Loss function plays a key role in self-supervised monocular depth estimation methods. Current reprojection loss functions are hand-designed and mainly focus on local patch similarity but overlook the global distribution differences between a synthetic image and a target image. In this paper, we leverage global distribution differences by introducing an adversarial loss into the training stage of self-supervised depth estimation. Specifically, we formulate this task as a novel view synthesis problem. We use a depth estimation module and a pose estimation module to form a generator, and then design a discriminator to learn the global distribution differences between real and synthetic images. With the learned global distribution differences, the adversarial loss can be back-propagated to the depth estimation module to improve its performance. Experiments on the KITTI dataset have demonstrated the effectiveness of the adversarial loss. The adversarial loss is further combined with the reprojection loss to achieve the state-of-the-art performance on the KITTI dataset.


The parameters of the agrochemical state and fertility of alluvial-meadow soils of the Dnieper and Dniester rivers have been studied. Irrigation of soils of the floodplain Dnieper river is characterized by a high degree of fertility of the 0-20 cm layer: a high content of humus, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (according to the National Standards of Ukraine). In the profile distribution of humus content in the non-irrigated soil, there are two peaks: the sod and the buried humus horizon. The content of nutrients from the sod to depth on the profile of the non-irrigated soil is sharply reduced. Alluvial irrigated soils in the Dniester meadow are characterized by low humus content in dependence on the soil clay texture, high content of mobile phosphorus and exchangeable potassium in the arable layer. In the deeper horizons of the all studied soils, the content of nutrients and humus sharply decreases. To increase the fertility of irrigated agricultural soils it is necessary to increase the flow of organic matter into the arable layer by using them under multi-annual grasses.


In this study, graphene and N-doped graphene nanosheets were synthesized through the shock-induced reduction of CO2 using a cylindrical shock-loading apparatus. The mixture of solid CO2 and Mg powder was filled in the pre-cooled sample tube and then impacted by a shock-driven cylindrical flyer tube. The impact generated a shockwave that propagated into the mixed precursor, inducing a chemical reaction between CO2 and Mg at a high shock pressure and high shock temperature. The recovered black powders were characterized via various techniques, confirming the presences of few-layer graphene. The mechanism is carefully shown to be that CO2 was reduced by Mg to form few-layer graphene under shock-induced high pressure and high temperature. By adding carbamide as an N source, this synthetic route was also applied to synthesize N-doped graphene nanosheets. Moreover, the yield and mass of the graphene materials in this study are up to 40% and 0.5 g, respectively. This study showed an efficient and easy-to-scale-up route to prepare few-layer graphene and N-doped few-layer graphene through shock synthesis.


Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent and versatile professional antigen-presenting cells and central for the induction of adaptive immunity. The ability to migrate and transport peripherally acquired antigens to draining lymph nodes for subsequent cognate T cell priming is a key feature of DCs. Consequently, DC-based immunotherapies are used to elicit tumor-antigen specific T cell responses in cancer patients. Understanding chemokine-guided DC migration is critical to explore DCs as cellular vaccines for immunotherapeutic approaches. Currently, research is hampered by the lack of appropriate human cellular model systems to effectively study spatio-temporal signaling and CCR7-driven migration of human DCs. Here, we report that the previously established human neoplastic cell line CAL-1 expresses the human DC surface antigens CD11c and HLA-DR together with co-stimulatory molecules. Importantly, if exposed for three days to GM-CSF, CAL-1 cells induce the endogenous expression of the chemokine receptor CCR7 upon encountering the clinically approved TLR7/8 agonist Resiquimod R848 and readily migrate along chemokine gradients. Further, we demonstrate that CAL-1 cells can be genetically modified to express fluorescent (GFP)-tagged reporter proteins to study and visualize signaling or can be gene-edited using CRISPR/Cas9. Hence, we herein present the human CAL-1 cell line as versatile and valuable cellular model system to effectively study human DC migration and signaling.


The study reported in this paper was carried out to investigate a group of nursing teachers' (n=37), nursing students' (n=166), nursing administrators' (n=33) and physicians' (n=127) perceptions of barriers to and facilitators of nurses' use of research findings in clinical practice. The results were compared with the corresponding figures for a reference group of nurse clinicians (n=237). The Barriers Scale and a questionnaire for the demographic issues were used for data collection. The organization and the communication of research were seen as barriers to research utilization by the nursing teachers, students and administrators in agreement with the nurse clinicians. The nurses' research-related competence and awareness were seen as barriers by the nursing teachers, students and administrators to a greater extent than by the nurse clinicians themselves. The physicians perceived barriers to a lesser extent than the other groups did. The students' perceptions were closest to the nurse clinicians, while the physicians' perceptions differed most. Education to increase the nurses' knowledge of research and to develop their competence to evaluate research results, increased resources for education, more staff, support from the administration and research presented in a user-friendly way were the most frequently suggested facilitators. The nurses' isolation from knowledgeable colleagues with whom to discuss the research was seen as a barrier by the majority of the participants. This indicates a need for positions in clinical practice for nursing researchers, in order to promote a research-based, nursing practice.


INTRODUCTION: Proteasome inhibitors (PI) and histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) have demonstrated synergistic pre-clinical activity in multiple myeloma (MM). The goals of this study were to evaluate this combination regimen's clinical activity and adverse events, including thrombocytopenia (TCP) since both drug classes may cause transient TCP. We performed an open label, single-centre, single-arm, phase I/II, dose-escalation trial of bortezomib, dexamethasone and romidepsin (depsipeptide) in relapsed or refractory MM. This is the first clinical trial to combine these 3 agents. METHODS. All patients (pts) received bortezomib (1.3mg/m2 d1, 4, 8, 11) with dexamethasone (20mg d1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12). Romidepsin commenced at 8 mg/m2 IV d1, 8, and 15 every 28 days with a planned accelerated intra-patient dose escalation to 10, 12 and 14 mg/m2 (n=10). After CR + 2 cycles or a maximum of 8 cycles, pts with SD or better commenced maintenance (Mx) therapy, romidepsin at the MTD on days 1 and 8 of a 28 day cycle until PD. An additional 15 pts were treated at the MTD in a phase II expansion. Response was assessed after every 2 cycles according to IMWG criteria (with minimal Response (MR) defined as ≥25% but RESULTS: In total, 25 pts have been enrolled of which 18 have completed more than 2 cycles and are evaluable for response. The median number of prior regimens was 2 (2–5). Most pts were treated previously with autologous stem cell transplantation (n=11) and neurotoxic regimens; VAD (n=10), thalidomide (n=12), bortezomib (n=6) and lenalidomide (n=4). The median number of treatment cycles delivered was 4 (1–8); Mx cycles 6 (3–15). 10 patients entered the Phase 1 study. No DLTs occurred at 8mg/m2 (n=1) or 10mg/m2 (n=6) of romidepsin. At 12mg/m2 (n=3), TCP (Grade 4, n=3), febrile neutropenia (n=1), peripheral neuropathy (PN) (n=1) and constipation (n=1) DLTs were observed. Of note, 2 pts with Grade 4 TCP had platelets 50–100×109/L before commencing therapy. The MTD for this regimen was determined as romidepsin (10mg/m2) with bortezomib (1.3mg/m2). Other drug-related toxicities observed included: Grade 3: fatigue (n=2), neutropaenia (n=1), sepsis (n=2), PN (n=1); Grade 2: PN (n=6), nausea (n=1). Five pts required bortezomib dose reductions because of PN (n=4). Two pts required a romidepsin dose reduction because of fatigue (n=1) and abnormal LFTs (n=1). The overall response rate (ORR) is 12/18 (67%) (4 CR/nCR, 4 VGPR, 4 PR) with an additional 5 (28%) patients achieving an MR. To date, 7 patients have entered the romi Mx phase. Pt numbers 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 been on Mx for 15, 3, 12, 8, 7, 4, and 5 months respectively. Four pts have progressed after C1 (n=2), C4 (n=1) and C8+3Mx (n=1). Of note, 3 pts have entered this trial having progressed on a separate trial examining bortezomib maintenance therapy (study protocol PMCC 05/69). These 3 pts were receiving 2 weekly bortezomib and progressing. On the introduction of bortezomib/dexamethasone/romidepsin, the M band has fallen in all assessable pts [41 to 26 (C2); 16 to 11 (C2); 1 pt has not completed C1]. CONCLUSION. This combination of a bortezomib and dexamethasone with romidepsin is well tolerated, with similar TCP compared to single agent bortezomib and romidepsin and demonstrates substantial efficacy in a heavily pre-treated group of patients. The high response rate (OR 67% + 28% MR), impressive depth of response (44% CR + VGPR), durable responses and the observation of a drop in M band in pts progressing on bortezomib as their immediate prior therapy, all indicate that romidepsin has synergistic activity with bortezomib-dexamethasone.


As a strange property not explained by existing theories, it has been known from experiment that X-ray moiré and Pendellösung interference fringes show a small spatial oscillation in the beam path in free space that the diffraction image carrying those fringes is propagated after emerging from the crystal. In connection with the investigation into this strange fringe oscillation, it has been found, by an experiment successively recording Pendellösung-fringe topographs using an X-ray CCD camera, that X-ray Pendellösung fringes also show a small temporal oscillation. Characteristics of this temporal Pendellösung-fringe oscillation, namely irregularities in the fringe profile, the manner of fringe oscillation and a reciprocal correlation between oscillation amplitude and fringe contrast, are shown to be very similar to those of the previously reported spatial oscillation of moiré and Pendellösung fringes. Therefore this temporal oscillation is supposed to have the same origin as the spatial oscillation, revealing another section of the same phenomenon. This discovery of the temporal oscillation advances a step nearer to the full understanding of this strange phenomenon, while disclosing a new property of Pendellösung fringes. As well as the above, a three-dimensional profile representation (surface plot) is given of the image of Pendellösung fringes, to make it clear that unidentified fine intensity modulations, called subfringes in this paper, are produced superposed on the main fringe system. Overall inspection of the intensity profiles of the fringe-imaged topographs suggests that temporal intensity oscillations also occur on a more global scale than the extension of individual fringes, as an unidentified action of the wavefield.


