generated by a job-market signalling equilibrium.


Excess transpiration relative to water uptake often causes water stress in transplanted vegetable seedlings. Abscisic acid (ABA) can limit transpirational water loss by inducing stomatal closure and inhibiting leaf expansion. We examined the concentration effect of exogenous ABA on growth and physiology of muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) seedlings during water stress and rehydration. Plants were treated with seven concentrations of ABA (0, 0.24, 0.47, 0.95, 1.89, 3.78, and 7.57 mM) and subjected to 4-day water withholding. Application of ABA improved the maintenance of leaf water potential and relative water content, while reducing electrolyte leakage. These effects were linear or exponential to ABA concentration and maximized at 7.57 mM. Gas-exchange measurements provided evidence that such stress control is attributed to ABA-induced stomatal closure. First, net CO2 assimilation rate and stomatal conductance initially decreased with increasing ABA concentration by up to 95% and 70%, respectively. A follow-up study (£1.89 mM ABA) confirmed this result with or without water stress and further revealed a close positive correlation between intercellular CO2concentration and netCO2assimilationrate 1day after treatment(r 2 > 0.83). In contrast, ABA did not affect leaf elongation, indicating that stress alleviation was not mediated by leaf area adjustment. After 18 days of post-stress daily irrigation, dry matter accumulation showed a quadratic concentration- response, increasing up to 1.89 mM by 38% and 44% in shoot and roots, respectively, followed by 16% to 18% decreases at >1.89 mM ABA. These results suggest that excess levels of ABA delay post-stress growth, despite the positive effect on the maintenance of water status and membrane integrity. Another negative side effect was chlorosis, which accelerated linearly with increasing ABA concentration, although it was reversible upon re-watering. The optimal application rate of ABA should minimize these negative effects, while keeping plant water stress to an acceptable level.


The effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization at different growth stages were investigated on durum wheat (Triticum durum
L.) grain yield and yield components (with irrigated bed planting) in Diyarbakir, Turkey. N was applied at a rate of 140
kg ha–1 and distributed to one, two and three applications at various combinations with five different growth stages (i.e.
sowing, seedling growth, early tillering, stem elongation and booting). This study included 13 treatments, including the
control (zero nitrogen). The N application timings (NAT) of the 50% sowing + 50% early tillering and 66% sowing +
33% early tillering treatments were most suitable for durum wheat. The results showed that NAT had significant effect
on flowering time, SPAD readings of the early milky ripe stage, plant density, thousand kernel weights, grain filling
duration, grain filling rate, grain N content, grain yield, harvest index and grain N yield. In summary, the highest values
of parameters studied were obtained from the 50% sowing + 50% first tillering and 66% sowing + 33% early tillering
treatments. N fertilization application rate and time of durum wheat genotypes should consist of applying 50-60% of
the total N fertilizer at sowing and 40–50% at the early tillering stage under irrigated conditions and with bed planting.


The idea of a public contingent on its participants is the analogue of resonance to music because neither would make sense without the other. This article introduces the concept of modernity as a framing device and explains the occlusion of the private by the public. Secondly, the article illustrates the Legal-Autonomous Public Model, and the Multiple Public Model in the work of John Dewey, Walter Lippmann, and Kenneth J. Arrow. Public space is what Foucault was alleged to have called '´ecriture', which refers to a convergence of and intermixing of signifiers within a de-gendered setting (hence ´ecriture, as opposed to l'´ecriture). The great contest between Lippmann and Dewey in the 1920s signified a clashing of the two interpretations of the public with one arguing about the need for a return to a constitutionally guaranteed, left-of-centre public philosophy that would entertain the elite while taking care of the poor, and the other a plea for a rationalistic recourse that surmised and envisaged rational public discourse as only one of several possible publics. The article concludes with the notion that the constructions of public space defined by Dewey, Lippmann, and Arrow promote distinct yet related interrogations of public space that is more than an agora of resonating ideas, but includes a kind of automatic reverberation on its own axes.


Summary The haemostatic mechanism of 40 female patients undergoing menstruation, 20 with intra-uterine devices (IUCD) and 20 without (Control), were studied. The patients' coagulation profiles, fibrinolytic system and platelet functions were studied before and after hysterectomy. Platelet survival times and platelet consumption was determined using 51Cr. labelled autologous platelets. Patients who menstruated during the study had their pads collected and radioactivity measured. Histology, autoradiography and scintillation counting was performed on uteri obtained from a hysterectomy performed towards the end of the platelet survival study period. There were no significant differences in the coagulation, fibrinolytic and platelet function tests in these 2 groups, though in each group there were the expected changes after operation. Platelet survival time, consumption and radioactivity in the tampons showed no significant differences between the IUCD and control groups, although there were 6 patients with low platelet survival times in the IUCD group. Resected uteri showed surprising lack of concentration of platelets which may have been due in part to loss of blood at operation and handling of the uterus. Surprisingly, in the control patients, platelet survival time in response to the severe haemosatic challenge of menstruation were normal. However in the IUCD group, 6 patients showed shortening of platelet survival. Also surprisingly and equally in both control and IUCD groups, was the small amount of platelet related radioactivity in the menstruating fluid.


We consider a branching-process model {Zn }, where the law of offspring distribution depends on the population size. We consider the case when the means mn (mn is the mean of offspring distribution when the population size is equal to n) tend to a limit m > 1 as n →∞. For a certain class of processes {Zn } necessary conditions for convergence in L 1 and L 2 and sufficient conditions for almost sure convergence and convergence in L 2 of Wn = Zn/mn are given.


Some years ago Finkelstein 1 caught the attention of the world by formulating a new conception of the underlying causes of what were then considered diseases of gastro-intestinal origin. He described them as purely nutritional disturbances, divorced them from any relationship with the bacterial invaders of the intestine, and laid the blame of their genesis on an element of diet that had heretofore been considered innocuous, namely, the sugar. Especially did he attribute that serious, acute form of infantile disease accompanied by stupor, mellituria, and fever to the sugars. The last two symptoms were, he taught, directly and proportionately due to its presence in the food. Later, he implicated the mineral salts of cows' milk, still later prepared his celebrated "Eiweissmilch" and offered it as a remedial food for sugar intoxications, apparently overlooking the fact that as this mixture contained 1.5 per cent. of the deadly lactose its use in practice


The purpose of this study was to comprehend the age-related differences in the relationship and developmental tendency between Orphanage and Normal Children's affective and cognitive perspective-taking ability. The subjects were 5-year-old (N=64) and 7-year-old (N=64) children. In each group, there were equal number of boys and girls, 128 Children were composed of(male: 32, female: 32) and orphanage Children(male: 32, female: 32). Feshbach & Roe's child perspective-taking ability test was modified for this study and the test included four facial expression cards and six different stories including three types of affection. In the procedure of study, after a set of story cards containing one of three affective types, the subject was asked to retell the story shown in each cards to study cognitive perspective-taking ability, and for the affective perspective-taking ability. Then the subject was asked to tell the feeling of the hero in the story and to select one of the four facial expression which is consistent with the feeling. The cognitive perspective-taking ability and affective perspective-taking ability response were coded three kinds of scoring respectively. Scored data were analyzed with MANOVA. t-test, Pearson Correlations and Fisher-z test. The results were shown as follow : First, both Orpanage and Normal Children's the cognitive and affective perspective-taking ability increased with age. Secondly, both Orpanage and Normal Children's perspective-taking ability was lower than Normal Children's perspective-taking ability. Thirdly, both Orpanage and Normal Children's correlation between cognitive and affective perspective-taking ability increased with age.


The Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are penetrating more and more our daily life. They are used in a large type of applications as supervision, tracking and control in military, environmental, medical and several other domains. Therefore, new approaches and protocols are proposed every day in order to optimise the performance of the WSNs and to increase their reliability and quality of service. These new protocols take into consideration the challenges of the WSN and they are built up some key factors (parameters and concepts) to achieve their goals.


Greater understanding of disease pathology at the molecular and cellular level has enhanced the roles of various proteins in disease pathogenesis. Because so many diseases have common physiologic pathways, many biologic therapies have been found to work in multiple therapeutic areas, particularly cancer, inflammation, infections, and metabolic and blood disorders. Thus, the search for agents to inhibit or block these critical therapeutic agents has been accelerated. This supplement reviews the factors contributing to the enormous growth of biotechnology drugs--both those currently marketed and those in late-stage development--from a clinical and managed care perspective. Specifically, the growth of expanded indications for drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be examined, along with the challenges of managing biotechnology therapies being used beyond their original indications. A review of currently marketed biologics under investigation for new indications will be presented, along with a discussion of the implications of expanding indications and the resultant impact on managed care organizations in terms of cost, benefit design, access management strategy, safety and efficacy, and other pertinent issues. Managed care executives will face the challenge of making critical formulary decisions within the context of ever-increasing biologic options, including greater utilization of biotechnology drugs, more biologics for common conditions, and expanded indications for FDA-approved drugs.


Conjoint models of housing preferences typically derive preference functions from consumer responses to profiles of housing attributes generated experimentally. It is not readily evident how such housing preferences can be used to simulate actual housing choice. In this paper we provide conceptual considerations to link conjoint preferences to actual behaviour and discuss the principles of a simulation model. We illustrate the approach using as our example the effects of a rental subsidy on potential mobility.


This study, the focus of which is the transitional period from late Predynastic to early Dynastic times, seeks to establish a reliable and refined framework of local chronologies, for the purpose of investigating the complex socio-economic changes which took place. It also seeks to examine the origins of the the trend towards political unification of the country. With reference to mortuary data, a full explanation is offered of the techniques of seriation and statistical analysis, and typological criteria as applied to seven cemeteries in the Nile valley. Wilkinson supplies a summary of recent advances in understanding the evidence uncovered, and the issues left to be pursued. Controls are presented to chart alongside the principal ceramic phases, and appendices give details of the pottery groups employed. An extended essay in Part 5 completes the picture by discussing Delta communities of some significance just lately brought to light.


We study surface plasmon polaritons excited on two-dimensional three-order dendritic structures. Previous studies show that split ring resonators (SRRs) can be used to obtain magnetic resonance, thus sustaining surface waves behaving like surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). In this paper, we obtain detailed results on surface plasmon polaritons of several different grating structures and theoretically prove that this kind of structures can sustain SPPs. Besides, since dendritic structures can be fabricated by double template-assisted electrochemical deposition, it is worth noting that fabrication of SPP-based materials might be much easier.


The biology of blooming of garden dill and the influence of insect pollination on seed seetting was investigated. The experiment was carried out near Lublin, on the loessy soils within two different habitats in the season 1977-78. In order to determine the sugar weight of nectar isolated flowers were washed out, then the water enclosed in the nectar was vaporized and the remaining sugars underwent repeated dissolution and determined quantitatively with refractometer. The pollen yield was determined with the ether-weight method. The number of the secreting stomata on the epidermis of the nectary was on the average 950 per 1 mm 2 . The sugar weight of 0.4 mg and pollen weight of 0.63 mg from 10 flowers informed of the attractiveness ofthe garden dill for the pollinating insects. The estimated honey yield of garden dill was 27.8 kg ha -1 and pollen yield was 18.7 kg ha -1 . The isolation of the flowers from the pollinators brought about the decrease of the seed yield of 30% in 1977 and of 43% in 1978. The presence of the entomofauna on the flowers must be taken into consideration when forecasting the seed yield in the horticultural production of the garden dill.


Abstract Due to the depletion of fossil fuels and the degradation of the ecological balance, the transition of mobility to new ways of propelling means of transportation is one of the toughest themes of sustainability, debated as such and by scientific research. At the same time technological research has already proposed several forms of vehicle powering and the manufacturers have even offered the market a significant number of electrically propelled vehicles - the option with the greatest technical and economic potential for everything that will mean future transportation of people and freight. Unfortunately, the development of electrical mobility to its quasi-state is dependent on increasing the capacity of supplying enough electricity from the power industry. The objective of our study is to develop a model for the utilization of nuclear energy in view of the global expansion of e-mobility applications. In the context of increased demand for electricity - due to new e-mobility technologies and applications, nuclear power can become the most efficient and constant form of electricity generation. The research methodology is based on qualitative analyzes of new e-mobility applications and their diversification tendencies, but also on quantitative analysis based on a specialized questionnaire. The novelty of the research finds its exemplification in attempts to explain the importance of nuclear energy in the new context of climate change and at the same time proposing a hypothesis regarding the possible maintenance and / or refurbishment of nuclear power plants.


We propose to demonstrate a web-based prototype system that integrates the meta-search approach with existing information analysis and visualization technologies to facilitate concept-based searching behavior over the medical domain. The system distinguishes itself from other meta-search engines through two features. It incorporates the co-occurrence analysis and existing ontology to understand user's query. It also utilizes the self-organizing map (SOM) to categorize and visualize search results.


This study used batch adsorption techniques to evaluate the potential suitability of spent coffee grounds as an environmentally friendly adsorbent for the removal of indium ions from aqueous solutions. In addition, we also investigated the effects of process parameters, such as, the solution pH, adsorbent dose, initial concentration of indium ions and the temperature on adsorption performance. The experimental data were fitted with several adsorption isotherm models to describe the adsorption process of indium ions onto the coffee grounds. The predictions of the Langmuir isotherm model satisfactorily matched the experimental observations. Besides, the kinetic data obtained at different initial concentrations were analyzed using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. A pseudo-second-order model provided a good fit to the experimental results with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. Thermodynamic parameters, including the Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy, indicated that the indium adsorption of aqueous solutions onto coffee grounds was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic in the temperature range of 288 to 318 K.


The aim was to study the causes of death in HIV patients in the Novokuznetsk tuberculosis dispensary in 2016 (population is 550 thousand people; about 2% of population are HIV-positive). Materials and methods: Protocols of all autopsies of HIV-infected patients (n=221) performed in 2016 in the Novokuznetsk tuberculosis dispensary. Results: The mean age of the deceased was 37 Ѓ }6,9 years. HIV and tuberculosis (TB) co-infection was in 83,3% of patients (n=184), HIV/TB and other opportunistic or severe somatic diseases – in 10,4% (n=23), non-tuberculous opportunistic diseases – in 6,3% (n=14). The new tuberculosis cases were in 71,1% (n=147), relapses – in 7,2% (n=15), chronic tuberculosis cases – in 21,7% of patients (n=45). Disseminated form prevailed among the cases of respiratory tuberculosis; generalized tuberculosis (3 and more localizations) occurred in 87,0% (n=180), tuberculosis meningitis was found in 17,9% (n=37). Positive fluorescent sputum microscopy was in 72.5%, sputum cultures on Loewenstein-Jensen medium – in 78,3% with HIV/TB. Primary multidrug resistance was detected in 60,7% (including in 5,8% of them with primary extensively drug resistance). Severe opportunistic infections or malignancies were in 9,2% of HIV/TB (n=19) and in 78,7% of non-TB patients (n=11). Data on the CD4 level was known in 68,8% of cases (n=152): the median count was 75,5 cells/ μ l; 38,9% of new TB cases (n=46) were diagnosed with HIV in time of TB detecting. Antiretroviral therapy was performed only 13% of patients (n=29).  Conclusion: There is a need for the optimization of HIV detecting approaches and early initiation of antiretroviral therapy before the appearance of incurable opportunistic diseases, as well as for comprehensive TB prevention.


