Background: Diabetic foot ulcers are an increasingly common complex problem and are associated with a very considerable health care burden. Diabetic foot ulcer with Alcaligenes faecalis infection is rarely reported in the literature. We report a case series of diabetic foot ulcer with A. faecalis infection treated at our facility. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients with diabetic foot ulcer with A. faecalis infection seen from January 2014 to April 2019. We analyzed the clinical characteristics, ulcer lesion classification, comorbidities, prior intravenous antibiotic use within 3 months, wound culture, antibiotics sensitivity test, and clinical outcomes of these patients. Results: Eight cases of diabetic foot ulcer with A. faecalis infection were seen in 5 males and 3 females. Mean age was 54.6 years. All patients had other comorbidities, and all ulcer lesions were of chronic duration (>14 days). All wound cultures revealed polymicrobial infection, with 2 cases of diabetic foot with extensive drug-resistant A. faecalis infection found in 2019. All patients needed intravenous antibiotic therapy and surgical interventions for the chronic ulcer lesion. The wound failed to heal in 3 patients. Conclusions: All diabetic foot ulcers with A. faecalis infection were of chronic duration (>14 days) and had polymicrobial infection. Extensive drug-resistant A. faecalis emerged in 2019. Definitive antibiotic therapy is necessary for all infected wounds and should be based on both the culture results and susceptibility data. All patients will need appropriate wound care, and most will need rapid surgical intervention for an optimal outcome.


Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis is a Gram-positive lactic acid bacterium used in food biotechnology. It is necessary to investigate many aspects of a model organism to elucidate mechanisms of stress response, to facilitate preparation, application and performance in food fermentation, to understand mechanisms of inactivation, and to identify novel tools for high pressure biotechnology. To investigate the mechanisms of the complex bacterial response to high pressure we have analyzed changes in the proteome and transcriptome by 2-D electrophoresis, and by microarrays and real time PCR, respectively. More than 16 proteins were found to be differentially expressed upon high pressure stress and were compared to those sensitive to other stresses. Except for one apparently high pressure-specific stress protein, no pressure-specific stress proteins were found, and the proteome response to pressure was found to differ from that induced by other stresses. Selected pressure-sensitive proteins were partially sequenced and their genes were identified by reverse genetics. In a transcriptome analysis of a redundancy cleared shot gun library, about 7% of the genes investigated were found to be affected. Most of them appeared to be up-regulated 2- to 4-fold and these results were confirmed by real time PCR. Gene induction was shown for some genes up-regulated at the proteome level (clpL/groEL/rbsK), while the response of others to high hydrostatic pressure at the transcriptome level seemed to differ from that observed at the proteome level. The up-regulation of selected genes supports the view that the cell tries to compensate for pressure-induced impairment of translation and membrane transport.


The possible applicability of the new template CoMFA methodology to the prediction of unknown biological affinities was explored. For twelve selected targets, all ChEMBL binding affinities were used as training and/or prediction sets, making these 3D-QSAR models the most structurally diverse and among the largest ever. For six of the targets, X-ray crystallographic structures provided the aligned templates required as input (BACE, cdk1, chk2, carbonic anhydrase-II, factor Xa, PTP1B). For all targets including the other six (hERG, cyp3A4 binding, endocrine receptor, COX2, D2, and GABAa), six modeling protocols applied to only three familiar ligands provided six alternate sets of aligned templates. The statistical qualities of the six or seven models thus resulting for each individual target were remarkably similar. Also, perhaps unexpectedly, the standard deviations of the errors of cross-validation predictions accompanying model derivations were indistinguishable from the standard deviations of the errors of truly prospective predictions. These standard deviations of prediction ranged from 0.70 to 1.14 log units and averaged 0.89 (8x in concentration units) over the twelve targets, representing an average reduction of almost 50% in uncertainty, compared to the null hypothesis of "predicting" an unknown affinity to be the average of known affinities. These errors of prediction are similar to those from Tanimoto coefficients of fragment occurrence frequencies, the predominant approach to side effect prediction, which template CoMFA can augment by identifying additional active structural classes, by improving Tanimoto-only predictions, by yielding quantitative predictions of potency, and by providing interpretable guidance for avoiding or enhancing any specific target response.


An improved line detection algorithm for locating road lane markings is described. After scanning images to find mid-points of potential lane markings, they are passed to the line detection algorithm. This makes multiple hypotheses of lines based on random pairs of potential line features and selects the one having the greatest support. After finding each line the algorithm deletes not only the inliers within a 'fit tolerance' distance df but also the innermost outliers lying within a 'delete tolerance' distance dd. It is found that as dd – df is increased the final result becomes more robust because elimination of remanent points near each line prevents them from confusing the algorithm when searching for further lines.


ABSTRACT The rate and extent of bacterial Fe(III) mineral reduction are governed by molecular-scale interactions between the bacterial cell surface and the mineral surface. These interactions are poorly understood. This study examined the role of surface proteins in the adhesion of Shewanella alga BrY to hydrous ferric oxide (HFO). Enzymatic degradation of cell surface polysaccharides had no effect on cell adhesion to HFO. The proteolytic enzymesStreptomyces griseus protease and chymotrypsin inhibited the adhesion of S. alga BrY cells to HFO through catalytic degradation of surface proteins. Trypsin inhibited S. algaBrY adhesion solely through surface-coating effects. Protease and chymotrypsin also mediated desorption of adhered S. algaBrY cells from HFO while trypsin did not mediate cell desorption. Protease removed a single peptide band that represented a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 50 kDa. Chymotrypsin removed two peptide bands that represented proteins with apparent molecular masses of 60 and 31 kDa. These proteins represent putative HFO adhesion molecules.S. alga BrY adhesion was inhibited by up to 46% when cells were cultured at sub-MICs of chloramphenicol, suggesting that protein synthesis is necessary for adhesion. Proteins extracted from the surface of S. alga BrY cells inhibited adhesion to HFO by up to 41%. A number of these proteins bound specifically to HFO, suggesting that a complex system of surface proteins mediates S. alga BrY adhesion to HFO.


The release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels is significantly altering the carbon cycle by adding to the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and in the more rapidly interacting portions of the biosphere and oceans. In order better to assess these changes, the basis for calculating global CO 2 emissions is reviewed and new annual values are computed for the period 1800 through 1969. The world average fractions of carbon in coal and lignite, estimated from calorific data, are found to be lower than previously assumed. When account is taken of handling losses and partial diversion to produce petrochemicals, road asphalt, and other non-fuels, the calculated CO 2 emissions are further reduced by several percent even after allowing that most unburned materials eventually oxidize to CO 2 in the environment. On the other hand, the production of CO 2 by kilning of limestone adds 1 to 2% to the annual totals. The cumulative increase in carbon in the short term carbon cycle, owing to man's industrial and domestic activities up to 1970, is estimated to be 1.12 + 0.14 times 10 17 g (4.1 + 0.5 times 10 17 g CO 2 ), or about 18% of the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere during the late nineteenth century. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1973.tb01604.x


Plasma lipid concentrations are complex traits having both environmental and genetic determinants. About half of the variation in HDL-C and TG may be genetic1–3 with the same genes possibly accounting for the correlated traits of LDL particle size, TG, and HDL-C.4 A number of variants in candidate genes have been implicated in the regulation of plasma lipid levels.5 In addition, genome scans have identified chromosomal regions with suggestive linkage to the TG:HDL-C ratio and other lipid parameters.6,7 Nonetheless, much of the genetic variability in HDL-C and TG levels remains unexplained.

Decreased HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) and raised triglyceride (TG) levels are well known risk factors for the development of coronary artery disease (CAD) and atherosclerosis.8 Plasma TG and HDL-C levels are highly correlated, but there is some evidence that they may exert independent effects on coronary disease risk.9 Indeed, the simultaneous use of both may more accurately predict risk of coronary disease. Among patients with low HDL-C, risk of CAD was more than doubled in those with concurrent high TG compared to those with low TG levels in both the PROCAM10 and Helsinki Heart studies.11 Furthermore, the ratio of TG:HDL-C has been shown to correlate with LDL particle size12 and is a powerful predictor of future myocardial infarction.13

The scavenger receptor class B type 1, SR-B1, is a key component in the reverse cholesterol transport pathway where it binds HDL-C with high affinity and is involved in the selective transfer of lipids from HDL-C.14,15 It is expressed primarily in liver and non-placental steroidogenic tissues and mediates selective cholesterol uptake by a mechanism distinct from the classical low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) receptor pathway.16 Previous studies17,18 have found single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene …


The main aim of this work was to perform a comprehensive review of findings reported by previous studies on the corrosion of titanium dental implants and consequent clinical detrimental effects to the patients. Most studies were performed by in vitro electrochemical tests and complemented with microscopic techniques to evaluate the corrosion behavior of the protective passive oxide film layer, namely TiO2. Results revealed that bacterial accumulation, dietary, inflammation, infection, and therapeutic solutions decrease the pH of the oral environment leading to the corrosion of titanium. Some therapeutic products used as mouthwash negatively affect the corrosion behavior of the titanium oxide film and promote changes on the implant surface. In addition, toothpaste and bleaching agents, can amplify the chemical reactivity of titanium since fluor ions interacting with the titanium oxide film. Furthermore, the number of in vivo studies is limited although corrosion signs have been found in retrieved implants. Histological evaluation revealed titanium macro- and micro-scale particles on the peri-implant tissues. As a consequence, progressive damage of the dental implants and the evolution of inflammatory reactions depend on the size, chemical composition, and concentration of submicron- and nanoparticles in the surrounding tissues and internalized by the cells. In fact, the damage of the implant surfaces results in the loss of material that compromises the implant surfaces, implant-abutment connections, and the interaction with soft tissues. The corrosion can be an initial trigger point for the development of biological or mechanical failures in dental implants.


