In recent years auctions have grown in interest within the AI community as innovative mechanisms for resource allocation. The primary contribution of this paper is to identify a family of hybrid auctions, called survival auctions, which combine the benefits of both sealed-bid auctions (namely, quick and predictable termination time) and ascending-bid auctions (namely, more information revelation often leading, among other things, to better allocations and greater expected revenue). Survival auctions are multi-round sealed-bid auctions with an information-revelation component, in which some bidders are eliminated from the auction from one round to the next. These auctions are intuitive, easy to implement, and most importantly provably optimal. More precisely, we show that (a) the survival auction in which all but the lowest bidder make it into the next round (the auction lasts for (n - 1) rounds when there are n bidders) is strategically equivalent to the Japanese ascending-bid auction, which itself has been proven to be optimal in many settings, and that (b) under certain symmetry conditions, even a survival auction in which only the two highest bidders make it into the next round (the auction lasts only two rounds) is Nash outcome equivalent to the Japanese auction.


[1] Drainage networks on Titan, Earth, and Mars provide the only known examples of non-volcanic fluvial activity in our solar system. The drainage networks on Titan are apparently the result of a methane-ethane cycle similar to Earth's water cycle. The scarcity of impact craters and the uneven distribution of fluvial dissection on Titan suggest that the surface may be relatively young. The purpose of this study is to assess the importance of erosion relative to other plausible mechanisms of resurfacing such as tectonic deformation, cryovolcanism, or deposition of aerosols. We present a new method, based on a measure of drainage network shape known as the width function, to estimate cumulative erosion into an initially rough surface. We calibrate this method with a numerical landscape evolution model, and successfully test the method by applying it to river networks on Earth with different exhumation histories. To estimate erosional exhumation on Titan, we mapped fluvial networks in all Synthetic Aperture Radar swaths obtained by the Cassini spacecraft through T71. Application of our method to the most completely imaged drainage networks indicates that for two of four regions analyzed, Titan's fluvial networks have produced only minor erosional modification of the surface. For the best-constrained region in the northern high latitudes, we find that fluvial networks reflect spatially averaged erosion of more than 0.4% but less than 9% of the initial topographic relief. This result implies either a recent, non-fluvial resurfacing event or long-term fluvial incision rates that are slow relative to the rate of resurfacing.


If a herbal pharmaceutical is intended to impact the function of the human organism, it is categorized as a medication or a nutritional supplement. According to the FDA, the medicine must be offered under a New Drug Application (NDA). The European Medicine Agency (EMA) has established two methods for registering herbal medicals: Under Directive 2001/83/EC, a full marketing authorization (MA) is obtained by submitting a dossier containing data about the quality, safeness, and effectiveness of pharmaceuticals, which include physical and chemical, biological, or microbiological tests, as well as pharmacological, toxicological, and clinical trial documentation; There is a simplest technique under Directive 2004/24/EC for classical herbals that do not needs professional monitoring and where the indication of long history use of pharmaceuticals exists and appropriate relevant journals to illustrate a very well medicinal usage is not provided.

A study about the regulatory status of herbal drugs/products was conducted in America and Europe to understand the various classes under which the sale of herbal goods is authorized and their premarketing criteria.

This study has been performed by gathering information from the official websites of the USFDA and EMA.

A thorough evaluation was carried out in order to identify the impediments to the harmonization of herbal goods.

Aside from the challenges of herb supply and conservation, it has been shown that there is a lack of uniformity in the regulatory standards of herbal supplements globally. These are impeding international commerce and the expansion of the herbal goods market. USFDA classifies botanical items as pharmaceutical, nutrition, or dietary supplement based on the indications or ultimate use.


Constructional ability is a necessary part of everyday functioning for adults and children alike. In children, the need for adequate levels of constructional ability is evident during both recreational and school activities. PlayCubes is a dynamic tool that supports monitoring a variety of the perceptual-motor processes needed while children perform constructional tasks. PlayCubes is based on ActiveCube (AC), an electronic, Lego-like tangible user interface (TUI) designed to construct three-dimensional (3D) objects in both the physical and virtual realms simultaneously. In this paper we explore PlayCubes' use as a concrete, ecologically valid tool which reveals the dynamic functional processes underlying constructional ability among typically developed children. Our paper describes the PlayCubes interface including its interactive playground virtual setting, the motivation for the study, the experimental design and results to date. We conclude that, despite several technical limitations, the PlayCubes system and playground apparatus tasks appear to be sensitive to differences in children constructional abilities while presenting an engaging and enjoyable assessment tool.


Spatial information embedded in a crop model can improve yield prediction. Leaf area index (LAI) is a well-known crop variable often estimated from remote-sensing data and used as an input into crop models. In this study, we evaluated the assimilation of LAI derived from high-resolution (both spatial and temporal) satellite imagery into a mechanistic crop model, a simple algorithm for yield estimate (SAFY), to assess the within-field crop yield. We tested this approach on spring wheat grown in Israel. Empirical LAI models were derived from the biophysical processor for Sentinel-2 LAI and spectral vegetation indices from Sentinel-2 and PlanetScope images. The predicted grain yield obtained from the SAFY model was compared against the harvester's yield map. LAI derived from PlanetScope and Sentinel-2 fused images achieved higher yield prediction (RMSE = 69 g/m2) accuracy than that of Sentinel-2 LAI (RMSE = 88 g/m2). Even though the spatial yield estimation was only moderately correlated to the ground truth (R2 = 0.45), this is consistent with current studies in this field, and the potential to capture within-field yield variations using high-resolution imagery has been demonstrated. Accordingly, this is the first application of PlanetScope and Sentinel-2 images conjointly used to obtain a high-density time series of LAI information to model within-field yield variability.


The comparison of two methods of measurement using the so-called "Bland-Altman" procedure of plotting the difference against the mean for each pair of observations has become the de facto standard for analysis of method comparison studies without replicates [1, 2]. But still some papers appear that rely on correlations in some form or another. The Bland-Altman procedure produces limits of agreement, that is prediction limits for the difference between a measurement by one method and a measurement by the other. The Bland-Altman approach has been expanded with practical methods for the analysis of situations with replicate measurements for multiple methods [5]. This half-day course will give an introduction to the standard procedures, and put these in a proper modeling framework. More elaborate designs of method comparison studies, in particular studies with replicate measurements by each method will be covered. Studies with more than two methods and with non-constant, and even non-linear relationships between methods will be covered too. As a bonus you will also learn why you should only compute the coefficient of variation from log-transformed data. I will illustrate the methods by examples from the literature, and demonstrate the use of the MethComp package for R. There will be opportunities to try out the MethComp package on your own computer, either using the examples or your own data.


Introduction: Endometrioid and clear cell carcinomas of the ovary are the most common subtypes of epithelial malignancy arising from endometriosis and are often termed endometriosis-associated ovarian carcinomas (EAOCs). There is a paucity of experimental evidence in the medical literature regarding the role of long non-coding ribonucleic acid (RNA) gene expression in the pathogenesis of these carcinomas.
Purpose: There is a need to develop understanding of the pathogenesis of these carcinomas for neoplastic risk stratification in endometriosis and to develop novel diagnostic biomarkers. Clear cell carcinoma of the ovary, in particular, has a poor prognosis as a result of resistance to standard platinum-based chemotherapy.
Methods: RNAseq datasets from EAOCs were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and compared with normal ovarian control sequences using a customized bioinformatic pipeline.
Results: We found 88 differentially expressed non-coding RNA molecules present in both endometrioid and clear cell carcinoma types compared with controls. A further 117 were specifically differentially expressed in the endometrioid carcinoma group and 128 in clear cell carcinoma samples alone. Genes of interest for further study from the 88 shared set in both EAOC types include CASC9, RP4-561L24.3, SLC2A1-AS1, LUCAT1, XIST, CASC15, and MIR99AHG. These genes appear to influence ferroptosis as a common pathway.
Conclusions: Alterations in the ferroptosis pathway may be a key event in development of EAOC in ovarian endometriosis patients. Further work is required to elucidate the function of the candidate RNA genes identified in this study by in-vitro, cell line and cultured organoid experiments. These candidate RNA gene biomarkers have potential clinical utility in early diagnosis, risk stratification of endometriosis, and post-surgical monitoring.


Synthesis of novel 2′,3′-didehydro-2′,3′-dideoxy-2′-fluoro apionucleosides which combine the properties of 2′,3′-didehydro-2′,3′-dideoxy nucleosides and apionucleosides on the basis of a bioisosteric rationale is described.


Background Depression increases the risk of breast cancer recurrence and metastasis. However, there lacks potential biomarkers for predicting prognosis in breast cancer. 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) plays a key role in the pathogenesis and treatment of depression. In this study, we developed a prognostic signature based on 5-HT receptors (5-HTRs) and elucidated its potential immune regulatory mechanisms for breast cancer prognosis. Methods Oncomine, GEPIA, UALCAN, cBioPortal, Kaplan-Meier plotter, and TIMER were used to analyze differential expression, prognostic value, genetic alteration, and immune cell infiltration of HTRs in breast cancer patients. The model training and validation assays were based on the analyses of GSE1456 and GSE86166. A risk signature was established by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. The transwell assay was utilized to verify the effect of the 5-HTRs expression on breast cancer invasion. Effects of HTR2A/2B inhibitor on CD8+ T cell proliferation and infiltration as well as apoptosis of 4T1 cells in the tumor microenvironment were detected by flow cytometry and TUNEL assay. Zebrafish and mouse breast cancer xenografts were used to determine the effect of HTR2A/2B inhibitor on breast cancer metastasis. Results The expression levels of HTR1A, HTR1B, HTR2A, HTR2B, HTR2C, HTR4, and HTR7 were significantly downregulated in highly malignant breast cancer types. 5-HTRs were significantly associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS) in breast cancer patients. The genetic alteration of HTR1D, HTR3A, HTR3B, and HTR6 in breast cancer patients was significantly associated with shorter overall survival (OS). Finally, HTR2A and HTR2B were determined to construct the risk signature. The expression of HTR2A/2B was positively correlated with the infiltration of immune cells such as CD8+ T cells and macrophages. Furthermore, inhibition of HTR2A expression could suppress CD8+ T cell proliferation and enhance invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cells in both zebrafish and mice model. Conclusions The HTR2A/2B risk signature not only highlights the significance of HTRs in breast cancer prognosis by modulating cancer immune microenvironment, but also provides a novel gene-testing tool for early prevention of depression in breast cancer patients and lead to an improved prognosis and quality of life.