This paper presents a nonlinear analysis of axially loaded steel tube-confined concrete (STCC) stub columns with new confinement relationships. For this aim, a 3-D finite element model of STCC columns using ABAQUS program is developed and validated against the experimental data. Proper material constitutive models are proposed and the confinement parameters of confined concrete are determined by matching the numerical results via trial and error. The parameters considered for quantitative verification of the FE model include five different factors indicating the behavior of STCC columns: compressive strength corresponding to steel yielding point, initial peak strength and ultimate strength as well as longitudinal to circumferential stress ratio of steel tube at steel yielding point and initial peak point. For the qualitative verification, the axial and lateral stress-strain relationships of STCC columns are taken into account. The comparison results indicate that the model can accurately predict the compressive behavior of STCC stub columns. Finally, a parametric study is also performed to evaluate the effect of tube diameter-to-wall thickness ratio (D/t), concrete compressive strength (fc ) and steel yield strength (fy ) on the compressive behavior of STCC columns. According to the results of the parametric study, the interface shear stress and lateral confining pressure are not affected by fc while significantly increase with decreasing D/t.


The thermal inactivation characteristics of Bacillus subtilis A spores suspended in skim milk with the use of large-scale ultrahigh temperature (UHT) processing equipment were investigated in terms of survival as measured with two plating media. Data on survival immediately after UHT treatments were recorded in temperature-survivor curves, time-survivor curves, and decimal reduction time (DRT) curves. The temperature-survivor curves emphasized that inactivation is accelerated more by increases in the treatment temperature than by increases in the exposure time. Time-survivor curves and DRT curves were not linear. Generally, exceedingly concave time-survivor curves were observed with the standard plating medium; however, only slightly concave curves were observed when CaCl(2) and sodium dipicolinate were added to the medium. For a given UHT sample, larger D values were obtained by use of the medium with the added CaCl(2) and sodium dipicolinate. The DRT curves of all data were concave and appeared to have two discrete slopes (z(D) values). The z(D) values observed in the upper UHT range (above 260 F; 127 C) were twice those observed at lower test temperatures.


Digitizing is the way for a revolutionary approach in knowing, analyzing, continuous monitoring, and preserving the tangible immovable cultural heritage. The built cultural heritage requires the most performant means and techniques to acquire information indoor and outdoor. Drones are the best platforms for this purpose in terms of operating costs, data accuracy, and mission planning flexibility. In this chapter, we present a survey on the main applications of drones in the field of built cultural heritage analyzing the usability of this technology. Essential technical issues that are important for the operation and understanding of the use of drones in specific missions for the study of built heritage are also discussed.


The next generation Internet architecture requires mobile communication devices to have continuous Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) network connectivity in wireless environments. The IETF mobile IPv6 standard is the protocol designed to support seamless mobility. Mobile IPv6 performance analysis and optimization are active areas of research for peer to peer (P2P) voice and video applications over IPv6. This paper surveys and evaluates the Mobile IPv6 implementations available today. A native mobile IPv6 testbed network was designed and configured using the MIPL implementation. Various experiments were conducted to determine handoff latency, data throughput, round trip time (RTT) and packet loss. The testbed network experiments also identify the current implementation limitations and inefficiencies. In this paper we suggest possible improvements to the current MIPL implementation.


The 14CO2 released into the stratosphere during bomb testing in the early 1960s provides a global constraint on air‐sea gas exchange of soluble atmospheric gases like CO2. Using the most complete database of dissolved inorganic radiocarbon, DI14C, available to date and a suite of ocean general circulation models in an inverse mode we recalculate the ocean inventory of bomb‐produced DI14C in the global ocean and confirm that there is a 25% decrease from previous estimates using older DI14C data sets. Additionally, we find a 33% lower globally averaged gas transfer velocity for CO2 compared to previous estimates (Wanninkhof, 1992) using the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis 1 1954–2000 where the global mean winds are 6.9 m s−1. Unlike some earlier ocean radiocarbon studies, the implied gas transfer velocity finally closes the gap between small‐scale deliberate tracer studies and global‐scale estimates. Additionally, the total inventory of bomb‐produced radiocarbon in the ocean is now in agreement with global budgets based on radiocarbon measurements made in the stratosphere and troposphere. Using the implied relationship between wind speed and gas transfer velocity ks = 0.27〈u102〉(Sc/660)−0.5 and standard partial pressure difference climatology of CO2 we obtain an net air‐sea flux estimate of 1.3 ± 0.5 PgCyr−1 for 1995. After accounting for the carbon transferred from rivers to the deep ocean, our estimate of oceanic uptake (1.8 ± 0.5 PgCyr−1) compares well with estimates based on ocean inventories, ocean transport inversions using ocean concentration data, and model simulations.


The development of anti-racist ideology in adolescence and emerging adulthood is informed by parent socialization, parenting style, and cross-race friendships. This study used longitudinal, multi-reporter survey data from White youth and their parents in Maryland to examine links between parents' racial attitudes when youth were in eleventh grade in 1996 (N = 453; 52% female; Mage  = 17.12) and the youths' anti-racist ideology (acknowledgment of anti-Black discrimination and support for affirmative action) 1 year after high school in 1998. This study also examined whether these associations varied based on authoritative parenting and the number of cross-race friendships. Positive parent racial attitudes toward racially and ethnically minoritized populations predicted higher anti-racist ideology in the independent contexts of more cross-race friendships and low authoritative parenting.


Spatio-temporal action localization is a challenging yet fascinating task that aims to detect and classify human actions in video clips. In this paper, we develop a high-level video understanding module which can encode interactions between actors and objects both in space and time. In our formulation, spatio-temporal relationships are learned by performing self-attention operations on a graph structure connecting entities from consecutive clips. Noticeably, the use of graph learning is unprecedented for this task. From a computational point of view, the proposed module is backbone independent by design and does not need end-to-end training. When tested on the AVA dataset, it demonstrates a 10-16% relative mAP improvement over the baseline. Further, it can outperform or bring performances comparable to state-of-the-art models which require heavy end-to-end and synchronized training on multiple GPUs. Code is publicly available at: this https URL.


Spontaneous temporal bone cerebrospinal fluid leak may be defined as a leak without an apparent precipitating cause. These transdural fistulas occur rarely, and diagnosis is predicated upon a high index of suspicion. Leaks have been reported through both middle and posterior fossa defects, although the vast majority involve the middle fossa plate. In a previous study we reported 7 cases of spontaneous temporal bone cerebrospinal fluid leaks, all involving the middle fossa tegmen. Upon further review of these cases and 5 previously unreported cases, the defect was localized to the tegmen tympani in 9 of the total 12 cases. Diagnostic methods are discussed, with the importance of high-resolution computed tomography stressed. The role of contrast cisternography is also evaluated. An outline for surgical management is presented based upon residual hearing and defect location and accessibility. A transmastoid procedure offers the advantage of visualization of both the middle and posterior fossa plates, and this approach can be supplemented with an obliterative procedure when indicated. The middle fossa approach provides optimal exposure of the tegmen plate with less likelihood of ossicular injury when dealing with tegmen tympani defects. Adjuncts to surgical therapy include intrathecal fluorescein dye and continuous postoperative lumbar cerebrospinal fluid drainage.


Background Manual replacement of drugs in semi-automatic storage and dispensing systems takes long time for the pharmacy auxiliary staff, particularly for drugs that need some manipulation before their replacement. Purpose To achieve a reduction in the time required for replacement of drugs in the semi-automatic storage system, Kardex. Material and methods Assessment and improvement study of the number of daily drugs to replace in Kardex. Assessment phase: for 26 days, it was decided to evaluate those drugs whose real stock was less than the minimum preset in Kardex. We also analysed whether any of these drugs were involved in any process related to repackaging or division. We implemented an intervention to optimise the stocks of all drugs in Kardex. Improvement phase: following the methodology of the evaluation phase, for 26 days after the intervention, we analysed the number of drugs to replace and whether they needed any process related to repackaging or division. Results The maximum and minimum stocks of 550 different drugs were optimised. Before the intervention, the number of drugs to replace was 1401 (53.8 daily drugs). After the intervention the number of drugs decreased to 1313 (50.4 daily drugs). The number of drugs that needed any process related to repackaging or division before their replacement was 685 vs. 575 after the intervention (26.4 vs 22.1 daily drugs). These types of drugs take the most time because they have to be cut, repackaged and bagged. Time saving was difficult to calculate because it depended on the drug and the stock. It was estimated that the pharmacy auxiliary staff took between 3 and 8 min to replace each different drug. Total time saving was between 10.2 and 27.2 min daily to replace all drugs. Conclusion Reviewing and updating the stocks reduced the number of drugs that pharmacy auxiliary staff had to replace in Kardex and therefore optimised the replacement time and their workload. Drugs that must be manipulated before their replacement showed further reduction which involved more time saving. The results showed the importance of optimising the stocks in the pharmacy store. References and/or Acknowledgements Juvany-Roig R. Optimización de la calidad del proceso de dispensación de medicamentos en dosis unitaria mediante la implantación del sistema semiautomático Kardex. Farm Hosp 2006;31:38-42 No conflict of interest.