The effect of switching individual cow Record of Performance milk samples from on-farm Babcock analytical system to centralized infrared analysis was investigated. The effects of lipolytic activity on the signals of the fat (5.73/5.58 and 3.48/3.56 microns) and protein (6.46/6.68 microns) wavelengths of filter instruments showed that lipolysis decreased the infrared fat signal and concurrently increased the protein signal. The chain length (3.48/3.56 microns) signal was unaffected by lipolysis due to the concordant movement of the reference wavelength baseline with the changes in the sample wavelength signal. Storage trials (3 d) of preserved milk samples indicated no direct relation between fat signal depression and chemically determined free fatty acid levels. Microbial growth and agitation also contributed to changes observed in samples studied under controlled conditions. Based on concurrent infrared, Babcock, and Mojonnier analyses of approximately 900 samples on d 1 and 3, there was a consistent but marginal drop in the carbonyl (5.73/5.56 microns) fat signal and an increase in the amide (6.46/6.68 microns) protein signal, but these changes were of limited significance. A study of 3-d and older samples indicated that significant levels of acid were produced, indicative of microbial growth. A comparison of Babcock results carried out on-farm, Mojonnier analyses in the laboratory, and their corresponding infrared results did not show statistically significant differences. Other than the inherent variability present in the individual cow samples, there were minor quality changes occurring under the present sample handling system due to a combination of lipolysis, microbial growth, and acid production. Refrigeration of Record of Performance samples during transport and at the central laboratory is recommended to minimize these changes.


The decreased dietary diversity wrought from the adoption of the settled, agrarian system to replace the hunter-gather and pastoralist lifestyles assured a stable supply of protein and calories from grains and tubers while creating a vulnerability for humans to suffer micronutrient deficiencies. The vitamin A from animal tissue is more bioavailable to humans than the provitamin A in the matrix of green plants. Provitamin A carotenes achieve a dietary vitamin A efficacy nearly equivalent to that of the preformed vitamin only in the context of an oily matrix. The homeostatic regulation of carotene bioconversion by the intestine, moreover, prevents any excess toxic accumulation of vitamin A from provitamin A sources. The efficacy and safety of the palm fruit (genus Elaeis) as a source of vitamin A, in addition to its cultural recognition as a food, are more consistent with the gentler concept of "alleviation" of the public health problem of hypovitaminosis A, then the more aggressive, medical model of "eradication" with its greater potential for risk and collateral damage. The palm fruit and its derivatives achieve new opportunities for creative contribution and sustained use in formats of supplementation (prophylactic in children and women, for lactation), food-to-food fortification (in bakery goods and snacks, as condiments), and even in food diversification strategies. Experience in India, South Africa, and Guatemala begins to define and delineate the opportunities and limitations for the palm fruit to contribute to the alleviation of endemic vitamin A deficiency.


The aim of this article is to discuss the co-ordination process of employment policies provided by the Treaty of Amsterdam so as to assess its impact on labour law and industrial relations. It maintains that the 'Luxembourg Process' is producing side-effects by determining the re-regulation of labour market arrangements and, more in general, modernising the legal framework of industrial relations. The main conclusion confirms the European Union's adoption of the so-called 'European social model', although collective bargaining and, overall, industrial relations will be required to pay increased attention to a job creation function. It is argued that a modernisation of labour law and industrial relations will continue, since the 'Luxembourg Process' will not cease to heavily influence the action of both Governments and social parties.


Objective. Information about possible prognostic factors of the survival of patients with atypical and malignant meningiomas (AMM) is sparse. The aim of our study was to evaluate prognostic significance of apoptotic marker caspase-3 and apoptotic inhibitor survivin in a series of primary AMM. Methods. 86 AMM (76 atypical and 10 malignant) were analyzed. Caspase-3 and survivin expression was evaluated immunohistochemically. The correlation between caspase-3, survivin, and other possible factors of meningioma recurrence was evaluated. Uni- and multivariate recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) analyses were performed. Results. The intensity of caspase-3 expression correlated with the tumor grade (P = 0.004), the proliferation index (P = 0.019), and the mitotic count (P = 0.013). Survivin tended to be more expressed in female patients (P = 0.072). Survivin expression was stronger in malignant compared to atypical meningiomas, however, the difference was not statistically important (P = 0.491). Neither survivin nor caspase-3 expression significantly predicted OS or RFS in patients with AMM. Conclusions. Strong caspase-3 expression on AMM cells could reflect a cellular attempt at the homeostatic autoregulation of the tumor size. Survivin expression on AMM cells is similar to the survivin expression reported on benign meningiomas. Caspase-3 and survivin expression has no prognostic significance on the survival of patients with AMM.


Cities are changing constantly. All urban systems face different conditions from day to day. Even when averaged regularities can be found, urban systems will be more efficient if they can adapt to changes at the same temporal scales at which these occur. Still, the functionality of urban systems must be robust to changes, either caused by adaptation or by other factors. Technology can assist humans in designing and regulating this adaptation and robustness. To achieve this, we propose a description of cities as cybernetic systems. We identify three main components: information, algorithms, and agents, which we illustrate with current and future examples. The implications of cybernetic cities are manifold, with direct impacts on mobility, sustainability, resilience, governance, and society. Still, the potential of a cybernetic perspective on cities will not depend so much on technology as on how we use it.


Biphasic dynamics, the variable-dependent ability to enhance or restrain biological function, is prevalent in natural systems. Accompanied by biphasic dynamics, necroptosis signaling dominated by RIP1 also appears emergent and coexistent dynamics. Here, we identify the RIP1-RIP3-C8 incoherent feedforward loop embedded with positive feedback of RIP3 to RIP1 is the core topology, and the scale-free feature of RIP3 peak value dictates necroptosis BEC dynamics. Entropy production is introduced to quantify the uncertainty of coexistent dynamics. RIP3 auto-phosphorylation is further determined as a complementary process for robustly attaining necroptosis BEC dynamics. Through screening all possible two- and three-node circuit topologies, a complete atlas of three-node circuit BEC dynamics is generated and only three minimal circuits emerge as robust solutions, proving incoherent feedforward loop is the core topology. Overall, through highlighting a finite set of circuits, this study yields guiding principles for mapping, modulating, and designing circuits for BEC dynamics in biological systems.


The fluid under test (e.g. transformer oil) fills the annulus between coaxial circular cylinders that are covered by the solid of interest (e.g., metal or oil-impregnated paper backed by metal). The inner cylinder can rotate at speeds giving controlled laminar and turbulent flows (for fluids as viscous as transformer oil). This relatively compact apparatus allows for flexibility in testing liquids, trace impurities, and solid insulation without involving large amounts of material. By virtue of the reentrant flow, it acts like a pipe of infinite length and thus provides for the measurement of basic electrification parameters even in highly insulating systems, where the electrical development length for a pipe flow system is likely to be longer than the practical length of a test section. By sampling the charge entrained in the azimuthal flow at a sufficiently slow rate, equilibrium parameters can be deduced. >


Self-cleaving ribozymes are the smallest catalytic RNAs found in nature, and are believed to have played an important role in the origin of life. The evidence that these natural RNAs can catalyze site-specific scission of their phosphodiester backbone demonstrates that RNAs can also fold into intricate functionally specific structures. Despite the biological importance of ribozymes, their structural characterization remains challenging because of the difficulty to crystallize. Moreover, their sizes are often too large for NMR structure determination. This thesis seeks to infer the base-pairing information of self-cleaving ribozymes by deep mutational scanning.
Chapter 1 of this thesis gives an overview of self-cleaving ribozymes and current RNA structural biology techniques.
In Chapters 2, 3 and 4, we performed a large-scale mutational analysis to gain structural information which is important for understanding the function of ribozymes. Generally, we constructed the mutant library of three ribozymes (CPEB3, LINE-1, OR4K15 ribozyme) from the human genome by error-prone PCR or using doped synthesis. These variants of ribozymes were assayed for their self-cleaving activity by exploiting deep sequencing for every randomized variant. A complete activity profile of each variant was acquired based on this large-scale mutational analysis.
To better predict the structural information, we developed a method called covariation-induced deviation of activity (CODA). When in combination with Monte Carlo simulated annealing, it provides an accurate inference of noncanonical and all canonical Watson-Crick base pairs at 100% precision for two self-cleaving ribozymes studied (CPEB3 and twister ribozyme). By extending this method to two unknown ribozymes (LINE-1, OR4K15 ribozyme), we were able to identify the core elements and their secondary structure. According to the secondary structure information, we identified homologs of these ribozymes by using a secondary structure-based similarity search.
In summary, our results show that combining deep mutational scanning and CODA analysis provides a highly accurate secondary-structure characterization of RNAs for the discovery of additional homologous sequences.


Security in computer networks is one of the most interesting aspects of computer systems. It is typically represented by the initials CIA: confidentiality, integrity, and authentication or availability. Although, many access levels for data protection have been identified in computer networks, the intruders would still find lots of ways to harm sites and systems. The accommodation proceedings and the security supervision in the network systems, especially wireless sensor networks have been changed into a challenging point. One of the newest security algorithms for wireless sensor networks is Artificial Immune System (AIS) algorithm. Human lymphocytes play the main role in recognizing and destroying the unknown elements. In this article, we focus on the inspiration of these defective systems to guarantee the complications security using two algorithms; the first algorithms proposed to distinguish self-nodes from non-self ones by the related factors and the second one is to eliminate the enemy node danger.The results showed a high rate success and good rate of detecting for unknown object; it could present the best nodes with high affinity and fitness to be selected to confront the unknown agents.


