BACKGROUND
The goal of our study was to demonstrate the extension of the transitional zone (TZ) between elastic and muscular medial structure in carotid artery tripod.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A histologic study of 56 probes from 8 carotid artery tripods was performed. The probes were obtained from autopsies of 4 adults (mean age: 47.5 years, range 38 to 55 years) and were taken from 7 different topographic sites.

RESULTS
At each level of the CCA (at 1 cm and 2 cm proximal to the bifurcation as well as at the bifurcation) we observed an elastic arterial type in 24 (42.8%) probes with 11 to 20 (medium 15.0) elastic fibers per view field (200 x magnification) in the media. In contrast the histologic structure of the ICA and ECA varied as follows: in 8 sections (14.3%) elastic arterial type with 11 to 16 (medium 13.1) elastic fibers, in 11 sections (19.6%) muscular arterial type with 2 to 5 (medium 3.5) elastic fibers and in 9 sections (16.1%) a transitional arterial type with 6 to 8 (medium 6.7) elastic fibers in the media. Atherosclerotic lesions have prevented the assessment of the arterial type in 4 probes (7.1%). The TZ in the medial structure of carotid artery tripods is exclusively localized in the ICA/ECA but not in the CCA. The ICA/ECA presented a TZ with a length up to 0.5 cm (4 probes; 25%), up to 1.5 cm (4 probes; 25%) and longer than 1.5 cm (6 probes; 37.5%).

CONCLUSIONS
In this study we confirmed that in the carotid artery tripod, a TZ--an arterial segment with transition from elastic to muscular type--does exist, involving a variable length. Furthermore studies on the impact of the biomechanical properties of the TZ as a potential factor in atherosclerotic disease are justified. In addition, the complex biomechanical behavior of the TZ should be considered prior to interventional procedures.


Abstract Hysterothylacium species are perhaps the most abundant and diverse group of marine ascaridoids; however, their life cycle and specific identification in larval stages in many parts of the world, particularly in Iraqi marine waters, have not been completely understood. In this study three members of the genus Hysterothylacium collected from Khor Abdulla in Iraq are morphologically described, genetically characterized and their relationship with other closely related taxa are compared and discussed. A new Hysterothylacium larval type in the fourth stage of development is described, and morphological and molecular evidence (based on the sequences of internal transcribed spacers) are provided for its distinction from previously known fourth-stage Hysterothylacium larval types. Based on the sequence data it is suggested that the new larval type, which herein was assigned as Hysterothylacium larval type XVI, is H. persicum which was previously reported from the close proximity in Bandar Abbas, Iran. In addition, two other taxa, including Hysterothylacium larval type XV and H. reliquens, have been found in the present study, for which new hosts are reported. This study provides some insights into the taxonomy and systematics of these parasites, not only in this region but also for similar studies elsewhere.


Abstract : Bacteriophage have been proposed to be the most abundant organisms on the planet, at an estimated 10(31) particles globally (Hendrix et al., 1999). The majority of bacteriophage isolates (96%) are double-stranded DNA tailed phages (Caudovirales). These phages possess a distinctive icosehedral head, with a protein tail structure protruding from a single vertex. This organelle determines host specificity and provides the mechanism of passage of the phage genome into the host cell. Phages infecting differing microbial hosts may have access to a global pool of genes, albeit at different levels. Marine cyanobacteria of the genera Prochiorococcus and Synechococcus are numerically dominant photosynthetic cells in the large oligotrophic gyres of the open oceans, and contribute an estimated 30% to the oceanic photosynthetic budget. Cyanophages have been isolated which propagate on many strains of Synechococcus and Prochiorococcus. Cyanophages can effect community structure and succession through lytic infection of their hosts, and have implications in lateral gene transfer, mediated through lysogeny, mixed infections, pseudolysogeny, and transduction. The broad host ranges (between genera) observed in some phages indicates that lateral gene transfer is not confined to cells of the same strain. These phage/host interactions begin by host recognition by the tail of the infecting phage. Few studies have examined the structural proteins of cyanophage, partially due to the lack of a robust protocol for the growth and purification of phage particles.


The title compound, (C5H6N)[Mn(C7H4O2)2(C5H5N)(H2O)], is a mononuclear manganese complex in which the Mn atom is six-coordinated by two carboxylate O atoms and two hydroxy O atoms of two salicylates, one O atom of water and one N atom of pyridine.


Eight consecutive patients who underwent thymectomy for the treatment of myasthenia gravis were evaluated prospectively for the development of postoperative pericarditis. In four of the eight patients (50 percent) pericarditis developed within 48 hours after thymectomy. All four had a three-component pericardial friction rub, two of the four patients had a new postoperative pericardial effusion by echocardiography, and in two typical ECG diffuse concave ST segment elevation and evolutionary ST and T wave changes developed. In the four patients with postoperative pericarditis, a malignant thymoma adherent to the pericardium was found in two, while two patients had a normal thymus histology with no adherence to the pericardium. Thus, postoperative pericarditis was found in both of the patients with a thymoma and in two of six patients without a thymoma. This study demonstrates that a high incidence of pericarditis occurs following thymectomy for the treatment of myasthenia gravis.


With the increment of installation density, the PV power generation system may encounter the external interference contributed by unpredictable variation of irradiance. Especially, the partial shadow, as one of main factors that lead to the problem of low conversion efficiency ought to be taken into consideration. This paper presents a novel maximum power point tracking method proposed in order to make sufficient utilization of solar energy, on the occasion when the photovoltaic modules are partially shaded. The novel method is based on Perturbation and Observation (P&O) method, with which the scan method is combined periodically. By using this method, the maximum power point can be checked out within transient period. For the purpose of verifying practicality of this novel method, simulation, as well as experiment have been carried out under the same circumstances, respectively. The consequences intuitively indicate that the conversion efficiency operated by proposed method is substantially improved under partial shadow.


The present studies examine how perceived temporal distance from past selves influences perceptions of the current self. Participants recalled their past self either at age 9 or 15. These two past selves differ in levels of identification with gender and thus denote different standards of comparison. Three hypotheses were tested. Temporal distance should determine whether recalled past selves produce assimilation or contrast effects on the current self. Second, temporal comparison effects should be weaker when people recall their past in terms of stable, relatively enduring characteristics (e.g. traits). Third, past selves should to a greater extent be biased by stereotypical knowledge about former lifetime periods the farther away individuals feel from past selves. Past selves coloured by stereotypical knowledge are more extreme and should thus produce stronger judgemental effects on the current self. The results supported the hypotheses. Implications for autobiographical remembering are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A toll-like receptor 4/myeloid differentiation factor 2 complex (TLR4/MD2) has been identified as a non-classical opioid receptor capable of recognizing morphine isomers and activating microglia in a non-enantioselective manner. Additionally, morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G) and morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G), the major metabolites of morphine, possess similar chemical structures but exhibit distinct effects on TLR4 signaling. However, the specific mechanisms by which morphine isomers and morphine metabolites are recognized by the innate immune receptor TLR4/MD2 are not well understood. Herein, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to dissect the molecular recognition of TLR4/MD2 with morphine isomers, M3G and M6G. Morphine and its (+)-enantiomer, dextro-morphine ((+)-morphine), were found to have comparable binding free energies as well as similar interaction modes when interacting with (TLR4/MD2)2. Binding with morphine and (+)-morphine caused the motion of the F126 loop towards the inside of the MD2 cavity, which stabilizes (TLR4/MD2)2 with similar dimerization interfaces. The binding free energies of M3G and M6G with (TLR4/MD2)2, while lower than those of morphine isomers, were comparable to each other. However, the binding behaviors of M3G and M6G exhibited contrasting patterns when interacting with (TLR4/MD2)2. The glucuronide group of M3G bound to the gating loop of MD2 and formed strong interactions with TLR4*, which stabilizes the active heterotetrameric complex. In contrast, M6G was situated in cavity A of MD2, where the critical interactions between M6G and the residues of TLR4* were lost, resulting in fluctuation of (TLR4/MD2)2 away from the active conformation. These results indicate that the pivotal interactions at the dimerization interface between MD2 and TLR4* in M6G-bound (TLR4/MD2)2 were considerably weaker than those in M3G-bound (TLR4/MD2)2, which partially explains why M6G fails to activate TLR4 signaling. The discoveries from this study will offer valuable insights for the advancement of next-generation TLR4 small molecule modulators based on opioids.


I. INTRODUCTION As with other animal viruses, the molecular biology of retroviruses has depended on the use of experimental laboratory procedures for the isolation, propagation, assay, and cloning of biologically active virions. The development of monolayer and suspension cell-culture systems has played a crucial role in experimental biology of retroviruses. The replication of retroviruses need not kill the host cell. The maturation of viral particles by budding from the plasma membrane does not usually cause cytopathic effects; therefore, an infected cell can become transformed and proliferate while producing virus progeny. However, as Temin (1963) first reported, virus replication is not necessary for cell transformation; neither is cell transformation necessary for virus replication (see Fig. 3.1). These phenomena are discussed in detail in later sections. Originally, the retroviruses were classified according to the disease that they caused and were named after their discoverers. C-type RNA tumor viruses may be broadly divided into sarcoma and leukemia (leukosis) viruses. The division is not a clear one because some leukemia viruses can also produce a wide spectrum of solid tumors (see Chapter 8). Also, leukemia viruses are commonly present in stocks of sarcoma viruses, and src deletion mutants (transformation-defective [ td ] viruses) of nondefective avian Rous sarcoma viruses (RSVs) are leukemogenic. Sarcoma viruses transform fibroblasts in culture, and cell transformation is the criterion by which these viruses are usually assayed. Avian leukemia viruses (ALVs) do not usually transform fibroblasts, although they readily infect and replicate in them. Some acute, defective leukemia viruses transform fibroblasts (e.g...


