This study aimed to compare individual and situational motivational factors and the use of coping strategies among elite athletes with and without physical disabilities. Participants were Norwegian athletes from the 1994 Winter Olympics (n = 69) and Paralympics (n = 30) at Lillehammer. Quantitative data came from questions concerning expectations and satisfactions, and three instruments (Perception of Success Questionnaire, Perceived Motivational Climate Questionnaire, and the COPE Inventory). Qualitative data came from interviews. MANOVA analyses revealed that Paralympic and Olympic athletes had similar motivational profiles, but the Paralympic athletes perceived a more mastery-oriented climate, F(1, 98) = 12.6, p < .001. Both groups used similar types of coping strategies, except that Olympic athletes employed more redefinition and growth strategies, F(1, 97) = 6.72, p < .01. Paralympic athletes were also significantly more satisfied with effort and results. Paralympic and Olympic athletes were signific...


The author examines the status of female migrant workers in Santiago, Chile, in the 1980s, with a focus on the level of poverty and social inequalities. Aspects considered include "the dramatic transformation in domestic service, the increase in the number of non-migrant, lower class women participating in the economy, and the limited and precarious status of women's employment in the more dynamic sectors of the economy." (SUMMARY IN ENG)


The Web has become a worldwide repository of information, which individuals, companies, and organizations utilize to solve or address various information problems. Many of these Web users utilize automated agents to gather this information for them. It is assumed that this approach represents a more sophisticated method of searching. However, there is little research investigating how Web agents search for online information. In this research, we examine how agents search for information on Web search engines, including the session, query, term, duration and frequency of interactions. For this study, we analyzed queries that 2,717 agents submitted to the Alta Vista search engine on 8 September 2002. Findings include: (1) agents interacting with Web search engines use queries comparable to human searchers, (2) Web agents are searching for a relatively limited variety of information, with only 18% of the terms used being unique, and (3) agent-Web search engine interaction typically spans several hours with multiple instances of interaction per second.


Joy and Wonder, Love and Longing by Mary Louise Bringle. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2002. 176pp. ISBN 10: 1-57999-192-0. U.S. $21.95. (I) In Wind and Wonder by Mary Louise Bringle. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2007. 187 pp. ISBN 13: 978-1-57999-661-1. U. S. $24.95. (II) Mary Louise ("MeI") Bringle is Professor of Philosophy and Religion, and Chair of the Humanities Division at Brevard College. She won the Hymn Society's 1999 search for a hymn to celebrate the new millennium ("It Started with 'An Idle Tale'," I, 72). Two years later in the search for a text honoring caregivers, she won again ("Bless the Arms That Comfort," I, 24). Subsequently honored as Emerging Text Writer during the 2002 conference, she has served on the Society's Executive Committee, and will be its President for the 2008-2010 biennium. Her first collection, Joy and Wonder, Love and Longing, was somehow not reviewed in THE HYMN. We are addressing that unfortunate oversight and considering her second collection, In Wind and Wonder, in a timelier manner with this double review. What might with some authors' work be a double-distance slog through mud and mire is, with Bringle's collections, a wondrous journey by waters sometimes still, sometimes rolling down like mighty streams, but always refreshing and clear. There is a fabulous array of meters. Each book has 75 texts. Scanning the metrical index for I, there are no fewer than 39 different meters, and for II, an astonishing 48. Forms run the gamut from the simple, mantra-like "Prayer and song are/wings of longing,/ lifting hearts to God" (II, 107) to the complexity of "Would You Share My Passion" (I, 158), a powerful text for Cruger's JESU MEINE FREUDE. The meters are well chosen, and handled with great skill. One exception might be "When Memory Fades" (I, 146), where the 22.214.171.124.11.10 meter seems almost to overwhelm the quiet simplicity of the text on Alzheimer's disease. But perhaps all that is needed is a subdued alternative to the sprawling FINLANDIA tune provided. The chief reason for the plethora of meters is Bringle's penchant for working "tune first" (see her prefaces). Composers know they can turn to her with their most unusual melodies, and receive texts which are more than just metrically correct. Her words will be eloquent, yet not overwhelm the tune: all will work together to beautiful, meaningful effect. While a number of composers have given Bringle inspiration, her relationship with William Rowan seems to have proven especially fertile: there are no fewer than 32 of their collaborations spread across these two volumes. While it is difficult to choose out of so many, see especially "Light Dawns on a Weary World" (I, 80), which the author has discussed previously in THE HYMN,1 and the evocative Song of Solomon-based "Lo, the Winter's Past" (I, 84). Bringle also weighs in briefly as a composer herself, with a worthwhile tune in each collection. While Bringle's hymns come from a deep well of spirituality, her imagery often evokes the sensate world. The brilliance of glinting gemstones in "The Emerald Drinks Green" (II, 130) is answered by the gathering Passion darkness of "Shadows Lengthen into Night" (II, 116). The muted opening of "Now the Heavens Start to Whisper" (II, 83) is countered boldly with "Sing a New World into Being" (II, 122). Even the sense of smell, often ignored in our hymns, is honored in "The Incense of the Morning Air" (I, 122) and "With Aloe, Myrrh and Cinnamon" (I, 154). …


State responsibility in international law is only charged to an independent state. Such responsibility can be created due to the rules of international law regarding the state responsibility and numerous important agreement signatories. Part XII of LOSC 1982 clearly states that "States have the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment". On the other hand, agreement mightcause the issue of state responsibility, such as archipelagic sea-lanes in Indonesia. The obvious issue has raised serious problem, for instance ,overlapping responsibility handled by the government of Indonesia under its implementation. On one side, Indonesia must preserve the marine environment by setting the marine protected areas (MPA). At the same time, Indonesia must ensure the existence of archipelagic sea lanes (ASLs), including its legality for international shipping. This make Indonesia face a dilemma, since its territorial seas also lies withincoral triangle. The recent solution undertaken by the government is prioritizing the existence of ASLs amongst with the rights of cross voyage, taking into account that ASLshave been set out prior to MPAs as well as the recognition of the sovereignty of archipelagic state created at the same time with the obligation of guaranteeing the right of crossing the ASLs. Thus, a plan for designating environmental protection area withASLs, the assignment should not interfere with it. Therefore, to accommodate both interests, The Indonesian government must immediately deliver to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regarding the condition of marine environment in which ASLP is closely confronted with MPAs to regulate special arrangements when the ships cross the area


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is growing evidence that living close to busy roads is associated with lower levels of physical activity, and that less physical activity is associated with lower wellbeing. However, this evidence comes mainly from two separate strands of research, which have seldom been integrated. This paper decomposes the chain of associations through which the presence of large road infrastructure and motorised traffic in a neighbourhood can reduce the wellbeing of local residents, looking at the empirical associations between objective and perceived traffic conditions, reported impact on walking, and wellbeing. METHODS: We collected data in four urban neighbourhoods in England bisected by busy roads. A self-completion questionnaire covered perceptions of traffic volumes and speeds, walking behaviour, health, social capital, wellbeing, and demographics. Traffic conditions were measured using video surveys. A sequence of statistical models was estimated. The first model related objective and perceived traffic volume and speed. The second model related those perceived traffic conditions with reported impacts of those conditions as barriers to walking or factors explaining avoidance of walking along or across the busy road. The third model tested whether certain combinations of perceptions, and reported impacts of traffic conditions were predictive of scores on a validated wellbeing scale. RESULTS: Firstly, we found that perceptions about traffic volumes and speeds depend on both traffic composition and on how the speed of traffic varies during the day and relates to historical and reference values. Secondly, individuals who perceived traffic volumes and speeds as high were more likely to either report traffic as a barrier to walking and to report avoiding the busy road. Thirdly, participants who had the worst possible combination of perceptions (high traffic volumes and speeds) and impacts (traffic as a barrier to walking and avoidance of walking along or across the busy road) had a significantly lower wellbeing than average, after accounting for demographic and location confounders. IMPLICATIONS. The chain of associations beginning with perceived high traffic volumes and speeds leading to reported barriers to walking and reported avoidance of the busy road was shown in this study to be significantly associated with lower wellbeing. Policy interventions addressing the links between busy roads and the wellbeing of local residents should aim to reduce both the volume and the speed of traffic to reduce their impact as barriers to walking and as a factor influencing people's mobility around their neighbourhood.


Magnetically recoverable nanoparticles (MNPs) represent an economical, practical and environmentally benign means for catalyst recovery, providing catalytic properties intermediate between homogeneous and bulk heterogeneous materials. In recent years, nano Fe3O4 (magnetite) has attracted a great attention as heterogeneous catalyst due to its simple handling, ease of recovery with an external magnetic field, oxidative stability, biological compatibility, and high catalytic activities in various organic transformations. The construction of carbon–sulfur bond, especially under a green and safe condition, is an important transformation in organic synthesis. Sulfur containing compounds are found in many products of biological and medical relevance as well as in commercial drugs. Among them, thioethers (sulfides) and thiol esters are two important classes of organosulfur compounds. In continuation of our interest in applications of Fe3O4 MNPs for organic transformations, herein, we report a robust and magnetically reusable Fe3O4 nanoparticle catalyzed reaction of thiols with alkenes, alkynes, alkyl- and acyl halides. A diverse range of thioethers, vinyl thioethers, and thiol esters were obtained in moderate to excellent yields under neat and aerial conditions at room temperature. The catalyst was recycled and reused eight times with minor decrease in its catalytic activity.


Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the maximum mouth opening (MMO) in a representative sample of the Saudi adolescents. Materials and Methods: A total of 1825 Saudi adolescents (1007 males and 818 females) aged 12-16 years were randomly selected. The subjects were asked to open their mouth maximally till no further opening was possible and then the distance from the incisal edge of the maxillary incisors to incisal edge of the mandibular incisors was recorded. All data were analyzed using SPSS program and simple descriptive statistics of MMO with regard to gender and age groups were reported. The Student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used to examine differences in mouth opening relative to gender and age groups. Results: The mean maximal mouth opening for males was 43.5 ± 4.23 mm (range 29-59 mm). The mean maximal mouth opening for females was 35.5 ± 4.4 mm (range 20-45 mm). There was a significant difference between the mouth opening of males and females in all the age group (P = 0.000). The mouth opening, regardless of gender, increases significantly with age from the age of 12 years to the age of 14 years (P = 0.000), then remained unchanged till the age of 16 years. Conclusion: The mouth opening of males is significantly higher than that of females in all the age group. There was a significant increase in MMO with age up to the age of 14 years regardless of gender.


Exploration of the optic canal was performed in 5 patients with traumatic amaurosis. Fractures of the optical canal were found in 4 cases. One case in which the canal was intact was interpreted as evulsion of the optic nerve. Vision improved in one of the cases with a fractured optical canal. Exploration of the optic nerve is recommended in cases of traumatic amaurosis, always provided that the indication is correct.


This paper considers binary pattern recognition of a non-Gaussian pattern in Gaussian noise using supervised learning. The scheme is both structure and parameter adaptive. To facilitate a feasible solution, certain judicious approximations are used. Two examples are presented to demonstrate the learning capability of the proposed algorithms.


Aims
Ischemic heart disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although timely restoration of coronary blood flow (reperfusion) is the most effective therapeutics of myocardial infarction, reperfusion causes further cardiac damage, i.e. ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. β-arrestins (Arrbs) have been traditionally defined as negative regulators of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signalling, but recent studies have shown that they are essential for G protein-independent, GPCR-mediated biased signalling. Several ligands have been reported to be cardioprotective via Arrbs dependent pathway. However, it is unclear whether Arrbs exert receptor-independent physiological or pathological functions in the heart. Here, we sought to determine whether and how Arrbs play a role in regulating cardiomyocyte viability and myocardial remodelling following I/R injury.

Methods and results
The expression of β-arrestin 2 (Arrb2), but not β-arrestin 1 (Arrb1), is upregulated in rat hearts subjected to I/R injury, or in cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes treated with hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R) injury. Deficiency of Arrb2 in cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes alleviates H/R-induced cardiomyocyte death and Arrb2-/- mice are resistant to myocardial damage caused by I/R injury. In contrast, upregulation of Arrb2 triggers cardiomyocyte death and exaggerates I/R (or H/R)-induced detrimental effects. Mechanically, Arrb2 induces cardiomyocyte death by interacting with the p85 subunit of PI3K, and negatively regulating the formation of p85-PI3K/CaV3 survival complex, thus blocking activation of PI3K-Akt-GSK3β cell survival signalling pathway.

Conclusion
We define an upregulation of Arrb2 as a pathogenic factor in cardiac I/R injury, and also reveal a novel GPCR-independent mechanism of Arrb2-mediated cell death signalling in the heart.


We report on our investigations of a pulsed high power streamer corona reader using a simple coaxial discharge tube for industrial gas treatment processes, such as ozone generation and flue gas cleanup. For industrial usages of these processes, higher discharge power density is favorable to achieve higher productivity. As a first step of research aiming at the higher discharge power density, we examined experimentally characteristics of the repetitive pulsed streamer corona discharge using dry air as feed gas. As a result, the dependency that the discharge current decreases with repetition rate and increases with gas flow rate has been found. The maximum discharge power density of about 100 W/l (/spl sim/25 kV, /spl sim/75 A, /spl sim/100 ns, 170 pps, 0.3l) was obtained in this experiment. The gas temperature rise at this condition was about 20/spl sim/25 %. Because it is not so high as to affect gas treatment badly, it will be possible to operate at still higher discharge power density. We also measured generated ozone in this experiment and the lowest ozone energy cost obtained was 9/spl sim/10 Wh/gO/sub 3/, which was lower than that of a commercial silent discharge type ozonizer.


This study conducts an overview of large technological systems in society to ascertain prevalence, if any, of situations that can lead to catastrophic effects where the resultant liabilities far exceed the insurances or assets subject to suit in court, thereby imposing de facto limits on liability. Several potential situations are examined: dam rupture, aircraft crash into a sports stadium, chemical plant accident, shipping disaster, and a toxic drug disaster. All of these events are estimated to have probabilities per year similar to or larger than a major nuclear accident and they are found to involve potential liability far exceeding the available resources, such as insurance, corporation assets, or government revenues.


In an organization people come and go and the need to recruit always occurs in one way or another. Recruitment is about finding the right humans and bringing the important expertise in to the organization. There is a variety of options for how needs can be handled and decisions must always be taken on matters about personnel issues. In the decision making the need should be analyzed regarding its true meaning. However, the theory says that organizations often are careless with this analysis and that decisions about recruitment are taken without this analysis. Our ambition with this essay is to describe how an organization comes up to and makes decisions about the initial stages of recruitment and how it should be handled. We also wish to describe which factors that has an impact on the decision making. To answer our research question we have conducted two interviews with one respondent from a company located in Orebro. This has given us answers to how this person makes decisions in the initial stages of recruitment. The collected material was analyzed by using the theories about recruitment and decision making. Finally we conclude that the recruitment process and its decision making in the studied organization is very complex and do not follow any specific structure.


This study assessed the contribution of electron microscopy to the characterization of nanoparticles and compared the degree of variability in sizes observed within each stage when sampled by two cascade impactors: an Electrical Low Pressure Impactor (ELPI) and a Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI). A TiO2 nanoparticle (5 nm) suspension was aerosolized in an inhalation chamber. Nanoparticles sampled by the impactors were collected on aluminum substrates or TEM carbon-coated copper grids using templates, specifically designed in our laboratories, for scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM, TEM) analysis, respectively. Nanoparticles were characterized using both SEM and TEM. Three different types of diameters (inner, outer, and circular) were measured by image analysis based on count and volume, for each impactor stage. Electron microscopy, especially TEM, is well suited for the characterization of nanoparticles. The MOUDI, probably because of the rotation of its collection stages, which can minimize the resuspension of particles, gave more stable results and smaller geometric standard deviations per stage. Our data suggest that the best approach to estimate particle size by electron microscopy would rely on geometric means of measured circular diameters. Overall, the most reliable data were provided by the MOUDI and the TEM sampling technique on carbon-coated copper grids for this specific experiment. This study indicates interesting findings related to the assessment of impactors combined with electron microscopy for nanoparticle characterization. For future research, since cascade impactors are extensively used to characterize nano-aerosol exposure scenarios, high-performance field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) should also be considered.


A new type of isoquinoline alkaloid leptopyrine was isolated from the aerial parts of Leptopyrum fumarioides L. (Ranunculaceae) of Mongolian origin. The known alkaloids protopine and thalifoline were isolated for the first time from this the species. All structures were established by physical and spectral analyses.


This document defines RSVP-TE extensions to establish backup label-
switched path (LSP) tunnels for local repair of LSP tunnels. These
mechanisms enable the re-direction of traffic onto backup LSP tunnels
in 10s of milliseconds, in the event of a failure. Two methods are
defined here. The one-to-one backup method creates detour LSPs for
each protected LSP at each potential point of local repair. The
facility backup method creates a bypass tunnel to protect a potential
failure point; by taking advantage of MPLS label stacking, this bypass
tunnel can protect a set of LSPs that have similar backup constraints.
Both methods can be used to protect links and nodes during network
failure. The described behavior and extensions to RSVP allow nodes to
implement either method or both and to interoperate in a mixed
network. [STANDARDS-TRACK]


This report describes the results of research into the effects of environment-induced noise on the evaluation process for anomaly detectors in the cyber security domain. This research was conducted during a 10-week summer internship program from the 19th of August, 2012 to the 23rd of August, 2012 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The research performed lies within the larger context of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Smart Grid cyber security project, a Department of Energy (DoE) funded effort involving the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California/Information Sciences Institute. The results of the present effort constitute an important contribution towards building more rigorous evaluation paradigms for anomaly-based intrusion detectors in complex cyber physical systems such as the Smart Grid. Anomaly detection is a key strategy for cyber intrusion detection and operates by identifying deviations from profiles of nominal behavior and are thus conceptually appealing for detecting "novel" attacks. Evaluating the performance of such a detector requires assessing: (a) how well it captures the model of nominal behavior, and (b) how well it detects attacks (deviations from normality). Current evaluation methods produce results that give insufficient insight into the operation of a detector, inevitably resulting in a significantly poor characterization of a detectors performance. In this work, we first describe a preliminary taxonomy of key evaluation constructs that are necessary for establishing rigor in the evaluation regime of an anomaly detector. We then focus on clarifying the impact of the operational environment on the manifestation of attacks in monitored data. We show how dynamic and evolving environments can introduce high variability into the data stream perturbing detector performance. Prior research has focused on understanding the impact of this variability in training data for anomaly detectors, but has ignored variability in the attack signal that will necessarily affect the evaluation results for such detectors. We posit that current evaluation strategies implicitly assume that attacks always manifest in a stable manner; we show that this assumption is wrong. We describe a simple experiment to demonstrate the effects of environmental noise on the manifestation of attacks in data and introduce the notion of attack manifestation stability. Finally, we argue that conclusions about detector performance will be unreliable and incomplete if the stability of attack manifestation is not accounted for in the evaluation strategy.


