The theory of mind account of autism suggests that the key social, communicative and imaginative impairments which characterise this disorder result from an inability to represent mental states. While this account has been largely confirmed by experimental work, there has, as yet, been little examination of autistic children's theory of mind outside the laboratory. The present study used the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales to measure real life social adaptation, through the report of care-givers. In particular, we were interested to find out more about the real life competence of those few autistic subjects who do pass tests of theory of mind. Autistic, mentally handicapped and normally developing children were tested with two standard theory of mind tasks. Groups of subjects who passed or failed these tasks were contrasted. We supplemented the Vineland Scales with items designed to distinguish social behaviour which necessitates theory of mind (termed Interactive) and social behaviour which could be learned (Active). We also asked about maladaptive behaviour of two sorts: Bizarre behaviour typical of autism, and Antisocial behaviour at least some of which would appear to require consideration of beliefs (e.g. deception). We found that the normally developing and mentally handicapped children showed a great deal of evidence of "mind-reading" in their everyday lives, regardless of theory of mind task performance. By contrast, in the autistic group, only those individuals who passed the false belief tasks showed insightful Interactive and Antisocial behaviour. These passers also had better verbal and communication abilities. The autistic subjects who failed the laboratory tasks showed little or no evidence of understanding mental states in their everyday lives, but many did show a high degree of simple Active sociability. Closer analysis showed that only some of the passers showed good evidence of theory of mind in their real life behaviour, and that even these were somewhat impaired relative to their age and developmental level. Implications for the theory of mind account of autism are discussed.


Abstract
While balanced scorecards, strategy maps, and causal linkage models have been applied extensively by profit organizations over the last two decades, a similar approach to analysis, called logic models, has been increasingly applied by non-profit and other social-purpose organizations. This chapter provides a discussion of the basics of logic models and shows their application in three different settings, which include personal improvement, the social impact of business schools, and corporate governance. The chapter also provides an extensive discussion on field research and a case study of a leading international business school, wherein logic models were applied followed by social impact measurement. Finally, the chapter includes suggestions for future research that is needed to improve the applications of logic models and social impact measurement and the success of social-purpose organizations including business schools.


The 17β‐estradiol (E2) action mechanism for inducing target gene expression can be attributed to both the direct binding of its receptor (ER) to specific sequences, the estrogen response element (ERE), and to the interaction between ER and other DNA‐binding transcription factors. At the present meagre information is available for the role played by the rapid hormone action mechanism(s) (i.e., activation of ERK, PI(3)K, PKC‐α) in modulating E2‐induced gene promoter activity. Here the involvement of the rapid non genomic mechanism in triggering the transcriptional activity of two E2‐regulated target genes in human hepatoma HepG2 cells has been studied, taking into consideration the cyclin D1 (ERE‐devoid) and the complement protein 3 (ERE‐containing) promoter‐luciferase report constructs. The results indicate that the activation of the ERK pathway is essential for the E2‐induced activity of both promoters, whereas the other rapid E2‐induced membrane‐starting signal transduction pathways (i.e., PI(3)K and PKC‐α) were differently required. These results permit the amplification of the E2 action mechanism by the addition of synergy between the non genomic and genomic molecular actions of the E2‐induced gene transcription. IUBMB Life, 55: 145‐150, 2003


OBJECTIVE
Using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) from 2010-2012 for identifying leptospirosis-related and sociodemographic variables in patients having a confirmed diagnosis of dengue and those for whom it had been discarded.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This was a retrospective study of 238 sera samples. 106 patients died, 64 of their samples were negative for dengue and 42 proved positive. 132 samples from live patients proved positive for dengue; 29 were confirmed by PCR and/or virus isolation and 103 had positive IgM readings. MAT was used for all sera and diagnosing Leptospira, epidemiological records were reviewed and the data was analysed.

RESULTS
42 dengue positive patients died; 3 (7%) were positive for Leptospira interrogans sero group Australis autumnalis (two girls aged 5 and 17 years-old and a 14 year-old boy). Of the 64 deceased patients who proved negative for dengue, 7 (11%) were found positive for L.interrogans from sero groups Pomona, Autumnalis, Canicola and Ballum (5 males aged 8 to 58 years-old and 2 women aged 35 and 56 years-old). Of the 103 living patients who proved positive for dengue IgM, 3 (2.9%) were positive for Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae from the Cynopteri, Javanica Proechimys and Autumnalis sero groups(1 male and 2 females). None of the 29 living patients confirmed as having dengue were positive for Leptospira.

CONCLUSIONS
Leptospirosis should be suspected not only as the sole causative agent of febrile syndrome but also of co-infection which could compromise a patient and be related to mortality.


Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an inherited disorder of elastic tissue. Here we report a 34-year-old male patient who developed multiple symptomless yellowish papules over his neck for several months. He visited our dermatologic out-patient-clinic because his sister had similar skin lesions and mild visual impairment. The pathologic features of the skin biopsy showed fragmented calcified elastic fibers in the mid-to-lower dermis under the H&E, Verhoeff-van Gieson and Von Kossa stains. Under electron microscopy, calcified degenerated elastic fibers were noted. No other internal organ involvement was found except angioid streaks on the fundus. In addition, morphological changes of the nailfold capillaries, including increased tortuosity, dilated venous limbs of capillary loops, and decreased red-blood-cell velocity, were observed under the capillaroscopy. Though former reports have indicated that cardiovascular manifestations are caused by degeneration of elastic fibers of blood vessels, this study is the first to emphasize the microcirculatory disturbance of nailfold capillary, including morphology and blood-cell velocity, in PXE.


dUTP pyrophosphatase (dUTPase) is a dNTP‐sanitizing enzyme that prevents the appearance of potentially harmful uracil bases in DNA by hydrolyzing cellular dUTP. This function of dUTPase is found to be essential in many organisms including Drosophila melanogaster. Previously, we showed that the expression pattern of dUTPase determines the extent of uracil accumulation in the genome of different tissues. We wished to find the regulatory mechanism that eventually leaves a set of tissues with a uracil‐free and intact genome. We found that the expression pattern established by the promoter of Drosophila dUTPase overlaps with mRNA and protein expression, excluding the involvement of other post‐transcriptional contributions. This promoter was found to be active in primordial tissues, such as in the imaginal discs of larvae, in the larval brain and in reproductive organs. In the case of brain and imaginal tissues, we observed that the promoter activity depends on a DNA replication‐related element motif, the docking site of DNA replication‐related element binding factor, which is known as a transcriptional activator of genes involved in replication and proliferation. These results suggest that dUTPase expression is fine‐tuned to meet the requirements of DNA synthesis in tissues where the maintenance of genome integrity is of high importance.


Gardner's syndrome is a rare syndrome with autosomal dominant inheritance composed of a group of colonic and extracolonic disorders. Colonic disorders include intestinal polyps mainly adenomas, and extracolonic disorders include desmoid tumors, epidermoid cysts, and osteomas. Here, we present a 13-year-old boy, who was confirmed with Gardner's syndrome; but, when we did physical examination, he revealed unusual extracolonic findings similar to that in Marfan syndrome, raising suspicion that the genetic mutation on the long arm of chromosome 5, which is responsible for Gardner's syndrome, may also lead to some marfanoid abnormalities. Patients with Gardner's syndrome may present at any age from early months of life up to late years. They have high probability of developing colonic cancer, because of colonic polyps that undergo malignant transformation, but, fortunately, colonic polyps show up late in life beyond other extracolonic disorders such as bone osteomas and desmoid tumors. This feature gives the chance for early diagnosis of patients with Gardner's syndrome and allows undergoing early prophylactic surgical resection of polyps before transformation into malignant tumors.


Workplace accidents are very unpredictable. Protection against these risks and hazards is of utmost importance in every profession. Clothing has always been considered one of the integral parts of personal protective equipment. The present study aims at manufacturing and evaluating protective clothing materials used by chemical workers. It was experimental. Two important resistance characteristics; chemical and fire were assessed against international performance standards. The results highlighted the fact that the right selection of construction parameters was able to make a safe fabric against such hazards. The resultant fabric was evaluated at various washing intervals and was found to be resistant to four selected chemicals through penetration and repellency index. It was also able to resist fire by passing the standard after flame and char length tests. Very little research work has been done in Pakistan regarding the manufacturing and physical assessment of clothing materials used by chemical workers. This study aimed to approach the target area where the protection and safety of the worker should be a priority.


Methylation of human papillomavirus (HPV) and host genes may predict cervical cancer risk. We examined the methylation status of selected sites in HPV16 and human genes in DNA extracted from exfoliated cervical cell samples of 244 women harboring HPV16‐positive cancer or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or negative for intraepithelial lesions or malignancy (NILM). We quantified the methylation of CpG sites in the HPV16 L1 gene (CpG 6367 and 6389) and in the human genes EPB41L3 (CpG 438, 427, 425) and LMX1 (CpG 260, 262, 266, 274) following bisulfite treatment and pyrosequencing. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to analyze the diagnostic utility of methylation level for the different sites and for a joint predictor score. Methylation in all sites significantly increased with lesion severity (p < 0.0001). Area under the curve (AUC) was highest among the CIN2/3 vs. cancer ranging from 0.786 to 0.853 among the different sites. Site‐specific methylation levels strongly discriminated CIN2/3 from NILM/CIN1 and cancer from CIN2/3 (range of odds ratios [OR]: 3.69–12.76, range of lower 95% confidence bounds: 1.03–4.01). When methylation levels were mutually adjusted for each other EPB41L3 was the only independent predictor of CIN2/3 vs. NILM/CIN1 contrasts (OR = 9.94, 95%CI: 2.46–40.27). High methylation levels of viral and host genes are common among precancerous and cancer lesions and can serve as independent risk biomarkers. Methylation of host genes LMX1 and EPB41L3 and of the viral HPV16 L1 sites has the potential to distinguish among precancerous lesions and to distinguish the latter from invasive disease.


