Reuse of a progesterone releasing device (CIDR-B® 1.9 g) within an embryo transfer program in black Brangus cattle was assessed. Comparisons were performed on percentage of estrus per day after CIDR removal (PTE), percentage of total estrus during synchronization period (PTE), percentage of recipient cows with corpora lutea on the day of embryo transfer (CLt), pregnancy rate to embryo transfer (PGE) or to artificial insemination (PGI), pregnancy rate with grade 1 or 2 embryos (EG1, EG2), and serum progesterone concentrations during CIDR treatment (CSP). Control treatment for synchronization (new CIDR = CIDRn), as well as treatment 1 (CIDR first reutilization = CIDR1) and treatment 2 (CIDR second reutilization = CIDR2) were performed in 3 successive periods. No differences (P>0.05) were found when evaluating estrus per day after CIDR removal. PTEs were 90.9, 88.4 and 88.1 % for CIDRn, CIDR1 and CIDR2, respectively (P>0.05). CLts were 95.0, 92.1 and 97.3 % for CIDRn, CIDR1 and CIDR2, respectively (P>0.05). PGT in CIDRn, CIDR1 and CIDR2 were 42.1, 37.1 and 36.1 %, respectively (P>0.05). PGI did not differ between treatments (76.5, 61.0 and 76.5 % for CIDRn, CIDR1 and CIDR2, respectively). Pregnancy rate to embryo transfer was not affected by embryo quality (EG1 vs EG2, P> 0.05). CSP while CIDRs were inserted did not differ between treatments (Treatment and Treatment x Day, P>0.05). Results indicate the possibility of reusing a new CIDR up to two times in succession as an alternative for estrus synchronization of recipient dams in embryo transfer programs in bovines.


We study the optimal control of a maximum-norm objective functional subjected to an elliptic-type PDE and pointwise state constraints. The problem is transformed into a problem where the non-differentiable L^{\infty}-norm in the functional will be replaced by a scalar variable and additional state constraints. This problem is solved by barrier methods. We will show the existence and convergence of the central path for a class of barrier functions. Numerical experiments complete the presentation.


We present a new method for monitoring networks called Rate Adaptive Polling (RAP). The objective of RAP is to monitor network nodes at a sustained rate, and yet be non-intrusive to the performance of user applications in periods of congestion or near-congestion. RAP assumes a specific default polling rate for an application. Polls are issued by the manager at this rate. Feedback about active nodes and congestion is derived entirely through the responses to these polls. Future polling rate is adapted based on a congestion metric and timeout thresholds. RAP overcomes a few key limitations of existing polling engines used by popular network management platforms (including COP-N used by HP OV node manager). Specifically RAP detects the onset and abatement of congestion with a finer granularity. RAP also distinguishes between inactive nodes and congestion, unlike other algorithms. This ability along with its smoother backoff and increments helps improve its polling throughput while avoiding oscillations. Incorporating RAP within existing platforms is simple. No changes to the protocols or MIBs are required. We have implemented a RAP-based poller to monitor host-level multicast traffic on the Bell Labs Research intranet.


Geotourism spans a range of visitor interests, from the specialist geotourist to the more general visitor. As well as supporting geoconservation outcomes, it provides economic, cultural, relational and social benefits for both visitors and host communities. The interconnections between geoheritage and the cultural components of the landscape have antecedents in concepts of landscape aesthetics in different cultures. These interconnections provide a range of opportunities for enhancing the geotourist experience and promoting geoconservation and geoeducation by means of activities that involve aesthetic and emotional experiences and interpretation through different cultural filters that encourage the rediscovery of a sense of wonder both about the geological stories in the landscape and the human interactions. A cultural ecosystem services framework provides a holistic approach for informing conservation policy, management and planning for geotourism, enabling assessment of multiple benefits and trade-offs for visitors and communities based on the values of the geoheritage assets. Geotourism studies could also benefit from integration of existing theory, conceptual analysis and practice from broader heritage and nature-based tourism and closer collaboration with relevant social sciences. Adhering to sound geoethical practice is an essential part of geotourism, which can also play a role in the promotion of geoethics among the public and professionals.


Multi - finance institutions in Indonesia are better if the indicator is the number of consumer finance in Indonesia in the last few years. The growth of consumer financing can be seen from all the convenience given by the multi finance. The factor that dominates the forced withdrawal of Fiduciary Guarantee is the existence of problem loans. This problem is al most certainly experienced by any consumer financing institution. The problems discussed in this research are about how the implementation of execution of fiduciary guarantee in the settlement credit toward four wheels (car) The formulation of problems related to with the withdrawal of vehicles accompanied by violence that is: How about the collection of arrangement or confiscation of a motor vehicle that carried out by debt collector against a debtor non-performing loans, Do factors for the act of violence carried out by debt collector, How a settlement effort the act of violence carried out by debt collector in terms of the aspect of criminal law. This research is classified as the kind of research juridical normative , study legislation as criminal code and civil law, Regulation president of the Republic Indonesia No. 9 of 2009 about Funding Institution, the act of No. 42 of 1999 about Fiduciary Security, Minister of Finance Regulation No. 130/PMK.010/2012 about Registration Fiduciary for Financing Company, this research also is study case that is focus self intensively on an object particular and learn that as a case. Arrangement about the collection of vehicles stipulated in a financing with fiduciary security contained in the act of fiduciary security number 42 of 1999 And also minister of finance regulation No 130/PMK. 010/2012


The increasing cost for system-on-chip (SOC) testing is mainly due to the huge test data volumes that lead to long test application time and require large automatic test equipment (ATE) memory. Test compression and test sharing have been proposed to reduce the test data volume, while test infrastructure and concurrent test scheduling have been developed to reduce the test application time. In this work we propose an integrated test scheduling and test infrastructure design approach that utilizes both test compression and test sharing as basic mechanisms to reduce test data volumes. In particular, we have developed a heuristic to minimize the test application time, considering different alternatives of test compression and sharing, without violating a given ATE memory constraint. The results from the proposed Tabu Search based heuristic have been validated using benchmark designs and are compared with optimal solutions.


Leukocyte 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is a surrogate marker of oxidant-induced DNA damage in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Glutathione S-transferase M1 (GST M1) is a member of the GST family of proteins, which protect cellular DNA against oxidative damage. This study tested the association of a common GST M1 gene polymorphism [GST M1(-)], known to produce a dysfunctional enzyme, with levels of 8-OHdG in peripheral blood leukocytes and all-cause mortality among MHD patients. Among 488 MHD patients and 372 gender-matched healthy subjects, the frequency of the GST M1(-) genotype was 63.1 and 60.2%, respectively. The GST M1(-) genotype was associated with significantly higher levels of leukocyte 8-OHdG compared with the GST M1(+) genotype, even after adjustment for potential confounders (P < 0.001). Moreover, GST M1(-) patients who also had a common polymorphism in the DNA repair enzyme 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 or who underwent dialysis with a bioincompatible cellulose membrane had the highest median levels of leukocyte 8-OHdG. Multivariate Cox regression revealed that among MHD patients, GST M1(-) genotype approximately doubled the risk for all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 2.24; 95% confidence interval 1.30 to 4.51) during the mean follow-up of 34 mo. In conclusion, patients without GST M1 activity are more vulnerable to oxidative stress and are at greater risk for death compared with those who possess GST M1 activity.


The Malay language has a long history and is spoken by many speakers as it has
been lingua franca for the speakers in Malaysia, southern Philippines, Indonesia,
Singapore as well as Brunei (Asmah, 1982). There are linguistic, extra linguistic and
sociolinguistic factors that enabled Malay to become the lingua franca of this region.
One of it was due to its simplicity in terms of phonological system (Asmah, 1982). For
instance, the vowels in Malay are primary cardinals with the exception for few Malay
varieties, such as Kelantan Malay, and the consonants are easier to articulate for nonnative speakers "compared to the Javanese heavy ones" (Asmah, 1982, 4). In addition,
the grammatical system of the Malay language also helps to speed up the process of
acquiring the language as there are no categories for case, tense, number and gender
unlike other languages (Asmah, 1982). Therefore, it is not surprising that the Malay
language spread rapidly in this region and become a lingua-franca "as early as the
seventh century AD" (Asmah, 1982, 2). This took place when foreign travellers visited
the Malay peninsula recorded that the common language used for communication
during that time was Malay language. In Malaysia particularly, the spread of the Malay
language emerged after gaining independence from Great Britain. The same goes to
Indonesia (Asmah, 1982). Upon independence, the use of the language in official
functions, educational institutions and government administration increased.


Abstract Purpose Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) might be considered a valid alternative to ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) for both the diagnosis and management of hypertension. Correct information on how to perform HBPM are crucial for its reliability. The aim of the present survey was to assess if hypertensive patients followed current recommendation on how to correctly perform HBPM measurements. Materials and methods The survey included 30 different items on how to perform the HBPM. It was developed by the 'Young Investigators' group of the Italian Society of Arterial Hypertension (SIIA) and it was administered during the office visit between May 2019 and December 2021. Results A total of 643 hypertensive patients participated in the study. Main results show that, despite the rate of informed patients was relatively high (71% of the whole population), unacceptable number of patients did not follow indications on how to perform a correct HBPM. Patients who were informed on how to measure home BP had a significantly higher rate of correct position during measurement (78 vs. 22%, p < 0.01), avoidance of talking and moving during measurement (68 vs. 32%, p < 0.0001), and correct number and time interval between two measurements (85 vs. 15%, p < 0.001). More accurate measurements of home BP were associated with less prevalence of carotid plaque. Conclusions Correct performance for HBPM is low among patients treated in Italian hypertension centers. These findings shed light on the importance of correct HBPM measurements for the detection of accurate BP values for the proper management of hypertensive patients.