Ka-band altimetry has been proposed by Verron et al. (2001) to complement the altimetry reference missions of the Jason class. The goal of this paper is to provide information on the so-called "AltiKa" proposal in terms of science requirements, responsive technical specifications, and a priori performances. Besides the fact that the feasibility of embarking an AltiKa payload on a microsatellite has already been assessed, there is also the information that a small launcher may have the capability of launching several microsatellites simultaneously (up to three) in a number of configurations that may be adapted to the space time requirements of high resolution altimetry.


Occupational health nurses can use dispensing models to assist their companies in generating revenue, decreasing liability, and facilitating appropriate medication choices by employees.


A little more than a year after U.S. entry into World War II, the United States held 1,881 enemy prisoners of war within its continental boundaries. At Great Britain's urging, the United States established a prisoner of war (POW) work program under the auspices of the Provost Marshal General of the army's office. The POW workers were intended to free up U.S. soldiers for battle, as well as to augment labor shortages in a number of domestic industries, including agriculture. The program ultimately consisted of 155 base camps and 511 branch camps in forty-five of the existing forty-eight states. Typical camp leadership consisted of three primary army officers - the camp commander, his executive officer, and a special projects officer. With the approval of the Provost Marshal's Office, the commander and employer (farmer) would negotiate the amount to be paid to the United States for the use of POW labor. The arrangement is estimated to have provided nearly $230 million in economic benefits to the United States. By the war's end, the number peaked at 425,871 prisoners, and of these, approximately 87 percent, or almost 372,000, were Germans.1Camp Westover Field in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, was activated as a prisoner of war branch camp on September 28, 1944, to address local agricultural manpower shortages.2 The initial allocation was 250 POWs, but filling manpower shortages on- and off-base proved so successful that military personnel and local farmers requested and received another 250 workers. At its peak, Camp Westover Field housed 701 prisoners of war.3 Noncommissioned prisoners were required to work and were paid eighty cents a day for their efforts.4 Most POWs worked on base and filled a variety of positions such as cooks, kitchen helpers, garage mechanics, bakers, construction workers, gardeners, and general maintenance workers. In addition, a large number worked off-base on local farms picking tobacco and harvesting vegetables. And despite rules against fraternization, these POWs interacted with local farmers in ways that would leave lasting impressions on both farmers and prisoners.The U.S. government recognized that the POWs at Westover, and across the country, would one day be repatriated in Germany and, as a group, might have a powerful voice in postwar German affairs. Their treatment and experiences in the camps would shape their opinions and feelings concerning America and could possibly affect future relations between the nations. The following pages describe the conditions for German POWs at Camp Westover, interactions among prisoners, soldiers, and local farmers, and general impressions held by both groups during and after the war. Research suggests that while the federal government had implemented the Special Projects Program to positively influence German POWs' perceptions of the United States, prisoners were more significantly impacted by the kindness of local residents than by the reeducation and propaganda efforts.5CONDITIONS AT CAMP WESTOVER FIELDCamp Westover Field was situated approximately two miles from Chicopee Falls and about ten miles northeast of Springfield. It was located on an isolated section of Westover Army Air Force Base. The prisoner of war camp covered approximately two acres with eleven buildings and ten barracks.6 The camp was overseen by Captain John Shields, First Lieutenant Fred Reisner, and Second Lieutenant Daniel Pfenning. Most Westover POWs arrived on U.S. soil through Boston Harbor in the cargo holds of returning Liberty ships. Prisoners remembered being shipped from the English coastline in convoys as large as ninety ships. Upon arriving at Boston, all POWs were deloused, given prison garb, and then transported via Pullman rail cars from Boston to Springfield and then by truck to Camp Westover Field.7 In Nazi Prisoners of War in America, historian Arnold Krammer stated that "each prisoner was required to fill out a three page form which requested his personal and medical history, fingerprints, serial numbers, an inventory of personal effects, and information about his capture as noted on the tag still hanging from his tunic. …


A systematic analysis of the RNA splice junction sequences of eukaryotic protein coding genes was carried out using the GENBANK databank. Nucleotide frequencies obtained for the highly conserved regions around the splice sites for different categories of organisms closely agree with each other. A striking similarity among the rare splice junctions which do not contain AG at the 3' splice site or GT at the 5' splice site indicates the existence of special mechanisms to recognize them, and that these unique signals may be involved in crucial gene-regulation events and in differentiation. A method was developed to predict potential exons in a bare sequence, using a scoring and ranking scheme based on nucleotide weight tables. This method was used to find a majority of the exons in selected known genes, and also predicted potential new exons which may be used in alternative splicing situations.


Too many physicians lack the skills to discuss end-of-life wishes with patients. It is awkward for the doctors to even bring up the topic in certain circumstances. Doctors are trained to save peoples' lives, not to give up on them. But physicians need to change their mindset.


Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic IgE-mediated skin disorder. Clinical usefulness of allergen-specific immunotherapy in the treatment of AD is still controversial. We assessed the effect of cluster allergen-specific subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) in patients with AD sensitive to house dust mite. The study included 43 patients (32 with mild to moderate AD and 11 with severe AD). Disease severity was assessed by SCORAD index. Patients were treated by cluster SCIT for 8 weeks. SCORAD index, total IgE serum level and blood eosinophilic count (BEC) were assessed at the baseline visit and after the end of immunotherapy. Thirty-one patients (72.1%) responded to SCIT. Responders showed significant decrease in SCORAD index (P < 0.001) and BEC (P < 0.05) compared to non-responders. SCORAD index, total IgE and BEC were significantly decreased in responded patients after SCIT compared to the baseline. The reduction in SCORAD index was 49%. Patients with mild to moderate AD showed no difference in the serum IgE level after SCIT compared to the baseline, but a significant difference was reported in the SCORAD index and BEC. Patients with severe AD showed significant difference in SCORAD index, total IgE, and BEC between baseline and post-SCIT values. Patients with mild to moderate AD showed more reduction in SCORAD index than patients with severe AD (53.8% vs. 43.6%). No adverse reactions were reported during immunotherapy. We concluded that cluster allergen-specific immunotherapy is an effective and well-tolerated therapeutic modality for both mild to moderate and severe AD.


Solar energy has attracted wide attention as a promising renewable energy source. The goal of this paper is to estimate the dynamic performance of solar flat plate collector system according to the weather conditions and the capacity of heat storage tank. This study provides a detailed description of the modeling methods and materials of the system. The effects of the daily clearness index and the volume of the heat storage tank on the hourly and daily performances of the system are numerically investigated. Special attention is focused on the important system variables including the solar insolation on the collector surface, useful energy, heat loss at the collector, and collector efficiency.


To evaluate the effect of caloric restriction and dietary composition on circulating T3 and rT3 obese subjects were studied after 7-18 days of total fasting and while on randomized hypocaloric diets (800 kcal) in which carbohydrate content was varied to provide from 0 to 100% calories. As anticipated, total fasting resulted in a 53% reduction in serum T3 in association with reciprocal 58% increase in rT3. Subjects receiving the no-carbohydrate hypocaloric diets for two weeks demonstrated a similar 47% decline in serum T3 but there was no significant change in rT3 with time. In contrast, the same subjects receiving isocaloric diets containing at least 50 g of carbohydrate showed no significant changes in either T3 or rT3 concentration. The decline in serum T3 during the no-carbohydrate diet correlated significantly with blood glucose and ketones but there was no correlation with insulin or glucagon. We conclude that dietary carbohydrate is an important regulatory factor in T3 production in man. In contrast, rT3 concentration is not significantly affected by changes in dietary carbohydrate. Our data suggest that the rise in serum rT3 during starvation may be related to more severe caloric restriction than that caused by the 800 kcal diet.


We propose to build a reinforcement learning prover of independent components: a deductive system (an environment), the proof state representation (how an agent sees the environment), and an agent training algorithm. To that purpose, we contribute an additional Vampire-based environment to gym-saturation package of OpenAI Gym envi-ronments for saturation provers. We demonstrate a prototype of using gym-saturation together with a popular reinforcement learning framework (Ray RLlib ). Finally, we dis-cuss our plans for completing this work in progress to a competitive automated theorem prover.


This research novelly explores how Future Time Perspective (FTP) plays a role in reflecting on goal failure and striving for future goals. Participants (N = 139) completed questionnaires assessing recent goal failure, procrastination, emotion regulation and FTP, then coded as either High or Low in FTP. Results support hypotheses that despite goal failure, those high in FTP procrastinated less, planned more and used more cognitive reappraisal strategies. Further, procrastination and cognitive reappraisal significantly predicted FTP scores. Thus, goal failure may be an essential part of learning how to achieve high self-regulation goals. However, it may discourage some from trying again, particularly those low in FTP. Findings suggest the FTP may offer a strategy to aid attainment of important high self-regulated, long-term goals.