Terentang wood (Campnosperma auriculata Hook.f) is relatively low in specific gravity (0.3), hence its utilization as pulp by chemi-mechanical is an alternative process. Energy consumption was reduced by applying lignin degrading fungi (Phanerochaete chrysosporium) as pretreatment in the chemi-mechanical process. This paper examines the effects of P. chrysosporium incubation periods into chemical components and energy refining consumption of terentang wood. Four percent of NaOH was used in the chemi-mechanical process, and incubation periods studied were 0 (control), 3, 4 and 5 weeks. Results showed that P. chrysosporium significantly affected the weight loss, chemical properties, and refining energy consumption of terentang wood pulping process. Wood chip weight loss was about 15.95-21.31% and alpha-cellulose raised up to 6.77%. Five weeks incubation time decreased lignin content up to 22.97% and saved the refining energy up to 22.7%.


In an effort to develop potent and selective antitumor agents, a series of 1,4-naphthoquinone oxime derivatives were designed and synthesized. The cytotoxicity of these compounds were evaluated against five human cancer cell lines (colorectal cancer cell: HCT-15, breast cancer cell: MDA-MB-231, liver cancer cell: BEL-7402, colorectal cancer cell: HCT-116 and ovarian cancer cell: A2780) in vitro. Among them, compound 14 was found to be the most potent cytotoxic compound against three cell lines (MDA-MB-231, BEL-7402 and A2780) with IC50 values of 0.66±0.05, 5.11±0.12 and 8.26±0.22 µM, respectively. Additionally, the length of the side chains and the position of the substituent may also affect the cytotoxic activity of the naphthoquinone oxime derivatives. In general, compound 14 effectively inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation and may become a promising anticancer agent.


Abstract: This paper applies the concept of fault tolerance to staircase layout plan. Fire or smoke may cause some staircases in a building inaccessible. We argue that architects should assess the result from the possible fault of vertical routes. The capability of tolerating staircase faults depends on space usage, arrangement, and pedestrian attributes. In this study, a mathematical model is constructed. For analysing pedestrian's movement in interior space, we employ Monte Carol simulation and Agent-Based Modelling method in a CAAD environment. It helps us to visualise the dynamic process of agent's evacuation process, and to test the problem of possible staircase faults. Finally, a case study brings some important discoveries.


Biophysically detailed mathematical models of cardiac electrophysiology provide an alternative to experimental approaches for investigating possible ionic mechanisms underlying the genesis of electrical action potentials and their propagation through the heart. The aim of this study was to develop a biophysically detailed mathematical model of the action potentials of mouse atrial myocytes, a popular experimental model for elucidating molecular and cellular mechanisms of arrhythmogenesis. Based on experimental data from isolated mouse atrial cardiomyocytes, a set of mathematical equations for describing the biophysical properties of membrane ion channel currents, intracellular Ca2+ handling, and Ca2+-calmodulin activated protein kinase II and β-adrenergic signaling pathways were developed. Wherever possible, membrane ion channel currents were modeled using Markov chain formalisms, allowing detailed representation of channel kinetics. The model also considered heterogeneous electrophysiological properties between the left and the right atrial cardiomyocytes. The developed model was validated by its ability to reproduce the characteristics of action potentials and Ca2+ transients, matching quantitatively to experimental data. Using the model, the functional roles of four K+ channel currents in atrial action potential were evaluated by channel block simulations, results of which were quantitatively in agreement with existent experimental data. To conclude, this newly developed model of mouse atrial cardiomyocytes provides a powerful tool for investigating possible ion channel mechanisms of atrial electrical activity at the cellular level and can be further used to investigate mechanisms underlying atrial arrhythmogenesis.


IntroductionMore than one billion of world population was adolescent age group. Adolescent are high risk of unwanted pregnancy related to pregnancy is preventable. This complication can be preventing by use of family planning method. One of the challenges to use family planning was lack of information about contraceptive.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to assess the impact of mass media on use of modern contraceptive among adolescent in Ethiopia, 2016 E.C.MethodsThis study conducted based on Ethiopia demographic and health survey 2016 data which was cross-sectional study design. EDHS adolescent married women sample size used was 588. The data were analyzed using propensity score matching and recursive biprobit probit model to determine impact and factor associated with mass media exposure on modern contraceptive utilization.ResultThe magnitude of modern contraceptive utilization among adolescent married women age group 15-19 years was 31.8 %. Expose to family planning message has 16.8%, 13.2%, 17% and 21.9% more likely to use modern contraceptive than unexposed to mass media message. In this study significant factor affect modern contraceptive use include exposure to mass media message family planning, residence, wealth index, exposed to TV message, radio message and magazine message.ConclusionsThis study shows magnitude of contraceptive utilization was low and it might be due to lack of information about family planning. Therefore policy maker and concerned body should consider mass media to integrate family planning program.


The loss of an infant through stillbirth, miscarriage, or neonatal death is recognized as a traumatic life event. Predictors of development of complicated grief after prenatal loss include lack of social support, pre-existing relationship difficulties, or absence of surviving children, as well as ambivalent attitudes or heightened perception of the reality of the pregnancy. Risk of complicated grief was found to be especially high after termination of a pregnancy due to fetal abnormality. Studies have revealed that men and women show different patterns of grief, potentially exacerbating decline in a relationship. Although it is clear that prenatal loss has a large psychological impact, it is concluded that there is a substantial lack of randomized controlled studies in this field of research,


In order to clarify the roles of three cysteines in ketosteroid isomerase (KSI) from Pseudomonas putida biotype B, each of the cysteine residues has been changed to a serine residue (C69S, C81S, and C97S) by site-directed mutagenesis. All cysteine mutations caused only a slight decrease in the k(cat) value, with no significant change of Km for the substrate. Even modification of the sulfhydryl group with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) has almost no effect on enzyme activity. These results demonstrate that none of the cysteines in the KSI from P. putida is critical for catalytic activity, contrary to the previous identification of a cysteine in an active-site-directed photoinactivation study of KSI. Based on the three-dimensional structures of KSIs with and without dienolate intermediate analog equilenin, as determined by X-ray crystallography at high resolution, Asp-103 was found to be located within the range of the hydrogen bond to the equilenin. To assess the role of Asp-103 in catalysis, Asp-103 has been replaced with either asparagine (D103N) or alanine (D103A) by site-directed mutagenesis. For D103A mutant KSI there was a significant decrease in the k(cat) value: the k(cat) of the mutant was 85-fold lower than that of the wild-type enzyme; however, for the D103N mutant, which retained some hydrogen bonding capability, there was a minor decrease in the k(cat) value. These findings support the idea that aspartic acid 103 in the active site is an essential catalytic residue involved in catalysis by hydrogen bonding to the dienolate intermediate.


Application Service Providers (ASPs) may obtain resources from a number of cloud service providers (CSPs) in an attempt to improve latency and minimize operational expenses (OpEx). The CSPs may use management and control platforms, such as Open Stack and EC2 and the network service providers (NSPs) may use network management platforms, such as, Open Daylight. However, today the ASPs do not have a common management and control platform that would present to them a converged view of all the cloud and network resources. OpenADN being developed at Washington University in Saint Louis aims to allow the ASPs dynamic and real time control of virtual resources across multiple clouds and networks to provide efficient application delivery. The OpenADN platform itself is a complex distributed and multi-threaded system. Performance evaluation and assessment of need for optimization of such a complex platform requires precise and fine-grained behavioral data. In this paper we establish the need for profiling OpenADN like platforms so that the ASPs can optimize its behavior and control their cost, performance (latency) and energy consumption.


AIM
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exhaustive exercise on the time course of arterial blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) during upright resting (inactive) and loadless pedaling (active) recovery from a bicycle exercise to exhaustion.

METHODS
The subjects were 11 healthy normotensive males. Systolic, diastolic and mean BP, and HR were recorded every 20 s for the initial 6 min of the recovery period.

RESULTS
The time course of all BP measures during inactive and active recovery was characterized by a marked and sudden drop during the initial 20-s period, followed by a quick rise. This was followed by a gradual decline till the end of the recovery period. The time course of HR recovery, on the other hand, exhibited a smooth decline without the initial drop. With active recovery, the initial drop of diastolic and mean BP was less than the inactive recovery. After the 20 s period, the diastolic BP and HR were kept slightly higher with the active recovery than the inactive recovery.

CONCLUSIONS
A sudden drop of the BP occurred at the initial recovery period of postcycle exercise to exhaustion though HR did not show such a change. The initial BP drop could be attenuated by the actively pedaling the cycle without load.


In the article the basic results of analysis of railway transport work are presented. The structure, activity of which is not enough effective, is determined. The innovative measure of conducting of restructuring the railway industry of Ukrzaliznytsia is suggested.


Using harmonized administrative data from Scandinavia, we find that intergenerational rank associations in income have increased uniformly across Sweden, Denmark, and Norway for cohorts born between 1951 and 1979. Splitting these trends by gender, we find that father-son mobility has been stable, while family correlations for mothers and daughters trend upwards. Similar patterns appear in US survey data, albeit with slightly different timing. Finally, based on evidence from records on occupations and educational attainments, we argue that the observed decline in intergenerational mobility is consistent with female skills becoming increasingly valued in the labor market.


Summary. Rusty Tinamou Crypturellus brevirostris is an elusive, ground-dwelling bird of terra firme forest. Although widespread across Amazonian Brazil, the Guiana Shield and extreme south-east Colombia, it is everywhere uncommon. Frequently, only its distinctive voice betrays its presence and therefore most contacts with this tinamou are auditory. Here, we analyse the vocalisations of Rusty Tinamou, a primary and secondary song, which may represent duetting between male and female of a mated pair. We also compare and discuss this vocal behaviour with duetting in other Crypturellus species.