Urban areas are facing a range of environmental challenges including air, water and soil pollution as a result of industrial, domestic and traffic emissions. In addition, global climate change is likely to aggravate certain urban problems and disturb the urban ecology by increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. In the context of urbanization growth and the consequent impact on the environment, there is a growing interest in maintaining urban soil quality and functions as they are the medium for green infrastructure development. Furthermore, urban soils are becoming one of the key factors in the delivery of many ecosystem services such as carbon storage, climate regulation, water flow regulation, etc. On the other hand, urban soils are well-known to be a major sink of air pollutants due to the wet and dry atmospheric deposition and recirculation. Soil has the ability to degrade some chemical contaminants but when the levels are high, urban soils could hold on large amounts and pose a risk to human health. A cost-effective technological solution is to use the ability of some plant species to metabolize, accumulate and detoxify heavy metals or other harmful organic or inorganic compounds from the soil layer. The establishment of urban lawns (grass covered surfaces) is a helpful, environmentally friendly, economically sustainable and cost-effective approach to remove contaminants from polluted soils (terrains), which also has some aesthetic benefits. In this paper, an overview of the benefits and limitations of urban lawn construction is presented. The focus is on the perspectives for sustainable management of urban lawns, especially as buffer green patches in the road network surroundings, that can represent strategies to provide ecological and social multifunctionality of urban soils, and thus, increasing their ecosystem services capacity. Specifically, the paper highlights (i) the possibilities for phytoremediation of urban soils, (ii) potential of some perennial grasses and (iii) key issues that should be considered in the planning and design of urban lawns.


— A typical collaborative application operates as a peer group where members communicate via reliable many-to-many multicasting, sometimes these requiring reliable ordered can be message delivery. Many collaborative settings such as audio conferencing and video conferencing, white-boards, clustering, and their replication applications, requirement services which are not providing by the current network infrastructure.. In some settings, group members must be aware of the exact (agreed upon) group membership. Since group communication systems provide these services, many collaborative applications use group communication systems (GCS) as the underlying messaging infrastructure. Advanced encryption strategy protocols generate group keys based on contributions of all group members. Particularly appropriate for relatively small collaborative peer groups, these protocols are resilient to many types of attacks. Unlike most group key distribution protocols, advanced encryption strategy offer strong security properties such as key independence and perfect forward secrecy. We prove that it provides both Virtual Synchrony and the security properties of Group Diffie-Hellman, in the presence of any sequence of (potentially cascading) node failures, recoveries, network partitions, and heals. We implemented a secure group communication service, Secure Spread, based on our AES key agreement protocol and Spread group communication system.


The Materials Characterization Center (MCC) at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) conducted a Workshop on Stress Corrosion Cracking for the Salt Repository Project on December 16 and 17, 1986 in Seattle, Washington. The workshop was held to formulate recommendations for addressing stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in a salt repository. It was attended by 24 representatives from major laboratories, universities, and industry. This report presents the recommendations of the workshop, along with the agenda, list of participants, questions and comments, summaries of working groups on low-strength steel and alternate materials, and materials handed out by the speakers.


Agricultural production is considered to be poor and the use of fertilisers very low in Central Myanmar. In the Lower Dry Zone typical farming systems comprise monsoon and irrigated dry season crops, principally rice and maize but also legumes (pulses) and other crops. The formulation of effective policies requires information on how different management options affect the complex issues across farming systems. There is substantial diversity within among smallholder farming systems. In conducting objective research for development, data from local expert knowledge, focus group discussions, farmer surveys and published reports are used to conduct multi-variate analysis for development of farm types (typologies) as a basis for development of a bio-economic framework and models.


Published in 1979, L'emprise de l'organisation by Pages, Bonetti, de Gaulejac, and Descendre offers us the opportunity to reflect on the evolution of organizations in recent decades. On the one hand, this historical perspective allows us to distinguish the trends that have steadily become more widespread over the last decades: the predominance of financial controls, the influence of formal rules, controlled autonomy, remote governance, the power of abstraction, the depersonalization of power relations, and, consequently, the weakening of authority. On the other hand, the trends that have been severely diminished include: organizational identification, community attachment, collective identity, the ideological dimensions of church, and the managerial creed.


. Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes (PMSE) have been observed for more than 30 years with 50-MHz VHF radars at various locations in the Northern Hemisphere. Continuous observations of PMSE are conducted on the northern Norwegian island of Andøya (69.3 ◦ N) using the ALWIN radar (1999–2008) and MAARSY (since 2010). The same kind of PMSE measurements began in 2004 in the southern hemisphere with the Australian Antarctic Division's VHF radar at Davis Station in Antarctica (68.6 ◦ S), which is at an opposite latitude to Andøya. Since the radars at both sites are calibrated, the received 5 echo strength of PMSE from more than one decade of mesospheric observations on both hemispheres could be converted to absolute signal power, allowing a direct comparison of the measurements. Comparison of PMSE observations obtained at both radar sites during a period of 23 boreal summers (Andøya) and 15 Austral summers (Davis) shows that their PMSE signal strengths are of the same order of magnitude but significantly less PMSE is observed in the southern hemisphere than in the northern hemisphere. Compared to Andøya, the PMSE season over Davis starts about 7 days later on average and ends 8 days 10 earlier, making it 15 days shorter. PMSE over Davis occur less frequently but with greater variability in seasonal, diurnal, and altitudinal occurrence. For example, PMSE over Davis reach maximum altitudes about 1.5 km higher than those over Andøya.


Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–based markers are generally more rapid and less expensive to assay than hybridization-based markers (e.g., restriction fragment length polymorphisms [RFLP]), making them useful for breeding applications, but few of such markers are available for oat (Avena sativa L.). Approaches to develop new markers cheaply include using primer pairs designed for other species or using publicly available sequence information. In this study we report on the design of 32 markers using publicly available oat sequence data and on the map locations of 20 loci from 16 markers on the oat 'Ogle' × 'TAM O-301' population.


BACKGROUND
Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) can become colonized by aspergillus, which can act as an allergen and cause allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA).

OBJECTIVE
To determine the rate of aspergillus colonization and ABPA in a population of Irish patients with CF.

METHODS
In 50 consecutive patients with CF who presented with exacerbations, we looked for the presence of aspergillus in their sputum and signs and symptoms of ABPA.

RESULTS
Fifteen patients (30%) grew aspergillus species in their sputum cultures. Six patients (12%) had ABPA. Matched for age, sex, genotype, and microbiology, there was no significant difference in forced expiratory volume in the first second (percent predicted, FEV(1)%) in subjects with aspergillus-positive sputum compared to those not colonized with aspergillus. Subjects with ABPA experienced sharp short-term deterioration in lung function (mean 6.7% predicted FEV(1)), which returned to baseline following at least 4 weeks of treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of ABPA was 12%. Aspergillus-positive sputum of itself was not a poor prognostic sign in terms of lung function over the 5-year study course. ABPA produces short-term reversible declines in lung function and responds to treatment. The frequency of aspergillus isolates did not correlate with the occurrence of ABPA. A low threshold for the diagnosis of ABPA should be maintained in any patient with CF who does not improve with antibiotics.


Background: We systematically reviewed the literature on endoscopic trans-canal myringoplasty with regard to graft take-up rates with mean air-bone gaps.
Methods: All identified English-language articles from Medline and Embase reporting on endoscopic trans-canal myringoplasty were eligible. Both pediatric and adult patients were included. No limitation was placed on study design or level of evidence. We extracted data regarding study country, mean patient age, mean air–bone gap, type of anesthesia used, endoscope used, duration of follow-up, and graft take rate.
Results: Twenty-one articles were included in the review. The overall graft closure was 88.3%. Sixteen studies provided the air bone gap gain. The mean air bone gap gain was 9.8.
Conclusions: Endoscopic trans-canal myringoplasty leads to high graft take-up rates with low mean air-bone gaps. The technique has not been reported in Sub-Saharan Africa but has a potential to play a significant role in surgical management of CSOM in this region.
Keywords: endoscopic, trans-canal, myringoplasty, sub-Saharan Africa


Abstract. Ground-based multi-axis differential optical absorption
spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) observation was carried out from November 2016 to
February 2017 in Beijing, China, to measure the O4 absorptions in UV and
visible bands and further to illustrate its relationship with aerosol
optical properties (AOPs) under different weather types. According to
relative humidity, visibility, and PM2.5, we classified the observation
periods into clear, light-haze, haze, heavy-haze, fog, and rainy weather conditions. There are obvious differences for measured
AOPs under different weather conditions, especially scattering coefficient
(σsca) and absorption coefficient (σsca). It was also
found that both the O4 differential slant column densities (DSCDs) at
the UV and visible bands varied in the order of clear days > light-haze days > haze days > heavy-haze days > fog days. The correlation coefficients (R2) between
O4 DSCDs at 360.8 and 477.1 nm mainly varied in the order of clear days > light-haze days > haze days > heavy-haze
days. Based on the statistics of O4 DSCDs at an elevation angle 1∘
with the corresponding linear regression between UV and visible bands of
segmental periods, the relationships between O4 DSCDs and AOPs were
established. It should mainly be clear or light-haze days when the
correlation slope is greater than 1.0, with a correlation coefficient (R2)
greater than 0.9, and O4 DSCDs mainly greater than 2.5×1043 molec. cm−2. Meanwhile, σsca and σabs
are less than 45 and 12 Mm−1, respectively. For haze or heavy-haze
days, the correlation slope is less than 0.6, with an R2 less than 0.8, and
O4 DSCDs mainly less than 1.3×1043 molec. cm−2,
under which σsca and σabs are mainly located at
200–900 and 20–60 Mm−1. Additionally, the determination method was well
validated based on another MAX-DOAS measurement at Gucheng from 19 to 27 November 2016. For more precise and accurate inversion of AOPs, more
detailed look-up tables for O4 multiple-wavelength absorptions need to
be developed. Since the ground surface AOPs were determined using MAX-DOAS observation at a 1∘ elevation in this study, we hope to highlight the potential of retrieved vertical spatially resolved AOPs being expected when multiple elevation angles of MAX-DOAS observation are used together.