Objective The frequency of home ventilation has increased greatly. The objective of the study was, first, to compare the outcome of episodes of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treated with mask intermittent positive-pressure ventilation (MIPPV) in patients with home MIPPV and in patients without home ventilatory support and, second, for each category of patients, to compare patients successfully ventilated with MIPPV with those who failed with MIPPV. Design Prospective, controlled, nonrandomized clinical study. Setting Medical intensive care unit of a university hospital. Patients In the groups with and without home MIPPV, respectively, 31 and 78 episodes of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were studied. Interventions MIPPV was performed in a sequential mode and delivered through a full-face mask with a bilevel positive airway pressure system. Measurements and Main Results The clinical and functional characteristics of the two groups, at admission, were similar. In groups with and without home ventilation, respectively, success rates were 68% and 72% (p = .68), length of intensive care unit stay was 8 ± 6 and 10 ± 4 days (p = .02), and intensive care unit deaths were 13% and 8% (p = .30). In survivors and in groups with and without home ventilation, respectively, the total time of ventilatory assistance in intensive care unit was 5 ± 4 and 8 ± 4 days (p = .004), and the length of intensive care unit stay was 7 ± 5 and 10 ± 4 days (p = .003). A greater correction of pH, after 45 mins of MIPPV with optimal settings, was recorded in the success patients than in the failure patients, respectively; in the group with home MIPPV, the pH after 45 mins was 7.34 ± 0.04 vs. 7.31 ± 0.04 (p = .06), and in the group without home MIPPV, pH was 7.34 ± 0.04 vs. 7.30 ± 0.04 (p = .001). Conclusion MIPPV may also be favorable during episodes of acute exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Experience with MIPPV could benefit selected patients in the management of acute respiratory failure.


The torque ripple of the hydraulic pumps for the Electro-hydrostatic Actuators can disturb the cylinder position control under slewing speed operation condition. In principle, the periodic change of the reaction torque generated by a piston type pump is highly dependent on the waveform of its cylinder chamber pressure. In case of uni-directional pumps operating at constant speed, the transient overshoot and rising slope of the cylinder pressure can be adjusted by the precompression angle and notch shape of their valve plates. Therefore, the influence of the valve plate geometry on the torque ripple magnitude of a bent-axis type piston pump for EHA application was investigated in this study. The results showed that any improvement of the torque ripple of such a bi-directional pump can not be achieved by modifying the valve plate geometry, regardless of its operation speed. ᤐ椀਀㘳㈻㔹㔮㜻Ԁ䭃䑎䷓૎5㤰㬅K䍄乍븗⌚ꄀ᐀㘳㈻㘳㈮〹㔱㤻㘳㈮㔻Ԁ䭃䑎䶙᜚ᇥ 5㤵⸷〹㔱㤻Ԁ䭃䑎䴀


A novel Ag3PO4/CeO2 composite was fabricated by in situ wrapping CeO2 nanoparticles with Ag3PO4 through a facile precipitation method. The photocatalytic properties of Ag3PO4/CeO2 were evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of MB and phenol under visible light and UV light irradiation. The photocatalytic activity of the composite is much higher than that of pure Ag3PO4 or CeO2. The rate constant of MB degradation over Ag3PO4/CeO2 is more than 2 times and 20 times than those of pure Ag3PO4 and CeO2 under visible light irradiation, respectively. The Ag3PO4/CeO2 composite photocatalyst also shows higher photocatalytic activity for the colorless phenol degradation compared to pure Ag3PO4. Moreover, the Ag3PO4/CeO2 sample has almost no loss of photocatalytic activity after five recycles under the irradiation of visible light and UV light, indicating that the composite has good photocatalytic stability. The excellent photocatalytic activity of the Ag3PO4/CeO2 composite is closely related to the fast transfer and efficient separation of electron–hole pairs at the interfaces of the two semiconductors derived from the matching band positions between CeO2 and Ag3PO4. This newly constructed Ag3PO4/CeO2 composite, with promising and fascinating visible light-driven photocatalytic activity as well as good stability, could find potential applications in environmental purification and solar energy conversion.


Abstract There exists a strong link in modern thinking between letter collections and biographical or historical narration. Many ancient letter collections have been rearranged by modern editors along chronological lines, apparently with the aim of realizing the biographical and historiographical potential of these ancient collections. In their original format, however, non-fictional Greco-Roman letter collections were arranged predominantly by addressee or by theme (often without the preservation of chronology within addressee or thematic groupings), or they might be arranged on the principle of artful variety and significant juxtaposition. Consequently, some purpose or purposes other than biographical or historical narration must be attributed to ancient letter collections. This paper asks what those purposes might be.


Benign Prostate Hyperplasia or in the medical fieldknown as BPH is a hyperplasia of the prostate gland, causing enlargement of the prostate gland.1Enlargement of this organ will cause blockage of the posterior urethra that obstructs the flow of urine.2 In Indonesia, Benign Prostate Hyperplasia occurs in 50% of men with urinary tract stones.3 The prevalence of BPH will increase with age for people over 40 years old. For men aged 60 years old, BHP occurs around 70% of the time and will increase for men aged over 80 years with a possibility that reaches 90%4 . The objective of this study is to find out more knowledge and factors that influence the case of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) in Inpatient Rooms at Aliyah II General Hospital Kendari. This study used data from the medical records of Aliyah II General Hospital Kendari with form of cases of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) in the year 2019. The data was obtained from the Urology Department of Inpatient Registration. The conclusion was that the cases of a hundred-percent Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) are male and the cases have increased gradually, which most occuring in men over 60 years old.
Keywords: BPH, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia


In this article, we assess the potential of alternative land use systems using non-drainage peatland species which could eventually phase out or partly replace oil palm plantations on undrainable peatlands. We have used the ecosystem services approach to analyse what scenarios using drainage-free peatland species could be suitable alternatives for oil palm cultivation on peat and how these scenarios compare to oil palm plantations in terms of selected ecosystem services. Our results indicate that alternative paludiculture systems will provide more direct and indirect ecosystem services than oil palm plantations on peat. We also found that stakeholders were aware of issues with growing oil palm on peat, and that there was a general intention for sustainable use of peatlands amongst several groups of stakeholders. Replacing oil palm with alternative systems such as paludiculture in Malaysia is not yet realistic. The most important impediments are a lack of knowledge on potential of non-drainage peatland species and its associated value chains, as well as the technical difficulty for smallholders to implement such a system. We recommend starting experimental plantings with paludiculture systems to further test species performance, life cycle analysis, growth, intercropping limitations and possibilities, yields and improvements in the value chain.


As one of the lowest metallicity star-forming galaxies, with a nucleus of several super star clusters (SSCs), SBS0335-052E is the subject of substantial current study. We present new insights on this galaxy based on new and archival high spatial resolution NICMOS and attitude control system images. We provide new measurements and limits on the size of several of the SSCs. The images have sufficient resolution to divide the star formation into compact regions and newly discovered extended regions, indicating a bimodal form of star formation. The star formation regions are dated via the equivalent width of the Paα emission and we find that two of the extended regions of star formation are less than 10 million years old. Our previous finding that stellar winds confine the photo-ionizing flux to small regions around individual stars is consistent with the new observations. This may allow planet formation in what would traditionally be considered a harsh environment and has implications for the number of planets around globular cluster stars. In addition, the images pinpoint the regions of H2 emission as located in, but not at the center of, the two star-forming super star clusters, S1 and S2.


The distribution of cross-polarized phase relative to copolarized phase, which is important in the design of depolarization cancelers, is presented using the CS-2 beacon signal (19.45 GHz, right-hand circular. EL=49.5 degrees ), and its dependence upon rainfall rates is discussed. Also, additional depolarizations due to ice effects are estimated and a calculation is made to show the possibility of cancelling them on the complex depolarization plane. The analysis of the cross-polar phase characteristics of Ka-band depolarization indicates a possibility of its compensation by phase shifters within small rainfall rates, which do not exceed a general rain margin (<5-10 dB). Consideration of the differential phase shift cancellation mechanism on the complex depolarization plane suggests that the improvement for the ice effects is approximately estimated by the additional ice depolarization observed in the cross-polar discrimination (XPD) amplitude.<<ETX>>


The p21‐activated kinase (PAK) family members are key effectors of Rho family GTPases, which act as regulatory switches that control such cellular processes as motility, proliferation, and cell survival. Some members of this family (such as Cdc42) have been shown to be required for Ras driven tumorigenesis. PAK4 is a key effector for Cdc42 and mediates downstream signals that control cell motility, proliferation and cell survival. The PAK family consists of PAK1,2,3 ('group 1') and PAK4,5,6 ('group 2'). Both PAK4 and PAK1 have been shown to be required for Ras driven transformation. PAK4 has been shown to be oncogenic and able to drive anchorage independent growth when activated. PAK4 expression and activity is broadly up‐regulated in solid tumors such as colon, ovarian and pancreatic cancers. Pfizer9s PAK4 inhibitor program started with HTS of kinase focus library compounds. Multiple series were identified from the screening effort. Initial optimization mainly focused on kinase selectivity, ADME properties and ability to modulate target in vivo, leading to selection of pyrrolopyrazoles as the lead series. By hybridizing the pyrrolopyrazole core with aminopyrimidine series, we discovered potent PAK4 inhibitors with low to sub nM cellular activity. For the new hybrid series, the challenge was to attain good oral bioavailability. The observed poor absorption was likely due to high efflux nature of the template. Medicinal chemistry strategies, such as reducing molecular charge, lowering polar surface area and improving ligand efficiency, were applied to reduce efflux. As a result, two sub‐series achieved excellent in vivo tumor growth inhibition when dosed orally. PF‐03758309 has demonstrated excellent profile, leading to its selection as a clinical development candidate. PF‐3758309 is a potent ATP‐competitive inhibitor of PAK4 kinase domain (Kd = 4.5 nM). In engineered cell assays, PF‐3758309 inhibited PAK4 dependent phosphorylation of its substrate GEF‐H1 (IC50 = 1 nM). It potently inhibits the anchorage independent growth of HCT116 cells (IC50 = 0.24 nM). PF‐3758309 exhibited broad anti‐proliferative activity across a panel of 67 cell lines (CRC/pancreatic/NSCLC): 66% IC50 70%TGI at 15–20 mg/kg PO) by PF‐3758309: HCT116, A549, MDAMB231, M24met, and Colo205. Broad kinase screening has demonstrated that this is a selective pan‐PAK inhibitor with potential additional activities (e.g. AMPK). The pharmacodynamic and antitumor effects of PF‐3758309 support its evaluation as an anticancer agent. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):PR-2.


In this article the possibility of using the logic axiomatization of a scientific theory as another tool in the process of learning as a conceptual change is discussed. This way of teaching has to show certain features and ensure that debates in the classroom are centered on the logic connections between deductions. To achieve this the didactic action must give importance to the justification of ideas, debates must be metacognitive and the role of teachers must be more active and diversified. One example of this way of teaching is also introduced herein.