Stable fly collections were conducted to study the species composition and daytime activity of Stomoxys spp. (Diptera: Muscidae) in Peninsular Thailand (Songkhla, Trang, Pattalung, Nakon Si Thammarat, and Satun provinces). Vavoua traps were used for fly collections in wet and dry seasons each year. Four Stomoxys species were found, S. calcitrans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae) being the most common with 2,512 specimens (87.43% of captures), followed by S. indicus (Picard) (Diptera: Muscidae) with 306 specimens (10.65%), S. sitiens (Rondani) (Diptera: Muscidae) with 44 specimens (1.53%), and S. uruma (Shinonaga and Kano) (Diptera: Muscidae) with 11 specimens (0.39%). Subsequently, Songkhla Province was further selected to be a potential collection site to conduct a 1-yr abundance study, due to mixed crop-livestock farming in one place. Stomoxys calcitrans was predominant from 0800 to 1000 h with 4,921 specimens (93.6%) while S. indicus with 317 specimens (6%) and S. sitiens with 19 specimens (0.4%) were numerically dominant from 0600 to 0800 and 1600 to 1800 h. A proportion of male and female of each species was also established. This overall finding could be used as an ideal for nationwide species distribution status for the guidance of appropriate fly control. This information can lighten the way for the future control measures program activity of stable flies in Thailand.


REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
Studies on arthroscopic removal of apical proximal sesamoid fracture fragments in Thoroughbred (TB) horses age > or = 2 years have reported a high success rate. However, there are no reports documenting the racing prognosis of TB horses that undergo such surgery as weanlings or yearlings.

OBJECTIVES
To describe the incidence of apical proximal sesamoid fractures in immature TB horses, age < 2 years and determine probability and quality of racing performance after arthroscopic removal of such fractures in 151 TB weanlings and yearlings.

METHODS
The medical records of TB horses age < 2 years that underwent arthroscopic surgery for removal of apical proximal sesamoid fracture fragments were reviewed. Follow-up information was obtained from race records. Student's t tests were used to compare performance variables of operated racehorses to that of their maternal siblings.

RESULTS
Ninety-two percent (139/151) of fractures occurred in the hindlimbs and 8% (11/151) in the forelimbs (fracture of both fore- and hindlimb, n = 1). Horses with forelimb fractures had a greatly reduced probability of racing (55%) compared to those with hindlimb fractures (86%). Overall, 84% of the horses raced post operatively and had performance records similar to that of their maternal siblings, 78% (787/1006) of which raced.

CONCLUSIONS
Arthroscopic removal of apical proximal sesamoid fracture fragments in TB weanlings and yearlings carries an excellent prognosis for racing in horses with hindlimb fractures and a reduced prognosis in those with forelimb fractures. Medial fractures of the forelimb carry the worst prognosis.

POTENTIAL RELEVANCE
The determination of prognosis increases knowledge on apical sesamoid bone fractures and potential for arthroscopic restoration of the ability to race; and enables the value of yearlings for subsequent sale to be established.


This paper addresses the choice of regulatory instrument for international control of global climate change. First, it examines the efficiency attributes of options including harmonized policy measures, international emissions taxes, and quantitative emissions reductions with internationally tradeable allowances. The paper argues that in the international context of voluntary assent, regulatory instruments not only must promote cost-effectiveness, but also must be designed to attract participation in the cooperative regime and to prevent emissions leakage. The paper suggests that a system of international allowance trading could best fulfill these objectives in concert. Second, the paper addresses the international politics of climate policy. Individual countries and interest groups may favor globally inefficient policy in order to capture parochial rents. The interests arrayed against international allowance trading may include, among others, environmentalists who favor a high-cost policy on moral or social engineering grounds, and industrialized countries who would benefit from a high-cost policy that hurts them a little while it much more substantially raises their trade rivals' costs. Thus, global climate policy may confront a coalition of environmental baptists and predatory bootleggers. Meanwhile, some developing country diplomats may oppose international allowance trading because they feel their political status at home threatened by the empowerment of markets and the growth of the merchant class. Efficient global climate policy therefore requires both the selection of an efficient regulatory instrument and the cultivation of a political coalition for efficiency.


In this paper we put forward the case for viewing 'spatial planning' as a political resource, one which has been largely supportive of the rollout neoliberal approach of New Labour. Drawing on work on postpolitics, we argue that ironically the progressive credentials of spatial planning in terms of consensus building, policy integration, and the search for 'win – win – win' solutions may have helped script out oppositional voices. We then outline how the combination of changes to planning systems, devolution, and local government reform has not generated a 'double dividend' of greater planning powers devolving from new territorial administrations to local planning authorities. Instead a more complex process of creating new planning spaces has emerged after devolution. Five types of new planning spaces and spatial practices are identified, including new soft space forms of governance.


Analytic properties of the reflection coefficient of a multilayer metal-backed slab are considered. The result is a new form of the dispersion relationship, which characterizes the integral of the reflectance over wavelength in terms of the total thickness and averaged static permeability of the slab. The relation may be transformed to an inequality, which produces the least thickness to bandwidth ratio achievable for a physically realizable radar absorber. The particular cases of broad-band and narrow-band absorbers are discussed. The least thickness of a 10-dB broad-band dielectric radar absorber is shown to be 1/17 of the largest operating wavelength. The discussion also involves the results of a numerical study.


On the basis of screening hits (1a,b), a series of selective, high affinity prostacyclin receptor antagonists was developed. The optimized lead compound 25d [(4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-2-yl)-[4-(4-isopropoxybenzyl)phenyl]amine] had analgesic activity in the rat.


Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan that causes a disease called toxoplasmosis which
has the capability to pass its both life cycle parts asexual and sexual in the final host (cats)and also through
intermediate vertebrate hosts including humans. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that there is high
blood sugar level over a prolonged period. This research included one hundred and twenty blood samples
that collected from diabetic patients after diagnosing them by endocrinologist at the Imamein Kadhimein
Medical City during August until the end of December 2016 with age ranging 12-76 years with mean 50.9
± 13.8. Toxoplasmosis diagnoses was occurred by using Toxo IgG and IgM antibodies immulite torch assay
while diabetes diagnosis by fasting blood sugar tests also measuring level of IL-33 in samples was done
by sandwich ELISA method that showed a group of diabetic patients infected with toxoplasmosis have
the highest level of IL-33. The results showed that a group of diabetic patients have the highest level of
glucose in diabetes test (188.31 pg/ml)while a group of diabetic patients infected with toxoplasmosis have
the highest level of IgG (106.17 IU/ml)while all samples have seronegative results for Toxo IgMalso the
highest level of IL-33 showed ina group of diabetic patients infected with toxoplasmosis (858.84 pg/ml)
while a group of diabetic patients not infected with toxoplasmosis have (556.67 pg/ml) and control group
have (315.58pg/ml).


Coronavirus pandemic challenges mental health care providers in different ways. At an individual level, they have to adapt their clinical practice and consider specific issues of teleconsultations to address patient's needs. At a population level, dedicated interventions (e.g. hotlines, health professionals' support) have to strike a balance between « pathologizing » people's reactions and trivializing the psychological effects of a pandemic. Finally, psychiatric leaders must be able to advise decision-makers on mental-health policy and communication.


Bell's theorem has long been considered to establish local realism as the fundamental principle that contradicts quantum mechanics. It is therefore surprising that the quantum pigeonhole effect points to the pigeonhole principle as yet another source of contradiction [Aharonov et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 113, 532-535 (2016)]. Here we construct two new forms of Bell's inequality with the pigeonhole principle, then reconstruct Aharonov et al.'s weak measurement on a bipartite system. We show that in both cases it is counterfactual reasoning by the assumption of realism rather than the pigeonhole principle being violated by quantum mechanics. We further show that the quantum pigeonhole effect is in fact a new version of Bell's theorem without inequality. With the pigeonhole principle as the same conduit, a comparison between two versions of Bell's theorem becomes straightforward as it only relies on the orthonormality of the Bell states.


Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc. Nirenberg) in maize (Zea mays L.), a staple crop in Mexico. In this study, we report the isolation and identification of 67 Fusarium strains isolated from maize kernels collected in Northwest and Central Mexico. The strains were characterized regarding fumonisin B(1) production and the presence of the FUM1 gene. F. verticillioides was the predominant species isolated in both geographic regions, but the isolates from Northwest Mexico produced higher levels of fumonisin. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method, to detect a region of the FUM1 gene involved in fumonisin biosynthesis, was developed and employed to detect mycotoxigenic fungi in pure culture and in contaminated maize. The presence of the FUM1 gene was associated with fumonisin production in most isolates, except seven that did not synthesize fumonisin but contained the gene in their genome. The PCR method allowed the direct detection of fungal contamination in ground corn and could be employed to screen for the presence of potential mycotoxigenic fusaria.