Representation learning on temporal graphs has drawn considerable research attention owing to its fundamental importance in a wide spectrum of real-world applications. Though a number of studies succeed in obtaining time-dependent representations, it still faces significant challenges. On the one hand, most of the existing methods restrict the embedding space with a certain curvature. However, the underlying geometry in fact shifts among the positive curvature hyperspherical, zero curvature Euclidean and negative curvature hyperbolic spaces in the evolvement over time. On the other hand, these methods usually require abundant labels to learn temporal representations, and thereby notably limit their wide use in the unlabeled graphs of the real applications. To bridge this gap, we make the first attempt to study the problem of self-supervised temporal graph representation learning in the general Riemannian space, supporting the time-varying curvature to shift among hyperspherical, Euclidean and hyperbolic spaces. In this paper, we present a novel self-supervised Riemannian graph neural network (SelfℛGNN). Specifically, we design a curvature-varying Riemannian GNN with a theoretically grounded time encoding, and formulate a functional curvature over time to model the evolvement shifting among the positive, zero and negative curvature spaces. To enable the self-supervised learning, we propose a novel reweighting self-contrastive approach, exploring the Riemannian space itself without augmentation, and propose an edge-based self-supervised curvature learning with the Ricci curvature. Extensive experiments show the superiority of SelfRGNN, and moreover, the case study shows the time-varying curvature of temporal graph in reality.


Poor reading achievement of children in elementary schools has been one of the major concerns in education. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a child-centered reading intervention in eliminating the reading problems of a student with poor reading achievement. The research was conducted with a student having difficulty in reading. A reading intervention was designed that targeted multiple areas of reading and aimed to improve reading skills through the use of multiple strategies. This intervention is child-centered and includes visual aids, talking, dictating, reading and writing stages. The study was performed in 35 sessions consisting of stages of a single sentence (5 sessions), two sentences (5 sessions), three sentences (20 sessions) and the text stage (5 sessions). The intervention sessions were audio-taped. These recordings and the written responses to the reading comprehension questions provided the data for analysis. The findings on the reading intervention revealed positive outcomes. The student exhibited certain improvements at the levels of reading, reading rate and reading comprehension. These results were discussed in the literature and the findings suggest that child-centered reading strategies such as talking, dictating and writing should be the main focus of instruction for students with low reading literacy achievement to enable these students to meet the demands of the curriculum.


This paper proposes an approach that generates multiple 3D human meshes from text. The human shapes are represented by 3D meshes based on the SMPL model. The model's performance is evaluated on the COCO dataset, which contains challenging human shapes and intricate interactions between individuals. The model is able to capture the dynamics of the scene and the interactions between individuals based on text. We further show how using such a shape as input to image synthesis frameworks helps to constrain the network to synthesize humans with realistic human shapes.


The article introduces a new dataset on terrorist attack activity by jihadis in Western Europe. The dataset was built over nearly two decades at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment. It records not only attacks that were launched, but also plots that were foiled by counterterrorism. The rationale behind the dataset is that analyses based on launched attacks may misrepresent the scale and nature of terrorism. The article shows that if we were to measure the jihadi threat to Europe by attacks only we would miss out on 58.2% of the total attack activity. We also show that while attack data signify a trend towards small attacks by individuals, these data hide the fact that terror networks persist in plotting big attacks that get foiled. We discuss how analyses based on attacks only may distort comparative analyses of different types of terrorists across countries, as well as causal analyses of terrorism drivers. By including foiled plots we gain a fuller picture of terrorism. The Jihadi Plots in Europe Dataset allows the gauging of different aspects of the threat from Al-Qaida and Islamic State in Europe. The dataset documents when and where terror plots occur, whether or not they result in attacks, and different types of information about perpetrators and how they operate. The Dataset offers a reliable overview of jihadi terrorism in Europe for research and policy.


Critical Theory and Film brings together critical theory and film to enhance the critical potential of both.

The book focuses on the Frankfurt School, most notably the works of Adorno and Horkheimer, as well as associated thinkers.
It seeks to demonstrate that cinema can help critical theory repoliticize culture and society and affirm the theoretical and political impact of cinematic knowledge. After discussing how the Frankfurt School saw cinema as an instrument of capitalism use to promote the cultural and political regimentation of the masses, Vighi then proceeds to demonstrate that critical theory can in fact suggest a different verdict on the progressive potential of cinema.

Each chapter focuses on a key critical theory concept that is explained and redefined through film analysis to unravel the hidden presuppositions and most radical consequences of critical theory.

A unique contribution to the literature, this volume in the Critical Theory and Contemporary Society series offer an innovative reading of film as a critical tool, drawing on the latest developments in Lacanian theory.


Background: sexual assault is physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration even if slight of the vulva or anus, using a penis, other body parts or an object. Global prevalence figure indicates that 1 in 3 (35 %) of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. There are limited researches conducted on the area of lived experiences of women with sexual violence. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of sexual assault survivor women in Hosanna, Ethiopia. Method: Phenomenological study design was carried out among purposively selected six sexual assault survivor women's and three key informants. In-depth interviews were conducted using local language, Amharic by using a semi structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed and translated into English, and the data were analyzed thematically by qualitative data management software (Atlas ti version 7.0.15). Result: Not only the community who victimizes the survivors; the survivors themselves isolate from the community. All the survivors' quest for revenge besides seeking justice. Coping of the survivors affected with a feeling of justice is done or not done, social reaction. They have also strong intention to disclose the issue for their close family and community member. The participants live with fear and distrust; afraid of being raped again, they don't dare daring to trust people easily. Conclusion: The current study showed that sexual assault was a lifetime journey to recover. Some community members also blamed by the survivors for failing to help during their bad times. Therefore, community based awareness campaign should be implemented. In parallel, health policy makers and health professionals should give due emphasis on build post-rape care units or integrated service with other units.


Severely degraded hillslopes in the Lesser Himalaya challenge local communities as a result of the frequent occurrence of overland flow and erosion during the rainy season and water shortages during the dry season. Reforestation is often perceived as an effective way of restoring predisturbance hydrological conditions but heavy usage of reforested land in the region has been shown to hamper full recovery of soil hydraulic properties. This paper investigates the effect of reforestation and forest usage on field‐saturated soil hydraulic conductivities (Kfs) near Dhulikhel, Central Nepal, by comparing degraded pasture, a footpath within the pasture, a 25 year old pine reforestation, and little disturbed natural forest. The hillslope hydrological implications of changes in Kfs with land‐cover change were assessed via comparisons with measured rainfall intensities over different durations. High surface and near‐surface Kfs in natural forest (82–232 mm h−1) rule out overland flow occurrence and favor vertical percolation. Conversely, corresponding Kfs for degraded pasture (18–39 mm h−1) and footpath (12–26 mm h−1) were conducive to overland flow generation during medium‐ to high‐intensity storms and thus to local flash flooding. Pertinently, surface and near‐surface Kfs in the heavily used pine forest remained similar to those for degraded pasture. Estimated monsoonal overland flow totals for degraded pasture, pine forest, and natural forest were 21.3%, 15.5%, and 2.5% of incident rainfall, respectively, reflecting the relative ranking of surface Kfs. Along with high water use by the pines, this lack of recovery of soil hydraulic properties under pine reforestation is shown to be a critical factor in the regionally observed decline in base flows following large‐scale planting of pines and has important implications for regional forest management.


Background: Major reproductive events such as menstruation, ovulation,
implantation and cervical ripening are characterized by an increased
number of invading leukocytes in the tissues. Sex steroid hormones,
particularly estrogens, play an important role in these changes.
Estrogens have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of many
conditions associated with leukocyte infiltration and immunological
dysfunction, such as autoimmune diseases and atherosclerosis.

A rapid remodeling of the cervical connective tissue at term pregnancy,
termed cervical ripening, is an important and obligatory event in
parturition. Biopsies from human uterine cervix showed that leukocyte
counts are dramatically increased at the time of parturition suggesting
their function in cervical ripening.

The aim of this work was to investigate the relationship between
leukocytes and sex steroid hormones, primarily estrogens, as they play a
critical role in parturition in many animal species and are presumed to
be involved in human parturition.

Results: The majority of biological effects of estrogens is mediated
through two distinct receptors, estrogen receptor (ER)alpha and ERbeta.
We found and characterized expression of ERs in leukocytes invading human
uterine cervix at the time of parturition. The invading leukocytes in the
cervix were verified as macrophages and neutrophils. The leukocytes
showed positive immunostaining for ERbeta. In addition, the invading
leukocytes were analyzed in terms of presence for catabolic enzymes,
capable of degrading components of connective tissue. Cervical leukocytes
were identified as a source of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and 9, which
have collagen IV and proteoglycans as substrates. An increased level of
these enzymes in the cervix was observed just prior to parturition
indicating involvement in the cervical ripening.

By using samples collected from healthy female and male donors, we
investigated ERs in different types of leukocytes in peripheral blood. In
this report we show that leukocytes are potential target cells for
estrogens as ERalpha and ERbeta were identified in mononuclear (PBMC) and
polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes. Interestingly, it was observed that
both ERalpha and ERbeta proteins differ in size between PMN and PBMC,
suggesting that the two leukocyte populations express different isoforms
of ERalpha and ERbeta. These findings were confirmed by identification of
multiple alternative splice variants of ER mRNAs by RT-PCR. Considering
the diversity of ER isoforms in leukocyte subtypes, we conclude that the
expected effect of estrogen would be highly cell-type specific.