This paper discussed Government decisive move to reduce the dependence on crude oil exports and diversify her export base through the non-oil export initiative. Indeed Nigeria quest for diversification of its export basket, which has over the decade been dominated by crude oil with agriculture trailing at a distant. This exploratory study, however, indicates that given recent proactive efforts from the private sector and export processing zone especially efforts of the banking sector to finance export of commodities, changes are becoming noticeable in the Nation" export profile. This is evidenced with the traditional commodities like cocoa, cashew nut and ginger been found in the Nigerian foreign market.


The objective is to provide an update on the clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability of the use of abatacept for treating rheumatoid arthritis. A systematic review (up to June 2011) followed by meta-analyses was performed. Randomized controlled clinical trials comparing abatacept at a dose of 10 mg/kg with a placebo, both with concomitant methotrexate, were used. Only high- or moderate-quality studies were included. The efficacy was evaluated based on changes in the ACR, DAS and HAQ; safety was assessed based on serious adverse events, serious infections, malignancies and deaths; tolerability was evaluated based on the withdrawals due to adverse events, serious adverse events and lack of efficacy. All these parameters were evaluated within one year of treatment. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 4,219 patients. For all of the efficacy parameters, the abatacept group had better results than the placebo group, except in the case of HAQ improvement >0.3, which presented no statistically significant difference. None of the safety parameters presented a significant difference between the groups. The tolerability parameters were also similar between groups, with the exception of withdrawals due to lack of efficacy. For this criterion, the abatacept group presented favorably compared to the control group. Abatacept showed a higher efficacy compared to placebo without significant differences between the abatacept and control group in terms of safety.


Electronic Raman scattering has been studied in single crystals of 5d transition metal osmium under pressures up to 60 GPa in the temperature range of 10-300K. With the use of green and blue excitation wavelengths we observe an appearance of well—defined electronic peaks at ∼ 580 cm-1 for wave vector direction q ∥ [0001]] and at ∼ 350 cm-1 for q∥ [101̄0] in the pressure range of 20-30 GPa. It was shown in our combined experimental and theoretical investigation that a consideration of both a renormalization of the electron self-energies near the Fermi level and a change in the Fermi surface under pressure and temperature variation is needed to describe the observed spectra.


With the reintroduction of agriculture and textiles and clothing into the GATT, the absence of general rules on procurement has become the major `hole' in the coverage of the GATT. This paper provides an analysis of the new Government Procurement Agreement that was negotiated between a subset of GATT members in the Uruguay Round, focusing in particular on the expansion of coverage to services and strengthening of enforcement mechanisms. The latter represent an innovation by allowing for private parties to invoke the Agreement before national courts. The question of why membership of the Agreement remains limited is explored. Pursuit of tariffication is suggested as an avenue through which the Agreement might be expanded to cover all WTO Members.


Objective: Although psychotic depression is very common among old depressed patients, studies have generally failed to find any socio-demographic differences between psychotic depressed patients and non-psychotic patients. Comparison of the age related factors in psychotic depression and non-psychotic depression patients could contribute to a better understanding of the clinical features of psychotic depression and its management.
Method: The sample comprised of 50 inpatients; 25 of them major depressive disorder with psychotic features, and the other 25 major depressive disorder without psychotic features. The diagnosis made after consensus of two psychiatrists by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorder (SCID-IV). The severity of depression measured with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and concomitantly Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) were performed.
Results: The average age of the patients with psychotic depression (46,6±15.4 years) was higher than that of non-psychotic depressed patients (35,1±15.2 years). Also, patients with psychotic depression had higher mean of total HDRS and HARS scores. There were no significant differences between the patient groups in number of episodes and duration of illness.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that major depressive disorder with psychotic features is more likely in elderly than adulthood.


This article discusses the claim that the Manado City Religious Court which discussed polygamy could be the reason for filing a lawsuit for divorce and court consideration in resolving cases of divorce for polygamy in the Manado Religious Court. The research method used in this study is a descriptive qualitative presentation method with the type of field research (literature study). Polygamy can be made as an excuse for wives to ask for divorce in court. In principle, a wife may not ask for polygamy, but if someone refuses disobedience to her husband after polygamy. The consideration used by the judge in deciding divorce cases, polygamy, is in accordance with the reasons filed by the plaintiff in filing for divorce.


The Stoicorum historia (PHerc. 1018) is one book in Philodemus' extensive History of Philosophy. The Epicurean philosopher Philodemus wrote this work during a stay in Italy ca. 70-60 B.C. with the aim of offering learned Romans an objective and unpolemical history of the Greek philosophical schools. Philodemus sketches the lives and times of the main representatives of Stoicism from Zeno of Citium to Panaetius of Rhodes. The Stoicorum historia hands down a mass of information on the lives and thought of the Stoics which is not found in Diogenes Laertius' Lives of Eminent Philosophers (Book VII). This new edition contains the text of PHerc. 1018, now revised, on a critical basis, and Italian translation and commentary. An introduction and indexes complete the work.


Air quality is a difficult and pressing problem for feedlot producers. This is compounded by feeding practices that influence the excretion of starch, fiber, crude protein, and sulfur (S) by cattle that significantly affect the production of odorous compounds. Wet distillers grains with solubles (WDGS) are a common and economical ingredient in feedlot diets. WDGS are high in protein, fiber, and S but low in starch. The objective of this study was to compare ammonia (NH3) concentration in the air and nutrients and volatile organic compounds (VOC) concentration in manure between two dietary treatments fed to feedlot cattle. Five pens of feedlot cattle were fed diets containing 14-35% WDGS and five pens were fed a corn-based diet with no ethanol byproducts (Control). Each pen had twelve sampling locations (N = 120) where air and manure samples were collected from the feedlot surface. Air samples were analyzed for NH3 concentration. Manure samples were analyzed for dry matter, pH, volatile solids, VOC, and nutrient composition (N, P, and S). Concentrations of P and S in manure and NH3 in the air were higher in pens fed WDGS compared to pens fed the control diet. Concentrations of VOC were similar across both treatments.


To examine the relationship between health practice in combination with health examination data and mortality, a population-based prospective cohort study was conducted in 9 towns and villages of Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Public health nurses interviewed inhabitants about their health practices. This cohort consisting of 7,694 subjects aged 40 approximately 60 years old at baseline in 1993 was followed. During the ten-year follow-up period, 99 males and 80 females deceased. The relative risks (RRs) of some factors were estimated by the Cox proportional hazards model. RRs and 95% confidence interval with multivariate adjustment for all-cause mortality were observed significantly for age in years at the baseline (1.08, 1.04 approximately 1.12, p<0.01), GOT (1.02, 1.00 approximately 1.05, p<0.05), GPT (0.98, 0.96 approximately 1.00, p<0.05), and no proteinuria (0.36, 0.14 approximately 0.91, p<0.05) in male subjects. In females, RRs (95% confidence interval) of age in years at baseline, GOT, and gamma-GTP on mortality showed significance, which were 1.09 (1.05, 1.14, p<0.01), 1.03 (1.01, 1.05, p<0.01), and 1.01 (1.00, 1.01, p<0.05), respectively. When seven health practices and age in years at baseline were used as covariates, RRs (95% confidence interval) of age and no smoking on mortality showed 1.10 (1.06, 1.14, p<0.01) and 0.57 (0.37, 0.89, p<0.05), which were significant in males. In females, significant RRs (95% confidence interval) of age, no smoking and regular exercise on mortality were observed, which were 1.11 (1.07, 1.15, p<0.01), 0.48 (0.24, 0.94, p<0.05), and 1.63 (1.01, 2.63, p<0.05), respectively. These results suggested that increased risk of death was independently associated with aging, GOT, and smoking in males and females. In addition, there was a sex difference in lifestyle-related factors such as exercise, and health examination data such as proteinuria contributing to mortality in middle-aged general inhabitants in rural towns in Japan.


Background
Our study aims to test the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) combined with the detection of serine/threonine-protein kinase V600E (BRAF V600E) in nodules of unclear significance by thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA).

Methods
From January 2015 to December 2019, 244 patients were subjected to ultrasonic strain imaging and elastography, CEUS, and BRAF V600E gene detection at Lishui Hospital of Zhejiang University. Thyroid FNA does not confirm the benignancy and malignancy of the thyroid nodules. With postoperative pathology as the gold standard, the diagnostic value of CEUS, BRAF V600E detection, and the combination in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules were evaluated. The negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of CEUS, BRAF V600E detection, and the combination were calculated along with sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV).

Results
In this study, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, accuracy, and AUC of CEUS alone in predicting benign and malignant thyroid nodules were 69.8%, 94.9%, 98.6%, 37.4%, 73.8% and 0.884, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, accuracy and AUC of BRAF V600E detection alone were 65.4%, 100%, 100%, 35.5%, 70.9% and 0.827, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, accuracy and AUC of the combination were 73.2%, 94.9%, 98.7%, 40.2%, 76.6% and 0.923, respectively.

Conclusions
Therefore, compared with CEUS or BRAF V600E gene detection alone, the combination of CEUS and BRAF V600E gene detection has a higher sensitivity, NPV, and accuracy in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules.


Objective: To propose an incidence definition of back injury for epidemiologic studies using health care contacts. Methods: Medical services, hospitalizations, and workers' compensation data were linked for a longitudinal database of health care contacts among a cohort of heavy-industry workers for trajectory, group-based analysis. Results: During follow-up, 25.8% of workers had no health care contacts for back injury. Among workers with at least one contact, four trajectories were identified: one with a high probability of back injury during follow-up and three with episodic trajectories of increasing and decreasing probability of back injury. Conclusions: Workers with no back injury history could be followed for incidence in cohort studies or as controls in case-control designs. Episodic groups could be followed for new episodes, providing they were free of health care contacts for back injury for at least 3 years.