Synaptotagmin-1 (syt-1) is known to trigger fusion of neuronal synaptic vesicles with the presynaptic membrane by recognizing acidic membrane lipids. In particular, binding to PI(4,5)P2 is believed to be crucial for its function as a calcium sensor. We propose a mechanism for syt-1 to interact with anionic bilayers and promote fusion in the presence of SNARE proteins. We found that in the absence of Ca2+ the binding of syt-1 to membranes depends on the PI(4,5)P2 content. Addition of Ca2+ switches the interaction forces from weak to strong eventually exceeding the cohesion of the C2A domain, while the interaction between PI(4,5)P2 and the C2B domain was preserved even in the absence of Ca2+ or phosphatidylserine. Fusion of large unilamellar vesicles equipped with syt-1 and synaptobrevin with free-standing target membranes composed of PS/PI(4,5)P2 show an increased fusion speed, and by effective suppression of stalled intermediate states, a larger number of full fusion events. Fusion efficiency could be maximized when irreversible docking is additionally prevented by addition of multivalent anions. The picture that emerges is that syt-1 remodels the membrane in the presence of calcium and PIP2, thereby substantially increasing the efficiency of membrane fusion by avoiding stalled intermediate states.


BACKGROUND
Nucleophosmin1 (NPM1) protein encoded from the NPM1 gene is a ubiquitously expressed nucleolar phoshoprotein which shuttles continuously between the nucleus and cytoplasm. NPM1 protein plays an important role in cell proliferation and apoptosis. NPM1 gene mutations at exon 12 represent the hallmark of a large sub-group of cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML) patients worldwide.

METHODS
Genomic DNA from 53 CN-AML patients were amplified by PCR and followed by fragment analysis of post-PCR products using GeneMapper software for detection of NPM1 mutations.

RESULTS
NPM1 exon 12 mutations were found are 15/53 CN-AML patients (28.3%) including 3 of M1, 3 of M2, 5 of M4, 3 of M5, and 1 of M6 FAB subtypes. The NPM1 mutation was significantly associated with lower relapse rate (p < 0.05). The complete remission (CR) rate was significantly higher in the patients with high NPM1 mutation load (> 50%) than low NPM1 mutation load (< 50%) (87.5% vs. 28.6%; p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS
The aim of this study was to evaluate the NPM1 gene exon 12 mutation in Egyptian patients with CN-AML and its relation to clinical characteristics and patient outcome and survival.


A new edition of the astronomical compilation MUL.APIN follows closely upon the recent publication of two sections of the large compendium of Babylonian astronomical omens known as Enūma Anu Enlil. The text of MUL.APIN likewise includes a section of astronomical omens, as well as a catalogue of stars, including the 'fixed' (ziqpu) stars, and information regarding the planets, heliacal risings, the path of the moon, calendrical intercalations, and a shadow table and water clock. This modern edition is clearly presented nd well-translated, and includes notes on both the philology and astronomy of the text.


Industrial IoT networks are typically used for monitoring systems and supporting control loops, as well as for movement detection systems, process control and factory automation. To this end, data generated by monitoring IoT devices are collected, elaborated and sent to controllers and actuators. The routing of data from IoT sensors to actuators is an integral part of any large-scale industrial network for maintaining critical delay requirements. Centralised schemes are typically used, whereby data are transferred to a central network controller, from where they are accessed by any other node requiring them. This may result in significant overheads and suboptimal resource consumption. In this paper, we propose a distributed, cooperative Data Management Layer (DML), whereby nodes cooperate to store data within the network. The DML is decoupled yet interacts with the underlying Network Plane. Specifically, given a set of data, the sets of nodes generating and requesting them, and a maximum access delay that requesting nodes can tolerate, the DML efficiently identifies a limited set of proxies in the network where data are stored. Given the mentioned constraints, we investigate the (computationally difficult) problem of finding which network nodes to select as proxies and we propose a simple method to address it. We demonstrate that the proposed method (i) guarantees that access delay stays below the given threshold, and (ii) significantly outperforms centralised and even distributed approaches, both in terms of access latency and in terms of maximum latency guarantees.


A LoWPAN is a communication network that allows wireless connectivity in varies applications due to its unique advantages. LoWPANs can be benefit from IP and thus IPv6 networking formed. The combination of IP over LoWPAN is 6lowpan (IPv6 over low power wireless personal area networks). IP in WSNs can eliminate the need of translation gateway and other similar devices used in current WSNs. It allows direct access of a commercial PDA running J2ME application to monitor data. Low-power wireless personal area networks (LoWPANs) conform to the IEEE 802.15.4-2003 standard. In this paper we propose prototype for global homecare monitoring system and design MAC for patient data. Results show the performance biomedical data delivery to the gateway. The patient freely moves inside to his personal home area and doctor can continuously monitor to his patient's signal. The biomedical ECG signals are transmitted to 6lowpan and then routed to the gateway internet using routing protocols.


In this paper, two co-channel diversity schemes are proposed to improve the reception quality for the users in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based cellular system with one-cell frequency reuse. In these schemes, the same subchannel in 2 or 3 contiguous cells is assigned simultaneously to one user near the boundaries of these cells. The proposed schemes enhance the desired signal effectively and reduce the co-channel interference simultaneously, hence improving the user's reception quality significantly. The performance of the proposed schemes is evaluated and compared with that of the subchannel diversity (SD) and single frequency diversity (SFD) schemes. Results show that, for the users near the cell boundaries, the proposed schemes improve the reception quality significantly and outperform the SD and SFD schemes remarkably


We apply population synthesis techniques to calculate the present-day number of two types of white-dwarf main-sequence star (WDMS) binaries within the cataclysmic variable 2 to 3 h period gap. The first are post-common envelope binaries with secondary stars that have masses 0.17 ≤ M2/M ≤ 0.36 gap-post common envelope binaries (gPCEBs), such that they will commence mass transfer within the period gap. The second type are systems that were cataclysmic variables (CVs) at some point in their past, but detached once they evolved down in orbital period to ≈3 h as a consequence of disrupted magnetic braking, and are crossing the period gap via gravitational radiation detached cataclysmic variables (dCVs). Full population synthesis calculations are performed where we either assume constant, global values of the common envelope ejection efficiency, αCE, or consider αCE as a function of secondary mass. Several forms of magnetic braking are also considered. We predict an excess of dCVs over gPCEBs within the period gap of ∼4 to ∼13 assuming αCE = 0.1–0.6, and an initial mass ratio distribution of the form n(q) = 1. This excess is revealed as a prominent peak at the location of the period gap in the orbital period distribution of the combined gPCEB and dCV population. We suggest that if such a feature is observed in the orbital period distribution of an observed sample of short orbital period WDMS binaries, this would strongly corroborate the disruption of magnetic braking.


Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics for 1979 to 1984, I found a 5% decrease in total ear, nose, and throat (ENT) operations, the largest decline of any surgical specialty. For the same five-year period, the number of ENT surgeons increased 15%. In 1983, ENT surgeons performed 478 000 operations on tonsils and adenoids, an 18% decrease from the 1979 total (584 000). The removal of tonsils and adenoids is the eighth most common operation performed in the United States. The second most common ENT operation, nose repair and plastic operations (263 000), is the country's 14th most frequent operation. The 20 most common ENT operations constitute 87% of all ENT operations. In 1983, ENT operations represented 9% of all surgery in this country. These figures show that numbers of ENT surgical operations have decreased over the last five years, despite a constantly increasing number of ENT surgeons.


Several recent studies have found that retrievals of land surface temperature (LST) from remote sensing measurements depend upon the angle of observation. To understand, predict, and ultimately correct this sensitivity, simple but physically based models of LST angular anisotropy are needed. In this study, we describe and evaluate the modified geometric projection (MGP) model, a highly parameterized model of scene thermal infrared (TIR) radiance applicable to both homogeneous and discontinuous canopy environments. Based on geometric optics modeling, MPG assumes that the angular anisotropy of TIR radiance over discontinuous canopies is due strictly to the different proportions of scene endmembers (e.g., sunlit tree crowns, background shadows) visible to a sensor at different sun-view geometries. We tested MGP against DART, a rigorous three-dimensional radiative transfer model, and against field-measured data from a southern Africa savanna. For a prescribed set of canopy conditions, MGPs estimates of observable endmember fractions and scene temperatures in the solar principal plane compared well with estimates from DART. We also parameterized MGP with field-measured endmember data for an acacia/combretum savanna near Skukuza, South Africa. We angularly integrated the MGP-predicted radiances and compared the results with measurements of scene hemispherical exitance from a tower-based pyrgeometer. The modeled exitances exhibited the normal diurnal behavior. Model predictions generally agreed with the pyrgeometer measurements; however, model accuracy decreased as the difference in endmember temperatures increased. These tests suggest that the assumptions inherent in the MGP model do not seriously impact the accuracy of the simulated radiances. We conclude that the MGP model accurately captures the predominate thermal emission directionality resulting from discontinuous canopy structure, and could therefore be applied at continental and global scales.


A diagnostic ultrasound system generates an echogram of patient contour, tumour volume and other organs. A special attachment to the scanner arm and a split table allows one to draw the complete contours. The echogram is transmitted into one of two storage scan converters and is also displayed on the video screen for immediate visual verification. The echogram is analysed by an on-line dedicated computer and the contour, tumour volume and neighbouring artifacts are identified, digitized and stored in the second scan converter, and are also displayed on a video monitor superimposed on the echogram. Radiation parameters are chosen and the resulting dose distribution is computed by a truncated external-beam program. The isodose curves are stored in the second scan converter and displayed on the video monitor superimposed on the echogram.