To investigate biological roles of ERalpha and ERbeta in peripheral blood
leukocytes, we studied in vivo effects of estradiol (E2), the selective
ERalpha agonist PPT (4,4',4"-(4-Propyl-[lII]-pyrazole-1,3,5 -triyl)trisphenol)
and the selective ERbeta agonist DPN (2,3bis(4hydroxyphenyl)-proprionitrile)
on gene expression profiles in a rat animal model. This study reports the
identification of genes that were commonly regulated by E2, PPT and DPN,
and genes that were regulated either by an ERalpha or ERbeta agonist.
12-lipoxygenase (12-lox), fibulin1 and furin were among the regulate(]
genes -and they are also involved in extracellular matrix (ECM)
metabolism, therefore these genes were selected for further analysis.

In conclusion, leukocytes in tissues and peripheral blood express
estrogen receptors. Estrogens produce an apparent transcriptional
response in leukocytes including regulation of genes related to
remodeling of ECM and inflammation. Estrogen-regulated genes in
leukocytes are involved in both pro- and anti-inflammatory response,
however the anti-inflammatory component is prevailing.


We have entered the age of gaming and gamification, and creative writing – as both a cultural practice and a discipline of study – is being drawn into this phase of digital culture. Despite the bookish backlash noted by Adam Hammond in Literature in the digital age (2016), major publishers have begun to experiment with interactive digital narratives. Penguin's We tell stories (2008) was a first attempt by a major publisher to future-proof its business through a merging of gaming principles and creative writing – an attempt more recently repeated by Hachette's New star soccer story 'game book' (2016). In 'The shifting author-reader dynamic', R. Lyle Skains diagnoses such experiments in relation to the consumer reality: 'The next generation of readers is currently in their teens, spending far more attention, time, and money on digital platforms such as gaming and internet interactions than they do in any other entertainment genre' (2010: 96). However, while literature is being challenged to adapt in a digital age increasingly dominated by gamers, the traffic is not just one-way. Games are also changing in response to literary or artistic imperatives, as writers are conscripted into development teams in an increasingly competitive games industry, and as scholars focus their attention on games as artefacts of cultural interest. While some early game scholars aggressively opposed the ludic culture of gaming to the readerly culture of literature, and while the agency of players (as opposed to the assumed passivity of readers) often continues to be lauded as the distinguishing virtue of games, hard-and-fast distinctions are being eroded. Astrid Ensslin, for example, while remaining appropriately sensitive to medium specificities, has posited the emergence of the hybrid form of the 'literary game' (2014), exemplified by such work as Tale of Tale's The Path (2009).


This paper deals with a design problem of simulation for MIME (multi indenture and multi echelon) with lateral transshipment. Especially, we consider lateral transshipments in case that (S-1, S) ordering policy is used in multi echelon repair system. Some rules for ordering spare parts in lateral transshipments between the lowest-level units are studied and are implemented by an activity diagram in object-oriented method. By numerical examples, we compare regular (S-1, S) ordering policy and (S-1, S) policy with lateral transshipment.


Understanding pancreatic development is important for at least three reasons: first, from a cognitive point of view, to understand the development of a complex organ, the pancreas; next, because it is now clear that abnormal pancreatic development can give rise to specific forms of diabetes in humans; and finally, because, if we want to define new treatments for diabetes based on cell therapy or regenerative medicine, we will have to understand in detail how beta-cells develop. In the present paper, we summarize what we currently know concerning pancreatic development and concentrate on some intercellular and environmental signals controlling pancreatic development.


We compare the results of full density matrix calculations with recently reported experimental results describing the population transfer in Na2 using Raman scattering with the fundamental laser beam temporally shifted relative to the Stokes laser beam. Our calculations confirm the conclusion that almost total transfer of the population into the terminal level of the Raman transition can be achieved when the laser frequencies are tuned to resonance and the fundamental laser beam is temporally delayed relative to the Stokes shifted laser beam but still partially overlapping it. We analyze our results when the frequencies of the lasers are tuned off‐resonance as a function of the Rabi frequencies and the detuning, and compare with experimental and theoretical results. The alignment of the terminal level as a function of time displacement of the Stokes and pump beams is predicted.


The design of data markets has gained in importance as firms increasingly use predictions from machine learning models to make their operations more effective, yet need to externally acquire the necessary training data to fit such models. A property of such markets that has been given limited consideration thus far is the externality faced by a firm when data is allocated to other, competing firms. Addressing this is likely necessary for progress towards the practical implementation of such markets. In this work, we consider the case with $n$ competing firms and a monopolistic data seller. We demonstrate that modeling the utility of firms solely through the increase in prediction accuracy experienced reduces the complex, combinatorial problem of allocating and pricing multiple data sets to an auction of a single digital (freely replicable) good. Crucially, this is what enables us to model the negative externalities experienced by a firm resulting from other firms' allocations. We obtain forms of the welfare-maximizing and revenue-maximizing auctions for such settings. We highlight how the form of the firms' private information -- whether they know the externalities they exert on others or that others exert on them -- affects the structure of the optimal mechanisms. We find that in all cases, the optimal allocation rules turn out to be single thresholds (one per firm), in which the seller allocates all information or none of it to a firm. We note the framework and results introduced hold more broadly for the auction of digital goods with externalities.


The nanoencapsulation of capsaicinoids (capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin) was proposed in this work as a strategy to control their release due to the reservoir characteristics of the nanocapsules. This reservoir property could prolong the topical analgesic effect and reduce the burning sensation and skin irritation caused by the capsaicinoids. The nanocapsules were physicochemically characterized and presented z-average diameter of 153 +/- 7 (PDI < 0.2) and zeta potential of +9.62 +/- 1.48 mV. The pH of the aqueous nanoparticle suspension was 5.72 +/- 0.10, which is suitable for cutaneous application. The total capsaicinoids content was 0.5 mg mL(-1) (64% of capsaicin and 33% of dihydrocapsaicin) and their encapsulation efficiencies were close to 100%. The formulation was stable over 90 days. The in vitro release profiles demonstrated that the release of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin was prolonged by means of nanoencapsulation. Moreover, comparing the half-life values, it was observed that the polymeric wall significantly affected the release rates for both capsaicinoids. According to Fick's first law, capsaicin presented higher flux (5.6 +/- 0.1 (x10(-4)) mg cm(-2) h(-1)) than that of dihydrocapsaicin (2.1 +/- 0.2 (x 10(-4)) mg cm(-2) h(-1)), which was probably related to its higher gradient concentration. Drug diffusion and polymer relaxation were responsible for the capsaicinoids release from the nanocapsules, which fitted the monoexponential mathematical model. This innovative formulation was designed considering its potential action of prolonging the analgesic effect of the capsaicionoids on the skin.


In the past few years, numerous recommendation approaches have been proposed to address various challenges of recommender systems. However, there are still many open and unresolved issues that require novel and more efficient recommendation solutions to handle big data. The book Big Data Recommender Systems: Recent Trends and Advances consists of two comprehensive volumes. Each volume consists of good quality chapters contributed by world renowned researchers and domain experts. Volume 1 aims to cover the recent advances, issues, novel solutions, and theoretical research on big data recommender systems. The book encompasses original scientific contributions in the form of theoretical foundations, comparative analysis, surveys, case studies, techniques, and tools for recommender systems. A specific focus is devoted to emerging trends and the industry needs associated with utilizing recommender systems. Some of the topics covered in the Volume 1 include benchmarking of recommendation algorithms using Map Reduce, social recommendations, hybrid approaches (HAs), deep learning-based techniques, unstructured big data recommendations, machine learning (ML)-based models, and geo-social recommendations. A special section is included to cover the security and privacy concerns, cyberattacks on recommender systems, and their defensive measures.


The gap junction gene connexin 43 (Cx43) showed tumor-suppressing effects on various tumor cell lines. We have previously demonstrated that Cx43 inhibited expression of S phase kinase-associated protein 2 (Skp2), the human F-box protein that regulates the ubiquitination of p27. Cx43 did not alter the mRNA level of SKP2, but it promoted the degradation of the Skp2 proteins (Zhang, Y. W., Nakayama, K., Nakayama K. I., and Morita, I. (2003) Cancer Res. 63, 1623-1630). In this study, we showed that the specific gap junction inhibitor 18 β-glycyrrhetinic acid did not influence the inhibitory effect of Cx43 on Skp2 expression. Further, the deletion mutation analyses demonstrated that the C-terminal domain of Cx43 that did not form gap junctions was sufficient to inhibit expression of Skp2, whereas the N-terminal domain that formed the gap junctions did not show such an effect. Like the full-length Cx43, the C-terminal domain also increased the protein instability of Skp2, whereas the N terminus did not. Moreover, the C-terminal domain was as effective as the full-length Cx43 in inhibiting cell proliferation; however, the N-terminal domain did not show any inhibitory effect on cell proliferation. Therefore, these data revealed a gap junction-independent pathway for Cx43 to inhibit tumor growth by suppressing the Skp2 expression.


Pancreatic cancer (PC) is becoming one of the deadliest cancers, with mortality among the highest worldwide because of its pathogenic latency and the lack of efficient drugs in the clinic. Considering that cancer cells undergo proliferation and differentiation at substantial metabolic costs, as indicated by dysregulated glycolysis and an abnormal TCA cycle induced by mitochondrial damage, we investigated the therapeutic capacity of berberine (BBR) in pancreatic cancer using a cell metabolomics method. A phenotypic assay revealed the significant inhibitory role of BBR on PC cell viability and metastasis. In addition, a precision-targeted metabolome assay showed that BBR profoundly dysregulated the energy metabolism of PC cells, and phenotypic observations based on imaging indicated that PC cell mitochondria were markedly damaged after BBR treatment. Notably, citrate metabolism and transportation in cell mitochondria were significantly influenced by BBR, which led to the blocked biosynthesis of the defined fatty acids (FAs) through the regulation of ACLY, ACO1 and SLC13A5. Therefore, the regulatory effects of FAs on PC cell proliferation and metastasis may be regulated by BBR through targeting citrate metabolism. Collectively, our in vitro data preliminarily reveals the therapeutic potential of BBR against pancreatic cancer by targeting citrate metabolism, citrate might be a new target for drug development and the treatment against PC, but further experimental verification will be required subsequently; Moreover, our study demonstrated cell metabolomics method pertains the capacity to rapidly explore biochemical function of natural products.