Solar radiation management (SRM), or solar geoengineering, reduces the earth's temperature by reflecting more sunlight back to space. However, the impacts of SRM remain unclear, making it difficult to project the benefits as well as consequences should this approach be adopted to combat climate change. To provide novel insight into the SRM impact on hydro-climatic extremes in Southeast Asia, this study conducts a simulation experiment for the Kelantan River Basin (KRB) in Malaysia by incorporating three bias-corrected Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering Large Ensemble (GLENS) members into the Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus (SWAT+) model. The study found that SRM practices could generate substantial cooling effects on regional temperatures, leading to a reduction in projected annual precipitation and monthly precipitation during the flooding season (from November to mid-January) under SRM relative to the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) scenario. In addition, SRM could reduce the number of days with heavy precipitation as well as the intensity of maximum daily precipitation as compared to RCP8.5, during the 2045–2064 and 2065–2084 periods, leading to a reduction in high flows. Nevertheless, under SRM impacts, the driest months from February to May would experience comparable decreases in monthly precipitation and streamflow.


Cellular senescence plays an important role in tumor suppression. p53 tumor suppressor has been reported to be crucial in cellular senescence. However, the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. In this regard, a cDNA microarray assay was performed to identify p53 targets involved in senescence. Among the many candidates is DEC1, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor that has been recently shown to be up-regulated in K-ras-induced premature senescence. However, it is not clear whether DEC1 is capable of inducing senescence. Here, we found that DEC1 is a novel target gene of the p53 family and mediates p53-dependent premature senescence. Specifically, we showed that DEC1 is induced by the p53 family and DNA damage in a p53-dependent manner. We also found that the p53 family proteins bind to, and activate, the promoter of the DEC1 gene. In addition, we showed that overexpression of DEC1 induces G1 arrest and promotes senescence. Moreover, we found that targeting endogenous DEC1 attenuates p53-mediated premature senescence in response to DNA damage. Furthermore, overexpression of DEC1 induces cellular senescence in p53-knockdown cells, albeit to a lesser extent. Finally, we showed that DEC1-induced senescence is p21-independent. Taken together, our data provided strong evidence that DEC1 is one of the effectors downstream of p53 to promote premature senescence.


Abstract The clinopyroxenes kanoite and spodumene were studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) at room temperature. At the displacive phase transitions between the C2/c and P21/c polymorphs both phases coexist within the same crystal. In this two-phase region the pressure in the DAC remains constant. The experimental results demonstrate that pressure buffering at first-order phase transitions can occur in the DAC.


The challenge of addressing deployment of broadband in Ireland is now greater due to the ongoing debate about the development of broadband communications in Ireland.

If you're a serious net surfer in Ireland, you pretty much have one choice for broadband service- Eircom. The former state monopoly has used its ownership of the nation's land-line network to scoop up virtually all the market for
broadband based on digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, which makes use of existing copper wires. Ireland is one of the least open markets, argues
Pierpaolo Festino, senior vice-president for marketing and sales at Sardinia based access provider Tiscali. Festino gripes that Ireland has dragged its feet implementing European Union competition rules (Business Week, 2004).


Incubation of GDP-[(14)C]mannose with liver microsomes and magnesium ions led to the formation of dolichol monophosphate mannose and of other acidlabile compounds that contain oligosaccharides. Formation of these compounds was enhanced by addition of an acceptor lipid in the same fractions of DEAE-cellulose chromatography where bound dolichol is found. Alkaline treatment of the oligosaccharides, obtained by acid methanolysis, followed by paper electrophoresis, gave rise to the formation of two positively charged substances believed to be formed by deacetylation of hexosamine residues. Incubation of the oligosaccharide-containing compounds with liver microsomes and manganese ions resulted in a transfer to endogenous protein. The role of dolichol derivatives in glycoprotein synthesis is discussed.


The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on mental health, including on food-related behaviors. However, little is known about the effect of the pandemic on anorexia nervosa (AN). We sought to assess an association between the COVID-19 pandemic and a potential increase in hospitalizations for AN in France. We compared the number of hospitalizations with a diagnosis of AN during the 21-month period following the onset of the pandemic with the 21-month period before the pandemic using Poisson regression models. We identified a significant increase in hospitalizations for girls aged 10 to 19 years (+45.9%, RR = 1.46[1.43–1.49]; p < 0.0001), and for young women aged 20 to 29 (+7.0%; RR = 1.07[1.04–1.11]; p < 0.0001). Regarding markers of severity, there was an increase in hospitalizations for AN associated with a self-harm diagnosis between the two periods. Multivariate analysis revealed that the risk of being admitted for self-harm with AN increased significantly during the pandemic period among patients aged 20–29 years (aOR = 1.39[1.06–1.81]; p < 0.05 vs. aOR = 1.15[0.87–1.53]; NS), whereas it remained high in patients aged 10 to 19 years (aOR = 2.40[1.89–3.05]; p < 0.0001 vs. aOR = 3.12[2.48–3.98]; p < 0.0001). Furthermore, our results suggest that the pandemic may have had a particular effect on the mental health of young women with AN, with both a sharp increase in hospitalizations and a high risk of self-harming behaviors.


This thesis is concerned with nationalism in Chinese foreign policy. Adopting methods of comparative studies and formalised language analysis, through the case study of China's response to US engagement, this thesis explores the nationalist momentum in Chinese foreign policy during 1989-2000 and how the CCP loosely controls Chinese IR scholars' nationalist writings. The thesis argues that China is not a revisionist state despite the rise of the new nationalism. Chinese foreign policy since 1989 is best understood as largely being the product of an effectively yet loosely controlled, plural and reactive nationalism and that the CCP's domestic considerations keep Chinese foreign policy inward-looking. This thesis also argues that Chinese elites regard the US engagement policy as patronising and paternalistic and thus it fails to achieve its core objectives that centre on no unilateral use of offensive military force, peaceful resolution of territorial disputes and respect for international rules. It has been found that focal points of nationalism in Chinese foreign policy are legitimacy of the CCP's one-party rule, territorial control and modernization and that the new Chinese nationalism is a weak force. It has also been found that the US engagement policy toward China has generated nationalism in China and the CCP's response is mainly defensive arguments rather than hostile acts. I support my argument with a study of the CCP's official terms and Chinese IR scholars' writings. I examine how Chinese IR scholars try to follow the CCP's party line in foreign policy and how various groups of Chinese IR scholars interpret the party line in different ways. Focusing on the case of China's response to US engagement, I analyse Chinese elites' nationalistic views on the US approach to China in respect of security, political, cultural and economic issues. The implication of my research is that the growing concern about China threat has been in regional perceptions of Chinese goals rather than the CCP's diplomacy per se.


The present study aimed to discover the effect of cold swaging reduction on the bulk gradient structure formation and mechanical properties of a 316-type austenitic stainless steel. The initial rod was subjected to radial swaging until 20–95% reduction of initial rod diameter, at room temperature. According to finite element simulation, higher plastic strain was accumulated in the surface layer compared to the center region during swaging. Microstructural investigations revealed three-stage gradient structure formation in the center and edge regions of the deformed rod. Meanwhile, cold swaging resulted in the development of strong 111ǁBA, 001ǁBA, and weak 111ǁBA texture components in the center and edge, respectively. Significant tensile strengthening was observed after cold swaging. For instance, the yield strength (YS) increased from 820 MPa to 930 MPa after 40–80% reduction respectively, without the loss of ductility (δ–14%). This unique aspect of the mechanical behavior was attributed to the gradient structure of the cold swaged material and explained in detail.


The (m,n) selection problem is defined as the selection of the m smallest numbers in any order from a set of n numbers (m ≤n). In this paper, we have proposed a class of design procedures for selection networks based on partitioning. Conditions are defined so that the optimal design can be found in polynomial time. The resulting selection network has O([log 2 n] · [log 2 m]) time complexity and O(n · [log2/ 2 m]) hardware complexity for all values of m. As a comparison, networks previously known can optimize either hardware or delay but not both simultaneously, and perform worse than pure sorting when m approaches n/2.


Academics conducting a £1.8 million research project are recruiting care homes to test a new falls procedure. Funded by the National Institute for Health Research, the three-year project involves trials of a new training package and guidelines designed by the University of Nottingham's Division of Rehabilitation and Ageing. The trials are taking place at residential and care homes in the East Midlands, West Yorkshire and East Anglia.


Although rare, cannot intubate and cannot oxygenate situations are challenging acute events. The development of management algorithms, standardized equipment provisions, and appropriate clinical training in the application of front-of-neck access techniques are necessary to optimize procedural success to ensure adequate oxygenation. The OxyTain algorithm is an institutionally developed protocol to manage cannot intubate and cannot oxygenate events. With proper implementation, this unique process aligning the cannula cricothyroidotomy and scalpel bougie as primary and secondary techniques, respectively, can potentially optimize procedural success. This algorithmic approach is trained routinely among our anesthesia providers, while the equipment is standardized throughout our anesthetizing locations.


The present paper contains some data on acoustic speech variations due to different speaking manners found in the VeriVox speech database. The database was recorded using special software aimed at getting both voluntary and involuntary speech variations. Some involuntary variations, speech in noise and speech when other tasks interfere, has been studied. Data on speaking rate, loudness, F0 and formant frequencies are discussed


O-Linked N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (OGT) catalyzes the transfer of O-linked GlcNAc to serine/threonine residues of a variety of target proteins, many of which have been implicated in such diseases as diabetes and neurodegeneration. The addition of O-GlcNAc to proteins occurs in response to fluctuations in cellular concentrations of UDP-GlcNAc, which result from nutrients entering the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in sugar nucleotide recognition and transfer to protein are poorly understood. We employed site-directed mutagenesis to target potentially important amino acid residues within the two conserved catalytic domains of OGT (CD I and CD II), followed by an in vitro glycosylation assay to evaluate N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase activity after bacterial expression. Although many of the amino acid substitutions caused inactivation of the enzyme, we identified three amino acid residues (two in CD I and one in CD II) that produced viable enzymes when mutated. Structure-based homology modeling revealed that these permissive mutants may be either in or near the sugar nucleotide-binding site. Our findings suggest a model in which the two conserved regions of the catalytic domain, CD I and CD II, contribute to the formation of a UDP-GlcNAc-binding pocket that catalyzes the transfer of O-GlcNAc to substrate proteins. Identification of viable OGT mutants may facilitate examination of its role in nutrient sensing and signal transduction cascades.