© Korean Medical Association This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Advances in technology lead to advances in medical devices, and these advances have the positive effect of creating opportunities for beneficial developments in healthcare, such as innovating traditional healthcare processes or expanding opportunities for diagnosing and treating diseases. Nonetheless, device developers, suppliers, users, insurers, and patients all face the challenge of balancing patient safety and health effectiveness with a reasonable profit. In Korea, the New Health Technology Assessment system aims to introduce safe and effective health technology, but this is only effective for the entry of devices onto the healthcare market. This system is not enough for creating a healthy ecosystem in which high-quality technologies and devices survive in the market and naturally exit from the market if not successful. The nation must not lag in the rapid development of medical devices, but the concomitant requirement for patient safety is like two rabbits moving in different directions. There is not enough time to resolve each source of uncertainty for both developers and users. The early adoption of health technologies, including medical devices, offers new opportunities for treatment and diagnosis, but also poses unexpected health risks. Thus, we need to design a plan to generate scientific evidence related to medical devices after they introduced into practice. Additionally, regarding the use of individual medical devices, we believe that the creation of a healthy ecosystem for medical devices by implementing medical device surveillance culture is a way to manage the opportunities and risks of the early introduction of innovative medical devices.


With the open characteristics of ubiquitous computing environment,the diversity of users is not only inevitable,but also bring threats to the security of the system. Generally, users can access resources and abtain services anytime anywhere in the ubiquitous computing environment, however, the owner of resource and requestor of resource do not know each other. Here discussed the trust-based dynamic access control policy of principals.


Summary
Three different combined microwave (MW) drying methods were compared, namely microwave-assisted vacuum drying (MWVD), microwave-assisted freeze drying (MWFD), microwave-enhanced spouted bed drying (MWSD), in terms of drying rate, drying uniformity, product colour, rehydration ratio, retention of β-carotene and vitamin C, and energy consumption. The drying rate of MWVD and MWSD were much faster than that of MWFD. The largest drying rate was obtained in MWSD with 3.5 W g−1. In general, the colour of MWSD products was very uniform. Rehydration ratio of MWFD carrot pieces was almost the same as the freeze-dried (FD) products and better than MWVD and MWSD products. In addition, the highest retention of carotene and vitamin C was observed in MWFD carrot pieces. No significant differences were observed in carotene and vitamin C between MWVD and MWSD products. However, the energy consumption in MWFD was the highest.


Recent analyses have revealed trends over the past 20-30 years of decreasing sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean coincident with warming trends. Such trends may be indicative of the polar amplifications of warming predicted for the next several decades in response to increasing atmospheric CO2. We have summarized these predictions and nonuniform patterns of arctic climate change in order to address their potential effects on marine mammals. Since recent trends in sea ice extent are nonuniform, the direct and indirect effects on marine mammals are expected to vary geographically. Changes in the extent and concentration of sea ice may alter the seasonal distributions, geographic ranges, patterns of migration, nutritional status, reproductive success, and ultimately the abundance and stock structure of some species. Ice-associated seals, which rely on suitable ice substrate for resting, pupping, and molting, may be especially vulnerable to such changes. As recent decreases in ice coverage have been more extensive in the Siberian Arctic (60 E-180 E) than in the Beaufort Sea and western sectors, we speculate that marine mammal populations in the Siberian Arctic may be among the first to experience climate-induced geographic shifts or altered reproductive capacity due to persistent changes in ice extent. Alteration in the extent and productivity of ice-edge systems may affect the density and distribution of important ice-associated prey of marine mammals, such as arctic cod, Boreogadus saida , and sympagic ("with ice") amphipods. Present climate models, however, are insufficient to predict regional ice dynamics, winds, mesoscale features, and mechanisms of nutrient resupply, which must be known to predict productivity and trophic response. Therefore, it is critical that mesoscale process-oriented studies identify the biophysical coupling required to maintain suitable prey availability and ice-associated habitat for marine mammals on regional arctic scales. Only an integrated ecosystems approach can address the complexity of factors determining reproductivity and cascading trophic dynamics in a warmer Arctic. This approach, integrated with monitoring of key indicator species (e.g., bowhead whale, ringed seal, and beluga), should be a high priority.


Hen egg lysozyme (HEL)-specific T hybridomas were used to study the presentation of HEL as a self component in tolerant, HEL-transgenic mice expressing different serum levels of HEL (AL3, 3-7 nM: ML5, 1-3 nM). Constitutive presentation of the HEL46-61 determinant was detectable in antigen presenting cell (APC)-enriched preparations of spleen, thymus, and lymph node from AL3 transgenic mice. The most likely cell responsible for constitutive presentation of HEL antigen was a non-B cell. In addition, constitutive presentation of HEL46-61 was clearly evident in thymic rosettes (complexes of macrophages or dendritic cells and lymphoid cells) derived from AL3 HEL-transgenic mice, but not from ML5 HEL-transgenic mice. In contrast to the HEL46-61 determinant, constitutive presentation of the HEL25-43 and HEL112-129 determinants was not detectable on APC-enriched preparations from either of the HEL-transgenic lines tested. Thus, although T cell tolerance was evident in transgenic mice expressing a range of serum HEL concentrations, constitutive presentation of processed HEL antigen was not detectable on APCs from mice expressing less than 3-7 nM. This threshold of detectable antigen presentation is consistent with the notion that the concentration of nominal antigen needed for tolerizing T cells is less than that required for activation of mature T cells.


This paper reviews the state of the arts and trends of the AI-Based biomedical processing algorithms and hardware. The algorithms and hardware for different biomedical applications such as ECG, EEG and hearing aid have been reviewed and discussed. For algorithm design, various widely used biomedical signal classification algorithms have been discussed including support vector machine (SVM), back propagation neural network (BPNN), convolutional neural networks (CNN), probabilistic neural networks (PNN), recurrent neural networks (RNN), Short-term Memory Network (LSTM), fuzzy neural network and etc. The pros and cons of the classification algorithms have been analyzed and compared in the context of application scenarios. The research trends of AI-Based biomedical processing algorithms and applications are also discussed. For hardware design, various AI-Based biomedical processors have been reviewed and discussed, including ECG classification processor, EEG classification processor, EMG classification processor and hearing aid processor. Various techniques on architecture and circuit level have been analyzed and compared. The research trends of the AI-Based biomedical processor have also been discussed.


This work uses the general framework of Hill for the definition of overall mechanical properties of composite materials undergoing large deformations, together with Ball's constitutive assumption of polyconvexity, and ideas based on a Hashin-Shtrikman variational structure developed recently by Talbot & Willis for nonlinear problems, to obtain rigorous first-order (depending only on the initial volume fractions of the phases) and second-order (depending also on the overall isotropy of the composite) bounds on the overall properties of composite materials with nonlinearly elastic phases. Although the proposed first-order upper bound, or Voigt bound, agrees with a previous result, the corresponding lower bound, or Reuss bound, is significantly tighter than the previously available result. The proposed second-order bounds are completely new, and are of course tighter than the first-order bounds. Additionally, a 'self-consistent' estimate is given for the case when the phases are neohookean.