As palm oil has been qualified as atherogen, we have studied the impact of its consumption on changes of lipid and lipoprotein profiles of young Ivorian healthy subjects living in rural areas. It is a descriptive cross-sectional analytical study of about 120 Ivorian subjects aged 18 to 30 years, including 65 regular consumers of palm oil and 55 subjects consuming that oil periodically as control subjects. Serum concentrations of triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL, LDL cholesterols and lipoprotein (a) were measured by enzyme conventional methods. The TC serum varied not significantly in both subjects' groups as the triglycerides and HDL-C did. In addition, 58.46% of palm oil consumers had hypoLDLemia. The serum concentration of lipoprotein (a) was not significantly elevated (p> 0.05) with consumers compared to controls: 33.85% versus 29.09%, p = 0.55. The percentage of subjects with normal serum concentrations is higher in all the studied parameters, with both that is the consumers and the controls, except LDL cholesterol, of which the percentage of subjects with a lower value is the highest (58.46% for consumers and 52.73% for controls). This study has shown that the consumption of palm oil did not alter the lipid and lipoprotein profile of the consumer, on the contrary, this consumption revealed a decrease in cholesterol levels with these subjects.


There is a paucity of granular data on infection risk with BCMA and GPRC5D bispecific antibodies (bsAb) in RRMM. The aim of our multi-institutional study was to characterize the incidence, etiologies, and risk-factors of infections from the start of therapy to the last follow-up or 90 days after study exit. A total of 66 patients received BCMA bsAb monotherapy, 15 GPRC5D bsAb monotherapy (GPRC5D-mono), and 15 GPRC5D bsAb combination therapy with daratumumab and/or pomalidomide (GPRC5D-combination). While the infection rate per 100 days was 0.57 for BCMA bsAb, it was 0.62 for GPRC5D bsAb-combination and 0.13 for GPRC5D bsAb-monotherapy; p=0.05. The proportion of infections that were ≥ grade 3 was higher in the BCMA bsAb group compared to the GPRC5D groups (58% vs 36% ; p=0.04). Grade 5 events were observed in 8% (n=8) of the patients, all treated with BCMA bsAb. The 9-month cumulative incidence of any grade of infection was similar in the BCMA and GPRC5D-combination groups (57% and 62%) and significantly higher than in the GPRC5D-mono group (16%), p=0.012. The cumulative incidence of ≥ grade 3 infections was highest in the BCMA group reaching 54% at 18 months, p = 0.06, Multivariate analysis showed that BCMA bsAb therapy or GPRC5D-combination therapy, history of previous infections, baseline lymphopenia, and baseline hypogammaglobulinemia were significantly associated with a higher risk of grade ≥3 infections. Our results indicate that BCMA bsAb and GPRC5D BsAb-combination therapies in RRMM are associated with higher cumulative incidence of infection and ≥ grade 3 infection compared to GPRC5D bsAb-mono.


Background. With the release of the Romanow Commission report, Canadian governments are poised to consider the creation of a national home care program. If occupational and physical therapists are to have input in shaping such a program, they will need to learn from lost opportunities of the past. Purpose. This paper provides an overview of recent reforms to home care in Ontario with an emphasis on rehabilitation services. Method. Data were collected from documents and 28 key informant interviews with rehabilitation professionals. Results. Home care in Ontario has evolved in a piecemeal manner without rehabilitation professionals playing a prominent role in program design. Practice Implications. Rehabilitation services play a critical role in facilitating hospital discharges, minimizing readmissions, and improving the quality of peoples' lives. Canadians will benefit if occupational and physical therapists seize the unique opportunity before them to provide meaningful input into creating a national home care program.


The HMO Cancer Research Network (CRN) is a National Cancer Institute-funded initiative to support and facilitate collaborative cancer research within non-profit integrated health care delivery systems. The CRN has several characteristics that result collectively in a unique, unparalleled resource for epidemiologic and health services research in cancer. These include scientists with expertise in conducting public-domain cancer research in these settings; defined populations with a combined membership of approximately 8.5 million individuals within 9 different integrated health care delivery systems; clinical and administrative data systems that capture most aspects of care; development and implementation of common data models in the Virtual Data Warehouse (VDW) to facilitate collaborative and multi-institutional research; and access to clinicians and administrators to facilitate translation of research findings to practice. The VDW includes demographic, utilization, diagnostic, procedure, and pharmacy data which can be used to study cancer epidemiology, cost effectiveness, practice patterns and more. Investigators can propose collaborative research projects via the CRN website (http://crn.cancer.gov/). The presentation will include examples of recent CRN-based research studies highlighting both study design and practical issues in conducting studies using electronic data from multiple sources. Strategies for successful collaborative research within and beyond the CRN will be discussed. Supported by U24 CA171524. Citation Format: Vincent Paul Doria-Rose, Katherine Mazor. Using electronic health data in "real-world" studies: Examples and opportunities in the HMO Cancer Research Network. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr ED03-01.


BACKGROUND
Although preparation of people for surgery has traditionally included removal of hair from the incision site, some studies claim that preoperative hair removal is harmful, causes surgical site infections (SSIs), and should be avoided.

OBJECTIVES
To determine if routine pre-operative hair removal (compared with no removal) and the timing or method of hair removal influence rates of SSI..

SEARCH METHODS
For this second update we searched the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register (searched 12 August 2011); The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2011, Issue 3); Ovid MEDLINE (1950 to August Week 1 2011); Ovid MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations August 11, 2010); Ovid EMBASE (1980 to 2011 Week 31) and EBSCO CINAHL (1982 to 11August 2011). No date or language restrictions were applied.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi randomised trials (QRCTs) that compared:1) hair removal with no hair removal; 2) different methods of hair removal; 3) hair removal at different times before surgery; and, 4) hair removal in different settings (e.g. ward, anaesthetic room).

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Three authors independently assessed relevance and quality of each trial. Data were extracted independently by two authors and cross-checked.

MAIN RESULTS
We included 14 trials (17 comparisons) in the review; three trials involved multiple comparisons. Six trials, two of which had three comparison arms, (972 participants) compared hair removal (shaving, clipping, or depilatory cream) with no hair removal and found no statistically significant difference in SSI rates however the comparison is underpowered. Three trials (1343 participants) that compared shaving with clipping showed significantly more SSIs associated with shaving (RR 2.09, 95% CI 1.15 to 3.80). Seven trials (1213 participants) found no significant difference in SSI rates when hair removal by shaving was compared with depilatory cream (RR 1.53, 95% CI 0.73 to 3.21), however this comparison is also underpowered. One trial compared two groups that shaved or clipped hair on the day of surgery compared with the day before surgery; there was no statistically significant difference in the number of SSIs between groups however this comparison was also underpowered.We identified no trials that compared clipping with depilatory cream; or investigated application of depilatory cream at different pre-operative time points, or hair removal in different settings (e.g. ward, anaesthetic room).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Whilst this review found no statistically significant effect on SSI rates of hair removal insufficient numbers of people have been involved in this research to allow confidence in a conclusion. When it is necessary to remove hair, the existing evidence suggests that clippers are associated with fewer SSIs than razors. There was no significant difference in SSI rates between depilatory creams and shaving, or between shaving or clipping the day before surgery or on the day of surgery however studies were small and more research is needed.


The article examined the paradigm shift from livestock production to wage labor as a response to colonial capitalism among the Akamba of Machakos, 1895-1963. It used the "concept of the articulation of modes of production" to explain the development of labour migration in Machakos during the colonial period as a result of the economic changes brought about by the British colonial rule. Methodology involved data collection from primary and secondary sources. Primary data included archival and oral sources while secondary data entailed a detailed analysis of existing literature on colonial labor history as well as livestock production in Kenya. The study established that on the eve of colonial rule, livestock economy was the mainstay of the Akamba and as such, labour was mainly directed to animal husbandry. It also established that colonial policies like land alienation, labor laws and taxation undermined the livestock sector while at the same time nurturing and intensifying the development of wage labor in Machakos. The study therefore maintains that the decline of the livestock economy among the Akamba of Machakos was corollary to the emergence of wage labor.


Acinar cystic transformation (ACT), also known as "acinar cell cystadenoma," is a rare and newly recognized benign pancreatic cystic neoplasm. However, its true malignant potential remains unknown. Here, we report a case of ACT with 15-year follow-up. A 10-year-old female initially presented with abdominal pain and was found to have a cystic lesion in the region of pancreatic head on computed tomography scan. She underwent an exploratory laparotomy, and the intraoperative biopsy of the cyst wall showed a true pancreatic cyst without malignancy. Her symptoms subsequently resolved, and she was placed under close ultrasound surveillance. For the next fifteen years, the patient was asymptomatic without any complications and had a successful pregnancy. Surveillance showed the tumor grew in size from 4.2 cm to 6.2 cm in diameter. In the latest five months, she noted occasional abdominal pain. A pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed. The resected cystic lesion was multilocular and lined by a single layer of bland epithelium ranging from nondescript flat/cuboidal epithelium to apparent acinar cells which were strongly positive for trypsin, so the final diagnosis was confirmed to be ACT. The prior biopsy was retrospectively reviewed to reveal similar epithelial lining. To the best of our knowledge, this is the longest period of follow-up for ACT to date. Our findings suggest that ACT is a slow-growing neoplasm without malignant transformation after fifteen years. Therefore, we recommend biopsy for histologic diagnosis followed by close ultrasound surveillance without surgical intervention in asymptomatic or young ACT patients.


Autologous bone marrow transplantation was performed in a 48-year-old man with relapsed high grade lymphoma. Two hours after the marrow infusion he developed pulmonary infiltrates and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The aetiology of ARDS in this setting is uncertain but probably relates to pulmonary infection and endotoxaemia present at the time of marrow infusion. As the number of transplant procedures increases, particularly in patients with relapsed or resistant disease, this complication may become more common. In the infected patient in whom it is more likely to occur, prevention may be possible by giving anti-endotoxin antiserum prior to marrow infusion.