This paper presents a fully integrated Ku-band low noise block (LNB) front-end receiver with high image suppression capability. It translates the RF-band (10.7–12.75 GHz) to an IF ranging in the L-band (0.95–2.15 GHz). The receiver exhibits a conversion gain of 50 dB, a single-sideband noise figure of 3.8 dB and image suppression level of 40 dB. The integrated receiver draws 80mA from 1.1 V supply voltage. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of a Ku-band heterodyne receiver implemented on a 65nm CMOS technology.


In contrast to public health and the resolution to further increase the health care of the whole community in regions worldwide, current clinical medicine has its limits. Further improvement in public health - rather than individual diseases - can only be achieved by integrating new views into treatment. Some years ago, the concept of biopsychosocial medicine was integrated into patient treatment and is now generally accepted. Therefore the author describes here a new dimension to treatment and presents substantial evidence to include ecological health in this already existing concept. The problem of community education is discussed.


The eddy covariance technique for measuring surface fluxes is often not affordable outside experimental research institutes. Therefore knowledge of the performance of alternative methods for determining surface fluxes is valuable. The performance of surface renewal (SR) analysis and the flux variance (FV) method for estimating sensible heat flux has been evaluated in an experiment carried out over a heterogeneous canopy (olive orchard, 50% ground cover) at a semiarid climate in a windy area. Measurements were made at a single level close to the canopy top. SR analysis was accurate under both stable and unstable conditions. The FV method also showed a good performance under unstable conditions, but it was uncertain near neutral conditions and was not applicable under stable conditions.


Sweat lipid fat-acid (FA) composition was measured with the aid of the gas-chromatographic techniques in patients with non-complicated course of acute myocardial infarction as well as during the development of pulmonary edema and pneumonia. The latter processes were found out to be accompanied by a marked elevation of sweat lipids polyunsaturated FA, linoleic and arachidonic FA in particular, which fact may serve as an important diagnostic and prognostic criterion.


This paper focuses on enhancing feature selection (FS) performance on a classification data set. First, a novel FS criterion using the concept of Bayesian discriminant is introduced. The proposed criterion is able to measure the classification ability of a feature set (or, a combination of the weighted features) in a direct way. This guarantees excellent FS results. Second, FS is conducted by optimizing the newly derived criterion in a continuous space instead of by heuristically searching features in a discrete feature space. Using this optimizing strategy, FS efficiency can be significantly improved. In this study, the proposed supervised FS scheme is compared with other related methods on different classification problems in which the number of features ranges from 33 to over 12,000. The presented results are very promising and corroborate the contributions of this study.


Using differential display RT-PCR, we identified a gene of 2750 bp from human adult testis, named H-Lse, which encoded a putative protein of 523 amino acids and molecular weight of 58 kd with structural characteristics similar to that of mouse lysosome sialic-acid-specific 9-O-acetylesterase. Northern blot analysis showed a widespread distribution of H-Lse in various human tissues with high expression in the testis, prostate, and colon. In situ hybridization results showed that while H-Lse was not detected in embryonic testis, positive signals were found in spermatocytes but not spermatogonia in adult testis of human. The subcellular localization of H-Lse was visualized by green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to the amino terminus of H-Lse, showing compartmentalization of H-Lse in large dense-core vesicles, presumably lysosomes, in the cytoplasm. The developmentally regulated and spermatogenic stage-specific expression of H-Lse suggests its possible involvement in the development of the testis and/or differentiation of germ cells.


Massive MIMO is a promising technique to meet the exponential growth of global mobile data traffic demand. However, contrary to the current systems, energy consumption of next generation networks is required to be load adaptive as the network load varies significantly throughout the day. In this paper, we propose a load adaptive massive MIMO system that varies the number of antennas following the daily load profile (DLP) in order to maximize the downlink energy efficiency (EE). A multi-cell system is considered where each base station (BS) is equipped with a large number of antennas to serve many single antenna users. In order to incorporate DLP, each BS is modeled as an M/G/m/m state dependent queue under the assumption that the network is dimensioned to serve a maximum number of users at the peak load. For a given number of users in a cell, the optimum number of active antennas maximizing EE is derived. The EE maximization problem is formulated in a game theoretic framework where the number of antennas to be used by a BS is determined through best response iteration. This load adaptive system achieves overall 19% higher EE compared to a baseline system where the BSs always run with the fixed number of antennas that is most energy efficient at peak load and that can be switched-off when there is no traffic.


In recent years, Pinus plantation forestry has been significantly hampered by outbreaks of pitch canker caused by the fungus Fusarium circinatum. This study investigated the role of Pinus host, geographic origin and reproductive mode in structuring the F. circinatum populations in plantations. For this purpose, 159 isolates originating from diseased plantation trees in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa were genotyped using 10 microsatellite markers. Analyses of these data revealed 30 multilocus haplotypes and that the populations were distinct based on geographic origin as well as host. However, shared haplotypes were observed between populations, showing that these populations are connected, possibly through the movement of haplotypes. A second aim was to determine whether the genetic variation found in these populations of the fungus could be attributed to outbreaks of the seedling disease caused by this pathogen in Pinus nurseries. To achieve this goal, an additional set of 43 isolates originating from pine seedling nurseries was genotyped and analysed. The results showed that the populations of F. circinatum in plantations most probably originated from the nursery outbreaks that occurred prior to the plantation outbreak. Inferences regarding reproductive mode further showed that sexual reproduction has little impact on the genetic makeup of the F. circinatum populations and that they primarily reproduce asexually. Overall, the results of this study showed that the F. circinatum diversity in South Africa has arisen due to multiple introductions of the pathogen and is not due to sexual reproduction.


Red blood cells are the most required blood transfusion products worldwide. Safety and efficacy of blood transfusion are still relevant issues. Clarification of the causes and mechanisms of post-transfusion complications requires additional research. Aim of the review is to summarize the data of clinical and research studies on transfusion of red blood cell suspension with various storage times. Material . We selected 76 sources from Web of Science, Scopus, and RSCI databases containing pertinent clinical and scientific research data, as well as blood transfusion guidelines. Results . We reviewed the main stages of preparation and storage of filtered red blood cells, described biochemical and structural alterations occurring during blood storage, summarized clinical data on post-transfusion complications, and analyzed clinical consequences and molecular structure abnormalities of red blood cells in relation to their storage time. Conclusion . During long-term storage, red blood cells undergo significant structural and metabolic changes. The clinical use of relatively «old» red blood cells increases the risk of post-transfusion complications. However, the pathophysiological differences between «young» and «old» erythrocytes remain unclear. Large clinical and molecular research studies may add to our understanding of the complex issues related to blood transfusion.


Science and technology advancement resulted in quicker globalization and commercialization. Globalization signifies Omni present culture (DEPFE, NCERT). Globalization has brought a radical change in our socio-cultural environment. An inherent scientific reason exists in our traditional practices, but blind following of beliefs and practices no longer be sustained. That is why modern trends and styles emerged. Modern living styles have brought a great damage to nature and environment. Education in the broad sense will play a vital role in bringing the change required in divergent ways. The right understanding and attitude towards Science and technology can serve as a vehicle for promotion of inter-connectivity, inter dependence globally. So educating the value of such practices with right understanding can give the knowledge of exploring science and technology for harmony. Common beliefs about to think less of self, the need to care for others, the natural environment, conserving biodiversity, and respecting mutual fulfillment with other species& prosperity are essential for sustainable future. This kind of attitude towards education can only be possible when parents and teachers should feel responsibility and contributing their efforts in building strong pillars of society.


Medical image segmentation is critical for diagnosing and treating spinal disorders. However, the presence of high noise, ambiguity, and uncertainty makes this task highly challenging. Factors such as unclear anatomical boundaries, inter-class similarities, and irrational annotations contribute to this challenge. Achieving both accurate and diverse segmentation templates is essential to support radiologists in clinical practice. In recent years, denoising diffusion probabilistic modeling (DDPM) has emerged as a prominent research topic in computer vision. It has demonstrated effectiveness in various vision tasks, including image deblurring, super-resolution, anomaly detection, and even semantic representation generation at the pixel level. Despite the robustness of existing diffusion models in visual generation tasks, they still struggle with discrete masks and their various effects. To address the need for accurate and diverse spine medical image segmentation templates, we propose an end-to-end framework called VerseDiff-UNet, which leverages the denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DDPM). Our approach integrates the diffusion model into a standard U-shaped architecture. At each step, we combine the noise-added image with the labeled mask to guide the diffusion direction accurately towards the target region. Furthermore, to capture specific anatomical a priori information in medical images, we incorporate a shape a priori module. This module efficiently extracts structural semantic information from the input spine images. We evaluate our method on a single dataset of spine images acquired through X-ray imaging. Our results demonstrate that VerseDiff-UNet significantly outperforms other state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy while preserving the natural features and variations of anatomy.