The GEANT4-based GATE is a unique and powerful Monte Carlo (MC) platform, which provides a single code library allowing the simulation of specific medical physics applications. However, this rigorous yet flexible platform is used only sparingly in the clinic due to its lengthy calculation time and significant computational overhead. By accessing the much more powerful computational resources of a cloud computing environment, GATE's run time can be significantly reduced to clinically feasible levels without the sizable investment of a local high performance cluster. This study investigated a reliable and efficient execution of GATE MC simulation using a commercial cloud computing services. A Monte Carlo cloud computing framework, Gate Cloud, for medical physics applications was proposed. Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) was used to launch several nodes equipped with GATE V6.1. The Positron emission tomography (PET) Benchmark included in the GATE software was repeated for various cluster sizes between 1 and 100 nodes in order to establish the ideal cluster size in terms of cost and time efficiency. The study shows that increasing the number of nodes in the cluster resulted in a decrease in calculation time that could be expressed with an inverse power model. Simulation results were not affected by the cluster size, indicating that integrity of a calculation is preserved in a cloud computing environment. With high power computing continuing to lower in price and accessibility, implementing Gate Cloud for clinical applications will continue to become more attractive.


We present a methodology for the real time alignment of music signals using sequential Montecarlo inference techniques. The alignment problem is formulated as the state tracking of a dynamical system, and differs from traditional Hidden Markov Model - Dynamic Time Warping based systems in that the hidden state is continuous rather than discrete. The major contribution of this paper is addressing both problems of audio-to-score and audio-to-audio alignment within the same framework in a real time setting. Performances of the proposed methodology on both problems are then evaluated and discussed.


Simultaneous interpreting involves a complex deployment of concomitant tasks for which the interpreter needs to strategically allocate her available processing capacity to transfer Source Language message into Target Language. According to studies, simultaneous interpreters are able to carry out different tasks under severe time constraints characteristic to simultaneous mode of interpreting attributable to working memory span and strategies to overcome time constraint. In the course of strategically allocating limited amount of working memory for different tasks, the interpreter will search for ways to use minimum amount of processing efforts for maximum meaning delivery, which will be manifested in her Target Language re-expression. The aim of this study is to explore how interpreters are utilizing omission as a strategy during simultaneous interpreting process by examining omissions that occur in actual conference interpreting data by 4 conference interpreters. For the study, authentic data was collected from an international conference hosted in Seoul. The types of omissions, their frequencies as well as possible cause of their occurrences are examined. In addition, interpreting data of Korean into English and English into Korean are compared to see the implications of language directionality on interpreters' choice of strategies for re-expression. Although some of the time saving strategies used by interpreters seemed to violate the principle of faithfulness in interpreting, the strategies helped interpreters overcome time constraints and ease cognitive load as well as enhance the communicative relevance of Target Language expression.


Introduction: During the past decade, quantum-chemical calculations have been used to model hydrocarbon reactions in zeolite acid catalysts. In the interest of computational feasibility, the zeolite has often been represented by a very small cluster model, at times including only one tetrahedrally-coordinated atom (a 1T cluster). The results of such calculations have given important qualitative insights such as possible reaction pathways and transition state geometries, but the calculated activation energies for hydrocarbon reactions have usually been 50 percent or more higher than experimental values. In our recent work we developed a methodology of quantum-chemical techniques and corrections that allowed us to calculate a quantitatively accurate activation energy for protolytic cracking of ethane in H-ZSM5 [1]. In order to test the limits of our computational method, we have carried out a study of protolytic cracking, dehydrogenation, and H/D exchange of the n-alkanes ethane, propane, and butane using a cluster model of H-ZSM-5. Our goal is to study the dependence of the activation energy on the alkane chain length in these reactions and to determine whether this method can produce results in quantitative agreement with available experimental results [2-5].


Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib mesylate (IM) is the standard of care for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Leukemia-initiating CML stem cells are resistant to TKIs and thus it is unlikely that CML patients will be cured with IM monotherapy. Recent data indicate that in a proportion of CML patients primed with preceding interpheron alpha (IFNα) therapy, IM may be discontinued without rapid leukemia re-expansion. In the Nordic CML study group intermediate and low risk study (IR/LR, NordCML002), newly diagnosed CML patients were randomized after 3 months of IM induction therapy to receive 12 months of either standard IM monotherapy or IM-IFNα combination therapy. In the STOP study (NordCML004) we prospectively discontinued IM and IFNα in IR/LR study patients who achieved major molecular response (MMR) during 12 months of randomized therapy (n=10; IM 5, IM-IFN 5). In this study the monotherapy patients continued imatinib 400mg QD for 6 months while the combination therapy patients stopped IM at study entry and continued IFNα for 6 months. Molecular monitoring by blood RQPCR was done monthly after any drug discontinuation. In the monotherapy group IM was reinitiated when a confirmed loss of MMR was seen. In the IFNα group a rise up to the -2 log (1%) level was allowed before restart. The patients in the monotherapy group had received IM for a median of 23 months (range 21–25 mos) at the time therapy was discontinued. Four of the 5 patients had complete molecular response (CMR); 1 patient had a 3,2 log reduction. No Philadelphia positive (Ph+) cells were detected in either the CD34 positive or the CD34 positive/CD38 negative cell fractions prior to drug discontinuation when analyzed by FISH (n=3, 1000 cells counted). All 5 patients lost MMR rapidly within 4 months. The median time of IM discontinuation was 114 days (range 64–166 days). All evaluable patients re-responded to IM promptly. In the combination therapy group the median duration of IM therapy was 18 months (range 15–19 mos). The patients had used IFNα (Pegintron®) for a median of 14 months (range 12–16 mos). The target dose of 50 μg s.c. once weekly was used by 3 patients and 2 patients used only 20 μg s.c. once weekly due to toxicity. Four of the 5 patients had CMR when they stopped IM; 1 patient had a 3,2 log reduction. As in the monotherapy group no Ph+ cells were detected in the examined stem cell fractions prior to drug discontinuation (n=2). Two of the 5 patients rapidly relapsed within 4 months while still using IFNα corresponding the monotherapy patients. Three patients discontinued all treatment. One patient was in MMR and 2 had log-reductions between 2–3 log units. The latter 2 patients relapsed after 3 months off all treatment. One patient is still in sustained MMR at 18 months off IM and 12 months off all treatment. The median time of IM discontinuation for the combination therapy group is 277 days (range 151– 559+ days). Relapsed patients have started IM monotherapy and all have re-responded. In conclusion, in concord with previous data, discontinuation of IM monotherapy in patients having MMR/CMR resulted in a rapid disease relapse in all patients. However, in 3 out of 5 patients concomitant IFNα enabled IM discontinuation by inducing a state of stable minimal residual disease. One of these patients has been able to discontinue both IM and IFNα and sustain MMR for a considerable time. The occurrence of relapse was not correlated with the number of residual leukemic stem cells as no Ph+ CD34+/CD38- cells were detected prior to drug discontinuation in either group (n=5). Further clinical studies on combinations of TKIs and IFNs are warranted. Elucidating the molecular and immunological mechanisms of priming effects of IFN would enable rational patient selection and putatively result in operational cure of a significant number of CML patients.


Automation can be applied to the repetitive and mechanical handling, mixing, and dispensing of formaldehyde, the most common tissue fixative in routine clinical laboratory use. A closed automated system is described that aspirates 37% formaldehyde from large, commercial sized 490 pound drums at a remote location, and delivers 10% formalin in ready-to-use form at a special faucet in the histology laboratory without human intervention. In addition to economy from a decrease in personnel handling time and from purchasing formaldehyde in bulk, it decreases the exposure of laboratory personnel to formaldehyde fumes.


Residential segregation gained a new momentum after the turn of the new century. The pace of urbanization that has been observed over the last two decades has been proceeding hand in hand with the increasing residential segregation in large cities and metropolitan areas. The international literature is flourishing with studies on residential segregation. This paper investigates residential segregation trends in the Metropolitan Region of Attica during the period 2004-2019. The analysis is based on a database combining individual household data from the EU-SILC, as well as data from official national sources. The paper applies the Dissimilarity Index for measuring residential segregation trends based on occupation, education and living conditions, before, during and after the economic crisis. We also use the Gini index for comparing income inequality with residential segregation trends. Our analysis shows that between 2004 and 2019, residential segregation intensified between the top and bottom socio-economic groups, whilst an inclusive trend has been recorded between middle-class groups and the other two categories. The results do not suggest any similar patterns between residential segregation and income inequality. The evidence derived from this study is relevant to public policy, inclusive growth and development.


We develop a framework for the analysis of strategic interactions under the constructive preference perspective a la Kahneman and Tversky formalized in the Type Indeterminacy model. The players are modeled as systems subject to measurements and characterized by quantum-like uncertain preferences. The decision nodes are modeled as, possibly non-commuting, operators that measure preferences modulo strategic reasoning. We define a Hilbert space of types spanned by the players' eigentypes representing their potential preferences in different situations. We focus on pure strategy TI games of maximal information where all uncertainty stems from the intrinsic indeterminacy of preferences. We show that preferences evolve in a non-deterministic manner with actions along the play: they are endogenous to the interaction. We propose the notion of cashing-on-the-go to compute a player's utility, and the Type Indeterminate Nash Equilibrium as a solution concept relying on best-replies at the level of the eigentypes. We illustrate an example exhibiting the phenomenon of the manipulation of rivals' preferences.