A series of cationic molecular fragments (C n+, n = 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, and 21), produced by electron-impact ionization of C60 in the gas phase, were each mass-selected and accumulated in cryogenic Ne matrices. Optical absorption measurements in the UV-vis and IR spectral ranges reveal linear carbon chain structures. In particular, we have observed the known electronic transitions of linear C11, C15, and C21. The NIR transitions of linear C15-, C16-, and C18- have also been detected, indicating that soft-landing of the corresponding cations can also involve charge-changing. Newly observed electronic absorptions at 410.3 and 429.9 nm have been assigned to linear C18 absorptions at 438.2, 443.5, 422.3, and 433.7 nm, to linear C15+, and absorption at 395.5 nm, to linear C16. Increasing deposition energy leads to fragmentation upon impact. This is indicated by absorptions of C10 (313, 316.3 nm), when depositing C n+ ( n = 11, 15, 16) as well as C12 (332 nm) or C14 (347.4, 356.6 nm), when depositing C15+ or C16+, respectively. These were previously assigned to cyclic isomers. We reassign them to linear isomers here on the basis of plausibility arguments. The observations have been supported by time-dependent density functional theory calculations for ring and chain isomers of C n+/-/0, 10 ≤ n ≤ 20 up to the vacuum-UV range. The electronic absorptions of carbon chains are at least 1 order of magnitude stronger than all NIR electronic absorptions of C60+, which have recently been attributed to several of the diffuse interstellar bands. Considering that fullerene multifragmentation yields long carbon chains that have very strong absorptions both in the UV-vis and IR spectral regions, these systems appear to be good candidates to be observed in regions of space containing fullerenes.


Plastic shrinkage cracking is one of the most common distress in concrete pavements, which reduces the durability and level of service. Using different admixtures in the optimal amount can reduce these cracks. This study investigates the effect of air-entraining agent content in creating intentional air in air-entrained concrete pavements, in controlling or reducing the severity of plastic shrinkage cracking. For this purpose, the effect of adding air-entraining agent in the amount of 0.04, 0.07, and 0.10% by weight of cement on the severity of plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete pavement mixture with water to cement ratios of 0.40, 0.45, and 0.49 was investigated by using ASTM C1579 method. The results showed that the addition of air-entraining agent reduced the severity of plastic shrinkage cracking in air-entrained concrete compared to the conventional one. It was seen that with more addition of air-entraining agent than a certain amount, the severity of cracking has increased, which is a specific and optimal amount of 0.07% in this study. The results showed that increasing the water to cement ratio at lower change intervals has a greater effect on the severity of cracking. Also, the percentage of entrained air due to the addition of the optimal amount of air-entraining agent is less than the maximum percentage of allowed entrained air in concrete pavements. Therefore, with the use of this admixture in the optimal amount, the severity of plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete pavements can be reduced.


In the public-key setting, known constructions of function-private functional encryption (FPFE) were limited to very restricted classes of functionalities like inner-product. Moreover, its power has not been well investigated. The authors construct FPFE for general functions and explore its powerful applications, both for general and specific functionalities. One key observation entailed by their results is that attribute-based encryption with function privacy implies FE, a notable fact that sheds light on the importance of the function privacy property for FE.


Pressure expanding treatment is an effective method for improving the piezoelect ric activity of cellular PP films. In this work, the character of trap-level dis tribution for positively corona charged cellular PP films and the influence of t he pressure expanding treatment on its charge stability and charge transportatio n have been studied by means of thermal pulse technique, surface potential decay measurements, SEM and TSD spectrum analyses, etc. The results point out that th ere are three kinds of traps with different energy values in the range of middl e energy level for the cellular PP films, i.e. most of the deep traps and the shallow traps in the bulk, and most of the traps with middle energy values near the free surface. The pressure expanding treatment changes the state of traps a nd also, to a certain extent, reduces the charge storage stability of the cellul ar PP films, but has not impact on its charge transportation rule, in which the slow retrapping effect is dominant.


Present study was designed to explore roles of metabolic clearance in the disposition of berberine (BBR) in rats, with a focus on oxidative metabolism and subsequent glucuronidation. Plasma from rats after intravenous administration of BBR was collected to identify and quantify BBR and its major metabolites. The major circulating metabolites of BBR were oxidative metabolites M1 (via demethylation) and M2 (via demethylenation) and their corresponding glucuronides, with M2-glucuronide approximately 24-fold higher than M1-glucuronide. Incubations with rat liver microsomes were conducted to examine formation kinetics of two oxidative metabolites-M1 and M2, and depletion kinetics of M1 and M2, leading to the formation of glucuronide conjugates. Efforts were also made to examine roles of key CYPs and UGTs isoforms responsible for BBR metabolism using known chemical inhibitors and/or substrates. In vitro, the formation of M1 and M2 were comparable and multiple CYP enzymes were involved. In contrast, the glucuronidation of M2 was much faster than that of M1. Inhibition studies using well-characterized UGT substrates suggested both M1 and M2 could be glucuronidated by UGT1A1 and UGT2B1 while M2 glucuronidation was favored by UGT1A1. In summary, oxidative demethylenation and the subsequent glucuronidation were the major metabolic pathways of BBR in rats.


ABSTRACT Ji, X.-M.; Yang, Y.; Fang, Y.-J., and Zhang, W., 2020. Tidal-fluvial processes at the outlets of delta distributaries: A multi-cruise observational study. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 1449-1453. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The hydrodynamics in delta distributaries has tremendous impact on sediment transport, water quality and deltaic ecosystems; yet many processes acting at the riverine-esturarine interface of a delta are not well understood. This contribution investigates the interplay between riverine runoff and tidal motions at the outlets of delta distributaries. We focus on the tidal-fluvial processes at eight outlets of three main distributaries of the Pearl River Delta, China. The field measurements of water levels, discharges, velocities at the eight outlets were conducted synchronously for five times, with three times in wet season during spring, moderate and neap tides, respectively, and once in normal season, once in dry season. The observations reveal that the tidal asymmetry in the Pearl River Estuary is largely influenced by river discharge. The tidal velocity amplitudes depend mainly on the river discharge and tidal prism. To be specific, while during low discharge conditions the presence of a river discharge decreases tidal velocity amplitudes, during very high flow regimes the effect of tides at the distributary outlets is magnified with a noteworthy increase in tidal velocity amplitudes.


Life expectancies are averages. Among the group of people to which the average refers there will be wide variations in the length of their lives. This article quantifies these variations by looking at the chances of an early death and the chances of an exceptionally long life. Persons aged 40, for example, have an estimated average future length of life of 35 years for men and 40 years for women according to the most recent decennial English Life Tables. But some would die much sooner-1 percent within 5 or 7 years (respectively) and 10 percent within 20 or 24 years; while at the other extreme some would live much longer-10 percent for 49 or 53 years and 1 percent for 57 or 61 years. The article goes on to explain how these differences are related to the underlying patterns of mortality.


This study is concerned with the generation and propagation of strongly nonlinear waves in shallow water. A numerical wave flume is developed where nonlinear waves of solitary and cnoidal types are generated by use of the Level I Green-Naghdi (GN) equations by a piston-type wavemaker. Waves generated by the GN theory enter the domain where the fluid motion is governed by the Navier–Stokes equations to achieve the highest accuracy for wave propagation. The computations are performed in two dimensions, and by an open source computational fluid dynamics package, namely OpenFoam. Comparisons are made between the characteristics of the waves generated in this wave tank and by use of the GN equations and the waves generated by Boussinesq equations, Laitone's 1st and 2nd order equations, and KdV equations. We also consider a numerical wave tank where waves generated by the GN equations enter a domain in which the fluid motion is governed by the GN equations. Discussion is provided on the limitations and applicability of the GN equations in generating accurate, nonlinear, shallow-water waves. The results, including surface elevation, velocity field, and wave celerity, are compared with laboratory experiments and other theories. It is found that the nonlinear waves generated by the GN equations are highly stable and in close agreement with laboratory measurements.


The ongoing progress in neonatal intensive care is modifying the psychic context of prematurity for all the partners, infants as well as parents and physicians. Comfort and prognosis of preterm infants have much improved. Since newborns under 24 weeks of gestational age are now surviving, they spend approximately half the duration of pregnancy out of the maternal uterus. All the psychological issues of such an early separation have to be considered, including the developmental outcome of a sensorial environment which is quite different from the intra-uterine one. Research has been developing in this field. The cooperation between neonatalogists and psychologists has been profitable to parents. Problems linked to the separation, such as difficulty in representing the infant, are no more frequent owing to the attention paid to the mother-child bond and subsequent early contacts. What is forward now is the impact of an hyper technical world of intensive care on the parents, and of the strange aspect of the tiny baby surrounded by engines and tubes. Such an overpresence of reality often results in a reaction of traumatic daziness among parents. The cooperation of the whole staff is necessary for the resumption of an imaginary process of psychic functioning. Finally, the survival of very-low-birth-weight infants confronts the neonatalogists with some delicate ethical questions. Psychiatrists and psychologists might have an important part to play in aiding the profession in its sorting out of these ethical issues.


Zirconia has recently become one of the most popular dental materials in prosthodontics being used in crowns, bridges, and to implants. However, weak bonding strength of dental adhesives and resins to zirconia surface has been a grand challenge in dentistry, thus finding a better adhesion to zirconia is urgently required. Marine sessile organisms such as mussels use a unique priming strategy to produce a strong bonding to wet mineral surfaces; one of the distinctive chemical features in the mussel's adhesive primer proteins is high catechol contents among others. In this study, we pursued a bioinspired adhesion strategy, using a synthetic catechol primer applied to dental zirconia surfaces to study the effect of catecholic priming to shear bonding strength. Catechol priming provided a statistically significant enhancement (P < 0.05) in shear bonding strength compared to the bonding strength without priming, and relatively stronger bonding than commercially available zirconia priming techniques. This new bioinspired dental priming approach can be an excellent addition to the practitioner's toolkit to improve dental bonding to zirconia.