This is the defining moment of our generation. We are facing a global health crisis, one that is killing people, spreading human suffering, and upending people's lives. The Covid-19 pandemic and sudden global lockdown across nations has brought migrant livelihoods to a halt. The headlines around Covid-19 are enough to scare us witless. The migrant crisis brought to the fore the unfulfilled obligations of the governments to restore work to its most vulnerable citizens in the era of economic liberalization. The migration debate has become central to political circle which largely involves rehearsing to false dichotomies whereas migrants are in continuous drift. Debate is just not restricted to utility of limited public funds. We have to create an 'island of opportunities' in this 'ocean of distress'. The research poses the questions, namely: 1. How did immigration occur in North-east India? 2) How were the debates relating to migrants from North-east India? 3) How did the government of North-east India respond to the situation of migrants from North-east India during the Covid-19 pandemic? It was found and concluded that growing rural distress with agricultural failing leading to heavy debt burdens was the primary reason of immigration in North-east India. "The Assam Accord" signed between the "Government of India" and the "Leaders of the Assam Movement" in 1985 effectively legitimized all immigrants entering Assam before 24, December 1971. The SHG's under National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM) had adopted series of remedial measures during the Covid-19 pandemic for people, including migrants from North-east India.


GEOLOGY
Before the pre-Cambrian-Cambrian boundary, there is geological evidence of periods of extraordinarily extreme climatic variation. Some postulate this veered from millions of years of total glaciation at −50°C to sudden shifts to surface temperatures averaging 40°C. The exact nature of the physical conditions is hotly debated, as are the effects of these extremes on the survival of prevailing life forms. In their examination of the microfossils of Death Valley, Corsetti et al. have found complex communities of prokaryotes and eukaryotes preserved in cherts and carbonate rocks, including various forms of stromalites and oncoids. The communities seen in the preglacial cherts are very similar to those in the postglacial carbonate films, and it appears that complex communities persisted for 200 million years of climatic vacillation. The new findings suggest that the environmental scars noted in the geological record were not so severe that mass extinction of shallow water microbiota occurred, at least in shallow tropical seas.— CA

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100 , 4399 (2003).


Alcoholism is a potential risk factor to health status and it can lead to death. An observational, descriptive study was conducted at No-150 family doctor's office belonging to "Raul Sanchez" University Polyclinic during August 1st 2008 to August 31 2009. This study was aimed at determining alcohol addictions in adolescent and young populations in this health area. The target group included 102 adolescents and young people. The sample involved 73 patients intentionally. 29 adolescents were excluded considering different reasons. The survey was processed as information source and family health records as a data collection method. The variables analyzed were: age, psychosocial motivations to alcohol intake, satisfaction of basic needs, as well as family and social repercussions; using percentage arithmetical method. Adolescents showed the highest incidence. Lack of entertainment alternatives were the main psychosocial motivations, most of them came from homes where basic needs were regularly covered, atmosphere of tension in their homes and robberies represented the most significant repercussions in families, together with public indecency and brawls as social repercussion.


The benefits of teaching with Wikipedia in higher education have been investigated for more than a decade and practitioners have claimed a fairly uniform set of outcomes. Although Wikipedia is a global knowledge platform, many studies of the benefits of teaching with Wikipedia have been conducted in U.S. higher education institutions. The authors taught with Wikipedia in writing classes at the University of Sydney, Australia, surveying and interviewing students to both verify the traditional benefits of teaching with Wikipedia and investigate a new set of perceived benefits. This study finds evidence that students who worked with Wikipedia in the writing classroom remained neutral in their opinions as to the legitimacy of information on Wikipedia and skeptical as to its utility in mastering writing course outcomes.


This study evaluates the influence of shot peening on the fatigue life of cold spray aluminum alloy 6082 coatings. A pneumatic blast machine with standard steel shot was used to peen both uncoated and coated substrates. Six test groups representing different treatment protocols were characterized in terms of residual stress, roughness, and rotating bending fatigue. The results show that the best fatigue performance is obtained by intense shot peening prior to cold spraying. Post-treatment shot peening, in contrast, had a detrimental effect as a large portion of the kinetic energy is absorbed in the coating, resulting in surface damage rather than further work hardening.


Anti-Malthusian rhetoric is again popular. Nonsocialist intellectuals as well as socialists are saying that poverty not population is the problem. There is a need for population programs. A recent survey in 16 developing countries indicated that after 3 children 50% of the couples wanted no more after 4 70% wanted no more. There is no necessity to choose between development and population programs; there is room for both. Considering the limited amount of money that has been spent on population programs it is unfair to say as the new demographic chic does that family planning has failed. More resources better management and extensive research are needed to make family planning really effective. It is easier to achieve than most of the developmental items the demographic chic spokesmen are demanding.


In recent years, an increasing number of companies that have implemented ERP systems have expressed disappointment over a failure to reach anticipated goals. A major reason for this failure is the inefficient use of the ERP system by employees. Therefore, the critical issue is how users can most effectively take advantage of an ERP system. Post-implementation learning plays an important role in facilitating ERP usage and thus promotes individual performance. Particularly, the integrated and sophistic natures of ERP systems force users to learn continuously after ERP implementation. This study employed a survey method to examine the perceptions of a dataset of 659 ERP users. We found that ERP usage facilitates individual performance, including individual productivity, customer satisfaction and management control, and post-implementation learning contributes to all three types of ERP usage, including decision support, work integration and customer service. Our findings can provide academics and practitioners with knowledge of how to improve ERP usage and ensure individual performance impacts.


The authors present a concurrent error detection and fault location technique for a gracefully degrading ATM switch. The switch architecture has multiple data and control planes, each of which has an identical banyan topology. Cell headers are routed via the control planes to reserve their routing paths on the data planes. Multiplicity of data planes for enhancing performance is utilised to detect errors and locate faults during normal operation. An efficient algorithm is developed to locate faulty links or switching elements while normal switching operation is being performed. Periodic checking, where the test interval is determined dynamically depending on the traffic load, is suggested to minimise the performance degradation. The identified faulty data planes can also be made usable for cell transmission.


Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have excellent catalytic activity in liquid
phase reaction, especially in aerobic oxidation of cumene. In previous
work, the conversion of cumene was 41.8% and the selectivity of cumene
hydroperoxide was 71.5%, which was catalyzed by CNTs. But a small
amount of impurity Zn2+ totally blocked up the aerobic oxidation of
cumene that catalyzed by CNTs, which is an unexpected discovery. By
analyzing the catalytic mechanism of CNTs, the inhibition effect of Zn2+
is locked on the abstraction of H atom from cumene. The inhibition of
Zn2+ is confirmed in two effects by density functional theory (DFT)
calculations. Firstly, due to the strongly coordination of active oxygen
species (ROS) by Zn2+, the energy barrier of initial reaction increases
to 1.90 eV, which is nearly 4 times higher than that of the only ROS
promoted-process. Secondly, the interaction of Zn2+ and RO· or ROO· to
inhibits the chain propagation reaction of free radicals. This work
precisely demonstrates that the inhibition effect of Zn2+ on initial
reaction of cumene. The most significant thing is that the effect of
metallic heteroatoms is not negligible in organic oxidation reaction.


Although for many purposes a radiowave can be treated simply as a power flow, there are other situations where it is necessary to take into account the fact that it consists of vector fields. Multiple radio paths (or rays) between a transmitter and a receiver can occur for various reasons, such as the combination of ground and sky waves, multimode sky-wave propagation, atmospheric refraction and layer reflection, and reflections from the ground and objects such as buildings. It is called multipath propagation, and can give rise to several effects on the received signal. A simple mathematical approximation which is widely used in radiowave propagation concerns situations where a right-angled triangle is long and thin, i.e. the hypotenuse is only slightly longer than one of the other sides.


A set of 17 microsatellite loci was shown to provide at least seven that were polymorphic in each of three bronze-cuckoo species (Chalcites basalis, C. lucidus and C. minutillus) representing the taxonomic range of this genus. This set includes nine newly isolated loci from genomic libraries constructed from C. basalis and C. lucidus. For these three species, each had seven or more polymorphic loci that showed no significant linkage or Hardy–Weinberg disequilibrium with more than five alleles (mean 7.6–12.1) and expected heterozygosity greater than 0.5 (mean 0.78–0.85).