Objective: To investigate the effects of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) signaling pathway on insulin resistance and the intervention of lactic acid receptor G protein-coupled receptor 81 (GPR81) agonist in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rats. Methods: Thirty SD male rats were randomly divided into three groups: control group, NAFLD group and GPR81 agonist group, with 10 rats in each group. Nonalcoholic fatty liver rat model was established by high fat diet. The rats in GPR81 agonist group were injected intraperitoneally with GPR81 specific agonist lactate (50 nmol/L) on the basis of nonalcoholic fatty liver model once a week, and the other two groups were injected with the same amount of normal saline for 12 weeks. The levels of liver biochemical indexes, fasting blood glucose, insulin and inflammatory factors in liver homogenate were measured, and the histopathological morphology of liver in each group was observed. The protein expressions of NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-1 (caspase-1), insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), Tyr465-IRS-1, Ser636-IRS-1, glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) in liver tissue were detected by Western blot. The mRNA expression levels of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1, IRS-1 and GLUT4 in liver tissue were detected by qRT-PCR. Results: Compared with the control group, the serum levels of triglyceride (TG), alanine aminotransfease (ALT), aspartate aminotransfease (AST), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FINS) and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) of NAFLD group were increased significantly (P< 0.05). The results of liver histopathology showed that in NAFLD group, there were obvious fatty changes in liver tissue, fat droplets in hepatocytes and inflammatory cell infiltration. And the mRNA and protein expressions of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1 and the protein expression of Ser636-IRS-1 in NAFLD group were increased significantly, and the contents of interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and interleukin 18 (IL-18) in liver and serum were increased, while the mRNA and protein expressions of IRS-1 and GLUT4 and Tyr465-IRS-1 were decreased significantly (P<0.05). Compared with NAFLD group, the above indexes of GPR81 agonist group were all significantly improved. Conclusion: The activation of NLRP3 signaling pathway mediates the production of inflammatory factors and promotes the development of NAFLD. GPR81 agonist may be a potential treatment for NAFLD.


The vitamin A metabolite all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induces a gut-homing phenotype in activated CD4+ conventional T cells (Tconv) by upregulating the integrin α4β7 and the chemokine receptor CCR9. We report that in contrast to mouse Tconv, only half of regulatory T cells (Treg) upregulate CCR9 when stimulated in presence of ATRA, even though Tconv and Treg express identical levels of receptor (RAR). The bimodal distribution of CCR9+ versus CCR9- Treg subsets is not associated to differences in proliferation, level of FoxP3 expression, or segregation between thymic-derived and induced Treg. Furthermore, exposure to the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin suppresses upregulation of both CCR9+ and α4β7 on Treg, an inhibitory effect not evident in Tconv. This suggests that ATRA-induced upregulation of CCR9 and α4β7 on Treg is dependent on activation of an mTOR signaling pathway. This mTOR involvement is independent of Akt activity, since specific inhibition of Akt or its downstream target GSK-3B did not prevent CCR9 expression. Additionally, Rictor-/- Treg (that lack mTORC2) showed unaltered expression of CCR9 compared to WT control, suggesting participation of mTORC1 or another mTOR complex. These findings reveal a novel difference between ATRA signaling and chemokine receptor induction in Treg versus Tconv, and provide a framework via which the migratory behavior of Treg versus Tconv can be differentially influenced for therapeutic purposes.


Efforts have been made on the HT-7 tokamak to extend the stable operation boundaries. Extensive RF boronization and siliconization have been used and a wider operational Hugill diagram has been obtained. The transit density reached 1.3 times the Greenwald density limit in ohmic discharges. A stationary high performance discharge with qa = 2.1 has been obtained after siliconization. Confinement improvement was obtained as a result of the significant reduction of electron thermal diffusivity χe in the outer region of the plasma. An improved confinement phase was also observed with LHCD in the density range of 70-120% of the Greenwald density limit. Off-axis LH wave power deposition was attributed to the weak hollow current density profile. Code simulations and measurements showed good agreement with the off-axis LH wave deposition. Supersonic molecular beam injection has been successfully used to achieve stable high density operation in the region of the Greenwald density limit.


A new pumping-probing scheme for the optically pumped cesium beam frequency standard has been experimentally tested in our laboratory. The stability of the optically pumped cesium beam frequency standard was measured by comparing its 10 MHz output with an HP5071A commercial cesium atomic clock. The result shows that the frequency stability for the 1 s and 30000 s sample times are 1.2×10-11 and 3.7×10-13, respectively. It was proved that the new pumping scheme works well. PACS: 06. 20. Fn, 42. 62. Eh


Several diagnostic tools have been developed for diagnosing, monitoring and evaluating Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). There is an increasing interest in the use of non or less invasive biological markers (biomarkers) which reflect the character and intensity of the pathological processes in the lungs of COPD patients. The main goal of this review was to discuss the origin and current role of exhaled biomarkers in the diagnosis, evaluation of treatment and prognosis of COPD. Data of cross-sectional, cohort and intervention studies on exhaled biomarkers were studied. These studies were identified by a Medline search on papers in the English language published from 1990 to November 2001. The following markers were discussed: exhaled nitric oxide (NO), exhaled carbon monoxide (CO), exhaled alkanes, exhaled hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), exhaled isoprostanes, exhaled NO metabolites and exhaled thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARs). Data on these markers were summarized. The origin of each marker, the technique of analysis, the values in healthy controls and COPD patients, the effect of treatment and the correlation with other parameters were presented. Most studies, however, were cross-sectional studies with small populations. It was also difficult to compare studies because of differences in technique and study population. This review shows that exhaled biomarkers need to be studied further before using them in clinical practice. There is a need for standardization of the measurements, for comparison of COPD patients with healthy persons matched for age and smoking-status, for data on reproducibility and variability of all markers, for correlation of exhaled markers with other parameters and for intervention studies.


Background : Aspirin is first line drug of choice to prevent ischemic stroke. However, some cases are found occuring of aspirin resistance. Objective : This study was to examine the effect of dyslipidemia on the risk of antiplatelet resistance with VerifyNOW ® at Bethesda Hospital Yogyakarta. Method : This research was observational analysis using a nested casecontrol study design. The subjects were ischemic stroke patients who underwent tests of platelet function by VerifyNOW ® (Accumetrics, San Diego, CA, USA). The Case group was ischemic stroke patients who has history of aspirin resistance. The control group was ischemic stroke patients who response on aspirin therapy. Both groups were analyzed and compared to the state of dyslipidemia. Results : Bivariate analysis on the incidence of aspirin resistance indicate that dyslipidemia had OR = 0.979 (95% CI; 0.378 to 2.531), p = 0.572. Hypercholesterolemia had OR = 0,909 (CI 95%; 0,377-2,190) p = 0,500; hypertrigliceride had OR = 0,838 (CI 95%; 0,331-2,119) p = 0,409; abnormal HDL had OR = 1,468 (CI 95% 0,564-3,817) p = 0,238; abnormal LDL had OR = 0,937 (CI 95% 0,374-2,345) p = 0,500. Patient factors such as age >55 years (p = 0.168) and female gender (p = 0.226) showed a nonsignificant results. Conclusion : Ischemic stroke patients at Bethesda Hospital Yogyakarta who had dyslipidemia were not evident to have a greater risk of aspirin resistance than ischemic stroke patients who did not undergo dyslipidemia.


This paper compares the situation of children in Canada relative to other OECD countries in terms of child poverty and well-being. First, trends in child poverty and living standards since 2007, i.e. one year before the onset of the Great Recession, are described. An overview of children's material deprivation and of key indicators of child well-being is also provided. The paper discusses the observed poverty trends in relation to policies implemented to combat it by federal authorities. Some priorities for action to make the alleviation of child poverty more effective are discussed.


We study the decay of correlations for certain multi-dimensional noninvertible maps which do not necessarily satisfy Renyi's condition (the bounded distortion property) and do not necessarily satisfy the Markov condition on the definite partitions. Our method is based on the technique of Markov approximations which was developed by Chernov. We relate the slowness of the decay of correlations to the singularity of the invariant density which is caused by the lack of hyperbolicity. We also see that it can be described by the distortion property of the distributions of the invariant densities.


PURPOSE
To establish a morbidity and mortality conference in a radiology department as an instrument of quality assurance.

METHODS
Since April 1995 a monthly conference is held in the radiology department. Complications of invasive diagnostic procedures (angiography and biopsy) and minimal invasive interventions are presented. Cases of morbidity (major complications) and mortality (deceased patients, who were examined or treated in the radiology department before) are discussed. The identification of cases was possible due to a data base that included all such procedures prospectively.

RESULTS
Twenty cases of major complications were identified and discussed during 18 morbidity and mortality conferences in 1996 and 1997. Out of the 9 patients who died in our hospital and previously had an interventional procedure in the radiology department, one case was identified as being procedure-related. An analysis of this case was performed.

CONCLUSION
With a formalised structure of case detection, the morbidity and mortality conference becomes a tool of a complete analysis of complications and a meaningful instrument for the solution of problems concerning procedure-related complications.