Background: Secretory immunoglobulin A, human ß-defensin2 and calprotectin play an essential role in digestive system defense. This study aims to assess fecal SIgA, hBD-2, and calprotectin in preterm neonates (as inflammation marker) with different feeding patterns.
Method: This study was cohort designed included 39 preterm neonates, which were categorized into breast milk only, formula milk only, and combination. Fecal SIgA, hBD-2, and calprotectin measured by ELISA.
Results: Fecal SIga in the breast milk only group were significantly higher (p<0.005). Fecal HBD-2 and calprotectin in the formula milk only group were highest but not significantly different (p=0.463) with the combination group.
Conclusion: Fecal SIgA levels that consumed breast milk only were significantly higher. Fecal HBD-2 and calprotectin levels that consumed formula milk only were highest but not significantly different from the combination group.


Present challenges forfuel cell (FC) commercialisation are related to the material and system limitations, delaying the FC market. Most intensive interests currently for the FCs are concentrated on the polymer electroyte fuel cells (PEFCs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Due to the material constraint the SOFC system has to be operated at high temperature, e.g., 1000 degreesC, resulting in expensive SOFC system and complex technology; while the noble platinum catalyst has to be used for the PEFCs, creating a bottleneck for its commercialisation. In addition, the PEFC system has limited applications due to a shortage of the fuel flexibility, e.g., for hydrocarbon fuels, existing commonly in present fuel infrastructure. There is therefore a need to develop new generation or universal FC system, which can be employed for various applications for both mobile, e.g., electrical vehicles, and stationary, e.g., power generation plant. These request an advanced FC system that should possess of the wide fuel flexibility, i.e., fitting to various present hydrocarbon fiiels, and most importantly, this FC system should be cost-effective and marketable. However the present FC systems themselves alone are difficult to meet these demands due to the, material and system limitations. Our strategy is to develop a new advanced or near universal FC system to combine technological advantage from present FC systems to create a new competitive vis-a-vis FC technology. To realise this strategy a key issue is addressed from the material point of view., This paper thus reviews recent developments/progresses and achievements/applications for R&D on the materials and ITSOFCs, more concerned on the new material-based ITSOFCs.


The aim of this work is to present the state of progress and the main features of the TECO (TEst of COmpetence) project, promoted by the (Italian) National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes with the aim to assess students' learning outcomes in the higher education contest. The results of the 2017-2018 TECO survey (which involved voluntarily over 12,500 nursing, physiotherapy and medical radiology students), showed that attending a university programme makes a difference in development of some competencies, especially for the disciplinary sphere. The analysis will focus on the connections between the characteristics of the students at the beginning of their study career and the achieved level of tested competences. The return of the test results to the students and study programmes' coordinators will be presented and discussed, considering their possible uses in a self-assessment perspective. TECO results and the new indicators that will be originated from this project could prove to be reliable tools for university programmes self-assessment, encouraging the use of evidence-based strategies for higher education improvement.


BACKGROUND
Volvulus of the sigmoid colon is associated with high mortality and high recurrence rate following nonoperative decompression of the colon. Therefore definitive surgery is required for its management.

AIM
To evaluate the outcome following sigmoidopexy (tube sigmoidostomy) as a definitive surgical procedure to prevent recurrence of disease.

METHODS
Seventeen patients with sigmoid volvulus who presented with features of large gut obstruction were studied; 12 patients underwent elective and 5 underwent emergent exploratory laparotomy. Malecot catheter fixed to the sigmoid colon and abdominal wall acted as fixator for the colon and rent for drainage of fecal matter.

RESULTS
Sigmoidostomy started functioning the day following surgery and the stoma remained patent for approximately 12 days, although discharge started decreasing by the 5th postoperative day. No recurrence was noted over a period of 18 (5) months (range 13-23).

CONCLUSIONS
Tube sigmoidostomy is an alternative effective procedure to prevent recurrence of sigmoid volvulus in patients who present without gangrene.


Otitis externa (OE) is defined as an inflammation of the external ear canal and its prevalence is reported to be 5-13%. The pathogenesis of OE is often multifactorial. The PSPP-System identifies and differentiates primary and secondary causes and predisposing and perpetuating factors contributing to OE and helps the clinician to establish a therapeutic plan. For a successful therapy of OE to identify and treat all contributing causes and factors in each individual case. Frequent causes of canine OE are hypersensitivities to food and environmental allergens, foreign bodies and hypothyroidism. To achieve good owner compliance the clinician needs good communication skills. A clinical and otoscopic examination and ear cytology are needed to make the diagnosis of OE. The usefulness of bacterial cultures and susceptibility testing in cases of OE is currently under debate. The gold standard for drug application in OE is topical as higher drug concentrations are achieved in the ear compared to systemic treatment. A lot of commercial ear products and ear cleaners are available. The clinician should be aware of their ingredients, their mode of action and possible ototoxic effects. Short term therapy with systemic glucocorticoids can be useful in cases of stenotic ear canals. Surgery might be the only successful treatment in end-stage otitis externa.


The development of a simple method for the isolation of purified carboxysomes from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC7942 has made it possible to identify a specific and inducible, intracellular carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity that is strongly associated with carboxysomes. This was shown, in part, through enzyme recovery experiments that indicated that a clear majority of a CA activity that is sensitive to the CA inhibitor ethoxyzolamide (I(50) = 4 mum) copurifies with a majority of the cell's ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activity in a highly purified pelletable fraction. Electron microscopy of this pelletable fraction revealed the presence of carboxysomes that were physically intact. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of carboxysome proteins showed that the large and small subunits of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carbosylase/oxygenase were clearly prominent and that several other minor proteins could be distinguished. The specific location of this carboxysomal CA activity is further reinforced by the finding that a previously isolated high CO(2)-requiring mutant, Type II/No. 68 (G.D. Price, M.R. Badger [1989] Plant Physiol 91: 514-525), displayed a 30-fold reduction in carboxysome-associated CA activity when tested under optimal conditions. Carboxysomal CA has the unusual property of being inactivated by dithiothreitol. The enzyme also requires 20 mm Mg(2+) (as MgSO(4)) for near maximum activity; other divalent cations, such as Ca(2+) and Mn(2+), also stimulate carboxysomal CA activity, but to a lesser extent than Mg(2+). Results are discussed in relation to the role of carboxysomes in the CO(2)-concentrating mechanism in cyanobacteria and the role that carboxysomal CA activity appears to play in this process.


The degree of DNA heterogeneity varies between tumors arising in different body sites. Any substantial degree of variability within a given tumor can give rise to significant problems in the interpretation of DNA flow cytometric (FCM) studies. This study was undertaken to evaluate the degree of DNA heterogeneity in cervical carcinomas. A total of 100 3-mm punch biopsies were evaluated from single large cases in 10 sections of cervical carcinoma. Of the 10 tumors, 6 were squamous carcinoma, 1 was an adenocarcinoma, 1 was a mixed small cell and squamous carcinoma, 1 was an adenosquamous cancer, and 1 was a small cell carcinoma with a small area of adenocarcinoma. Adequate histograms were available for 95 (95%) of the samples. Of the 10 cases studied, 9 (90%) revealed homogeneity in the DNA pattern. A solitary case demonstrated heterogeneity in one histogram (nine samples DNA diploid and one sample DNA aneuploid). This case was predominantly small cell undifferentiated carcinoma with focal adenocarcinoma. The area of adenocarcinoma was probably the area that contributed to the heterogeneous FCM pattern. From this study we conclude that for most cervical carcinomas of a specific histologic type there is DNA homogeneity. However, for carcinomas with a mixed morphology, DNA heterogeneity is possible and this must be taken into account in any DNA ploidy studies that include mixed or combined tumors.


Determining the risk priorities for the building stock in highly seismic-prone regions and making the final decisions about the buildings is one of the essential precautionary measures that needs to be taken before the earthquake. This study aims to develop an Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-based model to predict risk priorities for reinforced-concrete (RC) buildings that constitute a large part of the existing building stock. For this purpose, the network parameters in the network structure have been optimized by establishing a hybrid structure with the Genetic Algorithm (GA). As a result, the ANN model can make accurate predictions with maximum efficiency. The suggested ANN model is a feedforward back-propagation network model. It aims to predict the risk priorities for 329 RC buildings in the most successful way, for which the performance score was calculated using the Turkey Rapid Evaluation Method (2013). In this paper, a GA-ANN hybrid model was implemented in which the ANN, using the most successful gene revealed by the model, produced successful results in calculating the performance score. In addition, the required input parameters for obtaining more efficient results in solving such a problem and the parameters that need to be used in establishing such an ANN network structure have been optimized. With the help of such a model, the operation process will be eliminated. The created hybrid model was 98% successful in determining the risk priority in RC buildings.


The world largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans is situated at the western coastal zone of Bangladesh that covers about 40% of the total forest and gives good feedback to the national economy. But for last few years, salinity increasing drastically in this particular region due to sea water intrusion, reduction of fresh water flow and human activities like shrimp farming. In this study both field survey (primary data) and historical (secondary) data were used to assess the present status of salinity rise in Sundarbans area as well as the effect of salinityrise on species destruction like Sundari (Heritiera fomes) which is the climax species of Sundarbans. It was observed that sea level is rising in the Sundarbans coast at the rate of 4 mm/year that is much higher than global trend of 2 mm/year and results more areas to inundate by tidal water. Besides, the water diversion and withdrawal of fresh water in the upstream significantly hampering salt balance system in Sundarbans that leads to permanent and high level of salinity. The soil salinity rise increases with the increase of depth of soil and high level of salinity in the root zone of the plants results a high concentration of sodium salts within the plants body that causes to the reduction of the forest production, restricting the growth of the species like Sundari (Heritiera fomes) and even causes to die.