The current economic situation makes the warranty measures vulnerable social sectors,equal treatment of women in the work does not deprive this. However, this forms the imperative to insist on the application of standards that our legislature has adopted.The Social EconomyAct 2011, the Act Canary Equality between Women and Men 2010 and Bill Canary Cooperative Societies 2014 manifest as policy instruments that enlarge a legal framework existing warranty and persist in one of the objectives of the social economy is the primacy of the individual and the social objective over capital, including the promotion of gender mainstreaming policies.


The oxidative O-de-ethylation and aromatic 2-hydroxylation of phenacetin have been investigated in panels of extensive (EM, n = 13) and poor (PM, n = 10) metabolizers of debrisoquine. The EM group excreted in the urine significantly more paracetamol (EM: 40.8 +/- 14.9% dose/0-8 h; PM: 29.2 +/- 8.7% dose/0-8 h, 2P less than 0.05) and significantly less 2-hydroxylated metabolites (EM: 4.7 +/- 2.3% dose/0-8 h; PM: 9.7 +/- 3.5% dose/0-8 h, 2P less than 0.005) than the PM group. Apparent first-order rate constants, calculated from pooled phenotype data, for overall elimination of phenacetin (k) and formation of paracetamol (kml) were higher in the EM group (EM: k = 0.191 +/- 0.151 h-1; kml = 0.091 +/- 0.025 h-1; PM: k = 0.098 +/- 0.035 h-1, 2P less than 0.05, kml = 0.052 +/- 0.019 h-1, 2P less than 0.05) than the PM group. The apparent first-order rate constant for 2-hydroxylation displayed no significant inter-phenotype differences. Correlation analysis demonstrated that genetically determined oxidation status accounted for approximately 50% of the inter-individual variability in phenacetin disposition encountered in this study.


Subsidized health insurance markets use diagnosis-based risk adjustment to induce insurers to offer an equitable benefit to individuals of varying expected cost. I demonstrate that technological change after risk adjustment calibration -- new drug entry and the onset of generic competition -- made certain diagnoses profitable or unprofitable in Medicare Part D. I then exploit variation in diagnoses' profitability driven by technological change to show insurers designed more favorable benefits for drugs that treat profitable diagnoses as compared to unprofitable diagnoses. In the presence of technological change, risk adjustment may not fully neutralize insurers' incentives to select through benefit designs.


Grid and head direction codes represent cognitive spaces for navigation and memory. Pure grid cells generate grid codes that have been assumed to be independent of head direction, whereas conjunctive cells generate grid representations that are tuned to a single head direction. Here, we demonstrate that pure grid cells also encode head direction, but through distinct mechanisms. We show that individual firing fields of pure grid cells are tuned to multiple head directions, with the preferred sets of directions differing between fields. This local directionality is not predicted by previous continuous attractor or oscillatory interference models of grid firing but is accounted for by models in which pure grid cells integrate inputs from co-aligned conjunctive cells with firing rates that differ between their fields. Local directional signals from grid cells may contribute to downstream computations by decorrelating different points of view from the same location.


Proactive quality control (PQC) is a fully flow dependent QC based on ensemble forecast sensitivity to observations (EFSO). Past studies showed in several independent cases that GFS forecasts can be improved by rejecting observations identified as detrimental by EFSO. However, the impact of cycling PQC in sequential data assimilation has, so far, only been examined using the simple Lorenz '96 model. Using a low-resolution spectral GFS model that assimilates PrepBUFR (no radiance) observations with the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF), this study aims to become a bridge between a simple model and the implementation into complex operational systems. We demonstrate the major benefit of cycling PQC in a sequential data assimilation framework through the accumulation of improvements from previous PQC updates. Such accumulated PQC improvement is much larger than the "current" PQC improvement that would be obtained at each analysis cycle using "future" observations. As a result, it is unnecessary to use future information, and hence this allows the operational implementation of cycling PQC. The results show that the analyses and forecasts are improved the most by rejecting all the observations identified as detrimental by EFSO, but that major improvements also come from rejecting just the most detrimental 10% observations. The forecast improvements brought by PQC are observed throughout the 10 days of integration and provide more than a 12-h forecast lead-time gain. An important finding is that PQC not only reduces substantially the root-mean-squared forecast errors but also the forecast biases. We also show a case of "skill dropout," where the control forecast misses a developing baroclinic instability, whereas the accumulated PQC corrections result in a good prediction.


UV radiation is responsible for the induction of epithelial and melanocytic skin cancer, photoaging, and photodermatoses. UV protection is necessary to prevent damage caused by non-physiologic exposure. UV protection includes not only reduction of sun exposure but also use of sun protective filters, UV protective clothes, DNA repair enzymes, and antioxidant supplementation. Consumers are uncertain about the possibilities and limitations of commercial sun protection measures. Dermatologists must explain protective measures to the general public which continues to believe that UV-tanned skin is healthy. The sunscreen market is a highly competitive but lucrative market. The range of products with different designations and promises makes difficult for both consumers and dermatologists to determine what is sensible UV protection.


At the beginning of 2011, revolution across the MENA region threw into question the potential power of new media to bring about large-scale revolutionary pursuits. In Libya, the correlation between social media usage and social upheavals seemed, at most, tenuous in light of low levels of Internet penetration generally and in light of the state-sponsored Internet blackout following the nation-wide protests there. This qualitative research intends, through content analysis and semi-structured interviewing of key communicators, to decode the realities of how and why people were communicating through the crisis in Libya from its inception and to overcome misconceptions about social media as a stand alone or predominant factor in liberation across the region. What emerged from this case study was a confluence of actions and tools responsible for communication through the crisis, of which social media featured significantly. This paper will further discuss the significance of the convivial relationships of the Internet-based campaigners working towards a 'democratic' outcome in Libya and working beyond the limitations of national Internet connectedness. I conclude that there is a great potential for Internet-based networks to support widespread social upheaval within ripe socio-political settings.


Purpose: Talent management (TM) has become a strategic priority for companies seeking to identify employees with outstanding performances and the potential to hold strategic positions in the future. In fact, talent is considered an intangible capital that adds value to the organisation. However, there are only a handful of studies in the literature that address the process of identifying talent in organisations for its subsequent development. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to reach a better understanding of the process of identifying and locating talent, while proposing a configurational approach as a theoretical framework for grouping talented individuals into different configurations or talent pools to initiate talent development in firms. Design/methodology: Case study methodology research based on four companies that have implemented TM programmes in Spain. Findings: The research questions formulated here and the case studies shed light on the process of identifying talent and on the criteria for grouping it in order to facilitate its future development. Our results highlight the following. First, talent means people with certain characteristics. Second, companies focus more on developing the talent identified than on considering the innate nature of that talent. Finally, talent can be found throughout an organisation, in both management and non-management positions. In turn, we conclude with the relevant theoretical contribution of the configurational approach to explain that a company's future competitive advantage is based on the different talent pools existing in its organisation that group talent for its differential management. Practical implications: Our results imply major recommendations for companies on how to identify talent and group it into talent pools in order to implement a process of differentiated management involving a range of temporal pathways. Originality/value: The identification and location of talent, as well as grouping it into talent pools, is an essential prior process for proposing the talent architecture that is so much in demand in the literature.


