In a previous issue of Tijdschrift voor Filosofie, Filip Buekens argues that evolutionary psychology (EP), or some interpretations thereof, have a corrosive impact on our 'manifest self-image'. Buekens wants to defend and protect the global adequacy of this manifest self-image in the face of what he calls evolutionary revisionism. Although we largely agree with Buekens' central argument, we criticize his analysis on several accounts, making some constructive proposals to strengthen his case. First, Buekens' argument fails to target EP, because his notion of the 'constitutive conditions' of our attitudes is too wide and too extensive. Second, his defense of the global adequacy of our attitudes does not allow for sufficient differentiation to analyze the problem of potential self-refutation with respect to EP. Third, his account of knowledge about constitutive conditions, and its impact on our self-image, is problematic. We provide a more detailed explanation for the pervasiveness of evolutionary revisionism and other misconceptions about EP. Finally, we consider in what sense EP may legitimately affect our self-image, and whether it can truly inspire corrections of our view of human nature.


Hydrates of natural gases like methane have become subject of great interest over the last few decades, mainly because of their potential as energy resource. The exploitation of these natural gases from gas hydrates is seen as a promising mean to solve future energetic problems. Furthermore, gas hydrates play an important role in gas transportation and gas storage: in pipelines, particularly in tubes and valves, gas hydrates are formed and obstruct the gas flow. This phenomenon is called "plugging" and causes high operational expenditure as well as precarious safety conditions. In this work, research on the formation of gas hydrates under pipeline-like conditions, with the aim to predict induction times as a mean to evaluate the plugging potential, is described.


Intelligent and precision medical treatment is the future development trend of surgical operations. We proposed a core architecture of orthopedic robots with human-like thinking based on the growing demand for orthopedic robots and disadvantages of current robots, it consists of brain, eyes and hands three modules according to functions. The architecture design is extremely in line with the doctor's logic so that the work process of the orthopedic robot is similar to the process of traditional surgery which is mainly done by the doctor's brain-eye-hand coordination. It realizes the digitization of the doctor's thinking, the immediacy and visualization of surgical information and the accuracy of surgical operation process. The clinical application proved that the orthopedic robot has the advantages of higher accuracy, less radiation and shorter operation time, which can be further promoted clinically.


The female reproductive system consists of the ovary, oviduct, uterus, and vagina. This chapter will discuss how these organs look like under the microscope and what types of ultrastructural tissues are present in it, how the shape and physiology of the tissues/cells change with the physiological activities including reproductive cycles, what type of alterations occurs in the ovary during ovulation and how its follicle and epithelium differ, and how the ovulation takes place. The chapter will also elaborate how the lining epithelium and the tract mucosa facilitate the fertilized ovum and conceptus. Also, the chapter is highlighting the architectural changes within the mucosa of the uterus during and after pregnancy and type of ovary and spermatozoa that is most suitable for fertilization.


A determination of the quantized Hall resistance in terms of the SI ohm as realized at the National Measurement Laboratory (Australia) was reported in 1988. The 1988 result was RK = [1 + 9,2(6,6) × 10-8] RK-90. A new determination has been completed, with reassessments of the various corrections and uncertainties. The new, 1995, result is RK = [1 + 0,4(4,4) × 10-8] RK-90.


Smart vehicles are emerging as a possible solution for multiple concerns in road traffic, such as mobility and safety. This work presents radio localization methods based on simultaneous direction of arrival (DOA), time-delay, and range estimation using the SAGE algorithm. The proposed methods do not rely on external sources of information, such as global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). The proposed methods take advantage of signals of opportunity and do not require the transmission of location-specific signals; therefore, they do not increase the network load. A set of simulations using synthetic and measured data is provided to validate the proposed methods, and the results show that it is possible to achieve accuracy down to decimeter and centimeter-level.


AIDS and the Eye by Drs Stenson and Friedberg is a concise, wellillustrated, and well-referenced "mini-text," with 7 short chapters on the subject of human immunodeficiency virus infection and how it affects the eye and the orbit. Its brevity stimulates the reader to pick it up. The first chapter gives a concise but encompassing discussion that reviews important aspects of human immunodeficiency virus infectious activity. The second chapter discusses prevention of infection and summarizes current recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Ophthalmic involvement is covered in the next 4 chapters, which review manifestations of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in the anterior segment, retina, choroid, orbit, and the eyeassociated neurologic system. The final chapter covers systemic manifestations of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. For the reader who wants more, the references are generous but pertinent. Also noteworthy


Si-based nanosheet bundles were formed by Ca-atom extraction from CaSi2 crystals by thermal treatment using FeCl2, FeCl3, NH4Cl, and MgCl2. The morphological property of the Si-based nanosheet bundles was examined. Though the Si-based nanosheets were formed under the stated thermal treatment conditions using FeCl3, the formation of iron-oxide phases was accelerated at higher temperatures and longer duration times for the highest thermal treatment temperatures using FeCl2. Thinner and thicker nanosheets were obtained using NH4Cl and MgCl2, respectively. The morphological properties of the Si-based nanosheet bundles were compared to each other and their formation mechanism was discussed in terms of the thermal instability of the chlorides, their vapor pressure and thermal treatment temperature profiles. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2018.218]


BackgroundDespite the existence of laws that ensure that patients' capacity to consent is assessed systematically, many gray areas remain with that regard. As dementia progresses, some patients lose their capacity to make decisions. This study aimed to investigate the geriatricians' understanding of the principle of autonomy and their perception of the decision-making capacity (DMC) testing as part of the informed consent (IC) process among patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Proposing an algorithm for a reliable, comprehensive, and valid assessment of DMC was the secondary aim of this study.MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive study was designed to empirically collect data via an e-survey. Accordingly, a comprehensive list of geriatricians was provided by the Lebanese Order of Physicians. Geriatricians were approached via a phone call, to provide them with study-specific information. Those who accepted to participate received a link to the study's survey via e-mail.ResultsAmong the eligible geriatricians, 75% had completed the e-survey, with a mean of 14.7 ± 9.6 years of experience. More than half of the geriatricians failed to recognize that assessing the patients' DMC is an integral component of the IC process. Yet, 88.9% assessed the DMC of their patients with AD using different modalities. However, the majority were unable to justify their judgment of DMC based on the tools they have selected.ConclusionLebanese geriatricians have demonstrated a poor understanding of the concept of autonomy and failed to recognize the need for the DMC assessment as a component of the IC's process. Moreover, they were unable to select adequate tools to assess and judge the DMC of their patients with AD.


To determine the relationship between the sampling time of the environmental monitoring, i.e., viable counts, in aseptic filling areas and the microbial count and frequency of alerts for air, surface and personnel microbial monitoring, statistical analyses were conducted on 1) the frequency of alerts versus the time of day for routine environmental sampling conducted in calendar year 1994, and 2) environmental monitoring data collected at 30-minute intervals during routine aseptic filling operations over two separate days in four different clean rooms with multiple shifts and equipment set-ups at a parenteral manufacturing facility. Statistical analyses showed, except for one floor location that had significantly higher number of counts but no alert or action level samplings in the first two hours of operation, there was no relationship between the number of counts and the time of sampling. Further studies over a 30-day period at the floor location showed no relationship between time of sampling and microbial counts. The conclusion reached in the study was that there is no worst case time for environmental monitoring at that facility and that sampling any time during the aseptic filling operation will give a satisfactory measure of the microbial cleanliness in the clean room during the set-up and aseptic filling operation.


WiMAX ("Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access") technology is developed to meet the growing demand of increased data rate and accessing the internet at high speeds. 802.16 family of standards is officially called Wireless MAN in IEEE. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is multicarrier modulation technique used in IEEE 802.16d (fixed WiMAX) communication standard. OFDM is used to increase data rate of wireless medium with higher spectral efficiency. The proposed work is to evaluate performance of IEEE Std 802.16d transceiver in MATLAB R2009b simulink environment. System performance evaluated using BER vs SNR for different modulation technique such as 4 QAM, 16 QAM, 64 QAM under different channel condition.


With the continuous research on lignin-based sorbents, there are still limitations in the research of spherical sorbents with a high adsorption capacity for Pb2+. In order to solve the problem of low adsorption effect, alkali lignin (AL) was modified and assembled to increase the adsorption active sites. In this work, we used dual-modified lignin (DML) as a raw material to assemble a singular lignin-based multilayer microsphere (LMM) with sodium alginate (SA) and dopamine. The prepared adsorbent had various active functional groups and spherical structures; the specific surface area was 2.14 m2/g and the average pore size was 8.32 nm. The adsorption process followed the Freundlich isotherm and the second-order kinetic model. Therefore, the LMM adsorbed Pb2+ ascribed by the electrostatic attraction and surface complexation; the adsorption capacity was 250 mg/g. The LMM showed a selective adsorption performance for Pb2+ and the adsorption capacity followed the order Pb2+ (187.4 mg/g) > Cu2+(168.0 mg/g) > Mn2+(166.5 mg/g). After three cycles, the removal efficiency of Pb2+ by the LMM was 69.34%, indicating the reproducibility of LMM.


The purposes of this study are to describe experience with the safety and long-term efficacy of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) of pulmonary sequestration in neonates and to introduce a new technique of embolization by an umbilical-artery route. TAE was performed in five neonates, via the femoral artery in one and the umbilical artery in four. Complete regression was achieved in four cases and partial regression (>90%) was obtained in one. TAE is a safe and effective alternative therapeutic modality for the treatment of pulmonary sequestration. The umbilical artery represents a preferable route for performing embolization in neonates.


With one single poem you will practice many verb tenses and much useful vocabulary. Excellent way to improve listening and speaking skills in English and good training for international exams such as TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge PET, FCE, CAE, CPE, etc.