Numerical simulations of flows over a two-dimensional (2D) and a three-dimensional (3D) rectangular cavity are reported. The aim is to study the near field unsteady flow and its noise radiation. For this purpose, the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations were solved with a 4th-order optimized pre-factored compact finite difference scheme for spatial derivatives and a 4- 6 alternating stage low-dissipation, low-dispersion Runge-Kutta scheme for time integration. The length to depth ratio of the cavity is 2 and the length to width ratio is 1. The simulations were performed at a Mach number of 0.4 and a Reynolds number of 60,000 based on the depth of
cavity. To compute the turbulent flow field, the Spalart-Allmaras one-equation turbulence model was employed with Detached Eddy Simulation (DES). The Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation
was solved to estimate the far field acoustic radiation. In both cases, the flow oscillations were found to follow the Rossiter flow model. In the 2D case, an upstream dominance of the acoustic radiation was observed. In contrast, the 3D computation showed strong sound radiations in the upstream direction and vertically above the cavity. The lateral radiation was found to be weaker.


Abstract. The insights of water budgets over Tibetan Plateau (TP) are not fully understood so far due to the lack of quantitative observations of the land surface processes. Here, we investigated the seasonal cycles and trends of water budget components in 18 TP basins through the use of multi-source datasets during the period 1982–2011. A two-step bias correction procedure was applied to calculate the basin-wide evapotranspiration (ET) through the water balance considering the influences of glacier and water storage change. The results indicated that precipitation, which mainly concentrated during June–October (varied among different monsoons impacted basins), is the major contributor to the runoff in TP basins. The basin-wide snow water equivalent (SWE) was relatively higher from mid-autumn to spring for most TP basins. The water cycles intensified under a global warming in most basins except for the upper Yellow and Yalong Rivers, which were significantly influenced by the weakening East Asian monsoon. Corresponded to the climate warming and moistening in the TP and western China, the aridity index (PET/P) in most basins decreased. The general hydrological regimes could be inferred from the perspective of multi-source datasets although there are considerable uncertainties from different datasets, which are comparable to some existing studies using the field observations and complex modeling approaches. The results highlighted the usefulness of integrating the multi-source data (e.g., in situ observations, remote sensing products, reanalysis, land surface model simulations and climate model outputs) for hydrological applications in the data-sparse environments and could be benefit for understanding the water and energy budgets, sustainable management of water resources under a warming climate in the harsh and data-sparse Tibetan Plateau.


Effort phlebitis of the lower extremity is rare but does occur : a patient was seen who suffered sudden swelling of the left leg when he had almost finished unloading a lorry. Phlebography, which was carried out five months later, revealed lesions of the deep veins of the lower leg and of the thigh, in which vascular permeability was in the process of being restored. The hypothesis is advanced that a sudden pronounced rise of the venous pressure had led to the rupture of a valvular perforating vein with secondary formation of a clot.


We propose an evaluation process for segmentation which is made up of three different levels. It enables us to carry out the time consuming steps only for those segmentation methods for which a successful segmentation is foreseeable. In the first level the developer of a segmentation method does a coarse analysis of the usefulness of the individual segmentation methods by means of visual assessment of the results for few image examples. Methods which have been judged useful at the first level are investigated in a second evaluation step as to the stability of the segmentation results in case of slight deviations in the images. For the reproduction of the image formation process a multitude of realizations of a given region of interest are produced by means of the bootstrap technique. At the third level of the evaluation process the segmentation methods are tested for segmentation errors. The segmentation methods are judged by means of empirical discrepancy values, and the effectiveness of a method chosen for the respective task is finally estimated.


Based on our recent observations in Central Italy we show evidence for root sprouting and subsequent capacity of clonal growth in Fagus sylvatica L. The typology of resprouting in this species is still unclear according to the existing literature. We review Italian, European and global sources and discuss our finding in the light of environmental factors and genetic differences.


This paper investigates poverty transitions and household predictors associated with different states of poverty transitions in India during the pandemic's first year (2020). Following the unexpected shock brought on by COVID, economic activity slowed down, presumably pushing many households into poverty. For poverty alleviation programmes, it is important to identify households that fell into poverty during COVID and remained in poverty subsequently. Our findings indicate that urban households were more severely affected, and about 19% individuals in urban areas who were not poor in the pre-COVID period (2019) qualified as poor in the COVID period. Estimating a multinomial logit model for urban households our analysis finds that vulnerable castes relative to upper castes had a higher probability of falling into poverty and remaining there. Moreover, households at the lower end of the expenditure distribution and those with household members with lower levels of education were more prone to falling back into poverty and more likely to remain in poverty. These findings suggest that those who were most vulnerable sustainably suffered the most; as a result, the pandemic worsened socio-economic gaps that already existed across households.


In recent years, research focusing on representations of sexuality in entertainment has gained momentum. Television content can sometimes be characterized as "hypersexual," and according to Jacobson (2005), such "hypersexual" representations can be found in two-thirds of programs. However, beyond offering teenagers more sexual content, the nature of the content has also changed. Using a qualitative textual analysis, this article gives an overview of the gender scripts represented in series that are popular with Flemish teenagers: One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Skins, Degrassi: The Next Generation, and 16+. Specifically, this article focuses on the relation between gender and sexuality. Sex(uality) has become part of the spectacle, and the tendency to "casualize" sexuality is apparent. This pinpoints the possibility that it may be time to reconsider sexual license in the twenty-first century as part of youth-as-fun instead of youth-as-trouble.


We propose a Projected Proximal Point Algorithm (ProPPA) for solving a class of optimization problems. The algorithm iteratively computes the proximal point of the last estimated solution projected into an affine space which itself is parallel and approaching to the feasible set. We provide convergence analysis theoretically supporting the general algorithm, and then apply it for solving $\ell_1$-minimization problems and the matrix completion problem. These problems arise in many applications including machine learning, image and signal processing. We compare our algorithm with the existing state-of-the-art algorithms. Experimental results on solving these problems show that our algorithm is very efficient and competitive.


The COVID-19 pandemic has recently been the cause of a global public health emergency. Frequently, elderly patients experience a marked loss of muscle mass and strength during hospitalization, resulting in a significant functional decline. This paper describes the impact of prolonged immobilization and current pharmacological treatments on muscular metabolism. In addition, the scientific evidence for an early strength intervention, neuromuscular electrical stimulation or the application of heat therapy during hospitalization to help prevent COVID-19 functional sequels is analyzed. This review remarks the need to: (1) determine which potential pharmacological interventions have a negative impact on muscle quality and quantity; (2) define a feasible and reliable pharmacological protocol to achieve a balance between desired and undesired medication effects in the treatment of this novel disease; (3) implement practical strategies to reduce muscle weakness during bed rest hospitalization and (4) develop a specific, early and safe protocol-based care of functional interventions for older adults affected by COVID-19 during and after hospitalization.


Abstract. In urban areas, topography data without above-ground objects are typically preferred in wide-area flood simulation but are not yet available for
many locations globally. High-resolution satellite photogrammetric DEMs, like ArcticDEM, are now emerging and could prove extremely useful for global
urban flood modelling; however, approaches to generate bare-earth DEMs from them have not yet been fully investigated. In this paper, we test the
use of two morphological filters (simple morphological filter – SMRF – and progressive morphological filter – PMF) to remove surface artefacts from
ArcticDEM using the city of Helsinki (192 km2) as a case study. The optimal filter is selected and used to generate a bare-earth version of
ArcticDEM. Using a lidar digital terrain model (DTM) as a benchmark, the elevation error and flooding simulation performance for a pluvial scenario were then evaluated at 2
and 10 m spatial resolution, respectively. The SMRF was found to be more effective at removing artefacts than PMF over a broad parameter
range. For the optimal ArcticDEM-SMRF the elevation RMSE was reduced by up to 70 % over the uncorrected DEM, achieving a final value of
1.02 m. The simulated water depth error was reduced to 0.3 m, which is comparable to typical model errors using lidar DTM data. This
paper indicates that the SMRF can be directly applied to generate a bare-earth version of ArcticDEM in urban environments, although caution should
be exercised for areas with densely packed buildings or vegetation. The results imply that where lidar DTMs do not exist, widely available
high-resolution satellite photogrammetric DEMs could be used instead.


Famines in European Economic History: Introduction Section 1: The Great Irish Famine [An Gorta Mor], 1845-1850 1. From the "haggart" to the Hudson: The Irish Famine across many geographical scales 2. Tracing 'the march of the enemy': Regional and local experiences of the Irish famine 3. "The Great British Famine of 1845-50"? Ireland, the UK and Peripherality in Famine Relief and Philanthropy Section 2: Finnish Famine, [Suuret Nalkavuodet] 1867-1868 4. Finland's "Hunger Years" of the 1860s: The Nineteenth Century Context 5. Feeding the Famine: Social Vulnerability and Dislcation During the Finnish Famine of the 1860s 6. 'The Terrible Visitation': Famine in Finland and Ireland 1845-68 Section 3: Ukrainian Famine [Holodomor], 1932-1933 7. The origins and course of the famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine 8. 1932-33 famine losses in Ukraine within the context of the Soviet Union 9. The uses of hunger: Stalin's solution of the peasant and national questions in Soviet Ukraine, 1932-1933


Abstract Objective To review the available literature on the association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and body fat during childhood and adolescence. Design A systematic review was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science and LILACS databases. Studies that evaluated the association between consumption of ultra-processed food (exposure) and body fat (outcome) during childhood and adolescence were eligible. Subjects Healthy children and adolescents. Results Twenty-six studies that evaluated groups of ultra-processed foods (such as snacks, fast foods, junk foods and convenience foods) or specific ultra-processed foods (soft drinks/sweetened beverages, sweets, chocolate and ready-to-eat cereals) were selected. Most of the studies (n 15) had a cohort design. Consumption was generally evaluated by means of FFQ or food records; and body composition, by means of double indirect methods (bioelectrical impedance analysis and skinfolds). Most of the studies that evaluated consumption of groups of ultra-processed foods and soft drinks/sweetened beverages found positive associations with body fat. Conclusions Our review showed that most studies have found positive associations between consumption of ultra-processed food and body fat during childhood and adolescence. There is a need to use a standardized classification that considers the level of food processing to promote comparability between studies.