Objectives: To analyse trends in smoking prevalence in Ukraine from three surveys conducted in 2001–5, and to explore correlates of observed changes, in order to estimate the stage of tobacco epidemic in Ukraine. Design: Repeated national interview surveys in Ukraine in 2001, 2002 and 2005. Main outcome measure: Prevalence of current smoking among the population aged ⩾15 years. Results: The age-standardised prevalence of current smoking in Ukrainian men was 54.8% in 2001 and 66.8% in 2005. Among Ukrainian women, prevalence increased from 11.5% in 2001 to 20.0% in 2005. ORs for yearly increase in prevalence were estimated as 1.164 (95% CI 1.111 to 1.220) for men and 1.187 (1.124 to 1.253) for women, which implies that, on average, 3–4% of men and 1.5–2% of women living in Ukraine join the smoking population each year. Conclusions: In Ukraine, smoking prevalence is increasing in most population groups. Among men, the medium deprivation group with secondary education has the highest smoking prevalence. Among women, while the most educated, young and those living in larger cities are the leading group for tobacco use, other groups are also increasing their tobacco use. Tobacco promotion efforts appear to have been significantly more effective in Ukraine than smoking control efforts. The decrease in real cigarette prices in Ukraine in 2001–5 could be the main factor explaining the recent growth in smoking prevalence.


The change in permittivity of bismuth zinc niobate (BZN) films with the cubic pyrochlore structure under an applied electric field was measured as a function of temperature. Dielectric measurements were performed using planar capacitor structures with Pt electrodes on sapphire substrates. The electric field tunability of the permittivity was weakly temperature dependent and increased with decreasing temperature up to the onset of dielectric relaxation. At temperatures below the onset of the dielectric relaxation (~ 150 K at 1 MHz), larger electric fields were required to achieve the highest tunabilities. A simple model of hopping, non-interacting dipoles was not suited to describe the dielectric tunability of BZN thin films. A better description of the experimentally observed behavior at temperatures above the onset of the dielectric relaxation was obtained using a simple random-field model with hopping dipoles in a uniform distribution of random fields.


The purpose of this study was to examine state Individualized Education Program (IEP) forms to determine the extent to which they include documentation of standards and assessments. All 50 states were asked to send their IEP forms and to indicate whether they were required, recommended, or simply sample forms. Out of the 41 states with IEP forms, only 5 specifically addressed educational standards on their forms; 31 addressed the general curriculum on their IEP forms. IEP forms in 30 states listed three or more options for assessment participation, including standard participation in general state or district assessments, accommodated participation, and alternate assessment participation. Because IEP forms may be the only source of information to guide decisions during IEP team meetings, we make several recommendations for IEP forms that will provide decision-making guidance to IEP teams.


In March 2009 two international research groups produced a draft of a Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) which included among others a book, Book X, on trusts. Book X suggests a comprehensive set of model rules aimed at providing Europe with a uniform trust law. This article offers a critical evaluation of Book X of the DCFR in an attempt to ascertain not only whether it provides a desirable device, but also why there is a book on trust law at all, given that the whole purpose of the exercise was to present a draft for the establishment of common principles on contract law. In order to do so, the paper first analyses the provisions of Book X in comparison with English law, the Hague Trusts Convention and the Principles of European Trust Law, so as to establish the nature of the trust proposed. Second, it probes the internal coherence of Book X and its compatibility with existing conflict of law rules and national private laws, both as an optional instrument or a set of mandatory rules.


Salmonella: The Organism The Social Cost of Salmonella Infections Risk Assessment of Salmonella from Poultry Sources Sources of Salmonella in the Breeder Flocks, Hatchery, and Grow-out Operations Salmonella Intervention in Breeders The Role of the Hatchery in Salmonella Transfer Hatchery Intervention Salmonella Transfer during Grow Out Salmonella Intervention during Grow Out Effect of the Health of Chickens on Salmonella Prevalence Sources of Salmonella in the Plant The Role of the Scalder in Spreading Salmonella Controlling Salmonella in Poultry Scalders Improving Processing Yield and Lowering Salmonella during Scalding without Added Expense The Effect of Picking (Defeathering) on Salmonella Levels on Carcasses Methods for Controlling Salmonella Levels on Carcasses during Picking Reducing Pathogens during Evisceration Reducing Salmonella on the Processing Line Using Carcass Sprays Effect of Online Reprocessing on Salmonella on Carcasses Effect of Immersion Chilling on Salmonella Reducing Salmonella during Immersion Chilling Proper Use of Chlorine in Poultry-Processing Plants Effect of Air Chilling on Salmonella Postchill Processes: Dips and Sprays Other Novel Approaches to Elimination of Salmonella on Carcasses Biomapping Salmonella on Broiler Carcasses in Poultry- Processing Plants: Case Studies Verification of the Efficacy of Intervention Strategies Salmonella Intervention Strategies and Testing Methods Differ Greatly between the United States and Europe: What Are the Implications? Impact of the New USDA-FSIS Salmonella/Campylobacter Performance Standards for Young Chickens Future Outlook Index


Towards efficient implementation of x-ray ghost imaging (XGI), efficient data acquisition and fast image reconstruction together with high image quality are preferred. In view of radiation dose resulted from the incident x-rays, fewer measurements with sufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are always anticipated. Available methods based on linear and compressive sensing algorithms cannot meet all the requirements simultaneously. In this paper, a method based on a modified compressive sensing algorithm with conjugate gradient descent method (CGDGI) is developed to solve the problems encountered in available XGI methods. Simulation and experiments demonstrate the practicability of CGDGI-based method for the efficient implementation of XGI. The image reconstruction time of sub-second implicates that the proposed method has the potential for real-time XGI.


Objectives Errors in the process of prescribing can lead to avoidable harm for patients. Establishing the extent of prescribing errors across medical specialties is critical. This research explores the frequency and types of prescribing errors made by healthcare professionals prescribing in patients with renal disease where prescribing problem-solving and decision-making is complex due to co-existing multimorbidity Methods All prescriptions and errors made by prescribers were captured over a four-month period at a UK renal unit. Data was recorded about the medicine associated with error, the nature and severity of error, alongside the prescriber's occupational grade. Results There were 10394 items prescribed and 3.54% with associated prescribing errors. Whilst Foundation year one doctors made almost one error every week (n=15.13) and Foundation year two doctors one every two weeks (n=8.00), other prescribers made one error per month (n=3.94, 95%). The medicines most frequently associated with errors for Foundation doctors were paracetamol (6.51%), calcium acetate (5.33%), meropenem (3.55%), alfacalcidol (3.55%) and tazocin (3.55%), whilst for all other prescribers they were meropenem (6.15%), alfacalcidol (4.62%), co-amoxiclav (4.62%) and tacrolimus (4.62%). The most common types of error for both groups were omitting the indication, using the brand name inappropriately, and prescribing inaccurate doses. Conclusions The range of errors made by multi-professional healthcare prescribers confirms complexity of prescribing on a renal unit for patients with kidney disease and multimorbidity. These findings have implications for the types of educational interventions required for reducing avoidable harm and overcoming human factors challenges to improve prescribing behaviour.


The stability and dispersion analysis for the alternating-direction-implicit finite-difference time-domain (ADI- FDTD) method in lossy media is presented. Although the stability and numerical dispersion have been analyzed for the ADI-FDTD method, most of the analysis is dedicated to the cases of lossless media. Here, the stability and dispersion analysis is performed for the method in lossy media. The stability analysis theoretically proves the unconditional stability of the ADI-FDTD method in lossy media. Meanwhile, the dispersion analysis reveals the numerical loss and dispersion characteristics of this method. This will be meaningful for the evaluation and further development of the ADI-FDTD method in lossy media


Single-photon avalanche diode arrays can provide both the spatial and temporal information of each detected photon. We present here the characterization of spatially entangled photons with a 32 × 32 pixel sensor, specifically designed for quantum imaging applications. The sensor is time-tagging each detection event at pixel level with sub-nanosecond accuracy within frames of 50 ns. The spatial correlations between any number of detections in a defined temporal window can thus be directly extracted from the data.The space-momentum entanglement of photon pairs is demonstrated by violating an EPR-type inequality directly from the measured near-field correlations and far-field anti-correlations.