Growth impairment occurs with many chronic conditions. Cystic fibrosis, Crohn's disease and juvenile idiopathic arthritis are relatively common chronic diseases in childhood associated with substantial growth impairment. While growth failure may be the initial presenting feature of pathology, the pattern of growth is also a useful measure of disease severity and response to treatment. In addition to its diagnostic value, the resulting short stature cannot only be unacceptable to patients but can also have detrimental effects on the physical health of patients with conditions such as cystic fibrosis. Growth impairment in children with chronic disease is associated with disruption of the growth hormone (GH)–insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis, and predominantly results from undernutrition, chronic inflammation and prolonged corticosteroid treatment. Undernutrition leads to major adaptations in the endocrine system geared towards conserving energy, diverting substrates away from growth and reproduction, and providing alternative sources of energy for critical body homeostasis. Although chronic inflammatory processes exacerbate undernutrition, proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β also adversely affect growth, independent of nutrition, by disrupting the integrity of the GH–IGF axis and by direct local effects on growth plate chondrogenesis. These growth-regulating mechanisms are disturbed further by corticosteroids used in some chronic conditions for their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties. It is likely that the growth-suppressing processes slow growth plate senescence, and this in turn enables catch-up growth on recovery from chronic disease and withdrawal of corticosteroid treatment. Trials of recombinant human GH (rhGH) in patients with growth failure suggest improvement in linear growth as well as beneficial effects on body composition and clinical course. These have been of relatively short duration, and long-term benefits as well as the safety of rhGH need to be evaluated particularly when given concomitantly with corticosteroids.


SUMMARY: Pantothenate starvation of Zymomonas mobilis resulted in a simultaneous decrease of both the molecular growth yield and of the specific growth rate, when the organism was grown on glucose. In all treatments the rate of cellular catabolic activity, i.e. the rate of glucose fermentation per unit of dry weight of organism, remained constant. These experiments showed that for Z. mobilis, as for numerous other organisms, anabolic processes do not control catabolic activity.


ABSTRACT Background Although positive effects of physical activity on mental health indicators have been reported, the relationship between physical activity and the development of specific mental disorders is unclear. Method A cross-sectional (12-month) and prospective-longitudinal epidemiological study over 4 years in a community cohort of 2548 individuals, aged 14–24 years at outset of the study. Physical activity and mental disorders were assessed by the DSM-IV Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) with an embedded physical activity module. Multiple logistic regression analyses controlling for age, gender and educational status were used to determine the cross-sectional and prospective associations of mental disorders and physical activity. Results Cross-sectionally, regular physical activity was associated with a decreased prevalence of any and co-morbid mental disorder, due to lower rates of substance use disorders, anxiety disorders and dysthymia. Prospectively, subjects with regular physical activity had a substantially lower overall incidence of any and co-morbid mental disorder, and also a lower incidence of anxiety, somatoform and dysthymic disorder. By contrast, the incidence of bipolar disorder was increased among those with regular physical activity at baseline. In terms of the population attributable fraction (PAF), the potential for preventive effects of physical activity was considerably higher for men than for women. Conclusions Regular physical activity is associated with a substantially reduced risk for some, but not all, mental disorders and also seems to reduce the degree of co-morbidity. Further examination of the evidently complex mechanisms and pathways underlying these associations might reveal promising new research targets and procedures for targeted prevention.


The atmosphere is an extremely complex fluid with nonlinear interactions over a wide range of scales. In order to help new and existing meteorologists better understand the atmosphere the Bureau of Meteorology Training Centre (BMTC) has developed a wide range of Computer Aided Learning (CAL) modules for visualising atmospheric processes and phenomena. These range from simple demonstration models for atmospheric processes to the animated display of satellite imagery and numerical prediction model output. This paper discusses the approaches used by BMTC. Examples of CAL modules illustrating these approaches will be demonstrated and are also available through ftp (ftp.met.ed.ac.uk).


Background: Metabolomics is useful in elucidating the progression of diabetes; however, the follow-up changes in metabolomics among health, diabetes mellitus, and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) have not been reported. This study was aimed to reveal metabolomic signatures in diabetes development and progression. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we compared healthy (n = 30), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) (n = 30), and DKD (n = 30) subjects with the goal of identifying gradual altering metabolites. Then, a prospective study was performed in T2DM patients to evaluate these altered metabolites in the onset of DKD. Logistic regression was conducted to predict rapid eGFR decline in T2DM subjects using altered metabolites. The prospective association of metabolites with the risk of developing DKD was examined using logistic regression and restricted cubic spline regression models. Results: In this cross-sectional study, impaired amino acid metabolism was the main metabolic signature in the onset and development of diabetes, which was characterized by increased N-acetylaspartic acid, L-valine, isoleucine, asparagine, betaine, and L-methionine levels in both the T2DM and DKD groups. These candidate metabolites could distinguish the DKD group from the T2DM group. In the follow-up study, higher baseline levels of L-valine and isoleucine were significantly associated with an increased risk of rapid eGFR decline in T2DM patients. Of these, L-valine and isoleucine were independent risk factors for the development of DKD. Notably, nonlinear associations were also observed for higher baseline levels of L-valine and isoleucine, with an increased risk of DKD among patients with T2DM. Conclusion: Amino acid metabolism was disturbed in diabetes, and N-acetylaspartic acid, L-valine, isoleucine, asparagine, betaine, and L-methionine could be biomarkers for the onset and progression of diabetes. Furthermore, high levels of L-valine and isoleucine may be risk factors for DKD development.


Parameters like the sun angle as well as the measurement angle mostly are not taken into account when simulating because their influence on the reflectivity is weak. Therefore the impact of a changing measurement and illumination angle on the reflectivity is investigated. Furthermore the impact of humidity and chlorophyll in the scenery is studied by analyzing reflectance spectra of different vegetative background areas. It is shown that the measurement as well as the illumination angle has an important influence on the absolute reflection values which raises the importance of measurements of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF).


Abstract A marimba bar's modal behaviour is governed by the shape of its 'undercut'. Manufacturers typically shape these undercuts to tune up to three modes for specified frequencies. With only three or fewer partials to tune, numerous bar geometries may yield the desired results. Different manufacturers will employ different techniques to arrive at suitable bar geometries. This diversity in tuning approaches, coupled with the natural variability of wood, results in a multitude of undercut shapes. Two bars may produce the same musical note despite plainly visible differences in undercut geometry. This work uses experimental modal analysis to investigate the variability of marimba bar modal behaviour. Measurements are performed on numerous bars of the same note. Geometric data, including overall dimensions and mass, are recorded for each bar. Several manufacturers are represented in the resulting data set, including Yamaha, Musser and Marimba One. Variability of the tuned and untuned modal frequencies are of primary interest. Untuned torsional modes may compromise bar performance if their frequencies are near those of the tuned modes. The proximity of these untuned mode frequencies to those of the tuned modes is therefore also investigated. Results are presented comparing bar performance both between brands and within a brand.


Four new mononuclear/coordination polymeric (CP) zinc(II) complexes (1-4) of ferrocenyl/pyridyl-functionalized dithiocarbamate ligands, N-ferrocenylmethyl-N-butyl dithiocarbamate (L1), N-ferrocenylmethyl-N-ethylmorpholine dithiocarbamate (L2), N-ferrocenylmethyl-N-2-(diethylamino)ethylamine dithiocarbamate (L3), and N-4-methoxybenzyl-N-3-methylpyridyl dithiocarbamate (L4), have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, IR, UV-vis, and 1H and 13C{1H} NMR spectroscopic techniques. The solid-state structures of complexes 1, 3, and 4 have been determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography as well as powder X-ray diffraction. Single-crystal X-ray crystallography revealed a monomeric structure for complex 1 but 1D polymeric structures for complexes 3 and 4. In all complexes, dithiocarbamate ligands are bonded to the Zn(II) metal ion in a S^S chelating mode, and in the CPs, N atoms on the 2-(diethylamino)ethylamine and 3-pyridyl functionalities in the ligands on the neighboring molecules are also bonded to metal centers, leading to the formation of either a discrete tetrahedral molecule in 1 or 1D CP structures in 3 and 4. The Zn(II) metal centers in the polymeric structures exhibited either square-pyramidal or octahedral geometries. The supramolecular structures in these complexes are sustained via C-H···π (ZnCS2, chelate; 3 and 4), C-H···π, and H···H interactions. The catalytic performances of complexes have also been assessed in the Knoevenagel condensation and one-pot multicomponent reactions. Catalysis results showed that the CP 3 acts as a heterogeneous bifunctional catalyst with excellent transformation efficiency at low catalyst loading.


Current multicore platforms contain different types of cores, organized in clusters (e.g., ARM's big.LITTLE). These platforms deal with concurrently executing applications, having varying workload profiles and performance requirements. Runtime management is imperative for adapting to such performance requirements and workload variabilities and to increase energy and temperature efficiency. Temperature has also become a critical parameter since it affects reliability, power consumption, and performance and, hence, must be managed. This paper proposes an accurate temperature prediction scheme coupled with a runtime energy management approach to proactively avoid exceeding temperature thresholds while maintaining performance targets. Experiments show up to 20% energy savings while maintaining high-temperature averages and peaks below the threshold. Compared with state-of-the-art temperature predictors, this paper predicts 35% faster and reduces the mean absolute error from 3.25 to 1.15 °C for the evaluated applications' scenarios.