We investigate the response of photonic crystal (PC) atoms with Kerr nonlinearity to the excitation of ultrashort optical pulses. Surprisingly, it is found that PC atoms with sharp resonant peaks in frequency spectrum (or with large quality factors) can respond to ultrashort pulses very rapidly when Kerr nonlinearity is introduced. More interestingly, the response time under high-power densities can be even shorter than the duration of the pump pulse. It is revealed that the nonlinearity induced broadening of dynamical frequency spectrum is responsible for the ultrafast response time, implying the possibility of ultrafast all-optical switching.


Copper nanowires (Cu NWs) with good crystallinity and high aspect ratio were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method at low temperature, and they were dispersed on a smooth and thin layer of ZnO film to construct a photodetector (PD). This Cu NW/ZnO PD exhibits a remarkably higher UV-visible rejection ratio (∼160), which is almost 13 times that of a bare ZnO PD (12.5) and more than twice that of a Cu film/ZnO PD (67.7). The high UV light selective response of the Cu NW/ZnO PD is caused by the dramatic decrease of the photoresponsivity in the visible light region and the high photocurrent in the UV region due to the presence of a potential barrier between ZnO and Cu NWs. Interestingly, the commonly observed thin layer of CuO (2 nm) on the surface of Cu NWs plays a significant role in the enhanced UV light selective response performance. The results demonstrate that the height of the Schottky barrier and the thickness of the depletion layer are both reduced owing to the oxidized copper layer, which leads to the excellent UV selective response. Our results indicate that Cu NWs, as a multifunctional material, could have diverse applications in the field of optoelectronics. And this detector obtained by a simple preparation method shows great potential in the actual applications in the future.


Background: The ε2, ε3 and ε4 alleles of apolipoprotein (APO) E gene constitute a common polymorphism in most populations, among which the APOEε4 allele is known to increase both the susceptibility and severity of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), and it is also associated with lipid profiles. High serum total cholesterol (TC) level in middle age has been proven to be a risk factor for AD and its related pathology. In addition, sex may alter the risk associated with the APOEε4 allele, and gender-specific APOE gene interactions can alter the response to anticholinesterase therapy. Therefore, sex is an important factor in studying the relationship between the APOE gene, lipid profiles and AD, and the underlying mechanism. However, there are few studies on whether there are differences in the effects of APOEε2 and APOEε4 on AD patients and healthy people of different genders, respectively.Material and methods: A total of 549 participants, including 298 AD patients and 251 body mass index (BMI)-matched health controls (HCs), were enrolled. Lipid profiles and APOE genes in both AD patients and matched controls were determined. The cognitive functions of the AD patients were evaluated using the Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).Results: (1) The levels of TC and LDL in the AD group were higher than those in HCs. Subgroup analysis found that the AD patients with the APOEε4 allele had higher levels of TC and LDL than HCs carrying the APOEε4 allele, while in individuals without the APOEε4 allele. There was no significant difference in TG and HDL levels between the AD group and HCs. (2) The levels of TC and LDL in the APOEε4 carriers were higher than those in non-APOEε4 carriers. Subgroup analysis found that the increase of TC and LDL in the APOEε4 carriers was found in the AD and female populations, but not in HCs and male populations. (3) The levels of TC and LDL in the APOEε2 carriers were lower than those in non-APOEε2 carriers. Subgroup analysis found that the TC of APOEε2 carriers was lower than that of non-carriers in the male AD population, but not in the female AD population, female HCs, and male HCs. (4) The levels of TC, HDL and LDL in the female population were higher than the male population. (5) The increased LDL level may increase the risk of AD in female people carrying APOEε4.Conclusion: AD patients had higher TC and LDL levels than HCs, especially in the population with the APOEε4 allele. The levels of TC and LDL in the APOEε4 carriers were higher than those in non-APOEε4 carriers, especially in the female AD populations. The TC of APOEε2 carriers was lower than that of non-carriers, especially in male AD populations.


Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were analysed by flow cytometry and compared among 43 patients with untreated multiple myeloma (MM), 16 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and 26 controls. The age and sex distributions of the patients and controls were comparable, which is important, since in the controls there was a significant effect of age and/or sex on the number of CD3+, CD57+, CD8+57+, CD16+ and CD3-56+ lymphocyte subsets, and on the CD4+/CD8+ and CD4+Leu-8+/CD4+ ratios. In MM, the number of CD8+ and CD57+ cells and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio were related to the clinical stage. The number of CD20+, CD3+, CD4+, CD16+ and CD3-56+ cells and the CD3+/CD20+ ratio were significantly different in MM patients compared to age- and sex-matched controls as was the number of CD3+ and CD4+ cells of MGUS patients compared to controls. Further, there were significant differences in the CD3+/CD20+ ratio between MM and MGUS patients and between stage I MM and MGUS. The role of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in differentiating monoclonal gammopathies merits further study.


Some body composition changes during lactation in women of Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea, suggest that body fat reserves, measured by changes in weight, diminish during the course of lactation and that subcutaneous fat reserves diminish with parity. The data are discussed in terms of the possible nutritional control of fertility of women in a subsistence economy.


We develop an experimental method to elicit subjective beliefs about the ordering of mortality risk over different causes of death. The experimental procedure emphasizes incentive-compatibility, so that the individual has a positive financial incentive to respond truthfully. We also consider the extent to which individuals have subjective beliefs for sub-segments of the population that are more accurate than their beliefs about the risks for the population as a whole. We propose several hypotheses concerning the degree of familiarity of the risks, and find that the evidence supports those hypotheses. The evidence also suggests that there is no discernible difference between beliefs elicited using hypothetical or real financial rewards in the elicitation format we use. Our findings restore some confidence in the ability to elicit beliefs about mortality risks, and therefore to get reliable estimates of the monetary value of a statistical life.


Western literatures on bereavement acknowledge the tendency to pathological grieving among some bereaved persons. The phenomenon of pathological mourning, however, is rare in Africa because of the presence of coherent and transformative rituals of mourning. This article argues that such rituals and performative experiences heal by addressing four principal aspects of the memory of the bereaved individual. The article elaborates on the content, process, symbolic meanings and clinical potency of these rituals. (author abstract)


We have developed a new time-domain viscoacoustic wave equation for simulating wave propagation in anelastic media. The new wave equation is derived by inserting the complex-valued phase velocity described by the Kjartansson attenuation model into the frequency-wavenumber domain acoustic wave equation. Our wave equation includes one second-order temporal derivative and two spatial variable-order fractional Laplacian operators. The two fractional Laplacian operators describe the phase dispersion and amplitude attenuation effects, respectively. To facilitate the numerical solution for our wave equation, we use the arbitrary-order Taylor series expansion (TSE) to approximate the mixed-domain fractional Laplacians and achieve the decoupling of the wavenumber and the fractional order. Then, our viscoacoustic wave equation can be directly solved using the pseudospectral method. We adopt a hybrid pseudospectral/finite-difference method (HPSFDM) to stably simulate wave propagation in arbitrarily complex media. We validate the high accuracy of our approximate dispersion term and approximate the dissipation term in comparison with the accurate dispersion term and accurate dissipation term. The accuracy of the numerical solutions is evaluated by comparison with the analytical solutions in homogeneous media. Theory analysis and simulation results indicate that our viscoacoustic wave equation has higher precision than the traditional fractional viscoacoustic wave equation in describing constant- Q attenuation. For a model with Q < 10, the calculation cost for solving the new wave equation with TSE HPSFDM is lower than that for solving the traditional fractional-order wave equation with TSE HPSFDM under the high numerical simulation precision. Furthermore, we examine the accuracy of HPSFDM in heterogeneous media using several numerical examples.


The formation of complexes between hexafluorophosphate (PF6- ) and tetraisobutyloctahydroxypyridine[4]arene has been thoroughly studied in the gas phase (ESI-QTOF-MS, IM-MS, DFT calculations), in the solid state (X-ray crystallography), and in chloroform solution (1 H, 19 F, and DOSY NMR spectroscopy). In all states of matter, simultaneous endo complexation of solvent molecules and exo complexation of a PF6- anion within a pyridine[4]arene dimer was observed. While similar ternary complexes are often observed in the solid state, this is a unique example of such behavior in the gas phase.


Sixteen peat sample$ collected at three localities in and around the Sanjiang Plaing were investigated palynologically. Pollen profiles inclicate vegetational $uccessions and cllmatic changes during the Late Helocene. In the plain, Querctts, which is the main component of forests, decllned and .4rte"tisia increased cluring 2,300 year$. In the hMs and mountains around the plain, Pinus and .l7cea were dominant during 1,600 years. These three pollen profiles indicate a cool climate in the Late Holocene.


In this work we describe the search for an Application Programming Interface (API) in Java that contains the functionality to persist data in MongoDB database, working with conversion "objects to JSON " or " JSON to object" and generate application error log was common. The API's surveyed meet certain features in isolation and not as a single interface, therefore it was necessary to create an API to persist data as objects, the "Generous" is an open source project (open source program) where it is can map these objects without the need to use annotations (notes which give information about the code being written) in Java classes just for MongoDB is a database-driven documents that saves records in a JSON format. Keywords: Generous, API, open source, object mapping, MongoDB database


The authors review recent advances in the physics of strongly interacting charged systems functioning in water at room temperature. In these systems, many phenomena go beyond the framework of mean-field theories, whether linear Debye-H\"uckel or nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann, culminating in charge inversion---a counterintuitive phenomenon in which a strongly charged particle, called a macroion, binds so many counterions that its net charge changes sign. The review discusses the universal theory of charge inversion based on the idea of a strongly correlated liquid of adsorbed counterions, similar to a Wigner crystal. This theory has a vast array of applications, particularly in biology and chemistry; for example, in the presence of positive multivalent ions (e.g., polycations), the DNA double helix acquires a net positive charge and drifts as a positive particle in an electric field. This simplifies DNA uptake by the cell as needed for gene therapy, because the cell membrane is negatively charged. Analogies of charge inversion to other fields of physics are also discussed.