Summary Thermodynamic equilibrium computations are usually the most time-consuming component in compositional reservoir flow simulation. A compositional space adaptive tabulation (CSAT) approach was developed as a preconditioner for equation of state (EOS) computations in isothermal compositional simulation. The compositional space is decomposed into sub- and supercritical regions. In the subcritical region, we adaptively parameterize the compositional space using a small number of tie-lines, which are assembled into a table. The critical surface is parameterized and used to identify supercritical compositions. The phase-equilibrium information for a composition is interpolated as a function of pressure using the tie-line table. We extend the CSAT approach to thermal problems. Given an overall composition at a fixed temperature, the boundary between sub- and supercritical pressures is represented by the critical tie-line and the corresponding minimal critical pressure (MCP). A small set of subcritical tie-lines is computed and stored for a given temperature. This process is repeated for the pressure and temperature ranges of interest, and a coarse (regular) tie-line table is constructed. Close to the critical boundary, a refined tie-line table is used. A combination of regular and refined interpolation improves the robustness of the tie-line search procedure and the overall efficiency of the computations. Several challenging problems, including an unstructured heterogeneous discrete fracture field model with 26 components, are used to demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of this general tie-line-based parameterization method. Our results indicate that CSAT provides accurate treatment of the near-critical region. Moreover, the computational efficiency of the method is at least an order of magnitude better than that of standard EOS-based reservoir simulation approaches. We also show the efficiency gains relative to standard techniques as a function of the number of gridblocks in the simulation model.


Analyzed the frequency of venous thromboembolism after high amputation for chronic critical limb ischemia. It is shown that ultrasonography of deep veins have to be performed in all patients who had undergone high amputation for chronic critical limb ischemia, irrespective of the presence or absence of edema of the stump for the diagnosis of asymptomatic thrombosis in the postoperative period. Routine prophylaxis of thromboembolic complications allows 2-fold lower their rates after amputation of the thigh.


The increasing use of computers in patient areas has made keyboards important reservoirs for pathogens, possibly contributing to health care-related hospital infections. Current CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines for hand hygiene could nullify the risk of transmitting pathogens from computer keyboards to patients, but numerous studies show that fewer than half of health care workers comply with them. This study examined the efficacy of six disinfectants, three containing quaternary ammonium and one each containing chlorine, alcohol, and phenol, against three microorganisms that were innoculated into computer keyboards. The test organisms were oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ORSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) species. Specimens were collected using swabs moistened with trypticase soy broth from 25 computer keyboards in two intensive care units dealing with bums and cardiothoracic disorders, respectively, as well as six nursing units whose patients were receiving short-term care. All 25 keyboards harbored two or more microorganisms before disinfection. Coagulase-negative staphylococci, diphtheroids, Micrococcus species, and Bacillus species all were found in at least half the keyboards tested. Pathogens recovered from keyboard cultures included ORSA, Vancomycin-susceptible Enterococccus species, Aspergillus flavus, and A. niger. All six disinfectants were very effective in removing or inactivating ORSA, VRE, and P. aeruginosa. A water control also proved to be an excellent means of removing pathogens. In all instances, more than 95% of test bacteria were removed or inactivated. The quaternary ammonium preparations were very active against VRE for the entire 48-hour test period. Alcohol, in contrast, exerted no sustained, clinically relevant activity. The quaternary ammonium compounds also were active for a sustained time against P. aeruginosa, although not as active as against VRE. As was the case for VRE, alcohol was not highly active for a sustained period against P. aeruginosa. Applying disinfectant did not appear to impair keyboard function. The investigators recommend that computer keyboards used in patient care areas be disinfected each day and whenever visibly soiled or contaminated with blood. Caregivers should avoid touching keyboards with contaminated hands. If keyboard covers are used, they also should be disinfected. Mobile computers used by patients should be disinfected after every session. A keyboard used by an isolated patient should remain in the same room until no longer needed, and then disinfected.


The effectors that cooperate with IgG1 in causing tumor suppression were identified as exudate macrophages and blood platelets in animals syngeneic and allogeneic to the tumor. Lymphocytes were not active in suppressing tumor growth in the presence of IgG1 antibody, although they were active with whole antiserum.


Abstract The sequence dependent structure and flexibility of the DNA double helix is of key importance for gene expression and DNA packing and it can be modulated by DNA modifications. The presence of a C5′-methyl group in thymine or the frequent C5′-methylated-cytosine affects the DNA fine structure, however, the underlying mechanism and steric origins have remained largely unexplained. Employing Molecular Dynamics free energy simulations that allow switching on or off interactions with the methyl groups in several DNA sequences, we systematically identified the physical origin of the coupling between methyl groups and DNA backbone fine structure. Whereas methyl-solvent and methyl–nucleobase interactions were found to be of minor importance, the methyl group interaction with the 5′ neighboring sugar was identified as main cause for influencing the population of backbone substates. The sterical methyl sugar clash prevents the formation of unconventional stabilizing hydrogen bonds between nucleobase and backbone. The technique was also used to study the contribution of methyl groups to DNA flexibility and served to explain why the presence of methyl sugar clashes in thymine and methyl-cytosine can result in an overall local increase of DNA flexibility.


Functional constipation (FC) is one of the most common disorders in childhood and has a negative impact on the quality of life of children. Scientific evidence regarding a causal relationship between FC and cow's milk allergy is controversial, as it is also reported by the latest European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition-North American Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN-NASPGHAN) recommendations. In the case of FC, routine allergometric tests are not recommended and the cows' milk-free diet is only proposed in the case of laxative-resistant constipation and only following the advice of an expert. Instead, after a careful review of the literature and in view of the many clinical cases encountered in our clinical practice, we believe that it is useful to propose cows' milk-free diet as first line for the treatment of FC at least in pre-school children and in children with a personal or family history of atopy or with a previous diagnosis of cow's milk protein allergy.


Objective: Evaluate the therapeutic properties of a peroxy pyruvic acid (PPA)-containing topical anti-infective in a human ex-vivo model that replicates the natural conditions of a human chronic wound. Approach: Wound material was extracted from patients with nonhealing diabetic ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, and arterial wounds. Microbial species were identified, and wound colonization was quantified. Extracted samples were then exposed to a PPA-containing topical anti-infective as an instillation solution with negative pressure wound therapy NPWT at concentrations of 1,000, 1,500, or 2,500 ppm for a period of 1, 5, or 10 min to determine the effect of exposure on isolated pathogens, including effect on proteins. Results: A total of 32 samples were collected from patients. Samples presented with a range of bacteria and fungi representing 14 genera and 22 species, many of which are or are evolving to be resistant to many, if not most, current systemic antibiotics. Thirteen of twenty-three samples (57%) from chronic wounds had bacteria counts ≥105 and most were 6 logs or more. Seven of 10 samples (70%) from acute wounds had bacteria counts ≤105 and most were much lower. Exposure to PPA-containing topical anti-infective at 1,000 ppm killed all bacteria and fungi in all samples within 1 min of exposure. Innovation: PPA-containing topical anti-infective is a potentially valuable clinical option for NPWT. Conclusion: PPA-containing topical anti-infective is a potential candidate for use as an NPWT instillation solution for the treatment of wound infections caused by susceptible pathogens.


ABSTRACT Biomineralized structures are hybrid composites formed and stabilized by the close interaction of the organic and the inorganic phases. Crayfish are good models for studying biomineralization because they develop, in a molting-mineralization cycle, semi-spherical mineralized structures referred to as gastroliths. The organic matrix of these structures consists of proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids. Chitin is the main polysaccharide and is concentrically arranged as fibrous chitin-protein lamellar structures. Although several proteins and low-molecular weight phosphorylated components have been reported to be involved in gastrolith mineralization, the occurrence and role of proteoglycans have not been fully documented. We have immunologically analyzed the proteoglycans in gastrolith matrix extracts and histological cross-sections of the gastrolith, and the forming epithelium during premolt and postmolt stages. The results indicate that gastroliths contain proteoglycans that have dermatan-, chondroitin-4- and 6-, and keratan sulfate glycosaminoglycans. These macromolecules are closely associated with the mineral phase of the gastrolith and are easily removed by decalcification procedures. There is also evidence to indicate that epithelial secretion of some of these molecules is temporally regulated during the molting cycle. However, the precise role of these macromolecules in the calcification and stabilization of the amorphous calcium carbonate phase of the gastrolith remains to be established.