: Vertical search engines use focused crawlers as their key component and develops some specific algorithms to select web pages relevant to some pre-defined set of topics. Therefore, to effectively build up a semantic pattern for specific topics it is extremely important for such search engines. Crawlers are software which can traverse the internet and retrieve web pages by hyperlinks. A focused crawler traverses the web selecting out relevant pages to a predefined topic and neglecting those out for prioritizing the URL queue. While surfing the internet it is difficult to deal with method that analyzes the reference-information among the pages, relevant pages and to predict which links lead to quality pages. In our proposed work we calculate the link score based on page rank and average relevancy score of parent pages (because we know that the parent page is always related to child page which means that for detailed information any author prefers the child page). After finding out the link score, we compare the link score with some threshold value. If link score is greater than or equal to threshold value, then it is relevant link. Otherwise, it is discarded. Focused crawler first fetches that link which has greater value compared to all link scores and


Abstract #108 Background : The presence of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in bone marrow of women with newly diagnosed breast cancer has been associated with increased risk of recurrent disease development. We have previously described a 67-gene signature associated with the presence of DTCs using gene array analysis after immunomagnetic enrichment of these cells and found that the expression of one of the 67-genes in bone marrow of breast cancer patients, TWIST1 , correlated with the development of early recurrent disease. We have now tested the remaining genes in the 67-gene signature for correlation with the development of recurrent disease. Our goal is to identify genes associated with DTCs with high metastatic potential for early detection and intervention.
 Methods : Expression of each of the 67 genes was analyzed using qRT-PCR in a breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, SKBR3, MDA/MB 231) diluted into normal human bone marrow at varying concentrations. Levels of expression in the breast cancer cells and in human bone marrow were quantitated. Genes with high expression in breast cancer cell lines and no observed expression in normal human bone marrow were further tested by qRT-PCR for expression in a validation set of bone marrows comprised of 50 specimens collected from 30 patients with clinical stage II/III breast cancer prior to any treatment. Thirteen of these patients developed recurrent disease within 16 months.
 Results : Within the 67 gene signature, 5 genes were identified that were highly expressed in breast cancer cell lines and had no detectable expression in normal human bone marrow. Expression of the 5 genes as well as keratin 19 were examined in the validation set of bone marrows. PITX2 was expressed in the bone marrow of 5 of the 13 patients who recurred within one year. Only expression of TWIST1 and PITX2 were found to correlate with the time to development of early recurrent disease (p Conclusion : We have found that the expression of TWIST1 and PITX2 in the bone marrow of breast cancer patients prior to any treatment identifies patients at risk of early distant disease recurrence. These genes are not expressed in normal human bone marrow. Both are transcription factors involved in the embryonic development and appear to be expressed by DTCs with high metastatic potential. Expression of TWIST1 and PITX2 may prove to be excellent markers for identifying women at high risk for distant relapse and lead to new targets for chemotherapeutic intervention. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 108.


We classify the equilibrium solutions of the Smoluchowski equation for dipolar (extended) rigid nematic polymers under imposed elongational flow. The Smoluchowski equation couples the Maier-Saupe short-range interaction, dipole-dipole interaction, and an external elongational flow. We show that all stable equilibria of rigid, dipolar rod dispersions under imposed uniaxial elongational flow field are axisymmetric. This finding of axisymmetry significantly simplifies any procedure of obtaining experimentally observable equilibria.


ABSTRACT Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play significant roles in the tumorigenesis and progression of various cancers, including lung adenocarcinoma (LAC). However, their underlying biological functions in LAC remain unclear. Here, we investigated the tumor suppressor role of the newly identified circRNA, circ_0129047, in LAC tumorigenesis and progression. The expression levels of circ_0129047, microRNA (miR)-1206, and bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (BMPR2) mRNA in LAC cells and tissues were monitored using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Dual-luciferase reporter, RNA immunoprecipitation, and RNA pull-down assays were used to confirm the targeting relationships among circ_0129047, miR-1206, and BMPR2 mRNA. Functional experiments for A549 and PC9 cells were performed using cell counting kit-8, bromodeoxyuridine enzyme-linked immunosorbent, caspase-3 activity, cell adhesion, wound healing, and transwell assays. Circ_0129047 expression levels were reduced in LAC cells and tissues. Mechanistically, we discovered that circ_0129047 could sponge miR-1206, and miR-1206 could directly target BMPR2. In addition, circ_0129047 or BMPR2 knockdown facilitated the viability, proliferation, adhesion, migration, and invasion, while inhibiting the apoptosis of LAC cells. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects of circ_0129047 or BMPR2 overexpression on the malignant phenotype of LAC cells could be reversed by the overexpression of miR-1206. In conclusion, circ _0129047 was found to play a tumor suppressive role in LAC progression; it upregulated BMPR2 expression to inhibit LAC progression by sponging miR-1206. Abbreviations: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); small cell lung cancer (SCLC); lung adenocarcinoma (LAC); Circular RNA (circRNA); MicroRNA (miRNA); bone morphogenetic protein (BMP); squamous cell lung cancer (SCC); RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) Graphical abstract


Objectives : Cardiovascular risk can be predicted using lipid ratios such as the atherogenic index which is defined as the base 10 logarithm of the ratio of plasma triglyceride (TG) to high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) – it is a useful prognostic parameter for guiding timely interventions and has also been employed as a predictor of cardiovascular risk. However, this is rarely used in the clinical practice in developing countries including Nigeria. Methods : This study was a hospital-based cross-sectional study of 382 hypertensive and diabetic patients attending outpatient clinics of a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. Atherogenic risk profile, was categorized as low risk ( 0.24). Predictors were established using regression analysis. Level of significance was set at p-value of <0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Results : The mean age of participants was 56±12 years, 31.4% of participants had high atherogenic risk. This was higher among female patients (60.0%). Participants with high TC, high LDL, uncontrolled blood pressure had odds of 1.64, 1.43 and 1.17 times of developing high atherogenic risk respectively. Conclusion: A significant proportion of participants in this study population were at risk of developing atherosclerosis. Key identified populations at risk of CVD should be considered for routine artherogenic assessment. Keywords : Atherogenic, indices, hypertension, diabetes


The present paper will look into the relationship between emerging markets and Europe in a twofold way. First, the paper will discuss the question from a European perspective, and investigate what impact emerging market patents may have on Europe. Second, the paper will briefly address the issue from the emerging market perspective, and examine how Europe may affect emerging market patent systems. The paper will conclude that the discussions about the current surge of emerging market patent filings reveal a fundamental tension between two different patent discourses: a more conventional/legal narrative employing patents as policy tools to stimulate innovation, and a more contemporary/economic approach looking at patents as market instruments. Only when both those discourses are taken into account, and measures are contemplated addressing those two facets of patents, can a meaningful response to the current emerging market patent tsunami be developed.


A study of induced antibiotic tolerance of clinical isolates Klebsiella pneumoniae sensitive to meropenem and amikacin revealed the formation of phenotypically heterogeneous persisters in them, represented by the SCV (small colony variant) and NCV (normal colony variant) forms. There was no correlation of persister formation between these antimicrobial drugs (R=-0.37), which indicates different mechanisms of tolerance to antibiotics. The ability of amikacin to induce the formation of SCV persisters was higher than that of meropenem (p-level > 0.05), and the synergistic effect of both drugs contributed to a decrease in their number, to a maximum of 80.0%. At the same time, SCV-persists of K.pneumoniae were characterized by a short-term increase in adaptive resistance to antibiotics, which were used as inducers of the formation of persistent bacterium fractions (p-level > 0.05), which may contribute to their more effective survival in media with antibiotics.


Parasitic diseases of the biliary tract occur frequently in tropical and subtropical areas and cause high morbidity and mortality. In general, neither the clinical presentation nor the general laboratory findings are sufficiently unique to raise the possibility of a parasitic biliary infestation in the mind of the surgeon. Once considered, however, the presence of a parasitic biliary infestation is easily confirmed. Most commonly this is accomplished by the identification of the parasite in stools or duodenal contents. Ultrasonography, CT and MRI are not only important in the diagnosis of parasitic biliary diseases but also in the follow-up and surveillance. ERCP is an excellent diagnostic tool for demonstrating the presence of parasites in the biliary tree. Furthermore, ERCP is also used in the therapy of biliary parasitic infestations and carries less morbidity and mortality than the surgical approach. Surgery is only indicated in complicated cases. Mechanisms that may be effective against parasites include: antibodies; cytotoxic T cells; T-cell-induced activated macrophages; natural killer cells, and a variety of cells that mediate antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and modulators of the immune system such as cytokines. Future research has to focus on the importance of these mechanisms for the immune evasion by parasites.


This article considers energy disaggregation at substations (EDS) where the objective is to estimate the consumption of each load from aggregate measurements, in which whether or not some loads are consuming power is unknown to the operator. The existing EDS method cannot provide any reliability measure of the disaggregation results, while the disaggregation accuracy can vary significantly for different data due to the volatility of loads such as the solar generation. This article proposes a Bayesian-dictionary-learning-based approach to disaggregate the loads and provides an uncertainty measure of the returned estimation. Our approach learns the probability distributions of the load patterns and the decomposition coefficients from recorded data with partial labels at the offline stage. In real-time disaggregation of the obtained aggregate data, our approach computes the mean and covariance of the probability distribution of each load consumption, estimates the load using the mean, and computes the uncertainty index based on the covariance. Numerical experiments indicate that our method achieves improved disaggregation accuracy over the existing EDS method, and the uncertainty index measures the reliability of the returned estimation accurately.