The use of low-resolution digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters (DACs and ADCs) significantly benefits energy efficiency (EE) at the cost of high quantization noise for massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. This paper considers a precoding optimization problem for maximizing EE in quantized downlink massive MIMO systems. To this end, we jointly optimize an active antenna set, precoding vectors, and allocated power; yet acquiring such joint optimal solution is challenging. To resolve this challenge, we decompose the problem into precoding direction and power optimization problems. For precoding direction, we characterize the first-order optimality condition, which entails the effects of quantization distortion and antenna selection. We cast the derived condition as a functional eigenvalue problem, wherein finding the principal eigenvector attains the best local optimal point. To this end, we propose generalized power iteration based algorithm. To optimize precoding power for given precoding direction, we adopt a gradient descent algorithm for the EE maximization. Alternating these two methods, our algorithm identifies a joint solution of the active antenna set, the precoding direction, and allocated power. In simulations, the proposed methods provide considerable performance gains. Our results suggest that a few-bit DACs are sufficient for achieving high EE in massive MIMO systems.


Let $E$ be an elliptic curve defined over a number field $K$, let $\alpha \in E(K)$ be a point of infinite order, and let $N^{-1}\alpha $ be the set of $N$-division points of $\alpha $ in $E(\overline {K})$. We prove strong effective and uniform results for the degrees of the Kummer extensions $[K(E[N],N^{-1}\alpha ): K(E[N])]$. When $K=\mathbb Q$, and under a minimal (necessary) assumption on $\alpha $, we show that the inequality $[\mathbb Q(E[N],N^{-1}\alpha ): \mathbb Q(E[N])] \geq cN^2$ holds for a positive constant $c$ independent of both $E$ and $\alpha $.


This article's fundamental argument is that the reading instruction and reading research have been shaped by political forces desiring to privilege particular approaches to instruction or particular combinations of methodological and epistemological perspectives on research. The swings in both dominant pedagogies and dominant research paradigms are analyzed in terms of these determining forces. The article concludes by championing balance and compatibility across both instructional approaches and research methods in the hope of arresting the pendulum swings that have characterized the field for too many decades.


This document reprints China's "Regulations on Family Planning (FP) Management of the Floating Population" that went into effect on January 1, 1999. The regulations, which apply to married labor migrants of reproductive age, call on all levels of the government to include FP management of this group in the target population of each administrative area. In addition to assigning governmental responsibilities, the regulations require adults to acquire certificates of marriage and childbearing at their local FP departments before they migrate. The adults should present these certificates to the proper authorities upon arrival at their destination. Efforts should be made to educate migrants about population and FP requirements; reach migrants with contraceptive services; and link approval of temporary residence permits, business licenses, and work permits with proper certification of marriage and childbearing. Employers will be responsible for the FP management of labor migrants, and landlords should assist local officials in this FP management. Incentives for adhering to the one child policy will be awarded by the migrants' place of household registration, but the cost of contraceptive operations will be born by employers if applicable or by the place of household registration. Penalties for violating the FP regulations will be meted out by the government of the place of current residence or of household registration (with only one penalty given for a single violation). Fines will be instituted for fabricating, selling, or acquiring fake certificates of marriage and childbearing or for failing to follow these regulations.


The analytical method presented here simplifies problems associated with transmitting transistor and diode characteristics from the semiconductor manufacturer to the electronic designer. This novel approach permits the base and collector characteristics of any individual transistor of a given type to be derived from the nominal characteristics of that type by use of a set of matching factors and terms that modify the nominal characteristics to suit that individual. Availability of complete characteristics allows the designer to accurately simulate the nonlinear behavior of the device in a circuit by means of a convergent iterative process.


Three studies were conducted to develop pollen tests for the screening of acetyl coenzyme-A carboxylase (ACCase) target-site resistance in a biotype of johnsongrass. The assays were based on germination of johnsongrass pollen in media supplemented with clethodim. Two different methods were used to evaluate pollen germination—a visual assessment and a spectrophotometric assay. The response of pollen to the germination media was linear for 16 h. At 6 h after treatment, absorbance at 500 nm was nearly 0.5; consequently, 6 h was chosen to conduct the pollen assays using the spectrophotometer. Both assessment methods differentiated the susceptible (S) and resistant (R) biotypes. Pollen from the susceptible biotype of johnsongrass was strongly inhibited by increasing concentrations of clethodim, with a GR50 of 25.8 ± 0.6 (SE) µM and GR50 of 16.4 ± 1.7 (SE) µM clethodim by visual assessment and spectrophotometric assessment, respectively. Minimum R/S values were > 3.9 by visual assessment and > 6.1 by spectrophotometric assessment. ACCase target-site resistance is expressed in johnsongrass pollen. Nomenclature: johnsongrass, Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. SORHA.


The Revised Hierarchical Model (RHM) of bilingual language processing dominates current thinking on bilingual language processing. Recently, basic tenets of the model have been called into question. First, there is little evidence for separate lexicons. Second, there is little evidence for language selective access. Third, the inclusion of excitatory connections between translation equivalents at the lexical level is likely to impede word recognition. Fourth, the connections between L2 words and their meanings are stronger than proposed in RHM. And finally, there is good evidence to make a distinction between language-dependent and language-independent semantic features. It is argued that the Revised Hierarchical Model cannot easily be adapted to incorporate these challenges and that a more fruitful way forward is to start from existing computational models of monolingual language processing and see how they can be adapted for bilingual input and output, as has been done in the Bilingual Interactive Activation model.


The main goal of this paper is to summarize selected developments in the field of artificial societies and agent-based modeling and to suggest, how this fundamentally new toolkit can contribute to solving some of the most complex scientific and practical problems of our time. The entire field of agent-based modeling has expanded dramatically over the last quarter century, with applications across a remarkable array of fields, at scales ranging from molecular to global.The models described in this paper are a small part of worldwide scientific and practical developments in the field of agent-based modelling and related areas. We have attempted to give an impression of the vast range of application areas (epidemiology, economics, demography, environment, urban dynamics, history, conflict, disaster preparedness), scales (from cellular to local to urban to planetary), and goals (simple exploratory models, optimization, generative explanation, forecasting, policy) of agent-based modeling. Agent-based models offer a new and powerful alternative, or complement, to traditional mathematical methods for addressing complex challenges.


Bezier curves (BC) are fundamental to a wide range of applications from computer-aided design through to object shape descriptions and surface mapping. Since BC only consider global information with respect to their control points, this can lead to erroneous shape representations, though integrating local control point information minimises this error. This paper presents a new dynamic Bezier curve (DBC) model which combines both localised and global shape information by making a parametric shift of the BC points in the gap between the curve and its control polygon. The value of the shifting parameter is dynamically determined for a prescribed maximum distortion. DBC retains the kernel properties of the BC without increasing computational complexity order. The model's performance has been empirically evaluated on a number of arbitrary-shaped objects from geometric modelling to shape coding. Both qualitative and quantitative results confirm the improvement achieved compared with the classical BC representation.


Abstract The European Union has set an ambitious goal to transform to a carbon neutral economy. The present paper focuses on thermal treatment of oil shale and biomass blends that could be considered as an important pathway for achieving the carbon neutral goal locally in Estonia. The concept of co-pyrolysis and co-gasification of biomass and oil shale offers various advantages such as higher liquid product yield and higher char conversion than if the oil shale and biomass particles were processed individually. In the paper, an overview of the planned actions for merging oil shale industry carbon neutral economy is given. The selected approaches are justified with information found in scientific literature and initial experimental results. Further, the possible future developments for gasification and pyrolysis in Estonia are also highlighted.


The problem of integrating the ad hoc networks and especially the Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) with the Internet has attracted significant research and implementation efforts so far. Admittedly, not all of them have been widely adopted and established as prevalent standards or solutions in this technical area. In this paper we survey the proposed interconnection models and the relevant architectures. We discern three different communication models, we describe some of the existing frameworks towards the development of Internet-based sensor applications and, finally, we present a number of prototypes that implement and use the above concepts. The analysis reveals the pros and cons of each technology and makes hints about the trends and the tracks that will lead to the problem's solution in the near future.


In the presence of a chiral azolium salt (10 mol %), enols and ynals undergo a highly enantioselective annulation reaction to form enantiomerically enriched dihydropyranones via an N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed variant of the Claisen rearrangement. Unlike other azolium-catalyzed reactions, this process requires no added base to generate the putative NHC-catalyst, and our investigations demonstrate that the counterion of the azolium salt plays a key role in the formation of the catalytically active species. Detailed kinetic studies eliminate a potential 1,4-addition as the mechanistic pathway; the observed rate law and activation parameters are consistent with a Claisen rearrangement as the rate-limiting step. This catalytic system was applied to the synthesis of enantioenriched kojic acid derivatives, a reaction of demonstrated synthetic utility for which other methods for catalytic enantioselective Claisen rearrangements have not provided a satisfactory solution.


Background Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are generally treated with optimization of bronchodilation therapy and a course of oral corticosteroids, mostly without antibiotics. The Dutch guidelines recommend prudent use of antibiotics, with amoxicillin or doxycycline as first choice. Here we evaluate adherence to these guidelines with regard to antibiotic prescription in AECOPD in primary care and the use of sputum cultures. Methods We retrospectively analyzed a longitudinal cohort of patients in three primary care practices in the north-eastern region of the Netherlands from 2009 to 2013 (n=36,172 subjects) participating in the Registration Network Groningen. Antibiotics prescribed for AECOPD −10/+28 days from the start date of corticosteroid courses were evaluated. In addition, we assessed regional data on the susceptibility of respiratory pathogens from COPD patients. Results We identified 1,297 patients with COPD. Of these, 616 experienced one or more exacerbations, resulting in a total of 1,558 exacerbations, for which 1,594 antibiotic courses were prescribed. The recommended antibiotics doxycycline and amoxicillin accounted for 56% of the prescribed antibiotics overall and for 35% in subsequent antibiotic courses. The alternative choices were not based on culture results because only in 67 AECOPD events (2.9%) sputum samples were taken. Regional data including 3,638 sputum samples showed that pathogens relevant in AECOPD were detected in 19% of cultures. Conclusion Our study shows that guidelines regarding the prescription of antibiotics are poorly followed, particularly in recurrent exacerbations. Sputum cultures were performed in a small minority of cases. Performing sputum diagnostics in patients with early treatment failure or a repeated exacerbation when antibiotic treatment is started may further rationalize antibiotic treatment.