Skeletal muscle mass, architecture and force-generating capacity are well known to scale with body size in animals, both throughout ontogeny and across species. Investigations of limb muscle scaling in terrestrial amniotes typically focus on individual muscles within select clades, but here this question was examined at the level of the whole limb across amniotes generally. In particular, the present study explored how muscle mass, force-generating capacity (measured by physiological cross-sectional area) and internal architecture (fascicle length) scales in the fore- and hindlimbs of extant mammals, non-avian saurians ('reptiles') and bipeds (birds and humans). Sixty species spanning almost five orders of magnitude in body mass were investigated, comprising previously published architectural data and new data obtained via dissections of the opossum Didelphis virginiana and the tegu lizard Salvator merianae. Phylogenetic generalized least squares was used to determine allometric scaling slopes (exponents) and intercepts, to assess whether patterns previously reported for individual muscles or functional groups were retained at the level of the whole limb, and to test whether mammals, reptiles and bipeds followed different allometric trajectories. In general, patterns of scaling observed in individual muscles were also observed in the whole limb. Reptiles generally have proportionately lower muscle mass and force-generating capacity compared to mammals, especially at larger body size, and bipeds exhibit strong to extreme positive allometry in the distal hindlimb. Remarkably, when muscle mass was accounted for in analyses of muscle force-generating capacity, reptiles, mammals and bipeds almost ubiquitously followed a single common scaling pattern, implying that differences in whole-limb force-generating capacity are principally driven by differences in muscle mass, not internal architecture. In addition to providing a novel perspective on skeletal muscle allometry in animals, the new dataset assembled was used to generate pan-amniote statistical relationships that can be used to predict muscle mass or force-generating capacity in extinct amniotes, helping to inform future reconstructions of musculoskeletal function in the fossil record.


Endothelial cells (EC) in culture produce a procoagulant identified as thromboplastin when stimulated with 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate, phytohemagglutinin, endotoxin, thrombin, histamine or epinephrine. Inducible thromboplastin generation most likely depends on de novo synthesis of RNA and the protein component of thromboplastin, apoprotein III. It is further probably regulated by intracellular mechanisms involving cAMP, transmethylation and calcium ions. The EC thromboplastin response is enhanced in lymphocyte-EC and platelet-EC cocultures and thromboplastin becomes partly available on the cell surface. Levels of procoagulant activity are reached which clearly may be of clinical importance if similar levels appear in vivo.


Understanding the metabolic transformations of a potential drug molecule is important to understanding the safety profile of a drug candidate. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry is a standard method for detecting metabolites in the drug discovery stage, but this can lead to an incomplete understanding of the molecule's metabolism. In this manuscript, we highlight the role radiolabeling played in determining the metabolism and in quantifying the metabolites of AZD8529, AZD7325, and AZD6280. A quantitative whole body autoradiography study can detect covalent adducts in vivo as was the case with AZD5248 in which the compound bound to the aorta. Ultimately another compound free of aortic binding was developed, AZD7986.


The Geological Survey of Greenland has completed the first 3 years of a 5-year mapping campaign in the Scoresby Sund region which includes the southernmost Caledonian fold belt of East Greenland. The preliminary results show that it is possible to distinguish 4 main geologic units in the Caledonian fold belt. (1) A Precambrian crystalline basement with a cover of Precambrian metasediments and metavolcanics. These rocks are reworked by Caledonian folding to a varying degree. (2) A metamorphosed but nonmigmatized supracrustal complex composed of psammitic and pelitic rocks with occasional bands of calcareous rocks and totaling several kilometers in thickness. These rocks represent Caledonian geosynclinal deposits of miogeosynclinal aspect and are probably of very late Precambrian age. (3) A Caledonian infracrustal complex of mainly gneisses, migmatites and synkinematic granites. This unit is formed by migmatization of Caledonian geosynclinal deposits. (4) Late- to post-Caledonia intrusions, mainly of granitic type. Westward directed thrust-sheets with a displacement of several tens of kilometers are present along the western rim of the fold belt. They comprise largely Caledonian supracrustal rocks, but in places basement rocks are incorporated in the thrust sheets. The central part of the N-S directed fold belt is characterized by infracrustal rocks which exhibit simple low-dipping macroscopic structures, which in parts of the area can be shown to be the limbs of major recumbent folds. The Caledonian supracrustal rocks in the western part of the region were metamorphosed under high-pressure facies conditions and are characterized by kyanite-bearing rocks, whereas the central migmatitic part of the region was formed under low-pressure conditions and is characterized by cordierite-bearing assemblages. End_of_Article - Last_Page 2485------------


This article considers the effect that rules on the continuity of security interests and proceeds under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code will have on the negotiability (i.e., free alienability) of information assets, such as data and biotechnologies. The continuity of interest rules provide that a security interest will presumptively continue in collateral, even after disposition by the debtor. The proceeds rules provide that a security interest will automatically attach to, among other things, rights arising out of collateral, and to whatever is received upon the disposition of the collateral. Information assets, such as data and biotechnology assets, are often highly mobile, mutable and replicable. Thus, security interests in these assets will arise readily and will endure, even as these assets may travel through the chain of commerce, into the hands of good faith purchasers remote from the debtor and secured party that created the interest in the first place. This article calls the power to assert a security interest in assets at such a remove remote control. The article then considers arguments against remote secured party control under these circumstances. Among other things, remote secured party control presents challenges to historic understandings of the treatment of bona fide purchasers, and to doctrinal and theoretical approaches to property. This article concludes by suggesting that courts can mitigate the problem of remote control by relaxing the definition of property in this context. If data and biotechnology assets are property at all - a contested claim - it is not clear that they should be treated as such for the benefit of remote, prior secured parties in disputes with later bona fide purchasers.


What explains the shift from the moderate to high inflation rates of the Golden Age of post-war capitalism to the low inflation regime of monetarism in the 1970s and 1980s? Conventional views emphasise the rise of monetarism as a new economic paradigm that convinced policy makers to delegate monetary policy to conservative and independent central banks – a view that comes in many variants, from constructivist to orthodox economics. In contrast to these arguments, we introduce electoral and party politics into the debate. This paper models and examines the shifts in the inflationary preferences of the median voter and their translation into party politics and economic policies. As the median voter accumulates nominal assets against a background of de facto and de jure increasing job security and rising wages, her preferences on macro-economic policies shift from concerns about employment-friendly to inflation-averse policies. Social democratic parties, who are pivotal players in this regard because of their 'natural' preference for high employment over low inflation, are thus forced to adopt antiinflation policies as well to remain electorally viable. We show that the employment situation of the average worker improved in every respect during the 1960s and 1970s, that most of the population became inflation averse during the 1970s and 1980s, and that social democratic parties were forced to adopt more economically orthodox party manifestos. We then analyse the shift to a low inflation regime in a series of country case studies.


A model-based method was developed to quantify pancreatic beta-cell responsiveness during a meal tolerance test (MTT). C peptide secretion was related in a linear fashion to glucose concentration, whereas the standard population model was used to derive transfer rate constants of the two compartmental model of C peptide kinetics. Two indexes of pancreatic beta-cell responsiveness were defined: 1) postprandial sensitivity M(I) (ability of postprandial glucose to stimulate beta-cell), and 2) basal sensitivity M0 (ability of fasting glucose to stimulate beta-cell). The method was evaluated using plasma glucose and C peptide measured over 180 min with a 10- to 30-min sampling interval during a MTT (75 g carbohydrates; 500 Cal) performed in 16 normal subjects (7 men and 9 women; age, 50 +/- 10 yr; body mass index, 29.2 +/- 3.6 kg/m2; fasting plasma glucose, 5.1 +/- 0.5 mmol/L; mean +/- SD) and 16 body mass index-matched subjects with newly diagnosed noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM; 15 men and 1 woman; age, 50 +/- 9 yr; body mass index, 29.3 +/- 3.7 kg/m2; fasting plasma glucose, 12.6 +/- 3.2 mmol/L). M(I) and M0 indexes were estimated with very good precision (coefficient of variation, < 15%). Subjects with NIDDM demonstrated lower postprandial sensitivity M(I) (17.7 +/- 11.4 vs. 90.0 +/- 43.3 x 10(-9)/min; NIDDM vs. normal, P < 0.001) and basal sensitivity M0 (5.4 +/- 2.2 vs. 10.3 +/- 4.9 x 10(-9)/min; P < 0.005). Deconvolution analysis documented that the relationship between C peptide secretion and glucose concentration is approximately linear during MTT in both normal subjects (plasma glucose range, 5-8 mmol/L) and subjects with NIDDM (12-17 mmol/L). We conclude that pancreatic responsiveness during glucose stimulation (M(I)) and under basal conditions (M0) can be obtained from this novel method during MTT in healthy and disease states.


Abstract : Santa Muerte, once practiced by a small minority of Mesoamericans, has now gain significant popularity among the dispossessed and narco-cultures of Mexican heritage. This syncretic religion that may be promoting instability and empowering Mexico's narco-cultures has many fearing for their lives. Santa Muerte has demonstrated a disregard for human rights, it threatens Mexico's national security, and it recognizes no boundaries against malevolent acts of violence. Citizens throughout Mexico, the U.S., and parts of Argentina have already witnessed the carnage left behind by the criminal minded and dispossessed who praise Santa Muerte for personal gain and protection. In the U.S., the narco-threat and its religious affiliation to Santa Muerte are real and although the problem is not nearly as severe as Mexico's current state, the crime in the U.S. seems to be rising gradually. Citizens in both the U.S. and Mexico, to include the Mexican government, agree that Santa Muerte is in and of itself a religion incompatible to good order and discipline. Its ideologies and esoteric practices in its absolute essence evidently promotes a society of lawbreakers.


Many services can be self-provided. An individual user or a user firm can, for example, choose to do its own accounting - choose to self-provide that service - instead of hiring an accounting firm to provide it. Since users can 'serve themselves' in many cases, it is reasonable to suspect that they can also innovate with respect to the services they self-provide - possibly without the assistance of service providers. In this paper, we conduct the first quantitative exploration of the importance of services innovation by users, focusing on the field of commercial and retail banking services. We find that 55% of today's computerized commercial banking services were first developed and implemented by non-bank firms for their own use, and 44% of today's computerized retail banking services were first developed and implemented by individual service users rather than by commercial financial service providers. Manual precursors to these services - manual procedures that carried out functions similar to computerized services in our sample - were almost always developed by users as self-services. Our empirical findings differ significantly from prevalent producer-centered views of service development. We speculate that the patterns we have observed in banking with respect to the major role of users in service development will prove to be quite general. If so, this will be an important matter: on the order of 75% of GDP in advanced economies today is derived from services. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice in service development.