We give characterizations of test ideals and $F$-rational singularities via (regular) alterations. Formally, the descriptions are analogous to standard characterizations of multiplier ideals and rational singularities in characteristic zero via log resolutions. Lastly, we establish Nadel-type vanishing theorems (up to finite maps) for test ideals, and further demonstrate how these vanishing theorems may be used to extend sections.


PurposeTo describe adolescent girls' views about physical activity and explore strategies that nurses can use to promote physical activity. Study Design and MethodsA qualitative study using focus groups and interviews with 28 girls (12–18 years of age) recruited from schools and neighborhood health centers in a Midwest metropolitan area. An interview guide with 15 open-ended questions was used, and data were analyzed using content analysis. ResultsMost girls preferred the phrase "physical activity" over "exercise." The benefits most frequently mentioned included positive physical attributes, mental health benefits, and staying healthy. Three major themes were identified: autonomy (ask them what they like to do, and then provide choices), fun (being with friends, variation, and enjoyment), and body image (gaining weight, appearance, and self-confidence). Clinical ImplicationsNursing interventions to promote physical activity and other healthy lifestyle changes that may prevent obesity should include active listening and a focus on the goals of the teen. Nurses need to evaluate their teaching and counseling approach, because the teens emphasized two points: "Don't tell me what to do" and "Don't put me down."


PURPOSE
It has previously been established that gingival abrasion associated with the Braun Oral-B Ultra Plaque Remover (D9) is minimal and comparable to that observed with a manual toothbrush. The purpose of this single-use study was to compare gingival abrasion with the D9 and a novel electric toothbrush, the Braun Oral-B 3D Plaque Remover (3D).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
49 subjects (non-dental students) with at least 24 natural teeth and an absence of periodontal probing depths of 5 mm or greater were included in this study. Following a familiarization phase, all subjects received a single prophylaxis and were asked not to brush their teeth for 24 hours prior to their appointment. At this visit, the gums were disclosed by Mira-2-Tone solution and all gingival abrasion on the soft tissues was assessed and recorded. Subjects then brushed their teeth in a random split-mouth order with the two electric toothbrushes, using brush heads of the same design (EB9). The gums were then re-disclosed and gingival abrasions were recorded. They were recorded as either small sites of abrasion (< or = 5 mm) or large sites of abrasion (> 5 mm).

RESULTS
The mean number of small traumas increased from 2.57 at baseline to 4.04 after brushing with the D9 and from 1.98 to 4.14 after brushing with the 3D. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. For both toothbrushes, more small traumas were found in the upper jaw compared with the lower jaw. No increase in number of large traumas was observed.


The multiterritory perforator flaps are widely used in plastic surgery. However, partial necrosis flap in the potential territory remains a challenge to plastic surgeons. We raised a novel "hybrid nourished mode" (HNM) flap based on the multiterritory deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap to improve flap survival. Thirty-two rabbits were randomly divided into DIEP and HNM groups. Untargeted metabolic mechanisms between the DIEP and HNM groups were performed using LC-MS under the filter criteria of fold change >20.0 times or <0.05, and variable importance value (VIP) was set at ≥1, p<0.05. Between the two groups, flap survival, perfusion, microvasculature, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry of CD31 were assessed on postoperative day 7. We screened 16 different metabolites that mainly participated in Biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, Aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, Phenylalanine metabolism, Arginine and proline metabolism and so on. The results of the HNM flaps were higher than those of DIEP flaps (p<0.05) in the aspect of flap survival, flap perfusion, and microvasculature. Compared with the DIEP flaps, HNM has a stronger advantage in tissue metabolism. This study provided us with a better understanding and strong evidence in terms of metabolites on how HNM achieves the survival of large multiterritory perforator flaps.


This thesis presents methods and techniques to analyze content propagation within online social networks (OSNs) using a graph theoretical approach. Important factors and different techniques to analyze and describe content propagation, starting from the smallest entity in a network, representing a user-account, up to complete friendship graphs and traces of content are described. All individuals and their attributes are stating the basic elements for statistical analysis of user behavior and individuals interests. When trying to identify the opinion of the population of a country for example, a random sample or data from everyone within the population is needed, a task which is not trivial because of different activity patterns and the fact that individuals may either do not provide information about themselves or obscure their data by supplying bogus information. This thesis shows that obtaining a random sample of the population of the Netherlands is possible in terms of certain parameters like the location, family and first names of users. Such a sample is likely not to be "random" in terms of the age of inhabitants and the usage of gathered data in order to predict the outcome of elections may be questioned. The representation of an individual's view onto an OSN is called an ego-centric network. It contains all friends and relations between friends of an ego within a sub-graph. Within such graphs, the influence between friends can be estimated improving the usability of recommendation systems which also raises concerns about the privacy of users. This thesis describes possibilities to reconstruct private information of a user if only a few friends of the individual share their data publicly because most friendships are created between persons having similar interests. Therefore the current way of dealing with privacy concerns, by enabling users to protect their data, is not sufficient. The structure of ego-centric networks also unveils the ability of egos to spread and control the spread of information as a person completely embedded in a group has less control over disseminating content than a person connecting multiple groups. A snapshot of a whole network of an OSN includes all user-accounts (nodes) and friendships (links) at a certain point in time. But as OSNs may contain millions of nodes the process of obtaining data by crawling is likely to be skewed depending on the used method and duration. Therefore a new way of traversing the graph called "Mutual Friend Crawling" is proposed in which certain network metrics converge faster to the final value by also detecting communities of users while traversing the graph. When analyzing the diffusion process of content in multiple OSNs, only a limited fraction of the neighbors of a user (i.e. friends) are "useful" in terms of spreading content to their peers. Commonly used network metrics which reflect the centrality of a node are shown to have no correlation with the ability to repeatedly succeed in passing messages to a high number of users. The reason lies in the fact that the whole network of friends contains inactive or abandoned user accounts and a critical dependency to the time a message was sent exist. This denotes that friends of a user that forward a message have to be available or online at the time they are "needed" in order to forward content. On the other hand, influential groups might exist which act together in order to spread content with the help of each other. These groups might organize themselves via external communication channels, shown by the example of a famous group, the "Digg Patriots", where members of the group cannot be found through purely topological measures. A similar time dependency exists in terms of the evolution of OSNs, because users can only forward information or befriend others when they are online. The interactivity durations of these actions are shown to be log-normal like distributed rather than exponential or power-law as assumed in multiple previous publications. The argumentation for such an assumption is based on the fact that power-law and exponential distributions would indicate most interactivity durations to be very short whereas individuals always need some time to complete tasks. However, it is shown that the time-scale of observations is crucial, because log-normal and power-law distributions with a small exponent might look the same in a log-log plot if the chosen bin-size is too large. Another process involved in the structural evolution of a friendship network is given by markets that sell friendship relations in OSNs. These markets are accounting for quite a high number of friendship relations whereas their usage has usually a negative connotation. But in terms of content propagation they might be beneficial because, for example politicians, "buying" followers are able to reach users which would otherwise not connect to them. The term viral spreading is often used in combination with content propagation within the network of an OSN. Therefore certain parameters of epidemiology are compared to "viral spreading" in Twitter. It was found that most messages had a low basic reproductive ratio <1, a ratio depicting the infectious a virus, whereas few messages were highly infectious because a high number of users forwarded them. Interestingly even these popular messages were not able to spread to a large fraction of the total number of Twitter users. When trying to use epidemiological theory the "Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Removed" model seems to be applicable to content propagation exhibiting the complication that the distribution of the duration a user is "exposed" and "infected" seems to be log-normal distributed. The distribution of these durations, also called observation and reaction duration denotes that Markov theory cannot be applied to model the "epidemics". Another more general approach is therefore given by a Bellman-Harris branching process. The content, propagating though a network can be analyzed using graph theory as well in order to get insights into population statistics. The example of mobility pattern was chosen to depict the "meaning" of community detection within graphs created out of locations of Twitter users. The detected patterns allow better planning of transportation services, depicting in which areas of the Netherlands people are most frequently traveling during the working weekdays and weekends. Analyzing the most common type of content, short colloquial text, using a new unsupervised way of estimating the sentiment of messages enables the analysis of graphs in which words are denoted as nodes and links describe the co-occurrence of words. These graphs reflect which words are related to concepts and their sentiment allowing to infer the perception of products and concepts within the population of OSN users.


Cardiovascular diseases are increasingly becoming the main cause of death all over the world, which has led to an increase in the economic and social burden of such diseases. Vascular tissue engineering (VTE) is providing a route towards interesting applications, mainly focussing on the in vitro, in vivo, or combined in vitro/in vivo regeneration of small-diameter blood vessels (<6 mm) for coronary or peripheral vascular substitutions. Although different approaches have been investigated in the past two decades to achieve this aim, the most common method uses a macromolecular-based structure to scaffold cells during the regeneration process. Therefore, the aim of this work is to comprehensively review macromolecular biomaterials that were designed, developed, fabricated, and tested for scaffolding VTE. In an effort to provide a comprehensive overview, this review will mainly focus on the mechanical properties of the construct and its biological performance that results from the scaffold colonization during cell growth.


In the last five years, the discovery of several new localities of fossil Sirenians found in the Neogene sediments of Crete has increased drastically the number of sirenian localities on the island. Some of the most important findings consist of almost complete post cranial skeletons (localities of Stilos, Panassos near Zaros and Tripitos in Agia Fotia near Siteia). Furthermore, the locality Kotsiana near Chania, where in 1973 Symeonidis and Schultz reported the first sirenian findings from Crete, was revisited and several new sites were recorded. The most recent findings not thoroughly studied yet, are situated in three new fossiliferous sites near Panassos village (Ampelouzos, Panasos 2 and Kefala), and in Afrata at Rodopou peninsula. The preliminary morphological and metrical study of the remains from Panassos and Tripitos, and their comparison with other findings from Crete, as well as with Sirenian material from European localities, has shown that all studied individuals belong to the species Metaxytherium cf. medium (Desmarest 1822). The age of the studied Cretan Sirenian material has been determined as Late Miocene (Tortonian) and the presence of Sirenia in Crete indicates the prevalence of shallow and warm marine environments in coastal areas, rich in sea weeds.