This article describes the attempts of a nursing development unit to address the difficulties of providing care for the increasing population of elderly people from ethnic minorities. The specific problems that occur and the measures introduced to combat them are highlighted, and the unit's plans for further improvement are outlined.


Most of the developing countries including India are experiencing paradigm shift from subsistence agriculture to commercialized agri-business under liberalization, globalization and privatization era. Therefore, to make extension services more responsive to farmers there is need for choosing between best alternative and suitable ways under Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. Privatization of Agricultural Extension Services has become essential in our country to increase the competitiveness among service providers and in turn to give justice to our farmers. Nevertheless, at the same time, it requires great caution about problems and constraints emerging due to privatization. The extension service provided by small-scale Agri-business agencies has to be streamlined and monitored by proper legislation.


Using a panel of cancer cell lines, we characterized a novel degrader of AKT, MS21. In mutant PI3K/PTEN pathway lines, AKT degradation was superior to AKT kinase inhibition for reducing cell growth and sustaining lower signaling over many days. AKT degradation but not kinase inhibition profoundly lowered Aurora kinase B (AURKB) protein, which is known to be essential for cell division, and induced G2/M arrest and hyperploidy. PI3K activated AKT phosphorylation of AURKB on threonine 73, which protected it from proteasome degradation. A mutant of AURKB (T73E) that mimics phosphorylation and blocks degradation rescued cells from growth inhibition. Degrader resistant lines were associated with low AKT phosphorylation, wild type PI3K/PTEN status, and mutation of KRAS/BRAF. Pan-cancer analysis identified that 19% of cases have PI3K/PTEN pathway mutation without RAS pathway mutation, suggesting that these cancer patients could benefit from AKT degrader therapy that leads to loss of AURKB.


Aim: Clinical monitoring of oxcarbazepine (OXC) and its metabolite licarbazepine (MHD) in biological matrix requires a sensitive and validated analytical method. The aim of this study is to develop and validate an optimized ultra performance liquid chromatography-MS/MS based bioanalytical method for the simultaneous estimation of OXC and its metabolite MHD in human plasma, using deuterated internal standard method. Materials & methods: A reverse phase ultra performance liquid chromatography analysis and mass spectrometric detection was performed using electrospray ionization in positive ion mode as interface, multiple reaction monitoring as mode of acquisition. Results & conclusion: The linearity range was 10-4011 ng/ml for OXC and 40-16061 ng/ml for MHD. The kinetic parameters were calculated and compared for bioequivalence. This method fulfilled the validation guidelines, could be employed for determining bioavailability and in new formulation development studies.


Why do some social insects have sophisticated recruitment systems, while other species do not communicate about food source locations at all? To answer this question, it is necessary to identify the social or ecological factors that make recruitment adaptive and thus likely to evolve. We developed an individual-based model of honey bee foraging to quantify the benefits of recruitment under different spatial distributions of nondepleting resource patches and with different colony sizes. Benefits of recruitment were strongly dependent on resource patch quality, density, and variability. Communication was especially beneficial if patches were poor, few, and variable. A sensitivity analysis of the model showed that under conditions of high resource density recruitment could even become detrimental, especially if foraging duration was short, tendency to scout was high, or recruits needed a long time to find communicated locations. Colony size, a factor often suspected to influence recruitment evolution, had no significant effect. These results may explain the recent experimental findings that in honey bees, benefits of waggle dance recruitment seem to vary seasonally and with habitat. They may also explain why some, but not other, species of social bees have evolved a strategy to communicate food locations to nest mates. Copyright 2006.


ALTHOUGH there are many different kinds of facial palsy, in the majority of sufferers no specific cause can be found. This variety is usually referred to as Bell's palsy, and facial palsy secondary to herpes zoster can be added for the purposes of discussion. Facial weakness due to supranuclear lesions needs no further consideration; the muscles around the eye are not seriously involved and the basic disorder is much more serious. Facial palsy due to disease processes such as tumors and middle ear infection usually requires surgical removal of the cause, although the facial symptoms themselves must also be relieved. Trauma to the facial nerve will be considered later. No effective cure for Bell's palsy has yet been discovered, but there is an urgent need for proper management. Dozens of methods of treatment have been advocated, but none of them has been substantiated by acceptable scientific investigation. Ghiora and Winter


PURPOSE The endogenous cannabinoid system is involved in several physiological functions in the central nervous system including the modulation of brain reward circuitry and emotional homeostasis. Substantial evidence implicates brain endocannabinoid signaling in the processing of drug-induced reward states, wherein repeated exposure besets pathological changes in activity that contribute to the progression of alcohol use disorder. This review provides a narrative summary of recent studies exploring the interaction between alcohol exposure and changes in endocannabinoid signaling that may underlie the development of alcohol use disorder. SEARCH METHODS The authors began with an initial search for review articles to assist in the identification of relevant literature. This was followed by separate searches for primary literature and recent studies. The search terms "alcohol/ethanol" and "endocannabinoids" were applied, along with terms that covered specific objectives in reinforcement and addiction behavior. The content was further refined by excluding articles containing a broad focus on psychiatric disorders, polysubstance abuse, non-cannabinoid signaling lipids, and other criteria. SEARCH RESULTS The initial search yielded a total of 49 review articles on PubMed, 13 on ScienceDirect, and 17 on Wiley Online, from which the authors garnered information from a total of 16 reviews. In addition to independent searches, this review provides information from a collection of 212 publications, including reviews and original research articles. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The review discusses the effects of alcohol consumption on brain endocannabinoid signaling, including alcohol-based perturbations in endocannabinoid-mediated synaptic transmission, the modulation of alcohol-related behaviors by manipulating signaling elements of the endocannabinoid system, and the influence of dysregulated endocannabinoid function in promoting withdrawal-induced anxiety-like behavior. Notable emphasis is placed on studies exploring the possible therapeutic relevance of bolstering brain endocannabinoid tone at different stages of alcohol use disorder.


With experimental and analytical analysis, we demonstrate a relationship between the metal contact work function and the electrical transport properties saturation current (Isat) and differential conductance (σsd=∂Isd/∂Vsd) in ambient exposed carbon nanotubes (CNT). A single chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown 6 mm long semiconducting single-walled CNT is electrically contacted with a statistically significant number of Hf, Cr, Ti, Pd, and Au electrodes, respectively. The observed exponentially increasing relationship of Isat and σsd with metal contact work function is explained by a theoretical model derived from thermionic field emission. Statistical analysis and spread of the data suggest that the conduction variability in same CNT devices results from differences in local surface potential of the metal contact. Based on the theoretical model and methodology, an improved CNT-based gas sensing device layout is suggested. A method to experimentally determine gas-induced work function changes in metals is also examined.


Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture (FSA) is gearing towards the ?Eco Campus? movement which is in line with the university focus to foster sustainable practices in the campus. The lack of landscape elements and facilities in the newly established campus has inspired a landscape development plan equipped with sustainable strategies initiatives for multifunctional uses. Located in the city of Sandakan, the campus was established in 2011 and currently undergoing intensive infrastructure development for teaching and learning purposes. The strategies correspond to the challenges faced by the campus in terms of its rough microclimate and the deterioration of soil condition which could severely affect future landscape implementation if meticulous planning is overlooked. The strategies acknowledge the importance of engaging the stakeholders of the campus; especially the students and staff to create a multifunctional, adaptive, and resilient landscape plan. This is important to encourage more outdoor spaces utilisation and social interaction among community members. The future landscape-related development projects are envisioned to implement the strategies to reflect Universiti Malaysia Sabah ?EcoCampus? aspiration.


Profit and growth are considered as important goals in managing firms. This study tests the impact of initial profits on the growth and profit on a sample of firms listed at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) for the period 2006 to 2011. In addition to initial profits the study also checked the impact of leverage, firm's size and age on profitable growth. Logistic regression borrowed from the work of Davidsson et al. (2009) was used to find out whether profit at initial stages of the firm determines profitable growth for the firm. The average growth rate of the companies was calculated for the last three years. After calculating the average growth rate the firms were then classified into two groups based on the median value of the growth. High growth firms were further classified into low and high profits based on the median of ROA (Return on Assets). The findings showed that initial profits had a positive significant impact on profitable growth. While firm's size, age and leverage had no impact on profitable growth of the sampled firms. In comparison to growth-focused firms, profit-focused firms are more likely to reach a state of high growth and high profits.


QiTai Telescope (QTT), the world's biggest full-steerable telescope, will be constructed in Xinjiang, China. Its extra high operating frequency (115 GHz) imposes strict requirements on the accuracy of the reflector, while its large aperture (110 m) increases the impact of antenna weight and environment on surface accuracy. However, the panels of reflector will deform under the influence of gravity and the environment. Therefore, to compensate for the performance degradation caused by this deformation, a technique called active surface adjustment has been proposed. The existing adjustment methods cannot detect the deformation caused by environment of the reflector surface in real time, which can result in a delay in the compensation. Consequently, it is difficult to achieve an optimal compensating result. To solve this problem, a real-time method to estimate the large-aperture reflector antenna surface by calculating the antenna panel position based on edge sensors is proposed in this paper. In the proposed method, a panel coordinate transfer matrix has been formulated and the data measured from these edge sensors can then be treated as input for the proposed transfer matrix to calculate the actual position of the antenna panel in real time. A numerical simulation has been carried out in the QTT model and the results obtained show that the proposed real-time method is a promising tool to estimate the large reflector surface position in real time. It is believed that this active surface adjustment method has laid the foundation for new methods that will be developed to compensate for the reflector electrical performance.