Basidiomes of Alnicola subconspersa (Kuhner ex P.D. Orton) Bon, Amanita pachyvolvata (Bon) Krieglst., Cortinarius azureus Fr., Cortinarius vernus H. Lindstr. And Melot, Melanogaster variegatus (Vittad.) Tul. And C. Tul., Paxillus ammoniavirescens Contu and DessA¬, and Paxillus cuprinus P. Jargeat, H. Gryta, J.P. Chaumeton and A. Vizzini were reported for the first time for the Turkish mycota from Trabzon. Plant species, possible mycorrhizal relationships, and superficial morphologic structures were noted and photos were taken in situ in the collection area. The samples were brought to the laboratory and dried for future microscopic studies. Basidiospores, cystidia, basidia, marginal cells, and pileipellis of the specimens were observed and measured. Identifications were made according to the data obtained from the collection site, morphological studies, and the current literature. Images, descriptions, and a brief discussion about the new records are provided.


A 55-year-old male was referred to our hospital for abdominal examination and was diagnosed as Crawford type III thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm by computed tomography (CT). Reconstruction of visceral vessels was performed using a Gealweave Coselli Thoracoabdominal Graft, which is currently clinically available. This vascular prosthesis, which is prefabricated 4 branches, requires no intraoperative preparation of the side branches, and the risk of postoperative recurrent aneurysm may be reduced following individual reconstruction of all 4 visceral vessels because of limited remaining aneurismal wall. Therefore, this graft is expected to be useful for this procedure.


The role of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in LEC rats were investigated at various phases of liver diseases by the detection of HGF expression, using ELISA assay, mRNA analysis and immunohistochemistry. Levels of plasma HGF increase in the fulminant hepatitis phase, decreased during chronic/cholangiofibrosis phase, and in some LEC rats, high levels of HGF were observed in hepatoma phase. HGF mRNA level in the liver was very high in fulminant hepatitis phase and low in chronic hepatitis phase. In hepatoma phase, HGF mRNA level was intermediate or high in the liver. In fulminant hepatitis phase, HGF mRNA level in the lung was slightly increased, while it was almost stable in the kidney in all the conditions studied. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that the frequency of HGF positive cells increased remarkably in fulminant hepatitis phase, and that many of them were located at the portal triads. Fewer HGF-positive cells were found in chronic hepatitis phase and were not found in the tissue of cholangiofibrosis. HGF was found in the surface of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and in the cytoplasm of the non-epithelial cells in cancerous liver tissues. HGF-positive cells appeared 24h after partial hepatectomy, diffusely, and HGF mRNA increased earlier in the kidney and lung than in the liver. Moreover, HGF mRNA level was higher in the lung than in the liver. These results suggest that in the natural course of spontaneous hepatitis and hepatoma in LEC rats, HGF is expressed mainly in the liver and that HGF may play an important role in the regeneration of hepatocytes in a paracrine manner. In contrast, after partial hepatectomy, HGF produced in the lung may be effective for liver regeneration in an endocrine manner.


Today, the amount of raw data available is abundant. As only a small part of this data is in a form fit for further processing, there is many data left to analyze and process. At the same time, cloud services are ubiquitous and allow even small businesses to perform large tasks of distributed data processing without the significant costs required for a suitable computational infrastructure. However, as more and more users transfer their data into the cloud for processing and storage, concerns about data security arise. An extensive review of data security research in today's cloud solutions confirms these concerns to be justified. The existing strategies for securing one's data are not adequate for many use cases. Therefore, this work proposes a holistic security concept for distributed data processing in the cloud. For the purpose of providing security in heterogeneous cloud environments, it statically analyzes a data flow prior to execution and determines the optimal security measurements. Without imposing strict requirements on the cloud services involved, it can be deployed in a broad range of scenarios. The concept's generic design can be adopted by existing data processing tools. An exemplary implementation is provided for the mashup tool FlexMash. Requirements, such as data confidentiality, integrity, access control, and scalability were evaluated to be met.


This dissertation explores how people maintain, change, make, and remake their relations with certain places in a long process of displacement. Based on the life experiences of the reservoir relocatees who live in or pass through Xingang, the major pier of Xinfengjiang Reservoir in south China, it offers a historical and ethnographic description of how the displaced people make place in Xingang, which has been closely linked to the ever-changing politics of water in recent decades: from dam construction to water transportation, to eco-tourism, and to water supply schemes.This dissertation suggests that questions on memory and movement are central in understanding place-making in Xingang. By portraying the various strategies the reservoir relocatees play with memory and movement, in their effort to make place under constraints and exclusions in a continuous process of displacement, I argue that by keeping distance of both the past (submerged memory) and fixed relations (fluid community), they gain flexibility and power to respond to the ever-changing state ideology.In addition, this dissertation examines how social relations and identities at various intersecting levels are influenced by displacement with a particular angle of the mobility of people under the reality of rural-urban division in post-reform China, and calls for a new direction in Chinese studies to focus on the places in between: those that are not urban nor rural, but awkwardly both.


We compute the second-order matching conditions for tensor metric perturbations at an abrupt change in the equation of state. For adiabatic perturbations on large scales the matching hypersurface coincides with a uniform-density hypersurface. We show that in the uniform-density gauge both the tensor perturbation and its time-derivative are continuous in this case. For nonadiabatic perturbations, the matching hypersurface need not coincide with a uniform-density hypersurface, and the tensor perturbation in the uniform-density gauge may be discontinuous. However, we show that in the Poisson gauge both the tensor perturbation and its time derivative are continuous for adiabatic or nonadiabatic perturbations. As an application we solve the evolution equation for second-order tensor perturbations on large scales for a constant equation of state, and we use the matching conditions to evolve the solutions through the transition from an inflationary era to a radiation era. We show that in the radiation era the resulting free part of the large-scale tensor perturbation (constant mode) is slow-roll suppressed in both the uniform-density and Poisson gauges. Thus, we conclude that second-order gravitational waves from slow-roll inflation are suppressed.


Dialkylzincs couple with 4-acetoxy-6-alkyl-1,3-dioxanes in the presence of trimethylsilyl triflate (TMSOTf) to form trans-4,6-dialkyl-1,3-dioxanes with excellent diastereoselectivities. These dioxanes could be deprotected to yield anti-1,3-diols. A variety of functional groups are tolerated in the dialkylzinc, although silyl and benzyl ethers led to diminished diastereoselectivities. Substituents at the C5-position of the dioxane ring have little effect on the selectivity, while small C2 (acetal) substituents led to slightly reduced diastereoselectivity. These couplings work best with cyclic acetals, which can be difficult to hydrolyze. The 4-(benzyloxy)butanal (BOB) acetal has been developed as a new cyclic acetal protecting group that is compatible with dialkylzinc coupling reactions. BOB protecting groups are easily removed by catalytic hydrogenation followed by mild acid hydrolysis.


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

Epratuzumab (hLL2), a humanized anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody, is currently in advanced trials in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. As a single agent, hLL2 is well tolerated and depletes 30 to 50% of circulating B cells in patients with NHL and SLE. The mechanisms by which hLL2 depletes B cells in vivo is still largely unknown and continues to be a subject of current research interest. In vitro, hLL2 shows moderate antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, but no detectable complement-dependent toxicity, and displays cytotoxicity to CD22-expressing cells, for example, Ramos and Daudi human Burkitt lymphomas, only when immobilized onto plastic plates or in combination with a suboptimal amount (1 μg/mL) of anti-IgM plus a crosslinking secondary antibody. We have previously reported that hLL2, despite a lack of direct cytotoxicity, is effective in inducing the phosphorylation of CD22, translocation of CD22 to lipid rafts, and internalization of CD22. In this study, we evaluated the various effects of immobilized hLL2 on D(1-1), a subclone of Daudi selected for a higher expression of membrane IgM (mIgM). Our findings demonstrate for the first time that many of the intracellular events induced by binding CD22 to immobilized hLL2 were similar to those induced by binding mIgM with a sufficient high concentration (10 μg/mL) of anti-IgM; for example, both were found to induce phosphorylation of CD22, CD79a and CD79b, and the translocation of all three into the lipid rafts, which is critical for the observed cytotoxicity. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed CD22 colocalized with BCR and formed caps before being internalized. Like anti-IgM, immobilized hLL2 induced substantial apoptosis (25 to 40%) in D(1-1), which was caspase-dependent, accompanied by a pronounced increase in both pERKs and pJNKs with a concurrent decrease in the constitutively-activated p38, and preventable by inhibitors to JNKs or caspases. The involvement of mitochondria in the apoptotic pathway was evidenced by changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and generation of reactive oxygen species, as well as upregulation of Bax (pro-apoptotic) and downregulation of Bcl-xl, Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 (anti-apoptotic). Further studies are underway to elucidate how hLL2 interferes with B-cell survival in vivo.

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 2523. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2523


This review examines recent patents and research articles in autothermal reforming (ATR) of fossil fuels like gasoline, diesel, JP-8 along with renewable fuels such as methanol, ethanol, glycerol, butanol, bio-oils and biodiesel into H gas. The focus of the research was the recent developments in terms of ATR reformer design, ATR fuel processors, reformer start up, and reforming catalysts to determine the opportunities for RD several catalytic studies based on various noble and non-precious metals like Rh and Ni are available, restricting new investigations. In contrast, H production from bio feedstock like bio-oils, biodie-sel, ethanol, and butanol are very recent and offer considerable room for further investigation.