Myriads of biological processes occur in or at cellular lipid membranes. Knowledge about the localization of proteins, lipids, and other molecules within biological membranes is thus crucial for the understanding of such processes. Here, we present a method to determine the immersion depths of lipid carbon atoms in membranes by paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) caused by the presence of doxylated lipids. As membrane mimetics, we employ small isotropic bicelles made of synthetic lipids and of natural Escherichia coli phospholipid extract. Bicelles are particularly suitable for solution state NMR since they maintain a lipid bilayer while they are at the same time amenable to solution state NMR experiments. PREs were measured in the presence of different doxylated lipids with the nitroxide radical located in the headgroup and at various positions in the acyl chain. Theoretical PREs were calculated assuming a simple bicelle model using the Solomon-Bloembergen equations. Immersion depths of the lipid carbon atoms were obtained by a least-squares fit of the theoretical to the experimental PREs. The carbon immersion depths correspond well to results obtained by other methods and differences do not exceed 3-5 Å. This means that the method presented here provides sufficient resolution to distinguish the localization of carbons in different regions of the lipid bilayer, despite considerable simplifications of the underlying theory. These simplifications include a simple form of the spectral density function, which we find is sufficient to reliably determine immersion depths. A more complicated spectral density function that includes bicelle, lipid, and local motions may only improve the results if its parametrization is good enough. The approach presented here may be extended to the determination of protein localization in membranes employing realistic membrane mimetics like the bicelles made of E. coli phospholipid extract used here.


The mechanisms of crystalline cellulose degradation by cellulases are of paramount importance for the exploitation of these enzymes in applied processes, such as biomass conversion. Cellulases have traditionally been classified into cellobiohydrolases, which are effective in the degradation of crystalline materials, and endoglucanases, which appear to act on "soluble" regions of the substrate. Humicola insolensCel6A (CBH II) is a cellobiohydrolase from glycoside hydrolase family 6 whose native structure has been determined at 1.9 A resolution [Varrot, A., Hastrup, S., Schülein, M., and Davies, G. J. (1999) Biochem. J. 337, 297-304]. Here we present the structure of the catalytic core domain of Humicola insolens cellobiohydrolase II Cel6A in complex with glucose/cellotetraose at 1.7 A resolution. Crystals of Cel6A, grown in the presence of cellobiose, reveal six binding subsites, with a single glucose moiety bound in the -2 subsite and cellotetraose in the +1 to +4 subsites. The complex structure is strongly supportive of the assignment of Asp 226 as the catalytic acid and consistent with proposals that Asp 405 acts as the catalytic base. The structure undergoes several conformational changes upon substrate binding, the most significant of which is a closing of the two active site loops (residues 174-196 and 397-435) with main-chain movements of up to 4.5 A observed. This complex not only defines the polysaccharide-enzyme interactions but also provides the first three-dimensional demonstration of conformational change in this class of enzymes.


Australian Pentecostals, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, are speaking new tongues in their worship practices, forming new poetic languages of singing and conversation relevant for spatially dislocated twenty-first-century life. Using Nimi Wariboko's three-city model offered in Charismatic City and the Public Resurgence of Religion, this article assesses Australian pentecostal worship practice in light of his "Charismatic City." The article suggests that this emergent, poetic language of Spirit empowerment situates the worshipper in a rhizomatic network that flows with pentecostal energies, forming a new commons or space that is the basis of its global civil society. It presents two local case studies from Hillsong Church's pneumatological song repertoire (1996–2006), and yarning conversation rituals at Ganggalah Church led by Aboriginal Australian pastors. These new languages identify and attune participants to the Spirit's work in the world, particularly useful for urban cities and cyberspace.


"This isn't really, and never has been, a debate about science. It's about religion and philosophy."—Phillip E. Johnson (author of Darwin on Trial, cited in Belz, 1996, p. 18)

As many may have noticed, the theory of evolution has been under direct and unprecedented attack across the United States in the last few years. These attacks have been and are occurring on many different fronts within our society, weaving their way through education, the media, and the courts. While the most obvious assault has been from the growing number of state and local school boards that are considering allowing the teaching of alternative theories to evolution in the classroom (Branch, 2005), there also are areas outside of K–12 education that have been witnessing the promotion of religious creationism, in the form of Intelligent Design, and the denigration of science in the form of attacks on evolution. All of which have left scientists, particularly evolutionary biologists and paleobiologists, alarmed and concerned about the integrity of science, particularly evolution.

Editorials in the New York Times from a prominent Catholic bishop suggesting that the Church should consider altering or clarifying its position on evolution (Schonborn, 2005); films that contain creationist perspectives being shown at the Smithsonian; IMAX films containing evolution being banned from public showings in Arkansas (Dean, 2005); creationist-themed museums opening up in various states (Bloom, 2005; Johnston 2005; Pierce, 2005); the rise of the home-schooling movement, often with a Bible-based curricula (Hill, 2000; Davis and Kenyon, 2004); and President Bush voicing his advocacy for teaching the controversy [between creationism and evolution] because he feels "like both sides ought to be properly taught" (Baker and Slevin, 2005)—are all examples of the encroachment of creationism into the social fabric of (mostly) American life.

In the courts, a lawsuit was …


We use molecular simulation to determine solvation free energies, isochoric solvation energies and entropies, isobaric solvation enthalpies and entropies, partial molecular volumes, and isothermal density derivatives of the solvation free energy as a function of temperature and pressure for hard-sphere solutes with diameters ranging from 4 to 36 Å in TIP4P/2005 and Jagla water-like solvents exhibiting unusual thermodynamics. An important piece of our discussion focuses on the nanometer-sized solutes, for which simulation results are found to be accounted for by the most basic classical thermodynamic treatment contemplating bulk and interfacial contributions to the solvation free energy. Thus, since water's liquid-vapor surface tension is only special inasmuch as it takes unusually large values, solvent's water-like unusual thermodynamics manifests through a term proportional to the pressure in the solvation free energy. As a result, such solvent's unusual thermodynamics is found to be relevant to the temperature and pressure dependence of the isochoric solvation energy and entropy as well as to the isothermal density derivative of the solvation free energy. This sharply contrasts with the findings of the first part of this series indicating that the solvation free energy of small hard spheres responds to temperature and pressure changes as solvent's density does, with such a contrasting picture embodying a "pressure-density dichotomy." As for the length-scale dependence, we find the zero nominal pressure and the solvent's temperature of the maximum density as singular conditions for cavity surface-area size scaling of large solutes to occur for all solvation quantities. We finally argue that the overall study undertaken in this series suggests that water's unusual thermodynamics may be relevant to the thermodynamic stability of clusters of solvophobic units in the temperature-pressure plane. Some comments on the role of solute-solvent attractive interactions are also depicted.


Small-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems of up to a few kilowatts capacities are becoming increasingly available and affordable for off-grid installations. However, in our experience with using PV energy in farming in India, we found that many installations had faults or were lying underutilized. Though integrating such systems into IoT applications is now practical, analyzing the system's performance and utilization requires knowledge of the components and the system design. Off-band infusion of this knowledge into the software applications leads to tight coupling and vertical silos. To address this challenge, we have developed an ontology to describe small-scale PV installations, which enables us to represent subsystems and their components in the form of Web of Things (WoT) Thing Descriptions. We show that our approach results in technical and semantic integration of the PV system into IoT applications, allowing the development of reusable fault detection and optimization programs. This reduces the cost of developing solutions to monitor and optimize the usage of PV systems, thereby bringing benefits to the farming community by improving their livelihood.


Because males and females of internally inseminating species interact directly during mating, adaptations in one sex in primary reproductive traits may trigger an evolutionary response in the other sex. Divergent postcopulatory sexual selection is considered the main driving force behind the evolution of many male and female reproductive traits, generating unique morphologies and physiologies that can contribute to reproductive isolation and, ultimately, speciation. 2. The focus of most previous studies of the evolution of primary reproductive characters has been male reproductive traits and ejaculate or sperm characteristics. However, in order to more fully understand the evolution of primary reproductive characters it is crucial that we also include female traits. 3. In insects, both the size and the composition of the ejaculate have been shown to influence female reproduction in numerous ways by affecting female remating behaviour, female fecundity and female life span. Here, we employ a phylogenetic comparative approach to assess correlated evolution between primary reproductive characters in males and those in females in a group of seed beetles (Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae). We further explore correlated evolution between ejaculate size and female fitness in these insects. 4. Our analyses revealed positive correlated evolution between three internal female reproductive traits and ejaculate weight as well as correlated evolution between ejaculate weight and female fitness. We discuss the causal factors behind this correlated evolution and suggest that the evolution of larger ejaculates, primarily by postcopulatory sexual selection, causes selection for larger primary sexual traits in females to allow females to more rapidly process ejaculates. This may then feedback on postcopulatory selection in males, reinforcing selection for larger ejaculates. 5. Our results show that the primary reproductive traits of males and females show correlated evolution and suggest that intersexual co-evolution may affect the evolution of female fitness.


SUMMARY: Alternaria alternata synthesizes the polyketides alternariol (AOH) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) during the stationary growth phase when it is grown in the dark. In the present study it is reported that these polyketides are also found in the conidia of this fungus as well as the vegetative hyphae. Young conidia were able to synthesize AOH de novo as shown by the incorporation into AOH of [3H]acetate. Since AOH synthesis in the conidia showed no need for de novo synthesis of proteins, it is proposed that hyphal cytoplasm that is able to synthesize AOH is translocated into the developing conidia.


ABSTRACT Rickettsia typhi is the causative agent of endemic typhus, a disease with increasing incidence worldwide that can be fatal. Because of its obligate intracellular life style, genetic manipulation of the pathogen is difficult. Nonetheless, in recent years, genetic manipulation tools have been successfully applied to rickettsiae. We describe here for the first time the transformation of R. typhi with the pRAM18dRGA plasmid that originally derives from Rickettsia amblyommatis and encodes the expression of GFPuv (green fluorescent protein with maximal fluorescence when excited by UV light). Transformed R. typhi (R. typhiGFPuv) bacteria are viable, replicate with kinetics similar to those of wild-type R. typhi in cell culture, and stably maintain the plasmid and GFPuv expression under antibiotic treatment in vitro and in vivo during infection of mice. CB17 SCID mice infected with R. typhiGFPuv succumb to the infection with kinetics similar to those for animals infected with wild-type R. typhi and develop comparable pathology and bacterial loads in the organs, demonstrating that the plasmid does not influence pathogenicity. In the spleen and liver of infected CB17 SCID mice, the bacteria are detectable by immunofluorescence microscopy in neutrophils and macrophages by histological staining. Finally, we show for the first time that transformed rickettsiae can be used for the detection of CD8+ T cell responses. GFP-specific restimulation of spleen cells from R. typhiGFPuv-infected BALB/c mice elicits gamma interferon (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin 2 (IL-2) secretion by CD8+ T cells. Thus, R. typhiGFPuv bacteria are a novel, potent tool to study infection with the pathogen in vitro and in vivo and the immune response to these bacteria.