In twenty-first Century, the theme of social development is innovation, and in the field of education, the innovation of higher education has been prompted in recent years, but the effect is not very significant. This is not only a traditional influence, but also a social atmosphere, but the lack of evaluation mechanism of innovation education restricts innovation. The perfection of the mechanism of innovative education evaluation need to define the basic purpose, adhere to the basic principles of the evaluation of innovative education. Build this evaluation criteria system of innovative education in modern colleges and universities in the respects of innovation concept, personnel training, and teachers, the arrangement of course, the activities and economic security


In the genealogical and phylogenetic analyses that are reported here, we obtained evidence for an unusual pattern of mutation/reversion in the human mitochondrial genome. The cumulative results indicate that, when there is a T-->C polymorphism at nt 16189 and a C-->T substitution at nt 16192, there is an extremely high rate of reversion (hypermutation) at the latter site. The apparent reversion rate is sufficiently high that there is persistent heteroplasmy at nt 16192 in maternal lineages and at the phylogenetic level, a situation that is similar to that observed for the rapid expansion/contraction of simple repeats within the control region. This is the first specific instance in which the mutation frequency at one site in the D-loop is markedly influenced by the local sequence "context." The 16189 T-->C polymorphism lengthens a (C:G)n simple repeat, which then undergoes expansion and contraction, probably through replication slippage. This proclivity toward expansion/contraction is more pronounced when there is a C residue, rather than a T, at nt 16192. The high T-->C reversion frequency at nt 16192 apparently is the result of polymerase misincorporation or slippage during replication, the same mechanism that also causes the expansion/contraction of this simple-repeat sequence. In addition to the first analysis of this mitochondrial hypermutation process, these results also yield mechanistic insights into the expansion/contraction of simple-repeat sequences in mtDNA.


The All Weather ARrival and Departure (AWARD) program is supported by the European Commission under the Brite-EuRam III structure. Following the VERSATILE preparation program, it started on June 1996 and is planned to finish end of 1999. The program consortium consists of ten partners such as a major airline, aircraft and equipment manufacturers, research and tests centers, and an university. Contractors from France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and The Netherlands are coordinated by Sextant Avionique. AWARD main objective is to demonstrate the efficiency of vision systems under adverse weather conditions. In order to evaluate the added benefits of these concepts within aircraft operations of approach, landing, taxi and takeoff, two applications are developed: (1) Enhanced Vision System (EVS) based on Head Up Display enhancement with Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) and Millimeter Wave Radar (MMWR) images. (2) Synthetic Vision System (SVS) displaying an overlaid symbology on a perspective presentation of the environment, thanks to the combination of database and accurate positioning systems. The evaluation of these two tests systems will focus on: (1) Performance and human acceptability aspects. They will be appreciated according to human factors criteria as well as an integration within realistic environments. The NLR Research Flight Simulator and the DLR ATTAS flight test aircraft will be used. (2) Reliability, integrity aspects thanks to a theoretical certification/system study which will propose guidelines for certification, and will address impact on the system architecture. The paper addresses the work structure of AWARD in order to show what are the keypoints addressed in this program.


Opuntia ficus indica L. fruit (cactus pear) seed oil is used in traditional and complementary therapies for its numerous health benefits. The aim of this study was to analyse of the fatty acid content and apoptotic induction effects of spiny and thornless Opuntia ficus indica L. seed (CPS) oils. Spiny and thornless Opuntia ficus indica L. seed oils obtained by supercritical CO2 extraction method and analyzed by GC-MS. Different concentrations of almond oils were incubated for 24 h and 48 h with Colo-320 and Colo-741 cells. Cell growth and cytotoxicity were measured by MTT assays. TUNEL assay was used to detect DNA fragmentation in both cell lines. Linoleic acid was dominant fatty acid followed by oleic acid, palmitic acid and elaidic acid in both type of seed oil. In MTT, spiny CPS oil was found to be active against Colo-320 and Colo-741 cells with 1:16 dilution for 48 h. Also, 1:8 and 1:16 dilutions of thornless CPS oil showed significant reduction in the number of viable cells in Colo-320 and Colo-741 cells, respectively. The number of TUNEL positive cells were significantly higher in Colo-320 cells treated with thornless CPS when compare with control group (p < 0.05).We conclude that thornless CPS oil may have anticancer effect on primer colon adenocarcinoma cell lines. The effect can be explained by inducing apoptosis. Thus, they could be a potential novel therapeutic agent in colon cancer therapy.


• The validity of the concept of the borderline personality disorder was investigated by comparing assigned diagnoses of 117 consecutive inpatients using Gunderson's Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, ed 3 ( DSM-III ), and the checklist described by Spitzer et al. Twenty-one patients (13 women, eight men) were identified by the DIB as borderline; ten patients (eight women, two men) met DSM-III criteria for borderline personality disorder. A characteristic 8-4-2 mean profile on the MMPI emerged for the DIB-diagnosed borderline patients. The relationship between the DIB and (1) DSM-III diagnosis of borderline, (2) Spitzer unstable type borderline, and (3) MMPI characteristics are consistent, but of a low order of magnitude, thus lending at least partial support to the validity of the borderline construct. Nevertheless, the parsimonious use of the borderline diagnoses by DSM-III when compared with the DIB raises serious questions regarding the usefulness of the borderline concept.


To investigate cardiovascular risk factors and carotid atherosclerosis, we related previously measured risk factors to carotid atherosclerosis as determined by duplex ultrasonography in the Framingham Study cohort. Risk factors measured prospectively on 1,116 cohort members, ages 66 to 93, were related to the severity of carotid atherosclerosis measured by carotid ultrasonography performed during biennial examination no. 20 (1988 to 1990). The degree of carotid atherosclerosis was expressed as a percent carotid stenosis and, for statistical analysis, subjects were divided into four groups according to percent carotid stenosis. The prevalence of significant carotid stenosis in the general population was low–7% in women and 9% in men. A multivariate logistic regression model showed that age, cigarette smoking, systolic blood pressure, and cholesterol were independently related to carotid atherosclerosis. Alcohol consumption was also significant in men, but not in women. In addition, our results indicate that both current and former smoking in both sexes was related to the degree of carotid atherosclerosis.


The objective of this project is the development of numerical solution techniques for deterministic models of the transport of neutral and charged particles and the demonstration of their effectiveness in both a production environment and on advanced architecture computers. The primary focus is on various versions of the linear Boltzman equation (see Section II.A.). These equations are fundamental in many important applications. This project is an attempt to integrate the development of numerical algorithms with the process of developing production software. A major thrust of this project will be the implementation of these algorithms on advanced architecture machines that reside at the Advanced Computing Laboratory (ACL) at Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL). Previous work under this project includes the development of fast algorithms for the solution of the steady-state, monoenergetic, linear Boltzman equation in slab geometry (see Section II.B.). For isotropic scattering, a multigrid in space algorithm was developed [15] [18]. It is very effective in the thick diffusive limit, yielding a convergence factor that goes to zero in this limit. It is significantly faster then the Diffusion Synthetic Acceleration


Abstract Remote sensing technology is a tool for detecting invasive species affecting forest, rangeland, and pasture environments. This article provides a review of the technology, and algorithms used to process remotely sensed data when detecting weeds and a working example of the detection of spotted knapweed and babysbreath with a hyperspectral sensor. Spotted knapweed and babysbreath frequently invade semiarid rangeland and irrigated pastures of the western United States. Ground surveys to identify the extent of invasive species infestations should be more efficient with the use of classified images from remotely sensed data because dispersal of an invasive plant may have occurred before the discovery or treatment of an infestation. Remote sensing data were classified to determine if infestations of spotted knapweed and babysbreath were detectable in Swan Valley near Idaho Falls, ID. Hyperspectral images at 2-m spatial resolution and 400- to 953-nm spectral resolution with 12-nm increments were used to identify locations of spotted knapweed and babysbreath. Images were classified using the spectral angle mapper (SAM) algorithm at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10° angles. Ground validation of the classified images established that 57% of known spotted knapweed infestations and 97% of known babysbreath infestations were identified through the use of hyperspectral imagery and the SAM algorithm. Nomenclature: Babysbreath, Gypsophila paniculata L. GYPPA; spotted knapweed, Centaurea maculosa Lam. CENMA.


The application of evolutionary psychology, with its emphasis on a universal human nature, to natural law legal analyses, which seek to ground human laws in human nature, would appear to be an obvious practical extension of the former. Indeed, evolutionary psychological research on deontic reasoning speaks directly to questions of intuitive conceptions of rights and duties that may conceivably guide legal reasoning. Evolutionary psychology can, therefore, buttress theories of natural law at one of their weakest points by providing scientifically credible foundations for the basic concepts of the approach: rights, duties, human nature, and so on that have often appeared metaphysically suspect. The fit between evolutionary psychology and natural law is far from perfect however. Besides simply lending scientific credence to natural law theories' conceptual framework, evolutionary investigations of deontic reasoning also raise questions about the adequacy of that framework. This chapter reviews the psychological literature in detail, exploring the convergences and divergences with jurisprudence in an effort to reach a balanced assessment of the support evolutionary theorizing has to offer natural law theories.


Bilateral vocal cord paralysis in infants is seen so rarely that it warrants attention when found. In the absence of birth trauma associated with forceps delivery, it is usually due to central nervous system pathology. Report of a Case The patient was born Jan 22, 1962, the product of a normal pregnancy. He was physically normal except for a 0.5 cm defect in the occipital region of the skull from which protruded a 2.5 cm cystic lesion composed of a serous membrane wall which contained clear fluid. At 8 days of age, the lesion was excised. It was attached by an atretic stalk entering the skull defect. Microscopic studies showed the presence of meningeal tissue and established the diagnosis of occipital meningocele. Postoperative stridor was noted and attributed to the endotracheal anesthesia. It appeared to improve under steroid therapy, and the baby convalesced uneventfully. At 2 months of age, the


In this study a comparison was made in determining morphometrical changes in bone utilizing standard dental radiographic technique and dental xeroradiography. In terms of energy intensity, results demonstrated that spectrum analysis is consistent with visual evaluation and useful as a technique for objective evaluation of changes in bone. Changes in trabecular patterns were experimentally reproduced using quantitative determinations of calcium and phosphate. The relation between radiographic changes in bone associated with decalcification and variations in bone mineral content actually eluted from a particular site were examined. Changes in radiographic contrast and morphometry are important as indicators in radiographic interpretation, and their effects on visual evaluation of the radiograms were also studied. Also evaluated was the usefulness of the technique of using a spectrum analyzer to physically analyze the energy intensity distribution changes in bone. The findings in this study indicate that changes in both contrast and morphometry provide indicators for radiographic interpretation in DF, and that changes in contrast play a more dominant role with increasing bone density. It was also demonstrated that radiographic interpretation in DXR depends on morphometrical changes rather than changes in contrast as a major indicator. Since there was no difference in the efficiency of visual detection between DF and DXR, the use of DXR appears more beneficial in view of lower radiation exposure. When the detectability was 80%, actual variations in bone mineral content ranged from 24% to 38%. Thus, it may be possible to visually identify much smaller variations in bone mineral content on radiograms by using additional indicators such as pattern recognition and marginal changes of the lesion.