The basic purpose of this study is to determine the effect sizes of teachers' perception and opinions about mobbing experienced by teachers in schools in accordance with different tenures of office. 17 studies deemed meeting the inclusion criteria were chosen from 42 MA and PhD theses and dissertations in Council of Higher Education National Thesis Archive about mobbing experienced by teachers in schools in Turkey to be used in this study. Total number of samples in this study is 5790. In addition, several variables such as school type, educational level, researcher's sex, the region used for the research and publication year that have not been included in the evaluation as a moderator in primary researches were analyzed. In accordance with the results of this study, based on the tenure of office variable, an effect size with statistical significance and of no statistical importance was determined on the part of teachers who have 11 and more years of service according to fixed effect model (d = -0.006) and on the part of teachers who have 1-10 years of service according to random effect model (d = 0.008). In the consequence of the moderator analysis conducted, the region where the study was conducted ( p = .85), the school type ( p = .59), educational level ( p = .52) and the researcher's sex ( p = .13) were each determined not to be a moderator. In addition, an upward trend was observed in the differences among teachers' periods of service by years in terms of effect sizes. As a result, not using the tenure of office as an independent moderator for the studies on mobbing faced by teachers may be recommended.


IF ACCURATE statistics were available, they would undoubtedly reveal that acute or chronic maxillary sinusitis—and this should apply to infections in the other sinuses as well—is less frequently encountered at present by specialists in rhinology than it was prior to the advent of the sulfonamides and the antibiotics. This decrease seems to be most marked in the incidence of maxillary sinusitis, in which the initial cause is purely one of infection with pyogenic organisms. It is part of the improved control of respiratory tract infections in general. The severe upper respiratory tract infections accompanying the exanthemata, particularly scarlet fever and measles, or the generalized purely respiratory infections complicated by pneumonic suppuration are now less frequently encountered. These often left a sinus suppuration in their wake. The ethmoids and the antra were the sinuses that were most frequently involved. This decrease is less marked in the instances of maxillary sinusitis in


Targeted therapy and immunotherapy in metastatic melanoma have led to a marked improvement in patients' survival and their quality of life. Although there are data on anti-programmed-death-receptor-1 (anti-PD1) after ipilimumab, only few data are available on ipilimumab following anti-PD1 as the first-line treatment. The aim of our study was to evaluate tolerance and survival of patients treated with ipilimumab as the second-line immunotherapy among metastatic melanoma patients following anti-PD1 treatment. Retrospective and descriptive epidemiological studies were carried out at the Dermatology Department of the University Hospital of Lille. We describe a case series of patients treated with ipilimumab after anti-PD1 failure for metastatic melanomas. For each patient, we assessed disease extension since ipilimumab introduction using RECIST 1.1. The time between ipilimumab introduction and other systemic treatment and overall survival (between ipilimumab introduction and last patient visit) was assessed. The effect of ipilimumab after anti-PD1 treatment was evaluated in eight patients. Four patients responded to ipilimumab: three showed a complete response and one showed a partial response. For these patients, the time period between the first ipilimumab injection and another systemic treatment ranged from 209 to 391 days and the overall survival ranged from 314 to 581 days. One patient showed grade 3 chorioretinitis, an unusual toxicity with ipilimumab or anti-PD1 to our knowledge. We have described the efficacy of ipilimumab following anti-PD1 in metastatic melanoma in eight patients. Several comparative studies are still in progress, and their results will be important to develop an optimal therapeutic strategy for our patients.


Abstract It has been argued that culture significantly influences the developmental basis of self-concept. The goal of the present study is to compare the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors to explain individual differences in various dimensions of self-concept in female preadoles- cents of Minnesota in the United States and Seoul in South Korea. Two hundred and eighteen monozygotic (MZ) and 137 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs from the Minnesota Twin Family Study (MTFS) and 74 MZ and 42 DZ twin pairs from the Seoul Twin Family Study (STFS) completed the 6 cluster scales of the Piers–Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (P–H). The 6 cluster scales of the P-H include Popularity, Physical Appearance and Attributes, Behavior, Intellectual Competence and School Status, Anxiety, and Happiness and Satisfaction. Univariate model- fitting analyses were performed. In both samples, a model incorporating shared and nonshared environmental influences fitted the data best for Popularity, Anxiety, and Intellectual Competence and School Status, whereas a model including additive genetic and nonshared environmental factors provided the best fit for Physical Appearance and Attributes, and Behavior. The univariate model did not yield an adequate fit for Happiness and Satisfaction. For Physical Appearance and Attributes, and Intellectual Competence and School Status, estimates of additive genetic and environmental factors were significantly different between the MTFS and the STFS samples. For Popularity, Anxiety, and Behavior, however, the genetic and environmental estimates were comparable between the two samples.


Background:  The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of surgical treatment and outcome for mediastinal masses Methods:   The retrospective study was done analyzing clinical record of 520 cases of mediastinal mass that underwent resectional surgery at Thoracic Surgery Department, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar from June 2002 to December 2014. Apart from routine investigations all patient had CT thorax done. Results:  Male: female ratio was 336:184. Age ranged from 9 days to 72 years with a median age of 33.6 years. The predominant clinical presentation was chest pain 231 (44%); dyspnea in 142 (27.3%) SVC syndrome in 90 (17%) cases, Dysphagia in 32 (6.1%) and Myasthenia gravis in 25 (4.8%) cases. Surgical approaches were anterolateral Thoracotomy in 34.6% (n=180) cases, posterolateral Thoracotomy in 35% (n=182), Median Sternotomy in 21% (n=110) and cervical incision and partial Sternotomy in 9.2% (n=48) cases. The histological diagnosis of the excised Lesions were Retrosternal goiters in 27% (n=141) cases, Thymoma in 11.9% (n=62), Dermoid cyst 11.9% (n=62), teratodermoid 10.5% (n 55), Entrogenic cyst 9% (n=47) Neurofibroma 9.2% (n=48), Neurogenic cyst 5.1% (n=27), Pleuropericardial cyst 3.2% (n=17), Thymic cyst 6.7% (n=35), Bronchogenic cyst 5% (n=26). Mortality was 3.6% and morbidity was 6.34% i.e. wound infection 17, hemorrhage 7, airleak 6 and hoarsness 3. Conclusion:  Surgery is the management of choice for patients with mediastinal lesions. It allows for establishing histologic diagnosis; alleviating symptoms and prevention of complications; with low operating risks. Mediastinal pathology is best dealt surgically in a properly equipped and staffed cardiothoracic unit.


Many prior researches found that most of students in grade five tended to have difficulty in fully grasping the concept of volume measurement because they have to build their competence in spatial structuring. The unit of volume packing measurement must be integrated and coordinated in three-dimension. On the other hand, it is revealed the errors that students made on the volume measurement tasks with three dimensional cube arrays are related to some aspects of spatial visualization, such as the skill to "read off" two-dimensional representation of solid objects. For those reasons, this research is aimed to develop classroom activities with the use of spatial visualization tasks to support students' spatial structuring in learning volume measurement. Consequently, design research was chosen as an appropriate means to achieve this research goal. In this research, a sequence of instructional activities is designed and developed based on the hypothesis of students' learning processes. This research was conducted in grade 5 of SD Pupuk Sriwijaya Palembang, Indonesia. Keywords : volume measurement, spatial structuring, spatial visualization, design research.


This article communication is devoted to such type of computer databases as legal reference systems. The issues of history of the beginning and development of these databases are viewed, information and regulatory value of such systems at the present stage of theirdevelopment is defined.


Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) can cause several extrapulmonary manifestations, most frequently dermatological ones. It is largely unknown whether Mp genotype determines Mp-induced cutaneous disease. The aim of our study was to assess the association between Mp genotype and this clinical outcome. We performed a retrospective study of children referred with signs of acute Mp infection from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014. We compared the characteristics of children presenting as cutaneous disease, upper (URTI) and lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). In addition, we separately analyzed the data of patients presenting with Mp-induced cutaneous disease. We evaluated data from 435 patients (mean age 7.3 years, SD 3.4 years; 52.0% boys) who had Mp PCR-positive pharyngeal swab, P1 genotype and/or multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) genotype defined and no viral co-detection, presenting as cutaneous disease (38/435), URTI (46/435) or LRTI (351/435). The majority of patients had urticarial (55%, 21/38) or maculopapular eruptions (37%, 14/38). We found no association between Mp genotype and clinical outcome of cutaneous disease, nor any specific dermatological presentation. In the group with cutaneous disease, 18% (7/38) required hospital admission because of rash. We found that infection with MLVA-3,6,6,2 strains was more common in admitted patients than in outpatients (40% vs. 4%, p = 0.017) and significantly affected the likelihood of hospital admission in a logistic regression model. The results of our cohort study suggest that Mp genotype does not determine Mp-induced cutaneous disease or a specific dermatological presentation. Nevertheless, infections with certain MLVA strains could induce more severe cutaneous disease requiring hospitalization.


Until recently, diagnostic imaging systems have remained stable with familiar modes to be measured. Emerging technologies are changing the measurement landscape rapidly. New developments are reviewed as well as those in research to examine the possible measurement challenges of the future. Improved focusing and steering are available with 1.5 D, multiple subaperture arrays, fully populated and sparse 2D arrays, and CMUT arrays. Encoded excitation pulses provide unique consideration. High frequency and special purpose arrays stretch the present limits of measurement bandwidth and resolution. Special auxiliary pulses and pulse sequences are being proposed for controlling, manipulating and destroying contrast agents and specially formulated therapeutic contrast agents. Improved harmonic imaging can involve multiple phased pulses as well as types of encoding. Active tissue characterization methods may include a means for tissue deformation as well as aberration correction. Imaging systems are undergoing a dramatic revolution in terms of their architecture, complexity, miniaturization and the role of software in image formation. These developments will be examined in terms of field distribution, pressure levels, pulse sequencing, waveforms and measurement