We evaluate the influence of different alphabet orderings on the Lyndon factorization of a string. Experiments with Pizza&Chili datasets show that for most alphabet reorderings, the number of Lyndon factors is usually small, and the length of the longest Lyndon factor can be as large as the input string, which is unfavorable for algorithms and indexes that depend on the number of Lyndon factors. We present results with randomized alphabet permutations that can be used as a baseline to assess the effectiveness of heuristics and methods designed to modify the Lyndon factorization of a string via alphabet reordering.


KAMEYAMA, J. MIYAKAWA, H., SASAKI, I. and SATO, T. Effect of Cimetidine on Gastric Mucosal Barrier in Dogs. Tohoku J. exp. Med., 1983, 141 (1), 91-98 The effect of cimetidine on the gastric mucosal barrier (GMB) was investigated in adult mongrel dogs with a Heidenhain pouch. A linear correlation was found between the net flux of Na+ and H+, and transmucosal electrical potential difference (PD). The PD was thus considered to be a good indicator for the degree of impairment of the GMB which can be determined easily with high reproducibility. When irrigated with HCl alone, there was a slight, though not significant, upward tendency of the PD following intravenous cimetidine. The destruction of the GMB during perfusion with HCl plus sodium taurocholate resulted in a marked reduction of the PD. This response of the PD was significantly reduced by the injection of cimetidine. These results indicate that cimetidine protects the GMB from impairments by bile acid. gastric mucosal barrier; PD; ionic net flux; cimetidine; bile acid


Eater and NimC1 are transmembrane receptors of the Drosophila Nimrod family, specifically expressed in hemocytes, the insect blood cells. Previous ex vivo and in vivo RNAi studies have pointed to their role in the phagocytosis of bacteria. Here, we have created a novel null mutant in NimC1 to re-evaluate the role of NimC1, alone or in combination with Eater, in the cellular immune response. We show that NimC1 functions as an adhesion molecule ex vivo, but in contrast to Eater is not required for hemocyte sessility in vivo. Ex vivo phagocytosis assays and electron microscopy experiments confirmed that Eater is the main phagocytic receptor for Gram-positive, but not Gram-negative bacteria, and contributes to microbe tethering to hemocytes. Surprisingly, the NimC1 deletion did not impair phagocytosis of bacteria, nor their adhesion to the hemocytes. However, phagocytosis of both types of bacteria was almost abolished in NimC11;eater1 hemocytes. This indicates that both receptors contribute synergistically to the phagocytosis of bacteria, but that Eater can bypass the requirement for NimC1. Finally, we uncovered that NimC1, but not Eater, is essential for uptake of latex beads and zymosan particles. We conclude that Eater and NimC1 are the two main receptors for phagocytosis of bacteria in Drosophila, and that each receptor likely plays distinct roles in microbial uptake.


Phosphatidyl ethanolamine methylation was compared in alveolar macrophage membrane from asthmatic and control subjects. Phosphatidyl ethanolamine methylase activity was determined by measuring the incorporation of (3H) methyl group from (3H) adenosyl methionine into membrane phospholipids. (3H) methyl group incorporation was significantly higher in macrophages from asthmatic patients. This result is consistent with macrophage membrane activation and could signify: a membrane phospholipid pool regeneration after allergenic or toxic disturbance or an enzymatic activation by inflammatory mediators.


In this article, it is argued that Hans Albert's criticism of Christianity is stronger than the logical positivist as well as the classical, e.g. Feuerbachian, criticism, since it rests on less questionable presuppositions. Other than those other forms of criticism, it does not presuppose an ontology or epistemology (respectively methodology) which is a priori hostile towards Christianity. Its strong feature is that it appears to be ontologically and epistemologically neutral, or, rather, relatively neutral compared to those other forms of criticism. Yet, closer scrutiny of Christian ontology reveals that it might imply epistemological and methodological consequences which are a priori ruled out by Albert's methodology. For example, it is well conceivable that Christian ontology implies a particular kind of cognitive certainty which is incompatible with Albert's insistence on a principled fallibilism. Thus, the feature which makes Albert's criticism stick out from those other forms of criticism, i.e., its relative neutrality, is jeopardized. In particular, the argument proceeds as following: In ch. I, the theoretical background of Popperianism is provided, in ch. II, Albert's application of Popperianism for the purposes of criticizing Christian (existentialist) theology is sketched, in ch. III, the strength of Albert's criticism is compared with the strength of the logical positivist and classical criticisms of Christianity, in ch. IV, Albert's criticism is criticized with the help of two theological tenets, in ch. V, an alternative to Albert's principled fallibilism is sketched that retains the idea of criticism without being a priori hostile to theology, in ch. VI, reasons are provided as to why Albert's criticism should not be discarded off-hand from the theological side.


A microsomal preparation of human prostatic tissue was used to study the kinetics of interaction of steroid 5 alpha-reductase with finasteride, a known 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor. This molecule has been reported to reversibly bind 5 alpha-reductase in a competitive manner to testosterone with a Ki value in the 10 nM range. The results presented in this paper show that enzyme-inhibitor complex formation does not take place instantaneously as assumed in previous studies. At neutral pH and 37 degrees C, the association of enzyme with inhibitor is governed by a rate constant, kon, of 2.7 x 10(5) M-1 s-1. This low kon value, in combination with the high energy of activation of the association reaction (150 kJ mol-1), indicates that the association process is not diffusion controlled and may proceed through intermediate steps. However, such an intermediate was not detected kinetically under the inhibitor concentrations investigated. We therefore conclude that the equilibrium dissociation constant, Ki*, for the initial binding of the enzyme to the inhibitor is higher than 1.5 x 10(7) M. Even at inhibitor concentrations as low as 1 nM, the reaction was completely displaced to the EI complex and no residual activity detected once the equilibrium was reached. Hence, the interaction between finasteride and 5 alpha-reductase can also be characterized by a very low overall equilibrium dissociation constant (Ki << 10(-9) M), at least 1 order of magnitude lower than previously reported values.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Introducing trifluoromethyl groups is a common strategy to improve the properties of biologically active compounds. However, N-trifluoromethyl moieties on amines and azoles are very rarely used. To evaluate their suitability in drug design, we synthesized a series of N-trifluoromethyl amines and azoles, determined their stability in aqueous media, and investigated their properties. We show that N-trifluoromethyl amines are prone to hydrolysis, whereas N-trifluoromethyl azoles have excellent aqueous stability. Compared to their N-methyl analogues, N-trifluoromethyl azoles have a higher lipophilicity and can show increased metabolic stability and Caco-2 permeability. Furthermore, N-trifluoromethyl azoles can serve as bioisosteres of N-iso-propyl and N-tert-butyl azoles. Consequently, we suggest that N-trifluoromethyl azoles are valuable substructures to be considered in medicinal chemistry.


To determine the mechanism and structural consequences of peptide binding to class I molecules, we have studied the Ld molecule of the mouse. Previous studies have shown that a significant proportion of surface and intracellular Ld molecules can be detected in an alternative conformation designated Ldalt. Ldalt molecules are non- ligand associated and show weak if any beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) association. We report here that Ld molecules have a relatively rapid surface turnover compared with other class I molecules and that exogenous peptide dramatically prolongs Ld surface half-life. By contrast, Ldalt molecules are stably expressed on the surface and their half-life is unaffected by exogenous peptide. To study the surface interaction of peptide with Ld, live cells were incubated with iodinated peptides and Ld molecules were precipitated from cells precoated with monoclonal antibody before lysis. Using this assay, peptide binding to surface Ld molecules was found not to depend upon exchange with exogenous beta 2m, but did correlate with the level of beta 2m association. To study the intracellular interaction of peptide with Ld, cell lysates were used. In cell lysates, peptide was found to convert Ldalt molecules to properly folded Ld. This peptide-induced folding was almost complete at earlier but not later time points in pulse-chase analyses. Furthermore, conversion of Ldalt to Ld was found to affect almost exclusively immature (Endo Hs) class I molecules. Thus intrinsic properties of immature Ldalt molecules or their associated chaperonins are maintained in cell lysates that allow them to undergo de novo folding in vitro. These combined results demonstrate that immature Ldalt molecules are precursors awaiting constituents such as peptide and beta 2m that influence folding, whereas surface Ldalt molecules appear refractory to association with peptide, beta 2m, and consequent folding.


Characterizing individual variations is central to interpreting individual differences in neuroscience and clinical studies. While the field has examined multifaceted individual differences in brain functional organization, it is only in recent years that neuroimaging researchers have begun to place a priority on its quantification and optimization. Here, we highlight a potential analytic pitfall that can lead to contaminated estimates of inter-individual differences. We define a two-dimensional individual variation field map to decipher sources of individual variation and their relation to fingerprinting and measures of reliability. We illustrate theoretical gradient flow that represents the most effective direction for optimization when measuring individual differences. We propose to use this general framework for dissecting within- and between-individual variation and provide a supporting online tool for the purposes of guiding optimization efforts in biomarker discovery.