Directed Technologies, Inc. has begun the development of a computer model with the goal of providing guidance to the Hydrogen Program Office regarding the most cost effective use of limited resources to meet national energy security and environmental goals through the use of hydrogen as a major energy carrier. The underlying assumption of this programmatic pathway model is that government and industry must work together to bring clean hydrogen energy devices into the marketplace. Industry cannot provide the long term resources necessary to overcome technological, regulatory, institutional, and perceptual barriers to the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier, and government cannot provide the substantial investments required to develop hydrogen energy products and increased hydrogen production capacity. The computer model recognizes this necessary government/industry partnership by determining the early investments required by government to bring hydrogen energy end uses within the time horizon and profitability criteria of industry, and by estimating the subsequent investments required by industry. The model then predicts the cost/benefit ratio for government, based on contributions of each hydrogen project to meeting societal goals, and it predicts the return on investment for industry. Sensitivity analyses with respect to various government investments such as hydrogen research and developmentmore » and demonstration projects will then provide guidance as to the most cost effective mix of government actions. The initial model considers the hydrogen transportation market, but this programmatic pathway methodology will be extended to other market segments in the future.« less


Crithidia fasiculata belongs to the trypanosomatidae order of protozoan parasites, bearing close relation to other kinetoplastid parasites such as Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania spp. As an early diverging lineage of eukaryotes, the study of kinetoplastid parasites has provided unique insights into alternative mechanisms to traditional eukaryotic metabolic pathways. Crithidia are a monogenetic parasite for mosquito species and have two distinct lifecycle stages both taking place in the mosquito gut. These consist of a motile choanomastigote form and an immotile amastigote form morphologically similar to amastigotes in Leishmania. Owing to their close relation to Leishmania, Crithidia are a growing research tool, with continuing interest in its use as a model organism for kinetoplastid research with the added benefit that they are non-pathogenic to humans and can be grown with no special equipment or requirements for biological containment. Although comparatively little research has taken place on Crithidia, similarities to other kinetoplast species has been shown in terms of energy metabolism and genetics. Crithidia also show similarities to kinetoplastids in their production of the monosaccharide D-arabinopyranose similar to Leishmania, which is incorporated into a lipoarabinogalactan a major cell surface GPI-anchored molecule. Additionally, Crithidia have been used as a eukaryotic expression system to express proteins from other kinetoplastids and potentially other eukaryotes including human proteins allowing various co- and post-translational protein modifications to the recombinant proteins. Despite the obvious usefulness and potential of this organism very little is known about its lipid metabolism. Here we describe a detailed lipidomic analyses and demonstrate the possible placidity of Crithidia's lipid metabolis. This could have important implications for biotechnology approaches and how other kinetoplastids interact with, and scavenge nutrients from their hosts.


ABSTRACT In the Neurospora circadian system, the White Collar complex (WCC) of WC-1 and WC-2 drives transcription of the circadian pacemaker gene frequency (frq), whose gene product, FRQ, as a part of the FRQ-FRH complex (FFC), inhibits its own expression. The WCC is also the principal Neurospora photoreceptor; WCC-mediated light induction of frq resets the clock, and all acute light induction is triggered by WCC binding to promoters of light-induced genes. However, not all acutely light-induced genes are also clock regulated, and conversely, not all clock-regulated direct targets of WCC are light induced; the structural determinants governing the shift from WCC's dark circadian role to its light activation role are poorly described. We report that the DBD region (named for being defective in binding DNA), a basic region in WC-1 proximal to the DNA-binding zinc finger (ZnF) whose function was previously ascribed to nuclear localization, instead plays multiple essential roles assisting in DNA binding and mediating interactions with the FFC. DNA binding for light induction by the WCC requires only WC-2, whereas DNA binding for circadian functions requires WC-2 as well as the ZnF and DBD motif of WC-1. The data suggest a means by which alterations in the tertiary and quaternary structures of the WCC can lead to its distinct functions in the dark and in the light.


Endocrine disruptors interfere with endocrine-mediated regulations of cell or organ functions. Estrogens are one of the main hormones altered by endocrine disruptors like bisphenol A (BPA). Stem cells are active from embryogenesis to late stages of adult life. Their unique properties, such as an extended lifespan and low cycling features, render these cell privileged targets of long-term exposure to numerous factors. Therefore, stem cells are likely to be affected following exposure to endocrine disruptors. One of the major signaling pathways involved in stem cell regulation is the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway. The BMP pathway is known for its involvement in numerous physiological and pathophysiological processes. Exposure of human mammary stem cells to pollutants such as BPA initiates fundamental changes in stem cells, in particular by altering major elements of BMP signaling, such as receptor expression and localization. Lastly, BPA and its substitute bisphenol S (BPS) have similar impacts on BMP signaling despite their different ER-binding properties, supporting the hypothesis that their biological effects cannot be extrapolated only from their interaction with ER α 66. We review recent discoveries in this field and discuss their implications for cancer diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, as well as their relevance for studies on endocrine disruptors.


"Caution" has been the carryover by-word from 2009 for good reason. Some would like to think the Life Insurance Secondary Market ("LISM") has faltered. However, the LISM is indeed "moving forward!" This should be welcome news to seniors, investors and many LISM players, but unfortunately not for all. The capital markets turmoil has taken its toll and changes are happening.2009 marked the LISM's first year of contraction after experiencing over fifteen years of steady expansion. The LISM will again expand. We expect that with this next wave of expansion, the LISM will become more sophisticated and create valuable investment structures. We expect the LISM will continue to demand higher standards, fairer laws, consumer protections and consumer notifications. Investors will return. The life insurance secondary market is here to stay and will continue to provide a valuable option to seniors who do not want or need their life insurance policies.Sophisticated investors are attracted to the life insurance asset class because they have access to resources to help them comprehend and understand the risks and the benefits. Consumers and policymakers often do not have access to such resources. For the LISM to truly materialize as a vibrant asset class, more education is needed for consumers, policymakers and industry stakeholders. If the LISM provides consumers and policymakers with the research and knowledge necessary to develop informed opinions, it will gain strength and value. More research and education is needed. This paper attempts to summarize many of the dynamics occurring in the LISM as 2010 unfolds and to give perspective to some of the changes and challenges that need to be managed. In addition, ISI has visited with a strong sampling of executives from leading LISM firms to solicit their views on issues that are paramount in their minds.


In 2018, two structures have been proposed with the goal of replacing the magnet EDIPO that stopped operating in 2016. These two solutions were designed to generate a field of 15 T on an aperture of 100 × 150 mm2 at 4.2 K by using Nb3Sn superconducting Rutherford cable. After the boarding review, which took place in December 2018, a solution consisting of 6-double-layers coils was retained, based on the 2-D modelling results. We now extend the study, by considering the 3-D models, with the goal of concluding the magnet conceptual design. The target is to obtain a homogeneous field, with 1% of homogeneity, over a length of 1000 mm, which allows the testing of superconducting cables for both fusion and high-energy physics. The double-layers coils, of the block-type magnet, have flared ends to allow the aperture to cross the magnet length. The 6-coils solution differs from previous similar projects as the FRESCA2 and HD2 magnets, where 4-coils were used.


The economic regulation of Australia's railways under the aegis of National Competition Policy has exhibited a fairly standard neoclassical viewpoint of how a firm operates, with basic notions of pricing according to marginal cost and resulting economic efficiencies. The framework, however, misses some of the crucial elements of a railway; most notably the fact that competition happens on a transport network, and the incorporation into regulation of the unique nature of rail's place in logistics chains might lead to some different ideas about regulatory policy. Moreover, some careful consideration about what is being attempted by regulating railways suggests some alternative proposals the current format which are less intrusive. Both ideas have important consequences for the management of railways as well. This paper provides a brief sketch of future paths for research.


Scientific information is available on the relationship between diet, physical activity and chronic-degenerative diseases. To prevent overweight and obesity in childhood, coordinated interventions including private and government sectors are required in an ecological context. It is necessary to transform obesogenic environments where children live, as well as to change their dietary habits and physical activity. At present, in many families the intake of simple sugars and saturated lipids is high, whereas fruits and vegetables are much less included in the diet. On the other hand, sedentarism and obesity have become a civilization symbol for society, and very few are aware of obesity risks and consequences on human health. The ENSANUT 2006, a national survey on nutrition and health, it is proposed as a tool to design public health policies to prevent obesity by modifying, when possible, community environment, and by transforming the unhealthy atmosphere of school into a healthy one. Healthful life styles must be taught and inherited from parents to their children. No country has under control this epidemic; however, there is a good expectative from experiences of countries such as Germany, Great Britain, Spain and Chile. The importance to put into practice the guidance system for healthy beverage consumption, especially in schools, and to regulate food and beverage advertising in mass media is highlighted for Mexico. The WHO global strategy on diet, physical activity and health is suggested as the guide to be adopted by the Mexican Health Ministry to perform important changes in dietary and physical activity, and to include all social actors to prevent overweight and obesity.


Climate-induced changes, such as extreme cyclones, devastating tidal surges, severe floods, river erosion, excessive rainfall, and overwhelming salinity intrusion, occur more frequently and unpredictably across Bangladesh. The frequency and intensity of these hazards are likely to increase due to climate change. This study considers the baseline situation of the grassroots people of Mongla Upazila & community perception of climate change vulnerability and the local community-based adaptation strategies. Data were collected from respondents in Sundarban, Mithakahali, Chandpai, Sonailtola unions of Mongla Upazila, Bagerhat District, Bangladesh, an area subjected to frequent climate-related hazards. Many of the respondents within the target communities did not recognize the frequency and intensity of climate change. Most notably, although salinity was widely recognized as a significant problem for the community – agriculture, fisheries, biodiversity, trees, and plants, are all highly vulnerable – very few perceived an increased risk due to climate change. This suggests that communities do not predict perfectly an increased threat from these hazards and thus may not recognize the need to implement adaptation strategies further. In this research, the highest hazard score is 12, obtained by 100 families, illustrating that those families are in the most precarious position in terms of different climatic disasters the region faces. The table also elucidates that the hazard score of 12 is obtained by five families, illustrating that those families are in the most precarious position in terms of the region's different climatic disasters. The table also elucidates that the hazard score of forty-nine families is between 10 to 11.5, more than 25% of the total respondents. Forty-two families lie between 8.5–9.5, 43% of the total Respondent. The rest of the four respondents' score lies between 5.5-8, 3.56% of the total respondents.