We study the problem of allocating indivisible objects to a set of
rational agents where each agent's final utility depends on the
intrinsic valuation of the allocated item as well as the allocation
within the agent's local neighbourhood. We specify agents' local
neighbourhood in terms of a weighted graph. This extends the model of
one-sided markets to incorporate neighbourhood externalities. We
consider the solution concept of stability and show that, unlike in the
case of one-sided markets, stable allocations may not always
exist. When the underlying local neighbourhood graph is symmetric, a
2-stable allocation is guaranteed to exist and any decentralised
mechanism where pairs of rational players agree to exchange objects
terminates in such an allocation. We show that computing a 2-stable
allocation is PLS-complete and further identify subclasses which are
tractable. In the case of asymmetric neighbourhood structures, we show
that it is NP-complete to check if a 2-stable allocation exists. We then
identify structural restrictions where stable allocations always exist
and can be computed efficiently. Finally, we study the notion of envy-freeness in this framework.


The paper illustrates the results of an experimentally based procedure aimed at estimating the mutual influence between single-phase nonlinear (NL) loads and the upstream supply system. The procedure provides harmonic monitoring of a nonlinear appliance supplied from a low-voltage (LV) distribution network outlet. The appliance is connected to the outlet through a variable impedance whose components can be adequately varied in order to artificially reproduce upstream system and load variations. The monitoring results allowed "ONE"? to define both current and voltage harmonic spectrum variations versus some parameters that have been found as most influencing the attenuation effects. From the monitoring activity performed on personal computers, some curves have been determined that can be used for a parametrical estimation of: a) the attenuation effect of voltage distortion on net harmonic current drawn by the NL appliance; and b) the impact of the NL appliance on voltage distortion at the point of common coupling in terms of voltage total harmonic distortion (VTHD) increase.


Recent evidence entail paternal factors as plausible contributors in spontaneous recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Seminal extracellular vesicles secreted from cells of male reproductive tract carry regulatory proteins and RNAs. They are proposed to regulate sperm maturation and function while their fusion to endometrial stromal cells helps in decidualization. Nevertheless, the mechanism(s) involved in these processes are poorly understood. This study aims at elucidating the molecular basis of paternal contribution by comparative proteomics (label‐free LC‐MS/MS) of isolated seminal extracellular vesicles from fertile men and partners of patients with RPL (n = 21 per group). Bioinformatics analysis revealed the identified differentially expressed proteins to be involved in DNA replication, recombination and repair, gene expression, cellular assembly and organization, cell death, and survival. Major disease pathways affected were identified as developmental, hereditary, and immunological disorders. Of the three identified hub genes regulating the above disease pathways, two (HNRNPC and HNRNPU) are overexpressed while RUVBL1 is underexpressed along with over expression of HIST1H1C, DDX1, surmising defective chromatin packaging, and histone removal in spermatozoa resulting in improper expression in paternal genes thereby leading to abnormal embryo development. Besides, alteration in GSTP1 expression points oxidative predominance in RPL group. Differential expression of C3, C4a/C4b, CFB, and GDF 15 may be involved in altered maternal immune response to paternal antigens resulting in impaired decidualization.


Aims: Two meta-analyses of under-researched areas within the eating disorder field are presented. The first explored whether people with binge eating disorder (BED) exhibit greater deficits in attentional bias (AB) when attending to food stimuli compared to controls. The second explored whether eating disorder-focused family therapy (ED-FT) for young people with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa is effective when compared to other forms of family therapy (FT).

Methods: The first meta-analysis produced 13 studies, which were analysed using a Hedges's g random effects model. The second meta-analysis identified 15 papers for ED-FT and seven for multifamily therapy (MFT). The analysis of ED-FT compared with other forms of FT was conducted using an Odds ratio random effects model; the analysis of changes in weight for MFT was conducted using a Hedges's g random effects model.

Results: The first meta-analysis yielded a pooled Hedges's g effect size of -.12 (95% CI: -.36, .12), indicating no statistically significant difference between groups (p = .339). The second meta-analysis found a non-significant pooled Odds ratio effect of .64 (95% CI: .36, 1.12) indicating that ED-FT was not as efficacious when compared with other forms of FT. The effect of MFT on changes in weight yielded a pooled medium Hedges's g effect of .64 (95% CI: .23, 1.05), indicating that MFT may be a promising alternative treatment to ED-FT.

Conclusions: The results of the first meta-analysis do not support the theory that ABs are greater in BED. Future research is needed to produce higher quality research which tests other components of ABs in BED. The second meta-analysis highlights the need for research into the efficacy of other forms of FT or modifications to ED FT. Patients receiving MFT appear to gain weight; however, the lack of comparison groups limits the ability to draw firm conclusions.


A standardised worksheet for the histopathology report of primary cutaneous melanoma used at the Gustave-Roussy Institute is described. Each item is discussed.


Audio signals are often represented as spectrograms and treated as 2D images. In this light, deep convolutional architectures are widely used for music audio tasks even though these two data types have very different structures. In this work, we attempt to "open the black-box" on deep convolutional models to inform future architectures for music audio tasks, and explain the excellent performance of deep convolutions that model spectrograms as 2D images. To this end, we expand recent explainability discussions in deep learning for natural image data to music audio data through systematic experiments using the deep features learned by various convolutional architectures. We demonstrate that deep convolutional features perform well across various target tasks, whether or not they are extracted from deep architectures originally trained on that task. Additionally, deep features exhibit high similarity to hand-crafted wavelet features, whether the deep features are extracted from a trained or untrained model.


We report results on the cryogenic operation of two different monolithic X-band silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistor low noise amplifiers (LNAs) implemented in a commercially-available 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS platform. These SiGe LNAs exhibit a dramatic reduction in noise temperature with cooling, yielding of less than 21 K (0.3 dB noise figure) across X-band at a 15 K operating temperature. To the authors' knowledge, these SiGe LNAs exhibit the lowest broadband noise of any Si-based LNA reported to date.


Most software in the movie and broadcasting industries are still in analog film or tape format, which typically contains random noise that originated from film, CCD camera, and tape recording. The performance of the MPEG-2 encoder may be significantly degraded by the noise. It is also affected by the scene type that includes spatial and temporal activity. The statistical property of noise originating from camera and tape player is analyzed and the models for the two types of noise are developed. The relationship between the noise, the scene type, and encoder statistics of a number of MPEG-2 parameters such as motion vector magnitude, prediction error, and quant scale are discussed. This analysis is intended to be a tool for designing robust MPEG encoding algorithms such as preprocessing and rate control.


ABSTRACT Background To explore the combined influences of temperature-sensitive bone mesenchymal stem cells (tsBMSCs) and mild hypothermia (MH) on neurological function and glucose metabolism in rats with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods SD rats were randomly divided into sham, TBI, TBI + MH, TBI + BMSCs and TBI + MH +tsBMSCs groups. Then, the brain water content, serum-specific proteins (S100β, NSE, LDH, and CK), and blood glucose at different time points were measured. Furthermore, GLUT-3 expression was detected by Western blotting, and apoptotic rate was determined by TUNEL staining. Results After TBI rat establishment, the brain injury resulted in significant increases in mNSS scores and brain water content, and upregulations in serum levels of S100β, NSE, LDH and CK, and blood glucose, with the elevated cell apoptotic rate in the injured cortex. However, these changes were reversed by MH alone, BMSCs alone, or combination treatment of MH and tsBMSCs in varying degrees, and the combination treatment was superior to the treatment with BMSCs or MH alone. Conclusion Combination therapy of tsBMSCs and MH can reduce the neuronal apoptosis in severe TBI rats, with the suppression of serum biomarkers and hyperglycemia, contributing to the recovery of neurological functions. Abbreviations tsBMSCs: temperature-sensitive bone mesenchymal stem cells; MH: mild hypothermia; TBI: traumatic brain injury; mNSS: modified Neurological Severity Score.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
In patients with follicular lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma circulating lymphoma cells can be detected by quantitative real-time PCR with a high sensitivity and reproducibility. With this study we wanted to ascertain whether a continuous molecular remission achieved in patients with mantle cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma has an impact on survival of these patients.

PATIENT AND METHODS
We conducted these investigations in 32 patients (24 with follicular lymphoma and 8 with mantle cell lymphoma) who were treated in a randomized trial with chemotherapy plus/minus rituximab (MCP, R-MCP). A further ten patients had follicular lymphoma (stage I and II) in long-term complete remission after radiation therapy.

RESULTS
Up to 18 years after initial diagnoses of a stage I or II follicular lymphoma circulating t(14;18) positive cells could be detected in the peripheral blood. In advanced stage follicular lymphoma patients molecular remissions could only be achieved when they were treated with combined chemo-immunotherapy (MCP+R). A significantly higher relapse-free survival correlates with sustained molecular remission. In contrast, the frustrating clinical results obtained from the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma corresponded to an achievement of only short molecular remissions in very few patients.

CONCLUSIONS
The consequent application of quantitative real-time PCR will further improve current treatment strategies in lymphoma patients. Especially, individual treatment options can be developed for patients who do not respond to a standard chemotherapy or progression of disease is recognized, if results of molecular monitoring will be confirmed in large prospective studies.