This research was a cross-age study that sought to determine and compare students' ideas about the causes of the seasons. Toward this aim, the research was carried out with 974 students at different educational levels and across the various age groups. First, the data obtained from the responses to the open-ended question was categorized according to a rubric formulated in line with the goal of the study. The methodology used in analyzing the data derived from the interviews was a grouped categorization of those responses that were construed as having similar intended meanings. Statistically, a significant difference was found between the groups of university students aged 20-22 and the other groups of students who were between the ages of 10-19. In addition, whereas the frequency of encountering some misconceptions decreased with age, on the other hand, the frequency of other misconceptions showed an increase in older students. At the same time, there were some misconceptions which did not vary significantly in frequency across the age groups and still others that did show changes.


Today we use products to shape our identity, by communicating to others who we are and what we want to be. Using products for communication of identity seems especially important for young adults. Persons with disabilities live with double identities. Sometimes it is important to be a person with a disability (e.g., someone in contact with health care and other welfare systems in society), while at other times, it is important to be considered like everybody else (e.g., job contacts, friends, etc). Assistive devices are rarely viewed as symbols of social status. Instead, they emphasise differences and often increase the user's feelings of apartness. Young adults with disabilities were interviewed about their emotional relations with personally significant products: a conflict between the identity of the product and that of the user was demonstrated. This was particularly apparent in situations where the user needed to use a product which she or he did not like, in this case assistive devices. In the comments about products which elicit negative emotions, three strategies for handling the feeling of dislike were described: 1) putting up with and accepting the situation, 2) abandoning the product, and 3) changing the product or creating something new. All strategies that the interviewed persons used to manage their negativism may be prevented by and are affected by product design. One main task of an industrial designer is to create products based on the desired product identity. Changing the way the product looks, can decrease the emotional conflict between the user's desired identity and the identity of the product; in the long run, assistive devices can be created which are experienced as positive symbols rather than stigmas.


Most basophilic serine/threonine kinases preferentially phosphorylate substrates with Arg at P-3 but vary greatly in additional strong preference for Arg at P-2 or P-5. The structural basis for P-2 or P-5 preference is known for two AGC kinases (family of protein kinases A, G, and C) in which it is mediated by a single pair of acidic residues (PEN+1 and YEM+1). We sought a general understanding of P-2 and P-5 Arg preference. The strength of Arg preference at each position was assessed in 15 kinases using a new degenerate peptide library approach. Strong P-2 or P-5 Arg preference occurred not only in AGC kinases (7 of 8 studied) but also in calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CAMK, 1 of 3) and Ste20 (STE) kinases (2 of 4). Analysis of sequence conservation demonstrated almost perfect correlation between (a) strong P-2 or P-5 Arg preference and (b) acidic residues at both PEN+1 and YEM+1. Mutation of two kinases (PKC-θ and p21-activated kinase 1 (PAK1)) confirmed critical roles of both PEN+1 and YEM+1 residues in determining strong R-2 Arg preference. PAK kinases were unique in having exceptionally strong Arg preference at P-2 but lacking strong Arg preference at P-3. Preference for Arg at P-2 was so critical to PAK recognition that PAK1 activity was virtually eliminated by mutating the PEN+1 or YEM+1 residues. The fact that this specific pair of acidic residues has been repeatedly and exclusively used by evolution for conferring strong Arg preference at two different substrate positions in three different kinase families implies it is uniquely well suited to mediate sufficiently good substrate binding without unduly restricting product release.


Melanoma differentiation-associated gene-7/interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24), a unique member of the IL-10 gene family, displays a broad range of antitumor properties including cancer-specific induction of apoptosis, inhibition of tumor angiogenesis, and modulation of an anti-tumor immune response. Apoptosis induction by mda-7/IL-24, when delivered by an adenovirus (Ad. mda-7), involves an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response and generation of ceramides. Additionally, Ad. mda-7 promotes autophagy in certain cancer cell types. In the present study, we document that Ad-mda-7-induced ER stress and ceramide generation result in induction of autophagy in prostate cancer cells, without affecting normal human prostate epithelial cells, via the canonical autophagic pathway, involving Beclin-1, atg5 and hVps34. Autophagy is evident until 24 h post Ad. mda-7-infection and then switches to apoptosis at 48 h. Inhibition of autophagy by 3-methyladenosine (3-MA) significantly increases Ad. mda-7-induced apoptosis suggesting that autophagy might first be initiated as a cytoprotective mechanism in prostate cancer cells. Inhibition of apoptosis by overexpression of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL increases autophagy upon Ad. mda-7 infection. During the apoptotic phase, MDA-7/IL-24 protein physically interacts with Beclin-1 and this interaction might inhibit Beclin-1 function culminating in apoptosis. Conversely, Ad. mda-7 infection leads to calpain-mediated cleavage of ATG5 protein that might also facilitate a biochemical switch from autophagy to apoptosis. Our present studies reveal novel aspects of interplay between autophagy and apoptosis that underlie the cytotoxic action of mda-7/IL-24 in prostate cancer cells. These new insights into mda-7/IL-24 action provide interesting leads for developing innovative combinatorial approaches for prostate cancer therapy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1038.


Objective :This study was to investigate the effects of Banhabaekchulchunma-Tang(BCT) on Dementia induced by focal ischemic injury in the rats. Method :Experimental groups were divided into 4 groups ; Normal group, Control group, BCT1 group and BCT2 group. Control group were no treated after focal brain ischemic injury. BCT1 group were administered BCT 0.3 ㎖/㎏ to focal brain ischemic injuried rats for 21 days, BCT2 group were administered BCT 1.2 ㎖/㎏ to focal brain ischemic injuried rats for 21 days.The present author observed the number of errors on the eight-arm radial maze task , the rate of correct choice on the eight-arm radial maze task, the values of density of Cresyl Violet-stained sections in the hippocampal CA1 and the values of density of Acetlycholin Esterase(AchE) stained nuclei in the hippocampal CA1. Result :1. The number of errors in the eight-arm radial maze task was significantly decreased in BCT1 group on 1-6th days. And it was significantly decreased in BCT2 group on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th day compared with control group.2. The rate of correct choice on the eight-arm radial maze task was increased in BCT1 group and BCT2 group compared with control group, but the value was not significant. 3. The values of density of Cresyl Violet-stained sections in the hippocampal CA1 were significantly increased in BCT1 group and BCT2 group compared with control group. 4. The values of density of AchE stained nuclei in the hippocampal CA1 were significantly increased in BCT1 group compared with control group. Conclusion : The present author thought that Banhabaekchulchunma-Tang could be used to cure dementia derived by the phlegm retention of fluid.


Abstract A study was conducted to examine the gendered expectations of academic failure among 52 students preparing to enter a teacher-credentialing program at a California state university. As part of a technology class, student pairs completed a database and mail-merge assignment in which they named three imaginary students and identified one of the students as being in danger of failing. The subjects had complete autonomy in deciding the gender of the three students whom they named in their database assignment. A two-way chi-square analysis of the data collected from these groups showed a significant bias (p < .03) resulting in males being identified as being in danger of failing more than three times as often as females.


The lattice thermal conductivity of alloys at liquid helium temperatures yields information about the nature of the electron-phonon interaction, and about the density of dislocations. It appears that in copper, silver, and gold the electrons interact with transverse as well as with longitudinal lattice waves. The lattice conductivity also varies with alloy composition; it is not clear whether this variation should be ascribed to changes in the electron density or to the presence of dislocations, locked into stable configurations by the solute atom. If the latter view is adopted, the density of dislocations in annealed alloys is typically of the order of lOlD to 1011 lines/em".


With information technology growth, VPN In a variety of areas, technology has been commonly used. Here we are. Two forms of VPN are studied in paper: IPSec and SSL VPN Detailed implementation, protection, scalability and breadth Other dimensions, benefits and contrasts are analyzed and compared. Inappropriate collection comparison is summarized, finally, Standard suggested. Standard proposed.


By means of the multicomponent Shan-Chen lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), we investigate the multiphase flow through porous media. Despite the excellent accuracy of the LBM, large domains result in unaffordable computational expenses. The Hybrid model developed in this study is based on a pore-network (PN) approach that enhances a decomposition of the granular assembly into small subsets (pore throats). Lattice Boltzmann simulations are performed for each pore throat to determine the hydrodynamic properties (entry capillary pressure, primary drainage curve, liquid morphology, etc) at the microscale. The local properties obtained with LBM are incorporated at the network to solve the larger-scale problem. This strategy leads to a significant decrease of the computation time at the sample-scale compared to a fully resolved method. Fluid morphology and phase distribution are evaluated during the drainage of a small granular assembly using the Hybrid model (PN-LBM). Results are contrasted with those obtained in a fully resolved simulation (LBM). The agreement between the two models illustrates the capability of the Hybrid method, which combines the efficiency of the PN approach and the accuracy of the LBM at the pore scale.