In this study, firstly, three different samples of concrete material were obtained with computer aided imaging techniques. The sampled images were transformed into three-dimensional models that consisted of pixels. The threshold and flodfill algorithms have been used to transform the samples into three dimensions in the computer environment. The ABAQUS® package program, which is computer aided engineering software (CAE), was used to perform analyzes of solid element samples. Considering the available data and analysis, the change of the determined threshold ranges were observed with the help of imaging techniques. Also, changes in the natural frequency values obtained by the modes of the total number of points, volume, number of elements, and modes of the elements were observed.Before start the analysis, when threshold obtained it's changing, threshold must obtain sensitively. It makes inference. Keywords : Finite elements method, Reverse engineering, Natural frequency, Reinforced concrete beam member


BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY
As platelet activation is known to be a side effect of cardiac surgery, recent analyses have been conducted to identify the association between thrombocytopenia and aortic valve replacement (AVR) using a bioprosthesis. The type of bioprosthesis has been indicated as an independent risk factor for a lower postoperative platelet count, an association which has been mainly observed with the Sorin Freedom Solo valve. The study aim was to analyze platelet activation after AVR with two different bioprostheses, the Sorin Freedom SOLO (FS) and the Carpentier-Edwards Magna (CE).

METHODS
Thirty-eight consecutive patients undergoing aortic valve surgery were enrolled prospectively and assigned to either the FS group (n = 18) or the CE group (n = 20) according to their clinical evaluation. Five patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were included as a control group. Clinical biochemical parameters (von Willebrand factor (vWF), prothrombin fragments 1+2 (F1+2), P-selectin, and beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG)) were assessed preoperatively (TO), and at 1 h (T1), 48 h (T2) and seven days (T3) postoperatively.

RESULTS
The two groups differed in terms of age (FS 77.3 +/- 7.0 years; CE 65.4 +/- 8.4 years; p < 0.05). Intraoperatively, parameters such as CPB time (FS 106.8 +/- 25.5 min; CE 108.2 +/- 23.4 min, p = NS) and aortic cross-clamp time (FS 78.1 +/- 22.8 min; CE 80.7 +/- 19.4 min, p = NS) were comparable. The platelet count was significantly reduced after FS implantation compared to the other groups. Factors involving platelet activation and blood coagulation activation assessed by means of prothrombin F1+2 (FS: TO = 0.48; T1 = 0.66; T2 = 0.46; T3 = 0.52 nmol/ml versus CE: T0 = 0.38; T1 = 0.68; T2 = 0.41; T3 = 0.49 nmol/ml); P-selectin (FS: T0 = 89.6; T1= 130.4; T2 = 92.6; T3 = 94.3 ng/ml versus CE: T0 = 81.4; T1 = 115.9; T2 = 92.2; T3 = 85.7 ng/ml); and beta-TG (FS: T0 = 6.7; T1 = 17.6; T2 = 8.6; T3 = 7.7 ng/ml versus CE: T0 = 7.1; T1 = 15.6; T2 = 9,1; T3 = 7.5 ng/ml) were not significantly different.

CONCLUSION
The previously described phenomenon of enhanced platelet reduction shortly after valve implantation in the FS group compared to another bioprosthesis is likely to be confirmed, but platelet activation should not be considered as the underlying mechanism. Superior (but not significant) preoperative values of biochemical parameters were found in FS versus CE patients, influencing postoperative levels without any variation in the trend pattern. The type of bioprosthesis implanted appeared not to influence platelet and blood coagulation activation.


This thesis examines the life and music of Israeli composer Boris Pigovat with emphasis on the works he has composed that feature the viola. It presents the first detailed account of his life from childhood to being an internationally respected composer. His landmark work from 1995, the Holocaust Requiem, stands amongst the most significant works of all time for viola and orchestra. While the research includes details of Pigovat's education and career, it also examines in depth the background and analytical aspects of the Holocaust Requiem and the Sonata for viola and piano, and includes video recordings by the researcher of all his works featuring the viola.The central component of this study is the production of the film Lacrimosa Dies Illa, a documentary about the Holocaust Requiem that includes interviews with the composer, commentary by a colleague in Kyiv at the site of the Babi Yar massacre of 1941 (at which the composers grandparents and aunt were executed), and performances of excerpts of the Holocaust Requiem with the researcher as soloist with the New Zealand School of Music Orchestra, conducted by Martin Riseley.


The power system always has several variations in its profile due to random load changes or environmental effects such as device switching effects when generating further transients. Thus, an accurate mathematical model is important because most system parameters vary with time. Curve modeling of power generation is a significant tool for evaluating system performance, monitoring and forecasting. Several numerical techniques compete to fit the curves of empirical data such as wind, solar, and demand power rates. This paper proposes a new modified methodology presented as a parametric technique to determine the system's modeling equations based on the Bode plot equations and the vector fitting (VF) algorithm by fitting the experimental data points. The modification is derived from the familiar VF algorithm as a robust numerical method. This development increases the application range of the VF algorithm for modeling not only in the frequency domain but also for all power curves. Four case studies are addressed and compared with several common methods. From the minimal RMSE, the results show clear improvements in data fitting over other methods. The most powerful features of this method is the ability to model irregular or randomly shaped data and to be applied to any algorithms that estimating models using frequency-domain data to provide state-space or transfer function for the model.


Sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) is one of the most common myopathies in elderly people. Mitochondrial abnormalities at the histological level are present in these patients. We hypothesize that mitochondrial dysfunction may play a role in disease aetiology. We took the following measurements of muscle and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 30 sIBM patients and 38 age- and gender-paired controls: mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions, amount of mtDNA and mtRNA, mitochondrial protein synthesis, mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) complex I and IV enzymatic activity, mitochondrial mass, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dynamics (mitofusin 2 and optic atrophy 1 levels). Depletion of mtDNA was present in muscle from sIBM patients and PBMCs showed deregulated expression of mitochondrial proteins in oxidative phosphorylation. MRC complex IV/citrate synthase activity was significantly decreased in both tissues and mitochondrial dynamics were affected in muscle. Depletion of mtDNA was significantly more severe in patients with mtDNA deletions, which also presented deregulation of mitochondrial fusion proteins. Imbalance in mitochondrial dynamics in muscle was associated with increased mitochondrial genetic disturbances (both depletion and deletions), demonstrating that proper mitochondrial turnover is essential for mitochondrial homoeostasis and muscle function in these patients.


Agrin is a basal lamina molecule that directs key events in postsynaptic differentiation, most notably the aggregation of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) on the muscle cell surface. Agrin's AChR clustering activity is regulated by alternative mRNA splicing. Agrin splice forms having inserts at two sites (y and z) in the C-terminal region are highly active, but isoforms lacking these inserts are weakly active. The biochemical consequences of this alternative splicing are unknown. Here, the binding of four recombinant agrin isoforms to heparin, to alpha-dystroglycan (a component of an agrin receptor), and to myoblasts was tested. The presence of a four-amino acid insert at the y site is necessary and sufficient to confer heparin binding ability to agrin. Moreover, the binding of agrin to alpha-dystroglycan is inhibited by heparin when this insert is present. Agrin binding to the cell surface showed analogous properties: heparin inhibits the binding of only those agrin isoforms containing this four-amino acid insert. The results show that alternative splicing of agrin regulates its binding to heparin and suggest that agrin's interaction with alpha-dystroglycan may be modulated by cell surface glycosaminoglycans in an isoform-dependent manner.


The frequency of hyperuricemia patients is increasing in the clinical practice especially the arthralgia cause being the changing life style probably. Uric acid a normal end product of purine metabolism gets accumulated in joints following rise in plasma concentration either due to excessive production or reduced excretion. This results into gouty arthritis, hypertension, renal stones requiring dual management with dietary restriction and pharmacological intervention. The current observational research study was carried out in Orthopedic Consultant clinic and Liaquat University of medical and health sciences. Serum uric was measured in 374 Patients selected through non-probability consecutive sampling using device method at consult clinic. SPSS 22 version and t-test was used for data analysis, mean serum uric acid of the population was 5.01mg/dl however hyperuricemia was seen in 10.91%(41) while 89.09%(333) were having normal range. Minimum uric acid was 1.3mg/dl in the study population while maximum was noted as 13.20mg/dl. The mean serum uric acid in male group was 5.23+1.31mg/dl while it was female 4.70+1.76mg/dl in female group of patients and the difference was significant statistically (p-0.005) Conclusion: Hyperuricemia is found in almost 11% of study subjects while and there exists significant difference between the two genders.


Abstract Culture is performed by human activities. And human culture are two things that can not be separated from one another. In some cultures there is a tradition that is carried out by the community. The tradition contains human activities in implementing something such as bancaan ceremony just before the rice harvest. Modernization is a time machine that is able to change a pattern of human behavior even able to give effect to a change in the existing local culture. Villagers are able to maintain the local tradition to modernization era certainly have a very strong reason. Key words: traditional culture, society, tradition, and modernization Pendahuluan


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 Declining cholesterol levels are common in older persons and are often considered a harbinger of serious illness or death, but factors related to short-term decline in cholesterol remain poorly described. Prospective data from 1,684 women and 1,155 men aged > 66, not taking lipid-lowering medications and with serum cholesterol measured in 1992-93 and 1996-97 were examined for distribution and correlates of four-year change in cholesterol level. Mean serum cholesterol changed an average of -6.3 mg/dl between examinations after correction for measurement error due to laboratory and within person variability. Declines were greater in white (-7.3 mg/dl) than black (-1.4 mg/dl) participants and in those in good/ excellent health (-6.9 mg/dl) vs. fair/poor health (-3.2 mg/dl; both p < 0.01). Subjects in the highest quartile of decline (-22 through -150 mg/dl) had higher prevalences of cancer, coronary disease, and claudication at entry than those in the other three quartiles. Factors associated with decline > 16 mg/dl on multivariate analysis included age, male gender, white race, weight loss between exams, and higher levels of albumin, cholesterol, and white blood cell count in 1992-93 (all p < 0.03). Cholesterol declined 6.8 mg/dl more in men than in women and 3.0 mg/dl more in whites than blacks in multivariate analyses adjusting for age, weight change, gender, low cholesterol diet, internal carotid thickness, and levels of albumin, fibrinogen, cholesterol, and white blood cell count. In this same analysis, a 5.1 kg decrement in weight was associated with a 5.1 mg/dl decline in cholesterol level (p < 0.001). Higher carotid thickness and fibrinogen levels were associated with rises in cholesterol between exams, all other factors held constant. Substantial four-year declines in cholesterol levels occur in older adults and appear primarily related to unmodifiable factors such as advancedage and male gender. The relationship between weight loss, which is often unintentional in the elderly, and declining serum cholesterol should be further explored to clarify the mechanisms of the sometimes marked age-related declines in cholesterol levels observed at advanced ages.