The different contributions made to this edited book illustrate that the study of psychological contracts has offered critical scholarly and practical insights into the functional and dysfunctional aspects of the employment relationship for several decades. However, as with other fields of research, it behooves the psychological contract field to pause periodically, take stock, explore gaps, and identify new research streams to maintain and expand its impact upon scholarship and practice. An edited book like this offers a good opportunity to see how far we have come with the psychological contract and where the challenges lie ahead. In the chapter, the authors identify and develop three key areas that promise to enrich psychological contract research: 1) time; 2) social context; and 3) the changing nature of work. For each of these key areas, they formulate promising future research questions.


Phase transformation of ferrihydrite to more stable Fe (oxyhydr)oxides, catalyzed by iron(II) [Fe(II)], significantly influences the mobility of heavy metals [e.g., chromium (Cr)] associated with ferrihydrite. However, the impact of organic matter (OM) on the behavior of Cr(III) in the Fe(II)-catalyzed transformation of ferrihydrite and the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, the Fe(II)-catalyzed transformation of the coprecipitates of Fe(III), Cr(III), or rice straw-derived OM was studied at the nanoscale and molecular levels using Fe and Cr K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy and spherical aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (Cs-STEM). Batch extraction results suggested that the OM counteracted the enhancement of Cr(III) extractability during the Fe(II)-catalyzed transformation. Cs-STEM and XAS analysis suggested that Cr(III) could be incorporated into the goethite formed by Fe(II)-catalyzed ferrihydrite transformation, which, however, was inhibited by the OM. Furthermore, Cs-STEM analysis also provided direct nanoscale level evidence that residual ferrihydrite could re-immobilize the released Cr(III) during the Fe(II)-catalyzed transformation process. These results highlighted that the decreased extractability of Cr(III) mainly resulted from the inhibition of OM on the Fe(II)-catalyzed transformation of ferrihydrite to secondary Fe (oxyhydr)oxides, which facilitates insightful understanding and prediction of the geochemical cycling of Cr in soils with active redox dynamics.


Antioxidant compounds reduce ageing of the skin. Carrot peels contain antioxidant compounds. This research aimed to determine whether the red dragon fruit peels can be made into preparations like peel-off mask gel with variations in carbopol 940 and propylene glikol as the influence of variations in the physical basis of the quality of preparation and antioxidant activity. Carrot peel extraxtion by a maseration method using 70% ethanol. Peel-off mask gel made with a variable concentration of carbopol 940 and propylene glycol which is 0.5%: 5%; 0.5%: 7.5%; 0.5%: 10%; 1%: 5%; 1%: 7.5%; and 1%: 10%. The DPPH (1,1-dyphenil-2-picrylhydrazyl) method was used for the antioxidant test. The evaluation is used for observing the physical properties, which include organoleptic, time to dry, viscosity, spreading, and pH, with antioxidant activity of each formula. The results showed that the carrot peels can be made into a prepared peel-off mask gel. The low amount of propylene glycol and high amount of carbopol 940 affected the quality of the preparation. It had a high viscosity, low dispersive power, an acid pH, dried out slowly, and had low antioxidant activity.


This book approaches the idea that it is time we reassessed and reconstructed the standard professional identities of the CEO subculture, that is, we re-socialized those significant agents within society who have enjoyed immunity from being socially responsible in commonsensical terms when practicing their duties as heroes of national wealth. Re-socialization means altering their sentiments; changing not morals, but the collective 'habitus' of the executives, their dispositions – to put it into Bourdieu's sociological notions used in the book (the doctoral thesis). The attempted synthesis of a more realistic portrayal of business reality also appeals to the ethos of Schein, Mintzberg, McCloskey, Keynes and Baudrillard. The processing of societal interests affected by corporations' conduct of business should be incorporated therein – into corporate decision-making, mindset and the interplay of micro-activities within the organization, the author posits. He calls for a framework of 'guided re-socialization' where we could develop the social and eco-sensitivity of executives, and a certain kind of 'otherness' in them, supposed to spread out to their organizations and industries.


A novel strategy to automatically detect cracks in road pavement surface imagery, acquired by a laser imaging system, is proposed. It includes a new procedure to link fragments of crack regions based on a maximum a posteriori (map) classifier, which relies on a set of geometric characteristics of the segmented binary regions. The proposed system starts with an anisotropic diffusion filtering, to smooth image texture variations resulting from the type of sensor used. Then, a Gaussian function is used to model the histogram for pixels intensities below a certain value, which allows inferring the threshold level to be used for image segmentation. Next, less relevant binary regions are identified, being kept only if they are linked to relevant crack regions. Encouraging experimental crack detection results are presented based on real images captured along Canadian roads.


Suppression of bone marrow function is one of the most common adverse effects of chemotherapy for gastrointestinal cancer. In 3 patients with gastrointestinal cancer who underwent chemotherapy, Ninjin' yoeito(NYT)was found to be effective in preventing this adverse reaction. Patient 1, a 76-year-old woman with rectal carcinoma(pT3N1bM0, pStage Ⅲb), underwent anterior rectal resection. Although chemotherapy(mFOLFOX6)was performed 6 weeks after the operation, the leukocyte and erythrocyte counts were decreased. NYT administration from day 9 of mFOLFOX6 chemotherapy resulted in the maintenance of bone marrow function and allowed continuation of chemotherapy. Patient 2 was a 65-year-old woman who underwent right hemi-colectomy for ascending colon cancer(pT3N0M0, pStage Ⅱ). A partial hepatectomy was performed for the second S8 liver metastasis, and NYT was administered at the time of introduction of mFOLFOX6. In patient 3, an 83-year-old woman who underwent total gastrectomy for gastric cancer(pT4a[SE]N3aM0, pStage Ⅲb), NYT was administered at the same time as the transition to second-line treatment with paclitaxel plus ramucirumab. In all cases, chemotherapy was continued without drug suspension or dose reduction after NYT administration. Thus, NYT may be effective in aiding the continuation of chemotherapy.


Recent studies of the rhetoric of science have emphasized the competitive struggle played out through scientific texts . Scientific publications are seen as persuasive briefs for claims seeking communal validation as knowledge (Latour and Woolgar; Knorr-Cetina). Moreover, individual texts have been seen as part of a negotiation process among competing interests that may result in statements of knowledge different than those proposed in the initiating texts (Myers; Collins; Latour). During these struggles authors draw on many extratextual resources (social, economic, intellectual, and empirical) which are deployed in the text


In residential treatment programs, oftentimes the relevance of the procedures and methods utilized in situations encountered on the outside are lost sight of. The utilization of a stress induction model in conjunction with parental consultation within an inpatient setting makes it a great deal easier to conceptualize the relationship between problems the child has in the program, how they are handled and the way problems are dealt with at home. Involving the parents in dealing with program "crises" allows one to see firsthand how the family interacts under conditions of stress and permits systematic interventions into this system. If the goal is to return the child home, the parents and the child must be convinced that changes in behavior are a result of their methods of interacting with each other and not merely a result of "magic" or contact with new sympathetic adults outside the home.


The generalized Morrey space was defined independetly by T. Mizuhara 1991 and E. Nakai in 1994. Generalized Morrey space ${\mathcal M}_{p,\phi}({\mathbb R}^n)$ is equipped with a parameter $0<p<\infty$ and a function $\phi:{\mathbb R}^n \times (0,\infty) \to (0,\infty)$. Our experience shows that ${\mathcal M}_{p,\phi}({\mathbb R}^n)$ is easy to handle when $1<p<\infty$. However, when $0<p \le 1$, the function space ${\mathcal M}_{p,\phi}({\mathbb R}^n)$ is difficult to handle as many examples show.
The aim of this paper is twofold. One of them is to propose a way to deal with ${\mathcal M}_{p,\phi}({\mathbb R}^n)$ for $0<p \le 1$. One of them is to propose here a way to consider the decomposition method of generalized Hardy-Morrey spaces. We shall obtain some estimates for these spaces about the Hardy-Littlewood maximal operator. Especially, the vector-valued estimates obtained in the earlier papers are refined. The key tool is the weighted Hardy operator. Much is known about the weighted Hardy operator. Another aim is to propose here a way
to consider the decomposition method of generalized Hardy-Morrey spaces. Generalized Hardy-Morrey spaces emerged from generalized Morrey spaces. By means of the grand maximal operator and the norm of generalized Morrey spaces, we can define generalized Hardy-Morrey spaces. With this culmination, we can easily refine the existing results. In particular, our results complement the one the 2014 paper by Iida, the third author and Tanaka; there was a mistake there. As an application, we consider bilinear estimates, which is the \lq \lq so-called" Olsen inequality.


Variable-composition evolutionary structure searches are used to explore stable stoichiometries for the Zn-O system below 300 GPa. Our results confirm the previous structural phase transition sequence of pressurised ZnO. ZnO is thermodynamically stable up to 300 GPa and zinc peroxide (ZnO2, space group Pa3̄) is metastable under lower pressure. Insulating I4/mcm-ZnO2 is thermodynamically stable between 128.3–300 GPa. Insulated metastable P3121-ZnO2, controlling the pressure range of 51.5–128.3 GPa, has a wide band gap compared to the Pa3̄-ZnO2 and I4/mcm-ZnO2. Phonon and elastic constant calculations conclude the dynamical and mechanical stability for the explored thermodynamically stable or metastable structures.