There is a paucity of research regarding language use among bilingual clients, particularly with Latino children. In order to provide culturally sensitive counseling for bilingual, Spanish-speaking, Latino children it is important to understand their experience of language use. The purpose of this study was to investigate how second generation, bilingual, Mexican American, 5th grade students experience language use in the two languages with which they communicate. I employed a phenomenological method to data collection and analysis and conducted semi-structured individual and group interviews with three boys and five girls (N = 8). Analysis of the individual and group interviews yielded four main structures: (a) dominant language determined perception of developing dual selves, (b) speaking two languages useful in language brokering and upward mobility, (c) dominant language determined experience of language use, and (d) language use and aspects of the complementarity principle. Findings from this study suggest that bilingual Latino children experience language brokering for their parents as difficult, speaking two languages as useful regarding upward mobility, and that their dominant language influences various aspects of their daily experiences such as with whom and where they use each language. Limitations to this research include insufficient time building rapport with participants and challenges related to unexplored dimensions of bilingualism in the counseling research literature. An overarching implication for future research, clinical practice, and counselor education is that bilingualism, language use, and the depth of experience of Latino children are largely understudied topics.


An industrial laser cutting machine tool was used to harden 1117 and 1144 steel to examine effects on fatigue life. Transformation hardening leaves residual compressive stresses at the surface, which greatly enhance fatigue life in addition to increasing the hardness. The laser, which creates localized heating, allows faster cooling rates than conventional heat treatment methods. As a result, the application of the laser facilitates the hardening of low carbon steel which is not hardenable by conventional methods.


An annotated checklist of chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, batoids, and chimaeras) occurring in South African waters is presented. The checklist is the result of decades of research and on-going systematic revisions of the regional fauna. The chondrichthyan fauna of South Africa is one of the richest in the world with 191 species, comprising 50 families and 103 genera. It consists of 30 families, 64 genera, and 111 species of sharks; 17 families, 36 genera, and 72 species of batoids; and, 3 families, 5 genera, and 8 species of chimaeras. The most species-rich shark families are the whaler sharks Carcharhinidae with 20 species followed by the deepwater catsharks Pentanchidae with 13 species. The most species-rich batoid families are the hardnose stakes Rajidae with at least 21 species followed by the stingrays Dasyatidae with 13 species. This monograph represents the first detailed annotated checklist of chondrichthyans from South Africa in over 30 years.


The standard Frohlich model of the interaction of band states with phonons is applied to the case of deuterons solved in metals. A simple variational solution of this model predicts at least one highly coherent state of the deuteron-phonon system having a total energy significantly lower than that of uncorrelated interstitial deuterons and only thermal phonons, and that this phase may actually be exhibited at room temperature and high levels of deuteration.


Background: A period of starvation after colorectal anastomosis to permit for resolution of the clinical evidence of ileus has been an unchallenged surgical dogma until recent years. We intended to determine the safety and feasibility of an unconventional postoperative oral intake protocol in patients experiencing colorectal anastomosis. Materials and Methods: Between 2013 and 2015, sixty consecutive patients underwent colorectal anastomosis and they were randomized into two groups. The early feeding group began fluids on the first postoperative day while the regular feeding group was managed in the traditional way - nothing by mouth until the complete resolution of ileus. Results: The majority of patients (93%) tolerated the early feeding. The times to first passage of flatus (2.66 ± 0.71 days vs. 3.9 ± 0.071 days) and stool (3.9 ± 0.92 days vs. 5.4 ± 0.77 days) were significantly quicker in early feeding group. Hospital stay was also significantly shorter in the early feeding group (4 ± 0.64 days vs. 6.1 ± 0.84 days). Anastomosis leakage and abscess formation were not seen in early feeding group. The patient's satisfaction (visual analog scale) in the early feeding group was higher than delayed feeding group (8.56 ± 1.16 vs. 7.06 ± 1.59, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Early oral feeding after colorectal surgeries is safe and tolerated by the majority of patients.


UNLABELLED
Postoperative complications following major pancreatic surgery are mainly due to the difficulties of performing a safe and proper anastomosis between the stomach or small bowel and the rest of the pancreas. We cannot influence the main predisposing factor of pancreatic fistula--soft pancreatic parenchyma, but we can decrease or completely block postoperative pancreatic secretion. In the last 5 years we performed 61 major pancreatic resections. There were 49 men, mean age 63 years (range 31-78) and 12 women, mean age 57 years (range 45-75). The occlusion of the main pancreatic duct was performed in 33 patients with cyanoacrylate manomer indermil (Sherwood, Davies Geck) after pancreatic resection with different types of anastomosis of their pancreatic stump. Fistula developed where glue was used only in 1 case out of 33 patients (1/33-3%) compared with 28 patients where glue was not used--fistula developed in 9 cases (9/28-32%). The difference is highly significant (p < 0.05). Only 1 out of 10 patients with pancreatic fistulation was operated later on; in 9 cases fistula closed spontaneously. Fistulo-jejunoanastomosis was performed in this patient with chronic torpid fistulation. No postoperative pancreatitis developed after blind closure of pancreatic stump.

IN CONCLUSION
any decrease of pancreatic secretion from the rest of the pancreas after duodenopancreatectomy can significantly reduce the development of postoperative pancreatic fistula which can have a catastrophic influence on surgery outcome. Using glue in the pancreatic main duct is not only safe but can be an effective simple procedure in any type of pancreatic stump treatment.


BACKGROUND
Since 2006, the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) has been conducting independent scientific activities to standardize the technical assessment of plantar pressure measurement devices (PMDs).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
On the basis of the ISS results, in 2010 the Pedobarographic Group of the International Foot and Ankle Biomechanics community (i-FAB-PG) promoted a Consensus activity about the main technical requirements for the appropriate use of PMDs. The activity relied on a moodlebased on-line forum, documents exchange, discussions, reviews, meetings and a final survey.

RESULTS
The participation of clinical and technical researchers, users, and manufacturers, contributed to the delivery of the hereby reported recommendations which specifically regard Medical PMDs in the form of platforms.

CONCLUSIONS
The i-FAB-PG community reached overall agreement on the recommendations, with a few minor objections which are reported and commented in the document. Relevance. The present document, the highest result achievable within a small scientific community, will hopefully represent the starting point of the wider process of establishing official international guidelines or standards, within scientific communities and standardization organizations.


The capacity of wireless networks can be increased via dynamic load balancing/sharing by employing overlay networks on top of the existing cellular networks. One such recently proposed system is the integrated cellular and ad hoc relay (iCAR) system, where an overlay ad hoc network is employed to use the resources efficiently by dynamically balancing the load of the hot spots in the cellular network, and to provide quality-of-service to subscribers, no matter where they are located and when the request is made. It is assumed that this overlay network operates in the 2.4-GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band and, hence, the number of available ISM-band relay channels used for load balancing will be limited due to other users' interference at a given point in time. In this paper, the impact of ISM-band interference on the performance of iCAR systems, which is a representative hybrid wireless network, is studied, and it is shown that dynamic load balancing and sharing capabilities of iCAR systems are strictly dependent on the availability of the ISM-band relay channels. In addition to quantifying the impact of the number of available relay channels on the performance of iCAR systems, a simple channel assignment scheme to reduce the performance degradation due to other users' interference is also provided. Results show that this interference avoidance technique can improve the realistic performance of iCAR-like hybrid wireless networks by 12%-23% when the interferers are uniformly distributed in the ISM-band.