Meticulous survey of the banks, channels and reservoirs at Angkor shows them to have been part of a large scale water management network instigated in the ninth century AD. Water collected from the hills was stored and could have been distributed for a wide variety of purposes including flood control, agriculture and ritual while a system of overflows and bypasses carried surplus water away to the lake, the Tonle Sap, to the south. The network had a history of numerous additions and modifications. Earlier channels both distributed and disposed of water. From the twelfth century onwards the large new channels primarily disposed of water to the lake. The authors here present and document the latest definitive map of the water network of Angkor.


Microglia mediate the removal of neural debris during brain development. The mechanism by which microglia recognize and remove the damaged neurons during development has not been fully elucidated. Here, we propose that the micronuclei are secreted from neurons during the developmental stages, followed by regulating microglia activity. Micronuclei are cytosolic chromatin structures that are compartmentalized by a nuclear envelope. Micronuclei emerge in migrating neurons and are cleared by the autophagic pathway. We show that micronuclei are secreted to the extracellular region from neurons in vitro by using NexCre;Sun1-sfGFP-myc mice, which are the neuron-specific nuclear membrane labeling mouse. In addition, we observed that extracellular micronuclei released from neurons were taken into microglia in vivo. Microglia with micronuclei strongly expressed CD68, which is a phagocytosis marker. Furthermore, we found that CD68 localized in micronucleus in microglia, suggesting that micronuclei are degraded via endosome-lysosomal pathway within microglia. These microglia exhibit amoeboid shape and have thicker primary branches with larger cell bodies which are known as active microglial morphology. Taken together, our data provide the possibility that micronuclei act as a novel factor that controls microglial activation during brain development.


Si/SiGe bound-to-continuum quantum cascade emitters designed by self-consistent 6-band k.p modeling and grown by low energy plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition are presented demonstrating electroluminescence between 1.5 and 3 THz. The electroluminescence is Stark shifted by an electric field and demonstrates polarized emission consistent with the design. Transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction are also presented to characterize the thick heterolayer structure.


Magnetic nozzles have great potential for improving the efficiency and performance of coaxial plasma accelerators in applications such as space propulsion and advanced manufacturing. Proper design of magnetic field geometry can improve coaxial accelerator performance in three ways. First, the applied field which intercepts the anode surface without directly connecting the two electrodes can minimize anode fall inefficiencies by improving electron conduction across the anode sheath and by opposing the Hall-induced starvation effect. Second, a properly designed magnetic geometry can provide a nozzling mechanism to permit the plasma to accelerate smoothly and efficiently from sub to super-magnetosonic flow. Third, a magnetic nozzle provides control over the flow of plasma from the accelerator. For applications such as surface modification and etching, magnetic nozzles can maximize the treatable surface area and tailor the downstream plasma energy distribution. For thrust generation, proper design of a magnetic nozzle can enable efficient detachment of the plasma from the magnetic field. >


In digitally controlled dc-dc converters with a single voltage feedback loop, the two quantizers, namely the analog-to-digital (A/D) converter and the digital pulse-width modulator (DPWM), can cause undesirable limit-cycle oscillations. In this paper, static and dynamic models that include the quantization effects are derived and used to explain the origins of limit-cycle oscillations. In the static model, existence of dc solution, which is a necessary no-limit-cycle condition, is examined using a graphical method. Based on the generalized describing function method, the amplitude and offset-dependent gain model of a quantizer is applied to derive the dynamic system model. From the static and dynamic models, no-limit-cycle conditions associated with A/D, DPWM and compensator design criteria are derived. The conclusions are illustrated by simulation and experimental examples


Based on visual analysis of the China Pictorial magazine in two historical periods (Mao and post-Mao), this article identifies six key themes of representing Africa in Chinese state media and finds a parallel between China's representation of Africa, Sino-African relations, and the shifting geopolitics. Different from Western stereotypes about Africa, China Pictorial constructs a romanticized image of Africa, which is interpreted through the concept of the "socialist gaze." Empirically, this article explains and historicizes how China Pictorial constructs meanings about Africa through its visual representational systems, shedding new light on China–Africa relations and the increasingly active South–South media flows. Theoretically, this article expands our understanding of media representation beyond the "colonial gaze." While the "socialist gaze" may function as a counter-representation to the "colonial gaze," it can also create new differences and stereotypes, thus enhancing power asymmetry between China and Africa.


Numerous drugs and toxins may induce the development of a metabolic acidosis. The treating physician should be cognizant of the many compounds that can produce metabolic acidosis following an overdose or an accidental exposure, or with therapeutic use. Knowledge and comprehension of the substances associated with metabolic acidosis will facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of poisoned patients.


A statistical model was developed to study the influence and reliability of weatlier parameters on incidence of blossom blight in Mango (Mangifera indica) and subsequently to predict their incidence. Results showed that preceding week's weather variables viz., maximum and minimum temperature, evaporation, rainfall, morning and evening relative humidity and wind speed were found to collectively predict blossom blight incidence to the extent of 94.3 per cent. Further, as a measure of goodness-of-fit, the coefficient of determination (R2) and mean squared error were used to evaluate the empirical model developed by using above variables. Validation test showed that the model developed using relative humidity at 07.30 h (X3), evaporation (X5) and wind speed (X6) (Y = 883.4 - 8.065 X3-11.506 X5 -33.619 X6) could predict the incidence to the extent of 75.7%. This model is useful in determining the role of climatic factors in disease appearance and progression and devising suitable management strategy.


Comorbid diagnoses were examined in 55 principal generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) clients, and the effect of treatment for the principal disorder on those conditions was evaluated. High rates of comorbid diagnoses were present at pretherapy, with social and simple phobia being most common. The presence of additional diagnoses declined dramatically from pretherapy to follow-up and was significantly greater among clients for whom the GAD therapy had been successful than among clients for whom GAD outcome had been ambiguous. This was generally true regardless of whether clients reported at follow-up that they had received further therapy since the posttherapy assessment.


In the daily and hectic development of our activities we rarely reserve time to think, rethink, and reflect on the results obtained from our actions, and make crucial decisions about how we can modify the way to change our own actions and with that, transform the context where our professional activity is exercised. A methodological model called the systematization of educational experiences is precisely what gives us this space for collaborative dialogue, and self-reflection and with others. The systematization of experiences is described as a research process where the experiences of the actors are recovered through reflection, dialogue and the reconstruction of events with the purpose of collecting awareness and improving their practices. Present work shows an experience with university professors in a strengths-based training course of critical use of the media. Some of the elements that were used for the construction of the learning and recovery experience were: the logbook, the story, the elaboration of didactic materials, videos and photographs. Collaborative work in triad groups and focus group sessions were some of the techniques used for obtaining and documenting relevant data and information. Following an axis of the systematization of the experience, some of the findings were that the professors recognized the need to be open to change, empathy and collaborative work, to promote the development of critical thinking and the application of knowledge. Participating professors also distinguished innovation and strategy design, such as the development of didactic sequences according to the Model for the Development of Academic Competences (M-DECA), for use in planning of their subjects according to the competence approach and the application of the dimensions of media competition.


In How Machines Came to Speak Jennifer Petersen constructs a genealogy of how legal conceptions of "speech" have transformed over the last century in response to new media technologies. Drawing on media and legal history, Petersen shows that the legal category of speech has varied considerably, evolving from a narrow category of oratory and print publication to a broad, abstract conception encompassing expressive nonverbal actions, algorithms, and data. She examines a series of pivotal US court cases in which new media technologies—such as phonographs, radio, film, and computer code—were integral to this shift. In judicial decisions ranging from the determination that silent films were not a form of speech to the expansion of speech rights to include algorithmic outputs, courts understood speech as mediated through technology. Speech thus became disarticulated from individual speakers. By outlining how legal definitions of speech are indelibly dependent on technology, Petersen demonstrates that future innovations such as artificial intelligence will continue to restructure speech law in ways that threaten to protect corporate and institutional forms of speech over the rights and interests of citizens.


We present a new numerical relativity code designed for simulations of compact binaries involving matter. The code is an upgrade of the BAM code to include general relativistic hydrodynamics and implements state-of-the-art high-resolution-shock-capturing schemes on a hierarchy of mesh refined Cartesian grids with moving boxes. We test and validate the code in a series of standard experiments involving single neutron star spacetimes. We present test evolutions of quasi-equilibrium equal-mass irrotational binary neutron star configurations in quasi-circular orbits which describe the late inspiral to merger phases. Neutron star matter is modeled as a zero-temperature fluid; thermal effects can be included by means of a simple ideal-gas prescription. We analyze the impact that the use of different values of damping parameter in the Gamma-driver shift condition has on the dynamics of the system. The use of different reconstruction schemes and their impact in the post-merger dynamics is investigated. We compute and characterize the gravitational radiation emitted by the system. Self-convergence of the waves is tested, and we consistently estimate error-bars on the numerically generated waveforms in the inspiral phase.


While rare, anesthesia breathing system obstruction can have devastating consequences. We created simulated occlusions of the expiratory and inspiratory limb of the circle breathing system in 3 current anesthesia workstations; Aisys, ADU (both by GE Healthcare, Madison WI), and Apollo (Draeger Medical, Telford, PA). The automated electronic checkout specific to each machine was then performed. The Aisys allowed users to accept both faults and initiate simulated patient care; the ADU and Apollo did not. Users must be aware of how to test for breathing circuit obstruction, and whether their own equipment does so adequately in the automated checkout.