Abstract The ability of any country to attract inward FDI is considered to depend on the quality of the economic governance found within that state. This study seeks to explore the value of quality economic governance in attracting FDI in South and East Asia by meta-synthesising 771 estimates from 48 empirical studies published between 1980 and 2012. The authors find evidence that countries with good quality regulation and low levels of corruption are able to attract more FDI. They also find that countries with stronger legal systems are rewarded with higher levels of inward FDI. The results of the meta-regression suggest that investing in quality economic governance is rewarded in the global economy through high levels of inward FDI.


With the rise of active research fields such as bioinformatics, taxonomies and the growing use of XML documents, tree data are playing a more and more important role. Mining for frequent subtrees from these data is thus an active research problem and traditional methods (e.g., itemset mining from transactional databases) have to be extended in order to tackle the problem of handling tree-based data. Some approaches have been proposed in the literature, mainly based on generate-and-prune methods. However, they generate a large volume of candidates before pruning them, whereas it could be possible to discard some solutions as they contain unfrequent subtrees. We thus propose a novel approach, called pivot, based on equivalence classes in order to decrease the number of candidates. Three equivalence classes are defined, the first one relying on a right equivalence relation between two trees, the second one on a left equivalence relation, and the third one on the ground of a root equivalence relation. In this paper, we introduce this new method, showing that it is complete (i.e., no frequent subtree is forgotten), and efficient, as illustrated by the experiments led on synthetic and real datasets.


Background It is vital to establish the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) before radiographic damage and functional disability occurs so that modern potent drugs may be instituted before the "window of opportunity" is closed. To accomplish this, sensitive and specific tools for assessing disease activity and joint damage are needed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables more sensitive assessment of both joint inflammation and structural damage than what is achieved by clinical measures and conventional radiography. Objectives To study the evolution of joint damage - synovitis, tenosynovitis, bone edema and erosions – in patients with RA as visualized by MRI and radiography during the first two years of treatment. Methods Thirteen patients with RA with disease symptoms less than one year were treated according to clinical practice and followed with MRI and radiography at inclusion (baseline) and after 1, 4, 7, 13, and 25 months. They were treated with 7.5 mg prednisolone daily the first months, thereupon combined with methotrexate for three months and thereafter according to clinical need. MRI of the dominant wrist and metacarpophalangeal joints were scored for synovitis, tenosynovitis, bone oedema, and erosion using the RA MRI Scoring (RAMRIS) system. Radiographs of the hands were scored with the van der Heijde modified Sharp scores (SHS). All statistical comparisons between must be interpreted with caution due to the very small patient material. Results Eight patients were women. At baseline, the mean age was 50 years, disease duration 5 months, DAS28 4.75 and CRP 22. All patients were anti-CCP positive and 11 were rheumatoid factor positive. At baseline, the mean (SD) RAMRIS score was 27 (18) and after 25 month 22 (10) (NS). The erosion component of the score increased from mean (SD) 3 (6) to 5 (6), p=0.023, while the bone edema score tended to decrease from mean (SD) 7 (12) at baseline to 3 (4) after 25 months (NS). The synovitis and tenosynovitis scores did not change noticeably over time. At baseline, the synovitis and tenosynovitis scores correlated well with the erosion score, rho 0.59, p=0.034 and rho 0.63, p=0.022. The total SHS score increased during the observation time from mean 1.5 to 4.1 (NS) and the erosion SHS score rose from 3.9 to 4.7 (NS). Compared with conventional radiography, more erosions were detected by MRI at all points in time, significantly so after 7, 13 and 25 months, p=0.34, p=0.012 and p=0.007. MRI and SHS erosion scores correlated well at all follow-up visits at 1, 4, 7, 13 and 25 months, rho 0.65, 0.63, 0.70, 0.75 and 0.75. Conclusions By the use of MRI we could, early in the disease course, show pathologic changes, erosions, bone edema, synovitis and tenosynovitis, which were not visualized by conventional radiography. The data suggest that MRI is superior to conventional radiography in obtaining information on the extent of joint damage in the early phase of RA. This may improve the basis for optimal choice of treatment. The results of this small pilot study needs to be confirmed. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.4827


Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptors γ coactivator‐1α (PGC‐1α) may regulate the mitochondrial antioxidant defense system under many neuropathological settings. However, the exact role of PGC‐1α in ischemic brain damage is still under debate. Based on an experimental model of transient global ischemia (TGI), this study evaluated the hypothesis that the activation of PGC‐1α signaling pathway protects hippocampal CA1 neurons against delayed neuronal death after TGI. In Sprague‐Dawley rats, significantly increased content of oxidized proteins in the hippocampal CA1 tissue was observed as early as 30 min after TGI, followed by augmentation of PGC‐1α expression at 1 hr. Expression of uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) and superoxide dismutases 2 (SOD2) in the hippocampal CA1 neurons was upregulated 4–48 hr after TGI. In addition, knock‐down of PGC‐1α expression by pretreatment with a specific antisense oligodeoxynucleotide in the hippocampal CA1 subfield downregulated the expression of UCP2 and SOD2 with resultant exacerbation of oxidative stress and augmentation of delayed neuronal cell death in the hippocampus after TGI. Overall, our results indicate that PGC‐1α is induced by cerebral ischemia leading to upregulation of UCP2 and SOD2, thereby providing a neuroprotective effect against ischemic brain injury in the hippocampus by ameliorating oxidative stress. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


We report spectropolarimetric observations of a supersonic downflow impacting the lower atmosphere within a large sunspot umbra. This work is an extension of Schad et al. using observations acquired in the He i 10830 Å triplet by the Facility Infrared Spectropolarimeter. Downflowing material accelerating along a cooled coronal loop reaches peak speeds near 200 km s−1 and exhibits both high speed emission and absorption within the umbra, which we determine to be a consequence of the strong height dependence of the radiatively controlled source function above the sunspot umbra. Strong emission profiles close to the rest wavelengths but with long redshifted tails are also observed at the downflow terminus. From the polarized spectra, we infer longitudinal magnetic field strengths of ∼2.4 kG in the core portion of the He i strong emission, which we believe is the strongest ever reported in this line. Photospheric field strengths along the same line of sight are ∼2.8 kG as inferred using the Ca i 10839 Å spectral line. The temperatures of the highest speed He i absorption and the near-rest emission are similar (∼10 kK), while a differential emission measure analysis using Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly data indicates significant increases in radiative cooling for temperatures between ∼0.5 and 1 MK plasma associated with the downflow terminus. Combined we interpret these observations in the context of a strong radiative shock induced by the supersonic downflow impacting the low sunspot atmosphere.


By the use of the Weiss-Tabor-Carnevale (WTC) method it has been found that a solitary wave solution, a hole solution and a shock-type solution exist of a generalized modified Ginzburg-Landau equation.


During 2012-2016, domestic commodity exports declined annually. This trend is dangerous for the national economy, which is characterized by excessive dependence on the external conjuncture. The purpose of the article is to identify external and internal reasons of the reduction of commodity exports and to suggest ways and means to overcome this negative trend. The article focuses on the main export markets and the basic and traditional commodity groups of domestic exports. Based on the analysis of domestic and international statistics, study of foreign trade agreements, domestic and foreign scientific publications on the problems of foreign trade, strategies and development programs of domestic exports and other information materials, the main factors of the deterioration of external and domestic market conditions have been identified, and ways and methods of overcoming those negative tendencies have been systematized and generalized. Among the results that have elements of scientific novelty, one can mention the following: 1) identification of certain endogenous factors that hold back the growth and diversification of Ukrainian exports (institutional incapacity of the state-owned companies; the limited character of existing trade agreements (if any) between Ukraine and countries with a high potential for encouraging Ukraine's exports); a comprehensive analysis of the current condition of foreign trade with the People's Republic of China, Turkey and Kazakhstan; an in-depth analysis of the global and domestic market conditions for metallurgical products. An example of institutional incapacity of the state-owned companies to enhance exports is the activities of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGCU). In 2012, the SFGCU and the Export-Import Bank of China agreed on the provision of a loan of $ 3 billion to the Ukrainian corporation under state guarantees. Half of the loan was intended for the purchase of grain (mainly maize) for further export to the People's Republic of China through the mediation of the Chinese National Machine Industry and General Contract Corporation. The second half of the loan was intended for the purchase of Chinese agricultural machinery and material resources for with subsequent delivery to Ukraine. With lowering world prices for maize in 2014, the SFGCU actually refused to comply with several provisions of the contract, after which the Chinese party filed a lawsuit against Ukraine to the London International Arbitral Tribunal for damages of $ 3 billion. At the same time, a partial resumption of Ukraine's export of maize to China is possible subject to the solution of certain Ukraine's domestic institutional problems - from those that lie within the control of government institutions involved in contractual relations with the Chinese party, to the development of the system of phytosanitary control in Ukraine. A unique situation has arisen in trade between Ukraine and Kazakhstan. In order to ensure its economic security and national interests, the Russian Federation has substantially complicated the transit of Ukrainian goods to Kazakhstan from January 2016, and since July 2016, it even temporarily banned the transit, through its territory, of those Ukrainian goods, which are subject to import duty with rates different from 0, as well as goods on which import embargo was imposed in accordance with the Decree of the Government of Russian Federation No. 778 of 07.08.2014. Actually the transit ban involved 90% of all Ukrainian exports to Kazakhstan. The most suffered are the exporters of machine-building and metallurgical products, whose deliveries decreased by 3 and 5 times, respectively. To restore exports to Kazakhstan, it is expedient, using the WTO mechanisms and procedures, to attain the lift of the ban on the transit of Ukrainian goods through the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as to intensify the activities of creating transport corridors bypassing the territory of the Russian Federation for the delivery of goods to Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries, in particular, using the TRACECA corridor. To expand the exports of metallurgical products, it is necessary to carry out the following measures: to raise the quality of products by raising the volume of steel production in electric furnaces, converters, and creating mini and micro plants as businesses able to react promptly and flexibly to fluctuations in the market of metal products; to increase the output of hot rolled sheet on broadband hot rolling mills based on new technologies and equipment; and to expand the range of metal rolling, in particular to increase the production of cold-rolled sheet with protective coating. Analysis of the world market of metallurgical products shows a necessity of: development of the production of high-quality transformer and automotive thin-sheet steel; expansion of the production of gas and oil pipes with external and internal coverage by introducing new high-tech technologies; increase in the production of high-quality pipes from continuous cast billets on high-performance continuous rolling mills and the organization of production of new grades of steel with increased corrosion resistance for oil extraction and transportation. The implementation of these and other measures justified in the article would help overcome the negative tendency of reduction in domestic commodity exports.