ABSTRACT Introduction Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is an autoinflammatory disease driven by the innate immune response. Given the ambiguity in clinical presentation and lack of specific diagnostic biomarkers, AOSD diagnosis is usually delayed in the early stage. Because AOSD is a rare disease with clinical heterogeneity, there is no consensus on its treatment currently. This review summarizes the current research evidence regarding the pathogenic role and the diagnostic or therapeutic potential of interleukin (IL)-18 in AOSD. Areas covered We searched the MEDLINE database using the PubMed interface and reviewed English-language literature from 1971 to 2022. This review focusing on IL-18 discusses its pathogenic role and clinical implications in AOSD. Expert opinion NLRP3-inflammasome activation with IL-18 overproduction plays a pathogenic role in AOSD. IL-18 is closely linked to the clinical manifestations and disease activity of AOSD and may be a diagnostic biomarker. Given its pathogenic role in AOSD, IL-18 could become a potential therapeutic target. IL-18 binding protein (IL-18BP) negatively regulates the biological activity of IL-18 by inhibiting IL-18 signaling, and a clinical trial revealed that IL-18BP (Tadekinig alfa) treatment was well-tolerated and effective for AOSD. Recently, monoclonal antibodies against IL-18 have been under evaluation in a phase 1b trial.


Small-scale electro-osmotic systems for use around commercial and residential structures are becoming increasingly common as a method of controlling the water seeping through concrete foundations or seeping into basements and other underground structures. These systems are designed for continuous use in moving water out of the soil adjacent to the structures. There is little engineering guidance on the selection and installation of the components for these small-scale systems. Features such as soil conditions, positioning of electrodes, operating voltages, operating patterns for decreasing polarization problems, and selecting the types of electrodes are critical in assuring efficient operation and a long service life. By screening sites to make sure that the geological conditions are appropriate and tailoring the system to fit the site, electro-osmotic dewatering can be applied safely and effectively, giving a property owner a method other than conventional drains for controlling groundwater problems on a building site.


This article introduces 'Fort Ino' and 'Sailor Petrishchenko', two essays by Petr Potemkin that are republished in Slavic Almanac. Both essays, which deal with the Kronshtadt uprising of 1921, were written immediately following the events of the uprising, and first appeared in the Kishinev newspapers, soon after Potemkin's flight from Soviet Russia.
The article, as well as the references to Potemkin's essays, shows that the two essays are not only thematically close to one another, but also have much in common in terms of their poetics. It can also be pointed out that these texts are thematically and stylistically related to one more essay by Potemkin ('Kronshtadt'), which is included in another publication of his oeuvre in this issue of Slavic Almanac. The article identifies the connections between Potemkin's 'Kronshtadt' essays and some of the plots in his pre-revolutionary publications in the newspaper Day, and finds certain parallels in the literature of the past (Radishchev) and of the present (Teffi, Evreinov and Mayakovsky).


In this paper, towards efficient state estimation for large-scale networked linear systems, we propose a method for designing observers to estimate the average behavior of systems, which we call average state observers. First, we give a mathematical formulation of the average state observer. Furthermore, we derive the error system clarifying that not only an initial state estimation error but also the initial value response of systems and the input signal are relevant to the observation error. On the basis of this error analysis, we devise a systematic design procedure for average state observers. The proposed method does not require the information on how to choose a set of average states of systems. The efficiency of the proposed method is shown through a numerical example for a diffusion system.


A 12-year-old spayed female miniature pinscher canid presented to the referring veterinarian with a 1 month history of a right eyelid mass. No other masses besides a previously diagnosed lipoma were identified after physical examination and thoracic radiographic examination. Histologically, neoplastic cells formed glands and were subdivided by a fibrous stroma, exhibited moderate cellular pleomorphism, and were immunoreactive for cytokeratin 7. Based on these findings an apocrine adenocarcinoma of the eyelid was diagnosed.


Effective experiential learning within virtual worlds requires students to engage with the virtual world, not only as active learners but also as embodied actors, fully immersed in the world, with a developed inworld identity and body image. These elements are one source of the added value that immersive virtual worlds bring to the educational experience, but can also be a source of anxiety and resistance for many students. In order to move forward with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, it is important that educators seek to understand these reactions and, furthermore, develop strategies to address them.

This paper will describe the range of responses displayed by students to virtual worlds, drawn from evidence collated during the authors' seven years collective experience of teaching in virtual worlds. The responses can be attributed to a variety of cultural and value-based attitudes held by students to technology in general and to virtual worlds in particular. In addition, the authors note the potential existence of an "embodiment tendency" which may be the basis of an innate engagement with, or failure to connect with, virtual worlds.

Drawing on particular cases, and evidenced by students' testimonies, the authors will set out a typology of students' responses, both positive and negative. They will describe a framework proposal of strategies for engaging with these responses, and discuss the ethical implications that students' negative opinions raise for educators making use of immersive virtual worlds.


James Klugmann appears as a shadowy figure in the legendary history of the Cambridge spies. As both mentor and friend to Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess and others, Klugmann was the man who manipulated promising recruits deemed ripe for conversion to the communist cause. This perception of him was reinforced following the release of his MI5 file and the disclosure of Soviet intelligence files in Moscow, which revealed he played the key part in the recruitment of John Cairncross, the 'fifth man', as well as his pivotal war-time role in the Special Operations Executive in shifting Churchill and the allies to support Tito and the communist partisans in Yugoslavia. In this book, Geoff Andrews reveals Klugmann's story in full for the first time, uncovering the motivations, conflicts and illusions of those drawn into the world of communism and the sacrifices they made on its behalf.


Edible Medicinal And Non Medicinal Plants Lim T. K. 2012-02-09 This book continues as volume 3 of a multi-compendium on Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants. It covers edible fruits/seeds used fresh or processed, as vegetables, spices, stimulants, edible oils and beverages. It encompasses species from the following families: Ginkgoaceae, Gnetaceae, Juglandaceae, Lauraceae, Lecythidaceae, Magnoliaceae, Malpighiaceae, Malvaceae, Marantaceae, Meliaceae, Moraceae, Moringaceae, Muntigiaceae, Musaceae, Myristicaceae and Myrtaceae. This work will be of significant interest to scientists, researchers, medical practitioners, pharmacologists, ethnobotanists, horticulturists, food nutritionists, agriculturists, botanists, conservationists, lecturers, students and the general public. Topics covered include: taxonomy; common/English and vernacular names; origin and distribution; agroecology; edible plant parts and uses; botany; nutritive and pharmacological properties, medicinal uses and research findings; nonedible uses; and selected references.


OBJECTIVES
Positron emission tomography (PET), often combined with computed tomography (CT), is a well-established tool for diagnosing malignancy and inflammatory disease. The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are chronic, multi-system diseases characterised by skeletal muscle inflammation, the potential for extramuscular manifestations such as interstitial lung disease (ILD) and an increased risk of malignancy. We performed a systematic literature review to evaluate the utility of PET or PET-CT in evaluation of IIM.

METHODS
A search of Medline and EMBASE from 1990 to 2022 using keywords related to IIM and PET was performed. English language studies of adults with IIM who had PET or PET-CT were included.

RESULTS
Our search identified 1173 potentially relevant abstracts, 19 of which were included. The majority of studies used [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET or PET-CT scans, while the remainder used [18F] florbetapir and [11C] Pittsburgh compound B ([11C] PIB). The sensitivity and specificity of 18F-FDG-PET or 18F-FDG-PET-CT for diagnosing malignancy compared with standard detection methods was 66.7-94% and 80-97.8%, respectively. The sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET-CT for ILD was 93-100% when high-resolution CT was used as the reference standard. 18F-PET and 18F-FDG-PET-CT appear to accurately detect muscle inflammation, although correlations with clinical measures of IIM disease activity were variable. [18F] florbetapir PET-CT and [11C] PIB PET were able to differentiate sporadic inclusion body myositis (IBM) from non-IBM IIM.

CONCLUSION
PET-CT holds promise as a single tool that can simultaneously evaluate multiple aspects of IIM. These include screening for associated malignancy, achieving an early diagnosis of ILD and evaluating muscle inflammation.