Key for the observed reactivity of λ3-iodanes, powerful reagents for the selective transfer of functional groups to nucleophiles, are the properties of the 3-center-4-electron bond involving the iodine atom and the two linearly arranged ligands. This bond is also involved in the formation of the initial complex between the λ3-iodane and a nucleophile, which can be a solvent molecule or a reactant. The bonding in such complexes can be described by means of σ-hole interactions. In halogen compounds, σ-hole interaction was identified as a force in crystal packing or in the formation of supramolecular chains. More recently, σ-hole interactions were also shown to affect the reactivity of the iodine-based hypervalent reagents. Relative to their monovalent counterparts, where the σ-hole is located on the extension of the sigma-bond, in the hypervalent species our DFT calculations reveal the formation of a nonclassical σ-hole region with one or even two maxima. This observation is also made in fully relativistic calculations. The SAPT analysis shows that the σ-hole bond between the λ3-iodane and the nucleophile is not necessarily of purely electrostatic nature but may also contain a significant covalent component. This covalent component may facilitate chemical transformation of the compound by means of reductive elimination or other mechanisms and is therefore an indicator for its reactivity. Here, we also show that the shape, location, and strength of the σ-holes can be tuned by the choice of ligands and measures such as Brønsted activation of the iodane reagent. At the limit, the tuning transforms the nonclassical σ-hole regions into coordination sites, which allows us to control how a nucleophile will bind and react with the iodane.


The 4s(7S/5S) photoionisation branching ratio for the Mn(3p63d54s2,6S) atom is studied at photon energies omega =47-90 eV. It is discovered that the 3p to 3d transition has a dominant effect on the frequency dependence of this ratio, not only in the region of the 3p to 3d giant resonance ( omega =47-56 eV), but also far above it-up to omega >or approximately=90 eV. Some other interesting features concerning electron correlations in the Mn atom are also found.


A common characteristic of subject–predicate agreement errors (usually termed attraction errors) in complex noun phrases is an asymmetrical pattern of error distribution, depending on the inflectional state of the nouns comprising the complex noun phrase. That is, attraction is most likely to occur when the head noun is the morphologically unmarked form and the local noun is a marked form. In the present study we investigated whether there is an asymmetrical pattern of distribution of agreement errors occurring in the course of producing subject–predicate gender (Experiment 1) and number (Experiment 2) agreement in Hebrew, using the sentence-completion task for complex noun phrases. In Hebrew, masculine forms are usually morphologically unmarked, whereas feminine forms are morphologically marked. Similarly, there are specific suffixes for marking plurality. Despite the apparent structural resemblance between number and gender marking in Hebrew, linguists suggest that whereas number involves inflectional processes, singular masculine as well as feminine nominal inanimate forms in Hebrew contain a complex derivational structure without inflectional suffixes. The results revealed that whereas producing gender agreement exhibited a symmetrical pattern of distribution of errors, the frequency of number attraction revealed an asymmetrical pattern, in which attraction was observed only when a singular unmarked head noun was followed by a morphologically marked plural form. The results are discussed in connection with the distinction between inflectional and derivational structures and their relevance to the process of computing agreement in the marking and morphing model (Eberhard, Cutting, & Bock, 2005).


Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) have a wide range of applications as an alternative to traditional numerical methods in plasma simulation. However, in some specific cases of PINN-based modeling, a well-trained PINN may require tens of thousands of optimizing iterations during training stage for complex modeling and huge neural networks, which is sometimes very time-consuming. In this work, we propose a meta-learning method, namely Meta-PINN, to reduce the training time of PINN-based 1D arc simulation. In Meta-PINN, the meta network is first trained by a two-loop optimization on various training tasks of plasma modeling, and then used to initialize the PINN-based network for new tasks. We demonstrate the power of Meta-PINN by four cases corresponding to 1D arc models at different boundary temperatures, arc radii, arc pressures, and gas mixtures. We found that a well-trained meta network can produce good initial weights for PINN-based arc models even at conditions slightly outside of training range. The speed-up in terms of relative L2 error by Meta-PINN ranges from 1.1× to 6.9× in the cases we studied. The results indicate that Meta-PINN is an effective method for accelerating the PINN-based 1D arc simulation.


This research assessed the growth of Vernonia amygdalina (L) seedlings with organic and inorganic manure at different levels. Two weeks after transplanting, cowdung and NPK 15:15:15 at two different levels were applied to the seedlings, using Complete Randomized Design (CRD). Parameters assessed include collar diameter, shoot height, leaf number and branching. Data collected were subjected to statistical analysis. The result revealed that seedlings that received 1g and 1.5g of NPK performed better than those with 5g and 10g of cowdung. Plants with 1g of NPK had the highest mean shoot height and mean collar diameter of 16.25cm and 5.98mm while those with 5g of cowdung had low mean shoot height and collar diameter of 5.03cm and 3.02mm respectively. Seedlings with 1.5g NPK had mean leaf and mean branch number of 13.2 and 1.20, while those with 10g of cowdung had 10.00 and 3.02 respectively. Analysis of variance revealed that significant difference for all parameters assessed among the treatments (organic, inorganic and control at different levels) except for the number of branching which was not significant at p Keywords: Vernonia amygdalina , organic, inorganic, cowdung, NPK, top soil.


It is important when motion-correcting Rb-82 cardiac PET-CT scans that diaphragm motion is accounted for, to avoid attenuation-correction artifacts. In the absence of a gated CT, a model of the diaphragm could assist in identifying the diaphragm position in noisy PET images as a step towards performing respiratory-matched attenuation-correction. To test this, a shape model was constructed from a training set of 10 gated CT datasets, in which the diaphragm was segmented. Principal Component Analysis was performed on corresponding landmarks from all surfaces to extract modes of variation in shape and motion between patients.


Accurate characterization of the resistance to contact normal force relationship for a given contact system is critical in determining the reliability of that system. Since little is known of a contact system in its early development, sampling techniques are required to characterize resistance to normal force relationship. Though most models address relationships between mean values of resistance and normal force, the parameter of interest is in actuality the highest allowable resistance for a given normal force. Techniques are offered to assist the examiner in defining appropriate sample sizes to characterize the variance in contact resistance, and to detect differences in contact resistance at various normal forces. In addition, tradeoffs are discussed related to the selection of sample size with respect to sensitivity gained or lost as well as the likelihood of falsely characterizing a relationship. Finally, a method for modeling the entire resistance vs. normal force curve is offered through the collection of statistics acquired via sampling techniques.


The issue of agricultural land sustainability is important to every part of the world, especially in the developing countries. Based on the data collected by field investigation and laboratory analysis as well as soil classification theory, the authors discuss the applications of soil series in the arid northwestern China. On the one hand, the application in the layout of rational agricultural of oasis farmlands: (1) two soil series,namely,Lanjiabao (main) and Nijiaxiaying, belong to the moderate and extremely arid region in the study area; accordingly, the layout of crops is the spring wheat and maize (main) and winter wheat;(2) Nijiaxiaying (main) and Lanjiabao, however, fall into the warm-cold and extremely arid region, where the winter wheat (main) and spring wheat grow; and (3) the Shangfusi is part of the warm chilly-arid region, which is used as seasonal pastureland. On the other hand, the application on the soil quality of oasis farmlands, the results indicating that among all soil series, the content of N is very low, however, the content of K is abundant, and the content of P is greatly scarce.


Abstract Although best known as a poet, African-American writer Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) developed a unique voice in his fiction. This article explores the bifurcation Dunbar discerned between the law as an instrument of justice and as a stabilizer of the segregationist status quo in Jim Crow America. Dunbar creates characters who are systematically scapegoated for crimes they did not commit in order to expose the law's precarious relationship to justice. His treatment of lynching as a paradigmatic manifestation of the scapegoat mechanism links this practice to a political theory of violence, whereby the innocent are punished for the crimes of the guilty, and society requires their sacrifice in order to redeem its guilt. Without relinquishing his faith in the law, Dunbar used prose narratives to expose the disjuncture between law and justice made manifest by the US Supreme Court's rationalization of racial discrimination in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). While considering the light Dunbar's fictions shed on the relationship between law and justice, I locate these interventions within a longer history of thinking about the role of the writer as a scapegoat who enables society to sin without experiencing guilt.


Curated by Fabio Paris, REFRESH 01 – #LAYERS is the first event of the series. The show will open at Spazio Contemporanea, Brescia on October 22, 2016, with a selection of 12 artists presented under the hashtag #LAYERS. Broad and comprehensive as it seems, this keyword refers to the various ways in which the complexity of the digital environment manifests itself in the works on show: the distinction between code and interface in generative art and glitch art; the layers in a digital image; the strata of time in the archives of digital memory; the distinction between public and private, material and immaterial, visible and invisible. At the end of the event, a small publication in Italian and English featuring documentation of the show will be published by Link Editions.

REFRESH01 – #LAYERS
Curated by: Fabio Paris
When: October 22 – November 19, 2016
Opening: October 22, 6.00 PM
Where: Spazio Contemporanea, Corsetto Sant'Agata 22, Brescia (I)
Opening hours: October 22 – November 19. From Thursday to Saturday, from 3.30 to 7.00 PM
Participating artists: Marco Cadioli, Alessandro Capozzo, Alka Cappellazzo, Pier Giorgio De Pinto, Luca Grillo, IOCOSE, Kamilia Kard, Eva e Franco Mattes, Marco Mendeni, Filippo Minelli, Simone Monsi, Alice Palamenghi.


Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is commonly diagnosed in intensive care units (ICUs), often in association with acute kidney injury. In this study, we compared the predictive value of outcome scoring systems: Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV (APACHE IV), earlier APACHE models, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), the Risk of renal failure, Injury to the kidney, Failure of kidney function, Loss of kidney function, and End-stage renal failure (RIFLE) classification, and Acute Lung Injury score in critically ill patients with ARDS. We retrospectively abstracted data from the medical records of 135 critically ill ARDS patients in two medical ICUs of a tertiary care hospital from December 1999 to June 2006. Overall mortality rate was 65% (88/135). Forward conditional logistic regression identified APACHE IV, alveolar-arterial O2 tension difference, age, sepsis, and maximum RIFLE (RIFLEmax) score on ICU days 1 and 3 to be independent predictors of hospital mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the APACHE IV score revealed good fit (Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test results) and discriminative power (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.792 ± 0.038; P < 0.001). The cumulative survival rates at 6-month follow-up after hospital discharge were significantly (P < 0.001) different among ARDS patients with APACHE IV mortality rate 35% or less and APACHE IV mortality rate higher than 35%. The APACHE IV score and RIFLEmax score are predictors of hospital mortality in ARDS patients, with APACHE IV demonstrating desirable properties of prognostic accuracy.


Build to order (BTO) systems are generally used as systems for corporate to manage production or systems for the consumers to customize components. This paper discusses the BTO system for consumers which can decide the specifications easily. The present BTO systems for personal computers can customize a construction of the personal computers on the Web in compliance with users' requests. However, there are many expert consumers who feel that the BTO systems are not satisfy with their requests because components of PC prepared in the system are not many enough to choose. In contrast, beginner users do not have enough knowledge of making selection PC components; therefore it is very difficult for them to use the systems without mistaking. This research develops a BTO system built on the web that includes an information database on a huge number of various PC components and a function that can choose the combination of PC components automatically. As a result, expert users can make a PC of best performance capabilities. Moreover, beginner users become possible to select a construction of the PC easily and automatically only by providing the purpose and the budget


PURPOSE
Evidence establishing the importance of compassion in the context of social work practice is emerging. Compassion, stemming from the Latin words com and pati, means to suffer with. Given the proximity social workers have to vast experiences of suffering, compassion may play a central role in providing meaningful care to individuals, communities, and systems. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore social workers' definitions of and experiences with compassion.

METHOD
Participants included 12 social workers working across levels of practice in two Midwestern states in the United States. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews.

RESULTS
Thematic analysis demonstrated three themes present in the data. Consistent with previous conceptual scholarship, the findings illustrated that compassion is a central component of social work practice. Additionally, results from the study demonstrated that social workers find compassion to be an imperative component of ethical practice and suggested that both barriers to and facilitators of compassion are present across levels of social work practice.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
This study adds to the growing body of social work scholarship exploring compassion and highlights implications for the social work discipline across levels of practice to more overtly center compassion in education, practice, and policy. Further research is needed to better understand multilevel barriers to compassion and develop strategies for overcoming them. Moreover, additional research is needed to holistically understand how to leverage and build upon the facilitators of compassion identified by participants in order to foster compassionate social workers, social work organizations, and systems.


The latest discussions about authorship are closely related to the searching for the meaning of the text. Because of that, the authorship is being understood as one of the most controversial subjects in literature theory. The first two parts of this paper comprehend a critic and systematic analysis of 1. the author refusal as source of the text meaning (Proust, Eliot, Croce, Wimsatt and Beardsley, Derrida, Barthes and Foucault), and 2. the defense and reviewing of this concept (Booth, Bloom, Eco e Compagnon). And in the last part, 3. it is proposed a particular hypothesis of analyses and interpretation of the authorship, through a change of contexts: the recurrence to the heteronomy concept, by Fernando Pessoa.


Targeting tumor microenvironment (TME) is crucial in order to overcome the anti-cancer therapy resistance. In this study, we report the antitumor activity of a newly synthesized β-carboline derivative "B-9-3." Here, this small molecule showed a promising antitumor activity in vivo along with an enhanced immune response as reflected by a reduction of regulatory T cells and increased CD4+/CD8+ T cells. Further, B-9-3 decreased the number of myofibroblasts not only in the tumor but also in the lung suggesting an anti-metastatic action. The reduction of myofibroblasts was associated with lower expression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition markers and a decrease of phosphorylated SMAD2/3 complex indicating the implication of TGF-β signaling pathway in B-9-3's effect. The blockade of myofibroblasts induction by B-9-3 was also verified in vitro in human fibroblasts treated with TGF-β. To elucidate the mechanism of B-9-3's action on TGF-β pathway, first, we investigated the molecular interaction between B-9-3 and TGF-β receptors using docking method. Data showed a weak interaction of B-9-3 with the ATP-binding pocket of TGFβRI but a strong one with a ternary complex formed of extracellular domains of TGFβRI, TGFβRII, and TGF-β. In addition, the role of TGFβRI and TGFβRII in B-9-3's activity was explored in vitro. B-9-3 did not decrease any of the two receptors' protein level and only reduced phosphorylated SMAD2/3 suggesting that its effect was more probably due to its interaction with the ternary complex rather than decreasing the expression of TGF-β receptors or interfering with their ATP-binding domains. B-9-3 is a small active molecule which acts on the TGF-β signaling pathway and improves the TME to inhibit the proliferation and the metastasis of the tumor with the potential for clinical application.


Respiratory symptoms are among the most common causes of medical consultation at all ages. In older adults, clinical picture may be blurred, pathological signs may overlap with normal aging and course of respiratory diseases is often influenced by comorbidities. Thus, the risk of underand over-diagnosis is increasing with age and is highest in the oldest-old. Some disorders, e.g. asthma, are believed to begin in childhood or adolescence, and onset of symptoms at older age is often mistaken with other diagnoses, especially chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A topic requiring special consideration is the use of inhaled medication by elderly patients and lack of clinical efficacy of such treatment that often triggers change in the therapeutic regime, while active control of inhalation technique might reveal improper inhalation as a cause of problems. Routine comprehensive geriatric assessment may help to assess changes in physical and mental performance of the patients and facilitate diagnosis. Clinical cases presented in the article encompass a broad spectrum of respiratory problems in the elderly patients.


Most of us accept as inevitable the recurrent social phenomenon known as the presidential address. Decreed by constitution, hallowed by custom, and executed with varying degrees of oratorial finesse by a countless host of officeholders, it has provided for all of us a common ground of interest in our organizational existence. One of the more interesting aspects of the presidential address is the selection of a suitable topic. Many members of this audience have passed through the protracted, minor agony of this selection process, while others who have escaped the onus of high office have wondered idly at the mechanisms which resulted in the choice of a particular subject. Most presidential addresses include in their preamble an apologia for the topic chosen, in addition to other cliches of form and content. This talk will be no exception. The topic of this address is: "The Presidential Address." The presidential address may


The use of flexible conduit technology for bridges to 15.0m span, whilst well accepted worldwide, is subject to some limitations: these are principally minimum heights of cover and some geometrical limits. A new method of overcoming these limitations has been developed and is described. The obvert, or top arc, of an otherwise standard flexible, bolted corrugated steel structure is constructed with a composite reinforced concrete slab. The result is a composite bridge structure of three construction media - steel, concrete and soil. The RC slab allows minimal covers and very large top arc radii. Rapid custom design, speed of construction, proven strength capacity, efficient hydraulic capacity and significant cost savings are all factors which have led to technical, practical and commercial acceptance by major specifying authorities around the world. For the covering entry of the conference see IRRD 831067. (Author/TRRL)


Tracheal bronchus is an uncommon congenital anomaly. It is often of important significance during endotracheal intubation. In paediatrics with tracheal bronchus, stenosis of trachea and (or) bronchus and the management strategies remain to be further clarified. A comprehensive retrieval of literature since 2000 revealed 43 articles with 334 paediatric patients with tracheal bronchus. The delayed diagnosis rate is 4.1%. Paediatric patients with tracheal bronchus most often present with recurrent pneumonia and atelectasis. In less than one-third of the patients, there was an intrinsic or extrinsic stenosis of the trachea, which warrant a conservative or a surgical treatment. A surgical treatment was performed in 15.3% of the patients, in most of which the operations were for relieving the tracheal stenosis. The surgical outcomes were satisfactory. Paediatric patients with tracheal bronchus with tracheal stenosis and recurrent pneumonia and persistent atelectasis warrant active treatments, and surgical treatments are preferred. No treatment is needed in those with no tracheal stenosis or those with no or mild symptoms. Key Words: Abnormality, Congenital, Thoracic surgery, Tracheal stenosis.


Abstract The existence of press offices in public administration, in uniformed forces, is not a new phenomenon– even in Poland. This profession did not appear in the nineties as it may have seemed, but had been present much earlier. The fact is that after the political transformation in 1989, it became less propaganda orientated and leant towards public relations. Nowadays, almost every uniform service has a smaller or bigger structure of media-related officers, who are capable of using strategies, tools and techniques from the field of social communication for the fulfilment of various goals. The Polish Police force is a service which was the first that started developing press services and built a system for managing media relations effects. Specific operation of uniform press services which is described in the article was based upon the internal police data and field research based on a research project "Marketing communication of uniformed forces in Poland".


To design a flexible compiler to convert a java program to a C program and compile it with the aim of reducing the time complexity. The main objective of the project is to combine the robustness of Java and speed factor of C. Though the implementation seems to be from object oriented programming language to procedural language, the project concentrates in reducing the execution time of the program and utilizing the rich libraries of Java. This project can be used as a interface for many real time projects that are time-dependent.