Global positioning satellite/inertial navigation system (GPS/INS) integrated navigation systems are widely used for many military applications due to their complementary features. It is normally assumed that the military GPS receiver will be used in a signal-jamming environment. Various anti-jamming techniques have been studied from the point of hardware and/or software. The velocity aiding method is a well-known software-based anti-jamming technique used for GPS/INS integrated navigation systems. The dynamics of the GPS receiver can be measured by an INS and then fed into tracking loops to reduce the tracking loop bandwidth to promote jamming resistance. The Korean government has been developing a GPS adapter kit (GAK) that can change a conventional bomb into a high-precision GPS guided bomb (GGB). In this paper, we introduce a GPS/INS integrated navigation system in a GAK, a velocity aiding method applied to the navigation system, anti-jamming test procedures and the results for a GGB. The test results show that the GPS/INS integrated navigation system using velocity aiding method can provide enhanced anti-jamming capability by efficiently reducing the tracking loop bandwidth.


Software agents can be viewed as semi-autonomous entities which help people cope with the complexities of working collaboratively in a distributed information environment. This paper describes the research that DERA is carrying out into Software Agents for use in Command Systems and the collaborative work with the 16 partners of an international Coalition Agents Experiment. Specifically, the paper aims to show that using software agent-based C2 frameworks is a useful way of dealing with the complexity of real-world problems such as supporting agile and robust Coalition operations and enabling interoperability between legacy or previously incompatible systems. In addition, Agent-enabled 'grids' can be used to rapidly integrate a wide variety of agents and infrastructures, with domain management services structuring agent relationships, limiting their behaviours and enforcing Coalition policies. Section 1Introduction and Background 1. Software agents are currently receiving much attention in the research community. This interest is being driven by the phenomenal growth of the Internet and the World-Wide-Web. Agents can be viewed as semi-autonomous software designed to help people cope with the complexities of working collaboratively in a distributed information environment. This involves the agents communicating between the users and between themselves. The agents are used to find, format, filter and share information, and work with users to make the information available wherever and whenever users need it. This paper describes the research that DERA is carrying out into Software Agents for use in Command Systems (SACIS) and the progress which is being made in the collaborative work with the 16 international partners of the Coalition Agents Experiment (CoAX).


We report a surface characterization tool that can be effectively used to investigate the chemical state and subtle radiation damage on a thick insulator surface. It has been used to examine the MgO surface of a plasma display panel (PDP) consisting of a stack of insulator layers of approximately 51 µm thickness on a 2-mm-thick glass plate. The scanning photoelectron microscopy (SPEM) image of the insulating MgO surface was obtained by using the difference in Au 4f peak shift due to the surface charging at each pixel, where a Au adlayer of approximately 15 Å thickness was formed on the surface to overcome the serious charging shift of the peak position and the spectral deterioration in the photoelectron spectra. The observed contrast in the SPEM image reveals the chemical modification of the underlying MgO surface induced by the plasma discharge damage. The chemical state analysis of the MgO surface was carried out by comparing the Mg 2p, C 1s and O 1s photoemission spectra collected at each pixel of the SPEM image. We assigned four suboxide phases, MgO, MgCO3, Mg(OH)2 and Mg1+, on the initial MgO surface, where the Mg(OH)2 and Mg1+ phases vanished rapidly as the discharge-induced surface damage began.


The fracture properties of thin aluminum inclusions embedded in anisotropic paperboardcomposites, of interest for food and beverage packaging industry, can be determined by performing tensile testson non-conventional heterogeneous specimens. The region of interest of the investigated material samples ismonitored all along the experiment by digital image correlation techniques, which allow to recover qualitativeand quantitative information about the metal deformation and about the evolution of the damaging processesleading to the detachment of the inclusion from the surrounding laminate composite. The interpretation of thelaboratory results is supported by the numerical simulation of the tests.


This paper deals with a quantity of heat to be transported into a substrate by plasma spraying. The quantity of heat was measured by means of a calorimeter. It is clear that a kinetic energy of powder particles is almost neglected when a velocity of the particles is less than 400 m per second. The quantity of heat transported by powder became a constant value which required for melting the powder. Total quantity of heat given by a plasma gas was extremely dependent of spray apparatus. Total quantity of heat by a plasma gas was estimated, but a distribution of heat quantity was not clear. When the distribution is assumed as Gaussian distribution, a heat input is estimated less than 25% errors.


The paper discusses the use of dictionaries for resolving referential ambiguity in dialogue. We present a heuristic algorithm for detection of the indirect antecedents for dialogue phrases based on the use of a dictionary of prototypic scenarios associated with each headword, as well as of a thesaurus of the standard type. The conditions for filtration of the candidates for the antecedent are presented. The structure of the prototypic scenarios dictionary is discussed. We also present an algorithm for reconstruction of elliptical phrases of a special kind: short clarifications, in dialogue using a kind of combinatory dictionary with similar heuristic rules.


Glucose metabolism reprogramming, which is a well‐established characteristic of multiple cancers, demands a higher rate of glycolysis to meet the increasing demands for macromolecular synthesis and to maintain rapid proliferation in a hypoxic environment. However, the mechanism underlying this switch remains to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the function of circular RNA MAT2B (circMAT2B) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) glucose metabolism reprogramming and malignancy. CircMAT2B was identified by bioinformatics analysis of Gene Expression Omnibus data sets. CircMAT2B expression was up‐regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines. HCC patients with high circMAT2B expression had shortened overall survival. We analyzed the positive correlation between glycolysis and circMAT2B expression in HCC using a maximum standardized uptake value determined by preoperative positron emission tomography/computed tomography scanning combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography assessment of the metabolites of glycolysis and the citric acid cycle. The effect of circMAT2B on glycolysis was validated in vitro and in vivo under hypoxic (1% O2) conditions. Functional assays were performed in HCC cells, HCC organoids, and nude mice to explore the tumor‐promoting roles of circMAT2B in HCC. Biotin‐coupled probe pull‐down assays, biotin‐coupled microRNA capture, luciferase reporter assays, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and RNA immunoprecipitation assays were performed to confirm the interaction among different RNAs. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that circMAT2B up‐regulated expression levels of the microRNA (miR)‐338‐3p target gene PKM2, which encodes a key enzyme in the process of glycolysis, through "sponging" miR‐338‐3p; thus, glycolysis and HCC progression are promoted through this mechanism. Conclusion: CircMAT2B promoted HCC progression by enhanced glycolysis by activating the circMAT2B/miR‐338‐3p/PKM2 axis under hypoxia, which may provide a therapeutic target for HCC.


Comparative palm heart production among four varieties of peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth). Palm heart production was evaluated at the ages of 11, 12 and 13 months in four varieties. Three of those varieties were thornless (Diamantes-1, Diamantes-10 and Diamantes-20) the other one had thorns in the trunk (Utilis-Tucurrique). The trial was conducted in Guapiles, Costa Rica. The parameters evaluated were: earlinesss; number of stems harvested; sheath lengths of the leaf previous-to-the emerging–leaf and of the emerging leaf; lengths of the petiole and leaf lamina; lengths of the foliar and caulinar heart of palm; weights of the foliar and caulinar hearts of palm; diameters of the foliar and caulinar heart of palm; and industrial yield (boxes/ha). The varieties Diamantes-10 and Diamantes-20 were superior in earliness and number of stems harvested. At the age of 12 months the number of stems harvested per hectare were: 7067, 4493, 4381 and 2370 respectively for the varieties Diamantes-10, Diamantes-20, Diamantes-1 and UtilisTucurrique. The average weight per stem of foliar and caulinar heart of palm respectively was 226.67g and 397.57g per stem for Diamantes-20; 208,91g and 379.04g for Diamantes-10; 169.47g and 264.62g for Diamantes-1; and 124.81g and 122.01g for Utilis-Tucurrique. The thornless varieties produced a much larger caulinar heart of palm than the thorny variety, mainly Diamantes-20 and Diamantes-10.