Archaeological and documentary evidence is used to investigate two major institutions of the Old Assyrian city-state: the City Hall in Assur, and the Office of the Colony in Kultepe/Kanish. Part One deals with the City Hall: its role in the economy of the city-state and its functionaries. Its activities involved the sale to merchants of commodities to be exported to Anatolia. But the Hall, managed by the Year-Eponym, was equally important for the local economy by verifying weights and measures as well as the quality of metals used as a means of exchange. Moreover, it levied taxes and appears to have controlled the city's main granary. A complex mechanism at the heart of the colonial system in Kultepe/Kanish is addressed in Part Two. An interpretation is offered there of the related mechanisms of the payment of the datum-contribution by registered merchants, communal fund-raising, taxation and the accounting of the colony.


By using an analytical expression for the static-structure factor of the interacting electron gas depending on the spin-polarization parameter ζ, we present a new method to calculate the correlation energy and the spin-susceptibility. For quasi–one-dimensional systems with wire-width parameter b we calculate the spin-susceptibility as a function of b and the Wigner-Seitz parameter rs = 1/2Na*, where N is the electron density and a* the effective Bohr radius. We discuss the Bloch instability in quantum wires and describe the spin-susceptibility near the Bloch instability.


We study quantum mechanical and classical stability properties of Reissner - Nordstrom deSitter (RNdS) spacetimes, which describe black holes with mass M and charge Q in a background with cosmological constant . There are two sources of particle production in these spacetimes: the black hole horizon and the cosmological horizon. A scattering calculation is done to compute the Hawking radiation in these spacetimes. We find that the flux from the black hole horizon equals the flux from the cosmological horizon, if and only if |Q|=M, indicating that this is a state of thermodynamic equilibrium. The spectrum, however, is not thermal. We also show that spacetimes containing a number of charge equal to mass black holes with have supercovariantly constant spinors, suggesting that they may be minimum-energy states in a positive energy construction. As a first step in this direction, we present a positive energy construction for asymptotically deSitter spacetimes with vanishing charge. Because the construction depends only on a spatial slice, our result also holds for spacetimes which are asymptotically Robertson - Walker.


There is increasing evidence that the receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL) pathway not only contributes to the development of bone metastases, but also influences tumour biology in earlier stages of cancer. The study shows that preoperative serum levels of RANKL and its inhibitor osteoprotegerin (OPG) have a prognostic impact in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer. Both high levels of RANKL and a higher RANKL/OPG ratio are independent predictors of early biochemical recurrence in these patients.


Background: At the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, reduced admissions for cerebrovascular events were identified, but acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) has remained one of the leading causes of death and disability for many years. The aim of this article is to review current literature data for multidisciplinary team (MDT) coordination, rational management of resources and facilities, ensuring timely medical care for large vessel occlusion (LVO) AIS patients requiring endovascular treatment during the pandemic. Methods: A detailed literature search was performed in Google Scholar and PubMed databases using these keywords and their combinations: acute ischaemic stroke, emergency, anaesthesia, airway management, mechanical thrombectomy, endovascular treatment, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), COVID-19. Published studies and guidelines from inception to April 2021 were screened. The following nonsystematic review is based on a comprehensive literature search of available data, wherein 59 were chosen for detailed analysis. Results: The pandemic has an impact on every aspect of AIS care, including prethrombectomy, intraprocedural and post-thrombectomy issues. Main challenges include institutional preparedness, increased number of AIS patients with multiorgan involvement, different work coordination principles and considerations about preferred anaesthetic technique. Care of these patients is led by MDT and nonoperating room anaesthesia (NORA) principles are applied. Conclusions: Adequate management of AIS patients requiring mechanical thrombectomy during the pandemic is of paramount importance to maximise the benefit of the endovascular procedure. MDT work and familiarity with NORA principles decrease the negative impact of the disease on the clinical outcomes for AIS patients.


Chemokines play a central role in regulating leukocyte migration. The recently discovered CC chemokine ligand 27 (CCL27), through interaction with its cognate receptor, CC chemokine receptor 10 (CCR10), appears to be involved in attracting a subset of memory T cells to the skin during some cutaneous inflammatory responses. Strangely, CCL27 can also be produced as a non-secreted form, as a result of alternative splicing. This protein, termed PESKY, is targeted to the nucleus where it is able to modulate transcription and alter cell morphology. Specifically, PESKY induces a rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton, manifest by the disruption of stress fibres. This consequently enhances cell motility. Surprisingly, secreted CCL27 can also reach the nucleus after CCR10-mediated internalisation, where it may also be capable of directly modulating transcription to alter cell behaviour. This review will discuss these unprecedented findings.


A transcriptional analysis of the 3.2-kb region of the African swine fever virus genome containing the five members of the multigene family 110 is presented. The mRNAs corresponding to the genes studied have short leader sequences with no intervening AUG codons before the translational start site, and their 3' ends map within a conserved sequence motif formed by a stretch of seven or more consecutive thymidylate residues. The possible role of this sequence as a signal for the 3'-end formation of African swine fever virus mRNAs is discussed. While four of the genes studied are actively transcribed from the beginning of the infection until the onset of virus DNA replication, the transcription of one of the members of the multigene family 110, the L270 gene, is silenced at an earlier time. A detailed analysis, including in vitro translation of mRNAs isolated from infected Vero cells, revealed that the L270 gene belongs to a small subset of early genes, designated immediate early, whose transcription is silenced before the onset of virus DNA replication. The transcriptional data obtained enabled us to generate the first detailed transcriptional map of a region of the African swine fever virus genome, thus opening the possibility of studying the cis-acting sequences involved in transcriptional control of the viral genes.


Objective: The aim of this study was to find out the recurrence rate and to evaluate effectiveness of diagnostic I-131 whole body scintigraphy (WBS) and recombinant human (rh) TSH in low-risk well differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) patients who have had I-131 radioablation and have undetectable stimulated serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels. Material and Methods: Study groups consisted of 149 patients (Group 1) using endogenous TSH stimulation and 50 patients (Group 2) using rhTSH. Mean follow-up period was 12 years for Group 1. Postablative 6th, 18th month, 5th, 10th and 15th year endogenous TSH stimulated diagnostic WBS and serum Tg levels in G1; and 6th month endogenous TSH stimulated and 18th month rhTSH stimulated diagnostic WBS and serum Tg levels in G2 patients were evaluated. Results: The TSH stimulated Tg values were <1 ng/mL after ablation. The recurrence rate of tumor was 1.3%. Serum TSH levels were ≥30 μIU/mL in all patients. There was no significant difference between 6th month endogenous TSH and 18th month rhTSH stimulated Tg levels and diagnostic WBS in G2 patients and the 6th, 18th month, 5th, 10th and 15th year endogenous TSH stimulated diagnostic WBS and Tg levels in G1 Patients. Conclusion: In low-risk WDTC patients who have undergone total thyroidectomy and I-131 radioablation, the recurrence rate of tumor was extremely low. rhTSH was used successfully without hypothyroid state at I-131 WBS and serum Tg measurement. If 6th month WBS was negative and serum Tg level was undetectable, the 18th month, 5th, 10th and 15th years WBSs were also negative in all patients and yielded no additional information that could influence the following therapeutic strategy and therefore may be avoided. In the follow-up of this group of patients, rhTSH stimulated Tg measurement may be considered as an alternative approach.


ABSTRACT Eighteen out of 45 children were reported to have a respiratory illness during an outbreak at a temporary dormitory in a nursery school in China in 2011. To study the outbreak and to determine the risk factors for infection, an epidemiological investigation was performed. A standardized questionnaire was completed for a total of 45 children with the help of their guardians and parents. In addition, acute- and convalescent-phase serum samples and throat swabs from the children were taken for laboratory diagnosis. The diagnosis of a Mycoplasma-like illness was based on the following clinical criteria. The criteria were onset of illness after 31 May 2011, characterized by a cough, fever(>37.5°C), or at least 3 of the following symptoms: fever, sore throat, cough or expectoration, and runny or stuffy nose. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), determination of MICs, and sequencing were performed to determine the genotype, antibiotic resistance, and sequence polymorphisms of the isolated strains, respectively. The paired sera revealed that 15 patients were infected with Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Epidemiology confirmed that this was a point source outbreak, characterized by a short incubation period, a high secondary attack rate, and a long period of hospitalization. PCR-RFLP analysis revealed that the 12 isolated strains of M. pneumoniae shared the same subtype P1 gene, and 23S rRNA sequence analysis showed that these strains harbored two macrolide-resistant gene-related point mutations at position 2063 and 2617. In this outbreak, the major risk factor was the distance between the bed of the first patient and the beds of close contacts (beds less than three meters apart). The strains isolated in this study were found to harbor two point mutations conferring macrolide resistance, indicating the importance of pathogen and drug resistance surveillance systems.


(b) The term "capable of being further processed or mixed with similar or other ingredients" means that the imported product is in such condition or container as to be subject to any additional preparation, treatment or manufacture or to be blended or combined with any additional ingredient, including water or any other liquid, other than processing or mixing with other ingredients performed by the ultimate consumer prior to consumption of the product;