The vehicle color is considered to be a significant factor affecting driver visibility. The primary objective of this study is therefore to determine the impact of black-and-white striped vehicles (BWVs) on driver visibility through simulation-based experiments. In these experiments, subjects were asked to perform front and rear target identification tasks under daylight and twilight conditions. Then, a 2 (lighting conditions) × 2 (vehicle size) × 5 (vehicle color) analysis of variance was conducted for each task. Under the front identification scenario, the main factors affecting visibility were found to be lighting conditions, vehicle size, vehicle color, and the interactions between these factors. Under the rear identification scenario, lighting conditions and vehicle color were found to be the main factors. The results of this study demonstrate that driver visibility of BWVs is poorer than that of other colors of vehicles and that BWV visibility is susceptible to lighting conditions.


The results of analysis of mortality and probability of the development of "uncontrollable hemodynamics" syndrome were used to estimate the necessity of preoperative preparation for the patients with pheochromocytoma to be exposed to different treatment strategies at different time periods. The scheme of preoperative preparation described in this paper is based on the experience with the application of two different regimens of preoperative prescription of alpha-adrenoblockers to 106 patients.


Mycotoxins are common toxic metabolites present in cereals and vegetal raw materials, which are commonly included in animal feed. Ochratoxin A (OTA) has generally been detected in plant origin foodstuffs such as cereals, coffee, dried fruits, nuts, among others. However, it has been also detected in meat and meat by-products, especially those derived from pork, which is the most sensitive specie to OTA exposure. The exposure of farm animals to mycotoxins could lead to undesirable residues in food products of animal origin, which constitute an important part of daily diets. Thus, although contents reported in animal by-products are lower than those reported in products of vegetal origin, there is also a public health concern about the possible ingestion of edible animal products contaminated by mycotoxins, as their entry into the food chain may cause adverse effects on human health. No maximum levels have been set for OTA in animal by-products, although its presence in meat and meat products made from contaminated raw materials has been widely reported, reaching high levels in some cases. This review summarizes the stateof-the-art on the occurrence and the carry-over of OTA in meat products, especially focused on the last years.


Cutaneous paraneoplastic syndromes are a group of dermatoses that demonstrate a range of morphological and pathological findings. These syndromes may precede, be concurrent with, or follow the diagnosis of an underlying malignancy. Treatment of the malignancy is often associated with improvement in or resolution of the mucosal and cutaneous disease; however, this is not the case with paraneoplastic pemphigus (PNP). PNP is a rare syndrome that was first described in 1990, and it occurs almost exclusively in patients with lymphocytic neoplasms. Pulmonary manifestations occur in 30% to 40% of cases, and it is the only form of pemphigus that attacks epithelium other than squamous epithelium in an antibody-mediated fashion. The mortality rate for PNP associated with malignancy is greater than 90%. Treatment guidelines are not available, but case series point to the use of rituximab (Rituxan) as well as corticosteroids and various other immunomodulating agents. Here we present a diagnostic and treatment dilemma in a 39-year-old active-duty male who developed PNP in the setting of treatment with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) for grade 3 follicular lymphoma. This case report is followed by a review of the diagnosis and treatment of other cutaneous paraneoplastic syndromes that are associated with hematologic malignancies.


Platidiam, cyclophosphamide and adriamycin induced tumoricidal activity of peritoneal macrophages from patients with disseminated ovarian carcinoma when applied in the autologous tumor cells in vitro. This effect was not observed with 10 micrograms/ml concentration of 5-fluorouracil. The mice peritoneal macrophages after incubation in vitro with 0.01-1.0 micrograms/ml of aclarubicin showed cytostatic action on syngeneic and semisyngeneic P388 cells. The peritoneal macrophages from mice treated with 2.5 mu/kg of aclarubicin intraperitoneally 1-4 days before were cytotoxic for tumor cells too.


Background The European Society of Cardiology 2015 guidelines advise urgent surgery for endocarditis complicated by cerebral embolism or transient ischemic events (1B evidence). Nevertheless, the timing of surgery remains contentious. This study aimed to review our experience of early versus delayed surgery in a selected cohort. Methods Our surgical database was examined for patients with a discharge diagnosis of endocarditis from 2005 to 2011. Selection was limited to patients who fulfilled the Duke criteria and underwent brain imaging for a clinically diagnosed preoperative neurological event. Patients were categorized as early surgery (≤7 days of clinical or cerebral imaging diagnosis of stroke) or delayed surgery (>7 days after diagnosis). Results Thirty-nine patients were identified: 20 in the early group (mean age 52 ± 15 years, diagnosis-to-surgery time 4 ± 2 days) and 19 in the delayed group (mean age 45 ± 15 years, diagnosis-to-surgery time 17 ± 11 days). There were no statistical differences in preoperative risks, operative data (cardiopulmonary bypass and crossclamp times) or postoperative neurological and mortality outcomes between the 2 groups. The size of the cerebral lesion was not a significant predictor of postoperative hemorrhagic or neurological outcome. Multivariate analysis did not show any independent predictor of mortality during follow-up (mean 51 ± 27 months). There was no difference in long-term survival, freedom from reoperation, or recurrent endocarditis between the 2 groups. Conclusions This study showed no statistical excess of mortality or neurological outcomes after early surgical intervention, regardless of the preoperative cerebral lesion size.


The Isla Perez core hole (Alacran Reef, Mexico) records the thickest Holocene section (33.5 m) known from either Atlantic or Indo-Pacific reefs. The high rate of deposition of reef material—a maximum of 12m/l,000 yr—is attributed to accumulation of the open framework constructed by the rapidly growing coral Acropora cervicornis . Mineralogic and radiocarbon analyses indicate that in areas protected from frequent high-energy agitation, this fragile branching coral, which thrives in moderate to shallow water depths, is capable of constructing extensive Holocene biohermal structures having more than 15m relief.


The clinical path is about standardizing the clinical progress of a patient and his or her medical treatment. It is the technique of charting the order and timing of intervention of the physician, nurse and all other medical staff, and performing and evaluating them. The clinical path is also applicable to chemotherapy. We created two items: A "medicine management check sheet," which is the check list used by pharmacists for each medicine or therapeutic class, and a "medication counseling and instruction sheet," which standardizes the instruction of medicine management. In adopting the clinical path, we brought these two items together, calling it "the worksheet for pharmacists." It is utilized for medication instruction. Furthermore, we made adjustments to each department in our role as Clinical Path Committee secretariat. We collected guidelines and a database about the diseases adopted to the clinical path and utilized them for evaluation of the clinical paths.


This book analyzes institutional and structural aspects of the effects of trade liberalization on agriculture in Indonesia. The study stresses the analysis of trade-related policies, physical infrastructure, institutions and performance in international trade. It discusses such commodities as rubber, coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco, shrimp and palm oil. This book gives readers a general view of trade liberalization in Indonesia.


Inflammation is part of a complex biological response to injury as a result of different stimuli such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Local signals at the sites of inflammation mediate rapid cells mobilization and recruitment and dictate differentiation programs whereby these cells drive clearance of "inflammatory inducers" and promote resolution and restoration of tissue homeostasis. However, persistent inflammatory stimuli or dysregulation of mechanisms of the resolution phase can lead to chronic inflammation. This phenomenon, from a "temporal point of view," distinguishes a first cellular subset that responds to proinflammatory stimuli, commonly referred to as innate immunity (PMN, monocytes), later followed by a second phase, classically catalogued as the adaptive immune response (T and B lymphocytes). Inflammation is more generally associated with the innate immune response, however, increasing experimental and clinical evidence has highlighted its importance in antigen driven adaptive immune responses.

Intriguingly, the hypothesis that components of adaptive immunity involve the generation of memory cells which can also fuel the chronic nature of inflammation driven by the adaptive arm of the immune response is now emerging. This "novel view" supports the view that lymphocytes cooperate with innate immune cells and collectively orchestrate the inflammatory response.

Original research and review articles successfully submitted to this special issue have stimulated the continuing efforts to understand the interaction between adaptive immunity and the inflammatory process. This special issue, also pays particular attention to the role of proinflammatory Th17 T cells and T cell derived cytokines in autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases ("Interleukin-17A Exacerbates Ferric Chloride-Induced Arterial Thrombosis in Rat Carotid Artery," authored by F. Maione et al.; "Th17 Cells in Autoimmune and Infectious Diseases," authored by J. F. Zambrano-Zaragoza et al.; "Limited Applicability of GW9662 to Elucidate PPARγ-Mediated Fatty Acid Effects in Primary Human T-Helper Cells," authored by A. Jaudszus et al.). Moreover, this special issue has highlighted the importance of lymphocytes involvement during acute and chronic inflammation ("Live Combined Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecium Ameliorate Murine Experimental Colitis by Immunosuppression," authored by S. Chen et al.; "Contradictory Immune Response in Post Liver Transplantation Hepatitis B and C," authored by A. Takaki et al.; "Neurotensin Decreases the Proinflammatory Status of Human Skin Fibroblasts and Increases Epidermal Growth Factor Expression," authored by L. P. da Silva et al.).

We hope that this special issue will stimulate the interest of scientists working in different areas of inflammation and immunology and highlight the need for continuing research in the area.

Brancaleone  Vincenzo

Iqbal  J.  Asif

Paschalidis  Nikolaos

Maione  Francesco


Multicomponent coupling reactions (MCRs) are becoming increasingly used in the synthesis of macromolecules, as they can allow the rapid generation of libraries of materials as a method to tune properties. MCRs could prove particularly useful in the synthesis of π-conjugated polymers in which structural changes are necessary for fine-tuning of electronic properties. We describe here the first metal-free multicomponent approach to conjugated polymers. This reaction exploits the coupling of imines, acid chlorides, and (catechyl)PPh to generate phospha-münchnone-containing polymers, which can be converted to poly(pyrroles) via cycloaddition. The platform allows for the efficient synthesis of families of high molecular weight polymers in one step from readily available monomers.