Tetanus toxin (100 nM) when preincubated with guinea pig cerebrocortical synaptosomes for 45 min reduces the final extent of the KC1-evoked, Ca2+-dependent, glutamate transmitter release to 30% of nonintoxicated controls. Similarly, 100 nM Botulinum neurotoxins, types A and B, preincubated for 90 min inhibit release to 45-60% of non-intoxicated controls. The toxins preferentially attenuate a slow phase of KC1-evoked glutamate release which may be associated with synaptic vesicle mobilization. Tetanus toxin additionally inhibits the release of aspartate, y-aminobutyric acid and met-enkephalin from the same preparation. Since amino acids and neuropeptides are released by distinct mechanisms, this indicates that the toxin affects a step common to both exocytotic pathways. When Ba" (which does not interact with calmodulin) is substituted for Ca2+, the control KClevoked release of each transmitter is unaffected and tetanus toxin is still inhibitory. Taken together these results implicate a calmodulin-independent locus (or loci) of action common to smalland large-dense-core vesicles and associated with vesicle transport.


human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Nef interacts with the clathrin-associated AP-1 and AP-3 adaptor complexes, stabilizing their association with endosomal membranes. These findings led us to hypothesize a general impact of this viral protein on the endosomal system. Here, we have shown that Nef specifically disturbs the morphology of the early/recycling compartment, inducing a redistribution of early endosomal markers and a shortening of the tubular recycling endosomal structures. Furthermore, Nef modulates the trafficking of the transferrin receptor (TfR), the prototypical recycling surface protein, indicating that it also disturbs the function of this compartment. Nef reduces the rate of recycling of TfR to the plasma membrane, causing TfR to accumulate in early endosomes and reducing its expression at the cell surface. These effects depend on the leucine-based motif of Nef, which is required for the membrane stabilization of AP-1 and AP-3 complexes. Since we show that this motif is also required for the full infectivity of HIV-1 virions, these results indicate that the positive influence of Nef on viral infectivity may be related to its general effects on early/recycling endosomal compartments.


swMATH is currently one of the most comprehensive specialized information services and search engines for Mathematical SoftWare (MSW). It was the intention of the project to support the user community by providing infor- mation about MSW and searching relevant MSW. Currently swMATH lists infor- mation of more than 13,000 items and 120,000 publications which refer to MSW. Maintaining and updating of the service is mainly done automatically, the num- ber of requests is permanently increasing. This sounds like a perfect solution. But swMATH is only a first step to a powerful information system on mathematical research data. This talk addresses some open problems for the further develop- ment of the swMATH service. It is shown that some problems for swMATH lead to central questions for the information management of mathematical research data, especially for MSW. This contains an extended content analysis of MSW, versioning and citation standard of MSW, a typing of the swMATH resources and the presentation of context information and high-quality control within the swMATH service.


This paper will examine space and place in the context of undergraduate nursing students completing a
fast-track degree on a satellite university campus. Being a relatively new campus with a degree of
isolation from other schools and broader university resources, we believe that achieving a 'sense of place'
is an important pre-condition for positive student engagement, experience and learning success. Our contemporary understanding of health and health care is informed, in part, by a focus on the
multifaceted relationships between sociocultural, environmental, economic and political determinants, and
how these influence, for better or worse, the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. A
similar paradigm also plays out in health professional education. In the preparation of undergraduate
nursing students, we have recognised that various social and environmental determinants can either
enhance or impede learning and teaching success. Creating a positive learning environment is an aspirational goal of learning and teaching. Our proposition
is that while the tangibles of 'space' (built and natural environment, facilities and technology) are an
important part of this, it is a sense of 'place' (identity, connection, relationship and belonging) that has the
greatest potential to enhance learning experience and outcomes. This paper will present a qualitative case study of our place-making endeavours on a satellite university
campus. While physical space is considered, the paper is primarily concerned with the lived, social and
imaginative spaces of higher education. This case study discusses the observations and reflections of a
small community of practice from a first-year teaching team; and the results of a community needs
assessment 'foot survey' undertaken by students as part of the undergraduate curriculum.


Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a frequent heart disease but can still not be predicted. However, several studies of the electrocardiogram P-wave have shown that some parameters, in the time domain as well as in the frequency domain, can discriminate people at risk of AF. The goal of this study is to find the best parameters and to evaluate their limits. We have classified people at risk of AF in four categories, depending on their P-wave pattern, trying to link each pattern to anatomical and electrical features.


The course of the braking process is critical for the safety of road traffic. The importance of all the factors that can affect the vehicle stopping distance becomes particularly conspicuous in critical situations. The braking process may be analysed in terms of its mechanics, especially the contact forces and the dynamics of the working parts of the braking system; on the other hand, it may also be examined from the point of view of psychophysical factors. The latter aspect begins to be noticed when the stressinduced factors caused by activities of military nature are taken into account. In the article, the authors have analysed the factors that affect the driver's perception time and the impact of this time on the vehicle braking distance as a function of vehicle speed. Analytical calculation results have also been presented to illustrate the relationships governing this process and to show the influence of changes in the stopping time on the vehicle stopping distance. In consideration of special vehicles used in military missions, some additional factors that might affect the time of risk have been highlighted. The said factors have been tabulated in accordance with the hierarchy of their occurrence. Some discrepancies noticed in the literature data published over the years and concerning the stopping time have also been pointed out.


Travel speed is an intrinsic feature of transport, and enlarging the speed is considered as beneficial. The benefit of a speed increase is generally assessed as the value of the saved travel time. However, this approach conflicts with the observation that time spent on travelling is rather constant and might not be affected by speed changes. The paper aims to define the benefits of a speed increase and addresses two research questions. First, how will a speed increase in person transport work out, which factors are affected? Second, is the value of time a good proxy for the value of speed? Based on studies on time spending and research on the association between speed and land use, we argue that human wealth could be the main affected factor by speed changes, rather than time or access. Then the value of time is not a good proxy for the value of speed: the benefits of a wealth increase are negatively correlated with prosperity following the law of diminishing marginal utility, while the calculated benefits of saved travel time prove to be positively correlated. The inadequacy of the value of time is explained by some shortcomings with respect to the willingness to pay that is generally used for assessing the value of time: people do not predict correctly the personal benefits that will be gained from a decision, and they neglect the social impacts.


ABSTRACT Mounting evidence has indicated that early intervention leads to improved clinical and functional outcomes for young persons experiencing recent onset psychosis. As part of a large early detection campaign, the present study aimed to investigate subjective experiences during the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), or time between psychosis onset and treatment contact. Participants were 10 young adults participating in early intervention services for psychosis. After DUP was estimated during standardized baseline assessment, participants engaged in qualitative interviews focused on their life experiences prior to treatment and leading up to the present. Mixed methods data analyses compared standardized DUP estimates with participants' subjective narratives. Findings revealed that participants experienced and conceptualized a longer trajectory of subjective difficulties (TSD) beginning before and extending beyond standardized DUP estimates. Participants emphasized striving for independence and social belonging. The majority of participants reported benefiting from their current services and believed that earlier support of some kind would have been beneficial. These findings support previous research on subjective barriers to early detection and treatment seeking in young adults experiencing psychosis. Implications and future research directions include further efforts to differentiate the struggles unique to early psychosis from psychosocial risk factors and other challenges of young adulthood.


PURPOSE
To identify associations between early implant failure and prosthodontic characteristics that could be used to guide subsequent continuous quality improvement efforts of patient care.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
An implant-level analysis was performed in which data were abstracted from a prospective clinical database of all adult patients treated with implants and followed up from January 2000 through December 2014 at the Department of Dental Specialties at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. These data were used to determine time to implant failure. Associations between prosthodontic characteristics and early implant failure were evaluated with Cox proportional hazards regression models and summarized with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS
Among 8762 implants in 2787 patients, 395 (4.5%) failed within the first year of placement at a mean (SD) of 127 (97) days (range, 2-364 days). Univariable analysis showed no associations between early implant failure and use of a cover screw, prosthesis, or definitive or provisional prosthesis at implant placement. Three of 25 single crowns failed, and use of a single crown was significantly associated with early implant failure (HR, 3.94; 95% CI, 1.08-14.35; P = 0.04). This study identified no significant associations between prosthodontic characteristics identified after implant placement and early implant failure.

CONCLUSIONS
Use of a prosthesis at implant placement, use of a definitive or provisional prosthesis, and early mechanical complications were not associated with increased risk of early implant failure. Quality improvement efforts should focus on aspects of decision making that aim to decrease surgical complications.


Development of robust prognostic for digital electronic system health management will improve maintainability and operational readiness for many industries with products ranging from enterprise network servers to military aircraft. The emerging digital PHM technology discussed in this paper can be applied in a myriad of applications ranging from on-board/on-wing deployment to integration into ground based support systems such as automated test equipment (ATE) or logistic planning tools. Techniques from a variety of disciplines are required to develop an effective, robust, and technically sound health management system for digital electronics. The presented technical approach integrates collaborative diagnostic and prognostic techniques from engineering disciplines including statistical reliability, damage accumulation modeling, physics-of-failure modeling, signal processing & feature extraction, and automated reasoning algorithms. These advanced prognostic/diagnostic algorithms utilize intelligent data fusion architectures to optimally combine sensor data with probabilistic component models to achieve the best decisions on the overall health of the digital system. A comprehensive component prognostic capability can be achieved by utilizing a combination of health monitoring data and model-based estimates. Both board and component level minimally-invasive and purely internal data acquisition methods are paired with model-based assessments to demonstrate this approach to digital component health state awareness.


Cold–hardy insects overwinter by one of two main strategies: freeze tolerance and freeze avoidance by supercooling. As a general model, many freeze–tolerant species overwinter in extreme climates, freeze above −10°C via induction by ice–nucleating agents, and once frozen, can survive at temperatures of up to 40°C or more below the initial freezing temperature or supercooling point (SCP). It has been assumed that the SCP of freeze–tolerant insects is unaffected by the freezing process and that the freeze–tolerant state is therefore retained in winter though successive freeze–thaw cycles of the body tissues and fluids. Studies on the freeze–tolerant larva of the hoverfly Syrphus ribesii reveal this assumption to be untrue. When a sample with a mean'first freez' SCP of −7.6°C (range of −5°C to −9.5°C) were cooled, either to −10°C or to their individual SCP, on five occasions, the mean SCP was significantly depressed, with some larvae subsequently freezing as low as −28°C. Only larvae that froze at the same consistently high temperature above −10°C were alive after being frozen five times. The wider occurrence of this phenomenon would require a fundamental reassessment of the dynamics and distinctions of the freeze–tolerant and freeze–avoiding strategies of insect overwintering.