Background

Whilst there are studies that have systematically reviewed the psychometric properties of Quality-of-Life measures for children and young people experiencing intellectual disabilities, these narrowly focus on disease or health conditions. The objective of this planned systematic review is therefore to collate, summarise and critically appraise the psychometric properties of health and wellbeing measures used with adolescents (aged 11–16) with an intellectual disability.
Methods

We designed and registered a study protocol for a systematic review of studies which explores the psychometric properties of health and wellbeing measures used with adolescents experiencing intellectual disabilities. Electronic databases including PsycINFO, CINAHL, MEDLINE and ERIC will be searched using predefined search terms to identify relevant studies. Quantitative and mixed-methods studies, and studies published in peer-reviewed journals or grey literature will be included. Review papers, editorials and case studies will be excluded. Eligible studies should identify self and/or proxy reported health and wellbeing measures which assess health and wellbeing among adolescents with intellectual disabilities. The methodological quality of the included studies will be assessed by applying the COSMIN Risk of Bias Checklist. The quality of the evidence (i.e., the total body of evidence used for the overall ratings on each psychometric property of an instrument) will be evaluated in accordance with the GRADE guidelines.
Discussion

This systematic review will be among the first to systematically explore the psychometric properties of health and wellbeing measures used with adolescents experiencing intellectual disabilities. By providing evidence-based knowledge about measures being used in health and wellbeing research amongst this population, and more importantly how reliable and valid these measures are, the most suitable for use will be identified. Our findings will be of potential interest to clinicians, researchers and service providers who need information about the methodological quality and the characteristics of measures to make informed decisions about the most reliable and valid tool for a specific purpose. The findings from this study will contribute to the knowledge surrounding available and appropriate measures to use for measuring the health and wellbeing of adolescents with intellectual disabilities, which are necessary to inform intervention development and future health policy.
Systematic Review Registration

The protocol has been registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO). The registration number is: CRD42021231697.


In this paper, sparse representation (factorization) of a data matrix is first discussed. An overcomplete basis matrix is estimated by using the K-means method. We have proved that for the estimated overcom-plete basis matrix, the sparse solution (coefficient matrix) with minimum l1-norm is unique with probability of one, which can be obtained using a linear programming algorithm. The comparisons of the l1-norm solution and the l0-norm solution are also presented, which can be used in recoverability analysis of blind source separation (BSS). Next, we apply the sparse matrix factorization approach to BSS in the overcomplete case. Generally, if the sources are not sufficiently sparse, we perform blind separation in the time-frequency domain after preprocessing the observed data using the wavelet packets transformation. Third, an EEG experimental data analysis example is presented to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed approach and demonstrate its performance. Two almost independent components obtained by the sparse representation method are selected for phase synchronization analysis, and their periods of significant phase synchronization are found which are related to tasks. Finally, concluding remarks review the approach and state areas that require further study.


China has the largest coal resources in theworld but these are seriously endangered by coal fires. Though the problem of coal R res is long standing and not only limited to China, little has been done for regular monitoring of these fires. This Letter proposes the use of multi-temporal night-time thermal images acquired from Landsat Thematic Mapper band 6 for establishing a coal fire monitoring system for a coalfield in north-west China. Other images and map data are fused with the thermal images to provide a comprehensive picture of the fires through the years. Finally the fires are classified into di€ erent categories based on multi-temporal changes.


Geostatistical reservoir modeling provides multiple equally probable realizations of structure, facies, and petrophysical properties. A large number of realizations should be processed to ensure that production decisions and strategies are not unduly affected by an unusually good or bad simulated realization. Flow simulation, however, often requires significant computational and professional time. Only a few geostatistical realizations can be subjected to detailed flow modeling. An integrated approach is developed for ranking geostatistical realizations. A small number of representative realizations can then be selected for flow processing. The ranking and selecting of realizations must be tailored to the flow process. Techniques that work for conventional oil and gas reservoirs may not be suitable for in-situ and SAGD bitumen recovery methods. This paper describes static connectivity measures increasingly tailored to heavy oil recovery processes from the McMurray Formation. Flow simulation is performed on a number of geostatistical realizations to calibrate the ranking measures to production response. This permits reliable inference in reservoir areas where it is not possible to perform many flow simulations.


Reynaldo Ileto's "Orientalism in the Study of Philippine Politics" (1999) highlighted the problematical relationship between colonialism and knowledge production in American scholarship on the Philippines. In recent decades the target of the critique has shifted to Filipino-American and overseas Filipino intellectuals. This article examines the changing intellectual and material contexts in which Philippine-based, often middle-class, intellectuals claim epistemic privilege in representing the Philippines by virtue of "authentic" experience and knowledge. These claims involve a contest over the power and authority to speak (on behalf) of the Philippines and the role and subject positions of intellectuals in relation to a "Filipino nation" that is in the throes of transformation.


Heat shock protein 70 is a molecular chaperone which expressed during oxidative stress to protect the cell from damage. Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder with an oxidative stress imbalance. Antioxidant defenses appear to be depleted during preeclampsia resulting in increased oxidative stress. Various alternative medicines are employed to increase the endogenous antioxidant level during preeclampsia. The aim of the present study was to determine the modulatory effect of medicinal plants, Camellia sinensis and Mentha spicata on oxidative stress, antioxidant and thiol status using placental explant as the model system. Placental explants were cultured from the placental tissues of both normotensive and preeclamptic subjects. The lipid peroxide, total antioxidant capacity, glutathione redox ratio, HSP70 levels were measured in the placental explants with and without incubation with tea, mint and mint-tea. The addition of these three extracts increased the TAC and GRR in both placental explants with decrease in the LPO level. The expression of HSP70 also decreased more significantly in preeclamptic explants on addition of tea and mint extracts due to the restoration of cell homeostasis via maintaining the antioxidant status. In view of the above results, mint-tea may emerge as an effective antioxidant, preventing cell damage during stress condition.


Cutaneous warts represent an unsightly and sometimes painful disturbance, which may resolve spontaneously. In cases where warts do not resolve, various treatment modalities are available. Laser treatment is a relatively efficient and patientcomfortable approach, although sometimes more than 4 treatment sessions are needed and there may be unresponsiveness and recurrence of deep warts. We report here on a new method combining Er:YAG and Nd:YAG laser treatment. Of the 17 warts treated, all resulted in complete clearance and none showed recurrence in 2 years. The efficacy of the method can be attributable to its efficient ablation of warts without damaging the surrounding tissue, which allows for fast recovery. Additionally, Nd:YAG laser treatment effectively complements the treatment by affecting the underlying vessels, thus potentially disrupting the supply to the residual


ABSTRACT Climate change requires significant adaptation of economies, and the largest part of most economies is composed of private sector actors. In this Viewpoint, we argue that it should not be the role of the public sector to cover the full costs of adaptation - which would also typically exceed government's fiscal space. Rather, we suggest that the public sector should set the right conditions to catalyse private investments in adaptation. While the suggestion is not new, we argue that the current focus on generic 'barriers' hindering more private investments in adaptation is not expedient. These barriers are descriptive rather than explanatory, sometimes mix cause and effect, and tend to focus on eliminating obstacles, rather than adapting efficiently. Alternatively, we suggest to focus on addressing three market imperfections that give rise to those barriers. In doing so, the overall welfare of society, including the vulnerability of the most marginalized, should be centre-stage. The development of markets should aim to contribute to such welfare - it is not an end in itself. In that sense, our call for a focus on market imperfections is a call for a larger role of public actors, both in developed and developing countries.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Objective: Arsenic trioxide (As2O3), an ingredient of many traditional Chinese medicines, has been shown to be active against many types of tumors. To assess whether local application of As2O3 inhibited cholangiocarcinoma development, we assayed the in vitro and in vivo effects of the chemical on human cholangiocarcinoma cancer cells of the CC-t6 line. Materials and methods: The effect of As2O3 on CC-t6 cell survival was determined using MTT assays and the mechanism of action was evaluated by flow cytometry following Annexin V-PI staining. The in vivo effect of As2O3 on tumor volume was explored using a nude mouse xenograft model. Results: In the MTT assay, As2O3 inhibited CC-t6 cells more strongly than did than cisplatin or adriamycin. As2O3 reduced CC-t6 cell proliferation via G/G1 phase arrest and caused dose-dependent induction of apoptosis. Injection of As2O3 into CC-t6-induced tumors in nude mice inhibited the growth of subcutaneous tumor xenografts. Conclusions: As2O3 treatment dose-dependently inhibited the proliferation of CC-t6 cells via G/G1 phase arrest and retarded tumor growth in nude mice, suggesting that As2O3 may be effective in the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma. Keywords: arsenic trioxide (As2O3), cholangiocarcinoma, intratumoral injection, tumor xenografts

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4907. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4907


Objectives To assess the competence of primary healthcare (PHC) providers in delivering maternal and child nutrition services at the PHC level and patients' experience in receiving the recommended components of care. Design Observational cross-sectional analysis. Setting Healthcare facilities in low/middle-income countries (LMICs) with available service provision assessment surveys (Afghanistan (2018), Democratic Republic of Congo (2018), Haiti (2017), Kenya (2010), Malawi (2013–2014), Namibia (2009), Nepal (2015), Rwanda (2007), Senegal (2018), Tanzania (2015) and Uganda (2007). Participants 18 644 antenatal visits and 23 262 sick child visits in 8458 facilities across 130 subnational areas in 11 LMICs from 2007 to 2019. Outcomes (1) Provider competence assessed as the direct observations of actions performed during antenatal care (ANC) and sick child visits; and (2) patients' experience defined as the self-reported awareness of the nutrition services received during ANC and sick child visits and provider effectiveness in delivering these services. Results Except for DRC, all countries scored below 50% on patients' experience and provider competence. More than 70% of clients were advised on taking iron supplements during pregnancy; however, less than 32% of patients were advised on iron side effects in all the studied countries. Across all countries, providers commonly took anthropometric measurements of expectant mothers and children; however, such assessments were rarely followed up with advice or counselling about growth patterns. In addition, less than 20% of observed providers advised on early/immediate breast feeding in all countries with available data. Conclusion The 11 assessed countries demonstrated the delivery of limited nutrition services; nonetheless, the apparent deficiency in the extent and depth of questions asked for the majority of tracer activities revealed significant opportunities for improving the quality of nutrition service delivery at the PHC level.