Specific routes of migration in the vicinity of a pond in southern England were apparent for both adult and newly-metamorphosed Triturus vulgaris and for adult and juvenile Bufo bufo; no specific routes were apparent for adult and juvenile T, cristatus. For adult T. vulgaris, the major route of immigration was similar in two successive years. Adults and newly-metamorphosed juveniles of this species shared the same major route of emigration. The data suggest that adults 'home' towards the pond from nearby woodland in the spring; the emigration route observed may reflect the previous spatial distribution of the newts within the pond.


Secondary contributions to the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), such as the integrated Sachs–Wolfe (ISW) effect, the thermal Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect, and the effect of gravitational lensing, have distinctive non-Gaussian signatures, and full descriptions therefore require information beyond that contained in their power spectra. The Minkowski Functionals (MF) are well-known as tools for quantifying any departure from Gaussianity and are affected by noise and other sources of confusion in a differentway from the usual methods based on higher-order moments or polyspectra, thus providing complementary tools for CMB analysis and cross-validation of results. In this paper we use the recently introduced skew-spectra associated with the MFs to probe the topology of CMB maps to probe the secondary non-Gaussianity as a function of beam smoothing in order to separate various contributions. We devise estimators for these spectra in the presence of realistic observational masks and present expressions for their covariance as a function of instrumental noise. Specific results are derived for the mixed ISW-lensing and tSZ-lensing bispectra as well as contamination due to point sources for noise levels that correspond to the Planck (143 GHz channel) and Experimental Probe of Inflationary Cosmology (EPIC; 150 GHz channel) experiments. The cumulative signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) for one-point generalized skewness parameters can reach an order of O(10) for Planck and two orders of magnitude higher forEPIC, i.e. O(103). We also find that these three skew-spectra are correlated, having correlation coefficients r ∼ 0.5–1.0; higher l modes are more strongly correlated. Although the values of S/N increase with decreasing noise, the triplets of skew-spectra that determine the MFs become more correlated; the S/N of lensing-induced skew-spectra are smaller compared to that of a frequency-cleaned tSZ map.


Contemporary art & development in Sarajevo: 1996–2005 This article suggests that the comparative study of practicing contemporary artists offers a forward option for development theory and policy. In March 2005, the author interviewed 14 Sarajevo based artists, curators and administrators. Those interviews served to identify points of connection between artistic practice, civil society and development initiatives, as well as essential conditions of difference.


Identifying phase transitions involving the delamination of surfaces in nanocarbon systems is important in characterizing these systems. Subtle variations in structure and bonding may carry important chemical implications. Most molecular visualization programs use an algorithm based on the separation distance between atoms to render the bonds of input structures, which does not necessarily recognize the presence of bonds which are in slightly unusual environments e.g., strained bonds. We present here a reliable method of establishing the breaking of C C bonds during the delamination of a bucky-diamond surface using the electronic charge density, along with a semi-quantitative method of visualizing changes in hybridization of C C bonds. Using this technique the ambiguity associated with the assignment of bonds as sp 3 or sp 2 bonds may be reduced, and a clear picture of the bonding in nanocarbon systems constructed. We further illustrate the usefulness of this new technique by using it to analyze the bonding in some other carbon nanostructures which involve C C bonds in unusual situations.


Writing a research article to any audience entails sharing findings the researcher has found while focusing on evidence-based results. It brings about new insights of research outcomes to add the latest knowledge, hence making the paper outstanding rather than becoming a collection of experts' conveyed ideas. This paper reflected the way apprentice writers could learn how to communicate research findings to a wider audience, explaining their desire to focus on the work's theme and structure to support the author's knowledge claim in demonstrating personal views. The Literature Review section demonstrates the author's ability to present ideas on what is written through positioning these ideas in the context of the study. It is organized in the context of the author's central focus of the study. The Methodology segment of the article explains the research process regarding how data were collected and analysed, to form the basis of argumentation regarding new knowledge. The results section is organized in a clear and logical order. Key results are a central focus upon which the article is built. They are emphasized using visual elements and respondents' direct quotes. The discussion section of an article depends on the nature of research findings. The writer embeds the data, methods and the literature to argue and strengthen the article's claims using evaluative descriptions, considering the significance of earlier research findings in the context of new findings. The way results are presented and discussed in the article, gives the writer the basis to provide concluding remarks and recommendations in relation to research objectives.


Return to "The Great Railway Bazaar" in "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star" as Paul Theroux experiences the journey that launched his travel writing career for the second time. Thirty years ago Paul Theroux left London and travelled across Asia and back again by train. His account of the journey - "The Great Railway Bazaar" - was a landmark book and made his name as the foremost travel writer of his generation. Now Theroux makes the trip all over again to discover the changes that have swept the continents, and also learn what an old man will make of a young man's adventure. Covering his journey through Eastern Europe and Asia, "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star" is a brilliant chronicle of change and an exploration of how travel is 'the saddest of pleasures'. "A brilliant eye, readable and vivid. Theroux has still got it". ("Observer"). "A dazzler, giving us the highs and lows of his journey with tenderness and acerbic humour...fellow travelling weirdoes, amateur taxi drivers, bar-girls and long-suffering locals are brought vividly to life". ("Spectator"). "Fans of Theroux are not likely to be disappointed. Theroux has great descriptive skill...the world is slightly less unknown by virtue of reading the book". ("Sunday Telegraph"). American travel writer Paul Theroux is known for the rich descriptions of people and places that is often streaked with his distinctive sense of irony; his other non-fiction titles, "Riding the Iron Rooster", "The Happy Isles of Oceania", "Sunrise with Seamonsters", "The Kingdom by the Sea", "The Tao of Travel", "The Old Patagonian Express", "The Great Railway Bazaar", "Dark Star Safari", "Fresh-air Fiend", "Sir Vidia's Shadow", "The Pillars of Hercules", and his novels and collections of short stories, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize winner "The Mosquito Coast" are available from Penguin.


The results of 13 interviews, two meetings and a workshop undertaken in 2014 with a select group of stakeholders within electromobility in Norway, show that the stakeholders are optimistic as to the future of electromobility in Norway, providing that the incentives be maintained. Almost all stakeholders interviewed support the official policy to reduce the (GHG) (greenhouse gases) emissions by increasing the number of battery electric vehicles. Nevertheless, the stakeholders realise that the incentives will have to be downsized eventually. However, more charging stations are needed in residential areas without private parking facilities and along the main intercity corridors. Fast-charging stations appear to reduce range anxiety, even though most EV (electric vehicle) owners use them rarely.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

MicroRNAs (miRs) are highly conserved, small RNA molecules that regulate key biological processes. miRs can act as tumor suppressors or oncogenes and their expression is often deregulated in cancers. The miR200 family is found in two clusters at chromosome 1 (miR200ba-429) and 12 (miR200c-141). Downregulation of the miR200 family has been linked to epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and recent studies show that members of this family are regulators of epithelial integrity in many tissues. We have recently shown that D492, a breast epithelial cell line with stem cell properties which generates branching structures when cultured in reconstituted basement membrane (rBM), undergoes EMT in coculture with endothelial cells. This is evidenced by formation of a stable spindle-like phenotype, suppression of keratin expression and cadherin switch from E- to N-cadherin (Sigurdsson et al. PLoS ONE 2011). In this study we have mapped the miRNA expressional changes in D492 compared to its mesenchymal-derivative D492M. Among the most profound changes were suppression of the miR200 family. Treatment of D492M with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine reversed the EMT phenotype and reestablished E-cadherin expression. Bisulfite sequencing showed that the promoter region of miR200c-141 was methylated in D492M but not in D492. No methylation was seen in the promoter regions of E-cadherin or miR200ba-429 in either cell line. Overexpression of miR200c-141 in D492M reversed the EMT phenotype resulting in loss of N-cadherin and Snail expression and gain of E-cadherin and EpCAM expression. Interestingly, overexpression of miR200c-141 in D492M failed to reverse keratin expression back to an epithelial phenotype. When cultured in rBM D492M-200c-141 cells form irregular branching and showed no EMT phenotype. Interestingly, overexpression of miR200c-141 in D492M and D492 inhibits endothelial induced mesenchymal transition in rBM. This indicates that silencing of the miR-200c-141 with promoter methylation is associated with endothelial induced-EMT. In conclusion, our data suggests that overexpression of miR-200c-141 in D492 and D492M inhibits and reverses EMT, respectively, and this support the view that miR200c-141 may be a potent tumor suppressor and important regulator of epithelial integrity in the human breast.

Citation Format: Bylgja Hilmarsdottir, Valgardur Sigurdsson, Jon T. Bergthorsson, Franzdottir R. Sigridur, Magnusson K. Magnus, T Gudjonsson. The breast epithelial stem cell line D492 overexpressing miR200c-141 is resistant to mesenchymal transition. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5318. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-5318