The deuterium (D) operation was initiated in the LHD in 2017. In the first campaign of the D experiments, we successfully extended the high temperature regime in the LHD. The new record of the ion temperature (Ti) of 10 keV associated with the ion internal transport barrier (ITB) was achieved due to several operational optimization. The thermal confinement characteristics of ITB plasmas were compared between hydrogen and D discharges. The effective ion thermal diffusivity of the ion-ITB plasmas was found to be smaller in the D discharges than that in the H discharges. The profiles of the Ti, the electron density, and the impurity of the high Ti plasmas strongly depended on the magnetic configuration and these profiles tended to peaked in the inward-shifted configuration. It was also found that the electron thermal confinement of the electron-ITB plasmas was clearly improved in the deuterium case. The GKV simulation showed the linear growth rate of TEM/ITG reduced in the plasmas with D both for the ion ITB and the electron ITB plasmas and qualitatively agreed with the tendency of the change in the thermal diffusivity obtained from the power balance analysis.


We report the case of a 70-year-old man who developed hypothyroidism associated with TSH receptor antibodies and severe ophthalmopathy during lithium therapy. He had received lithium therapy for more than 20 years for manic depression, when ophthalmopathy (class VI of the American Thyroid Association classification) and mild hypothyroidism developed. Orbital magnetic resonance imaging indicated marked enlargement of the superior, medial and inferior rectus muscles in the left eye. He had anti-eye muscle antibodies in his serum, detected by Western blotting and quantified by chromatoscanning, as well as anti-TSH receptor antibodies. He was treated with supplementation of levothyroxine and four cycles of methylprednisolone pulse therapy. After the pulse therapy, both anti-eye muscle antibodies and anti-TSH receptor antibodies decreased and disappeared in parallel with the improvement in eye symptoms and signs. These observations suggest the importance of anti-eye muscle antibodies as clinical markers in the development of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.


In optical field ionized (OFI) plasmas, the electron energy distribution is highly deviated from equilibrium distribution; ionization and recombination in such plasmas should be treated using the particle model since the usual concept of a rate constant is not applicable in nonequilibrium. A particle model is proposed for the simulation of ionization and three-body recombination in fully ionized plasmas of Li3+. The nonequilibrium rate constant is defined and calculated using the cross section for reactive collision, which is derived from the equilibrium rate constant using the inverse Laplace transform. The use of the model, together with the Coulomb collision simulation, makes it possible to examine the relaxation of the electron energy distribution in nonequilibrium systems.


As the key component of a mechanical system, rolling bearings will cause paralysis of the entire mechanical system once they fail. In recent years, considering the high generalization ability and nonlinear modeling ability of deep learning, a rolling bearing fault diagnosis method based on deep learning has been formed, and good results have been achieved. However, because this kind of method is still in the initial development stage, its main problems are as follows. First, it is difficult to extract the composite fault signal feature of rolling bearing. Second, the existing deep learning rolling bearing fault diagnosis methods cannot well consider the problem of multi-scale information of rolling bearing signals. Therefore, this paper first proposes the overlapping group sparse model. It constructs weight coefficients by analyzing the salient features of the signal. It uses convex optimization techniques to solve the sparse optimization model, and applies the method to the feature extraction of rolling bearing composite faults. For the problem of multi-scale feature information extraction of rolling bearing composite fault signals, this paper proposes a new deep complex convolutional neural network model. This model fully considers the multi-scale information of rolling bearing signals. The complex information in this model not only contains rich representation ability, but also can extract more scale information. Finally, the classifier of this model is used to identify rolling bearing faults. Based on this, this paper proposes a new rolling bearing fault diagnosis algorithm based on overlapping group sparse model-deep complex convolutional neural network. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can not only effectively identify rolling bearing faults under constant operating conditions, but also accurately identify rolling bearing fault signals under changing operating conditions. Additionally, the classification accuracy of the method proposed in this paper is greatly improved compared with traditional machine learning methods. It also has certain advantages over other deep learning methods.


The Pho4 transcription factor is required for growth under low environmental phosphate concentrations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A characterization of Candida albicans pho4 mutants revealed that these cells are more susceptible to both osmotic and oxidative stress and that this effect is diminished in the presence of 5% CO2 or anaerobiosis, reflecting the relevance of oxygen metabolism in the Pho4-mediated response. A pho4 mutant was as virulent as wild type strain when assayed in the Galleria mellonella infection model and was even more resistant to murine macrophages in ex vivo killing assays. The lack of Pho4 neither impairs the ability to colonize the murine gut nor alters the localization in the gastrointestinal tract. However, we found that Pho4 influenced the colonization of C. albicans in the mouse gut in competition assays; pho4 mutants were unable to attain high colonization levels when inoculated simultaneously with an isogenic wild type strain. Moreover, pho4 mutants displayed a reduced adherence to the intestinal mucosa in a competitive ex vivo assays with wild type cells. In vitro competitive assays also revealed defects in fitness for this mutant compared to the wild type strain. Thus, Pho4, a transcription factor involved in phosphate metabolism, is required for adaptation to stress and fitness in C. albicans.


Background: Vascular calcification (VC) is a common characteristic of aging, diabetes, chronic renal failure, and atherosclerosis. The basic component of VC is hydroxyapatite (HAp). Nano-sized HAp (nHAp) has been identified as the initiator of pathological calcification of vasculature. However, whether nHAp can induce calcification in vivo and the mechanism of nHAp in the progression of VC remains unclear.Results: We discovered that nHAp existed both in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and their extracellular matrix (ECM) in the calcified arteries from patients. Synthetic nHAp had similar morphological and chemical properties as natural nHAp recovered from calcified artery. nHAp induced rapid progression of VC by stimulating osteogenic differentiation and accelerating mineralization of VSMCs in vitro. Synthetic nHAp could also directly induce VC in vivo. Mechanistically, nHAp was internalized into lysosome, which impaired lysosome vacuolar H+-ATPase for its acidification, therefore blocked autophagic flux in VSMCs. The accumulated autophagosomes and autolysosomes were converted into calcium-containing exosomes which were secreted into ECM and accelerated vascular calcium deposit. Inhibition of exosome release in VSMCs decreased calcium deposition. Conclusions: Our results illustrated a novel mechanism of nHAp-induced vascular calcification. Understanding the role of nHAp in autophagy-lysosome-exosome pathway in SMCs could have great clinical significance in preventing the progression of VC.


Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction to logistics and transportation. 2. Logistics systems analysis. 3. Logistics network planning. 4. Vendor selection. 5. Inventory planning. 6. Facilities planning. 7. Intrafacility logistics. 8. Transportation planning. 9. Logistics performance metrics. 10. Recent trends in logistics. Appendix A: Logistics and transportation cases. A.1. Case 1: Saturn Corporation: improving the plant-retailer link in the auto industry supply. A.2. Case 2: Toys 'R' Us Japan. A.3. Case 2a: Toys 'R' Us Japan. A.4. Case 2b: Toys 'R' Us Japan. Index.


Abstract An improved turbidimetric technique for the determination of lipase activity is presented. A stable and reproducible triolein emulsion obtained with the use of isopropanol is suitable substrate for the lipase activities present in human serum and pancreatic juice. The within-run precision CV is 5.2 % whereas the day-to-day precision CV is 7.3 % for enzyme activities near 400 U/l. Linear response is obtained for lipase activities ranging from 60 to 780 U/l. the detection lower limit is 18 U/l. the use of optimal colipase, sodium taurodeoxycholate and calcium chloride concentrations offer the system increased specificity and analytical sensitivity.


The acquisition system is one of the most sensitive stages in a Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DS-SS) receiver (Peterson, Ziemer & Borth, 1995), due to its critical position in order to demodulate the received information. There are several schemes to deal with this problem, such as serial search and parallel algorithms (Proakis, 1995). Serial search algorithms have slow convergence time but their computational load is very low; on the other hand, parallel systems converge very quickly but their computational load is very high. In our system, the acquisition scheme used is the multiresolutive structure presented in (Moran, Socoró, Jové, Pijoan & Tarrés, 2001), which combines quick convergence and low computational load. The decisional system that evaluates the acquisition stage is a key process in the overall system performance, being a drawback of the structure. This becomes more important when dealing with time-varying channels, where signal to noise ratio (called SNR) is not a constant parameter. Several factors contribute to the performance of the acquistion system (Glisic & Vucetic, 1997): channel distorsion and variations, noise and interference, uncertainty about the code phase, and data randomness. The existence of all these variables led us to think about the possibility of using fuzzy logic to solve this complex acquisition estimation (Zadeh, 1973). A fuzzy logic acquisition estimator had already been tested and used in our research group to control a serial search algorithm (Alsina, Morán & Socoró, 2005) with encouraging results, and afterwards in the multiresolutive scheme (Alsina, Mateo & Socoró, 2007), and other applications to this field can be found in bibliography as (Bas, Pérez & Lagunas, 2001) or (Jang, Ha, Seo, Lee & Lee, 1998). Several previous works have been focused in the development of acquisition systems for non frequency selective channels with fast SNR variations (Moran, Socoró, Jové, Pijoan & Tarrés, 2001) (Mateo & Alsina, 2004).


BACKGROUND
Patients with self-induced water intoxication usually tolerate a large, rapid increase in plasma sodium without developing osmotically induced central pontine myelinolysis. However, we have previously reported a case of clinically suspected pontine myelinolysis in a patient with self-induced water intoxication. The purpose of our study was to investigate if a subgroup of these patients may also be vulnerable to neurologic complications of hyponatremia therapy.