Dominance often indicates one or a few species being best suited for resource capture and retention in a given environment. Press perturbations that change availability of limiting resources can restructure competitive hierarchies, allowing new species to capture or retain resources and leaving once dominant species fated to decline. However, dominant species may maintain high abundances even when their new environments no longer favour them due to stochastic processes associated with their high abundance, impeding deterministic processes that would otherwise diminish them.

Here, we quantify the persistence of dominance by tracking the rate of decline in dominant species at 90 globally distributed grassland sites under experimentally elevated soil nutrient supply and reduced vertebrate consumer pressure.

We found that chronic experimental nutrient addition and vertebrate exclusion caused certain subsets of species to lose dominance more quickly than in control plots. In control plots, perennial species and species with high initial cover maintained dominance for longer than annual species and those with low initial cover respectively. In fertilized plots, species with high initial cover maintained dominance at similar rates to control plots, while those with lower initial cover lost dominance even faster than similar species in controls. High initial cover increased the estimated time to dominance loss more strongly in plots with vertebrate exclosures than in controls. Vertebrate exclosures caused a slight decrease in the persistence of dominance for perennials, while fertilization brought perennials' rate of dominance loss in line with those of annuals. Annual species lost dominance at similar rates regardless of treatments.

Synthesis. Collectively, these results point to a strong role of a species' historical abundance in maintaining dominance following environmental perturbations. Because dominant species play an outsized role in driving ecosystem processes, their ability to remain dominant—regardless of environmental conditions—is critical to anticipating expected rates of change in the structure and function of grasslands. Species that maintain dominance while no longer competitively favoured following press perturbations due to their historical abundances may result in community compositions that do not maximize resource capture, a key process of system responses to global change.


- Recently the researchers go to the eco-friendly corrosion inhibitors. In the present investigation, isatin which found in many plants, Isatis tinctoria, Calanthe discolor and Couroupita guianensis has been used as corrosion inhibitor. An isatin-aniline compound, namely ethyl 4-amino-N-(3-isatinyl) benzoate (AIB), was successfully synthesized in high yield and its inhibition impact on corrosion of MS (mild steel) in hydrochloric acid as corrosive solution was examined via weight loss and Scanning electron microscope techniques. The results acquired appeared that AIB has employ perfect as a corrosion inhibitor at low concentrations towards mild steel in HCl bath. The impact of temperature on the corrosion behavior of MS in corrosive bath with presence of (250) ppm of AIB has been investigated in the range of temperatures (303-333) K. The thermodynamic parameters for inhibiting process were investigated to find out the mechanism of corrosion inhibition of MS acid bath.


Numerous legal systems, indeed perhaps all of them, make use not only of legally binding norms but also of 'soft law', measures which are not legally binding but which nevertheless have practical and even legal effects. The European Union (EU) is no exception to this generalisation. Since 1979, and in particular since the 1992 Maastricht Treaty on the European Union, the EU has elaborated systematically and instrumentally a variety of soft law measures in pursuit of a wide range of public policy objectives. This paper aims to present selected aspects of the EU experience with soft law. The EU experience, both domestically and in international relations, may be of interest to other countries, which seek to combine legally binding measures and soft law in the service of economic and social regulation, if only because the EU experience reminds us that that social, political, legal, economic and cultural contexts shape and condition the choice, use and effectiveness of different types of norms, including soft law. In turn, such a reflection on its own experience within an implicitly comparative framework may be instructive for the EU itself. In the midst of the current financial crisis, the EU may be at a turning point, and there is considerable discussion about how best to regulate financial markets and other markets, whether through legally binding measures or soft law. Consequently, this paper is in the nature of a 'think piece', intended to raise questions and to provoke reflection, drawing considerably on my own research rather than being a systematic presentation of the subject. This paper argues that, in the EU, certain basic features of regional integration have given rise to the frequent use of soft law. This argument is developed in three parts. A first part introduces some basic features of the EU today. The second, main part considers examples of soft law in the EU. Finally, the concluding remarks consider what, in sum, we can learn from the EU experience.


This study proposes an approximation of European option prices under arbitrary diffusion processes of the spot price. The key is to approximate the characteristic function of the log spot price process as the solution to ordinary differential equations. The option price is then obtained by the inverse Fourier transform. Numerical experiments, using a model that has the constant elasticity of volatility specification in both the spot price and volatility processes, confirm reasonable accuracy of the approximation, except when the volatility process exhibits high variation.


For Shinran (親鸞1173-1262), the founder of Japan's Shinshū (True Pure Land) school of Pure Land Buddhism, the question of how to do the right thing was constrained by the larger problem of how to discern the right thing to do. In his view, human behaviour was constrained by two large issues: the problem of the times and context in which human beings live, mappō, and the consequent problem that human beings were not capable of properly distinguishing between right and wrong, good and evil, and thus could commit any kind of act. This paper argues, drawing upon Merleau-Ponty's account of "flesh" and the "horizon", that the possibility of living and acting ethically in the present, among others, depends upon relationships of care and compassion between and among others, within close networks of human relationality, rather than upon abstract ethical absolutes.


A new highly diastereoselective synthetic route to trans-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran systems, in particular those bearing an aryl substituent at the C2 position, is described. The cornerstone of our strategy is the implementation of a cross-metathesis/isomerization/allylboration sequence starting from 2-allyl-substituted phenols and aldehydes. After an intramolecular Mitsunobu cyclization step, the anti-homoallylic alcohols allow the synthesis of the desired skeleton in a stereoselective fashion. As an illustration, we used this strategy for the preparation of the dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (1a), a natural dihydrobenzofuran neolignan, as well as for a formal synthesis of its O-demethylated derivative 1b. An enantioselective version of this approach employing a chiral phosphoric acid in the allylboration step is also studied.


Introduction Orthopaedic trauma and fracture care commonly cause perioperative anaemia and associated functional iron deficiency due to a systemic inflammatory state. Modern, strict transfusion thresholds leave many patients anaemic; managing this perioperative anaemia is an opportunity to impact outcomes in orthopaedic trauma surgery. The primary outcome of this pilot study is feasibility for a large randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate intravenous iron therapy (IVIT) to improve patient well-being following orthopaedic injury. Measurements will include rate of participant enrolment, screening failure, follow-up, missing data, adverse events and protocol deviation. Methods and analysis This single-centre, pilot, double-blind RCT investigates the use of IVIT for acute blood loss anaemia in traumatically injured orthopaedic patients. Patients are randomised to receive either a single dose infusion of low-molecular weight iron dextran (1000 mg) or placebo (normal saline) postoperatively during their hospital stay for trauma management. Eligible subjects include adult patients admitted for lower extremity or pelvis operative fracture care with a haemoglobin of 7–11 g/dL within 7 days postoperatively during inpatient care. Exclusion criteria include history of intolerance to intravenous iron supplementation, active haemorrhage requiring ongoing blood product resuscitation, multiple planned procedures, pre-existing haematologic disorders or chronic inflammatory states, iron overload on screening or vulnerable populations. We follow patients for 3 months to measure the effect of iron supplementation on clinical outcomes (resolution of anaemia and functional iron deficiency), patient-reported outcomes (fatigue, physical function, depression and quality of life) and translational measures of immune cell function. Ethics and dissemination This study has ethics approval (Oregon Health & Science University Institutional Review Board, STUDY00022441). We will disseminate the findings through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Trial registration number NCT05292001; ClinicalTrials.gov.


This paper identifies the dynamic linkage between stock rate indices and exchange rate in the Indian Market for the last 26 years. There has not been such a significant and detailed study on this in an Indian context, and we have extensively studied the granger causality between different industrial sector-wise stock market indices with the US Dollar - Indian Rupee exchange rate. The regression is split adequately into phases of economic significance, and daily data is studied. We do not find any bidirectional causality in most of the sectors during all periods of study except during 2014-2019, where many sectors including Auto, PSU, Metal and Manufacturing, show a bidirectional dependance. This paper further links the empirical findings to the possible scenario of the economy that may have caused the relation for the sector during that period. These results and discussions have few significant implications for policymakers, stock analysts and foreign investors.


Abstract This article highlights the contribution of East Central Europe to interwar internationalism by showing how solutions to regional challenges gave birth to the Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme (UIAA), a permanent international organisation for mountaineering. The territorial fragmentation caused by the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire required alpine clubs to lobby for the softening of new political borders while simultaneously contributing to state building efforts. Successful experiences with bilateral agreements in the Tatras and re-emerging Neo-Slavist ideas led to the founding of the Association of Slavic Tourist Organization in 1924, which in turn motivated the establishment of the UIAA. The leading figures in this process were alpinists with a distinct internationalist profile who navigated seamlessly between their role as agents of the state and private citizens.


Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has proven to be extremely useful in the diagnosis and treatment of multiple thoracic problems. We used the VATS technique to successfully treat refractory pericardial effusions associated with pericarditis by performing pericardiectomy.


The process of testing newborn infants for hormonal, genetic, metabolic, and other disorders is known as newborn screening (NSB). Newborn screening is essential for detecting, diagnosing, and treating disorders that could save serious consequences for a newborn's health. Congenital Hypothyroidism (CH), Cystic Fibrosis (CF), Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, and Profound Biotinidase deficiency (BD) are common disorders in India. A retrospective analysis of the results of NBS by Cord blood spots was performed at the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 7 Airforce Hospital, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, from June 2022 to September 2022. During this period, 26 newborns were screened for four disorders, including CH, CF, G6PD deficiency, and BD. In this investigation, no cases of CH, CF, G6PD deficiency, or BD were found to be positive. The results of the current data provide a distinct opportunity to investigate the birth prevalence of inborn metabolic disorders in the area close to the city of Kanpur.