Since ancient times, humans settled on favorable areas, particularly on the coasts of oceans and seas, rivers and lakes. For implementing agricultural works, the use of sources of fresh water and fertile lands are needed. The Aran economic region of Azerbaijan Republic is situated below the sea level, and includes Kur and Araz Rivers as the major sources of pure water. Inundations, earthquakes, droughts and heavy winds are the typical naturaldestructive processes in the territory of Aran, and they have been repeated in recent years, damaging the local dwellers and their activities despite the implementation of measures against these destructive events. This article deals with the analysis of causes and consequences of these destructive natural events as well as the ways and measures on mitigation of these influences.


The Problem of Economic and Political Development Success in economic as well as political development depends primarily on improving institutions. This has become the consensus among economists over the last twenty years, as the world has witnessed many development failures in spite of abundant capital, natural resources, and educated populations, who emigrate or stagnate if institutions do not put them to good use. The question now is: What institutions are right? As elaborated later in this chapter, some argue that developing countries should emulate the institutions of the most successful, high-income economies of the OECD. We and others, however, see evidence that most low- and middle-income countries are not ready to utilize many Western European or North American institutions or that these institutions function very differently if transplanted into these low- and middle-income economies. The purpose of this volume is to develop and apply an alternative framework for understanding the dynamic interaction of political, economic, and social forces in developing countries, which was first laid out by North, Wallis, and Weingast (2009, hereafter NWW). The standard approach begins with neoclassical assumptions that growth will occur whenever profitable opportunities present themselves unless the intervention of political or social impediments prevent markets from working. In contrast, the alternative perspective presented here begins with the recognition that all societies must deal with the problem of violence. In most developing countries, individuals and organizations actively use or threaten to use violence to gather wealth and resources, and violence has to be restrained for development to occur. In many societies the potential for violence is latent: organizations generally refrain from violence in most years, but occasionally find violence a useful tool for pursuing their ends. These societies live in the shadow of violence, and they account for most of human history and for most of today's world population. Social arrangements deter the use of violence by creating incentives for powerful individuals to coordinate rather than fight. The dynamics of these social arrangements differ from those described in neoclassical models, and this difference limits the value of the neoclassical tools for understanding the problems of development.


Due to the fact that Korean is a highly agglutinative, character-rich language, previous work on Korean morphological analysis typically employs the use of sub-character features known as graphemes or otherwise utilizes comprehensive prior linguistic knowledge (i.e., a dictionary of known morphological transformation forms, or actions). These models have been created with the assumption that character-level, dictionary-less morphological analysis was intractable due to the number of actions required. We present, in this study, a multi-stage action-based model that can perform morphological transformation and part-of-speech tagging using arbitrary units of input and apply it to the case of character-level Korean morphological analysis. Among models that do not employ prior linguistic knowledge, we achieve state-of-the-art word and sentence-level tagging accuracy with the Sejong Korean corpus using our proposed data-driven Bi-LSTM model.


Porous Cu was fabricated by electrodeposition through a kinetic template of hydrogen bubbles. The product was subsequently annealed to increase its structural stability. The Cu-Sn alloy was then electrodeposited onto porous Cu which served as a current collector. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies ascertained that the composition of the Cu-Sn alloy was Cu6Sn5 and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations showed a three-dimensional (3D) porous structure of the electrode. The first charge/discharge capacities of the Cu6Sn5 alloy electrode were measured respectively at 735 and 571 mAh·g-1,and a good retention of the capacities has been determined. Interfacial properties of the Cu6Sn5 alloy electrode in a commercial electrolyte were also studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).


An in-node fast optimal packet routing algorithm in Manhattan street network using cellular neural network (CNN) is described. The proposed algorithm generates not only the possible transition matrix (governing the switching in the node) but also the optimal transition matrix, taking into account the traffic density in the vicinity of the node and the sum of packet priorities. In this way, the overall throughput rate was improved, compared to the shortest path algorithm. This result is proved by computer simulations. The inherent CNN's feature of parallel analog processing permits on-line processing without any additional control logic circuitry.


Thermal image, which is not affected by visibility, has attracted significant attention in pedestrian detection. How-ever, thermal images have poorer image quality and lack color and texture features compared with RGB images. Furthermore, pedestrian detectors based on deep learning often rely heavily on feature extraction networks. As a result, the performance of the detectors tends to decrease when directly applied to thermal images. To solve this problem, we design a pre-processing network to fully use the feature that pedestrians have higher brightness in thermal images. The pre-processing network can enhance the brightness of pedestrians in thermal images. Then we filter out the brightest area from the processed image by increasing the contrast, and input the filtered result into the detector together with the original image to help the detector find pedestrians. In addition, we found that an overly complex feature extraction network is redundant for thermal images and will have a negative impact. On this basis, we simplify the feature extraction network of YOLOv3. After simplification, the accuracy and running speed are improved, and the memory usage of the model is reduced. Through sufficient experiments on the KAIST dataset, it is proved that our method can significantly improve the performance of pedestrian detection.


This paper focuses on Bayesian Optimization in combinatorial spaces. In many applications in the natural science. Broad applications include the study of molecules, proteins, DNA, device structures and quantum circuit designs, a on optimization over combinatorial categorical spaces is needed to find optimal or pareto-optimal solutions. However, only a limited amount of methods have been proposed to tackle this problem. Many of them depend on employing Gaussian Process for combinatorial Bayesian Optimizations. Gaussian Processes suffer from scalability issues for large data sizes as their scaling is cubic with respect to the number of data points. This is often impractical for optimizing large search spaces. Here, we introduce a variational Bayesian optimization method that combines variational optimization and continuous relaxations to the optimization of the acquisition function for Bayesian optimization. Critically, this method allows for gradient-based optimization and has the capability of optimizing problems with large data size and data dimensions. We have shown the performance of our method is comparable to state-of-the-art methods while maintaining its scalability advantages. We also applied our method in molecular optimization.


Non-attendance at first appointments is a significant problem in both the health and mental health care systems, and much of the research that has aimed to identify possible predictors of initial appointment, non-attendance at general treatment facilities have often provided contradictory and inconclusive results. This retrospective study reviewed the charts of patients who were referred to an outpatient forensic psychiatric clinic over a two-year period and identified a subset of patient- and clinic-related factors that have previously been identified in the literature to be associated with non-attendance. Of the 1630 charts reviewed, only 71.7% of patients attended their initial appointment. The findings indicated that forensic patients who were older and faced consequences related to sentencing were most likely to attend their initial appointments. The potential to improve attendance and subsequent treatment by identifying common factors that contribute to missing initial appointments is discussed, along with implications for increased efficiency of service delivery.


Health benefits of bamboo shoots are often neglected as limited study was carried out to reveals its medicinal properties. Increasing demands in functional foods like
 prebiotics have driven many researches to isolate these functional ingredients from natural sources. Therefore this research was conducted as to explore the prebiotic
potential of bamboo shoots from Gigantochloa levis. Characterization on its compositions, molecular weight, solubility, digestibility, intrinsic viscosity,rheological properties, thermal stability and morphological properties were also covered. Hot water extraction (90 0C) of water soluble polysaccharides extracted from the shoots of Gigantochloa levis (which was named as Bamboo Shoots Crude
 Polysaccharides, BSCP) was found to be 3.27 ± 0.18 % of dry basis, with molecular weight of about 7.49 kDa, while other purified sub-fractions (F1 to F5) were 1550.96, 1471.63, 1685.78, 1691.61 and 1551.67 Da respectively.
 BSCP was composed of glucose, galactose and arabinose as the major sugar components with the molar ratio of 10 : 5 : 4 (50.51 ± 1.16, 25.11 ± 0.31 and 19.81 ± 0.52 % molar respectively). The percentage of xylose, mannose, rhamnose and fucose in crude BSCP were however found to be relatively low; 2.05 ± 0.03, 1.77 ± 0.25, 0.62 ± 0.53 and 0.14 ± 0.02 % molar respectively. It also posses good solubility in water (99.81 ± 0.01 % solubility at 5 % (w/v) of BSCP) and its non-digestibility towards artificial human gastric juices was proven to be significantly higher (> 99 %) as to compare with the commercial fructooligosaccharides (FOS) (98 %). This might be due to the presence of (1→3),(1→4)-β-glucan in BSCP as elucidated through Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectrum as well as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Fingerprint of BSCP gathered through structural analysis using FTIR showed that BSCP contains polysaccharide with traces of phenolic and uronic acids presence. Intrinsic viscosity of BSCP was 6.89 dl/g, with a rod-like conformation presumed in the dilute domain through the measurement of power law model. The onset of molecular entanglements or the critical concentration, C* for BSCP was 0.88 g/dl,while the relative chain stiffness for BSCP was found to be 0.3086, which was about ten times greater than pectin and alginate. This value showed a more flexible chain of BSCP polymer, which was not aligned to the conformation of BSCP presumed through power law model measurement. This is because rod-like polymer tends to
 have a stiff chain. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) analysis conducted for morphological studies of BSCP was however elucidated the conformation of BSCP to be globular rather than rod-like polymer. Rheological test conducted had confirmed the weak gel properties of BSCP. It was found to be a heat-setting gel, where gel is formed upon heating of a solution. Thermal analysis using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) also proves the weakness of BSCP gelling properties, with a very small enthalpy value obtained
(0.03 to 0.37 mJ). In vitro fermentation conducted using BSCP as a carbon source gave a positive indicator as a potential prebiotic. BSCP was found to potently support the growth of B. animalis, B. longum and L. acidophilus. On top of that, BSCP was able to suppress the growth of Salmonella sp. pH of Trypticase Peptone Yeast (TPY) medium supplemented with BSCP and FOS were seen to decrease as an indication of bacterial growth. Lactic acid and SCFA produced by the probiotic strains supplemented with BSCP were also found to be higher as compared to FOS, even though there was no significant trend noted. Results obtained throughout this research showed that BSCP meets most of prebiotic characteristics, which is highly resistance to the artificial gastric juice, able to be fermented by the intestinal microbiota like bifidobacterium and lactobacilli while suppressing the growth of pathogens as well as producing SCFA which later could enhance the host health indirectly.