METHOD
Over a 10-year period, we identified retrospectively 12 polydipsic patients having a total of 24 episodes of symptomatic hyponatremia with plasma sodium < or = 115 mmol/L. The mode of treatment, the kinetics of correction, and the neurologic outcome were recorded. The presence of alcoholism was noted.

RESULTS
Seven patients recovered uneventfully from 19 episodes of symptomatic hyponatremia. Five patients had delayed neurologic complications. Late therapy and/or respiratory arrest might have been associated with the complications for 2 patients. The other 3 patients experienced clinical features of central pontine myelinolysis leading to death in 1. Patients with neurologic complications had a higher maximal 24-hour increase in plasma sodium concentration (21.8 +/- 3.9 vs. 15.5 +/- 5.1 mmol/L, p < .02), and a higher incidence of both overcorrection to hypernatremia and chronic alcoholism, often associated with poor nutrition. All 5 patients became water intoxicated at home, and 2 patients with pontine dysfunction had subacute rather than acute hyponatremia.

CONCLUSION
A large rapid increase in plasma sodium may also be detrimental in patients with self-induced water intoxication when they are alcoholic, malnourished, and have nonacute hyponatremia.


Tissue-specific delivery of functionalized polymeric nanoparticles has found potential for the treatment of various diseases including cancer. Theragnosis is an emerging approach that can perform diagnosis and therapy simultaneously, and has made great progress in cancer diagnosis and therapy. In this presentation, we report the preparation and characterization of tumor-targeting polymeric nanoparticles delivering both imaging probe and multiple anticancer genes. Poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles containing 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI) and siRNAs (c-Myc, VEGF, and Bcl-2) were fabricated by a W/O/W double emulsion method, followed by chemical modification with rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG) peptide using a carbodiimide chemistry. The RVG peptide, derived from rabies virus, binds specifically to acetylcholine receptors substantially found on the membrane of neuroblastoma. We evaluated in vitro cellular uptake and gene silencing efficiency of the nanoparticles using N2a cells. The cellular uptake and gene silencing efficiency of RVG-conjugated nanoparticles significantly increased compared with non-conjugated nanoparticles. We also monitored biodistribution and tumor-targeting ability of the nanoparticles after intravenous injection into a neuroblastoma-bearing mouse model. At 24 h post-injection, the whole body fluorescence was clearly detected at the tumor site when RVG-conjugated nanoparticles were injected into the mice. From ex vivo quantitative analysis, prominent fluorescence intensity of RVG-conjugated nanoparticles was found in tumor, compared with non-conjugated nanoparticles. Finally, in vivo anticancer efficacy of the nanoparticles was evaluated. The target specificity of the nanoparticles led to remarkable anticancer efficacy in the mouse model. This approach suggests that tumor-targeting polymeric nanoparticles are useful for delivery of both imaging probe and multiple anticancer genes specifically to neuroblastoma, which may be critical in the design and tailoring of theragnostic systems for various diseases including cancer.

Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):A79.

Citation Format: Jangwook Lee, Chang Seon Choi, Sang Kyung Lee, Kuen-Yong Lee. Delivery of multiple genes to neuroblastoma using peptide-conjugated polymeric nanoparticles for cancer therapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A79.


According to Fitts' law, the time to acquire a target can be reduced by either reducing the target's distance or increasing its size. Tognazzini (1999) proposed that the time to acquire a target on graphical user interfaces could be reduced further by moving targets to the edge of the screen (i.e., edge targets). Two studies tested these predictions with a web browser interface's back-button (Experiment 1) and scroll bar (Experiment 2). Results support the aforementioned hypotheses. Edge targets were always faster to acquire than targets placed one pixel from the edge of the screen. However, within the constraints of the current studies, this speed advantage is maximal at approximately 393 ms for target heights ≥ 2.00 cm and target distances ≥ 11.75 cm. Design recommendations and a cost/benefit analysis are given.


The impact of side information about the distortion measure in problems of quantization is analyzed. It is shown that such "distortion side information" is not only useful in general, but that in many cases knowing it at only the encoder is as good as knowing it at both encoder and decoder, and knowing it at only the decoder is useless. Moreover, it is shown that the strategy of exploiting distortion side information at the encoder by describing it for the decoder is inefficient. Thus, distortion side information is a natural complement to side information about the source signal, as studied by Wyner and Ziv, which if available only at the decoder is often as good as knowing it at both encoder and decoder. When both types of side information are present, conditions are established under which encoder-only distortion side information and decoder-only signal side information are sufficient in the high-resolution limit, and the rate penalty for deviating from this configuration is characterized.


Huguenot refugees were everywhere in the early modern world. Exiles fleeing French persecution, they scattered around Europe and beyond following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, settling in North America, the Caribbean, South Africa, and even remote islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This book offers the first global history of the Huguenot diaspora, explaining how and why these refugees became such ubiquitous characters in the history of imperialism. The story starts with dreams of Eden, as beleaguered religious migrants sought suitable retreats to build perfect societies far from the political storms of Europe. In order to create these communities, however, the Huguenots needed patrons, and they thus ran headlong into the world of politics. The refugees promoted themselves as the chosen people of empire, religious heroes who also possessed key skills that would strengthen the British and Dutch states. As a result, French Protestants settled around the world—they tried to make silk in South Carolina; they planted vines in South Africa; and they peopled vulnerable frontiers from New England to Suriname. Of course, this embrace of empire led to a gradual abandonment of the Huguenots' earlier utopian ambitions. They realized that only by blending in, and by mastering foreign institutions, could they prosper in a quickly changing world. Nonetheless, they managed to maintain a key role in the early modern world well into the eighteenth century, before the coming of Revolution upended the ancien régime.


Abstract Populations of Bouché's star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum boucheanum (Kunth) Asch., fam. Hyacinthaceae) were recorded on Bansko Hill (Baranja, Croatia) in 2007. Since this species has not been previously confirmed in Croatia, it should be treated as a new taxon in the country and included in the Flora Croatica Database. In this paper we present a short morphological description of O. boucheanum and diagnostic morphological characters for differentiation from the related O. nutans L. We suggested O. boucheanum be evaluated as a critically endangered (CR) species of the Croatian flora, considering the small number of individuals and the small extension of its population. The recording of its populations on the edge of the loess cliff in Bansko Hill a part of which belongs to the Important Plant Area and Natura 2000, confirms the significance of this unique habitat in preserving rare and endangered plants.


We propose vision measurement scheme for estimating the distance or size of the object in static scene, which requires single camera with 3-axis accelerometer sensor rotating around a fixed axis. First, we formulate the rotation matrix and translation vector from one coordinate system of the camera to another in terms of the rotation angle, which can be figured out from the readouts of the sensor. Second, with the camera calibration data and through coordinate system transformation, we propose a method for calculating the orientation and position of the rotation axis relative to camera coordinate system. Finally, given the rotation angle and the images of the object in static scene at two different positions, one before and the other after camera rotation, the 3D coordinate of the point on the object can be determined. Experimental results show the validity of our method.


Climate change is one of the major concerns among the researchers in twenty first century. This study aims to analyze the factors associated with farmers' perception towards climate change in Pokhara. For this purpose, two wards of Pokhara i.e. ward no. 30 and ward no. 33 were selected purposively. Out of 3982 households in these wards, 216 households are proportionately distributed in these wards. Information was collected by using structured questionnaire through interview techniques with household head or a household member having age 40 years and over and residing in that locality since last 10 years. A systematic sampling technique was carried out to select the samples. Chi-squared test was applied to find the factors associated with farmers' perception towards climate change. All the respondents were aware about the climate change and received information about climate change from radio, television, newspaper, peer groups. Majority of the respondents claim that climate change has been occurred in temperature, annual summer hotness, decrease in average annual rainfall, no change in average annual draught incidents, no change in flood incidents, no change in water availability to irrigate and increase in average number of pest and plant disease attack. It is found that there is significant association between farmer's perception level towards climate change with agriculture skill of the respondents, caste/ethnicity, major occupation and sex. Hence agriculture skill, sex, caste/ethnicity and occupations of the respondents are the major factors associated with farmers' perception towards climate change.


We derive equations and study nonlinear dynamics of cascade two-photon laser, in which the electromagnetic field in the cavity is driven by coherently prepared three-level atoms and classical field injected into the cavity. The dynamic equations of such a system are derived by using the technique of quantum Langevin operators, and then are studied numerically under different driving conditions. The results show that under certain conditions the cascade two-photon laser can generate chaotic, period doubling, periodic, stable and bistable states. Chaos can be inhibited by atomic populations, atomic coherences, and injected classical field. In addition, no chaos occurs in optical bistability.


Mass displacement to refugee camps often happens after an earthquake hits. Faecal oral transmission usually occurs causing disease outbreaks when people in mass displacement camps. Surabaya has a potential threat of an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter Scale. However, equipment readiness in wastewater infrastructure is still low at 21% during the emergency response period. Therefore, this research is needed in formulating the concept of emergency wastewater infrastructure provision to minimize the side effects of disease outbreaks. This study obtained primary data from 17 respondents. The first objective uses content analysis method. Then the second objective adopted triangulation analysis derived from three types of data, respondent opinions, policies, and best practices. The first objective disclosed 46 criteria for the provision of emergency wastewater infrastructure. Meanwhile, the second objective presented 38 potential actions and 18 concepts adjusted to disaster management cycle (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery). The mitigation phase focuses on stocktaking materials, establishing partnerships, training for volunteers, and optimizing the existing sanitation program. The preparedness focuses on forming a team to assess the needs of post-disaster conditions. The response phases divided into acute, general, and stabilization. The general stage focuses on determining suitable infrastructure, mobilizing volunteers and materials, and coordinating between agencies or clusters to handle wastewater. The acute stage focuses on rapid assessment and procurement of materials. The stabilization stage focuses on community involvement, determining the location of infrastructure, and handling waste from wastewater treatment. Finally, the recovery phase focuses on repairing the existing affected wastewater treatment plant.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Background: Central arterial stiffness (CAS) is associated with elevated arterial blood pressure (BP) and is likely associated with stiffening of cerebral artery walls, with attendant cerebral hypoperfusion, neuronal density loss and cognitive decline. Dahl salt-sensitive (Dahl-S) rats exhibit age-associated hypertension and memory loss, even on a normal salt intake. Method: We sought to explore whether central arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV), a marker of CAS, is associated with hippocampal cerebral blood flow (CBF) and neuronal density in hypertensive Dahl-S rats. We measured systolic BP (by tail-cuff plethysmography), aortic PWV (by echocardiography) and CBF and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) (by magnetic resonance imaging) in 6 month-old male Dahl-S rats (n = 12). Results: Greater PWV was significantly associated with lower CBF and lower NAA concentration in the hippocampus, supporting a role of CAS in cerebrovascular dysfunction and decline in cognitive performance with aging. Conclusion: These findings implicate increased CAS in cerebral hypoperfusion and loss of neuronal density and function in the Dahl-S model of age-associated cardiovascular dysfunction.


Objectives Coronary artery diseases (CAD) are the major causes of cardiovascular events. Early finding and early treatment of coronary atherosclerotic plaques are critical for preventing cardiovascular events. We used PAS (P: probucol, A: aspirin, S:Statin-atorvastatin) therapy to treat atherosclerotic patients, and obtained significant results regarding plaque reversal. Simultaneously, there is also decreasing potential of ox-LDL and MMP-2 expression. Methods 150 Patients who visited second Hospital of Jilin University as out-patient or in-patient from February 2008 to February 2011 were selected. They were undergone coronary angiography or coronary CTA examination. Stenosis of at least one branch of coronary artery from 10% to 50% was selected. Before inclusion, they had not used any ipid lowering agents for at least 3 months in a year. Age ranges from 30 to 75 years. All patients were divided into two groups, control (AS) group (100 mg/d aspirin, 20 mg/d atorvastatin), and treatment (PAS) group (0.5 g/d probucol, 100 mg/d aspirin, 20 mg/d atorvastatin). Finally, after follow up for 1 year, stenosis area, plaque length, ox-LDL level and MMP-2 expression of both groups was compared. Results There is tendency of plaque reversal in both groups. In control group, stenosis area, plaque length, ox-LDL level, MMP-2 level were 0.53+−0.19, 10.62+−3.88, 41.94+−3.8 and 11 114+−10036 respectively, while in treatment (PAS) group, stenosis area, plaque length, ox-LDL level, MMP-2 level were 0.47+−0.41 (p<0.01), 9.36+−3.46 (p<0.01), 26.93+−1.52 (p<0.01) and 7898+−458 (p<0.01) respectively, which means there is significant stastical difference. Conclusions 1. Both PAS and AS therapy have potential for coronary atherosclerotic plaque reversal along with decreasing tendency for serum ox-LDL, MMP-2 level, but PAS therapy is more potential than AS therapy. 2. PAS (with antioxidant) can be golden combination therapy along with clinically effective and safe drug therapy for plaque reversal.


Recently, researchers have investigated how racial identity status attitudes may influence the relationship between experiencing racism and affective responses (i.e., it has been suggested that racial identity may act as a buffer against experiencing negative affect as a consequence of exposure to racial discrimination). While this question has received increased attention in recent years, this literature has not extensively examined this association with more current and refined conceptualizations of subtle discrimination (i.e., microaggressions) and racial ideology. Additionally, the impact of racial coping styles on this association has not yet been examined. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine whether endorsement of racial identity and color-blind attitudes might both moderate the relationship between experiencing modern racism (quantified using the Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale) and psychological distress. A secondary goal of this study was to determine the potential impact of racial coping styles on the aforementioned relationship. Utilizing a sample of 218 Black college students, this study found that the association between experiencing racial microaggressions and endorsing symptoms of psychological distress was moderated by color-blind racial attitudes. This study also found that anger regulation coping partially mediated the relationship between racial microaggression scores and psychological distress. Further, this study found no support for the hypothesis that racial identity attitudes and color-blind racial attitudes would additively moderate the association between experiencing racial microaggressions and endorsing symptoms of psychological


A Funa in Chile is a public denunciation of a person identified as associated with crimes against humanity during the Pinochet regime. It begins as a web site notice of a planned procession, to be followed by a peaceful rally and demonstration, Some involve no more than thirty people, others, particularly those directed at notorious figures, have attracted thousands. My questions are: What is the effect of Funas in Chile?Could a Funa occur in Australia? Against whom? Who would organise it? For what reason? What would be the consequences? In discussing the question I will draw upon my recent work in reconciliation studies both in Chile and Aboriginal Australia.


Ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were determined by GC 5000 online gas chromatography in the urban site of Zhengzhou from April 15 to May 15, 2018. Based on chemical composition analysis, in this study, the concentrations, ozone formation potential (OFP), and source apportionment were studied. The results show that the averaged volume fraction of VOCs in Zhengzhou during spring was 40.26×10-9, which was 23% higher on polluted days (44.12×10-9) than on non-polluted days (35.82×10-9). The contribution of VOC species to OFP was in the order: alkenes > aromatics > alkanes > alkyne. The five factors identified by the PMF model were liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) volatilization sources (66.05%), motor vehicle exhaust sources (47.39%), industrial solvent sources (37.51%), fuel combustion sources (37.80%), and biogenic sources (11.25%). The contributions of LPG volatilization sources and biogenic sources on polluted days were higher by 22.92% and 68.50% than on non-polluted days, respectively.


In the frame of Borel right Markov processes, we investigate, following an analytical point of view, the Revuz correspondence between classes of potential kernels and their associated measures, improving upon the results of Revuz, Azema, Getoor and Sharpe, Fitzsimmons, Fitzsimmons and Getoor and Dellacherie, Maisonneuve and Meyer. In the probabilistic approach of the problem, the kernels that occur are the potential operators of different types of homogeneous random measures. We completely characterize the hypothesis (B) of Hunt in terms of Revuz measures.


This conversation between the renowned feminist psychiatrist, psychoanalytic psychotherapist and group analyst, Estela Welldon, and Sigal Spigel, is the second in a series of planned intergenerational conversations between what are usually termed second-wave feminists and what could be referred to as the 'daughters' of this generation. These conversations aim to elucidate what we see as inherent tensions in all articulations of the maternal - tensions, however that manifest themselves in particular ways in intergenerational contexts. As we have argued elsewhere, these dialogues offer opportunities for the ongoing work of tracing and creating maternal genealogies through the active consideration of cultural psychosocial constructions of the maternal as they become apparent within historical/generational and biographical contexts.


Purpose: To prove whether the use of nimodipine as add-on therapy in focal refractory epilepsy patients could improve seizure control and quality of life.
Methods: This is a randomized, unblinded, controlled trial of nimodipine as add-on therapy in adult patients
with focal refractory epilepsy. The trial consisted of baseline, maintenance and taper periods. Twenty-two patients with focal refractory epilepsy, which seizure frequency was greater than 5 per month, were randomized to one of the following dosage treatment regimens of nimodipine administered orally in four subdoses and according to body
weight: arm A, 2 mg/kg/day; arm B, 3 mg/kg/day. The primary efficacy assessment, based on change in seizure frequency, was evaluated in two ways: the 50% responder rate and seizure freedom from baseline to maintenance periods; quality of life improvement was also taken into consideration. Assessment of adverse events (AEs) was included for safety evaluation.
Results: In the intention to treat population, 7.6% of patients were seizure free for 3 months. In 16/26 patients (61.5%) seizure rate was reduced more than fifty percent. In the per protocol population 16/22 patients (72.7%) seizure rate also diminished more than fifty percent. In those patients allocated to the arm B, seizure frequency improved more than 50% in the first month of treatment. After three months of treatment, total quality of life improved significantly (p<0.05). The most frequently reported adverse events were somnolence and headache.
Conclusion: Nimodipine improves quality of life and reduced seizure rate in patients with refractory focal epilepsy.


Background & objectives: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) guidelines for thromboprophylaxis among post-partum women are recommended across Asia. This study was aimed to find the proportion of post-partum women eligible for thromboprophylaxis based on the RCOG guidelines and how many actually received it in a tertiary care health facility in south India. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 1652 consecutive women who delivered in the setup of tertiary care. Risk stratification for venous thrombosis was done as per the RCOG guidelines. The number of women who received thromboprophylaxis was also noted. Results: Among the 1652 women studied, three [0.18%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.06-0.53] were in the high-risk, 598 (36.2%; 95% CI: 33.9-38.6) in the intermediate and 254 (15.4%; 95% CI: 13.7-17.2) in the low-risk category for thrombosis. All the three women in the high-risk and only two women in the intermediate-risk category actually received thromboprophylaxis with heparin. Interpretation & conclusions: It was seen that the number of women needing prophylaxis in our setup, as per the RCOG guidelines, was as high as 601 (36.4%), but only five (0.8%) received it.