The effects of the rolling-circle and theta modes of replication on the maintenance of recombinant plasmids in Lactococcus lactis were studied. Heterologous Escherichia coli or bacteriophage λ DNA fragments of various sizes were inserted into vectors based on either the rolling-circle-type plasmid pWV01 or the theta-type plasmid pAMβ1. All pAMβ1 derivatives were stably maintained. pWV01 derivatives, however, showed size-dependent segregational instability, in particular when large DNA fragments were inserted. All recombinant pWV01 derivatives generated high-molecular-weight plasmid multimers (HMW) in amounts that were positively correlated with plasmid size and inversely correlated with the copy numbers of the monomeric plasmid forms. Formation of HMW or reductions in copy numbers were not observed with pAMβ1 derivatives. The results indicate that HMW formation and/or reduction in plasmid copy numbers is an important factor in the maintenance of pWV01 derivatives. It is concluded that theta-type plasmids are superior to rolling-circle-type plasmids for cloning in lactococci.


The self-repairing reaction of polymer chains cleaved due to degradation was elucidated through the use of degradation poly phenylene-ether (PPE) related polymer composites. In the case where the cleavage of main chain partially occurred, a spontaneous re-bonding reaction proceeded at the chain ends with copper/amine complex added as a catalyst. The relative value of molecular weight was determined as a criterion of the self-repairing reaction. This reaction was also found to proceed as a redox mechanism for supplying oxygen continuously into the system. Through these processes, the oxidation state of copper was changed from a mono-valent state to a di-valent state that was active for the re-combination reaction between chain ends in polymer. Moreover, blending several kinds of plasticizers with PPE enabled the increase of its molecular weight because of recombination between chain ends that had been cleaved by degradation. During the re-polymerization, water discharge was detected, and the correlation between the ratio of yielded water and increase of molecular weight was clarified. From these results, we concluded that the concept of the self-repairing mechanism could be applied to a wide range of industrial materials and that it had a strong potential to overcome environmental and resource problem in the near future.


The semiempiric PM3 method is used to calculate the thermodynamic parameters of the formation of monomers, dimers, trimers, and tetramers of the amphiphilic melamine-type series of 2,4-di(n-alkylamino)-6-amino-1,3,5-triazine (2C(n)H(2n+1)-melamine) with n = 9-16. The most stable conformations are determined, which then are used to construct the clusters. The peculiar feature of these structures is the existence of a bend at one of the alkyl chains. Thus, the formation of infinite films becomes possible because of their spatial arrangement. From the calculation of the relative amount of various conformers in the mixture, it follows that, if the alkyl chain length is lower than 11-12 carbon atoms, the mixture is composed mainly of the monomers that do not contain any intramolecular interactions, whereas for higher alkyl chain lengths the monomers that involve such interactions prevail in the mixture. For all clusters thus considered, the thermodynamic parameters (enthalpies, entropies, and Gibbs' energies) of clusterization are calculated. It is shown that the dependencies of these parameters on the alkyl chain length either exhibit stepwise shape or are represented by the combination of a linear and stepwise function. This depends on the different number of hydrogen-hydrogen interactions in the structures considered. Five types of clusters that are capable of the formation of infinite 2D films are considered in detail. For each of these types, the dependencies of the clusterization enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs' energy on the alkyl chain length in the constituting monomers are derived. Using these dependencies, it becomes possible to calculate these thermodynamic characteristics for clusters of any size, and also for infinite 2D films. It is shown that the spontaneous clusterization of 2C(n)H(2n+1)-melamine becomes possible if the alkyl chain length exceeds 9 carbon atoms.


BackgroundVancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) is a nosocomial pathogen causing infection mainly in patients with critical illnesses in intensive care units, severe underlying disease or weakened immune system. Intensive pre-treatment with antibiotics and use of urinary catheters also constitute a risk. Due to its hardy nature, the bacterium can survive for long periods in a hospital environment. The aim of this study was to describe the investigation of a sudden increase in VRE cases admitted to the Surgical Unit at Vrinnevi Hospital in Norrköping, Sweden, and the control measures taken. MethodsFaeces cultures from patients admitted to the Surgical Unit were obtained, and environmental cultures were collected from different locations in patient rooms and medical devices. In addition, screening samples were obtained from units with high-risk patients in the Östergötland County. Isolates identified as E. faecium were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing. Vancomycin-resistant isolates PCR-positive for the vanA/vanB gene were further analysed with whole genome sequencing (WGS). ResultsA total of 35 VRE isolates were found (22 from patients and 13 from the environment). The WGS identified three outbreak clusters, sequence type (ST) 203, ST 1839, ST 80 and one unique clone (ST 612). The ST 203 clone predominated among VRE cases admitted to the Surgical Unit. ConclusionsWith prompt infection control measures, the VRE outbreak was over after approximately four months. To prevent further outbreaks of VRE, active screening, antibiotic stewardship, improved cleaning and hand hygiene, and restriction of multiple-bed rooms are essential.


This article examines the rarely talked about subtleties of Moroccan reform in the realm of women's rights and its inadequate fulfillment of obligations to international human rights standards. The Preamble to Morocco's post-Arab Spring 2011 constitution follows the example of its 1996 version, in which the state declared its "determination to abide by the universally recognised human rights." However, while the state is often hailed in the international forums and media as a true trendsetter in the realm of women's rights in the Middle East and North Africa region, this analysis of the much celebrated Family Code and its two main goals—"doing justice to women" and "preserving men's dignity"—and of the regime's ambivalent discourse on gender equality as defined by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women () paints a more realistic picture. Both of these cases indicate that the state is failing to ameliorate the legal position of women and to consider women as autonomous and individual human beings with intrinsic rights not contingent upon first fulfilling their customary obligations. I contend, therefore, that the way the reformed Family Code has formulated its goals and the way that the law and the state continue to conceptualize a woman go against the main principle of individuality contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and CEDAW to which Morocco has continually committed itself, at least on paper.


What problem was addressed? As in other parts of the world, diabetes prevalence in Cameroon is increasing. The few diabetic centres that there are in each region in Cameroon are located in cities. Diabetes management is not one of the package of activities carried out by nurse-run health centres that serve rural areas. The reasons for this include: lack of resources, such as diagnostic equipment, and qualified personnel. Given the increasing prevalence of diabetes in rural communities, measures are needed to address the problem. What was tried? Using point-of-care testing (POCT), final-year enrolled nursing students screened and cared for diabetic clients during their community placement in rural areas. A 12-hour curriculum was designed and taught to 14 final-year students of the St Francis School of Health Sciences. This included the use of POCT devices (glucometers, digital blood pressure machines and urine strips) and diabetes screening and management through education on lifestyle modification and self-monitoring. During their subsequent 10-week community placement in two rural areas, the students, with the involvement of the health centre nurses, organised screening campaigns for diabetes. Clients at high risk of diabetes and diabetics who emerged from the screening exercises, in addition to existing diabetics, were followed up. Education on lifestyle modification and the use of POCT for self-monitoring was completed. Nurses were involved in the project to allow them to learn from the process so that they would be able to continue managing clients after the students had left. The impact of the project on the followed up clients, nurses at the health centres and student nurses was evaluated. What lessons were learned? In total, 327 people were screened: 117 (35.78%) were at risk, 37 (11.31%) were at high risk, 16 (4.89%) were diagnosed with diabetes and 157 (48.01%) were free from any signs of diabetes. Most (81.66%) of the followed up clients gained knowledge and skills on the use of POCT devices, understanding of the disease condition and its management and the ability to carry out self-monitoring. Also, most (73.66%) clients (as confirmed by progress records used during the project) affirmed there had been significant improvements in their health. All of the nurses affirmed that they acquired knowledge and skills in the use of POCT devices, how to conduct screening for diabetes and how to empower diabetics to take charge of their own care, by working with the students. Among many points highlighted by students as their greatest achievements during the project was the fact that they were able to transmit knowledge to others and influence the health of the community with very limited resources. Being able to teach a senior colleague and searching for sick people in the community was something they indicated had increased their leadership potential and accountability awareness significantly. Problems faced by students included: resistance from some laboratory technicians (overcome by consulting them for their opinion on various matters), lack of patient compliance and reluctance of some clients participating in the screening for fear of knowing their status.


Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is characterised by the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome which harbours the Bcr-Abl oncogene. BCR-ABL is a constitutively active tyrosine kinase that can be inhibited by rationally designed tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as imatinib, nilotinib and dasatinib. Although TKI therapy is an effective treatment for many patients, resistance can arise. There are currently four identified resistance mechanisms. These are 1) overexpression of drug-efflux proteins (ABCB1 and ABCG2), 2) BCR-ABL kinase domain (KD) mutations, 3) increased BCR-ABL expression and 4) BCR-ABL independent mechanisms such as Lyn kinase expression. In this study the interplay between these four recognised modes of TKI resistance is investigated. Imatinib- and dasatinib-resistant cell lines were established and used to investigate TKI resistance in vitro. Viability and IC50 assays were used to demonstrate TKI sensitivity/resistance. Flow cytometry was used to screen for ABCB1 and ABCG2 cell surface expression, while conventional sequencing and the MassARRAY method were used to determine the mutation status of the BCR-ABL KD. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and quantitative DNA PCR were used to investigate Bcr-Abl DNA copy number, and RQ-PCR was used to investigate expression levels of BCR-ABL and Lyn mRNA. These studies revealed that IM-resistant K562 cell lines exhibited increased BCR-ABL expression at the onset of resistance. Interestingly, these cell lines had increased viability and IC50s for IM and NIL, while the DAS IC50s were variable. Further investigation revealed Lyn overexpression in the cell line which was more sensitive to DAS. The development of a DAS-resistant K562 culture resulted in the emergence of the T315I mutation. Studies of the intermediate stages of resistance of this DAS- resistant cell line revealed that increased BCR-ABL expression occurred gradually, preceding the emergence of the mutation, at which time the BCR-ABL expression decreased and plateaued. Thus, it appears that increased BCR-ABL expression may be the initial mechanism of resistance, followed by the emergence of a KD mutation which has a clear selective advantage. This phenomenon was observed a further four times (in a DAS-resistant K562 Dox culture, and in three IM-resistant KU812 cultures) each time with the emergence of different KD mutations. Different KD mutations resulted in differential resistance to the three TKIs used in this study. In contrast, three IM-resistant K562 Dox cell lines were not found to have any KD mutations, nor BCR- ABL overexpression. Instead, the primary cause of resistance in these lines appeared to be an increase in ABCB1 expression. The addition of PSC833 (an ABCB1 inhibitor) decreased the IM, NIL, and DAS IC50s for all three resistant lines to the level of the naive control. This indicated that ABCB1 expression, facilitating active efflux of the drugs, is the primary mechanism of resistance in these lines. This study demonstrates that KD emergence is a stochastic event, as the…


AbstrakThis final project is written based on the job training which has been done as an English teacher in SD Negeri Gumpang 01 Sukoharjo. The objectives of this report are to describe the application of teaching English vocabulary using pictures, to find out the problems, and to provide solutions in teaching English vocabulary to the third grade students.In  collecting  the  data,  I  consulted  with  English  teacher  of  SD  Negeri Gumpang 01 Sukoharjo to get more information about the school and discussed the material that would be taught based on the curriculum. The process of teaching English vocabulary to the third grade students of SD Negeri Gumpang 01 Sukoharjo consists of five steps: Opening, Reviewing, Main Activity, Assessment and Closing. In teaching vocabulary, the pictures was used as the media. Pictures brought benefits in the learning process and made the learning process more effective.In the learning process, the problems were found the process of teaching vocabulary to the third grade of SD Negeri Gumpang 01. The problems were mispronounced words, misbehavior, and remembering letters of the words. In this final project, I also gave the solutions to solve the problems.I hope this final project report can be a useful reference to the teachers of SD Negeri Gumpang 01 to improve their performance and the English Diploma students to conduct the final project on the similar problems.


Perinatal development is often viewed as the major window of time for organization of steroid-sensitive neural circuits by steroid hormones. Behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to steroids are dramatically different before and after puberty, suggesting that puberty is another window of time during which gonadal steroids affect neural development. In the present study, we investigated whether the presence of gonadal hormones during pubertal development affects the number of androgen receptor and estrogen receptor alpha-immunoreactive (AR-ir and ER alpha-ir, respectively) cells in limbic regions. Male Syrian hamsters were castrated either before or after pubertal development, and 4 weeks later they received a single injection of testosterone or oil vehicle 4 h prior to tissue collection. Immunocytochemistry for AR and ER alpha was performed on brain sections from testosterone-treated and oil-treated males, respectively. Adult males that had been castrated before puberty had a greater number of AR-ir cells in the medial preoptic nucleus than adult males that had been castrated after puberty. There were no significant differences in ER alpha-ir cell number in any of the brain regions examined. The demonstration that exposure to gonadal hormones during pubertal development is associated with reduced AR-ir in the medial preoptic nucleus indicates that puberty is a period of neural development during which hormones shape steroid-sensitive neural circuits.


This study presents a wide-field near-infrared (K-band) survey in two fields; SA 68 and Lynx 2. The survey covers an area of 0.6 deg. 2 , complete to K=16.5. A total of 867 galaxies are detected in this survey of which 175 have available redshifts. The near-infrared number counts to K=16.5 mag. are estimated from the complete photometric survey and are found to be in close agreement with other available studies. The sample is corrected for incompleteness in redshift space, using selection function in the form of a Fermi-Dirac distribution. This is then used to estimate the local near-infrared luminosity function of galaxies. A Schechter fit to the infrared data gives: M * K = −25.1 ± 0.3, α = −1.3 ± 0.2 and φ * = (1.5 ± 0.5) × 10 −3 Mpc −3 (for H 0 = 50 Km/sec/Mpc and q 0 = 0.5). When reduced to α = −1, this agrees with other available estimates of the local IRLF. We find a steeper slope for the faint-end of the infrared luminosity function when compared to previous studies. This is interpreted as due to the presence of a population of faint but evolved (metal rich) galaxies in the local Universe. However, it is not from the same population as the faint blue galaxies found in the optical surveys. The characteristic magnitude (M * K) of the local IRLF indicates that the bright red galaxies (M K ∼ −27 mag.) have a space density of ≤ 5 × 10 −5 Mpc −3 and hence, are not likely to be local objects. Subject headings: surveys – cosmology: observations – galaxies: photometry – infrared: galaxies – 2 –


Source segregation, the first important step for effective solid waste management, is practised by a handful of organizations in limited areas in Nepal. The inadequacy of source segregation and ineffective collection system in Nepal have led to maximum waste reaching the landfill site. Though several researchers have studied the role of stakeholders and the importance of youths in the waste management sector, there is a paucity of studies on the role of youths, particularly in waste segregation in Nepal. In this regard, this study was conducted to understand the at-source household waste segregation practices by youths in Nepal. The study adopted the snowball sampling technique. A structured survey questionnaire which included information on the sociodemographic status of the respondents, placement of bins, segregation practices, and satisfaction with the waste collection provider was used to elicit information from 522 youths. It was found that almost half (49.2%) of the respondents had installed two dustbins in their kitchen with 80.3% of respondents claiming to practice source segregation in their houses. The majority (75.1%) of participants were ready to pay more for improved solid waste management in their area. Also, 75.8% of respondents declared that everyone is responsible for solid waste management with fewer than 14.8% and 9.4%, stating that waste management should be the responsibility of the government and waste management service provider, respectively. The gender and source segregation was statistically significant with a p value of 0.007 (<0.05). However, the likelihood ratio significance showed no association between the level of education and the practice of source segregation. Hence, the source segregation practice of household solid waste was found to be satisfactory among the youths of Nepal. Thus, there should be a proper monitoring mechanism to ensure that household waste gets collected in a segregated form causing less burden on landfills.


Background: The progress of coagulation in COVID-19 patients with confirmed discharge status (decease or discharge) and the combination of the autopsy with the complete coagulation parameters were not well studied.Objective: To clarify the thrombotic phenomena with coagulation progress in COVID-19 patients based on epidemiological statistics combining the autopsy and informatics analysis.Methods: Using 9 autopsy results with COVID-19 pneumonia and the medical records of 407 patients including 39 deceased ones whose discharge status was certain, time-sequential changes of 11 relevant indices within mild, severe and critical infection throughout hospitalization according to the Chinese National Health Commission (NHC) guidelines were evaluated. Informatics tools were applied to calculate the importance of 11 indices and the correlation between those indices and the severities of COVID-19.Results: At the beginning of the hospitalization, platelet (PLT) had a significant decrease in critically ill patients. Blood glucose (GLU), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and D-dimer in critical patients were higher than those in mild and severe during the whole admission period. The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) score also showed the high DIC level in critical patients. At the relatively late stage of non-survivors, the temporal changes of PLT count, PT, and D-dimer were significantly different from survivors. A random forest model indicated that the most important feature was PT, followed by D-dimer, indicating their positive associations for the severities of disease. Autopsy data from 9 deceased patients also showed the DIC phenomena with prolonged PT, APTT, less PLT count and thrombosis in multiple organs.Conclusions: Combining autopsy data, time-sequential changes and informatics methods to explore the coagulation relevant indices among the different severities of the disease, helps guide the therapy and detect the prognosis in COVID-19 infection.


PURPOSE
To report a case of a neurofibromatosis Type 2 with unusual clinical features.

METHODS
Observational clinical case report.

RESULTS
A 22-year-old woman was referred with bilateral blurred vision and macular "scars." Ocular examination revealed bilateral posterior subcapsular and cortical cataract, optic disk swelling, hyperpigmented macular lesions, epiretinal membrane, and macular temporal dragging. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomographic imaging showed bilateral epiretinal membranes, peripapillary nerve fiber layer thickening, and vitreoretinal tractional bands. In the right eye, focal choroidal excavation was noted at the site of the macular lesion. In fluorescein angiography, mild vascular leakage, capillary nonperfusion, and ground glass hyperfluorescence was seen in temporal periphery of the right eye. Brain imaging showed intracranial calcification and vestibular schwannoma, which was removed by a neurosurgeon. A clinical diagnosis of neurofibromatosis Type 2 was made.

CONCLUSION
A case of neurofibromatosis Type 2 with some possibly novel or rare findings, namely, focal choroidal excavation, ash leaf spots, and intracranial calcifications was presented.


In a semiconductor disk wherein a flash memory into which data is rewritten in block unit is employed as a storage medium; a semiconductor disk comprising a data memory in which file data are stored, a substitutive memory which substitutes for blocks of errors in the data memory, an error memory in which error information of the data memory are stored, and a memory controller which reads data out of, writes data into and erases data from the data memory, the substitutive memory and the error memory. Since the write errors of the flash memory can be remedied, the service life of the semiconductor disk can be prolonged.