Mitochondrial involvement in the control of vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cell proliferation and migration has become more evident than before. Although the mechanisms leading to this control are not fully understood, mitochondrial dynamics and cellular regulation functions can be major players. Studies have revealed that mitochondrial structure and dynamics determines their role played in the cell.1 Mitochondrial proteins were also found to be involved along with mitochondrial miRNAs.2 ATP production to energise cellular functions and ROS resulting from the oxidative phosphorylation are also vital in determining mitochondrial role in VSM cell proliferation and migration3. Mitochondria also regulate the intrinsic apoptotic pathway resulting in reduction in proliferation4. Thus the aim of the current study was to establish a link between mitochondrial dynamics, ROS production and caspase3/7 activation. Blocking mitochondrial fission using DRP-1 inhibitor resulted in a reduction in VSM cell proliferation in response to PDGF (p < 0.05). The same reduced effect was seen with cell migration following their stimulation with PDGF (p < 0.05). Furthermore, addition of DRP-1 inhibitor resulted in both ROS and ATP (p < 0.05). However, caspase3/7 activity was significantly increased following the inhibition of mitochondrial fission. These data, along with our previous data showing down-regulation of miR-21 and an up-regulation of miR-145 following treatment with MDivi-1, highlight an important role played by mitochondrial dynamics in the regulation of VSM cell proliferation and migration through the regulation of miRNA expression and their potential target genes that control cell cycle and apoptosis. References Chalmers S. et al. Mitochondrial motility and vascular smooth muscle proliferation arterioscler. Thromb Vasc Biol. 2012;32:3000–3011 Barrey E, Saint-Auret G, Bonnamy B, Damas D, Boyer O, Gidrol X. Pre-microRNA and mature microRNA in human mitochondria. PLoS One 2011;6:e20220 Stephen L. Archer, Mardi Gomberg-Maitland. et al. Mitochondrial metabolism, redox signaling, and fusion: a mitochondria-ROS-HIF-1ª¢-Kv1.5 O2-sensing pathway at the intersection of pulmonary hypertension and cancer. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2008;294:H570CH578 Ella Bossy-Wetzel and Green DR. Apoptosis: checkpoint at the mitochondrial frontier. Mutation Research. 1999;434:243C251


BACKGROUND
Delirium is a common, serious, underdiagnosed condition in medical and surgical inpatients with acute conditions. It is associated with increased risk of mortality and morbidity. Data of geriatric cohorts are largely limited to developed countries.

OBJECTIVES
To describe prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of delirium among general medical patients admitted to two hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa.

METHODS
This was a prospective cohort study of patients with acute conditions admitted to a general medical inpatient service in secondary- and tertiary-level public hospitals in the Metro West area of Cape Town. Patients ≥18 years of age were recruited daily from all acute medical admissions. Patients were excluded if they were aphasic or their Glasgow coma scale was <8/15. Delirium was diagnosed using the validated confusion assessment method (CAM) tool and performed by trained neuropsychologists. Demographic data were collected by a clinical team and short- and long-term mortality data were obtained using linkage analysis of hospitalised patients and routinely collected provincial death certification records.

RESULTS
The median age of inpatients was 51 (interquartile range 36 - 65) years, 29% were HIV-infected and the overall prevalence of delirium was 12.3%. Multivariate predictors of delirium included the presence of an indwelling urinary catheter (odds ratio (OR) 4.47; confidence interval (CI) 2.43 - 8.23), admission with a central nervous system disease (OR 4.34; CI 2.79 - 7.90), pre-existing cognitive impairment (OR 3.02; CI 1.22 - 7.43) and immobility (OR 1.88; CI 1.01 - 3.51). HIV infection was not associated with increased risk of delirium. Delirium was associated with an increased risk of inhospital (delirium v. no delirium: 29% v. 12%; p<0.01) and 12-month (30% v. 20%; p<0.01) mortality, as well as increased length of hospital stay (7 days v. 5 days; p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
In this cohort of medical inpatients (relatively young and with a high HIV prevalence) 1 of 8 (12.3%) patients was delirious. Delirium was associated with adverse outcomes. Delirium risk factors in this young cohort were similar to those in geriatric cohorts in developed countries, and neither HIV nor opportunistic infections increased risk.


As an official newspaper under the central government of the Soviet Area, Red China, by giving a full play to the particular functions of dissemination and supervision by the press, disclosed objectively, transparently and extensively and denounced severely the officials' corruption and unwholesome tendencies in the functional organs of revolutionary political power in the period of Soviet Chinese Government. This practice of the government's facing the reality squarely and daring to carry out self-criticism and giving the media a comparatively sufficient political trust and publicizing authority was one of the successes of the CPC and the Soviet political power against corruption in this historical period.


Thermaikos Gulf, located in the Northwestern Aegean Sea (Greece), is a marine ecosystem of major importance, not only environmentally (as an area of the deep water formation with contribution to the renewal of the North Aegean deep waters), but also due to the various socioeconomic activities associated with the area. Observational and simulated data are used to investigate the evolution of eutrophication events during the last two years in order to evaluate the current (2017-2019) quality state of the seawater in the Gulf. The quality of the marine environment of Thermaikos Gulf was appraised by measuring physical, chemical and biological parameters. Specific physical-chemical characteristics (temperature, salinity, density along with pH and dissolved oxygen) and biological parameters (chl-a and phytoplankton biomass) throughout the water column were evaluated by conducting in situ measurements during the sampling campaigns. Current fields, derived from a high-resolution 3-D ocean model, together with ADCP measurements, are used to describe the major circulation patterns, the river plume dynamics and the renewal pathways of the Gulf. The obtained results are discussed with regards to seasonal and spatial variability, and the water column stratification. Satellite ocean color data were also used to discuss the in-situ findings and confirm “Dirty” Sea and Red Tide phenomena, that were detected and analyzed based on the physical dynamics and especially the renewal patterns of the Gulf. Moreover, we compare these recent findings to respective observations from a previous period (1997 to 2007) to evaluate potential changes in the quality state of the Gulf with respect to meteorological and river discharge conditions.


This article summarizes current research on follicular inhibin in human and monkey ovaries. Bioassay techniques allow the measurement of inhibin activity in ovarian vein bloom of primates and other species. Rats show an increased level of ovarian vein and follicular fluid inhibin activity on the day of pro-estrus which declines that afternoon and remains low on the day of estrus coincident with the secondary rise of serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Inhibin activity in the follicular fluid of monkeys rats and humans is 100-1000 times that in ovarian veins suggesting that inhibin is largely retained in the follicle. Inhibin activity is detectable in the ovarian vein blood of humans and monkeys when higher levels of estrogen and gonadotropins are being secreted. Alterations in levels of FSH and letuinizing hormone (LH) are partially explained by alterations in the secretion of inhibin activity in cases of polycystic ovarian disease and use of human menopausal gonadotropin for stimulating follicular growth.


Extending the concept of shape memory alloys, multiphysic memory alloys (MPMAs) based on Heusler compounds show remarkable properties in terms of multiphysic transitions coupling thermal, structural and magnetic domains. Such characteristics thus unveil new application potentials in the field of actuation or energy harvesting for instance. In particular, one of the most notable features of such materials lies in the presence of a magnetic response in a particular temperature range. In order to further investigate the origin of such characteristics, this study aims at providing qualitative and quantitative theoretical insights for shaping potential future material developments and tailoring, along with experimental investigations supporting the proposed theoretical framework. Such a development is done by considering that the unique MPMA behavior originates from the combination of a first-order hysteretic structural transition between martensitic and austenite phases with a ferromagnetic behavior of the austenite phase. Comparison of such an approach with experimental magnetic property measurements of a metamagnetic Heusler nickel–cobalt–manganese–indium alloy shows a good ability to predict the low-field magnetic response, highlighting the main involved parameters for further developments.


BACKGROUND
Updates on the incidence of and risk factors for acute hepatitis delta virus infection in Italy, as well as in other countries, are lacking, and the impact of the mandatory anti-hepatitis B vaccination has not been evaluated.

METHODS
We performed a case-control study within a population-based surveillance for acute viral hepatitis.

RESULTS
During 1993-2004, 344 cases of acute hepatitis delta virus infection were reported. After a peak in 1993 (2.8 cases per 1 million population), the incidence decreased from 1.7 to 0.5 cases per 1 million population. Coinfections were prevalent. The decrease in incidence particularly affected young adults, and it paralleled the decrease in incidence of acute hepatitis B. In 1993, being an injection drug user (adjusted odds ratio [OR(adj)], 67.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 18.1-254.5) or being a member of a household with a carrier of hepatitis B surface antigen (OR(adj,) 14.8; 95% CI, 3.0-72.9) were the only independent predictors of infection. During 1994-2004, being an injection drug user (OR(adj), 36.8; 95% CI, 20.7-65.4), cohabitation with an injection drug user (OR(adj), 4.2, 95% CI, 1.7-12.3), hospitalization (OR(adj), 3.5; 95% CI, 1.9-6.6), receipt of dental therapy (OR(adj), 2.3; 95% CI, 1.4-3.6), promiscuous sexual activity (OR(adj), 2.2; 95% CI, 1.4-3.6), and receipt of beauty treatment (OR(adj), 2.0; 95% CI, 1.3-3.2) were independently associated with infection.

CONCLUSIONS
Incidence of acute hepatitis delta infection is markedly decreasing in Italy. Undergoing invasive medical procedures, engaging in promiscuous sexual activity, and receiving beauty treatments are emerging, in addition to injection drug use, as important risk factors for infection. Further efforts are needed to increase vaccine coverage in high-risk groups and to implement the safety of invasive procedures performed both inside and outside health care facilities.


Background: Currently the ischemic heart disease (IHD) is common worldwide. Coronary angiography is gold standard for detecting coronary artery disease. Death, myocardial infarction, nausea, coronary vessels spasm, chest pain, bradyarrhythmia, hypotension, and hypertension are among the common complications occurring following angiography. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of simultaneous administration of trinitroglycerine (TNG) and the contrast agent on early complications of angiography. Methods: This was a clinical trial carried out in Isfahan Shahid Chamran Hospital in 2005. Patients were randomly allocated to two intervention (n=111) and placebo (n=112) groups. Nausea, coronary vessels spasm, chest pain, bradyarrhythmia, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both intervention (TNG plus contrast agent) and placebo (distilled water plus contrast agent) groups were investigated during and after angiography. Findings: The mean age in intervention and placebo groups were 59.93± 9.14 and 59.37±10.12 years, respectively. Also, sex distribution showed no significant difference. Between TNG group and placebo group we had considering the nausea (4.5% vs 6.2%), coronary vessels spasm (0.9% vs 5.4%), chest pain (1.8% vs 6.3%), and bradyarrhythmia (7.1% vs 7.1%) respectively, that had not any significant difference. However, the mean maximum systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly lower in TNG group compared to placebo group (p=0.001). Conclusion: Based on data obtained in the present study, except for blood pressure no benefit in simultaneous administration of TNG and the contrast agent on early complication of angiography was demonstrated. Further investigations using different dose, time tables and also selection of high risk patients are recommended. Furthermore, the late complications and mortality as well as the cost-effectiveness are the subjects deserving more attention.